Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-02-22

pets blared and drums rolled. and ali
Brussels turned out to see and to
cheer.
There was. too. the reception given
by the municipality at the Hotel lie
Vile: we were all assembled in the an
cient Sale Gothique hung about with
the old tapestries, under the Spanish
flags that have depended from that
oaken ceiling since the time Of the
Spanish domination. The Bourgmestre
Max, svelte. pale. with his prominent
eyes. his pointed blonde beard his curl
ing moustacheS. wearing the uniform
and the scarlet sash Of the bourg
meStre, delivers, in his exquisite
French. an address of welcome. to which
the king of Denmark responds. There
is a quartet TO play and Croiza is there
to sing and there are two premieres
danseuses from the Monnaie. The dl-
vertissement over, the throng drifted
along the corridors to the splendid
chamber of the bourgmestre, the king
and queen signed in the Livre dor, the
golden book of the city. and then we
went out on the balcony to see the
royal party drive away.
Down there below US, the grand pal
ace, the most beautiful square in the
world, lay under our eyes; directly
across from us the Maison du Roi. with
its gilded facade: all about the houses
Of the ancient guilds and overhead that
lovely spire wherein a golden st. Michel
stands triumphant over the dragon he
has slain. Close to the walls on all the
four sides Of the square are massed the
delegates from all the old corporations
all the syndicates. all the societies of
Brussels. their silken banners mingled
in a mass of red and green and blue and
gold Tbnir hearers stand silent
tionless waiting for the royal families,
and the empty square is spread before
them. We stand on the narrow stone
balcony and gaze down. The historical
implications of the place impose on one
the respect of silence. There in that
square there had been the jousts Of the
knights of the cloth of gold; there had
been held the old fetes of the com
munes: there the old trade guilds had
fought out their fierce quarrels, the
queux (scoundrels) had assembled there,
and there Edmont and Horne were be-
headed Charles V had ridden there in
pomp and the Duke Of Alva, had Stalked
across those very stones; there the can
non balls Of Villefroi had wrought their
havoc. and it was all as il is today.
those four gilded facades, that beautiful
spire soaring aloft, on that morning
when some man coming into the square
from the rue ueS f1dItUSS icldltu lhS
news Of the discovery of America, to be
told no doubt that such a thing could
not be- The centuries had rolled owe"
il. and left it unchanged in it's beauty
and as VIC stood there looking down. the
modern world faded away. OUT
from the portiere below us rode four
heralds. slowly, with stately tread of
their caparisoned horses they rode into
the center Of the square, lifted their
long trumpets to their lips, held them
pointing upward at a graceful angle and
blew a long fanfare, and. turning slowly
around, blew TO the four quarters of the
square. And then out from the portiero
there rolled a coach of state, of red and |
gold with cOachmen and footmen i'm red
liveries and powdered wigs, and then an
other coach of state and another, six mi
all with the kings and the queens and |
the princes and the lords and ladies in
waiting, and while the trumpets of the
heralds blow they rolled slowly around |
the grand palace i'm the light that fell
from a sky of mother of pearl in the |
mild spring evening. The dark mass of
the delegates of the societies all around
the square lifted their silken banners of
crimson and sold and cried:
''Vivent les rois!" C'Long live the !
kings"O
Slowly around the square they drove, |
and drove around again, and turning |
into the narrow rue de la Colline, they |
rolled away as though il had heen Gin |
dereIla and her suite. . . The light |
touched the gilt on the facades once /
more. then slowly faded from a sky that |
glowed above the house Of the corpora |
ton OF the brewers.
Down I'm the court OF the Hotel de |
Vile there was a startling sound, the |
chauffeurs were tuning up their mo- |
tors. and We drove back into modern
times back into the twentieth CEN
tury-and home 70 dinner.
One more scene remains to be sketch
cd: that summer evening in the little
iheater i'm the palace at Laeken. 1t is
a tiny theater, where perhaps two hun
drcd might find seats. Talma once acted
there. and ono evening resting from his
imperial labors, Napoleon commanded
a performance i'm honor of Marie Louise.
II has been seldom opened since and
had not been USED for years; the queen
had had II restored for this event, and !
with her own exquisite taste had herself
arranged the entertainment that was
given. The king and queen Of Denmark
and the king and queen OF the Belgians
and the three royal children. wriggling
uncomfortably and leaning against their
mother, occupied the royal box. An
English duke and duchess were present
and the ministers and the ladies of
the diplomatic corps were in the little
circle of loges; in the stalls were the
members of the kings and queens