Brussels.

Dear Charley:—

I am thoroughly tired out with a day at Waterloo; and, though I should be glad to retire at an early hour, yet, as to-morrow's mail takes all letters for the next steamer, we are all hard at the duty and pleasure of correspondence with our friends. I shall give you but a hurried account of our visit to the great battle field of Europe. We were all up early in the morning, and, after an excellent breakfast, we engaged a carriage and pair of horses for the day. The distance is about twelve miles. After riding about two miles, we found the road touched the Forest of Soignies, so well known in consequence of Byron's description of the march of the army from Brussels to Waterloo. On the way we met several guides, who commended their services to our notice, backed up by testimonials of former travellers. We selected Pirson, and he took his place beside the driver, and we arrived in two hour at the village. Passing by what is called a museum, we addressed ourselves at once to a survey of the field. There are no signs of the past, excepting in monuments and houses that are famous for their being occupied by the hostile parties during the battle. We turned our attention first to the ChÂteau of Hougomont, because, from our knowledge of the transactions of the great day, we regarded it as the grand point of attraction, and the central one for our observations. This farm is an old-looking affair, with out-buildings—a small chapel, twelve or fifteen feet long, and the garden and orchard, having a strong stone wall around them. This was the strong point of the British army; and if Napoleon could have gained it, he would have turned the flank of the enemy. To this he directed all his power, and the marks of the conflict are yet very apparent. All day the attack was made, upon the farm by thousands, under the command of Jerome Bonaparte. The wall was pierced with loopholes, and through these the English Coldstream Guards kept up a most destructive fire upon the French troops. The exterior of the wall still shows what a terrific onset was made. We went into the house, obtained some refreshment, bought some relics, and, among other things, a neat brass crucifix, which hung against the wall. We then, went to look at the farms La Belle Alliance and La Haye Sainte—the famous mound where the dead were interred, and which is surmounted by the Belgic lion. This is an immense work, two hundred feet high; and from the summit we saw the entire field. Of course, we all had our feelings excited at standing on a spot where the two greatest soldiers of Europe measured swords, and had a continent for spectators of the conflict.

When the French army marched through Waterloo, on their way to Antwerp, in 1831, they looked savagely at the Belgian monument, and one man fired his musket at the lion, and the mark is still visible upon his chin.

We were much gratified at the farm-house of Hougomont; and the hour we spent in its orchard and gardens will long be remembered by us all. I have read an account of the attack upon the house, which says, "The Belgian yeoman's garden wall was the safeguard of Europe, whose destinies hung upon the possession of this house." The garden wall is covered on the inside with ivy; and here we secured several roots of the plant, and, having bought a basket at the farm-house, we planted them in earth taken from beside the grave of a British officer, who fell in the orchard; his tombstone bears the name of J.L. Blackman. These plants will give us trouble to carry; but Dr. Choules has determined upon carrying them home for Mr. Hall, whose stone house needs ivy on the walls, and he intends obtaining roots from various places of interest in Europe, to serve as mementoes of other lands.

The church is a small affair, but is full of the testimonies of love and affection from fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, children, and friends, to those who fell in the bloody conflict.

We were annoyed by urchins, who beset our steps, eager to sell us genuine relics of the field, which are likely to increase in number as long as there is a demand for them. George, of course, was in his element, and he did little but plant the different sites in his memory, for the purpose of comparing notes, by and by, with Gleig, Headley, &c., &c.

I do not attempt to give you any thing like a description of the place, or an account of the battle, as you have books which are devoted to these points.

It is a circumstance worthy of notice that, in 1705, the Duke of Marlborough came very near fighting a battle with the French, on this ground, but was prevented by the Dutch commissioners who were with him.

We obtained some good engravings of the buildings that are famous for their connection with the battle, but they are nothing like as fine as the folio illustrated volume of colored engravings which we have so often looked over with interest. I tried to get a copy in London at any price, and would have given any thing in reason; but the work is out of print and the market, and can only be gotten at the sale of a collector.

On returning to Brussels, and enjoying our dinner at a late hour, we passed the evening in the Arcades, where we saw some beautiful goods exposed for sale, and again examined some lacework. You will smile at the idea of pocket handkerchiefs which cost from one hundred to one thousand dollars each. The embroidery of letters upon lacework is costly; and we saw single letters which had required a week's work.

We like this city, and, if time allowed us, should certainly pass a week here. I should not forget to say that we saw the king in the Park, near to his palace. He looks like a man of fifty-five, and, I thought, had a melancholy air.

Yours,

james.