TALBOT2695

Bruxelles
Hotel de Flandre
Thursday May 9^th

My dear Henry,

Do you enjoy such delightful summer weather in England as we do here? & such moonlight nights? I cannot wish it for your sake, as it must make the House of Commons intolerable – I suppose you are very busy just now – I hear dark rumours of the Unions being in arms & marching to London – I wish you would write me a petit mot de politique; ¹ one is so behind hand here – the post only coming in twice a week – I saw Sir Robert Adair ² yesterday, who expressed great alarm about the state of England – Here everything looks flourishing though people say they are ruined – there never were so few foreigners here, & there is nothing going on, on account of the Elections which begin shortly – every body therefore is busy canvassing. L^d & Lady Arundel of Wardour ³ are staying at this Hotel – we met him at the table d’hôte – he inquired with great interest about Laycock Abbey, where he had often been in old Lady Shrewsbury’s ⁴ time – the rest of the company consisted of an ex- Député ⁵, an Under Secretary of State, a Secretary of the Treasure, and Elève de l’Ecole Militaire, ⁶ & the Editor of l’Indépendant –

The language of Belgium is the oddest I ever knew – a strange mixture of French, Dutch, German & English, but principally the last – these are some phrases I remarked on the shops. “Hier verkoopt men alle soorten van drank”. ⁷ – “Goud und Silver Smid”. ⁸ “Woollen Draper”. – “Koffy Huys”. ⁹– 23 is drei und twenty. It is frightful to listen to. – The method of driving too is extremely awkward – three horses en arbalète, ¹⁰ so that the first goes wherever he pleases, & not unfrequently turns round completely the contrary way. This happened particularly between Ghent & Malines which is a new road & very little frequented – We made an excursion to Antwerp from Malines, by which means we only left Bimbo ¹¹ for part of a day.– The usual road from Ghent to Antwerp is impassable from the Dutch having inundated the country. Leopold ¹² is very popular, though there is still an Orange party – At Brussels there are fewer Orangists than elsewhere – There is a splendid Botanic garden here, which I have only yet seen at a distance – We shall stay here till next Friday, so go on directing here Poste Restante I believe our next direction will be Ems – but I shall let you know – We are all quite well – nothing is so wholesome as travelling, and Bimbo is the best traveller of all. He is growing very intelligent & can is beginning to distinguish names.

The centre of the Place Royale, where we are living, is ornamented by the tree of Liberty, decorated by the Belgian tricolor flag – blue, yellow & red. Several houses near the park are in ruins, & the gates, statues & trees very much injured by shot.

Lebe wohl, mein theurer Bruder Schreibe mir bald deine Schwester - ¹³
Karolina