Belgium, Volume I by James Emerson Tennent

The railroad -- Confusion at Malines -- Country between Ghent and Dendermonde -- _Vilvorde_ -- _The palace of Laeken_ -- First view of Brussels -- The Grand Place in the old town -- The Hôtel de Ville and Maison Communale -- The new town -- The churches of Brussels -- _The carved oak pulpits of the Netherlands_ -- ST. GUDULE monuments -- Statue of Count F. Merode -- Geefs, the sculptor -- Notre Dame de la Chapelle -- _The museum_ -- Palais de l'Industrie -- The gallery of paintings -- THE LIBRARY -- Its history -- _Remarkable MSS._ -- Curiosities in the museum of antiquities -- Private collections -- Rue Montagne de la Cour -- The theatre -- Historical associations with the Hôtel de Ville -- Counts Egmont and Horn -- The civil commotions of Philip II -- _The fountains of Brussels_ -- The Cracheur -- _The mannekin_, his memoirs -- Fountain of Lord Aylesbury -- Dubos' restaurant -- The hotels of Brussels -- Secret to find the cheapest hotels in travelling.

WE again availed ourselves of the railroad from Ghent to Brussels, starting from the Monk's Meadow at eight o'clock in the morning, and made the journey in about three hours and a half. The route is considerably increased in length, owing to the line making an angle in order to traverse Malines, which has been made a centre at which every branch of the entire system converges and take a fresh departure. This arrangement may be a convenience to the directory, but it is an annoyance to the public, not only by the extension of the distance they have to travel, but by the scene of bustle, confusion, and risk created by the concourse of so many trains at the same point, the nuisance and danger of which can hardly be exaggerated; engines bellowing, horns sounding, luggage moving, and crowds rushing to secure their places in the departing train, or to escape from being run over by the one coming in.