.'0< ; HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



generally known, lost his sight while yet a young man, 

 owing to the discharge of a fowling-piece from the hands of 

 one of his intimate friends, while both were keenly engaged 

 in hunting. This deplorable calamity, we understand, has 

 been borne with heroic fortitude by the sufferer, who even 

 found it necessary to offer consolation to the innocent au- 

 thor of the misfortune. In the madness of the revolution- 

 ary period, some of the Duke's estates were pillaged ; but 

 during the whole time he was personally respected, and al- 

 lowed, not only to remain unmolested, but to retain consi- 

 derable riches and influence. The ducal hotel at Brus- 

 sels is one of the oldest and most splendid in the city, and 

 is therefore commonly visited by strangers. After walk- 

 ing through it, we took this opportunity of viewing the 

 garden, which is immediately at the back of the hotel. 

 Owing to the declivity of the ground in this part of Brus- 

 sels, a great portion of the garden is as high as the princi- 

 pal floor of the house. From the state apartments, one 

 walks immediately out to a neat lawn on the same level. 

 On this lawn grows a sumach-tree, of considerable age, 

 and of great size, being near forty feet high, with a stem 

 more than three feet and a half in circumference. The 

 fine pictures in the Duke's possession have, we believe, of- 

 ten been described, particularly a horse and his rider by 

 Vandyke ; but we do not recollect of its having been men- 

 tioned, that the collection of orange-trees, at this season ar- 

 ranged on the back lawn, is superb. An ungrafted tree 

 formed the most handsome specimen of the orange-tribe 

 we had yet seen, particularly in regard to the size and dis- 

 play of the head. The gardener mentioned, that it was 

 nearly 4(X) years old, having, at that distance of time, been 

 a pi' (ill from ail Infanta of Spain to an ancestor of the 

 Duke. 



