304 HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



try, bin medicine, agriculture, horticulture, and still other 

 branches of knowledge. 



Highly interested by his lively conversation, we very 

 readily accepted an invitation to meet him at his nursery- 

 garden in the afternoon. 



It having been recommended to us, to visit the garden 

 of M. Piers, a retired merchant of Ghent, who had form- 

 ed a fine villa after the English style near Lacken, where 

 he is extremely successful in cultivating Magnolias, we 

 made inquiry at some of his acquaintances, and were in- 

 formed, that we had only to send in our names, with notice 

 of our object, in order to our being well received. We 

 accordingly took a fiacre, and drove to the gate ; but were 

 refused admission. On requesting that a card from us 

 should be presented to M. Piers, we were told, in the Eng- 

 lish fashion, that he was not at home. Our driver, a young 

 and spirited Flemish lad, could not, unfortunately, contain 

 himself: " Sacre nom !" — he exclaimed, with much of the 

 naivete of an Irish post-boy, — " Ne Tai-je pas vu, cette 

 instant, passant ici devant les serres, — de mes propres 

 yeux ? — Sacre !" The door was instantly slammed. We 

 had met with nothing like this on the Continent ; and 

 even making allowance for the irritating nature of the un- 

 lucky remark of our indignant cocher, we could not help 

 contrasting our reception at the door of the Ghent merchant 

 with that which we had experienced at the portal of his 

 next neighbour and sovereign. 



Gallery of Paintings, and Museum. 

 Thus unsuccessful in our endeavour to see the garden 

 of M. Piers, we returned to Brussels, and repaired to the 

 Gallery of Pcwritings ; the extent and riches of which sur- 



