Be it as it may, however, the palace and all its contents remained under the protection of the Belgian government, though in the actual custody of the Prince’s servants, down to the final ratification of the treaty for the independence of Belgium in 1839, and visitors were admitted to its sumptuous apartments on obtaining an order from the minister of finance. That formal abandonment, however, by Holland, of every recognized claim upon its sequestrated dominions, left the Prince of Orange no further pretext for the apparent desertion of his property, and within the last few weeks, the contents of the palace have been in process of removal to the Hague. The books, the paintings and bijouterie are already gone, and the rest of the furniture is speedily to follow, so that, at present, the only objects to be seen, are the hangings of embroidered silk and velvet, the superb ormolu candelabra in the ball room, the gilded chairs, and almost priceless tables of lapis lazuli and malachite, one of which has been estimated, I know not how correctly, at 500,000 francs, and another at three times that sum. They were presents from the Emperor of Russia to his sister the Princess of Orange, together with the slabs of Siberian granite, with which the walls of some of the magnificent saloons are encased, and which is of extraordinary whiteness and beauty. The exterior of this really superb residence, for it is too small to correspond with our ideas of the magnitude of a palace, is utterly unworthy of its matchless contents and internal decorations, but both taken together, are said to have cost upwards of twenty millions of francs, and before its dismantlement, it was beyond all comparison or question, the most recherché mansion in Europe. Perhaps the most interesting apartments are those of the Princess, consisting of the usual bedrooms, baths, boudoir, library, and reception rooms, all of which remained undisturbed as their illustrious occupant had left them, when setting out on that journey to the Hague, whence she little imagined she was never again to return to Brussels. Her books and drawings still lay upon the table, her writing materials and some papers on the portfolio beside them, and all the charming little nic-nacs of the boudoir still remained undisturbed from the disposition in which her own hand had last arranged them. It is not possible that the sympathy which even a foreigner feels on a visit to such a spot, should not have been warmly shared by a large proportion of the Belgians themselves, with these interesting souvenirs perpetually before them. I presume the palace will still be left open for the public; and even if divested of its more luxurious ornaments, its marble walls, rich ceilings, and floors of costly marqueterie, will still render it the bijou of Brussels.