426 



BELGIUM. 



The rivalries between Bruges and Ghent, foreign and civil wars, and the 

 destruction of the local liberties by the Dukes of Burgundy sufficiently account 

 for the decay of the town ; but it might have recovered from these disasters, 

 had not nature been against her by filling up the old estuary of the Zwyn. It is 

 true the ancient river highway has been replaced by a navigable canal which 

 joins Bruges to Ostend, and enables vessels of a draught of 14 feet 6 inches to reach 

 its docks ; but what are the commercial advantages of this canal when compared 

 with those offered by the Schelde to the merchants of Antwerp ? Bruges no 

 longer fills the space enclosed by its old ramparts, now converted into pro- 



Fig. 237.— Bruges and the Old Zwyn. 

 Scale 1 : 225,000. 



2 Miles. 



menades, and the number of its inhabitants is diminishing.* Worse still, in no 

 other town of Belgium is pauperism more widespread. Lace-making, which 

 employs most of the poor, is far from being remunerative. Walking through 

 the silent streets of the old city, we migbt fancy ourselves in a museum. Nearly 

 all the remarkable buildings lie within a narrow compass, towards the centre of 

 the city: the belfry; the cathedral; the church of Our Lady, with Michael 

 Angelo's statue of the Virgin and the sumptuous tomb of Mary of Burgundy; 

 the chapel of St. Sang, much frequented by pilgrims ; the town-hall ; and the 

 hospital of St. John, with paintings by ]\[emling. It was at Bruges that Caxton 

 * Inhabitants :— 1846, 49,803 ; 1866,47,205; 1876,45,097. 



