THE TECHNOLOGIST, 
THE ARMS TRADE OF BELGIUM. 
BY MR. BARRON, 
HER MAJESTY'S SECRETARY OF LEGATION AT BRUSSELS. 
This industry stands perhaps the first of all, not in the aggregate value 
but in the celebrity of its produce. This produce has obtained a footing 
upon every market of the world. "Whereverfire-arms are used the Liege 
proof-mark will be found in circulation. I cannot refrain from stating 
the obligations which I am under to Captain Nicaise of the Artillery, 
attached to the Ministry of War, and to M. A. Polain, Director of the 
Liege proof- house, tor assistance and information. 
The manufacture of fire-arms in the principality of Liege dates from 
the middle of the fourteenth century. Cannon, or as they were then 
termed bombards, were the most ancient fire-arms. They were made of 
iron bars, hooped together with iron rings. The French used some at 
the siege of Puy-Guillaume in 1328, the English at Crecy in 1346, the 
first authentic instance of their use in the field. The Liegois used bom- 
bards at the siege of Hamalle in 1346, the first appearance of fire-arms 
in Belgian history. Besides bombards, a portable kind of ordnance 
named hand-cannon came into use at an early period. They were so 
small and light (from 25 to 50 lbs.) that one of them was carried by two 
men. The 400 cannon (or most of them) with which and English army 
besieged St. Malo in 1378, as mentioned by Froissart, must have been of 
this kind, as also the 300 guns used by the Gantois against the Brugeois 
in 1380, and by the Liegeois at Othee in 1408. 
There is no doubt but that England has derived much knowledge of 
artillery from this country. Dr. Henry even conjectures that hand-can- 
non were first introduced into England by the Flemings, who accom- 
panied Edward IV. on his return to England in 1471. Both Henry VII. 
and Henry VIII. employed a number of Flemish gunners for the purpose 
of fostering the science of artillery. Among others, one Peter von Collin 
is mentioned in Stowe's Annals as employed by King Henry in 1543 for 
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