ROUTE 92.

BRUSSELS TO GHENT,
BRUGES AND OSTEND.

78 miles; first class, 8.65; second, 6.50; third, 4.30.

EAVING Brussels from the Northern Railway Station, and passing Laeken and Denderleeuw Junction, we reach ALOST (18 miles) (Hotel: Pays Bas), a town of 18,500 inhabitants, on the river Dender. In the unfinished church of St Martin is the picture by Rubens of St Roch interceding with our Saviour to stay the plague at this place. Passing several places of no interest we reach GHENT (36 miles) (Hotels: see "HOTEL LIST"). PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF INTEREST: Churches, St Bavon, St Michel; Hotel de Ville, Belfry, Béguinage.

Note.--By taking a cab at the station one may see tolerably well all that is worth seeing here in three or four hours.

Cab fares, 1 franc the course, 1.50 the hour.

This is the chief city of East Flanders, situated in a fine plain at the confluence of the Scheldt and the Lys. It is of great antiquity, and under the Spanish dominion was one of the greatest cities in Europe. It early acquired a reputation for its cloths-the wool for which was in great part supplied from England-and retained it until a comparatively late period. The arrogant and turbulent disposition which seems always to have characterized opulent and flourishing Flemish communities soon manifested itself here; and was the cause of the continued tumults and troubles,

of which its eventful history consists.

After a long decadence, its trade and manufactures considerably revived under the government of William I., who was inaugurated here, as King of the Netherlands, in 1815; and in 1830, at the time of the separation from Holland, it was the first manufacturing town in the country. No two names of their period stand out more prominently in history as popular leaders, than those of two of its citizens-Jacques Van Artevelde, "the Brewer of Ghent," who was murdered in 1344, through suspicion of his designs; and his son, Philip Van Artevelde, who was killed in the battle of Roosebeke, in 1382, fighting at the head of the Gantois against the French, and Louis de Maele.

The Cathedral Church of St Bavon, is one of the grandest and finest in Belgium; and the great height of its nave, rising above all the other buildings of the town, makes it the most conspicuous object for many miles round. The crypt dates from 941; the nave from 1228; the choir from 1274; and the tower from 1534. The tower was reduced by a fire in 1603 from its original height of 365 ft. to 272 ft. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, held a chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece in it in 1445; and Philip II. of Spain held another in 1559, of which memorials remain in the escutcheons of the knights, under the windows of the choir. The most prized picture here, is the 'Lamb," the chief work of the brothers Van Eyck, the first painters in oil, who were born here, and are buried in the crypt. There are 24 chapels in the church, the brass gates of which are highly ornamental; in one of them is a Rubens, "St

Bavon received in the Abbey of St Amand." There are many other paintings and sculptures of great merit. The pulpit is particularly worthy of notice.

Next in interest to the Cathedral are the churches of St Michel, commenced in 1440, and finished in 1480; and St Peter, rebuilt in 1629; in both of which are some good pictures. The other churches are of far inferior interest.

There are some pictures of merit to be seen in the Museum, or Academy of Design, Rue St Marguerite.

The Belfry Tower, 280 ft. high, is ancient, having been commenced about 1183. The spire was placed upon it in 1855, when it was repaired. It is surmounted by a large copper-gilt dragon, as a weathercock, said to have originally performed the same functions on a church in Constantinople, from which place it was brought to Bruges, as a present from the Emperor to Baldwin, Count of Flanders. It was brought from Bruges by P. Van Artevelde, as a trophy, when he sacked that town in 1382. In this tower was the bell "Roland," spoken of by Longfellow :

"Saw the fight at Minnewater, saw the White Hoods moving west,

flamboyant Gothic, and the other in that of the Italian Renais sance.

The Palais de Justice, the University, and all the other public buildings are modern.

The canal to Terneusen, originally designed by Napoleon on a large scale, and executed in two years under the Dutch government, brings vessels of considerable size to the town. It was opened in 1828; and ships drawing 18 ft. water discharge in the basin at Ghent.

The principal promenade is the Coupure, or cutting, along the canal, dug in 1738, to unite the River Lys with the Bruges Canal.

The principal public places are the Marché du Vendredi, and the Kouter, or Place d'Armes.

The Marché du Vendredi is full of historic reminiscences. Here took place, in 1345, the sanguinary trade fight between the weavers and fullers of the town, when 500 of them were killed; the proclamation of P. Van Artevelde as Captain of the Commune in 1381; the inauguration of the Counts of Flanders; the executions of the Ministers of Mary of Burgundy; and later, the burnings of heretics by the Holy Inquisition under Alba. In a passage near the market is a very curious ancient piece of

the Golden Dragon's nest,

Till the bell of Ghent resounded o'er

lagoon and dike of sand, I am Roland! I am Roland! there is victory in the land!'"

The Gravensteen, the residence of the Counts, was sold in 1779, and turned into factories. The old entrance alone remains.

The Hotel de Ville, begun in 1481, and only finished about 1600, has two facades in very different styles, the one in the richest

called "The Wonder of Ghent," or "Mad Margaret " (Marguerite enragée.)

The Kouter is situated in the best quarter of the city, and is surrounded by fine houses, and planted with lime trees. On Sundays and festivals it is used in the morning as a flower market.

The numerous canals which intersect the town in many direc tions, dividing it into islands, are crossed by nearly 100 bridges, in stone and wood.

John of Gaunt son of Edward

III., founder of the Lancastrian branch of the Plantagenets, and Charles V. were born here.

The new convent, Béguignage, near the Antwerp gate, built to replace the old Béguignage, is well worth a visit.

BRUGES (64 miles), (Hotels: see "HOTEL LIST.")

PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF INTEREST.-The Grand Place and its belfry, the Cathedral of St Sauveur, Notre Dame, Hôpital de St Jeans, Hotel-de-Ville, Chapel du Saint Sang.

ENGLISH CHURCH, Rue d'Ostende, 1183.

NOTE.-One could see all the objects worth seeing in 3 or 4 hours with the help of a cab.

Cabhire.-One franc the course, 1.50 for one hour, 1 franc for each hour after the first.

The chief town of West Flanders, situated at the junction of the Ostend, Ghent, and Ecluse canals. It is traversed by the first of these, which is wide and deep enough for large sea-going ships. It is a very ancient place, and was so rich, flourishing, and distinguished for the luxury of the apparel of its inhabitants, that when it was visited in 1301 by the King and Queen of France, the latter, in reference to the dresses of the ladies, observed, "I thought myself the only queen here, but I see a thousand about Under the House of Burgundy it became the centre of the commerce of northern Europe. In 1486 it is said to have had 200,000 inhabitants, and that 150 foreign vessels entered its basins in a single day. It owed a great deal of its wealth to its cloth trade. All this prosperity declined in the civil wars of the 15th century, and was finally eclipsed by that of Antwerp; the city has, nevertheless, preserved many evidences of its ancient grandeur.

me.

The Cathedral Church of St Sauveur was built in 1185, upon the site of an older one, destroyed by fire in 1127; the side chapels of the choir of this one having also been destroyed by fire in 1358, have been rebuilt in a later style. A fire in 1839 completely destroyed the interior of the tower and its covering. The square tower which rises to the height of the nave is in the Norman or Romanesque style, but its two upper stages were added in 1843, from designs of Messrs Chantrell (an English architect), and Bucky. It contains many works of art, two monumental brasses, dated 1423 and 1515, and the blazonries of the knights of the Golden Fleece, who attended a chapter here in 1478.

The church of Notre Dame is equally ancient, but more remarkable for its contents than for its architecture. Its lofty tower and spire serve as a landmark to mariners. It contains some paintings, a celebrated group in marble of the Virgin and the Infant Jesus, ascribed to Michael Angelo, but mentioned by none of his biographers in their lists of his works; and in a side chapel of the choir, the tombs of Charles the Bold, and his daughter, Mary of Burgundy. The effigies of both are made of copper richly gilt, and repose upon slabs of black marble, but that of Mary is by far the most elaborate and beautifully finished. Around the sides are 36 richly enamelled coats of arms, arranged on the branches of a genealogical tree, supported by some beautiful figures of animals.

In the Hospital of St John are the pictures of Memling, born here about 1425, which are the pride of the town.

In the Chapel of St Basil, or du Saint Sang, which adjoins the Hotel-de-Ville, is a silver-gilt

Les Halles is an ancient building, dating from 1280, in which year its predecessor was burnt down. Its BELFRY, 290 ft. high, affords a grand panoramic view of the surrounding country; and its chimes, which play by machinery four times an hour, are the finest in Europe, and are those celebrated by Longfellow in his " Belfry of Bruges.'

In the market-place of Bruges stands

the belfry old and brown; Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town.

As the summer morn was breaking, on that lofty tower I stood, And the world threw off the darkness,

like the weeds of widowhood.

Thick with towns and hamlets studded, andwith streams andvapours grey, Like a shield embossed with silver, round and vast the landscape lay. At my feet the city slumber'd. From its chimneys, here and there, Wreaths of snow-white smoke, ascend. ing, vanish'd, ghost-like, into air.

Then most musical and solemn, bring

ing back the olden times, With their strange, unearthly changes rang the melancholy chimes,

Like the psalms from some old cloister,

when the nuns sing in the choir; And the great bell toll'd among them, like the chanting of a friar."

On the south side of the square, at the corner of the Rue St Amand, is the house occupied by Charles II. of England while in exile; and in the hall of the cross-bowmen (of which fraternity he was elected the king), in

the Archers' Guilds, there is a bust of him, and a portrait of the Duke of Gloucester, his brother.

Most of the other public buildings are modern and uninteresting. Bruges is an exceedingly cheap place of residence, especially as regards house rent. Its chief manufacture is that of lace. The famous Order of the Golden Fleece was instituted here by Philip the Good in 1430, in recognition of the excellence to which the town had attained in the manufacture of wool. Bruges still retains its ancient reputation as the place par excellence in Belgium for handsome women.

[Blankenberghe, 7 miles from Bruges, which a few years ago was a miserable fishing village, seems to be rising yearly in favour as a bathing place, and is much frequented. There is a railway to it direct from Bruges]

The country between Bruges and Ostend is fertile, but flat, devoid of timber, and generally uninteresting. A fine canal extends from Bruges to Ostend. In the year 1798 a body of English troops, landing at the latter place, destroyed the sluices of the canal. Owing to a change in the wind, they were unable to make good their escape, and were taken prisoners by the French.

OSTEND (78 miles), (Hotels: see "HOTEL LIST.") Originally a fishing-town, Ostend was walled by Philip the Good, who at the 1445, and regularly fortified by same time enlarged the port, in the Prince of Orange in 1583; to which latter circumstance it owes its mention in European history as having withstood a siege by the Spaniards for more than three years, and then surrendered only by command of the States General. The besieged are said to have lost 50,000 men, and the besiegers 80,000. Except as a

bathing-place, with a gently sloping beach of very fine sand, and of great extent, it has no attractions or objects of interest for the tourist. The principal promenades are along the Digue, a sea-wall 1 miles long, about the centre of which is the Kursaal. At one end of the Digue is the king's new summer palace. An extensive view is obtainable from the summit of the light-house at the end of the Digue.

Ostend has within two or three years been greatly enlarged and improved. It is now one of the busiest and most attractive watering-places in Europe.

The hotels and lodging-houses are excellent and not expensive, and the town affords every desired attraction in the way of baths, promenades, music, and the usual accompaniments of first-class resorts.

Steamers arrive daily from England, with which the trade of the place is principally carried on. Ostend is renowned for its oysters, which are raised from spat or fry, brought from England, and deposited in reservoirs called "parks."

ROUTE 93.

BRUSSELS TO LIEGE, AIXLA-CHAPELLE, AND COLOGNE.

138 miles; 1st class, 26-25 francs ; 2nd, 19-25 francs.

Suède).

HE first place of interest, after leaving Brussels, is LOUVAIN (18 miles), (Hotel de This place is said to have been built upon the site of an entrenchment formed by the Normans, and occupied by them for some years as a stronghold from which to carry on their depredations. On their expulsion by the Emperor Arnold in 891, their camp became the nucleus of a city. The Counts of Louvain finally became Dukes of Lower Lorraine, and of Brabant. The city is said to have had, in the 14th century, 200,000 inhabitants, principally engaged in woollen manufactures. It subsequently declined in prosperity, owing to the disputes between its Aristocracy and Bourgeoisie ; the latter, being worsted, are said to have emigrated in great numbers to England, where they introduced the art of clothworking. It has suffered much from inundations and from fires, but still retains much of its ancient splendour, of which its Hotel-de-Ville is one of the choicest examples, being, by common consent, the most tasteful and picturesque in Belgium. It was commenced in 1447, and finished in 1463. Hope, the author of the History of Architecture, calls it "the ne plus ultra of