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1246 by Henry III., Duke of Brabant, and contains numerous fine paintings, among which are the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Scourging of Christ, by Rubens; the Descent from the Cross, by Cels; Christ in the Garden, and the Seven Works of Mercy, by Teniers the elder; Christ bearing the Cross, by Van Dyck; a Head of Christ, by Otto Venius; Christ Crucified, by Jordaens; and St. Dominic, copied from Correg gio, by Crayer. A globe, with Time holding an Arrow, which points to the hours in succession, forms the clock, and is a curious piece of mechanism. Near the entrance of this church is the celebrated representation of Mount Calvary, beneath which is the Tomb of Christ, containing an image of the Saviour in a shroud of superb silk, surrounded by a vivid picture of Purgatory, the flames of which are reflected on every side, while the horridly grotesque expression of the tormented souls inspires, at first sight, a sentiment of involuntary awe, which stifles and subdues the perceptions of the ridiculous arising from a more detailed examination of the same.

In the Church of the Augustines is an admirable picture by Van Bree, a living artist. It represents the Baptism of St. Augustine, and is remarkable for the beauty of its colouring. The Martyrdom of St. Appolonius, hy Jordaens, St. Augustine's Vision, by Van Dyck, and a series of designs representing the principal events of the life of St. Augustin, are not to be passed over without notice. The pulpit and the grand altar, the one carved the other sculptured by Werbruggen, are also much admired. The church of St. Anthony contains only two good pictures, a Dead Christ, by Van Dyck, and St. Francis receiving the infant Christ from the hands of his mother, by Rubens. The church of St. Charles Borromeo was formerly the most costly edifice of its size in Europe; it was commenced by the Jesuits in 1614, and finished in 1621. The most boundless expense was lavished on it; the finest marble was brought from Genoa for its construction, and the whole was completed from the designs of Rubens. The great altar was formed of marble, porphyry, jasper, and goid; and the shrines of the Virgin and St. Ignatius were of dazzling magnificence. But this splendid edifice was destroyed by lightning in 1748, and the present imitation of it in stone has supplied its place.

The most remarkable pictures are,

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Simeon in the Temple, by Delin; the Assumption, by Schut, and a Priest administering the Sacra. ment to a Knight, by Crayer. In the chapel of St. Ignatius is a communion-table of Carrara marble, sculptured in the finest style of art, by Van Papenhaved. The Museum is the finest in the kingdom, and contains 127 pictures by the first masters of the Flemish school; among them (in addition to the picture of the Fallen Angels we have before mentioned) are the Martyrdom of St. John, the Burial of Christ, and the Head of John the Baptist, by Quentin Matsys; a Holy Family, the Virgin interceding for the souls in Purgatory, the Communion of St. Francis, Jesus shewing his wounds to St. Thomas, the Adoration of the Magi, St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read (an exquisite picture of still life), Christ between the Two Thieves, and numerous others by Rubens (the last mentioned picture is, perhaps, the finest specimen of the artist's genius; the impenitent thief is depicted with a fidelity almost too horrible to be contemplated); a Dead Christ, Christ on the Cross, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Dominic, and others, by Van Dyck; St. Luke before the Proconsul, the Charity of St. Nicholas to a Poor Family, and others, by Otto Vennius; the Last Supper, the Adoration of the Shepherds, and others, by Jordaens; the Resur rection, by Martin de Vos; the Adoration of the Magi, by Albert Durer; Portrait of St. Ignatius surrounded by a garland of flowers, by Seghers and Schut; &c. The chair of Rubens is likewise preserved here, and in an adjoining apartment is a fine collection of casts. In the garden of the Museum are several busts, and a bronze statue of Mary of Burgundy ornamenting her tomb. She was drowned in attempting to save the life of her dog, whose inage likewise forms part of the monument. This Museum may always be visited by strangers without difficulty. There are also several private collections, which are shewn to travellers with great readiness; the most remarkable is that of M. Van Lancker, in the place de Mer, which is rich in most carefully selected specimens of the best masters. There is also a Museum of Natural History in the Rue du Convent, which is worthy of attention. There is a public Academy for paintings, sculpture, architecture, and engraving, which was originally founded in 1454, and was taken under immediate patronage of royalty in

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1817. An immense number of young artists study there. A society for the encouragement of the fine arts has long been established, which distributes prizes every third year, to artists of merit; the allotting of the prizes is preceded by an exhibition, to which none but the works of living and native artists are admitted.

The Citadel was originally built in 1568, by Pacciotto and Cerbelloni, under the direction of the Duke of Alva; it is of immense strength, being in the form of a pentagon, with six bastions, which command each other, and are defended by deep and broad trenches. This fortress formerly contained the bagne, or place of detention for criminals condemned to hard labour. It contains fifteen wells, and a handsome church, in which protestant service is peformed. When Carnot was governor of Antwerp, under Napoleon, he spared no pains to strengthen these fortifications, and succeeded, as he thought, in rendering them impregnable, but they opposed a very ineffectual resistance to the progress of the English arms in 1814, when the town was taken, after a bombardment which nearly destroyed the whole of the docks. But the event which gives the citadel of Antwerp its greatest interest in modern times, is it siege and surrender to the arms of France at the close of the year 1832. From the period of the revolution, which divided Belgium from Holland in 1830, the Dutch had retained possession of the citadel, which commands not only the navigation of the Scheldt, but holds the entire city of Antwerp at its mercy. The forts below the town, on each side of the river, were also in the hands of the Dutch, so that the late monarch had the control of the commerce of Antwerp as effectually as at any period during his reign. To put an end to the incongruous state of things, after upwards of two years spent by Great Britain and France in fruitless endeavours to effect a pacification between the parties, these two powers resolved upon employing force to compel the King of Holland to relinquish a position which gave him so decided an advantage, and which also kept both countries in a state of agitation and warlike preparation, the evils of which were not very inferior to those of war itself. A combined English and French squadron was therefore dispatched to blockade the mouth f the Scheldt by sea, while an imposing French force, under

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Marshal Gerard, proceeded to lay siege to the citadel and the adjacent forts by land. The French army was much larger than was deemed necessary for the mere reduction of the fortress, but the Prussians had established a large corps of observation on the right of the Meuse, and the King of Holland, on his side, had levied a powerful force, which was kept ready for action within a few leagues from Antwerp; consequently, in order to be ready for every contingency, the army under Marshal Gerard was such as to ensure its success; it consisted of nearly 50,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and a tremendous train of artillery. The siege of 1832 commenced on the 29th November, and terminated on the 23rd of January, 1833, in the surrender of the garrison. The French, under Marshal Gerard, amounted to 66,000 men. The late Duke of Orleans commanded the troops in the trenches. The best proof that could be given of the determination and bravery with which General Chasse had defended the trust confided to him, was found in the state of the fortress when entered by the victors, all the places which had been built and considered bomb-proof were discovered to be in a state of utter devastation; heaps of ruins, black and smoking from recent conflagration, marked where buildings had previously stood, and even the hospital which contained the sick and wounded, and amputated soldiers, and which was so placed as to be, at least comparatively secure, was found to have been so injured as to threaten momentarily to fall upon the heads of the inmates; the loss of the besieged was stated at 90 killed, 349 wounded, and 67 missing; that of the French, 108 killed and 687 wounded. The order of the day of the French Marshal stated that 14,000 metres (between eight and nine miles) of trenches had been opened during the siege, and 63,000 cannon-bal's fired at the citadel. An application through a laquai du place to the Hôtel de Ville will obtain an admission to see the citadel.

The Hôtel de Ville is situated in the principal market-place, in which the markets are held every Wednesday and Friday. It was built in 1581, and enlarged in 1713, by pulling down twenty-nine houses. It has a frontage of 250 feet long, and is adorned with statues of the Virgin, Justice, and Prudence, with their attributes. The whole front is covered with ornamental sculpture. In

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this building is an extensive Public Library, and a collection of ancient and modern pictures.

The Bourse is principally remarkable as having been the model from which Sir Thomas Gresham formed his design for the Royal Exchange of London; it was commenced in 1531, burnt down in 1583 and finally completed in 1584. It is one hundred and eighty feet long by one hundred and forty wide, surrounded by forty-four stone columns, supporting a gallery. It has two towers, with a clock and a sun-dial. Above the Exchange is the Academy of Painting, and beneath it are subterranean warehouses for the use of the merchants. The form of the City of Antwerp resembles a strung bow, the string being represented by the Scheldt, in contains twenty-three public squares and upwards of two hundred streets. The most beautiful is the place de Meir in which is the royal palace, which was purchased by Napoleon, and furnished by him for his own residence. It contains a few fine paintings. In the place Verte, a square handsomely planted with trees, are held on the 17th of May, and on the 16th of August, fairs which last thirty days, for merchandise of all kinds; here also is the handsome building inhabited by Carnot, while governor of Antwerp. In the square, called the place Vendredi, is a house the front of which is embellished with a figure of Hercules accompanied by a woman, bearing the inscription "Labore et Constantia." This was formerly the printing house of Christopher Plantin and his successor, Moretus. The town also contains a Theatre, a Circus for the exhibition of horsemanship, an Athenæum, a Mont-de-Piété, a Foundling Hospital, four Asylums, one of which is for foreigners, and five Hospitals. Antwerp is the birth-place of Crayer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, the two Teniers, and Ommegank, all painters of the first class; Edelink the engraver, Ortelius the geographer; Grammage, Butkers, Sanderus, and Vammeteren, historians; Moretus the printer, and Stockmans, whose legal discisions are of the greatest authority in the Belgic courts. The house of Rubens still exists; the street in which it is situated now bears the name of the painter. The public amusernents of Antwerp are not very attractive, but the private society is excellent, and the numerous associations called "harmonies" in which the best compositions of the best

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masters are admirably performed by amateurs, will afford great pleasure to the lover of music. Admission to these meetings is readily obtained There are by any stranger of respectability. public baths in the place Verte and in the Esplanade. The environs of Antwerp afford beautiful walks, particularly in the park, which is situated just outside the gate leading to Brussels Steamers from Antwerp to London twice a week.

Post Office, Place Verte.-Letters can be posted at any of the Branch Offices, at the Bourse, &c. Conveyances.-Railway trains to Ghent direct; to Malines and Brussels; to Malines, Liége, Verviers, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Cologne.

Steamers to Rotterdam daily in summer; to London, every Sunday and Wednesday; to Hul every Wednesday.

ROUTE 5.

Bruges to Courtray. BRUGES.-See preceding Route. The first station arrived at is

THOROUT, a small town situated in a fortile district, remarkable for the manufacture of coarse woollen cloth and excellent lace. Its only objects of attraction are the large Collegiate Church and Stadthuis. The Castle of Wynendale is close by. It was in this place that the Bishop of Lincoln and his colleagues negociated the marriage of Edward, Prince of Wales, with the daughter of Philip, King of France, and that of Edward I., the Prince's father, with the sister of that monarch. LICHTERVELDE, a station of no importance. ROULERS, a small town picturesquely situate on the Mander, amidst beautiful meadows. church of St. Michael, to the rear of the west side of the market-place, a small structure with a beautiful spire, and the Stadthuis, an old building situated in the market-place, are worth a visit.

The

ISEGHEM, a station of no importance, where the railway crosses the Lys, and arrives at COURTRAY.-See route 1.

FROM BRUGES TO COURTRAY.-The trains correspond with the government trains going to Ostend, Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp. Tickets for Ostend, Ghent, Brussels, Liége, Mouscron, and Tournay, are delivered at Bruges, Thourout, Roulers, Iseghem, and Courtray; and in the great stations tickets are delivered for Bruges, Thourout, Lichtervelde, Iseghem, Courtray. Passengers arriving from Paris by the night train, or