In a small square adjoining that in which stands the tower of Les Halles, are two other ancient buildings of equal interest. The _palais de justice_ occupies the site of the old “palace of the Franc or liberty of Bruges.” It contains in one of its apartments, (the others are chiefly modern,) a remarkable mantel-piece of carved oak, covering the entire side of the hall, and consisting of a number of statues the size of life, let into niches decorated with the most elaborate and beautiful carvings, and surmounted by the armorial bearings of Burgundy, Brabant, and Flanders. This singular specimen of the arts, dates from the reign of Charles V. and contains statues of the Emperor himself, with Maximilian, and Mary of Burgundy to his left hand; on his right, those of Charles le Téméraire, and his Lady Margaret of York. These specimens of the perfection to which this description of modelling has attained amongst the Flemings, must really be seen, in order to be sufficiently comprehended. The other building adjoining is the _Hotel de Ville_, a small, but elegant example of the gothic architecture in the fourteenth century. The many niches which now stand empty at each compartment of its front, were formerly filled with statues of the native Princes of Flanders and Burgundy, to the number of thirty-three; numerous shields, charged with arms surmounted the principal windows, and on a little balcony in front, the Dukes, on the occasion of their inauguration, made oath to respect the rights and privilege of their subjects. But in 1792, the soldiers of the French directory, under Dumourier, in the “fine frenzy” of republicanism, tore down these ancient monuments of the former history of Bruges, as “the images of tyrants” and pounding them to dust, flung them upon a pile composed of fragments of the gallows and the scaffold, and ordered it to be kindled by the public executioner. The grand hall in the Hotel de Ville is occupied as a library, and contains a large and valuable collection of books and manuscripts. Bruges was the birth-place of Berken, who discovered the art of polishing the diamond, and, as if the secret were still confined to the craft, (in fact it was for a length of time a secret amongst the jewellers of the Low Countries), one still sees over many a door in Bruges, the sign-board of the “Diamant-zetter,” who resides within.