In other cities, one would feel as if compiling a guide-book in noting these particulars of Bruges; but here it is different, as every spot, however trifling, is exalted by some traditionary association with the past. “In the thirteenth century,” says the Hand-book, “the ambassadors of twenty states had their hotels within the walls of the city, and the commercial companies of seventeen nations were settled and carried on their traffic within its walls. It became the resort of traders of Lombardy and Venice, who carried hither the merchandize of Italy and India, to be exchanged for the produce of Germany and the north. The argosies of Genoa and Constantinople, frequented her harbour, and her warehouses were stored with the wool of England, the linen of Belgium, and the silk of Persia.”[5] Can any one read this record of the past, and comparing it with the desolation of the present, avoid being reminded of the magnificent description and denunciation of Tyre, by Ezekiel. “Fine linen from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth for thy sails; the inhabitants of Zidon were thy mariners; the men of Persia were thine army; and they of Gammadin were on thy towers, and hung their shields upon thy walls to make thy beauty perfect. Tarshish was thy merchant, and with iron and with tin they traded in thy fairs. Syria gave thee emeralds and broidered work, and coral, and agate. Judah traded in thy markets in honey, and oil, and balm. Damascus in the wine of Hebron and white wool. Arabia occupied with thee in lambs and in goats; and the merchants of Sheba brought thee precious stones and gold. * * * They that handle the oar, the mariner and pilots of the sea, shall come down from thy ships; they shall stand upon the land, and in their wailing they shall cry, what city is like unto Tyre, like unto the destroyed in the midst of the waters?” Of all her active pursuits, Bruges now retains no remnant except the manufacture of lace, to which even her ancient fame has ceased to give a prestige; and it is exported to France to be sold under the name of _Point de Valenciennes_. Mechlin, Antwerp, Ypres and Grammont share with her in its production; and it is interesting to observe how this mignon and elegant art, originally, perhaps, but the pastime of their young girls and women, has survived all the storms and vicissitudes which have from time to time suspended or disturbed the other national occupations of the Belgians, and now enables the inhabitants of their superannuated cities, in the ruin of their own fortunes, to support themselves, as it were, upon the dower of their females. France, in the time of Colbert, seduced the manufacture to establish itself at Paris by actual gifts of money; and England, emulous of sharing in it, purchased the lace of Belgium to sell to Europe as her own, and made by it such a reputation, that _English lace_ is still a popular name for a particular description made at Brussels!