A manufactory of _sabots_ was attached to the back mill, and sold for five-pence and six-pence a pair for the largest size, and half that amount for those suited to children. Surely the introduction of these wooden shoes would be a great accession to the comforts of the Irish peasantry, as well as a new branch of employment in their manufacture. An expert Flemish workman can finish a pair within an hour, and with care they will last for three months. Four pair of thick woollen socks to be worn along with them costs eighteen-pence, so that for four shillings, a poor man might be dry and comfortably shod for twelve months. In winter, especially, and in wet weather, or when working in moist ground, they are infinitely to be preferred, and although the shape may be clumsy, (though in this respect, the Flemish are superior to the French), it is, at least, as graceful as the half-naked foot and clouted shoe of the Irish labourer. I doubt much, however, whether the people, though ever so satisfied of their advantages, would get over their association of “arbitrary power and brass money” with the use of “wooden shoes.” Courtrai itself is a straggling, cheerless-looking town, and possesses few objects of any interest. Outside the gate is the field on which was fought the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, and a little chapel still marks the spot which was the centre of the action. Its large market for flax and linen has made its name familiar abroad, but it has little within itself to detain a stranger in search of the picturesque. Its only antique buildings are the Town Hall and the church of Notre-Dame, the former contains two richly carved mantel-pieces, evidently of very remote date. The latter was built by Count Baldwin, who was chosen Emperor at Constantinople in the fourth Crusade, and contains, amidst a host of worthless pictures, a Descent from the Cross, by Vandyck. Amongst the curiosities in the sacristy, is a sacerdotal dress of Thomas a’Becket, of most ample dimensions, which the saint left behind him on returning to England after his reconciliation with Henry II. At either extremity of the bridge which crosses the Lys in the centre of the town are two vast circular towers, called the _Broellen Torren_ which were built in the fifteenth century, and still serve as the town prisons. The chief support of the town is still derived from its linen weaving, which unlike the usual practice in Belgium, is done in large factories, at which the workmen attend as in England. The production of linen of all kinds at Courtrai is about 30,000 pieces a year. There is also a considerable manufactory of thread. * * * * *