Transit Trade of Belgium, ii. 45. Shipping, ii. 40. Silk Trade, ii. 45. Cotton Trade, ii. 91. Gilt Leather chairs, ii. 109. Railroads, ii. 119. Brewing, ii. 131. Cutlery, ii. 157. Paper, Manufacture of, ii. 163. Coal Mines, ii. 168. Fire-arms and Cannon, ii. 191. Woollen Trade, ii. 199. Joint Stock Companies, ii. 204. General State and Prospects of Belgian Manufacturers, i. 81; ii. 210. BELGIUM. CHAPTER I. OSTEND AND BRUGES. OSTEND, the Harbour--Canal Docks--Police--Economy of a private carriage for a party on the continent--General aspect of Ostend--Effluvia--Siege in 1604--Fortifications--Promenade--Sands and sea-bathing--Commerce--BRUGES, the railroad--Belgium naturally suited to railroads--Old canal travelling to Bruges superseded--Appearance of the city--Its style of ancient houses--The streets--Canals and gardens--Squares--Style of public edifices--Resembles Pisa--_Ancient history of Bruges_--Its old palaces--Marriages of Charles the Rash and Mary of Burgundy--Singular marriage custom of the middle ages--House in which the Emperor Maximilian was confined--Residences of Edward IV. of England, and of Charles II.--_Commercial greatness of Bruges_--The Hanseatic League--Her tapestries--The order of the Golden Fleece instituted in her honour--Saying of the Queen of Philip the Fair--Story of the Burghers at the court of John of France--_Her present decay_--Air of reduced nobility--Costume of the middle classes--Grave demeanour of the citizens--No traces of the Spaniards to be found in the Low Countries--_Flemish sculptures in wood_--Pictures--No modern paintings in Bruges--_Collection in the Church of St. Sauveur_--Characteristics of the early Flemish school--The paintings in _the Museum_--Statue of Van Eyck--His claim to be the inventor of oil painting--_Collection in the Chapel of the Hospital of St. John_--Story of Hans Memling--The cabinet of St. Ursula--The folding-doors of the Flemish paintings--The Hospital of St. John--Statue by Michael Angelo--TOMBS OF MARY OF BURGUNDY AND CHARLES THE RASH--The tower of Les Halles--Carillon--Splendid view--The _Palais de Justice_--Superb carved mantel-piece--_Hotel de Ville_--Its statues destroyed by the French revolutionists--Diamond setters--Comparison of Bruges and Tyre--Mr. Murray’s hand-books--The manufacture of lace in Belgium.