I will interpolate here a few remarks about the more modern portion of the Old Town. The best way to see it is to take the tram along the Inner Boulevards from the Gare du Midi to the Gare du Nord. You will then pass, first, the Outer Boulevards (see later): next, R., the _Palais du Midi_; L., the _Place d’Anneessens_, with a statue of Anneessens, the intrepid and public-spirited magistrate of Brussels who was put to death in 1719 for venturing to defend the privileges of the city against the Austrian authorities. Just opposite this, you get a glimpse, R., of the _Place Rouppe_, to be noticed later. Passing the _Place Fontainas_, where many streets radiate, you arrive at the _Bourse_, already noticed. The handsome corner building (with dome) in front of you, which forms so conspicuous an element in the prospect as you approach, is the _Hôtel Continental_. Just in front of it expands a small new square (_Place de Brouckere_) still unfinished, on which a monument is now being erected to a late burgomaster (De Brouckere.) At this point, the Boulevard divides, the western branch following the course of the Senne (which emerges to light just beyond the Outer Boulevards,) while the eastern branch goes straight on to the Gare du Nord, passing at the first corner a handsome narrow house with gilt summit, which won the first prize in the competition instituted by the Municipality for the best _façades_ on the new line of streets. After reaching the Gare du Nord, you can return to the Gare du Midi by an alternative line of main streets, which also cuts through the heart of the Old Town, a little to the E. of the Inner Boulevards. It begins with the _Rue Neuve_, where a short street to the L. conducts you straight to the =Place des Martyrs=, a white and somewhat desolate square of the 18th century, (1775) adorned later with a Monument to the Belgians who were killed during the War of Independence in 1830. Shortly after this (continuing the main line) you pass two covered galleries, R. and L., and then arrive at the =Place de la Monnaie=. On your R. is the handsome building of the new =Post Office=; on your L., the white Ionic-pillared =Grand Théâtre= or =Théâtre de la Monnaie=, (opera, etc.). You then pass between _St. Nicolas_ on the L., and the _Bourse_ on the R., and continue on to the =Place Rouppe=, (ornamented with a fountain and a statue of Brussels personified): whence the Avenue du Midi leads you straight to the _Place de la Constitution_, in front of the South Station. The remainder of the =Western Half of the town= is, for the most part, poor and devoid of interest, though it contains the principal markets, hospitals, and barracks, as well as the basins for the canals which have superseded the Senne. _C._ THE PICTURE GALLERY