No one that roams today the quaintly narrowed streets of Bruges, or stands upon its many bridges gazing upon the green of quiet waters, where swans drift and storied towers cast their shadows, would guess that traders from far Novgorod and the cities of Persia, from Spain and all the countries of Europe once animated its highways. Every ruler, every industry, every craft and art that contributed to the dowering of Bruges left upon it some well-graved mark, which Time has not erased. In the old quarters--and there are few new ones--there is scarcely a street that does not offer some reward to the sight-seeker--some fretted casement or sculptured entrance-way, some gracefully designed structure that has a special story of its own, and gives shelter to works of art beyond price. Rising benevolently above the great square is the quadrangular belfry tower, as lofty as it is historic, that Longfellow has made familiar to us all. [Illustration: Copyright Underwood & Underwood KING ALBERT AND QUEEN ELIZABETH OF BELGIUM] _SUPPLEMENTARY READING_ THE SPELL OF BELGIUM _By Isabel Anderson_ THE SPELL OF FLANDERS _By Edward N. Vose_ BELGIUM OF THE BELGIANS _By D. C. Boulger_ THE BELGIANS AT HOME _By Clive Holland_ VANISHED TOWERS AND CHIMES OF FLANDERS _Written and illustrated by George Wharton Edwards_ THE HEART OF EUROPE _By Ralph Cram_ BELGIUM _Text by Hugh Stokes; illustrations by Frank Brangwyn_ BELGIUM _By Brand Whitlock_ BELGIUM, LAND OF ART _By W. E. Griffis_ CONTEMPORARY BELGIAN LITERATURE _By Jethro Bithell_ ⁂ Information concerning the above books may be had on application to the Editor of The Mentor. _THE OPEN LETTER_ [Illustration: Courtesy, Collier’s Weekly RUINS OF THE CLOTH HALL, CATHEDRAL, AND TOWN HALL, YPRES Compare this picture with Gravure No. 1. Both were photographed from about the same spot. As may be seen, the devastation wrought by the War is almost complete. The main façade of the great Cloth Hall had a frontage of 433 feet; the square bell tower was 230 feet high]