The earth and its inhabitants The earth and its inhabitants .. earthitsinhabita386recl Year: 1883 426 BELGIUM. The rivalries between Bruges and Ghent, foreign and civil wars, and the destruction of the local liberties by the Dukes of Burgundy sufficiently account for the decay of the town ; but it might have recovered from these disasters, had not nature been against her by filling up the old estuary of the Zwyn. It is true the ancient river highway has been replaced by a navigable canal which joins Bruges to Ostend, and enables vessels of a draught of 14 feet 6 inches to reach its docks ; bu
The earth and its inhabitants The earth and its inhabitants .. earthitsinhabita386recl Year: 1883 426 BELGIUM. The rivalries between Bruges and Ghent, foreign and civil wars, and the destruction of the local liberties by the Dukes of Burgundy sufficiently account for the decay of the town ; but it might have recovered from these disasters, had not nature been against her by filling up the old estuary of the Zwyn. It is true the ancient river highway has been replaced by a navigable canal which joins Bruges to Ostend, and enables vessels of a draught of 14 feet 6 inches to reach its docks ; but what are the commercial advantages of this canal when compared with those offered by the Schelde to the merchants of Antwerp ? Bruges no longer fills the space enclosed by its old ramparts, now converted into pro- Fig. 237.—Bruges and the Old Zwyn. Scale 1 : 225,000. 2 Miles. menades, and the number of its inhabitants is diminishing.* Worse still, in no other town of Belgium is pauperism more widespread. Lace-making, which employs most of the poor, is far from being remunerative. Walking through the silent streets of the old city, we migbt fancy ourselves in a museum. Nearly all the remarkable buildings lie within a narrow compass, towards the centre of the city: the belfry; the cathedral; the church of Our Lady, with Michael Angelo's statue of the Virgin and the sumptuous tomb of Mary of Burgundy; the chapel of St. Sang, much frequented by pilgrims ; the town-hall ; and the hospital of St. John, with paintings by ]\[emling. It was at Bruges that Caxton * Inhabitants :—1846, 49,803 ; 1866,47,205; 1876,45,097.
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