contributions on its inhabitants; vi-
vidly referred to, with other Bel-
gian towns, in Scott's Quentin Dur-
ward.
Noted for its manufactures of yarn
and woollen cloth, and for its soap
and dye-works.
Derives its celebrity from its chaly-
beate waters, which cause it to be
the annual resort of large numbers
of visitors; romantically situated.
A fortified town; contains numerous
iron-works, factories, and a college;
has a busy trade in corn.
Strongly fortified; being famed for its
cutlery, Namur is called the "Shef-
field of Belgium;" has also exten-
sive manufactures of iron, steel, and
bronze articles; tanning carried on
to a great extent; fine cathedral of
modern date, in the Grecian style of
architecture.

A small town, very strongly fortified.
A village, a few miles to the west of
Namur, which recals the events of
1815, and the few days that im-
mediately preceded the battle of
Waterloo.

ETYMOLOGICAL NOTE.

Bruges (pron. Broozh). In the Flemish, Bruges or Bruggen signifies bridges, and was so named from the many bridges that cross its canals.

Ghent (pron. Gong). The Emperor Charles V., who was perpetually at war with Francis I., king of France, used to say (not from idle boasting, Ghent being then in a flourishing_condition, while Paris was only rising into importance) that he could put Paris in his glove,-"Je mettrais Paris dans mon Gant (Gand)," the French gant meaning a glove.

Brussels is derived from the Flemish breecksel, a marsh; because Brussels was built round a chapel on an island surrounded by the Senne, which was only a marsh.

Antwerp is a Flemish word signifying at the wharf, which was given it in consequence of there having been, from the earliest antiquity, a wharf at which to unload ships.

RIVER-SYSTEM.

The only rivers in Belgium deserving attention are the Maas (French, Meuse) and Scheldt (French, Escaut). The towns in the basins of these rivers are as follow:

From Mechlin, which, as we have seen, is the centre of the Belgic system of railways, a principal line proceeds south-west by Brussels to Mons, a second goes south-west to Liège, a third north to Antwerp, and a fourth west by Ghent and Bruges to Ostend. Another main line unites Antwerp, Ghent, and Tournay; while a third principal line proceeds from Liège, connecting that town with Namur, Mons, Tournay, and Courtrai. The number of miles open for traffic by this means was 813 in the year 1858.

(b) CANALS.

This country is so largely intersected by canals that we need only specify the Bruges and Ghent Canal which unites with those of Damme and Ostend at Bruges, and at Bruges communicates with another that travels north to the estuary of the East Scheldt, making a total length of nearly 300 miles.

The roads are numerous, broad, and well paved and kept.

FOREIGN POSSESSIONS.

When Belgium and Holland were disunited in 1830, the foreign possessions were retained by the latter country (which see).

PRINCIPAL BELGIAN WRITERS IN LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.

"The literature of Belgium," says Mr. Mackay, "is inseparable from that of the Netherlands, the Flemish language and the Dutch having been till recently the same. Belgium has always been more celebrated for the fine arts than for literature, in which it stands greatly lower than the Netherlands." Amongst its eminent_ARTISTS the most distinguished names are Rubens, Vandyk, Champagne, Jordaens, and Derniers; in HISTORY, Jacob Van Maerland-"father of the poets of the Netherlands,"-Philip de Comines, Schott, and Strada; in PHILOLOGY and CRITICISM, Lipsius, Drusius, and Oudenarde; in ANATOMY and MEDICINE, Vesalius and Van Helmont; and in MATHEMATICS, Simon Stevin, the inventor of decimal arithmetic.

MINOR NOTES.

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.—Exports-Corn, cattle, woollen goods, hempen and linen cloths, flax, hemp, oak, bark, clover seed, lawn, lace, cambric, carpets, cutlery, nails, and refined sugar. These, in the year 1852, amounted to 11,492,8407. Imports-Tea, coffee, raw sugar, and cotton from the tropics, tobacco from the United States, fruits and wines from the south of Europe, cotton yarn, cotton cloths, hardware, earthenware, &c., from England, and wool from Germany. In 1852 the value of the imports was 11,465,8407.

NAVAL STATIONS.-Ostend and Nieuport.

LANGUAGES.-These are three in number, the French, which is the language of the court, literature, and of the legislature; the Walloon (a dialect of the French), spoken at Liège, Hainault, Namur, and Luxembourg; and the Flemish, used in Flanders, Antwerp, and Lembourg; this is the Dutch of the preceding century.

RELIGION. Although other religions are not only tolerated, and their churches in a great measure supported by the state, the population belong, almost entirely, to the Romish church.

EDUCATION. In this respect Belgium takes precedence of both France and Austria. According to the census of 1846, nearly 500,000 children, about th of the population, were attending school. Its university towns are Brussels, Lovain, Liège, and Ghent. ARMY.-Belgium has for its size a considerable standing army, which, before the present peace establishment, was still greater. Since that time, however, it boasts of 60,000 men under arms, which, in an emergency, could be nearly doubled.

NAVY.-Insignificant, but increasing; and several powerful steamers, fitted both for the purposes of warfare and commerce, have lately been constructed at the expense of the government.

In 1858 the PUBLIC DEBT amounted to 27,720,0007.; the REVENUE to 5,660,0007.; and the EXPENDITURE to 5,500,0007.

M