rm-in-arm, and the children strolling before them, and
spend the rest of the day together. It is quite a sight on a summer
evening to see them coming home in crowds down the Avenue Louise, the
father often carrying the youngest on his shoulders, and the mother
with a child hanging on to each arm.

The Avenue Louise is in the modern part of the town. Brussels,
however, is not all modern. Most of the Belgian towns are quite flat,
but to reach the old Brussels you must go down some very steep, narrow
streets, one of which, called the _Montague de la Cour_, where the
best shops are, leads to the Grande Place, a picturesque square
surrounded by quaint houses with fantastic gables. These were the
houses of the Guilds, or Merchant Companies, in the old days. One of
them is shaped like the stern of a ship. Most of them are ornamented
with gilded mouldings. They are beautiful buildings, and the finest is
the Hotel de Ville, the front of which is a mass of statuettes. Its
high, steep roof is pierced by innumerable little windows, and above
it there is a lofty and graceful spire, which towers up and up, with a
gilded figure of the Archangel Michael at the top.

A flower-market is held in the Grande Place, and in summer, when the
sun is shining brightly, it is a very pretty sight. But the best time
to see the Grande Place of Brussels is at night, when all is silent,
and the tall houses look solemnly down on the scene of many great
events which took place there long ago.

I cannot tell you one-half of all there is to see in Brussels--the
beautiful churches, the picture-galleries and museums, the splendid
old library, and the gardens. The largest building is a modern one,
the _Palais de Justice_, where the law courts sit. It cost nearly
L2,000,000 to build, and is much bigger than anything in London. It
stands on an eminence overlooking the lower part of the town, and is
so huge that it may almost be said to make the capital of this tiny
kingdom look top-heavy.

There are many other towns in Belgium besides those we have been
looking at: Louvain, with its ancient University; Liege and Charleroi,
with their steel and iron works; Courtrai, celebrated for the
manufacture of linen; Tournai, where carpets are made; Mons, with its
coal-mines; and more besides, which all lie within the narrow limits
of this small country. Most of them have played a great part in
history. Belgium is, above all things, a country of famous towns.

When y