ance, while its graceful tower, 370 feet in height is considered to be the finest tower in Belgium. This magnificent structure was built in the 15th century, and its elaborately decorated niches on the facade towards the square are splendid specimens of the decorated style of the period.
The square in front of the Hotel de Ville has witnessed many a stirring event of past times. It was and is still a market place 120 yards by 74 yards, and it was here that the Duke of Alva committed his atrocious butcheries during his reign of terror in the Netherlands. Lamoral, Count Egmont, and Philip de Montmorency, Count Hoorn were among his noblest victims and were executed here.
Opposite the Hotel de Ville is the Maison du Roi built in the 16th century and then used as the seat of Government authorities. Close to the Hotel de Ville are also the old hall of the butchers, the hall of the brasseurs, the hall of the archers, the hall of the skippers, the hall of the carpenters and the hall of the tailors. Each profession in those days had a guild of its own, and the members were bound by a strong esprit de corps which formed the strongest guarantee of their safety and welfare in those troublesome times. In India alone such trade-guilds have degenerated into hereditary castes.
One or two other places in Brussels deserve a passing mention. Of the old fortifications round the town the Porte de Hal is now the sole remnant, and a museum of antiquities has been established here. It is lofty and
