THE DECAY OF BRUGES.

Bruce Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 1209, 4 June 1880, Page 6

THE DECAY OF BRUGES.

This interesting old Flemish city, which in the height of its prosperity had a population of some 200,000 souls, has, since the sanguinary persecutions under Philip 11., been gradually declining in wealth and numbers, so tbat at the present it does not possess onefourth the population it had three centuries ago. The popnlation of the city, which in 1860 numbered 47, 621, fell to 44,950 in 1877. The quays, which once were filled with merchandise, are now almost deserted. Tbe sea is distant only 15 kilometres from the place, and it has frequently been proposed that the canals, which, through neglect, have silted up and become impassable for all but small vessels should be deepened so as te revive the commerce which has so long been ou the decline. There appears, however, a want of that spirit of enterprise which once distinguished the citizens of Bruges, and none of the efforts hitherto made in this direction have come to any practical result. The lethargy of the inhabitants is attributed by the " Fiandre Liberale " to the effect ofthe numberless convents and tho richly-endowed benevolent institutions which, by perpetually supplying the wants of large numbers of the inhabitants without any exertion on their part, have tended to deprive them of that energy and spirit of independence which are indispensable to success in commercial life. Education, too, is more neglected in Bruges than in any otlier great city of Belgium, and that notwithstanding the wealth possessed by the various religious foundations in the city. The decay of Bruges, in fact, is an example of the fatal evils of a. misunderstood and illdirected charity.