GUISE  , a

town of northern France, in the department of Aisne, on the Oise, 31 M . N. of Laon by rail . Pop . (1906), 7562 . The town was formerly the capital of the district of Thierache and afterwards of a countship (see below) . There is a chateau dating in part from the middle of the 16th century . Camille Desmoulins was in 1762 born in the town, which has erected a statue to him . The chief industry is the manufacture of iron stoves and heating apparatus, carried on on the co-operative system in works founded by J . B . A . Godin, who built for his workpeople the huge buildings known as the familistere, in front of which stands his statue . A board of trade-arbitration is among the public institutions .