This Engraving may prove a welcome pictorial accompaniment to a score
of plans of "the seat of war," in illustration of the leading topic of
the day. The view may be relied on for accuracy; it being a transfer of
the engraving in "Select Views of the Principal Cities of Europe, from
Original Paintings, by Lieutenant Colonel Batty, F.R.S.[1]" We have so
recently described the city, that our present notice must be confined
to a brief outline.
Antwerp, one of the chief cities of the Netherlands, is situated on the
river Scheldt, 22 miles north of Brussels, and 65 south of Amsterdam:
longitude 4° 23' East; latitude 51° 13' North. It is called by Latin
writers, _Antverpia_, or _Andoverpum_; by the Germans, _Antorf_; by
the Spanish, _Anveres_; and by the French, _Anvers_.[2] The city is of
great antiquity, and is supposed by some to have existed before the time
of Cæsar. It was much enlarged by John, the first Duke of Brabant, in
1201; by John, the third, in 1314; and by the Emperor Charles V. in
1543: it has always been a place of commercial importance, and about
twenty years after the last mentioned date, the trade is concluded to
have been at its greatest height; the number of inhabitants was then
computed at 200,000. A few years subsequently, Antwerp suffered much in
the infamous war against religious freedom, projected by the detestable
Philip II. (son of Charles V.) and executed by the sanguinary Duke
of Alva, whose cruelty has scarcely a parallel in history. In this
merciless crusade, Alva boasted that he had consigned 18,000 persons
to the executioner; and with vanity as disgusting as his cruelty, he
placed a statue of himself in Antwerp, in which he was figured trampling
on the necks of two statues, representing the two estates of the Low
Countries. Before the termination of the war, not less than 600 houses
in the city were burnt, and 6 or 7,000 of the inhabitants killed or
drowned. Antwerp was retaken and repaired by the Prince of Parma, in
1585. It has since that time been captured and re-captured so frequently
as to render its decreasing prosperity a sad lesson, if such proof were
wanting, of the baleful scourge of war. The reader need scarcely be
reminded that the last and severest blow to the prosperity of Antwerp
was occasioned by the overthrow of Buonaparte, when, by the treaty of
peace signed in 1814, her naval establishment was utterly destroyed.[3]
The population has dwindled to little more than one-fourth of the
original number, its present number scarcely exceeding 60,000.
The annexed view is taken from the _Téte de Flandre_, a fortified
port on the left bank of the river Scheldt, immediately opposite to the
city, and now in the possession of the Dutch. The river here is a broad
and noble stream, and at high water navigable for vessels of large
tonnage. A short distance below the town the banks are elevated, like
part of Millbank, near Vauxhall Bridge; and the situation has much the
same character. The river is here about twice the width of the Thames
at London Bridge, and it flows with great rapidity.
Lieut.-Colonel Batty observes, "there is perhaps no city in the north of
Europe which, on inspection, awakens greater interest" than Antwerp. It
abounds in fine old buildings, which bear testimony to its former wealth
and importance. The three most aspiring points in the View are--1. the
Church of St. Paul, richly dight with pictures by Teniers, De Crayer,
Quellyn, De Vos, Jordaens, &c.; 2. the tower of the Hôtel de Ville, the
whole façade of which is little short of 300 feet, a part of the front
being cased with variegated marble, and ornamented with statues; 3. the
lofty and richly-embellished Tower of the Cathedral of Nôtre Dame,
forming the most striking object from whichever side we view the city.
The interior is enriched with valuable paintings by Flemish masters; the
height of the spire is stated at 460 feet.[4]
The distance from the mouth of the Scheldt to Antwerp is usually
reckoned to be sixty-two miles, allowing for the bending of the river.
At Lillo, an important fortress, the appearance of the city of Antwerp
becomes an interesting object, and the more imposing the nearer the
traveller approaches along the last reach of the Scheldt.
Antwerp has been the birthplace of many learned men--as, Ortelius, an
eminent mathematician and antiquary of the sixteenth century, and the
friend of our Camden; Gorleus, a celebrated medallist, of the same
period; Andrew Schott, a learned Jesuit, and the friend of Scaliger;
Lewis Nonnius, a distinguished physician and erudite scholar, born early
in the seventeenth century. Few places have produced so many painters of
merit, as will be seen at page 380, by a well-timed communication from
our early correspondent P.T.W.
[1] Copied by permission of the proprietors and publishers, Messrs.
Moon, Boys, and Graves.
[2] The name of Antwerp, says an ingenious correspondent, at p. 287,
vol. xiv. of _The Mirror_, is derived from _Hand-werpen_, or
_Hand-thrown_: so called from a legend, which informs us that on
the site of the present city once stood the castle of a giant,
who was accustomed to amuse himself by cutting off and casting
into the river the right hands of the unfortunate wights that
fell into his power; but that being at last conquered himself,
his own immense hand was disposed off, with poetical justice, in
the same way. We quote this passage in a note, as it is only
worthy of place _beneath_ facts of sober history.
[3] See Antwerp described from a _Tour in South Holland_ in the
_Family Library_, at p. 109. vol. xviii of _The Mirror_.
[4] See Antwerp Cathedral, _Mirror_, vol. xiv, p. 286.
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