ANTWERP FROM THE TIME OF RUBENS TILL TO-DAY
If there is one name more honoured in Flanders than any other--more
often employed as the name of hotels, restaurants or cafés; more
frequently on the lips of guides, caretakers and sacristans; more
constantly in the mind of every tourist, be he or she American,
English or Continental--it is the name of the greatest of Flemish
painters, Peter Paul Rubens. No book on Flanders, and most assuredly
no work touching on Antwerp, would be complete without some reference
to the life and work of this prince among painters, yet no task can be
more superfluous, since nothing can be said that will add in the
slightest degree to his fame. He ranks in the history of art with the
greatest masters in the world--with Michael Angelo, Leonardo,
Rembrandt, Raphael, Titian and Velasquez--and it is probable that more
books have been written about him than about Antwerp itself.
Occasional references have been made in previous chapters to
notable paintings by Rubens to be seen in various churches throughout
Flanders--particularly to "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes" at
Malines, which is said to have been saved from the destruction of that
city, having been carried away before the first of its many
bombardments. It is at Antwerp, however, that the tourist who desires
to study the work of Rubens will find him at his best and in greatest
profusion. And the most famous spot enriched by his unrivalled art is
the cathedral. Here hang his two greatest devotional works, "The
Elevation of the Cross" and "The Descent from the Cross." The former
was painted in 1610 and gave the young artist--he was then only
thirty-three--instant and enduring fame. The companion work was
completed the following year. Neither was originally painted for the
cathedral. "The Elevation of the Cross," the earlier and inferior of
the two, was intended to be the altarpiece for the church of Ste.
Walburge, while the other was painted for the Society of Arquebusiers,
to adjust a difficulty that had arisen over apportioning the cost of a
wall separating Rubens' house from that of the guild. Both, however,
are in an ideal location where they now are, and form an admirable
starting point from which to see, first the cathedral, and then the
work of Rubens as a whole.
[Illustration: "THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS."--RUBENS.]
The Cathedral of Notre Dame is without doubt the most beautiful Gothic
church in Belgium, and has thus far happily escaped the ravages of the
present war--passing unscathed through the furious German bombardment
of the city. Begun in 1352 it was, like other churches of its size,
centuries in reaching completion. The exquisite lace-work in stone of
the north tower was completed during the sixteenth century, but was
not wholly finished when the iconoclasts ravaged the interior of the
edifice. Originally the church of St. Mary, it became the Cathedral of
Notre Dame in 1560. The nave and transepts were not vaulted until
1611-16, or the very period when Rubens was painting the famous
pictures that now hang in the south transept. Work on the south tower
was discontinued in 1474, which seems a pity, as its completion would
have made the cathedral one of the most perfect specimens of Gothic
architecture in the world. As it is, the single tower dominates the
old part of the city and is a familiar feature of its sky line. The
chimes of the cathedral are famous, and are often played by Jef Denyn
of Malines. There are forty bells of various sizes, of which the
greatest was named Charles V, and requires the strength of nineteen
men to swing it. This bell was founded some eight years before the
young Duke Charles made his joyous entry into Antwerp, and no doubt
rang lustily on that occasion.
The interior of the cathedral is very vast, comprising six aisles, but
is too well known to require description. Among the numerous paintings
with which the chapels are adorned is one, a "Descent from the Cross,"
by Adam Van Noort, the teacher of Jordaens, and said to be the first
who taught Rubens how to handle a brush. In the second chapel on the
south is an interesting "Resurrection" by Rubens, which was painted in
1612 for the tomb of his friend Moretus, of the famous printing-house
of Plantin. The fourth chapel on the same side contains the tomb of
Christopher Plantin, with an inscription by his colleague and friend,
Justus Lipsius, and several family portraits. The visitor will find
many other points of interest in this vast church, which is a
veritable museum of art, architecture, history and human progress. The
high altarpiece is another famous Rubens, an "Assumption"--a subject
which he painted no less than ten times. There are half a dozen other
notable paintings by other artists, but the majority are of minor
artistic importance. The rich Gothic choir stalls, however, are worth
more than a passing glance, for the wood-carvings here are very fine,
although modern--having been begun in 1840, and completed forty years
later. The elaborately carved pulpit was made in the eighteenth
century by the sculptor Michel Vervoort, and was intended for the
Abbey of St. Bernard.
After the completion of the two great masterpieces now in the
cathedral Rubens was by universal acclaim acknowledged to be the
foremost painter in Flanders and of his time. His studio was besieged
by artists desirous of becoming the pupils of the brilliant master. As
early as 1611 he wrote that he had already refused more than a hundred
applicants. In 1614 he painted "The Conversion of St. Bavon," now in
the cathedral of St. Bavon at Ghent; in 1617 "The Adoration of the
Magi" in the church of St. John at Malines, and "The Last Judgment,"
now in the Pinacothek of Munich; in 1618 "The Miraculous Draught of
Fishes" at Malines; in 1619 "The Last Communion of St. Francis," now
in the museum at Antwerp, and, according to Fromentin, his greatest
masterpiece; in 1620 the "Coup de Lance," now at the museum of
Antwerp, and his finest work according to some other authorities. In
1622-23 he produced the twenty-four superb paintings of the Galerie
des Medicis. The "Lion Hunt," and the "Battle of the Amazons," now in
the Pinacothek at Munich, belong to this decade, together with the six
paintings of the history of Decius in the Liechtenstein Gallery, and
thirty-nine pictures for the church of the Jesuits, of which all but
three were destroyed at the burning of the church in 1718. The three
are in the museum of Vienna.
[Illustration: "COUP DE LANCE."--RUBENS.]
Here, in the space of a little over ten years, were nearly a hundred
masterpieces--works of such magnitude that two or three would have
sufficed to immortalise any other painter. Yet in addition to these
labours he designed for the tapestry-workers of Brussels the life of
Achilles in eight parts, the history of Constantine in twelve, and
many other cartoons of extraordinary merit. His friend, Moretus, in
accordance with the high traditions of the house of Plantin, came to
him for designs for many books, and he drew borders, designs,
title-pages and vignettes, and illustrated himself a book on cameos.
He even painted triumphal arches and cars for ceremonial processions,
and these works in his hands acquired a permanence of artistic value
that is in itself one of the highest tributes to his genius. The fine
portraits of Albert and Isabella, now in the museum at Brussels, were
painted for a triumphal arch in the Place de Meir--yet they are
masterpieces of portraiture, perfect and splendid down to the minutest
detail!
According to a report made in 1879, by the _Commission Anversoise
chargée de réunir l'ouevre de Rubens, en gravures ou en
photographies_, there are altogether no less than two thousand, two
hundred and thirty-five pictures and sketches by this amazingly
prolific artist, and four hundred and eighty-four designs--a total of
two thousand, seven hundred and nineteen known works. At Antwerp alone
there are upwards of one hundred pictures, of which more than a score
are masterpieces of world-wide renown and incalculable value. Besides
the great trio at the cathedral, and the family portraits in the
Plantin Museum, the museum catalogues more than thirty subjects of
which the "Spear Thrust" (_Coup de Lance_), "Adoration of the Magi or
Wise Men," the "Last Communion of Saint Francis," the "Christ on the
Straw" (_à la Paille_), "The Prodigal Son," and "Virgin Instructed
by Saint Anne" are among the more notable. Both here and at the
Plantin Museum the student of Rubens can find many interesting prints,
sketches and minor examples of the great master's work. At the museum
also is the interesting Holy Family known as "_La Vierge au
Perroquet_" (Virgin with the Parrot) which was presented by Rubens to
the Guild of St. Luke when he was elected President of that famous
organisation in 1631. Near the Place de Meir is the house of Rubens,
largely a replica of the original built in the eighteenth century--few
vestiges of the building in which the great painter held his almost
royal court remaining. It is worth a visit, but is far inferior to the
Plantin Museum as a memorial and in the interest and importance of its
contents.
[Illustration: "_LA VIERGE AU PERROQUET._"--RUBENS.]
On his death in 1640--"twenty years too early"--the artist was buried
in the church of St. Jacques, an edifice rivalling the cathedral in
size and interest. It was the burial-place of many of the wealthiest
families in Antwerp. The Rubens chapel is in the ambulatory, behind
the high altar, and contains a picture of the "Holy Family" which,
according to the critics, is one of the worst of the artist's
pictures. Several of the faces are those of his own family, which
probably was the reason why his widow placed it here.
Besides the paintings in various churches and museums in Flanders
there are twenty-three by Rubens in the museum at Brussels,
seventy-seven in the Pinacothek at Munich, ninety at Vienna, sixty-six
at Madrid, fifty-four in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg and the same
number in the Louvre at Paris, sixteen at Dresden, thirty-one at
London, while a considerable number can be seen in various public and
private art collections in the United States. "He is everywhere,"
writes Prof. Wauters with justifiable enthusiasm, "and everywhere
triumphant. No matter what pictures surround him, the effect is
invariable; those which resemble his own are eclipsed, those that
would oppose him are silenced; wherever he is he makes you feel his
presence, he stands alone, and at all times occupies the first
place.... He has painted everything--fable, mythology, history,
allegory, portraits, animals, flowers, landscapes--and always in a
masterly way.... Is he perfect? No one is. Has he faults? Assuredly.
He is sometimes reproached with having neither the outline of Raphael,
the depth of Leonardo da Vinci, the largeness of Titian, the
naturalness of Velasquez, nor the chiaroscuro of Rembrandt. But he
has the outline, the depth, the largeness, the naturalness and the
chiaroscuro of Rubens; is not that enough?"
To appreciate fully the magnitude of this greatest of all Flemings it
is necessary to recall, for a moment, the times in which he lived.
Fourteen years after the capture of Antwerp by the Prince of Parma,
Philip II determined--when on his deathbed--to give the Spanish
Netherlands partial independence by transferring the sovereignty over
the loyal provinces possessed by the Crown of Spain to his daughter
Isabella and her husband, the Archduke Albert. The arrival of the
Archdukes, as they were called, in 1599, was made the occasion of a
joyous entry that, on the whole, was justified by their
Government--which was a great improvement over anything that had
preceded it since the days of the unspeakable Alva. To be sure, the
war with the States of Holland still dragged on, and the Scheldt was
closed. But the burghers wisely sought to replace the loss of their
sea trade by encouraging industries. Silk and satin manufactures
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gave employment to
upwards of twelve thousand hands, and diamond-cutting became an
industry of growing importance. While the commercial stagnation was
severely felt, the city did not decline like Bruges, but held much of
its population and recovered some of its former wealth.
The Archdukes, who were relieved of the paralysing necessity of
referring every important act to Madrid, did their best to heal the
terrible wounds of the early years of the war and restore some degree
of tranquillity and prosperity to their dominions. Religious
persecutions ceased. Eager to win the love of their subjects, the
Archdukes welcomed Rubens to Antwerp when he returned to his native
city on the death of his mother in 1608, and in order to keep him from
returning to Italy made him their court painter in 1609. During the
remainder of his lifetime their favour never ceased, and on many
occasions Rubens was sent as a special ambassador of the Government on
important diplomatic missions. His courtly manners and stately
appearance favoured him, as well as his now tremendous artistic
reputation. He was knighted by Charles I, while on a visit to England,
and created a Master of Arts by the University of Cambridge. Among his
friends he numbered--besides his royal patrons, Moretus, the printer,
and Rockox, the burgomaster--many of the most famous scholars and
statesmen of his time. He was interested in literature and science as
well as art in all its branches and wrote a vast number of letters on
an astounding variety of subjects--one calculation places the total
number at eight thousand!
[Illustration: PETER PAUL RUBENS.]
As if his own achievements were not enough, the genius of Rubens was
the torch that set aflame a renaissance of Flemish painting that made
the later Flemish school, which justly bears his name, the peer of any
in the long history of art. Of his many pupils the greatest is Anthony
Van Dyck, who was born at Antwerp in 1599 and entered the studio of
the master at the age of fifteen. In the little church of Saventhem,
not far from Brussels, is the most famous of Van Dyck's early
paintings which shows his precocious talent. Rubens had urged his
promising pupil to visit Italy, and not only gave him a letter of
introduction but provided funds for the long journey. The youth set
forth, but in a little village on the way there happened to be a
kermesse into the merriment of which he entered heartily. Among others
with whom he danced was a beautiful country girl with whom the artist
fell so deeply in love that he was unable to proceed any further, but
devoted himself for days to courting her. Meanwhile his funds ran
out, and he bethought himself with horror, when it was too late, that
this meant the abandonment of the trip to Italy. In his extremity he
applied to the parish priest and offered to paint an altarpiece for
the village church on very moderate terms. It is related that the
priest smiled indulgently at the youth's pretensions that he was a
historical painter and put him off, saying that there were no funds.
Van Dyck, however, persisted, and offered to paint the picture if
provided only with the canvas, and leave the matter of the price to
the curé's liberality.
These terms could hardly be refused, and the young artist set to work
with such energy that in a few weeks the picture was finished. The
priest admired the work greatly, particularly the beautiful figure of
the Saint--the subject selected having been Saint Martin dividing his
Cloak among the Beggars--and sent for a connoisseur from Brussels to
decide if he should keep the picture. The verdict was favourable, and
the price paid to the artist enabled him to proceed on his journey to
Italy. It is not reported whether the future painter of kings and
courtiers ever returned to visit his fair inamorata of the kermesse,
but this pretty story, which is told in a rare little book, "Sketches
of Flemish Painters," published at The Hague in 1642, was written by a
contemporary, and may quite possibly have been true. At any rate,
there is the painting itself to prove it.
On his return to Antwerp in 1625 Van Dyck left behind him in Italy
more than a hundred paintings, in itself a prodigious achievement. He
now began to work in his native city with a rapidity and perfection
resembling his master's and produced the altarpieces that are among
the master works of Flemish churches. Here also he painted a
marvellous galaxy of portraits of the great artists of his time and of
the Flemish, French and Spanish nobility. His marvellous etchings also
belong to this period, so that Antwerp is associated with much of his
finest work in two great branches of art. In 1632 the artist went to
London, which he had visited on one or two previous occasions, and
became painter to the court of Charles I. Here he remained for the
rest of his lifetime, painting more than three hundred and fifty
pictures portraying the royal family and nobility of England. He died
in 1641, or only a year after his master, leaving a record of varied
achievement comprising more than one thousand, five hundred works. The
museum at Antwerp possesses twelve of his paintings, of which one of
the most interesting is the "Christ on the Cross" painted for the
Dominican nuns in recognition of the care and tenderness with which
they had nursed his father during the old man's last illness. The
catalogue of the museum somewhat conceals the artist's name under the
Flemish form, Antoon Van Dijck, which hardly suggests the brilliant
and debonnaire Sir Anthony of Whitehall and the beauties of England
under Charles the First. There are sixty-seven works by this master in
Vienna, forty-one at Munich, thirty-eight at St. Petersburg,
twenty-four at the Louvre, twenty-one in Madrid and nineteen in
Dresden, but England possesses the largest collections of his
productions, most of those he painted at London still remaining in the
public and private galleries of that country.
It would be a tedious task to recount the names and works of the
throng of lesser artists who studied at the feet of Rubens and Van
Dyck during the fruitful years when those masters were giving their
talents to the world with such amazing prodigality. Erasmus Quellin I,
the Elder, was one of the first--a sculptor who founded a family of
notable sculptors and painters who lived and gained renown at
Antwerp for more than a century. Faid'herbe, whose work abounds at
Malines, was another sculptor of the highest rank who was a direct
pupil of Rubens; Dusquesnoy, Grupello and Verbrugghen were renowned
sculptors who owed much to his influence.
[Illustration: "AS THE OLD BIRDS SING THE YOUNG BIRDS PIPE."--JACOB
JORDAENS.]
After Rubens and Van Dyck the greatest name in the Flemish school of
this brilliant period was that of Jacob Jordaens, who learned his art
under Rubens' old master, Adam Van Noort, and married his teacher's
beautiful daughter Catherine, who posed for many of his pictures. The
numerous family gatherings depicted by this master are famous, one of
the most characteristic of them all being the well-known "As the Old
Birds Sing the Young Birds Pipe" in the Antwerp museum. His satyrs and
peasants and rural scenes are among the finest products of the Flemish
school. The religious pictures of Gaspard de Crayer and Gerard
Zeghers, the portraits of Cornelius de Vos, and the animal pictures of
Francis Snyders and John Fyts all belong to this epoch when Antwerp,
although sinking in commercial and political importance, was making
herself for all time one of the art capitals of the world.
In pictures of homely Flemish life David Teniers, who belongs to the
next generation of Antwerp artists, achieved a fame that places him in
a sense in a class by himself, for none of the earlier masters
surpassed him in his particular field. He, too, was prolific--one
catalogue enumerating no less than six hundred and eighty-five of his
works. Of the same genre is the work of Adrian Brauwer, whose early
death prevented him from leaving so great a legacy to posterity.
Besides these masters of the first rank, Antwerp boasts an almost
innumerable throng of minor artists--pupils of Rubens, Van Dyck and
their successors--much of whose work is of excellent merit. Any
half-dozen of these would have rendered another city notable in the
history of art, but here their achievements are lost as are the heroic
deeds of the private soldiers in a great army. The mind cannot retain
so many names, cannot appraise and classify so bewildering a mass of
productions.
For this reason the tourist who is a philosopher will not regard too
seriously the dicta of the learned as to which of these lesser
paintings is or is not of the first rank in the order of merit. What
of it if the guidebook does not indicate by its little stars that this
is a picture for one to go into raptures over, if the sacristan or
guide passes it coldly by? If it appeals to us by all means let us
pause and admire it, let us study it, find out about it, learn
something of its history and that of the unknown artist who painted
it. Indeed, if on such closer inspection it still appeals to us, let
us buy it if we can--but at all events let us enjoy it to the utmost,
for of such joys Flanders is full. In out of the way corners
everywhere one can find genre pictures like those of Tenier,
brilliantly coloured groups suggestive of Rubens, scenes of bucolic
feasting in imitation of Jordaens. And here and there, who knows,
perhaps one may yet discover an original by one of these greater
artists or their rare predecessors, and retire on the proceeds! Who
knows?
The visitor to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts at Antwerp should not
leave without devoting at least a day to the modern paintings. To an
American, accustomed to museums where long walls filled with dreary
mediocrities are illuminated only at rare intervals with something
altogether fine and satisfactory, these modern galleries are a treat.
Picture after picture, room after room--all are beautiful and worthy,
many are splendid. The collection of modern paintings is not large as
European galleries go, some five hundred and fifty altogether, but
the general average of quality is exceptionally high--much superior in
this respect it seemed to us than the far larger collection at
Brussels, though it is not so regarded by the critics. The interiors
of Henri de Braekeleer, and his charming Nursery Garden, for example,
what could be finer? The "Ancient Fishmarket" at Antwerp by Frans
Bossuet, a native of Ypres; the "Lull before the Storm," by P. J.
Clays, of Bruges, one of whose paintings is in the Metropolitan Museum
at New York--all these are notable. So are the historical pictures of
Baron Leys, Guffens, Louis Gallait and Charles Verlat--but the list is
too long. These pictures are not to be described, they must be seen.
Individually the savants may quarrel as to their merits, but, taking
them all together, these paintings--for the most part by Flemish
artists--prove that the great traditions of Rubens and Van Dyck,
Jordaens and Teniers, have not been forgotten in their native land and
that modern Flemish art is a worthy successor to the greatness of the
past.
The lover of the beautiful has yet another treat in store for him when
he visits the famous old Hotel de Ville. It had hardly been
completed, in 1565, by Cornelis de Vriendt when it was partially
destroyed during the Spanish Fury. Rebuilt a few years later in its
present form, it contains some of the most beautiful rooms to be seen
in all Europe. The vestibule and grand staircase are richly decorated
with coloured marble, while imposing frescoes depict the zenith of
Antwerp's commercial and artistic splendour. The great reception-room
is decorated with four superb historical frescoes by Baron Leys, while
the exquisite Salle des Mariages is completely surrounded with
allegorical paintings portraying the history of the marriage ceremony
by Lagye, a pupil of Leys. In the rooms of this edifice the history of
the famous old city lives again, while in its splendid fireplaces and
minor decorations one can see examples of every branch of Flemish art.
[Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, ANTWERP.]
While the Hotel de Ville is most gratifying to the eye and the
imagination, it is not, however, intimately associated with many
important events in the history of the city. Albert and Isabella,
while they ruled, were virtually independent sovereigns, but on the
death of Albert without issue, in 1621, the country reverted to Spain.
Thereafter, for more than two centuries, the city, together with
Flanders, Brabant and the other loyal provinces of the Netherlands,
became the football of European politics, and Belgium received its
sinister name of "the cockpit of Europe." The people, as a whole, took
little interest in the great wars of the Spanish and of the Austrian
Successions that were fought largely to decide who should rule over
them, since there seemed no likelihood of their in any event ever
being able again to rule over themselves. Marlborough, after his great
victory at Ramillies, occupied the city with English troops in 1706,
and in 1715 the Hotel de Ville was the scene of the signing of the
treaty that ended the war. By this treaty the Spanish Netherlands were
ceded to Austria, becoming subject to the Emperor Charles VI. Thirty
years later the French victory at Fontenoy made them masters of the
city, and Louis XV had a joyous entry the following year. Two years
later, in 1748, the country was handed back to Austria and Charles
made a joyous entry in turn, the people apparently welcoming any
change of government with complete impartiality. The Empress Maria
Theresa was popular in her Netherlands dominions, but her son Joseph
II made Austrian rule so odious that there was a revolt, and in 1790
Antwerp was taken by the patriot army, to the immense joy of its
citizens. The Austrians soon crushed the revolution and reoccupied the
city, but the great victory of the French republicans, under
Dumouriez, at Jemappes destroyed the power of Austria in the
Netherlands, and in 1792 the army of the _sans-culottes_ entered
Antwerp. The defeat of Dumouriez at Neerwinden resulted in the
Imperial forces again occupying the city in 1793, but the French
victory at Fleurus the following year turned the tables again and
Antwerp once more became subject to the republic.
All these years the Scheldt had been firmly closed, Joseph II having
made a feeble attempt to free the river, which had collapsed at the
first shot from the Dutch forts. In 1795 the free navigation of the
river was decreed by the French, and a ship came up and was received
in state by the delighted burghers. It is stated that the value of
real estate in the city increased tenfold in consequence of this
decree. On the other hand, the _sans-culottes_ very nearly rivalled
the image-breakers in the vigour with which they destroyed the city's
religious monuments. The cathedral and churches were despoiled, and it
was even proposed to tear down the cathedral, because (they said), "it
cannot be reckoned a monument of any value except for the lead, iron,
copper and timber it contains." Fortunately Napoleon seized the reins
of power at Paris at about this time, and put an end to such nonsense.
In 1803 the First Consul visited Antwerp, which--as he afterwards
said--was "like a loaded pistol pointed at the heart of England."
Filled with this idea, he systematically sought to revive the commerce
of the port and erected great docks there for his war vessels,
portions of which still remain. In 1814, after the Emperor's defeat
and abdication, Antwerp, under Gen. Carnot, was the last French
stronghold in the Netherlands to yield.
After the second defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo Antwerp succeeded in
recovering most of the paintings that had been carried away to France
by the republicans in 1794. The treaty that followed the last
Napoleonic war gave all of what is at present Belgium to the King of
Holland, William I, who favoured Antwerp in many ways. As the Scheldt
still remained free the commerce of the port was considerable and
prosperity seemed to be returning. In 1830 began the revolution that
resulted in the independence of Belgium. One of its first events was
the bombardment of the city of Antwerp by the Dutch troops holding
the citadel. The following year Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
was elected by the National Congress as King of the Belgians under the
title of Leopold I. The war with Holland was not yet over, however,
and in 1832 the English, French and Belgian troops began a siege of
the citadel at Antwerp, which was still in the hands of the Dutch. The
fortress had one hundred and forty-three guns, and the besiegers two
hundred and twenty-three, and it is stated that sixty-three thousand
projectiles were fired against it. The fortress was a mass of ruins
before its sturdy defenders capitulated.
From 1832 until 1914 Antwerp and the liberty-loving Flemings of
ancient Flanders remained free, happy and increasingly prosperous
under the wise and moderate rule of their chosen Kings. Leopold I
reigned until his death in 1865, and proved to be one of the wisest
monarchs in history. For Antwerp his greatest achievement was the
final freeing of the River Scheldt in 1863, after more than ten years
of diplomatic negotiations, from the tolls which the Dutch had
insisted in levying since 1839. Under his successor, Leopold II, one
of the most efficient chief executives it was possible for a nation to
have, the fine Belgian public service system was developed and the
prosperity of its cities and citizens promoted in every practical way.
In the two decades following the freeing of the Scheldt the commerce
of the port of Antwerp increased six-fold, while that of its rivals,
London and Liverpool, doubled and that of Hamburg and Rotterdam
tripled. Since then the business of the port has advanced even faster,
and the imposing modern business buildings that now line the Place de
Meir, one of the handsomest commercial streets in the world, afford
abundant testimony to its prosperity and wealth--as do the fine
residences of its merchants to be seen in drives through the outskirts
of the city. Under Albert I the wise policies of his predecessors were
continued, and the little country was enjoying peace and contentment
such as never came to it during the centuries of foreign oppression
and tyranny that began with the acquisition of Flanders and Brabant by
the Dukes of Burgundy. It is the greatest moral issue in this war
whether Belgium, after being free for less than eighty-five years,
shall once more pass into the hands of a foreign power. Its people
have demonstrated conclusively that under the limited monarchy they
have chosen they are capable of governing themselves far better than
the best of their self-appointed masters ever did in the bad old days
that, they had hoped, had forever passed away.