Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-05-10
BELGIUM.
I Description or Antwerp.

tne BOluen OpuIence OF centuries past
but she cannot be robbed of her wealtl
Of architecture or painting. Here Pete
Paul Rubens, though dead, still reign
in royal state, and over yonder is hi
bronze statue in the Place Verte. Tn,
churches contain his masterpieces, mag
nificent in color, as bouquets of flowers
full of force and certain grandeur, bu
certainly lacking refinement and relig
ious sentiment. Allston called him /;
splendid liar" but there are some fic
tions more fascinating than truth.
l find Antwerp a most interesting
place, though in its decadence. Avery
old place, too 1t was certainly Of con
siderable size in the 7th century. Th,
Norman pirates found it well wortl
plundering and burning in the 9th
After various changes of masters
French, German, Burgundian, it was il
the zenith of its splendor when it was q
Spanish city under Charles v. Vessels
of deep draught could reach its quays
on the Scheldt, and Bruges, long styled
the Venice of the North" had to yield
the supremacy of commerce to her rival
There were mercantile princes in those
days of the sixth century. But they
we're rather manufacturers, bankers and
commissioners than merchants.
Before the discovery of the Cape oi
Good Hope, the rich products of the
East, imported through the Red sea and
Egypt, found their way to Antwerp.
The factors of the Hanseatie cities ex-
changed these goods for those of the
north. The industrious Flemings added
the products of their looms, their cloths,
velvets and tapestries, their dressed
leather, etc., so that Antwerp became
the entrepot of the north and south, the
counting-house of all the neighboring
States. After the discovery of the Cape
Of Good Hope, the Portuguese brought
their East Indian merchandise hither.
Often, about the middle of the sixteenth
century, there we're 2500 vessels at a
time anchored in the Scheldt. Every
week 1000 heavy laden wagons came into
the town from the Walloon provinces and
the north of France. In 1868 the city
contained los, 900 inhabitants. 81
But wars of religion sapped the pros
perity of Antwerp. In 1850 the Inqui-
sition was established here, but the Re-
formers were not easily crushed. The
famous wood beggars devastated the
churches and converts. On the 2lst of
August, 1856, they sacked the cathedral
The terrible Duke Of Alva, commissioned
by Philip III. to crush the rebellious
provinces, built citadel here at the ex-
pense of the inhabitants. Then came
the terrible Spanish fury of 1916, when
the revolted soldiery sacked the city for
three days and nights, burned the town
hall and five hundred private houses,
and put to death seven thousand per-
sons. In 164S, the closing OF the Scheldt,
one of the stipulations of the peace OF
Munster, irrevocably ruined the com
merce Of Antwerp, which passed to the
Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotter-
dam. The re-opening of the Scheldt
was the result of the annexation of An
twerp to France in 1895. Bonaparte
made it naval station in 1904, and con-
structed vast docks. In 1914, Carnot,
the man who organized victory" was
compelled to surrender Antwerp to the
allies, after O severe bombardment of
four days.
The most memorable event in the
modern history of the place was the
siege of the citadel of Antwerp by the
French. After the revolution of 1880
had separated Belgium from Holland,
the Dutch refused to give up the citadel,
and France, which, with England, had
recognized the independence of Belgium,
prepared for its reduction. Marshal
Gerard commanded the French army.
The trenches were opened under the
command Of the Duke of Orleans, and
the second parallel was established on
the Sd of December. By the 9TH, in
spite OF heavy rains, which lasted for
several days, 400 siege guns were in
battery, and terrible fire was opened.
About five clock on the morning of the
l4th of December, mine was exploded,
effecting a breach in the lunette Saint
Laurent, one of the strongest defences
Of the citadel. The ditch, had been pre-
viously filed in the night time with fas-
cines loaded with stones, forming q
bridge. Over this three companies of
the 65th regiment of the line silently
passed, mounted the breach and attacked
the Dutch troops with the cold steel.
Some of the latter were killed and
wounded, and about sixty we're made
prisoners. This success gave new
support to the attack. On the 2lst Of
December, the siege guns made terrible
havoc, and the citadel was about being
taken by storm, when, on the 23d of De-
cember, two Dutch officers came to the
French outposts with flag of truce,
and the capitulatioh was signed towards
evening. The obstinate resistance of
the Dutch kept the besiegers in the
trenches twenty-four days and twenty
five nights. The artillery fred $500 |
shots, including 1909 shells. The Dutch |
had 80 men killed and $40 wounded.