The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1899-01-14
Antwerp.

and faced with stucco. Enormous Flemish
, horses, not equalled in size anywhere ex-
cept in Liverpool are pacing slowly
through the str eetS, enjoying we'll earned
rest. Many attempts have been made to
keep up this herd of heavy horses at dis
tance, but except in very few places out
side of the lowlands they soon degenerate.
High wheeled carts filled with sand,
milk cans, bread, fish, fruit, or many other
articles of domestic interest are dragged
about by dogs harnessed under the axles or
in front of it. Men and women clatter
about i'll heavy wooden shoes, and occasion
ally we passed a choir boy wearing the
gobehn hooded cape and baggy trousers
cut in the style OF three centuries ago; a
priest in his flowing black gown and broad
brimmed hat, or some neat old grandame
gorgeously decked out in a well starched
cap of Brussels lace.
AS we approached the newer quarters of
the town the streets grew wide, the houses
more imposing, and at intervals we saw
homes of almost priucely magnifcence.
In the center of the finest part of the city
is the park, laid out with the finest horti.
cultural skill, and embellshed with line
statuary in marble and bronze Radiating
from 1T are some Of the boulevards, mag
niticent avenues shaded by four rows of
trees and lined by the statues of the arts.
tocracy. They are constructed on the site
of the ramparts which encircled the old
town till 1859.
The building that first attracts the atten-
ton CT visitors is the cathedral. 1t was
: begun in 1852 and although even vet I'M
/ finished as are most European cathedrals,
is the largest and most beautiful Gothic
church in the Netherlands. The north
tower was finished in 1892, but work on
the south one was stopped over a century
before that date and has not since been
resumed.
1t is when we stand in the shadow of
such heavy pile as this, and realize how
many generations have labored in the vain
attempt to finish it that one begins to APP
preciate the magnitude of natures works
and personal insignifcance.
On entering the church by the south
trancept we first noticed Reuben's great
masterpiece, The Descent from the Cross. -
Though painted almost three centuries ago
the pigments retain much of their natural
freshness, possibly because of the great
care shat has been taken to protect the
picture from the direct rays. Other works
of art that demanded attention were the
stained glass windows depicting events in
the life of Christ in fragments of the his
tory OF the medieval church, the rich wood
carvings that embelish the choir and the
canopled osken pulpit. The general floor
plan OF the cathedral is cubiform, the
towers arising from the eastern end. Tn.
like the great majority of cathedrals, it is
laid out in triple aisles and though not so
massive as Durham Cathedral, St. Peters,
or st. Paul's, the parts are so well balanced
that the general effect is grand and i'm.
posing. One hundred and TWENTY-FIVE
pillars support the vaulted roof, and make
the prospectus of the ases very effective
The next most important OF the ancient
buildings here is the Museum Plantin
Moretus, one OF the first printing offices in
the Netherlands. Here one NAV still see
the quaint, crude machinery of the same
style as that used by Gutenberg, giving
little promise of determining new era in
human progress, and the establishment of
the present status OF yet crude civiliza.
ton.
In striking contrast to it is the old
museum, a part of the ancient castle of
Antwerp. 1t is a curious old pile, brstling
with many spire and turret in the style
OF the tenth century. Here was the seat
OF the Spanish inquisition. In the dun
geons, under the keep, where no sunlight
can penetrate, and the damp walls reek
with the causes of disease, we saw the
rusty chairs and anklets that held captive
many miserable victim OF that most
vicious institution.
In common with the great majority of
travellers we were not favorably impressed
with the character of the people of Ant
werp. The practice OF imposing on the
credulity of strangers is nowhere more
marked; every advantage is taken of his
ignorance, and a knowledge OF English on
the part of purchaser, usually means that
he will be charged extra. At the time of
Spanish supremacy there was a large in
fusion OF Spanish blood into the native
Belgium stocks and to a very much less
extent into that Of Holland. In the latter
country the foreign faint has long since
disappeared but in Belgium it is yet evil
dent in many phases Of daily life. AS a
people the BrIgiums though neat and clean
are indecent in their habits to the last
degree,
An American finds hotels of quite diff
fereut character from those usually seen q,
home. In the best Of them, in this city of
100, coo inhabitants, gas is burned in only
very few ro0as, while all the others de
pend upon csndle3 for nocturnal illumiua-