The Democratic advocate., 1920-10-08
Letter from Percy W. Grouse, o. s. n.
at Antwerp, Belgium.
Lihan, Russia,
Sept. IA, 1890

Sept. II, 1J2U.
To the or:-Believing it would
be of interest to your readers, / Will
endeayor to give a brief description OF
the city of Antwerp, Belgium, in which
it has been my fortune to spend the
past month. The chief interest of the
city lies in its being one of the great
centers of the worlds commerce, and
also the birthplace of many of the
greatest artists. 1t is but fitting. to
give the legend connected with the
name of the city. The story is that in
the time of Caesar, chief of gigantic
size lenied toll on the shipping which
piled on the Scheldt river. It was his
custom to cut off the hands Of maffIl-
ers who refused to pay.
1t seems eventually the tables turn
ed, and a certain Silvius Brabs slew
the giant and cutting of his hand.
threw it into the river in token OF de-
livery from the iniguitous tax. Then as
the town gradually grew up around
the place where the dead tyrant had
his stronghold, men spoke of it as the
town of the, "Hand-WeTfp from the
Teuton words hand" and '.werfenH
Ito throw In Flemish this gradually
became 'Antwerpen' and so it remains
but in English it is called Antwerp
and in French it is called 'tAnvers'
The statue of Brabs is one Of the no.
table pieces of sculpture in the city.
incidentally will mention that II saw
quite remarkable parade which is
held every few years in commemora-
ton Of the victory of Brabs over the
giant From the earliest times the pros
perity of the city came from its narir
time trade In the sixteenth century,
Antwerp gained the ascendeHcy over
| Venice and Genoa as the greatest COM
merciaI centre. At that time in con-
sideration of it's population, (abollt
125 ,000) its fine public buildings, its
matchless cathedral and churches,
and the work of its immortal sons,
Rubens, Uan-Dyck, Jordaens and other
great painters, Antwerp finally ac-
quired unrinalled sway as the most
important seaport OF medieval
Europe. Making swift stride across
year near by 1000 ships from all
i countries in the world came to AM
werp.
!. The building with perhaps the
greatest historical interest attached
10 IL Is IllG 0b6Gns VhuSCunAR dul OlA
castle on the banks of the ScheIdt,
which was built in the eighth century.
Here the Inquisition had its head quar-
ters, and here is still to be seen a coll
lection of implements OF torture, also
fearful underground dungeons. There
lis also curious collection OF quaint
Eold musical instruments and weapons
Of various kinds. One notable thing is
a great clock built in the sixteenth
century, still running and keeping
: rgood time A word in regard to the
dungeons. There were different modes
, of punishment devised, in one cell I
was shown we'll in which the pris-
oners were drowned. In another they
were hung, and in another the prts-
: oner was allowed certain amount OF
: food and water each day which grad
ually grew less until it ceased alto
gether. 1t was in such awful places
, that men and even women were thrust
, in the ''good old days" to meet all
J sorts OF horrible deaths. i will now
describe something more beautiful,
| and if possible more interesting, name
Ely the Cathedral Of Notre Dame" which
/ is conceded to be the finest Gothis
! church in the Netherlands. 1t was be-
gun in 1852 and not finished until the
beginning of the 18th century. The
spire is 402 feet high and is consid-
, cred to be the finest specimen of Gothis
: architecture in the world. The cruci-
! form interior has no less than fifteen
notable chapels, each with its beautt-
| full altar, priceless pictures, and SUI
, perb wood carving The most re-
nouned paintings in the, Cathedral
are the famous trio by Ruben, The
Descent from the Cross, The Elena
ton of the Cross, and The Assump-
i ton of the Blessed Virgin 1t is diff
, ficult to describe the feeling in
lspired by the contemplation
of these most wonderful .produc-
tions of the greatest Of artists Each
figure in the picture seems to become
alive as you gaze upon it. and such
marvellous blending and contrasting
of colors has almost become lost art
to the modern school. Another notable
picture is Francken's Christ disputing
with the Sages in the Temple, three
Eof the wise men having the familiar
features of Luther, Calvin and Eras-
mus. Hours and days can be passed
and yet but scant justice done to the
fextraordinary art glorieS of Antwerp;B
Cathedral The wood carving is almost
as marvellous as the pictures; but the
! stained glass windows are the crown
ing glories of the Cathedral Words
fail to convey any idea of their beauty
and magnificence The Ruben's master
piece and several more of the princi-
pal works Of art in the Cathedral were
looted and taken to France by the
French revolutionists. On the ,restora-
tion of the Rourlions, the Duke OF
Wellington induced Louis XVIII to
consent to the return of their treas
ures to the citizens of Antwerp, the
home coming of the pictures being an
occasion of great rejoicing. The
chimes of the cathedral ring every
quarter hour and are among the fin
est in the world. They consist Of forty
bells Of various sizes, the largest
weighing eight tons. On certain oc-
casions there are special concerts on
the chimes, which are very beautiful
There are several other churches al
most as noteworthy as the Cathedral
Then there is a Town Hall notable for
t>oo,,&xv ito f,11a,.iar docorofiona