Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/159

Rh ANT W E R P 145 Dukes of Brabant, at that time in possession of the marquisate. In 1338, while Edward III. of England was spending the winter in the city with his queen Philippa, she gave birth to Lionel, afterwards Duke of Clarence, and the event was celebrated by a magnificent tournament. To the king, then in great need of money, the merchants of Antwerp advanced 400,000 florins. The marquisate passed successively into the hands of the counts of Flanders and the house of Burgundy, and returned to Brabant about 140G. In 1474 the town made over a large house in Billinck Street to the English, in 1550 an &quot;English Bourse&quot; was established, and in 1558 the beautiful Hop van Lyere now a military hospital was ceded for the accommodation of our merchants. Between 1488 and 1570 was the time of the greatest prosperity which Antwerp was destined to attain for several centuries. The discovery of America in 1492, and of the passage to India in 1497, produced a great change in all European navigation, and permanently altered the old courses of commerce. While, in con sequence of this, the cities of the Hanseatic League had withered, and Venice, and Nuremberg, and Bruges were sinking into decay, Antwerp was growing daily more worthy of the name which she soon acquired, &quot;Dives Antiverpia,&quot; &quot; the wealthy Antwerp.&quot; By contemporaneous writers, such as Guicciardini and Scribanius, the most glowing accounts have been left of her greatness. The annual fairs of Pentecost and St Badon s which have now no commercial importance attracted merchants from all parts of Europe. No fewer than 500 ships would enter the port in a day, and as many as 2500 were to be seen lying in the river at one time. On an average 500 waggons laden with goods daily entered the gates ; above 500,000,000 guilders were annually put in circulation ; and the popu lation is said to have numbered upwards of 100,000. But from this height of prosperity the city was suddenly cast down by the wars of the IGth century. In 157G it was taken by the Spaniards, and given up to a three days pillage ; it was besieged, though in vain, by the duke of Alenjon in 1583; and, after a very obstinate defence, it fell before the assaults of the duke of Parma, whose trium phal entry took place on the 17th of August 1585. Its glory departed ; its commerce was ruined ; its inhabitants were scattered. As the people of Bruges had flocked to Antwerp, so now the people of Antwerp flocked to Hamburg. The Dutch, in their jealousy, endeavoured to complete its ruin by building forts on the river to intercept the passage of ships ; and finally, by the peace of Westphalia, in 1648, the Scheldt was definitively closed. In 1794 the city fell into the hands of the French, who opened the river and made Antwerp the capital of the department of Deux Nethes. Napoleon, who visited the place in 1 803, attempted to make it a great military and commercial centre, and spent no less than 2,000,000 sterling in the construction of docks. He was wont to speak of it as un pistolet charge queje tiens sur la gorge de V Angletcrre. It continued in French possession till 1814, when it was surrendered after the treaty of Paris by Carnot, who up to that time had defended it with great bravery against the allied army under Graham. From 1815 to 1830, Antwerp with the rest of Belgium united with Holland in forming the kingdom of the Nether lands. In 1830, during the Belgian revolution, the citadel was held by the old Dutch general Chassc&quot;, who resolutely refused to surrender. At length, however, in 1832 he was forced to capitulate by the French, under Marshal Gerard, and the city was handed over to the Belgians. All matters of dispute between Belgium and Holland being finally settled by the treaty of 1839, Antwerp has continued peacefully to advance in prosperity ever since. In I860 the ancient fortifications were destroyed, and new fortifications erected at a considerable distance from the city ; while a line of detached forts were built towards the south-east, in an arc of a circle, which it has been proposed to complete on botL sides of the river. The famous &quot;citadel of the south,&quot; which was originally built by the duke of Alva in 15G7, has been bought from the Belgian Government by the Socicte Immo- biliere and the town of Antwerp, and the site is to be appropriated for new docks and a new quarter of the city the docks to be for the accommodation of river-boats and lighters. A loan of 60,000,000 francs (250,000) is to be contracted for the carrying out of the improvements. Since the destruction of the old fortifications, fine boulevards, avenues, and streets have been laid out, and the town is rapidly and constantly increasing in size. There are now seventeen quays or wharves, and a series of G or 8 docks communicating with each other. The two oldest, which were constructed under Napoleon, and preserved when his other establishments were destroyed, are respectively about 574 feet by 492, and 1312 by 574. Since Napoleon s time the city has added the Bassin de Jonction, the large Kallcndyk Dock (opened in 1856), the Bassin Sas, the Bassin aux Bois, or timber-dock, the Bassin de la Camplne, and the Bassin du Canal. The whole system has an area of nearly 100 acres, affording over 2 1,000 feet of quay- room. In spite of all this extension of accommodation, the commer cial traffic is so great that ships are often delayed through lack of sufficient room for lading or unlading. In 1826, 909 vessels entered with a tonnage of 122,221, of which 12G were British, with a tonnage of 16,178; in 1862 the number of vessels was 2292, with a total tonnage of 579,899, of which 777 were British, with a tonnage of 199,000; and by 1872 the vessels amounted to 4206, and had a tonnage of 1,656,984, 2172 of them being British, and having a tonnage of 1,007,165. Of the British traffic, a very large proportion is carried on by means of steam-ships. Tho chief imports arc steel, copper, iron, and other metals, machinery, coals (chiefly from Britain), salt, soda, grain, cotton (chiefly from New Orleans and Bombay), cotton yarn and goods, wool (mostly undressed), hides (raw and tanned), sugar (chiefly raw), tea, coffee, tobacco, rice, and oil-seeds. The chief exports are flax, woollen goods, refined sugar, metals, glass, and tallow. There is regular steam communi cation with London, Hull, Liverpool, and other English ports, and, indeed, with all the most important ports in Europe. There are also regular lines to the United States, Brazil, La Plata, and Chili. By the river and several canals there is communication with most of the other Belgian cities. The &quot;Canal de la Campine&quot; is the most important, and joins the Scheldt with the Meuse, through the Willem Canal, which was made by the Dutch Government. The railway system with which Antwerp is connected is extensive, but is far from sufficient to satisfy the demands of trade. Tho manufactures of Antwerp are various and considerable, the principal being lace, silk, linen, jute, cotton, tapestry, galloon, twine, sugar, white-lead, litmus, starch, printer s ink, and malt liquors. There arc about 20 sugar refineries, 7 rice-mills, 3 sulphur refineries, several cigar manufactories, distilleries, petroleum refineries, stearine candle manu factories, and wool-mills. The lapidaries of Antwerp are celebrated for their skill in cutting diamonds. The National Bank of Belgium has a branch in the city, and several other banks transact extensive business. The Exchange, built in 1531, was one of the finest build ings of the kind in Europe, and is said to have been chosen by Sir Thomas Gresham as a model for the old Royal Exchange in London. Burnt down in 1858, it was re built in the same Gothic style as before, and opened again for business in 1872. The old magazine of the Hanscatio League (1564), known as the Maison Hanseatique, still stands a &quot; massive and venerable&quot; building. The cathedral of Notre Dame, probably founded about the middle of tho 11. -- 19