Volume Ii Part 13 (2/2)
CHAPTER XI.
At tibi inesse videns cunctarum ANTVERPIA, dotes, Atque alias decoris parte vigere tui; Jam Famae Credo, nec Credo; protinus inquit, Praesens quam Specto, dixerat illa minus.
Ergo tu Belgis, quod Vasta Lutetia Gallis, Anglis Londinum, Roma quod est Italis.”
JACOBUS EYCKIUS.
LETTER III.
THE d.u.c.h.eSS OF TYRCONNEL TO MRS. CARTWRIGHT.
_Dated_, Antwerp, _June, 169_--
MY DEAR MADAM,
”Here we are at length arrived; we have been in this city a week, and keep our head quarters at the Golden Lion, one of their princ.i.p.al inns, where we are most agreeably and comfortably accommodated.
”Long since, indeed, had we planned and intended visiting this former capital of Flanders, 'the Merchant City,' whose wealth once resembled ancient Tyre, 'whose merchants were princes, whose traffickers were the honourable of the earth!'[46] But alas, how fallen is this even still magnificent city from its pristine state of grandeur, opulence, and population! that I should be inclined to apostrophize it in the words of Jeremiah, 'How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become a widow!--she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces!'
[46] Isaiah, chap. 23, ver. 8.
”We had indeed long intended and projected a visit to this ancient, interesting, and magnificent city; but that which is of easy performance, what is in our daily power to execute, how often do we delay and procrastinate to perform? So that too frequently in human life such intentions are rarely or never accomplished!
”Our mode of travelling from Brussels to this city was by the Trekschuit, (_literally draw-boat_,) or pa.s.sage boat, which is drawn by two horses; it was, in sooth, a most stately and magnificent barge which conveyed us, with a handsomely furnished cabin beneath; the upper part of the deck, appropriated for the _gens de condition_, was ornamented with a tasteful awning of white and gold trellice work; the canopy which surrounded it intended alike to keep aloof rain or suns.h.i.+ne. The whole of this splendid barge was gilt, and most tastefully decorated; while at the prow the Belgic lion (the armorial bearing of Flanders) blazed forth in burnished gold, flinging its splendid image upon the bosom of the waters as majestically it moved along its watery way.
I must indeed say that it strongly reminded me of the beautiful pa.s.sage in our immortal bard of Avon, where he describes, with so much poetic force and fire, the progress of Cleopatra sailing down the river Cydnus. But pray, I beseech you, do not think that I conceive the duke to be Marc Antony, no more than I compare myself to Cleopatra, although our stately barge reminded me of hers!
'The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne, Burn'd on the water; the p.o.o.p was beaten gold! &c.'
At the further end of the vessel, from the awning of the Trekschuit, were stationed a band of minstrels, who, upon the bell having been rung to announce our departure, right merrily commenced the harmony of sweet sounds, repeating songs and glees, accompanied by musical instruments, every half hour, which fully broke the monotony of our voyage, rendered so agreeable by such sweet melody as to shorten apparently the distance from Brussels to Antwerp. And as to our dinner, which we had piping hot and excellent, in the cabin below, Sir Patricius Placebo, who is quite _au fait_ on such occasions, loudly exclaimed, (and he is indeed, accredit me, my good friend, by no means an indifferent judge,) 'I vow, 'fore Jove,' said he, 'the dinner was excellent, every thing in its kind was good, the wines excellent, and saving and except at the duke's mansion in the _Rue Ducale_, he had,' he avowed, 'not partaken of so delicious a dinner since his _sejo?r_ in Flanders!'
”This he concluded, of course, with his never failing favourite Greek quotation--
'DOSS MOI, TANE STIGMEN!'
and his accustomed chorus: 'Ha, humph!--Ha, hum!'
”Although diminished in her population, and depressed in her commerce, Antwerp is still a n.o.ble city. You need not, however, my dear friend, apprehend that I shall enter into a critical detail, which fault I am rather apprehensive (although your kindness expresses the contrary) I have already committed in my two former letters, which have engrossed too much of your time and attention, by my elaborate description of other cities; but believe me truly that in what now I write, I shall be both brief and sententious in this rapid sketch which I am about to undertake:--
”The view of Antwerp, seen by the intervention of the river Scheldt, is extremely imposing and magnificent, its numerous domes, cupolas, palaces, and spires, and towering above all, over town and tide, the exalted spire of _Notre Dame_, the finest in the world, strikes the spectator with awe and admiration. This venerable city was once the emporium and the envy of all Europe; but now, alas! solemn, gloomy silence, pervades her splendid, s.p.a.cious, but unfrequented streets; the busy hum of men no more is heard amid her deserted stately palaces, and silent and solitary that n.o.ble exchange,[47] where once were congregated the most wealthy merchants of the world!
[47] Sir Thomas Gresham took the model, or plan, of the Royal Exchange, London, from _La Bourse_ of Antwerp.
”You may possibly have heard of the well known and authenticated fact of a wealthy merchant of this city, by name Jean Deans, who n.o.bly supplied the emperor Charles V. with the immense loan of two millions of money; the merchant then prepared a magnificent banquet, which he gave upon the emperor's self-invitation; when the magnificent merchant, at the termination of the repast, flinging the bond into a spicy conflagration of cinnamon, exclaimed the meanwhile--'I feel, Sire, sufficiently repaid by the honour which your Majesty has so graciously this day conferred upon me; fire has cancelled the imperial obligation. However, Sire, I am _your_ debtor now, which I ever shall remain, for the honour which your Majesty has this day conferred on me!'
”Antwerp has produced such an host of ill.u.s.trious men, that to enumerate all would truly prove a tiresome task. The names of Bomberg, Plantin, and Moretus, are identified with the art of printing. Antwerp also gave birth to Grammaye, the historian; to Teniers, the Proteus of his art; to Sneyders; and likewise to Jordaens; while the mighty names of Rubens[48] and Vand.y.k.e fling a halo of glory around the ancient city of Antwerp.
[48] Rubens was born at Cologne, but his parents were natives of Antwerp, whom civil war had caused to retire from Brabant to Cologne.
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