ANTWERP. 239 



be as wide as Portland Place, and from the variety in 

 the architecture of its houses is infinitely more pictur- 

 esque and striking. 



Antwerp, though still a place of very considerable 

 trade, has had the misfortune of being stripped of her 

 splendour and prosperity on several occasions. Her 

 merchants were at one time the most wealthy body of 

 men in Europe. As an illustration of this, a story is 

 told of one John Daens, who lent to Charles V. a mil- 

 lion of gold, to enable him to carry on his war in Hun- 

 gary, for which he obtained the royal bond. The 

 Emperor, on his return, dined with the merchant, who, 

 after a most sumptuous entertainment, produced the 

 bond, not, however, for payment, but to burn it, which 

 he is said to have done in a fire made of the chips of 

 cinnamon. 



The greatest blow which the prosperity of this city 

 received, was in consequence of the treaty by which 

 the navigation of the magnificent river, on the right 

 bank of which it is situated, was prohibited. It is said 

 that Antwerp before this contained not fewer than two 

 hundred thousand inhabitants, and had sometimes two 

 thousand ships and vessels lying in the river, and its 

 harbours and its basins. The former are now reduced 

 to less than sixty thousand, and the latter to at most 

 two hundred. The town had before this treaty been 

 sacked and set on fire by the infamous Alva, when six 

 or seven thousand of its inhabitants are said to have 

 perished ; and the third time that its prosperity suffered 

 a severe blow, was occasioned by the overthrow of 

 Buonaparte, when his grand design of making Ant- 

 werp the greatest naval arsenal in the north of Europe 

 fell with its projector. His plans for this purpose 

 were undertaken on an immense scale ; but they were 

 by no means deserving those extravagant encomiums 

 that were bestowed on them while in their progress. 

 The two basins are undauntedly planned with great 

 skill, and executed with excellent workmanship ; they 

 are conveniently entered from the river, well protected 

 by the guns of the citadel, communicate with each 



