ANTRIM ANTWERP. 



201 



talents for a splendid and captivating, though unsub- 

 stantial eloquence. He made the first public display 

 of his talents in the renowned Memoire sur les Etats 

 Gineraux, leurs Droits et la Maniere de les convolver, 

 A. D. 1788, in which his love of liberty, extending 

 to the entire condemnation of all despotic govern- 

 ments, and the justification of resistance, was expres- 

 sed with such force, that, in the excitement of the 

 age, the work was honoured with the greatest ap- 

 plause, and may justly be regarded as one of the first 

 sparks, that lighted the flame of the French re volu- 

 t.on. But when he was appointed deputy to the states 

 general, in 1789, he defended the privileges of here- 

 ditary nobility, was among those who most violently 

 opposed the intended union of the three estates, and 

 voted for a constitution fixing the rights of man, or 

 rather of citizens, in which he declared the veto of 

 the king an indispensable support of monarchy. In 

 1790, lie left the assembly, renounced his oath of 

 citizenship, with certain limitations, was accused of 

 disturbing the public peace, openly defended himself, 

 and then went to Petersburg and Vienna, engaged, 

 continually, in diplomatic business. He was now the 

 most zealous defender of monarchy and the Bourbons. 

 Having been sent from Russia to Italy, in 1798, he 

 was imprisoned, by order of Bonaparte, at Milan. 

 His wife, the renowned opera singer St Hubert!, pro- 

 cured for him the means of escape. He returned to 

 Vienna, and then to Russia, where, in 1803, he was 

 made counsellor of state by Alexander I., and sent on 

 public business to Dresden. He wrote here a remark- 

 able work against Napoleon Fragment du \8rne 

 Lwre de Polybe, trouve sur le Mont Athos. After 

 his return to Russia, he found means to become ac- 

 quainted with the secret articles of the peace of Tilsit, 

 \vcnt to England, and communicated them to the 

 ministry, by which means his influence became so 

 great, Uiat Canning did nothing in relation to France 

 without his advice. He maintained his diplomatic 

 connexions, especially in France, and was every where 

 esteemed one of the first politicians of the age. In 

 spite of his attachment to the Bourbons, and his nu- 

 merous struggles in their behalf, he did not succeed 

 in gaining, entirely, the confidence of Louis XVIII. 

 In 1812, he was murdered, in a village near London, 

 together with his wife, by his servant Lorenzo, an 

 Italian, who immediately after, shot himself also. 



ANTRIM, a county in the province of Ulster, in Ire- 

 land, bounded on the east by the Irish channel ; on 

 the west by the counties of Londonderry and Tyrone ; 

 on the north by the northern ocean ; and on the 

 south by Lough Neagh and the county of Down. It 

 extends from north to south 54 miles, and from east 

 to west 35 miles, embracing 420,999 acres. Its po- 

 pulation is estimated at 262,860. The mountainous 

 districts of this county are towards the east and north, 

 but no part of the elevated land rises to a great 

 height. Knoll Lade (1820 feet above the sea) in the 

 north, Slenish in the middle of the county, and Davis, 

 near Belfast, are the principal mountains. The gen- 

 eral soil of the plains and valleys is strong loam, inter- 

 spersed with patches of gravel and sand ; but the moun- 

 tainous parts are basalt or limestone rock, or covered 

 with heath and bog. Gypsum is dug out, for expor- 

 tation, near Belfast ; coals liave been long wrought 

 at Ballycastle, on the northern coast ; the shores of 

 Lough Neagh furnish masses of petrified wood ; and 

 pearl stone, a rare mineral production in the British 

 i-liincls, is found at Sandybrae, twenty miles from 

 Belfast. But the stupendous range of basaltic strata, 

 exhibiting, in many places, magnificent colonnades, 

 particularly at the celebrated Giant's Causey, and 

 stretching almost the whole length of the northern 

 coast, forms the most striking object to the geologist. 

 The extent of seu-<S>ast produces great scientific va- 



riety, and there ij much picturesque beauty in the 

 more fertile parts of the interior, particularly in the 

 vale of Lagan, between Belfast and Lisburn. The 

 Lagan and the Bann, which hi different directions 

 form the boundaries of the county, are its chief rivers. 

 The other rivers are, the Ravil, the Braid, the Glen- 

 wherry, the Main, the Six-Mile-Water, the Crumlin, 

 the Glenevy, the Carey, and the Glenshesh, all of 

 which, except the last two, fall into Lough Neagh. 

 The staple manufactures of the county are linen and 

 cotton. Flax, potatoes, barley, and oats, are the prin- 

 cipal agricultural produce. The cattle are of small 

 size ; the mountainous pastures feed numerous herds 

 of goats ; and the rearing of swine is extensive and 

 profitable. Salmon fisheries are also successfully pro- 

 secuted. No county of Ireland includes a larger pro- 

 portion of presbyterian protestants than Antrim, many 

 of whom are descended from natives of Scotland. 

 The principal towns of the county are Belfast, Car- 

 rickfergus, Antrim, Lisburn, and Randalstown. The 

 assizes, elections, &c., are held at Carrickfergus, and 

 the quarter sessions at Antrim. The town of Antrim 

 is pleasantly situated on the north end of Lough 

 Neagh, or the Six-Mile-Water, over which there is 

 a bridge. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in the 

 linen manufacture. The population of the town is 

 2485, and that of the parish 5129. 



ANTWERP, (Anvers, French ; Amberes, Spanish ; An- 

 tioerpen, German and Dutch) ; a large, well-built 

 capital of a province of the same name in the Nether- 

 lands, which, in 1814, was formed out of the former 

 marquisate of A. and the lordship of Mechlin, which, 

 under the French government, had composed the de- 

 partment of the two Nethes. The province contains 

 1017 square miles, and 287,347 inhabitants. The city 

 lies on the Scheldt; E. Ion. 4 2&; N. lat. 51 14' 

 The largest vessels can ascend the river to the 

 wharfs of A. on eight chief canals and three basins, 

 built by the French. The city contains 60,000 inha- 

 bitants, is strongly fortified, has a citadel, more than 

 10,000 houses, among which is the magnificent ex- 

 change, the oldest in Europe ; also the council-house, 

 the cathedral, in which Rubens (whose family was 

 from A.) lies buried, the ample house of the Ostrelins 

 (the former warehouse of the Hanseatic league), c. 

 A. is the see of a bishop, contains an academy of 

 sciences, an academy of painting and sculpture, a 

 medico-surgical school, and a marine arsenal. Its 

 manufactures of laces, sugar, white lead, litmus, cot- 

 ton cloth, and fine thread, are very important. Its 

 sewing silk, black silk stuff, and printers' ink, are 

 known throughout Europe. Its commerce has great- 

 ly increased since the Scheldt was once more opened ; 

 and, in 1828, 955 vessels, amongst which were 73 

 from America, entered this port. Before the war of 

 the Netherlands with Spain, A. was even more im- 

 portant than Amsterdam, which increased very much 

 by the decline of A., in the IGth century. At that 

 time, the Scheldt was covered with vessels belonging 

 to all nations, of which, at one time, 2500 Lay in the 

 harbour. An animated description of the commerce 

 and activity of A., at that period, is given in Schiller's 

 introduction to his Thirty Years' War. It then had 

 200,000 inhabitants, and the fiansa, the famous 

 league of the Hanse towns, had numerous warehouses 

 here. The first blow was given to its prosperity by 

 the memorable siege under the prince of Parma, in 

 1585, and it was entirely ruined by the closing of its 

 harbour after the peace of Westphalia. Joseph II. 

 attempted in vain to open the Scheldt. This was not 

 done till after the conquest of the Austrian Nether- 

 lands by the French. The Scheldt was then declared 

 free, and commerce would soon have revived, had not 

 Napoleon made the place a military depot. In 1814, 

 it was besieged by the English and Saxons um'ir 



