A VISIT TO ANTWERP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2671, 24 May 1905, Page 69

A VISIT TO ANTWERP.

By Mo4l\a.

I. These notes concerning the ancient city cif Antwerp aie -written from th© point of tie-w of one to whom Continental ways are a jnovelty, and in the hope that they may interest some iew cf the stay-at-homes from choice or necessity in tjie Far Souht.

.Arriving 4by the. Harwich, boat in the early morning, you pass up the river, low meadow land on each side, intersected by rows of poplars. Presently the windmill and outlying factories become more numerous, until, soon after 8 o'clock, the busy wharf is Teached, with the "dim, rich city" stretching away as' far .as ome can see beyond. On landing you find plenty <>f obliging x>eople to help yon to get your luggage cleared, -and are soon driven off in a comfortable 'Voiture" to your destination.. .Compared witS landing at Calais, where the* in their long, blue Ulousts and -with -their -fie Toe Jnousfcaob.es" eeemed excited to-ths .pitch of quarrelsomeness, these 3Jelgians strike one as much i.ote self-possessed. One of the ikst things to do was to boy "a " map -<ff the city, by which we see that it is -very strongly fortified all round — Ramparts, Moats.. Drawbjidges, and' Forts —

on lioth -sidles of the rriver. There are 15 'gates leading out of _t3ie city, each with sentinels jpatrolling constantly. The older part of the city is, of course, that lying nearest to the River Escant, or Scheldt, as "w<e know it. fiere the streets are very narrow, but fairly clean, and in spite of their narrowness electric trams run through most of -them in all directions. They seem. i>o have .adopted our word "tramway," but the tram .notices as to destination, etc., aue all .given in two languages — French and Flemish, — as the population is bo mixed. We Trill take

— The Place de Mcir — «s the starting place for our first walk. It is one of the widest and best streets in -the older part- of the city, and' has been the scene of Ttnany of the most exciting episodes in the history of the old town. It was here that William of Orange rode into the midst of the angry Calvinist mob, .and by ihii personal influence averted -what was nearly a second St. Bartholomew's — mo far had the Protestant reaction swung after the Catholic oppression. It contains the Paiais Boyale and the .house of £he illustrious Rubens. The latter Is dfcorateS with -many .carved stone garlands, in . questionable taste, .and -is -entirely modern; 'but standing an the same site, arid haying some remains of the ancient bouse in the garden- at the* back. A nttle side street (Sue 3es douse ;mois) leads to the ""Bourse,," a fine building, opening an -four .streets,, ,and containing a large covered courtyard" in the Byzantine style, -with double cclonades all xonnd and galleries. Every column differs in design, and tbe panels -between the arches -are filled in with jnapsof -parts of tifoe wcacldi. It "lias - several times "been destroyed by fire, .and the one -dates from' 1872. to dshe place, -we -thread our "way amidst the busy throng, and notice two .vendors x>f engaging little puppies of various .breeds, decked wath ribbons. About five minutes' .walk, some Tatfaer attuactive .slreps. biings ,us do the Place \serte, .a large, «pen <space .planted with trees, -ana having a band «taadi ornfl statue of Rubens in ishe centre, it -was once the cemetery of /the 'Cathedral, which occupies- the iarther side. ;TJnfertuna±ely, its 1 grandeur is marred by its being surrounded on sail "iy louses and shops, =s© (that only 4Sie upper ;part >caai J>e seen. However, the maj^uficeni .tower, Zjsl Meohe '(arrow),, Tears, its. intricate, iaoeJike .masonry 'to an immense .height, ,and towards :sunset, "wien^difi mists ?be^in to r gat3ier, the w3iole fcunding, wafh its cupola -and many shows .ig> jgcanSly .against <£he -sky. The t«we^, strange -io say;, is -fhe jxroperty -of the town auS is aiot Tinker tie jurisdiction -of fhe 32iurch. !Che -Cathedrsil "is dedicated to "Netpe Dame, *nd -was enmmtneed aboqf. 0257 .»a the site of a previous iphaepel. *Q2he west <3»or has a very umebome '^facatle, «wifch exquisite stone faryngj. 3>y & Tmerable porch am vfehe -<seu£h transept -Jading the -Place "l&rte 3L >gamy-looking, leathex-padiaed-aoor ds laarked 'Tngaeg," so mt> gang in. It happens 4o be the birthday of King Leopold ol Belgians, anti *& crowd is "ginning -to gather in -the Dave Presently some .stfldiers arrive and line up «ehincl the rchairs, and -many guaintlyobessed officials circulate about, putting things to order, for -there is to be a "Te Deum" 'Sigh Macs in honour .of the King* iete attended by representatives from <3»e Court, asrmy, and all public bodies.

Durinp tie long wait we can. observe the beautiful Gothic arches .^f the nave and chancel, also tlie 'triple-vaulted side -aisles sad .raws ,of pillars. Tie carved wooden choir stalls are very handsome -and elaborate, and these is a Sue painting by Bnbens over ilbe High Altar, in which the colours are jjarticularJy soft and bright. .A3l Tound the fides of the nave and' away -round tie amnmlatory "behind the ctencel are numbers of private chapels and shrines of saints, all lavishly decorated. *J3m paintinEts by "vßubens of tibe "Ascent-To" and "Descent From" the Cross fire kept covered up, except on Sundays «ad one day iin the -week ior a lew 'hours.; at -other tunes a small fee is charged for showing them. But neftv a fanfare of trumpets announces that -some of tlie ex-gectaa-imes -arrived, and" a number of «B©-looMng military officers take their places, their -cloaks thrown -back, displaying, brilliant uniforms and medals. The members of tie Konik Academic enter, attended by two quaintly -dressed .niaceJ>eaxers in " black velvet 'doublets. TSbe choir .and clergy TSOW file in, and take their pistes at the far end of the.

altar. All remain standing during the chanting of the service, and then stream out again, a motley array of fantastic uniforms. The pulpit here is well worth seemg — it is a wonderful specimen of wcodcarvinff. The balustrades of the stairway on each side are most elaborately wrought, with birds, branches of tress, and other devices, and the part overhead is festooned with wieaths and cherubs.

Emerging into the fresh air once more, we summon sufficient fortitude to take us past the souvenir shops, full of tempting Flemish repousse brass and copper ware, and yet another of Flemhh pottery, without entering, and turn into the Rue Nationale. which is a fine street containing me ny good shops .

—The People We Mcct — are very much like the folk in London, excepting that there is a large sprinkling of women of the lower class, without hats or headgear of any kind, but with their hair rolled up a la Pompadour, general^ beautifully done. It has a much better effect than the untidy hair and gaudy hat we see so much of in our own country. A small black or plaid shawl pinned round their shoulders is their usual costume. Thie wiorkmen wear blouses, similar to our Old Country smock frocks, of blue, black, or white, accojxling to . their occupation, and have a fancy for cropped .hair like a convict. All the streets are swarming with busy life, the population of the city being over -300,000. Now and then one sees "an elderly woman wearing one of the pretty Flemisi lace caps, and the clatter of sabots is frequently heard. In the roadway we remark — The Fine Flemish Caa-t Horses, — looking docile and well fed. They must indeed be steady and well-conducted, as the drivers have only a single card not much thicker than a piece of string, fixed to a ring on what we should call the bearing rein. With this frail communication they can apparently guide them where they please, though how it would answer in case of a runav ay is doubtful. Perhaps the horses h/ave long since reoognised the hopelessness of any escapade of that sort being successful on account of the ponderous, low-swung waggons they use here — thie dachshund of their kind. Even the twowheeied vehicles are very long and heavily built— ~only possible in a country like this, where the land is all on a dead level. — 'Working Dogs. — The worst feature of the road traffic is the use they make of dogs for drawing barrows, etc., which are four times as large and heavy as in England. Underneath, between the wheels, will be a good honest old .dog, or sometimes two or three, pulling their hest, while tihe man has his hands on the handles to guide it. They axe generally .muzzled, and harnessed with, a chest strap fastened to the handles, and their poor soft legs and feet get twisted about on the hard cobble stones, with which all "the streets are paved. Some of them seem well treated, but it- is a bad practice, and .ought to be put down. We have now come to cross iro&As, where a large .monument is seen on the left to the memory .of T)e Mariux, a patriot. Taking the right-hand street, itue dv Peuple, brings ,us to the very handsome Nouveau Musee, something like our National Gallery, where ihe nation's pictures aie now collected. A Tlescriptiom of its contents would take -too much room ; it will suffice "to say 'tihrere are five or six large rooms devote-d t-o old masters of -fclie schools, and tlie -rest axe mostly of the more .modern Belgian school. A walk of about five minutes from the N. Musee brings us to the Porte Boom,, and, passing -out across .tthe diyke, we follow .a -road .which actually has a .slight incline., culminating in a railway bridge. Descending .the farther side, :a straggling row of houses, witih an occasional stonemason's yard, fall of -fantastic gravestones, leads "to a village street, where ? great ■many florists' -shops -display pot plants woS. 'Wreaths. On every side are signs of the vicinity of a ,gxeat cemetery, and! very soon see come to a large lodge gateway, the jentramoe to — Th© Kiel —

It is a, 'great size, and walled in all -reand. The graves -are thickly crowded together, with jio -grass between. Down the principal avenues -nusabers of .people are strolling ; hut -there are up seats, and there no .prospect. That .cannot be jbelpecl in such -a flat country.; hut what 2, contrast to some of the "Acres of God" on our sunny "New Zealand hills, it is the Sunday following the "Jourdes Morts" f All Saints' Day) , and tike .graves are .more than usually decorated. Some few have nedl flowta-s and chrysanthemums in pots, but the rgeneralaty are loaded with huge constructions tot beads and ware, some of china, and ®very kind -of falseness, tied with flauniang .streamers of ribbon. In front o f the sevraiel tombs cm the corner posts -.were lamps, in which candles were burning. A 'little farther on we notice .a number of .graves, with little glass erection^, Jake *my greenhouses or aviaries. Inside these ;ev<ery "variety of taste is displayed : one ,w&>se -sid*«6 are of goldtinged <glass, is hung <all ground with wreaths *nd immortelles. 'From the centre is suspendied a small sanctuary lamp -with. red "glass, -in -which a light is 'burning, i'his one is open to the -weather in front, but some- .are closed and padlocked. Another type has only .a raisea glass box; Epme with muslin curtains, some without, containing an .arrangement of vases of artificial flowers, a crucifix, some candlesticks, and a photograph of .-the deceased 1 , on a crochet xnat, with a/ .little -black bow ;at each, corner. Plaster ffigur.es of saints are much iv favour, and so ere little china clierubs suspended from tthe .roc-f . The custom of placing the photographs of the deceased on their graves seems veay general. .One we noticed of two young men, in wlxich fcwo ■photos on ojpal were inserted in a broken, stone 'column, and under this one, amongst i the dwarf shrubs, w<ere eight little candles I burning — just .stuck into the sand, aaud flickering in spite of the showery afternoon. In front of nearly all tihe graves is a prie-dieu, the cushion of carved stone generally. .Obj§ pa? two aspired to

more pxivacy by having a tiny chapel built over the grave, in which would be two chairt and a sort of altar, with framed photographs placed in front of the candles, and the sides hung round with wreaths. A funeral was going on in a distant corner of th-e cemetery , and. the hearse was waiting a little way off — a> t amble-looking thing, loaded w-ith gilt ornaanenls over a black framework. On leaving the gateway a procession is seen approaching, headed by what we should call a German band, with clashing cymbals and brass instruments. Behind are men carrying, in a tilted position, a coffin covered with a biuck-and-gold pall, followed by a long string of mourners on fGot. But it is getting dusk, so wo will return to thp Place Verte in the passing tram, meditating on the pathetic side of the scene wp have just left, and how love and sorrow make sacred the cheapest of fripperies. It is only their point of view that one deplores.

(To be continued.)