Since 1830 the trade of Antwerp has increased enormously, and not very long ago the Scheldt was so congested with shipping that no vessels were allowed up unless they were regular liners, as there were no free berths in the docks. This fact speaks for itself. Antwerp is now the greatest port on the continent of Europe. In the world London stands first, with New York second, but Antwerp comes third; and to meet this huge trade three miles of additional quays are to be constructed within the next few years. Last year the Burgomaster of the city said that the mercantile marine of Great Britain was so pre-eminent there that Antwerp was, 'from a commercial point of view, one of the most important British ports in the world.' Germany and England, however, are engaged in a struggle for supremacy. They are ahead of all rivals; but the shipping companies of Hamburg and Bremen are the most powerful in the city, and, although during the last twenty years British trade has steadily increased at Antwerp, German trade has increased still more, and seems to be rapidly overtaking that of England.
The presence in force of the German element on the banks of the Scheldt is the most striking feature of modern Antwerp. An extraordinary hold on its commerce and industries has been secured, as well as on the social life of the city. The Chamber of Commerce is full of German members. There is a German colony many thousands strong. There are German clubs and schools, and numberless clerks from all parts of Germany are to be found in business houses. These facts give some colour to the prediction, so often heard, that the time is approaching when Antwerp will be under the German Zollverein, and that this will be the first step towards the realization of those ambitions which, beginning with a commercial alliance with Holland and Belgium, are to find their victory in the absorption of those countries, or, at least, of Holland and Antwerp, in the German Empire. It is well known that the Netherlands believe their independence to be in danger. The Belgian Government purposes spending millions in extending the fortifications of Antwerp. On all hands the durability of the settlement made by the Conference of London in 1830-1831 is called in question.
Great interests are involved; and it is within the possibilities of the future that Antwerp may be, yet once again, the hinge on which the peace of Europe turns. The mouth of the Scheldt is still where it was in the days of Napoleon—opposite the mouth of the Thames.
Footnotes
[45] Moke, p. 390 (3rd edition).
[46] See Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, part ii., chap. ii., for the evidence as to this.
[47] Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, part iv., chap. vi.
[48] Motley, History of the United Netherlands, chap. v.
[49] 'Nulle part en Belgique les nouvelles croyances n'avaient jeté des racines aussi profondes' (Moke, 426). The Rue de Tournai was the quarter where most Calvinists were to be found. From the list of suspected persons, drawn up in 1567, it would appear that barely half a dozen families living there were free from the charge of heresy.—Thys: Historique des Rues et Places Publiques de la ville d'Anvers, p. 77.
[50] 'In a very few years after the subjugation of Antwerp, it appeared by statistical documents that nearly all the manufactures of linen, coarse and fine cloths, serges, fustians, tapestry, gold embroidery, arras-work, silks and velvets, had been transplanted to the towns of Holland and Zeeland, which were flourishing and thriving, while the Flemish and Brabantine cities were mere dens of thieves and beggars.'—Motley: History of the United Netherlands, Appendix to chap. v.
[51] The Battle of Zutphen, at which Sir Philip Sidney received the wound from which he died, was fought on October 2, 1586, thirteen months after the surrender of Antwerp.
[52] The proper reading of Article XIV. of the Treaty of Münster was disputed. See De Gerlache, i. 70. However, 'Quoi qu'il en soit,' says Baron De Gerlache, 'l'Escant demeura fermé; les Hollandais en tenaient les deux rives; le commerce d'Anvers et de la Belgique fut ruiné par la faiblesse et la lâcheté de l'Espagne, et par la connivence égoïste des autres puissances.'
[53] Now the Rue Otto-Venius.
[54] Then the Rue de la Bascule, or 'Wapper,' a broad street with a canal in the middle, filling up, apparently, the space between the east side of the modern Rue Rubens and the west side of the modern Rue Wappers. In 1611, when Rubens built his house, the canal which used to run down the middle of the Place de Meir had been vaulted over for some time.
[55] The churchyard of the Cathedral till 1784.
[56] Napoleon thought that the expedition was wisely conceived, and that, if it had not been so foolishly executed, Antwerp might have been taken by a coup de main. As to the tactics of the English Generals, 'C'était le comble de la bêtise et de l'inhumanité,' he said (O'Meara, Napoleon at St. Helena, i., 238).
[57] 'Il commandait depuis quelques anneés à Anvers, où ses aventures amoureuses lui avaient donné une terrible réputation. C'était une sorte de Lovelace en cheveux blancs, forte redouté des mères de famille.'—De Leutre, ii. 81.