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ANTWERP CATHEDRAL.

(_For the Mirror_.)


Antwerp possesses considerable interest to an Englishman, as a place of
great importance during the late war, when there was a sort of mystery
attached to it, as the secret grand naval depot of Napoleon, which our
Government thought to "cripple France for ever," by getting into our own
hands! But what the Earl of Chatham, with an army of twenty thousand men,
aided by a fine British fleet, could not do, I did: I made my entry into
Antwerp--without molestation, thanks to the benign Spirit of Peace--towards
the evening of a fine day in July; and while the impression of novelty was
still fresh, enjoyed a rich treat in viewing its noble Cathedral. The
interior is grand, but simple--striking the beholder more by its loftiness
and spaciousness, than by any profusion of glittering ornament, so common
in Catholic churches--although the forest of pillars, the altar-piece, the
statues, and above all the splendid pictures which grace the walls, form a
rich variety to the eye. It would be useless to enter into a minute detail,
for no description can give a stranger a perfect idea of one building
distinct from others of a similar kind, and those who have seen the object
itself do not require it. Antwerp may be called the country of Rubens: at
every turn you meet with monuments of his genius; and here (in the
Cathedral) you have what is esteemed his masterpiece--the "Descent from the
Cross"--which surprises you with a boldness of drawing, vigour and richness
of colouring, and an animation in the grouping, that can scarcely be