in an equal degree of such a feeling of awe from a work of art, and my mind
really ached with the intensity of the impression.--We seemed to view this
sublime object with mutual wonder and admiration--gazing upon it in one
position, then in another--walking about--stopping--excited as it were by
the same impulse. Once, when nearly dark, as our eyes were fixed upon the
top, a gentle light suddenly appeared upon the very summit, crowning the
majestic fane with glory, as if pointing it out for admiration to a
surrounding world: it was a star twinkling upon the very spot where the
highest point of the spire rested on the sky.

The name of Antwerp is derived from _Hand-werpen_ or
_Hand-thrown_: so called from a legend, which informs us that on the
site of the present city once stood the castle of a giant, who held the
neighbouring country in thraldom, and who was accustomed to amuse himself
by cutting off, and casting into the river, the right hands of the
unfortunate wights that fell into his power; but that being at last
conquered himself, his own immense hand was disposed of, with poetical
justice, in the same way. With the impression of this story on my mind, it
came into my head that the giant was personified by the towering spire: no
wonder, thought I, that Don Quixote mistook a windmill for a giant, since
I, even in my sober senses, cannot get rid of the idea that I see the
mighty hand-thrower before me. With a little confusion of the image, I then
imagined the spire to be the guardian of the city--that it took cognizance
of all its affairs, and that it would watch me even into my retreat for the
night. Like the adored phantom of youthful love, it pervaded every place,
and haunted me in my dreams. Often the motion of the clouds seemed to be
transferred to the lofty spire, which again assuming the giant character
startled me with the impression that it was falling towards me, or rushing
to crush its victims, like the horrid car of Jaggernaut.