Through the Giant's Gate, so called from a colossal statue reclining upon
it, there is an opening to the Scheldt;--without is the quay, covered
with merchandize unloading from the ships in the river, and serving as
an evening promenade. Here you may see the other eminences of the city
occasionally, but the gigantic one--always: it stalks out from amidst the
cluster of buildings your constant companion wherever you go--as you walk
along, it appears to move with you, and when you stop it waits with
patience until you go on again. On another occasion we took a boat on the
Scheldt, and landing at some distance below the town, had a delightful
walk along its banks, which are elevated like part of Milbank, near
Vauxhall-bridge; and the situation has much the same character. The river,
however, is grander, as I should judge it to be twice the width of the
Thames at London-bridge, and it flows with great rapidity. It was a
charming evening, and we saw the sun set in all his glory down the Scheldt,
in the bosom of which were reflected the endless tints of the sky, whose
golden brilliancy was beautifully relieved by the intervention of some
cottages near us, and a pretty village, with its church-spire a little
further off. On one side was the flat cultivated country of Flanders, and
looking up the river, we beheld the shipping and the whole city: all the
churches and towers raised their varied forms, but still only to do homage,
as it were, to the great pile which outstripped them, and which was lit up
by the radiance of the departed sun. Model of splendour! "from morn 'till
dewy eve" how must thy elegant form be engraven on the hearts of the
natives of the city thou overlookest, exciting emotions of home, like the
craggy rock of the Highlanders, when they are absent in distant lands! and
how must the youth, whom the love of art carries to study the treasures of
Venice and Rome, when returning to shed a lustre upon his natal place--of
being one day named with Matsys and Rubens, and the other splendid painters
by whom it has been adorned--how must the first glance that he catches of
thy hallowed height make his heart throb with endearing thoughts of the