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. [Footnote 45: Moke, p. 390 (3rd edition).] [Footnote 46: See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, part ii., chap. ii., for the evidence as to this.] [Footnote 47: Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, part iv., chap. vi.] [Footnote 48: Motley, _History of the United Netherlands_, chap. v.] [Footnote 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.] [Footnote 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.] [Footnote 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.] [Footnote 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.'] [Footnote 53: Now the Rue Otto-Venius.] [Footnote 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.] [Footnote 55: The churchyard of the Cathedral till 1784.] [Footnote 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).]