From 1832 until 1914 Antwerp and the liberty-loving Flemings of ancient Flanders remained free, happy and increasingly prosperous under the wise and moderate rule of their chosen Kings. Leopold I reigned until his death in 1865, and proved to be one of the wisest monarchs in history. For Antwerp his greatest achievement was the final freeing of the River Scheldt in 1863, after more than ten years of diplomatic negotiations, from the tolls which the Dutch had insisted in levying since 1839. Under his successor, Leopold II, one of the most efficient chief executives it was possible for a nation to have, the fine Belgian public service system was developed and the prosperity of its cities and citizens promoted in every practical way. In the two decades following the freeing of the Scheldt the commerce of the port of Antwerp increased six-fold, while that of its rivals, London and Liverpool, doubled and that of Hamburg and Rotterdam tripled. Since then the business of the port has advanced even faster, and the imposing modern business buildings that now line the Place de Meir, one of the handsomest commercial streets in the world, afford abundant testimony to its prosperity and wealth--as do the fine residences of its merchants to be seen in drives through the outskirts of the city. Under Albert I the wise policies of his predecessors were continued, and the little country was enjoying peace and contentment such as never came to it during the centuries of foreign oppression and tyranny that began with the acquisition of Flanders and Brabant by the Dukes of Burgundy. It is the greatest moral issue in this war whether Belgium, after being free for less than eighty-five years, shall once more pass into the hands of a foreign power. Its people have demonstrated conclusively that under the limited monarchy they have chosen they are capable of governing themselves far better than the best of their self-appointed masters ever did in the bad old days that, they had hoped, had forever passed away. CHAPTER XXI WHERE MODERN FLANDERS SHINES--OSTENDE AND "LA PLAGE" Our last stopping place in Flanders was the one that many tourists visit first, the gay watering place of Ostende. Here a little fleet of fast Channel steamers convey the traveller to Dover in four or five hours, while an excellent service of through express trains connect the Dover end of the water route with London, and the Ostende end with Brussels, Berlin and half the capitals of Europe. Our stay in Flanders, however, was drawing to a close, and we were headed for Liverpool, where the new _Aquitania_ was waiting to bear us home.