The city of Antwerp stands on the east or right bank of the Schelde, in north lat. 51° 14′, and about twenty-five miles in a straight line nearly due north of Brussels, the present capital of Belgium. The Flemish name for this place is Antwerpen; the Spaniards, who once possessed it, call it Amberes, and the French, Anvers. Few places are more favorably situated for foreign commerce than Antwerp. The river opposite the town is from 1500 to 2000 feet wide, and admits the largest ships to come up to Antwerp, and to enter the docks and canals. From Antwerp to the mouth of the river is about fifteen miles, and this space is lined with forts.

Antwerp is strongly fortified on the land side like most of the old Belgian towns, and has also on the south a remarkably strong citadel, in the form of a pentagon, which was erected by the Duke of Alva in 1568. During the occupation of Antwerp by the French, in the reign of Napoleon, the works of the citadel were strengthened, and several additions made by which its outward form has been altered; and it is now considered able to make a formidable resistance. The principal houses of Antwerp are built of a kind of sandstone, brought about ten miles from the town; the streets are generally wide, and on the whole it may be called a well-built city. It is said to contain twenty-six public places, or squares, (of which the Meer, the finest of all, contains a palace built by Napoleon,) seventy public buildings, and one hundred and sixty-two streets. The chief public buildings are the Bourse or Exchange, said to be the pattern after which those of London and Amsterdam were built, though it is superior to either of them. The pillars that support its galleries are of marble. The Town-house is also reckoned a fine structure. But the glory of Antwerp is its Cathedral, which,

in spite of some paltry shops that stick to its walls, strikes every stranger with admiration when he views the noble elevation of its steeple, and the costly decorations of its interior. The steeple is of stone, and 400 feet high, according to those accounts which make it least; but others make it as much as 450 feet. When the spectator has ascended to the highest point that is accessible, he sees all the city spread out like a map before him, while by the aid of a small glass his eye travels over the flat plains of Belgium and Holland for forty miles in every direction.

Antwerp, besides its connexion with the sea, has a ready water communication, either by the Schelde or canals, with Mechlin, Louvain, and Brussels on the south and east, and with Ghent and Bruges on the west. In 1831 its population was 77,199. Before the late revolution in 1830, the trade of Antwerp was considerable; though it must doubtless have suffered very much since that period, in consequence of the unsettled state of the Belgic question. In 1829, near 1000 ships entered its ports. Antwerp has also extensive manufactures of black sewing silk, linen and woollen cloth, silk, sugar refining, &c.

Antwerp has been the scene of many remarkable political events, and has often suffered the evils attendant on war. As late as 1830 it sustained considerable damage from the cannonading directed against it by the Dutch troops in the citadel.

Many of our readers have probably read of the great siege of Antwerp in 1585, by the Prince of Parma, against whom it held out for fourteen months. The Prince, in order to command the navigation of the river, built strong projecting piers on each side, which were mounted with cannon;

while the intermediate space, which was thus rendered comparatively narrow, was filled up with boats chained together, and firmly moored. This enormous work, which withstood all the floods of winter, was destroyed by the fireships of Antwerp. One of these horrible machines, in its course down the river, struck against one of the piers, and its explosion burst through the bridge of boats, destroyed the pier, and blew up the men and ammunition Iwith which it was loaded. In spite, however, of the courage and obstinacy of the Antwerpers, they were at last compelled to surrender to the Spanish troops. The history of this once flourishing city exhibits rather a melancholy retrospect. Reduced to a population of less than 80,000, with its trade diminished, and an enemy in its citadel, we cannot help looking back to its flourishing days of the early part of the sixteenth century, when 200,000 inhabitants and strangers are said to have filled its streets, and the commerce of the world was in its harbor. The names of such illustrious painters as Rubens, Van Dyke, and Jordaens, have shed a lustre on it as a school of painting; and among its illustrious citizens we may mention the name of the early geographer, Abraham Ortelius.

Russian Justice.-The following story gives a lively idea of the Russian rule of Poland. A Jew met a Cossack in the forest; the latter robbed him of his horse. On return ing to the town, he lodged a complaint with the Major in command, who was (with what truth we shall say) reputed to be a most rigorous disciplinarian. The Cossacks were paraded, the robber was pointed out, when, with the utmost effrontery, he declared he had found the horse.-" How? replied the Jew, "I was on his back." "Yes," retorted the Cossack, "I found you too; but having no use for a Jew, did not keep you." The excuse was deemed sufficient, and the Jew lost his steed.

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LIFE AND TRAVELS OF JOHN LEDYARD. LEDYARD was an American. He was born at Groton, in Connecticut, in 1751. He was first designed for the law, a study which did not suit his romantic turn of mind; secondly, for a missionary among the Indians, which proved as uncongenial to his habits and dispositions. While prosecuting his theological studies at College, to relieve the tedium of the chapel and the lecture-rooms, he introduced the acting of plays, occasionally performing himself in a long gray beard. The missionary scheme was soon abandoned, and he made his escape from college in a canoe which he hollowed from the trunk of a tree; sailing alone, and dressed in a bear-skin, he reached home after performing a voyage of 140 miles on a dangerous river. His next profession was that of a common sailor on board a vessel bound for Gibraltar. Having heard his grandfather speak of some wealthy relation in England, he resolved on a journey to London; and accordingly setting out from New York, he was landed at Plymouth without a shilling or a single acquaintance. In company with an Irishman as thoughtless and poor as himself, and agreeing to take their turns in begging along the road, he reached London, where he discovered the house of his rich relation. His story, however, was discredited, and himself treated as an impostor, which roused his indignation to such a pitch that he abruptly left the house, resolved never to return. Upon further inquiry his friend became satisfied of the truth of the connexion, and sent Ledyard a kind invitation, which he haughtily declined. He even rejected a sum of money which his relation, on hearing of his distressed situation, had sent; desiring the servant to tell his master that he be

longed not to the race of the Ledyards. His next function was that of a corporal of marines, on board the ship of Captain Cook, then preparing for his third and last voyage round the world; in which capacity he made the tour of the globe. He was present at Cook's death, and published a short narrative of the voyage. From a marine he was next converted into a fur-merchant, having his head full of romantic projects about a trading voyage to Nootka Sound. His main difficulty was in procuring.a ship. He applied to various individuals in New York and Philadelphia, but all he got was a promise. Finding himself disappointed, and cursing the lack of enterprise among his own countrymen, he resolved to try his. fortune in Europe. He visited Cadiz, Brest, L'Orient, and Paris, with no better success. At Paris he got acquainted with Paul Jones, an adventurer as enthusiastic as himself, and with Sir James Hall, who generously gave him fifteen guineas, as he was now reduced to a sort of wandering vagabond, without employment, motive, or means of support. His next plan was a journey, by land, through the northern regions of Europe and Asia, then to cross Behring's Straits to the continent of America. While waiting for the permission of the Empress of Russia, he received an invitation to London from Sir James Hall, who had procured him a free passage in an English ship, bound for the Pacific Ocean, and permission to be put on shore at any spot he chose on the northwest coast. Sir James, moreover, gave him twenty guineas, with which Ledyard "bought two great dogs, an Indian pipe, and a hatchet, "the only companions of his journey. The happy moment seemed now arrived when he was to open to his blinded country ymen the path to unbounded wealth: