A telegram published this morning states that twenty-four of the forts at Antwerp are still energetic cally resisting the Germans, but one doubts this is only a belated message, Yet the fortifications of Antwerp are very strong; they include a fortification wall and a semi-circle of forts, which were erected subsequently to 1860. The old fortifications, which were destroyed, included @ citadel built by Alba in 1867. Like many other cities in Belgium, Antwerp has a famous cathedral, originally dating from the fifteenth century, with tower 400 ft. high. In the cathedral are the tomb of Rubens and number of his masterpieces, Although Antwerp has been for years 'a naval arsenal of Belgium and the centre of that country's foreign trade, the navigation of the Scheldt below the city is difficult. There are, however, over two miles of quay along the Scheldt, and twelve docks capable of taking ocean-going vessels, In the sixteenth century, till sbout 1560, Antwerp was the richest and the most commercial city in Europe.—_ Its importance afterwards declined from political causes, and its revival in modern times dates from 1863, when the navigation of the Sobeldt made free.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.