Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/739

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ANTRAIGUES.
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ANTWERP.

ANTRAIGUES, iiN'trag', Emanuel Louis Henri de Launay, Comte d' (1755-1812). A Freneh publicist and diplomat. He was born at Villeneuve. department of Ardèche. His talents were first displayed in his Mémoires sur les états-généraux, leurs droits et la manière de les convoquer (1788), in which he predicted the downfall of absolute monarchy realized in the French Revolution. In 1789, when he was chosen a deputy, he defended, however, the privileges of the hereditary aristocracy. In 1790 he was employed in a diplomatic mission at St. Petersburg and Vienna. where he upheld the cause of the Bourbons. He incurred the displeasure of Bonaparte, but fled from France in 1798. In 1803 Alexander of Russia sent him on an embassy to Dresden, where he wrote a brochure against Napoleon, entitled Fragment du XVIII. livre de Polybe trouvé sur le mont Athos. He was murdered, with his wife, at his residence near London by an Italian servant.


AN'TRIM. A maritime county in the northeast of Ireland, in the province of Ulster. It is bounded, north, by the Atlantic; west, by the north part of the River Bann, dividing it from Londonderry, and by Lough Neagh; south, by Lagan River, separating it from the county of Down; southeast, by Belfast Lough; and northeast, by the North Channel (Map: Ireland, E 2). Its greatest length is 56 miles, its greatest breadth 20 miles; its extent of sea coast, 90 miles. Area, 1237 square miles. About two-thirds of this is arable: a fourth, barren; and a small fraction in woods. Mines of fine salt occur at Duncrue and Carrickfergus, and small coal fields near Ballycastle and in the interior. Rich beds of iron ore of fine quality are worked at Glenravel, and a large export is carried on from Cushendall and Carnlough. The soil of Antrim is mostly light, and the chief crop is oats. The land is much subdivided, and the rearing of flax, and the various branches of the linen, cotton, and coarse woolen manufacture employ a great portion of the people. There are important salmon and other fisheries on the coast. The principal towns are Belfast, the capital; Lisburn, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Larne, and Antrim. It is one of the three counties that show an increase of population since 1841. Pop., 1841, 355,400; 1851, 352,900; 1891, 430,865; 1901, 461,250.


ANT-SHRIKE, ANT-THRUSH, and ANT-WREN. Names applied to groups within the large South American family of non-oscine Passeres named Formicariidæ, all of which subsist largely upon ants. Bates and others describe how these birds follow and prey upon the columns of marching ecitons and other ferocious tropical ants, and that their twittering is a warning all the natives are quick to heed. They are small, long-billed birds, clothed in soft and pleasing col- ors, as a rule, and some have loud and melodious voices, notwithstanding their lack of proper os- cine or "singing" organs. The ant-shrikes con- stitute the subfamily Thamnophilinæ, or "bush- shrikes," some of which also inhabit the Antilles; ant-wrens are prettily marked, active, wren-like members of the subfamily Formicivorinæ; while the ant-thrushes belong to the typical subfamily Formicariinæ, to a Guiana species of which (Rhopotrope torquata) Button first gave the name fourmilier (ant-eater). The term ant- thrush is also improperly applied to the pittas — brilliantly colored, ground-keeping, insect-eating birds of eastern Asia and the Malay Archipelago. See Pitta; and for illustration, see Lyre Bird, ETC.


ANT'WERP (Fr. Anvers). A former margraviate, and now a province, of Belgium, situated south of the Netherlands, and occupying an area of 1093 square miles (Map; Belgium, C 3), The surface is generally flat, and even marshy along the Scheldt, which, together with its tributary, the Rupel, forms the chief water course of the province. The soil is fertile and yields large quantities of grain. Cattle and other domestic animals are also raised. The chief manufactures of the province are laces, sugar, wool, cotton fabrics, and liquors. Capital, Antwerp. Population, in 1900, 837,976.


ANTWERP (Fr. Anvers, anciently Andoverpum, from Anc de Werp, "at the wharf, harbor"). A city of Belgium, capital of the province of the same name, situated on the right bank of the Scheldt, in lat. 50° 13' N., long, 4° 23' E. (Map; Belgium, C 3). It ranks first in commercial importance and second in population among the cities of Belgium, and its harbor is considered one of the best in Europe, Antwerp is situated in a fruitful and well-cultivated region. The larger part of the city lies within the walls, which have been continually extended and improved, and at present have a total length of eight miles. In point of architectural beauty and artistic achievements, Antwerp has but few rivals among European cities.

The most noteworthy edifice is the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the noblest and largest specimen of Gothic architecture in the Netherlands, covering an area of 70,000 square feet. It was begun in 1352 and continued at various periods during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The roof is supported by 125 pillars, and the lofty tower, whose exquisite beauty Charles V. was wont to compare to Mechlin lace, is a marvel of gracefulness. The highly ornamented portal and the fine tracery of the window above it are particularly worth seeing. The impressive interior, the unusual seven-aisled division of which is to be noted, contains three celebrated works by Rubens, "The Descent from the Cross," "The Elevation of the Cross," and adorning the high altar in the choir, "The Assumption;" the first-named being the most magnificent, and generally considered his masterpiece. The church of St. Jacques, begun in the late Gothic style, in 1491, and completed in 1656, outranks the cathedral in the splendor of its decorations and monuments. Among the many altars, private chapels, and burial vaults, belonging to the most distinguished families of Antwerp, that of the Rubens family is the most interesting. Of the secular buildings, the Hôtel de Ville, in the Grande Place, a fine structure in the Renaissance style, dating from 1561-65, and rising to a height of 180 feet, and the Bourse, a stately edifice in the late Gothic style, deserve especial attention. The museum, erected in 1879-90, from plans by Winders and Van Dyck, is an imposing rectangular structure, inclosing six inner courts. Its picture gallery boasts of an unusually fine collection of paintings by the old masters, including about 800 canvases, especially of the Flemish school, among which are rare specimens by Jan van Eyck, Memling, Massys, Rubens, Van Dyck, etc.; "The Entombment of Christ," the master-