At three o'clock dinner was served, consisting of vermicelli soup, fish and sauce, stewed beef, potatoes, pudding, and other English viands; for the predilections of our countrymen are much consulted, as they are understood to pay remarkably well, when they are pleased; and indeed they spoil the French waiters, by flinging money among them at every turn. I thought, at first, that I should have all this feast to myself; but the door being thrown open, there entered a belle assembleé of ladies and gentlemen, accompanied by the host and hostess: and now, methought, I am fully among strangers and French folks. In this, however, I was mistaken ; for only three natives were in the party-two gentlemen, and a lady, who was, moreover, wife to an Englishman. Thus I had yet no opportunity of seeing an entertainment absolutely French. The dame Francaise was possessed of a considerable share of personal beauty; and although neither she nor her husband were of superior rank, I seemed, nevertheless, to discover in her air and manner (which had something of gravity in it) that degree of ease, mixed with uninterrupted and sustained politeness, which one only meets with in the highest circles of our own country. A blessing was asked before meat; notwithstanding, it gave me pain to observe afterwards some profane allusions made by certain of the English part of the company, but in which the French did not join; which gave me something to con

sider upon that head. By and bye, a porter from the coach-office arrived, to apprise me that the hour of departure for Boulogne was come; so I bade the best French adieu I could, paid my bill to the waiter in the lobby, and, attended by a commissary of customs, who had landed my luggage, I proceeded to the coach, into which I ensconced myself, with a determination not to let the minutest motion of any French man or woman escape; to watch every turn of the hand, or of the head; movement of each muscle in the face; and to pick up every syllable and letter that might drop in conversation. It will be matter, no doubt, of serious concern to the reader, that all this accurate preparation, and sharpening of the powers of observation and discrimination, went for nothing, for want of materials to exercise upon. Instead of having with me, in a six-seated coach, as an author ought to have, individuals each of a mark and character more interesting than another, I am sorry to say, that my company was altogether common-place, just what one meets with every day. A dumpy English girl for one; a French lady, with staring eyes, deformed with marks of the small-pox all over her countenance ; a merchant; a peasant with a blue frock; and an old terrific-looking gentleman of the royalist school, whose conversation lay chiefly in details of what he saw in Paris about the time of the Revolution. Nevertheless, I found as much as served to commence an acquaintance

with French manners. The conversation was supported throughout in an easy, yet animated manner: the lady led the discourse, the old royalist and merchant followed respectfully. The great deference of the French to the female sex was observable; and the more so, that the personal charms of Madame were not such as to attract the homage which pertains to beauty: indeed, she was truly, when she lifted her veil, which was not often, what the Americans term "awful." But this circumstance did not mar the marked attention with which all her wants, inclinations, and observations, were regarded.

The appearance of the country here has been often described; large uninclosed portions of bare ploughed land are prominent to the view; very different from the rich moulds of Feversham; the ploughs are furnished with wheels, and three or four horses-sometimes an ass or two to the bargain. Any gentlemen's houses to be seen are not embosomed in comfort and opulence as the English country mansions, but are formed straightavenued domiciles. Although the mental cultivation and good taste of the French are undoubted, in a variety of important particulars, yet this does not seem discernible in their adjustment of rural amenities.

As the coach stopt to change horses, there were handed in tickets, with the names of particular Boulogne hotels, and a detail of their accommodations in French and English; and on arrival there, a vociferous throng

of porters clustered round us like bees, each recommending, with vehement empressement and in broken English, the establishment to which he himself belonged; of so much consequence do this people, who are poor and moneyless, consider the custom of the wealthy islanders.

Boulogne-sur-Mer is divided into the upper and lower town; the former well compacted and fortified; but the latter not so. The harbour is protected by a mole, and Buonaparte had it greatly strengthened. Here was the principal depot of the armament destined against Great Britain. The hotel to which I have repaired, at the recommendation of my Calais landlord, with its silent courts and garden, possesses more the site and appearance of a retired chateau, than the open, used look of an inn. The salle a-manger is lofty and elegantly furnished, finely papered, with a large mirror over the superb marble chimney-piece; the fire-place has no grate, but a low iron case, in which lies a short log of timber, and a slight smoke proceeding from one end, shews that the flame is not quite extinct.

Sunday, 27th April.

I awoke this morning and found myself in France. The sky was cloudless, the sun bright and warm. I opened the folding casement of the chamber; the air

was fresh, and an enclosed garden was under the window; the walls thirty-feet high; and there being no noise but the song of birds and hum of bees, I might have been a hundred miles from any town. Whatever profane turmoil there could be elsewhere, nothing was visible to the eye, or perceptible to the ear, that did not comport with the serenity of Sabbath morn. My devotions were assisted by a French testament and Malan's hymns; and, after breakfast, being somewhat indisposed, I preferred going into the country to attending morning service; which, however, was performed twice a-day in the English Protestant Chapel.

As I passed, the people were going to church. They appeared clean and well dressed. Some of the seafaring women were attired, in what we call the Dutch manner. They had large golden pendants in their ears; and, it being Sunday, a small miniature on their breast, depending from a golden chain. The children having bed-gowns and caps, it gave them an old-fashioned look. I saw scarcely more working or selling than is usual in England. The shops were shut, and the churches seemed well filled; though I do not know whether they possess accommodation for their "churchable" people. Perhaps in this provincial town, in the neighbourhood of England, a Protestant country, the Sabbath-day may be kept in a way less unsuitable to its character, than is the case in the interior. And this is indeed true, as I