A Tour through Belgium, Holland, along the Rhine, and through the North of France, in the summer of 1816, etc

Letter I

Departure from Ramsgate. — Wandering Voyage to Ostend. — West. Cappel in Walcheren. — Dunkirk. — Land at Ostend. — English, French, and Flemish usually spoken. — Church crowded between five and six in the Morning. — Images. — Pictures. — Appearance of the Town. — Fortifications. — Paved Road to Bruges. — Rows of Trees. — Party from the Grand Kermess. — Bruges - Page 1

Letter II

Ancient Greatness of Bruges. ■ — Table d'Hote. — Scarcity of Newspapers. — Indifference to Politics. — Manner of spending the Sunday. — Shooting with the Cross Bow. — Prizes. — Procession. — English Families. — Expense of living. — Wages of Tradesmen, &c. — Splendid Churches. — Grand Tower. — Pictures. — Great Basin. — Canals. — Lace Manufacture - - - - - 14 a CONTENTS,

Letter III

Passage Boat to Ghent. — Cheapness and Comfort of the Voyage. — Nuns. — Singular Conduct in a Lady. — City of Ghent. — Dutch Garrison. — Guides in the Belgic Towns. — Prospect from the Tower of the Cathedral. — Clergy. — Their Number. — Duties. — Emoluments. — Diminution of their Influence and Power. — Relaxation of Discipline. — Meat usually eaten on Fridays. — Permitted by Authority during Lent. — Bishop of Ghent. — Opposition to the King. — Monasteries suppressed. — Nunneries. — Conduct of the Nuns. — Splendid Nunnery still at Ghent. — Description of it, and Particulars ofa Visit to it Page 28

Letter IV

Belgic Nobility and Landholders reside in Towns. — Causes of this. — Academy of Fine Arts. — Celebrated Pictures. — Public Library. — Rare and valuable Books. — Botanic Garden. — General Vandamme, Account of. — Just Cause of Jealousy of Frenchmen in Belgium 50

Letter V

On Education in Belgium. — Schools pretty general. — - Schools of Latin, French, &c. — Commissions to examine the Qualifications of Teachers. — Advantages of this Institution. — Similar to that in England for CONTENTS. V examining Physicians, Surgeons, and Apothecaries. — College of Ghent. — Regent. — Sub-regents. — Pro fessors. — Their Duties and Appointments. — Books used in the College. — French, English, German, Drawing, and Mathematics taught. — Hours of Study. — Board. — Expense of the Pupils. — English Boys. — Infirmary of the College. — Punishments inflicted. — College of Brussels. — Central Schools in France. — Seminaries ofthe Priests. — Schools of Law Page 58

Letter VI

Road to Brussels. — Amusements by the Way. — Tenderness towards the Horses. — Advantages of the Public Conveyances. — Behaviour of a young Lady of Quality. — Brussels, its Elegance, and Accommodations. — College. — Pictures. — Botannical Garden, &c. — Hospital of St. Jean. — Visit to Waterloo. — Monuments there. — Mount St. Jean. — Hougomond. — La Belle Alliance. — La Haye Sainte. — Appearance of the Field. — Kindness of the People of Brussels to the English. — English Church there ----- 82

Letter VII

Canal to the Neethe. — Approach to Antwerp. — The Scheldt. — Shipping. — Basin. — Trade. — Overflow of English Goods. — Loss of all Trade with France. — Academy of Fine Arts. — Pictures. — Exhibition in the Place de Meir. — Scene at the Cathedral VI CONTENTS.

Letter VIII

Duties of Export and Import in Belgium. — Principles adopted in forming the Tariff. — Goods Duty free. — Goods prohibited. — Goods laid under a very high Duty. — Continental System. — Goods charged .5 per cent. — 8 per cent. — 1 0 per cent. — 15 per cent. Page 112

Letter IX

Road to Bergen-op-Zoom. — Inundations and Difficulties by the Way. — Fortifications. — Country between Bergen-op-Zoom and Willemstat. — Steenbergen. — Willemstat. — Holland's Diep. — Island of Voorn. — Ysselmonde. — Rotterdam - - - 121

Letter X

Goldsmith's Lines on Holland. — Grandeur of Rotterdam. — Shipping in the River. — Difficulty of getting a Guide. — Orange Cockades universally worn. — Calamities inflicted by the French. — Annihilation of all Commerce. — English Goods at Rotterdam. — Steam-boat on the Rhine. — Steam-boat from Rotterdam to Antwerp. — Description ofa Dutch Church. — Expenses of living at Rotterdam. — Spielhouses 129

Letter XI

Schiedam. — Account of its Distilleries. — Treckschuyt to Delft. — Appearance of that City. — Monument of William I. Prince of Nassau. — Hague. — Prospect from the Tower of the Church. — Ignorance of Politics in the People - - - 1 4-t CONTENTS. VII

Letter XII

Ofthe Political Constitution ofthe Kingdom ofthe Netherlands Prerogatives ofthe King. — Two Chambers of the States- General Qualifications of the Members ofthe First Chamber. — Their Pensions. — Second Chamber. — Mode of Election. — Small Authority over the Finances. — Renewed a Third at a time Local Business managed by the Provincial States. — Constitution and Duties of the Provincial States. — Taxes. — Patents, or Annual Licences for all Professions, Trades, &c. — Uncertainty ofthe Tax, and its Liability to Abuse. Vexatious and tedious Mode of Appeal. — Increase of Taxes. — The Army The Police. — Appointments of the King and Royal Family. - Page 153

Letter XIII

Classification of the Towns of Belgium and Holland. — Tariff of the Taxes for the different Towns. — Patent for Manufacturers. — For Innkeepers For Professions and Trades. — For Persons receiving Salaries. — Tariff for the Patents on the Amount sold by the Shopkeepers - - - 1S0

Letter XIV

Canal to Leyden. — Curiosities. — Account of the University, Number and Age ofthe Students, Professors, their Emoluments, Branches of Learning taught, &c. — Low State of the Medical .Art on the Continent. — i CONTENTS. Small Emoluments of the Practitioners Primary Schools in Holland. — Schools for Commercial Edu cation. — Schools for Ancient and Modern Lan guages. — Athenæa, or Provincial Colleges. — Naval School - Paire 192 Page 1 92

Letter XV

Amusements of various Sorts in Holland. — Description of the Game of Kolven. — Character of the Lower Orders. — Great Sluices at Catwyck. — Canal to Haarlem. — Prevalence of Smoking. — Town of Haarlem. — Laurens Coster. — Great Organ. — Canal to Amsterdam. — Appearance ofthe Approach to that City 206

Letter XVI

On the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Holland. — Privileges of the Established Church. — Mode of Worship. — Organs. — Liturgy for Baptism, and for the Lord's Supper. — Emoluments ofthe Clergy. — Scotch Churches incorporated with the Dutch. — English Churches. Theological Sentiments. — Catholics. — Arminians or Remonstrants. — Lutherans Mennonists. — French Churches. — State of Morals 217

Letter XVII

Canal to Utrecht. — Dutch Summer-houses. — Nieuwersluis. — Female Industry. — Utrecht. — Views from it. — Anecdote of an English Gentleman. — Account. of the University. — Road to Nimeguen Tender- CONTENTS. IX ness of the Dutch for their Horses. — River Leek. — i Tremendous Inundations, Flying Bridge. — Tiel. — Banks of the Waal. — Inundations. — Nimeguen. — Views from it Page 229

Letter XVIII

Road to Cleves. — Inundations. — Enter Prussia. — - Cleves, Sandy Country beyond it. — Xanten. — Rheinberg. — Terrible State of the Roads. — Laziness and Stupidity of the Germans. — Traffic on the Roads. — Crucifixes, Madonnas, &c. near the Road. — Appearance of the Country. — Inns. — Town of Nuis. — Canal to unite the Rhine and the Maese. •— Cologne - - - - 251

Letter XIX

Ruinous State of Cologne. — Causes of its Decline. — ■ Annihilation of Ecclesiastical Wealth. — Abolition of Monopolies and Tolls. — Cathedral. — Tomb of the Three Kings. — Absurdity of the Imposture. — St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand T\ srgins. — Church of St. Gereon. — View from it. — Indulgences on the Festival of Alexius. — St. Peter's Church. — Birth-place of Rubens. — Central School. — French Language forbidden to be taught. — Description of the Great Flying Bridge 264

Letter XX

Burial Places outside of the Town. — Road to Juliers — Appearance of the Country. — Outrageous Conduct a X CONTENTS. of the Peasants. — Aix-la-Chapelle. — Beauty of the surrounding Country. — Cathedral. — Baths. — Ex pense of Living. — Complaints of the English. — Tomb of Charlemagne, and Impositions practised ... - Page 284.

Letter XXI

Small Number of Travellers from Belgium to Germany. — Extraordinary Companions on the Road. — Travelling on Sundays. — Douaniers on the Frontiers. — Maastricht. — River Maese. -r- Mountain of St. Peter. — Private Society of Maastricht. — Tongres. St. Trond. — Miserable Arrangements for travelling. Louvaine. — University expected to be re-established. — Course of Studies formerly pursued. — Advantages in re-establishing Louvaine. — Present State of the Medical Art. — Anatomy formerly much neglected ----- 296

Letter XXII

Road from Brussels to Hal. — Celebrated Church. — Mons. — Cathedral. — Foundling Hospital. — Coalpits. — Belgic and French Douaniers. — Valenciennes. British Army. — Prussians, &c. — Road to Cambray. — Cossacks. — Comfortable Situation ofthe British Troops. — Destruction of the Churches. — Reading Rooms. — Country beyond Cambray. — Canal from the Somme to the Scheldt. — St. Quintin. — Adventures on the Road. — Noyon. — John Calvin. — Compiegne. St. Ouen. Substantial French Breakfeast. — Senlis. — Attempts at cheating. — Seditious Cries. — Approach to Paris - - CONTENTS. XI

Letter XXIII

Amusements at Paris. — Boulevards. — Hospital of Invalids. — Vast Number of Hackney Coaches, and almost no private Equipages. — Religion at Paris. — Manner of spending the Sunday. — Protestant Churches. — English at Paris. — Expense of Living. — Extravagant Ideas entertained by Foreigners of the Expense in England. — Price of Newspapers. — Cautious Behaviour of the Parisians in speaking of Po litics - Page 335

Letter XXIV

On the French System of Finance. — Increase of Taxes through the War. — Immense direct Tax from real Property. — Manner in which it is levied. — Tax on Moveable Property. — Tax on Doors and Windows. — Tax on Patents. — Tax on Registering Deeds, &c. — Tax on Exchange of Property. — Stamp Tax. — Its extreme Severity — Post-office. — Tax on Salt, Lottery, &c. — Taxes on Wines, Beer, Brandy, &c. — Customs. — Tax on Tobacco. — Laws respecting Tobacco. — Prodigious Increase of all Taxes. — Ruinous Measures adopted for raising Money. — Sale of Public Lands, &c Difficulties of raising a Loan. — Forced Loan. Diminution of all Salaries. — No Tithes, Poor-rates, County-rates, or Tolls on the Roads. — Interest of Public Debt. — Expenditure for War. — Marine. — Salaries to the Members of the Chamber of Peers. — Do. to the Deputies. — Expense of the Army of Occupation - CONTENTS.

Letter XXV

Expeditious travelling to Rouen. — English commonly studied in France. — Dejeuner a la Fourchette. — Rouen. — Want of Monuments in the Provincial Towns. — Bridge and Churches at Rouen. — Road to Dieppe. — Behaviour of the French to the English. — Arrive at Brighton - - Page A TOUR THROUGH BELGIUM, &c.

Letter I

My dear Sir, Before setting out for the continent, it was settled between us, that I should take notes of whatever I should see interesting or new. As the route proposed was one not generally taken by our countrymen, we flattered ourselves, that the journey might afford in formation and amusement. I am now returned, and at leisure to decipher and write out my notes at full length. They shall be sent you regularly as they are finished, for your perusal. When I left Ramsgate, there were several gentlemen obliged to remain till next eyening : for having paid in London for p VOYAGE FROM RAMSGATE. places all the way to Brussels, they had to wait for a packet in connection with the advertising company in London. This may prove a useful caution to travellers by sea or by land. The gale was brisk, and the North Foreland light, which shone like a star behind us, gradually receded : we en joyed the breeze, until the lateness of the hour and the motion of the ship sent us be low.

At ten next morning nobody knew where we were. We therefore stood to the east, and the first land seen was conjec tured to be the tower of West Cappel in Walcheren, which rose high from the sea. Our wise navigators having observed the sun's altitude at twelve o'clock, steered southerly, and at seven in the evening re galed us with the sight of the towers and white cliffs of Dunkirk, thirty miles south of Ostend. I acquired faith by this voyage, to believe more than formerly in the classic wanderings of Ulysses and Æneas. We were not uneasy ; as the company on board was cheerful and well-informed, we enjoyed each other's conversation ; and even felt pleasure in the variety of an occasional peal of thunder ; nor did we disdain to re- OSTEND. ceive amusement from the fluttering about the ship of a poor butterfly, which the gale had carried many leagues to sea.

We moved along the shore, and at one the light on the end of the long pier of Ostend seemed close at hand. Other two lights farther off, close by the town, at once an nounced to us, that the tide was sufficient to admit us, and directed our way. We passed the light-house and battery, and proceeded up the river, which forms the harbour, and soon after our vessel grounded on the sands, behind the other pier close by the town. The tide rapidly ebbed, and as the vessel was falling uncomfortably on her side, soon after four o'clock we left her, clambered over several vessels, and at length set our feet on the territories of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands. We immediately had an opportunity of remarking the great acquisitions in modern languages, possessed by the natives of this town. A humble pilot was walking on the pier in his great coat, and we addressed him in French, inquiring at what hour the custom-house opened, that we might have our luggage examined.

He informed us oo o B MIXTURE OF LANGUAGES. in the same language, and inquired about our voyage. In a few minutes afterwards, he spoke to us in good English : for from much intercourse with English seamen he had also acquired that language. He pro nounced the English tolerably well. Two other boatmen coming, with whom he seemed to have some misunderstanding, he presently shewed, that however he might in calm blood make use of foreign languages, his own native Flemish was the dialect in which he expressed the strong emotions of his heart. On casting our eyes around, we immediately saw by the signs on the houses, that our language was known, and the inter course of our countrymen courted. On a little public-house next the shipping, the Flemish motto, " Well kom Binnen last vallen u anker," though not very difficult to understand, had the English translation, as an invitation to our mariners, " Wel come within, let fall your anchor."

As we walked up into the town, we perceived that the same attention to convey information to our countrymen was very prevalent in Ostend. In fact, it would be difficult to say, which of the three languages was FRENCH LANGUAGE. most in use. Many houses had signs in two languages, aud some in three. Few posting bills but had a translation in a paral lel column, of equal authority with the ori ginal. The names of the streets put up at the corners in French, announced the as cendancy of that tongue. We afterwards found that in every town in the country, every possible means had been taken to render French the prevalent speech. It is affected by all the higher ranks as their native language. Even the present Govern ment, either from choice, but more likely from necessity, publishes its edicts in the language of its chief enemy, and the very official gazette of the kingdom of the Netherlands has one column in Dutch, and the parallel column in French.

The King's Ministers at the Hague, having made a speech to the States in Dutch, repeat it in French. It was five o'clock on Monday morning when we walked up into the town. It was an early hour for London, but not so at Ostend. The Groot Kerk, or great Church, was already open ; we entered it, and noticed forty or fifty people already on b MORNING DEVOTION. their knees at their devotions. We met in the streets many gentlemen and ladies, as well as the people in the humbler walks of life, who were proceeding to church. It was the time of the Kermess, or great annual fair at Ostend, and on the pre ceding Sunday afternoon, after the devotions of the day, the archers had shot with their cross-bows for the prize, and the common people had looked on. In the evening, the song and the dance had concluded the business of the day ; but with hearts conscious of having in this committed no impropriety, and with warm feelings of devotion, they were now proceeding, as usual, to intreat forgiveness of their sins, and the blessing of their Creator.

When we returned after breakfast, about eight, we found the church full of people on their knees, and the priests engaged in the service. How different from a morning in England! yet such is the case every morning at Ostend, and so it is in every town in Belgium. There were some circumstances con nected with the worship, which I am well aware, your Protestant feelings would not have allowed you to look on with satisfaction. GREAT CHURCH. Many of what were intended to be ornaments of the church, you would have been for removing as ridiculous and absurd. I question if your politeness would have in duced you to show more respect for the finely dressed Madonna, with the infant Jesus in her arms, who is seen standing at one of the windows, and before whom a bright lamp at night at once does her honor, and directs the sincere well-meaning Catholic where to express his respect for her as the queen of heaven, and his adoration as the mother of his Redeemer.

Perhaps you would also have questioned the utility of the group of full sized figures on the outside of the church, of our Saviour on the cross, of his mother, and the beloved Apostle John standing by, and the heap of skulls piled up beside them, to remind the passer-by of the approach of death, and the way to eternal life. But enough for the present of this. I respect the devotion of the Catholic, and wish that a something of it, unmixed with any baser feeling, could be brought over to our own shores. Accompanied by a fellow passenger, a merchant of Amsterdam, with whose b APPEARANCE OF THE STREETS. society I had been much gratified during the voyage, I proceeded to the Hotel de la Cour Imperiale, which is kept, as I understood, by a relation of Marshal Davoust, in the Rue de la Chapelle.

We had a comfortable and substantial breakfast, and went to take a walk through the town. The streets are tolerably straight, and the intercourse of the inhabitants with England has taught them the advantages of a footpath at the side. The number and size of the windows, at once inform the eye, that no window-tax here laid on in proportion to the number of windows or the extent of surface, has induced the people to deface the beauty of architecture, or abridge themselves of the comfortof the light and airofheaven. In this respect at least, we might learn something from them, although in most respects, as I shall take the opportunity by and by to inform you, our own financial system, severe as it is, is in general decidedly better than theirs. We went upon the lofty ramparts, on which the grass in most places was as high as the knee.

We looked down upon the broad and vast ditch full of water, and on the out-works beyond it. This place SIEGE OF OSTEND. now so quiet, where not even a single cannon is to be seen, — this little town of only ten thousand inhabitants, where seventy men are deemed a sufficient garrison, was once the spot where the great contest for the liberty of the Low Countries was maintained, and the power of the Spanish tyrants was wasted away. Beneath these walls, in the famous three years siege from 1601 to 1604 in reducing this little town, 100,000 of the best troops of Spain fell a sacrifice by the brave resistance of the defenders. At eight o'clock we returned to the harbour, a vast stream of water which had been kept up by the sluices till the tide retired, was now running down, and clearing off © *■* © the sand ; we got our baggage on shore, and a douanier in a green uniform, with a sword by his side, examined it, with as much forbearance as could possibly be con sistent with any fidelity to his trust.

We of course expressed our satisfaction by a small douceur. Our passports, which we had given up at landing, were restored to us, and we went back to the hotel to dress, and to set out for Bruges. EXPENSES OF TRAVELLING. There are two ways of proceeding for ward, either by the canal or by the road. A barge sets off in summer at five in the morning, and arrives in time at Bruges to allow the passengers to go forward by the barge for Ghent. Another barge goes at three in the afternoon. We had seen enough of Ostend, and being unwilling to lose precious time, engaged a cabriolet to carry us on immediately. This vehicle would not be much admired in England, but it is quite in style in the Netherlands. The distance by the road is eighteen miles, for which we paid, beside a compliment to the driver, a Napoleon or twenty francs, worth sixteen shillings and eight-pence.

You see travelling is not so much cheaper than in England, as many people are ready to tell us. My friend afterwards paid for a cabriolet to Ghent, a distance of thirty miles, thirty-eight francs, or 1/. Ils. 8d. From these sums, however, the barriers or tolls were to be paid, and these in Belgium are very high. We quickly left behind us the marshy land around Ostend. The road is all the way paved with stones like the streets of London. It is the same in most ROADS IN BELGIUM. roads in the Netherlands and in France. The stones for the road to Ostend are brought by the canals from the neighbour hood of Mons, a distance of about one hundred miles. This occasions the barriers to be high. During the time of the French government, there were no barriers to be paid, as the roads were kept up entirely by government, and that is the case now in France.

I believe a particular tax was on this account imposed on all persons who kept horses and vehicles for hire. The prices for horses and all vehicles were also fixed by an ordinance of govern ment, as they are now in France, so that by consulting the post book published by au thority, you might know exactly what you had to pay in any part of the country. That regulation, so convenient for travel lers, is now done away in Belgium, and the postmasters, notwithstanding they have now the barriers to pay, express their satisfaction, as they more than reimburse them selves by the sums which they demand. They have another more justifiable cause of satisfaction, arising from the consider ation that their vehicles are no longer put ANNUAL FAIR. in requisition at the pleasure of the Impe rial officers, and compelled to go where they please.

Our driver complained much of being kept out in 1814 for ten days to gether by two officers, who did not give him or his master so much as a single franc. About three miles from Ostend, we came up with six coaches filled with gentlemen returning from the Kermess or great an nual fair. From the first coach were displayed two flags, and the gentlemen were going on, with expressions of joy, corres ponding with the occasion. They respect fully bowed to us as we passed, and of course we returned the compliment. The country on each side of the road as we ad vanced forward was level like a fish pond, and was highly cultivated, and fertile as the garden of Eden. On each side of the road betwixt the pavement and the ditch, was a fine row of trees, whose beauty delighted the eye, and afforded shelter from the sun.

The cabriolet, though inelegant to the eye, is a sufficiently comfortable conveyance; the horses though of different colours and yoked by ropes, went rapidly forwards ; the driver on a little seat immediately before us was a BRUGES. useful ciceroni, and we went forward de lighted, and arrived in high spirits at the ancient and formerly great, renowned, and opulent city of Bruges. No passport was demanded at the gate, and we drove with out interruption into the yard of the hotel of the Fleur de Bled. But let this be enough for one letter. If you are pleased with its contents, and willing to learn farther of the observations of your humble friend, you shall not have long to wait. I am, My dear Sir, &c. &c.

Letter II

My dear Sir, To you, who are so well acquainted with the history of the Netherlands, it would be impertinent in me, to enter into a detail of the ancient greatness of Bruges. Three hundred years have passed away, and witnessed its fall from the highest pinnacle of commercial greatness to its present state. It can no longer boast of being the emporium of the trade of all nations, and of having consuls from every kingdom of Europe, to protect and regulate the trade of their respective fellow-subjects. It was in those days the entrepot of the Hanse towns of the North, and the trading republics of Italy. " But more unsteady than the southern gale Soon commerce turn'd on other shores her sail." The East India trade no longer comes through the Red Sea, by Alexandria to Genoa and Venice, and the cities of Lon- TABLE D'HOTE. 15 don and Amsterdam have gained the trade of the wood, the tallow, the hemp, the tar, and the iron of Scandinavia.

Such as it is, Bruges is still a great and respectable city. Its public buildings and its churches retain their ancient magnificence. Thirty-three thousand people, dwell within its walls ; and the numerous noblesse and opulent merchants retired from trade, who are domiciliated in it, impart an ele gance and a dignity to the manners of the people. The streets, though narrow, are clean, and the houses are lofty and spa cious. At the table d'hote at the Fleur de Bled, four-and-twenty well dressed gentlemen sat down to dinner. The hour was one o'clock. Three field officers of the Dutch garrison lying in town, were of the number. These gentlemen are frequently to be met with, at a table d'hote, in travelling through the country. Many natives of the town attend, both for the sake of society, and for the purpose of obtaining a sumptuous dinner, at an easier expense than they could at their own houses.

They have reason for so doing, and as you are desirous to know STYLE OF LIVING. the style and expense of living, you will not reckon it beneath your dignity to learn the particulars. On the table, we had soup, green peas, beans, potatoes, carrots and onions ; fowls, roast lamb, veal, fish of different sorts ; sweetmeats, cherries and strawberries. Of every thing there was an abundance, and the price was two francs or twenty pence, and the bottle of ordinary Bourdeaux wine, which was very good, was two francs and a half, or twenty five pence. Without lowering your rank as a gentle man, you might call for half a bottle only if you pleased. At supper at nine o'clock, were nearly the same things, and the price was one franc sixty centimes, or sixteen pence. To those who engage by the month it is less.

It is quite unnecessary for me, after giving these particulars, to comment on the difference of living at Bruges, and in England. There was one circumstance which par ticularly struck my attention, and which whatever may be thought of it by the care less and volatile, I doubt not you will agree with me in considering of more im portance than any thing I have yet related. INDIFFERENCE TO POLITICS. At this respectable hotel, where four-and twenty sat down to dinner, there was not a single newspaper, and yet nobody seemed at all to notice the circumstance except myself and another Englishman present. We inquired for a newspaper, and were told there was none in the house. Is this want of curiosity, this abstinence from all political inquiry, and this seeming entire ac quiescence in the wisdom of their Govern ment, an amiable trait in their character, and such a trait as their rulers themselves ought to wish for?

You will readily an swer for yourself, and I shall therefore not tell you what I should think of your friendship, if you were equally void of all curi osity of what I was doing, and what was likely to become of me. The anxiety of an Englishman to know the fate of the fleets and armies of his country, and the measures of his Government, and that warm interest which every man takes in the national honor and prosperity, are thegrand principle which animates every heart, and nerves every arm, to support his country's cause, at home and throughout the world. The poor Flemings know nothing of this ; their c INDIFFERENCE TO POLITICS. politics do not extend beyond the boundary of their own town. Their Government is to them not a committee of their own countrymen, acting on their account, but are looked upon as task-masters, who im pose a burden, which, however irksome, they are compelled to bear.