mass with the new bishop, nor in any way acknowledge his authority. The imperial autocrat, with his usual despatch, immediately ordered the ecclesiastics, to the number of two hundred and seventy, to be marched off to Antwerp, to work at the fortifications then going on at that place! -Who, in Europe, in the nineteenth century, could have ventured on such a command, but either the Czar of all the Russias, from his icy palace on the Neva; or the Turk under the sanction of the scymitar and the holy crescent;—or Buonaparte himself!

We visited the public library, formerly the church of a convent, and well adapted for the reception of ten thousand volumes: it is furnished with a curious machine for using a great many books together, and turning them, as convenience may require, with no danger of their falling off. The shades of the Botanic garden near the library, were very grateful after the intense heat of the town. On returning to the inn, we passed near the linen market, or Marché de Vendredi, the enormous cannon, eighteen feet long and three wide, which Charles V. placed here, to keep the citizens in awe. The town has grown up around the old castle in which this monarch was born: it has been a place of prodigious trade, and still carries on manufactures to a great extent.

LETTER II.

Road to Antwerp through the Pays de Waes-Traces of the siege of 1832-Changed feeling towards Catholic clergy, and remark of Bishop Hall-Expense of travelling-Passage across the Scheldt from the Tète de Flandre-Antwerp-Hotel d'Antoine -Former vast trade, and wealth-Cathedral-Quintin Matsys -Church of the Dominicans, and its Calvary, and PurgatoryChurch of the Jesuits-Museum-Citadel-Bombardment of the city by the Dutch in 1830-Siege and capture of the citadel by the French in 1832-Impressive effect of contrast-Waelham-Mechlin-Cathedral; its massy pulpit-Vilvorde-William Tyndale-Anticipations from the rail-road system-Brussels -Hotel de Brabant-Passport-Town-house--St. GuduleExtraordinary pulpit-Jubilee of two hundred and fifty years in honour of the Très-Saint Sacrement de Miracle; and the origin of this festival-Ignorance-Manner in which devotions are sometimes performed-Nôtre Dame -St. Jacques-Park -Peter the Great-Palace of the Prince of Orange-Palace of the States General-Museum-Université Libre de Belgique.

MY DEAR FRIEND: On leaving the great and important city of Ghent, we passed through the towns of Lokeren and St. Nicholas, to Antwerp. This country, which is called the PAYS DE WAES, is famed as a complete model of agricultural industry. Every part is in the highest state of cultivation,

and bears traces of the immense and unwearied labour, which has overcome the natural sterility of the sandy soil, and has rendered this tract a continued garden; it is scattered over with houses, and occasionally a handsome château presents itself. The roads are paved, in consequence of the looseness of the soil, which occasions a great deal of dust. The country is much enclosed, and there is an abundance of hemp and flax. Some lace-makers sitting at their doors at work on the pillow, reminded us of some parts of England. As we approached Antwerp the scene entirely changed; large tracts being covered with sand, and the inundations which remain, presenting a gloomy contrast of the wasting effects which have followed in the train of war, to the cheerful results of human industry; for these desolations, having the appearance of widely-extended lakes and marshes, were occasioned by the Dutch cutting through the dykes, during the late siege, in order to lay the country under water.

We had three or four priests, as fellow-travellers, in another part of the diligence, each with a book under his arm, and looking very clerical; every time the diligence stopped they immediately got down, and went into the inn; and on inquiring the cause which, in perfect simplicity, we thought might be some Romish errand, we were amused at the reply of a lady who travelled with us, in the

interior, Ah Monsieur, les prétres ont toujours soif! The public feeling towards the priests, even in this favourite land of popery, is changed since the time when, upwards of two centuries ago, good Bishop Hall thought himself in danger, at Antwerp, in gazing on a procession of holy fathers, in consequence of his willing unreverence;' had not, as he says, 'the hulk of a tall Brabanter* shadowed' him from notice. As a specimen of the travelling charges, by diligence, in this country, it may be stated that we paid twenty-two francs, in the intérieur, or about four and sixpence each; the distance is thirty-two miles. The most disagreeable part of this journey was crossing the Scheldt, in a small crowded boat, from the Tête de Flandre to Antwerp, which in rough weather, must be a great inconvenience, as the distance is nearly half a mile. The lofty tower of the cathedral, rearing itself to beaven in solitary pre-eminence, has a remarkable effect across the water. The magnificent Hotel d'Antoine in the Place Verte received us. At the table d'hôte some very free remarks were made respecting Leopold; and the impression appeared to be that he was not very firmly seated on the throne-but time will prove ;-his alliance with France is certainly his palladium.

ANTWERP is a most imposing city: the quays and basin are grand works, constructed by Napoleon: * Jones's Life of Bishop Hall.

the Place de Mer, in which is a royal mansion, is considered one of the most magnificent streets in Europe; and the stately, antique edifices, which here and elsewhere rear themselves, as the representatives of ages that are past, have a solemn and impressive effect, and silently record the story of departed greatness. But the general appearance of the city is much injured by the intermixture of sumptuous buildings with inferior houses; and the want of pavement is greatly felt here, as is the case in many continental towns. The splendid Town-House, in the great market-place, may be regarded as the tomb of Antwerp's glory;-for its date, of the latter part of the sixteenth century, is coeval with that of the decay of the commerce of what was once the paragon of cities. The Exchange, which furnished the model of that of London, was built at the beginning of the same century.

When the trade of Bruges declined, Antwerp rose at the expense of the sister emporium; the Italian, Hanseatic, and English merchants, were now seen to frequent the Scheldt; and in the time of Charles V. this city became the liveliest, the most commercial, and the most splendid in Europe. From the waters that paid their homage to its renown, the fruits of Flemish industry found their way to Arabia and the East; the productions of both the Indies, of Turkey, and of all trading countries from north to south, might be seen in its vast magazines, and

VOL. I.

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