(which Englishmen call the Straits of Dover), about two hours' steam passage from Dover, to which it is joined by the electric telegraph. It appears to have been founded by the Counts of Flanders in the 11th century; and was chosen as his place of embarkation by Louis the Dauphin, when the malcontents, under King John, offered him the crown of England. Subsequently to the battle of Crécy, in 1346, it was taken after 11 months' siege (Eustace St. Pierre leading the defenders), by the English, who kept it till the Duke of Guise recaptured it in Mary's time, 1558, to the profound mortification of the Queen and the nation. "If you open my body after my death," she said, " you will find Calais written on my heart."

Calais forms a long square, surrounded by ramparts (which have a view of the English coast) and ditches, and defended by several forts, as Forts Rouge and Vert (red and green), on the piers; another, on the quay; Fort Nieuley, on the southwest; and Cardinal Richelieu's strong Citadel, to the west, commanding the whole. The shallow Harbour is the mouth of the river de Hames, enclosed between piers, one of which is three-quarters of a mile long, with a pillar on the spot where Louis XVIII. set his foot in 1814. The inscription itself, which was meant pour en perpetuer le souvenir" of this event, is now hid away under a staircase in the museum. The harbour was deepened in 1842, but passengers sometimes land in boats still. A Gate, built by Richelieu in 1685, called the Porte du Havre, which figures in Hogarth's picture of the "Roast Beef of England," leads from the pier.

The streets are narrow, the houses chiefly of brick, and common-looking. In the Grand Place, or Place du Beffroi, are the Light-house or old look-out tower, and the Hôtel de Ville, with busts of St. Pierre, the Duc de Guise, and Richelieu, in front; inside, is the library of 6,000 volumes. The Duc de Guise, thus celebrated as the "deliverer" of Calais, is here confounded with his son, surnamed Balafré. The Church, built by the English, is a cross-shaped Gothic structure, with a good spiretower, and pinnacles, and contains 11 chapels, a fine marble altar, and a painting by Vandyke. St. Pierre is in Basse Ville, or Lower Town in the

south-east, where many hands (English and others) are employed in the tulle and lace factories.

At the Museum (open three days a-week, from 10 to 5), is the car of Blanchard, the æronaut, who, with Dr. Jeffries, safely crossed the channel in 1785; also several portraits, autographs, and pictures, including Correggio's "Vierge au Bandeau," given to the town by the Princess of Canino (Lucien Bonaparte's wife), who was born here in 1788. In Cour de Guise is the old Hôtel, which belonged to the merchants of the wool staple, and where Henry VIII. lodged. There are a large barrack, a salle de spectacle, or theatre, a navigation school, &c., and good Baths, to which reading, dancing, and other rooms are attached; subscriptions, 10 fr. a month; a single bath, 1 fr. A stone outside the Boulogne gate marks the place where the unfortunate Lady Hamilton was buried.

La Place, the astronomer, and Mollier, the traveller, were natives. They show Sterne's room at Dessin's hotel.

A canal is cut to the river Aa, which goes to St. Omer, past the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The fishermen live in the suburbs of Courgaine.

Trade in lace, fish, eggs, spirits, salt, and steam engines for pressing linseed oil.

Conveyances: By rail, to Boulogne, Lille, Paris, Brussels, Cologne, &c. (See BRADSHAW's Continen→ tal Guide); by coach to Gravelines and Dunkirk. By steamer to Dover, 2 hours; to London direct, 10 hours. The electric telegraph is laid to Boulogne and Paris.

[From Calais, on the road to Dunkerque, or Dunkirk, you pass

Gravelines (22 kil.); on a flat dreary coast, a port of 6,430 souls, at the Aa's mouth, where Henry VIII. embarked in 1520. Here the Spaniards and English defeated Francis I., 1558. A branch rail, via Watten (see page 3), was opened 1873. It has an arsenal, and a monument by Girardon, in the church. Flax, hemp, corn, colza, &c., are abundant in this country of dykes and willows. Hotel.-Lesur.

At 20 kil. further is Dunkirk (see Route 3).]

A rail in progress from Calais to Gravelines and Dunkirk will open a direct route this way to Brussels.

From Calais, the first station is the suburban village of

St. Pierre (1 mile), the birth-place of the famous Eustache St. Pierre, the defender of Calais in the siege of 1347 (above-mentioned) against Edward III.; who was so incensed by the long resistance he experienced here, that he was about to put him and five other leaders to death, when they were saved by the intercession of Queen Philippa-the subject of a well-known picture. Here is Trinity Church for the use of English residents.

[The connecting rail with Boulogne, 27 miles long, passes hence by the following stations:Caffières (9 miles).

Marquise-Rinxent (6 miles), on the Slack, which has a fine linden tree and marble quarries, with Pinart's large iron foundry, is near AMBLETEUSE, where James II. landed, 1688, in his flight from England. Population, 3,930. Near it are the quarries of Ferques and Landretun, with some remains of Beaulieu Abbey (founded 1150), and Druid stones near the former. Wimille (6 miles), where the two unfortunate äeronauts, Rosier and St. Romain, are buried. In trying to cross the Channel, 1785, they fell from a height of 3,000 feet. Lower down the stream is the small port of Wimereau. Hence through a flat, sandy, and marshy soil to Boulogne (4 miles), in Route 2.]

Ardres (6 miles), a small fortified town near the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where Henry VIII. and Francis I. met, 1520; so called from the splendid equipages displayed, of which there is a curious picture at Hampton Court. All this part is now covered with willows and flax fields, in the centre of which is the village of Les Saules (population, 900), which grows as much as 80,000l. worth of flax yearly. The écouchers, or scutchers, prepare steeped flax for the spinners, working in little clay-built huts, or boutiques. At Tournehem, near this, is an old castle which belonged to Anthony of Burgundy. Coach to Guines (once a fortress) with 4,700 souls, and a trade in cattle and poultry.

Audruicq (5 miles). Coach to Bourbourg. Watten (7 miles), the ancient Itium prom. to which the sea came up in Cæsar's time. It has an

old watch tower on the hill, from whence England may be seen, and where stood a house of pilgrimage. From here a branch rail to Gravelines (see page 2) was opened 1873. The next station (5 miles) is ST. OMER,

Where the line from Bologna comes in (page 14). HOTELS.-Hotel de la Porte d'Or, Rue St. Bertin. New proprietor, D. Coolen. Very attentive and charges moderate. Hotel d'Angleterre; Du Com

merce.

English Church Service, on Sundays, in Rue de Bon Pasteur.

OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-The Church-St. Bertin's Tower-Jesuits' College.

A fortified town of the third class, and sous-préfecture, in department Pas-de-Calais, in a marshy spot, on the Aa, where six great roads meet; with 22,000 inhabitants. During the fury of the Revolution its name was changed to "Morin la Montagne!" It is surrounded by the canals and gardens of a Flemish-speaking population. St. Audomar founded a church here, and gave his name to the town. Louis XIV. took it from Flanders, 1677. The old cathedral Churc of Nôtre Dame was begun in the 14th century, on the site of St. Audomar's, whose tomb it contains, besides good carved work, a picture by Rubens, &c. It is 321 feet long, and deserves examination; the clock shows the moon's changes, the months, the signs of the zodiac, &c. This is at one end of the town; at the opposite end stands a Tower only of St. Bertin's Abbey, where Childeric III. died. It was one of the finest convents in this part, with an income of half a million livres. The Tower of St. Denis's church is in the same massive style. The Jesuits' College, built 1615-36, for English Roman Catholics, is now occupied by a commercial school; its church is worth notice. Here O'Connell began his education when a boy. The Hôtel de Ville is modern, with a dome; the museum has some antiquities; and there are 18,000 volumes in the public library. An arsenal was built in 1781. Occasionally, military manoeuvres on a large scale are practised here, and at Helfaut Camp, 18 miles distant.

Linens, flannels, paper, excellent pipes, &c., are made, and a good trade carried on.

In the neighbourhood are Clairmarais abbey (5 kil.), and its floating islands, and the old Castle

of Arques (2 kil.) near the Sept Ecluses, or seven locks of the Aa, in its descent to Gravelines. It is on the line from Boulogne.

Eblinghem (6 miles).

Hazebrouck (64 miles), where the lines to Dunkirk and Lille join, is a sous-préfecture of 5,600 souls, in a fertile spot, on a branch of the Lys. It has a large church, built 1490-1520, with a handsome spire-tower of 276 feet; a new Hôtel de Ville, fronted by a portico of twelve pillars; a government tobacco factory, at the old Augustine convent; a library of 4,000 volumes. Linen, soap, &c., are made.

Hotel.-Des Trois Chevaux (three horses). Passing Steenbecque (4 miles) and Thiennes (3 miles) the line reaches

Aire (3 miles), a third class fortress, where the Lys and Laquette meet the St. Omer and Bassée canals. It has a belfry; and St. Paul's Gothic Church. Mallebranche was a native. Population, 8,300.

Hotels.-D'Angleterre; De France.

Lillers (4 miles), in department Pas-de-Calais, on the fertile banks of the Nave, where one of the earliest artesian wells in France was bored, socalled from the old name, Artois, of this province. Population, 6,000.

The next station Chocques, is followed by Bethune (4 miles), a station on the main line from Hazebrouck to Arras, a sous-préfecture, and a strong military place of the second class, on the river Brette. The grand place (square) has, near the Hôtel de Ville, a curious and lofty spire-tower or belfry. Much of the water is supplied by artesian wells, which were first tried here. Population, 8,300.

Hotels.-De France; D'Angleterre; Du Lion d'Or (Golden Lion).

The wood of Dames Chartreuses offers a fine panorama.

From Bethune a rail proceeds to Douai, by way of Lens and Carvin; another, 34 miles long, proceeds to Lille, by way of Bully-Grenay and Violaines; another (opened 1875) to St. Pol and Arras (page 8).

Lens, an old place on the Eleux, where the Prince of Condé, in 1648, gained a victory over the Spaniards.

Farbus-Vimy, followed by
Arras, for which, see below.
[The line towards Lille passes
Strazeele (4 miles).

Bailleul (5 miles), an ancient-looking place, on a hill, with old carved houses, St. Waast's old church, and a Jesuits' college. Population, 10,200. Steenwerck (2 miles).

Armentières (53 miles), on the Lys, noted for its grain, linen, &c. Population, 11,100. Perenchies (3 miles). The next place to this (5 miles) is

LILLE.

65 miles from Calais.

HOTELS.-De l'Europe, the best in the town; Paris; Nouveau Monde; Flandre; France; Chemin de fer du Nord.

English Vice Consul, and English Church Service.

OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Citadel-Church, and Porte St. André-St. Maurice's Church-Hôtel de Ville-Museum-Hôpital Comtesse.

Population, 158,117. A large manufacturing town, on the Belgian frontier, capital of department du Nord (formerly of French Flanders), and a strongly fortified post, standing in a fertile and populous plain, covered with windmills and factories, on the Deule. It grew out of an abbey, founded about 840; was improved by Baldwin V., in 1047, and after many events, including the taking of it from the Spaniards, by Louis XIV., in 1667, and from the French, by Marlborough, in 1708, it was finally given up to France, 1713.

In shape it is an oval, about 2,620 yards by 1,300 yards, entirely closed in by ramparts and ditches, strengthened by 15 bastions, by Fort St. Maurice on the south-east side, and a Citadel of great extent, on the west. The latter, one of Vauban's best, is five-sided, and considered almost impregnable. The Austrians tried to take it, 1792, but without success; a fact commemorated by a bronze column, in the Grande Place, near the Bourse.

Porte St. André is the oldest of its seven gates, havin been built in 1670; the Porte de Paris has a triumphal arch, by Volans, built 1682, in honour of Louis XIV., whose bust is here, accompanied by figures of Hercules and Mars. The best streets are

Rue Royal, Rue de Paris, Rue d'Esquermois, Rue St. Sauveur, and Rue St. André. Most of the houses are modern and regular, and generally two stories high; but many work-people live in cellars. A broad Esplanade near the citadel is planted with trees, and watered by the Deule.

The largest open part, next to the Grande Place, is the cattle and wood Market, near the Douane, (custom-house); some of the oldest houses are in this neighbourhood, having their fronts carved in the Flemish or Spanish style; and here are the public baths. Pont Neuf is a small bridge of six arches, built 1701, on the Grand Rivage, a branch of the Deule, where goods are landed. Pont Royal is ascended by steps and covered over. In this quarter, also, are the Palais de Justice (with a portico of four pillars); the general hospital, founded 1783; the government tobacco factory, magazines, barracks, the artillery depôt, large public granary, &c.

The six parish churches are those of St. André, the best, restored since the Revolution; St. Catherine, which has an altar piece by Rubens, and a high tower; St. Etienne, having a good portal; St. Madeleine, with a cupola and pictures; St. Sauveur, which had a Gothic spire battered down, 1792; and the ancient Gothic church of St. Maurice (begun 1022), with its side chapels, and the Duc de Berri's mausoleum. A part of St. Peter's old tower is all that remains of that church.

Near the Citadel, in Rue de la Barre, stands the Hôtel de Ville, called the Palais de Rihoult, or Richebourg, when it belonged to the Dukes of Burgundy, who began it in the 13th century. It is a Gothic pile of various dates; and includes the tribunal of commerce (where are two pictures, by Wamps), and various official bureaux; also an old chapel, and a modern belfry. Charles V. and Henry VIII. visited it together, 1542. The Hôtel de la Préfecture is near the Place du Concert and the Theatre.

men's hospital, or Hôpital Comtesse, ounded in the 13th century, by Countess Jeanne, daughter of the emperor, Baldwin IX., and having a slender spire like a minaret. The Hôtel de Monnaie (or mint) adjoins the Cirque, which they say marks the site of the Château de Buc, built by "Lyderic," founder of the town. At the College is the public library, of 24,000 volumes, besides MSS.

The Bourse, or Exchange, stands in Grande Place; it was built 1652, with a square court inside. Behind it is the Theatre, begun 1785, but since enlarged, and having a handsome portico of eight columns.

A large Military Hospital is seen near the Porte Bethune, built 1765. The hospital St. Sauveur is near that church, and the Hôtel Dieu.

At the Administration des Hospices, are a picture by Vandyke, and the halbert of the famous Jeanne Maillotte, leader of the townspeople against the insurgent Flemish, who attacked the place 1582.

There are at Lille, as might be expected, several Casernes, or barracks, and magazines; also schools of medicine, painting, &c.; and a botanic garden. Here died, 1852, an old veteran, aged 88, called Coulomben l'Immortel. Among other escapes, when taken in the Vendéan war and shot for not giving the pass-word, he fell pierced with ten balls and four stabs of the bayonet, and yet survived sixty years after. Another celebrity was M. Fokedy who died, near this, in 1853, at the great age of 95. He was one of the members of the Convention who voted against the execution of Louis XVI.

Manufactures.-Cottons and linen, Lille thread, lace, soap, chemicals, beet-root sugar, linseed oil, eaux-de-vie, and various other articles.

Conveyances: By railway to Calais, Dunkirk, Tournay, Brussels, Mons, Cologne, Bethune, &c.; also by baraque to these and other places, on the canals. Cysoing, to the south-east, has part of an old abbey, and a pyramid in honour of Louis XV., who was here after the battle of Fontenoy.

From Lille, on the rail to Ghent or Gand, you pass Roubaix (5 miles), a large town of 75,987 people, and a thriving seat of the woollen and cotton manufactures.