96 NATIONAL FEELINGS. our army, particularly the Scotch. We are both citizens of the world, I shall therefore not obtrude any national or provincial feelings upon you, but they were often highly excited by the people of Belgium. I am, Your's, &c. &c. LETTER VII. MY DEAR SIR, WHEN HEN you come to Brussels, and wish to go on to Antwerp, you will have two ways of proceeding by a public conveyance. One is by the stage coaches, of which there are enough to ensure a fair competition, and which travel with tolerable expedition; and the other is by the canal. To persons who have time at command, the latter mode is preferable. You pay next to nothing, two francs and a half, and a trifle besides for the best seats. You sit at your ease, move along without the smallest fatigue, and enjoy on each side such a prospect, as cannot fail to yield the highest gratification. You have also an opportunity of mingling in an easy familiar manner, without ceremony and without reserve, with the natives of the country; and you thus learn their manners and opinions better than by any H 98 CANAL TO ANTWERP. other way. On the passage I commenced an acquaintance with two of our countrymen, whose society afterwards yielded me the highest gratification. They had found out by experience what I have just stated, had abandoned their carriage, and had determined ever after to adopt the public conveyance of the country. The day was delightful, and on looking back on Brussels, the palace of Lacken, and the numerous chateaus on the rising ground not far from the canal, we enjoyed such views as the continent of Europe seldom exhibits. The canal is very noble, and the country on each side very fine. We passed large heaps of stones, which they were loading to carry to Holland to repair the dykes. At Antwerp, we saw large masses of stone brought from the same quarter. The trees on the side of the canal were poplar, aspin poplar, called here Bois blanc, some oaks, all diminutive, and many beech trees, which come to much greater perfection. The beech trees in the forest of Soigné, as you go to Waterloo, are as large and fine tall straight timber as it is possible to conceive. As there is a considerable fall in CANAL TO ANTWERP. 99 the ground, and consequently a great loss of water at the opening of every lock, it is deemed preferable to move the passengers and luggage to another boat, so that we were in four different boats. To walk now and then a hundred yards is no great trouble, and as the people connected with the boats move the baggage, it is no extra expense. We at last came to the banks of the river Neethe, which runs into the Scheldt*. We crossed it during a tremendous shower of rain, and got into the Diligence, which goes from thence to Antwerp. Our passage-money had also paid for all this. The road goes forward, straight as a line, which no mathematician could improve. In one part of the road looking forward through the rows of trees, which seem gradually to meet, the distance may be three or four miles; as you look back, the same remarkable sight is presented to the eye. As we approached to Antwerp, * Sch in Dutch, is pronounced like sk: hence pronounce Skeldt, Skiedam, Skeveling. -Ch is also hard; hence pronounce Walkeren, Utrekt, &c. I state this, as I have found many ignorant of the true mode. we saw an immense extent of ground laid out in gardens. The Corderie, or great rope-walk of Bonaparte, in which were prepared the rigging of the vessels intended for the destruction of England, makes a conspicuous figure. It is a building three stories high, and of a hundred windows in each. The lofty tower of the great cathedral, and the steeples of the other churches, raising their heads above the trees, and looking over the ramparts, seem to frown defiance as you approach. As we drew near, the vast extent and formidable defence of the outworks, the great breadth of the ditch, and the unassailable strength of the walls, indicated the importance of this vast naval depôt, which France so justly valued, and which her ablest engineer, Carnot, was sent to defend. The great object of the traveller ought to be to see not merely such sights as accident may have brought to any particular town in which he is, but those important objects upon which its existence and greatness depend. The objects of first importance then to be seen at Antwerp, are the river, the arsenal, the shipping, the |