rwards visited Flanders, and observed the
manifest respect of the people for religion--when when saw the
numberless handsome churches in the villages, and the frequent religious
processions in the streets of the towns--when we entered the Great
Cathedral at Antwerp, and found vast numbers of people, of both sexes,
and all ranks and ages, on their knees, engaged, with the appearance of
sincere devotion, in the solemn and striking service of vespers, we
could not help saying among ourselves, that this people, for better
reasons than mere political convenience, deserved to be separated from
the French.

Yet, we do not mean to say that the French are wholly, or even generally
devoid of religious feeling; on the contrary, we believe it may often be
seen to break out in a very striking manner, even in the conversation of
those who are accustomed to think it wise to express contempt for it. A
Frenchman, full of enthusiasm about the glory of his country, who was
talking to us of the deeds and sufferings of the French army in Russia,
concluded his description of the latter with these emphatic words: "Ah!
Monsieur, Ce n'est pas les Russes; C'est _le bon Dieu_ qui a fait cela."

* * *

In point of _intellectual ability_, the French are certainly inferior to
no other nation. They have not, perhaps, so frequently as others, that
cool, sound judgment in matters of speculation, which can fit them for
unravelling with success the perplexities of metaphysics; but their
unparalleled success in mathematical pursuits is the best possible proof
of the accuracy and quickness of their reasoning powers, when confined
within due bounds. We do not refer to the astonishing efforts of such
men as d'Alembert or La Place, but to the general diffusion of
mathematical knowledge among all who receive a scientific education. It
is not, perhaps, going too far to say, that few professors in Britain
have an equally accurate and extensive knowledge of the integral and
differential calculus, with some lads of 17 or 18, who have completed
their education at the Ecole Polytechnique. Unless a man makes
discoveries of his own in mathematics, he is little thought of as a
mathematician by the men of science at Paris, even although he may be
intimately versed in all the branches of that science as it stands.

Under the Imperial Government, it was not considered safe to cultivate
any sciences which relate to politics or morals; but the advancement of
the physica