rse on
military matters with nearly the same intelligence, or evince the same
reflection on the manoeuvres of war, as those of the French imperial
guard, with whom we had spoken in a former part of our journey.

Though such extensive naval preparations had been going forward for
years at Antwerp, there was not the slightest appearance of bustle at
activity in the streets, or on the quays of the city. These were as
deserted, as if Antwerp had been reduced to a fishing village,
indicating, in the strongest manner, that nothing but the habits of
commerce, and the command of the seas, can nurse that body of active
seamen, who form the only foundation of naval power.

There is a fine picture, by Oels, in the church of St Paul's at Antwerp;
but the church itself is built in the most barbarous taste. The
cathedral is a most magnificent building, both in the outside and
inside; and its spire, which is 460 feet in height, is probably the
finest specimen of light Gothic in the world. Its immense aisles were
filled at every hour of the day, by numbers of people, who seemed to
join in the service with sincere devotion, and exhibited the example of
a country, in which religious feeling was generally diffused among the
people--which formed a striking contrast to the utter indifference to
these subjects which universally prevails in France.

It was not a mere vain threat on the part of Napoleon, that he would
burn the English manufactures. We were informed at Antwerp by
eye-witnesses, that they had seen L. 90,000 worth of English goods
burnt at once in the great square of that city; all of which _had been
bought and paid for_ by the Flemish merchants. The people then spoke in
terms of great sorrow, of the ruin which this barbarous policy had
brought upon the people of the countries in which it was carried into
effect.

In the vicinity of Antwerp, we walked over the _Counter Dyke of
Couvestein_, which was the scene of such desperate conflicts between the
army of the Prince of Parma, and the troops of the United Provinces, who
were advancing to the relief of Antwerp. The interest arising from the
remembrance of this memorable struggle, was increased by the narrowness
of the ground on which the action was maintained, being a long dyke
running across the low country which borders the banks of the Scheldt
near Fort Lillo, and which alone of all the surrounding country, at the
time of the action, was not immersed in water. Every foot, t