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so conspicuous a figure in the foreground of that print; his place being now supplied by the Garde Nationale, as squalid and awkward as he was sleek and spruce. We then passed on through one street to the Place, crossed it, and arrived at the Brussels Hotel, in the Rue St. Michel, kept by M. Larandon. After taking some refreshment, went with Mrs. R. Mrs. H. Miss S. L. and B. to the Church, and saw grand mass performed to an immense congregation, upwards of 5000, spread throughout the whole Church, which is very large; and not being incommoded with pews or galleries, but all kneeling in chairs, it gave a most striking effect to the whole. The people appeared tolerably devout, but the mummery of the Priests and service was shocking to a Protestant mind: the singing was loud to an excess, and abominably discordant, heightened by a person blowing at every interval, in the centre of the quire, a double serpent, whose horrid groans were any thing but musick. Returned with the party to the Hotel, and dined at six o'clock: dinner and wines good, and remarkably cheap spent the evening in walking round the ramparts, and slept at the same house where we dined. Arose the next morning, breakfasted at nine o'clock, and went to the Maison Ville, and obtained passports and permits to leave Calais. Took a coach for six passengers, at five franks each, and set out with the party for Boulogne at twelve o'clock. Delivered our permits at the Bureau without the gates, and entered on a flat sandy road at about a mile passed the citadel, which appears but of little strength, but it is surrounded by a very deep and wide ditch, which can be filled with water at pleasure: the walls and ramparts are in avery decayed and dilapidated state. The country for about three miles is a dead flat, and apparently very sterile, as a great part is covered with an immense body of fine beach, on which not an herb or a bush grows. The few mean cottages sprinkled about, bespoke the inhabitants miserably poor. About the distance before mentioned we began to ascend a long and high hill, from whence there is a good prospect over Calais and towards the Netherlands, as far as the eye can

reach; and the white cliffs of England became very apparent. The road from hence is almost one continued series of very high and steep hills: many of them, indeed, so steep that it is not safe for a carriage to attempt descending on the pavement; but by the means of continually throwing rough earth from the ditches on the sides of the paved part, the vehicles are let down safely, but joltingly enough. The hills, though in a state of cultivation, appear very barren; as there is not a hedge, and scarcely a tree, to be seen for many miles. The inhabitants must be very few; as for miles together you hardly meet with a single house. With this undiversified and dreary scene you pass on to Marquise, a large village of near 300 houses, and a Church, at five leagues from Calais. While our horses baited, B. and I stepped down to the Church, which is at the bottom of the village, and is a small structure. We saw the conclusion of mass, and found the Church an antient building, with a nave and chancel groined with stone, and a North transept. Altar-piece paltry, and other poor paintings in different parts of the structure: there are two very large holy water basons at the entrance. The steeple stands in the centre, and is octangular, with an octagon spire not very lofty. Took some slight refreshment at the inn: wine very good, charge reasonable, and people very civil; though equally beset with beggars here as at Calais: they surround your door and carriage, and are offensively importunate*. Remounted our carriage, and passed on through a similar country, though more stony, as the substratum is a solid bed of a kind of rag stone, of which the houses are built, and cemented with a lime burnt from the same substance. A quarter of a mile from Marquise is erected a very large and highly-ornamented crucifix.

At three miles from Boulogne passed through the small village of Huit-mille; it consists of few houses, and a small Church, which will be described on our return. Ascending from this village, we had attained a

*The sawing-machine, complained of by your Correspondent, vol. LXVII. p. 453, as standing in the middle of the road, is removed.

very considerable elevation, and had the first sight of Buonaparte's erection for his famed Column. About a mile further, obtained a sight of Boulogne, filling the sinuses of a large and deep valley. The face of the country was here considerably improved, and much more fertile than any we had yet passed. Arriving at the Bureau, about a quarter of a mile from the entrance of the town, our passports were examined, and we were permitted to proceed. Ascending one more hill, we entered the barrier of the town, close by the North side of the citadel, and descended a very steep and dangerous pavement to Lower Boulogne; alighted at Hotel de l'Europe, Rue de l'Ecu, where the ladies were destined; left them, and went to the Hotel de Londres, Monsieur Boutroy, a most civil host, and has excellent accommodations. We walked over most parts of the lower town, returned, dined, and spent the evening at our hotel. Found our beds excellent; arose early, visited the upper town or citadel, and returned to breakfast with a friend, Monsieur B. Rue de Neuf. Af breakfast introduced the subject of the Ex-Emperor; but soon found it was so irritating, that I thought it prudent to wave it. From the little observation I was enabled to make, it appeared to me, that the loyalty manifested was in general assumed, and that there was a strong and general bias, though smothered, in favour of the late government. At Calais, I believe it to be far otherwise, for there Buonaparte was never generally liked; and of course never favoured the town: but his wish appeared to be to do every thing possible for Boulogne. The weather being very inclement, rain and snow, rather circumscribed our walks in the morning; but went to St. Nicholas' Church, and heard mass performed. The congregation was not large, and the singing nearly as discordant as that at Calais. Left the Church, and visited the upper town-buildings very good, and fine lofty square tower to the Maison Ville, clock-dials on all sides, with five small bells over each. Went to the Eglise Paroissiale et Royale de St. Joseph, a very lofty Corinthian structure, of a nave and chancel of equal height, without division, with two ranges of large circular-headed windows, and one

any

very large ditto at the East end — all very tastefully glazed with plain glass. Handsome painting in the centre of a fine altar-piece, superbly decked out for the ceremony of high mass-singing much better than any we had heard before; particularly a charming duett, sung beautifully by two boys unaccompanied. Walked round the ramparts, fine prospect of the neighbouring country; excellent gardens in the deep ditch, and for a great distance round: two good rows of trees, and a beautiful walk between them, all round the citadel, or upper town. At the East end is a very lofty large antient Chateau, with a draw-bridge, and very deep ditch, apparently very strong, and which I have no doubt was originally the keep of the citadel, but is now used as a military prison. The weather becoming far worse, with a considerable quantity of snow, drove us to our hotel.

Before one the weather cleared up and became fine: we then set off and walked to Buonaparte's Columo, which is situated on a very high hill, one mile to theNorth-east from the end of Boulogne. It stands in the midst of an inclosure of about four acres. The scaffolding is erected to the intended height of the column, and is one of the best, and by far the most immense piece of framing I ever saw. Its base is not less than fifty feet square; the soles or sleepers, are laid on cross walls of large blocks of stone, into which all the uprights are strongly footed-the uprights are whole trees of fir, more than eighteen inches in diameter, and many of them sixty feet high the whole appears, not as if intended for a temporary erection, but as if to stand for ages; as all the timbers are exceedingly large and of great lengths, well scarfed, and strongly bolted together with large iron bolts, at all intersections.

A stair

case is formed in it from the bottom to the top, consisting of 337 steps of seven inches deep and upwards, giving a height to the whole of more than 200 feet. The column is carried up at present not more than 60 feet; but the materials are prepared for the whole; and the workmen are still engaged on them, who assured us that the work was to be completed. The design is a most noble Tuscan column, but of many more diameters in height than that Order allows

standing

standing on a pedestal 15 feet square, and as many high, ornamented on each face with beautiful basso-relievos, representing the principal actions of Napoleon. The shaft of the column is twelve feet or upwards in diameter, having a spiral staircase within-side. It must be exceedingly strong and permanent, as it is formed of large solid blocks of marble, one stone forming the wall, steps, and cylinder in the centre, all hewn out of the solid block, and admirably well executed. From the plan which is shewn in the Clerk of Works' Office, it is said to be erected in the centre of the spot, where the grand army, destined to " cross the ocean," was encamped. The material of which the work is composed is a close dovecoloured white-veined marble, which is obtained from a quarry about five miles distant: and the labour of getting such immense blocks up so high and steep a hill must have been prodigious. We were informed that every soldier composing the army paid one sou a day towards the expence. The shaft of the column is plain, but the torus moulding in the base is ornamented with laurel leaves, bound on with fillets, admirably carved. The cap was to be enriched with vine leaves and tendrils, and with spread eagles on the frieze: from the top of the cap, which is surrounded with a balustrade, rises a dome, on which are fixed very large eagles, supporting a very fine statue of the ex-Emperor, habited in a Roman costume, holding in his right hand the staff and cap of liberty. No doubt, if the column is finished the basso-relievos will be changed; and instead of the ci-devant Emperor gracing its summit, a statue of Louis XVIII. is, with much more propriety, to be substituted; for which purpose a most excellent bust of that Monarch has been sent from Paris, and is now before the workmen on the spot. The prospect from the summit of the scaffolding is beautifully fine and extensive on every side: the coast of Kent being very discernible from it.

Returned to dinner, after which visited St. Nicholas's Church, and most parts of the town; a more particular description of which follows.

Boulogne-sur-Mer, antiently Portus Marinorum, is a very large town, or

rather two towns; as it is usually denominated the Upper and the Lower. It is built on such a site of hill and dale, that many of the streets are so steep that it would be unsafe for a carriage to attempt. going down them. The lower town is principally seated on the side of the harbour, which is a very spacious one, and runs some miles up the country; but the access to it is frequently difficult, and oftentimes dangerous, owing to a shifting bar of sand and beach, which extends a great distance from the pierheads. In consequence of the amazing extent of the harbour in-land, there is such a rush of the water with the flowing tide between the pierheads, that it requires a very strong wind to render a vessel manageable, except to near high water and to attempt to enter or leave it at any other time, without such an auxiliary, would be very hazardous, as the vessel would be taken whither the current set, and probably be lost; and, indeed, many have been in so attempting it. Viewing the situation of the harbour and its vast extent, together with the dangerous shoals on the coast, I am not surprized at the failure of the attack of the great Nelson on the flotilla; as, clearly, he could not approach them by miles. On inquiry, I found that only one house was destroyed, and that was by a Congreve rocket, which burnt it to the ground. The lower town is in general very well built, has one fine open street, Rue de l'Ecu, with several good Hotels; the other streets, which are at right angles, are rather narrow, but all well paved, and kept very clean. On the quay facing the harbour, are several good houses, pleasantly situated, with fine land and sea prospects. There stands also the Marine Arsenal, which is a very spacious regular handsome structure, well built of stone.

Near the centre of the lower town*, in a pretty good square, stands the Church of St. Nicholas, a good structure, though its walls are disfigured by

[blocks in formation]

imposing than the more chastely

adorned Church of Calais.

The upper town of Boulogne is but small, not more than one quarter of a mile in diameter, of a circular form, surrounded by an old and decayed wall, and dry ditch. It evidently is not, nor ever was, of any great strength; and could make but a feeble resistance to a besieging army, being so commanded by the neighbouring heights, that it would be obliged to capitulate after a few hours' attack. The square is tolerably good, but of small extent; the streets issue from it at right angles, and are narrow and consequently very dull; except some of the houses next the rampart, on the country side, which have good prospects.

a number of paltry dirty huts, built up against them, which I have omitted in the drawing *. It is a Corinthian building, at least of the circular architecture, and consists of a nave, side aisles, North and South transepts, with the tower in the centre, and a spacious choir, the whole groined with stone; the East end of the choir is octangular, semicircular-headed clerestory windows t. Fine Corinthian high altar, good painting of the Crucifixion by De Conté; in the tympanum a figure of the Father holding a cross on a large globe-fine statues of St. Nicholas and St. Honoré. Six statues of Saints supporting the springings of the groinings of the ceiling. On the South side, the fine altar of St. Simeon, with good statues of the Saint, St. George, St. Honoré, and St. Sycropa. In the South transept is a very large fine black marble sarcophagus for Admiral Brueys, Nelson's antagonist; but without any inscription. Before it is suspended from the ceiling, a model of a man-of-war dressed up with the flags of all nations. Several other ships are suspended in the same manner in different parts of the Church, which make a puerile paltry appearance. On the South side is the small but handsome altar of St. Ernulph. North of the choir is the Chapel or Altar of the Virgin Mary, very fine; and at the sides are the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul. The French call the sites of all their altars chapels, whether they be in separate buildings or in the open ailes of their Churches. There are also good statues of St. Fezack and Ste. Julienne; good pictures of the Assumption and of John the Baptist; and several indifferent ones of shipwreck, battle-pieces, &c. A good painting of the Adoration of the Wise Men. The altar of St. Eddroit, small but handsome; subject Crucifixion. The many paltry paintings, with the tawdry ships before mentioned, render the general view of the inside of the Church less

* Our worthy old friend and Correspondent will excuse our omitting his Drawings.

The pillars are light, and all the arches circular, except the one between the nave and choir, which is pointed.

The Palais, or Maison Ville, is on the West side of the square, and is but a mean irregular building. The site of the Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary, was to the Eastward of the square, in a very inclosed situation. From its ruins, which are no where remaining above ten or twelve feet high, it appears to have been a very large and magnificent structure of the Corinthian order. It was destroyed under the reign of Robespierre, and is now only a receptacle for filth and rubbish.

Having viewed every thing worthy of notice in the towns, we prepared for our departure the next morning: having found during our stay our Host, Monsieur Boutroy, and his smart amiable daughter, increasingly civil and obliging. The next morning, having engaged a cabriolet for twelve francs, for Calais, we took our leave of Boulogne at half-past eight o'clock.

(To be continued.)

Mr. URBAN, Aug. 3. VOUR Correspondent, An Inquirer,

having in the last Magazine, p. 40, requested information of Mr. Betton's Charity for the redemption of British Slaves from Algiers, the following brief account may not be unacceptable to himself and to your numerous charitable Readers.

On the 15th of February 1723-4, Mr. Thos. Betton, of Hoxton-square, by will gave the residue of his property to the Company, in trust, to

pay

pay half the interest of the whole, yearly, for ever, to the redemption of British Slaves in Turkey or Barbary; one fourth to Charity Schools in the City and Suburbs, where the education is according to the Church of England, in which number that in' the Parish of Shoreditch, where he resided, to be always included, and not giving any one above 201. per annum; and out of the remaining one fourth to pay 101. per annum to the Chaplain of the Alms houses, and the rest to necessitated decayed freemen of the Company, their widows and children, not exceeding 10l. a year to any family, reserving sufficient to keep his tomb in the burial-ground at the Alms-houses in repair.

In the year 1734, about 135 captive Britons, nine of whom were Commanders of vessels, arrived in England from the States of Barbary, and were presented to the King and the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The King gave them 100%. and several of the nobility and gentry five and ten guineas each, to which Sir Chas. Wager added 501. They afterwards dined together at the Company's Hall. The Company, through correspondence with the British Consuls at Algiers and its Dependencies, have been continually instrumental in effecting the liberty of many slaves, about 30 of whom have been emancipated within the last six years, and some of them have presented themselves at the Company's great meetings. The amount of this Trust is very considerable. SeeMalcolm's London, I. 42. Highmore's Pietas Londinensis, 525.

There is no doubt of the liberal manner in which the worshipful Company administer this Trust; and it is believed that, on proper applications, full explanations have never been withbeld.

A. H.

THE SLAVE TRADE-since the Treaty for its general Abolition.-No. II.

ALTHOUGH Buonaparte had, immediately upon his re-ascension to the throne of France, passed a decree in March 1815, instantly abolishing the Slave Trade in that Kingdom, yet it remained for Louis XVIII., upon the fall of the Imperial Usurpation, to confirm that decree, or to revert to the terms of the Treaty of 1814, which had continued it for five

years. Conferences were renewed by Lord Castlereagh with Russia, Austria, and Prussia, and with Talleyrand on the part of France; and the former having all concurred in the necessity of the proposed measure, Talleyrand signified by a letter on July 30, 1815, that this "Trade was for ever abolished through the dominions of France. The letter states, that "the King had issued directions that, on the part of France, the traffick in Slaves should cease from the present time every where and for ever." This arrangement was formed into an article of the grand Treaty between the Allies at Paris on Nov. 20, 1815; and was also made part of the ratification.

Thus the Slave Trade was abandoned by the five grand Powers of Europe; and Spain and Portugal are the only Nations whose subjects are permitted to practise it.

During the intervals of peace with France, many of the Directors of the African Society visited that country, and disseminated books and information tending effectually to eradicate all remaining prejudices against this trade: and some of the captures previously made by English cruizers, of Slave-ships bound from Havre, Nantes, and Bourdeaux, have been restored, under the exemption, by the former Orders of Council, of vessels sailing under the white flag, and bound to ports where that flag was erected. In one of these vessels, the Hermione, the cargo consisted of 210 slaves, having only four feet six inches allowed in some places for each man every night, and no air but through the gratings.

The English Government paid £.300,000 to Portugal, to cover losses sustained by our captures of her Slave-ships, arising from the dubious language of the Treaty of Amity. trade; and it is now questioned wheSpain has not yet relinquished her ther it is not lawful to restrain her at

least within certain limits to the 10th deg. of North lat. a portion of the coast where no other Power can carry it on.

The registry of Slaves has been adopted in the Isles of France and of Trinidad.

The Slave Trade prevails in the Gambia very near Goree, Cuba, and the coast of Africa.

The

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