our passport. Sir S. was the only one of our party closely examined and described. He was surveyed from head to foot-his look-his height— his dress-his age-the colour of his eyes-his complexion-all were most accurately ascertained and minutely described by the clerk in office-who was, withal, an extremely civil and obliging man, and whose manner of performing it tended greatly to diminish the disagreeable effect of the scrutiny he was obliged to institute.

The road from Dieppe to Rouen affords some pleasing views, and must interest the traveller, from the highly cultivated state of the country through which it passes. The soil of Normandy is extremely rich-nor did we see a single spot of which the cultivator had not made the most. Here and there the prospect was enlivened and diversified by gentle hills and extensive woods. The only appearance of desolation and neglect was in the chateaux. We passed many of them, but the greater part seemed to have been deserted by their tenants, and abandoned by their owners to decay. The windows covered with boards, and the gardens and orchards overgrown with weeds, had a melancholy appearance, and could not fail to suggest, to the reflecting mind, the bitter curse and dreadful consequences of war. To this source of miseries and crimes may be traced much of the desertion which we noticed. Many of the owners of these mansions had probably

fallen in battle-while some, it may be, had fled their native land, and the inheritance of their fathers at the time of the revolution, never to return.— Nor was there any thing remarkably neat or pleasing in those which were inhabited. Nothing of the. compactness, and neatness, and snugness, and comfort, of our country retreats, nor of the taste and magnificence of the mansions of our nobility. We saw no park or extensive pleasure-groundno well-arranged plantations, and smooth-shaven lawns-no graceful serpentine walks, neatly gravelled, and shaded from the sun.-But every thing in the appearance and arrangement of the houses and grounds was coarse, and stiff, and formal, and dirty. How unlike the chateaux, and enchanted castles of romance-such as the writers of novels and tales have painted them! They seemed to say, "we are foreign-we are not to your taste;" I took the hint, and passed them unenvied by.

The approach to Rouen is extremely pleasing.The windings of the Seine through a fertile valley, and amongst populous villages, and well-built and extensive manufactories, present a variety of enchanting pictures to the traveller's eye. For the factories are not here, as in the North of England, a deformity to the landscape, covered with smoak, and surrounded by black roads-dirty cottages― and rude and filthy inhabitants-but being generally white and remarkably clean, they harmonize with

the verdure of the country, and, besides being ornamental, afford animation and variety to the picture. For about a mile before entering Rouen the road is lined on either side with stately trees, which nearly meeting in the centre overhead, afford a most cool and refreshing shelter from the heat of the noon-day sun. Lamps are suspended over the middle of the road by ropes and pullies from the branches of the trees.

We have taken up our quarters at the Hotel des Princes, in the place Pucelle D'Orleans. In the centre is the statue of this famous personage, erected the spot where she was burnt. The house in upon which she was tried and condemned is close by.

We have already witnessed, in this city, the Roman Catholic worship in all its pomp. We were at the Cathedral this evening, and heard the vespers. To-morrow is one of the greatest festivals of the Romish church, the Fête Dieu, and the most magnificent procession in honour of it is to take place. The Cardinal Archbishop of Rouen is to grace it with his presence. The people are lining their houses with carpets, sheets and tapestryand strewing the streets through which it is to pass with flowers. It is to move at four o'clock in the afternoon. Adieu. Your's, &c.

LETTER IV.

Rouen.

MY DEAR

The

THIS city was formerly the capital of Normandy, and is now the first city of the department of the Lower Seine. It has six suburbs, and is said to be seven miles in circumference. houses are chiefly built of wood, and the streets are narrow and crooked. It is at present famous for its manufactories of cotton, &c. and is to France, almost what Manchester is to England. It contains about 80,000 inhabitants, and is delightfully situated on the northern bank of the river Seine, over which there is a bridge of boats, that rises and falls with the tide. This bridge being esteemed a curiosity, of course we went to see it; but it by no means equalled our expectation as to its appearance. Its utility, however, must be obvious, as the tide rises so high, and runs with such rapidity, that no other bridge has ever been able to resist its force.

Pursuing our ramble through the city on Saturday, and suddenly emerging from one of its dark and narrow streets, we burst in a moment upon the

sublime and stupendous front of the cathedral. The effect produced by the instantaneous and unexpected developement of so much magnificence, may be more easily conceived than described. We were riveted for some minutes in silent admiration to the spot. The front of the cathedral is equal, if not superior, to any thing I ever saw, not excepting even York Minster. The workmanship of it is most exquisite. One can scarcely imagine it possible that stone can be wrought so highly, rivalling, as it does, the delicacy of paper and the fineness of lace.

It has two towers-that to the north is most ancient, and is Saxon in its architecture. The whole of the front, with this exception, is Gothic, and perhaps one of the purest and richest specimens of this style of architecture in Europe. The spire is remarkably lofty. It is built of wood covered with. lead. It was burnt down about fifty years ago, and is now eighty feet lower than it was previous to that conflagration. Its great defect is, that it does not harmonize with the rest of the edifice, it being Grecian. We were informed that it is 420 feet in height but the correctness of this information I am inclined to doubt: for that would make it higher than St. Paul's in London. It is certainly, however, a very lofty and elegant spire.

The church of St. Ouen is also a most magnificent edifice. In some respects it is superior to the