to a pinnace that lay a few yards from the land, which was gradually filled by successive boatloads, till with between forty and fifty on board we set sail for the packet. The wind and tide were both unhappily against us—and after vain attempts to stem them during more than an hour and a half, all hope of reaching the vessel that night was nearly abandoned, when the captain, who was with us, suggested the idea of getting a rope from the packet to our vessel, so that the people on board the packet might drag us to them. He accordingly jumped into the smaller boat, with which they were vainly endeavouring to tow us along, proceeded to the vessel-quickly returned with the rope, and we were soon all safe on board. The process of embarkation must have occupied nearly two hours.The rolling of the sea-the crowd on board the pinnace-the fretfulness of some-the sickness of others the drunkenness of a few-together with the darkness of the night, contributed to render it a truly dismal scene and no very auspicious commencement to our tour, in the glowing anticipations of which, these little difficulties had been overlooked.

- Behold us then safely on board-the carriage hoisted on deck-the ladies lodged in their births-Sir Swrapped in a blanket on the floor of the cabin-and I amidst a motley multitude of various ranks and ages, lying along upon some trunks, with a pillow

not of the softest materials for my head, and you will have a tolerably correct idea of the posture of our affairs when we set sail for the port of Dieppe. It was but little that I slept-I rose and hastened upon deck. It was a fine star-light morning. I leaned over the side of the vesseland where should my thoughts at such a moment linger but amid those dear domestic scenes which I had left behind. Presently the moon arose, and quickly after the dawn appeared. The objects were then extremely grand. The vast expanse of the ocean around us, and the bold promontory of Beachy Head behind-while the full sails, as though inspired with the spirit that animated the crew, stretched their canvass to the wind impatient for the port.

It was long before the ladies arose and when they did rise and come on deck, we were within sight of the coast of France. What sensations and reflections were awakened in my mind by the first view of the cliffs as they stretched along the horizon, I shall not attempt to describe. To record them, would only be to repeat what multitudes have said before me--you may well suppose they were powerful and affecting. The land I had so ardently desired to see-the people with whom I had longed to mingle-the habits and the manners I had often contemplated at a distance, were now before me.The scenes and transactions of twenty years of

bloodshed-the bitterness of national animosity cherished through so long a period-the awfully interesting posture which the affairs of that country had in our own time assumed-and all the wounds, and concussions, and fearful struggles, by which she had been harrassed and tormented, from the night when anarchy sat enthroned amid the horrors of the Abbaye, to the triumphs of death upon the plains of Waterloo, all rushed upon my mind-and never was an hour passed with greater impatience than that which we were compelled to spend before the harbour of Dieppe, till the rising of the tide should yield sufficient water for our crossing the bar and entering the port.

On entering within the pier, the first objects that arrested our attention were the women, of whom there were an abundance on the quay, and to whose officious and prompt assistance in towing the vessel, up the harbour we were not a little indebted. Their dress their language-their manners-their whole appearance, was quite new, and we felt in a moment that we were in a foreign land. It is scarcely conceivable that so few miles and hours should make so vast a difference in one's feelings, and completely excite all that can be conveyed by the word foreigner in one's bosom. It was not a little strange to hear a language which we had been accustomed to associate with every idea of polish and of elegance, chattered with amazing volubility by the

motley group collected on the quay to witness our arrival. There were many military men amongst the crowd, or sauntering, with their arms behind them, up and down the pier. Their appearance, I must confess, did not excite a very favourable impression in my mind of the French military character or costume. Their dress was extremely mean and slovenly-and corresponded most unhappily with the expression of the countenance, in which one looked in vain for that bold and manly air-that dignified and noble independence, which are the usual indications of bravery, and generally associated with the profession of a soldier. Many were clad in brown great coats, certainly not the better for wear, while an immense cocked hat, Iwithout a feather, and a belt and a sword, were the only indications of the soldier they could boast. Are these, thought I, the men that have made monarchs tremble on their thrones, and kept the world in awe—were they such men as these that bore the eagles of Napoleon to the gates of Vienna, and reaped the laurels of France on the fields of Austerlitz and Marengo?

We soon discovered that we were in a Catholic country, for on the pier is an immense crucifix, on which the image of the Saviour is extended, carved in wood, as large as life, with the Virgin Mary weeping at his feet. At this image our pilot, a hardy, muscular old man, whose robust figure and

weather-beaten countenance would form a fine subject for the pencil, crossed himself as he stood at the helm, and the vessel passed along. On reaching the place of landing, an officer of police came on board, and took our passports to be examined at the office established for that purpose. We were then allowed to disembark and take possession of our present quarters, at the Hotel de Londres.

Adieu. Your's, &c.

T. R.