14 way through the sort of chevaux de frize of fingers, which beset our course, we proceeded to the Custom-house, under the escort of an officer. Here we all were successively subjected to a personal examination of the most inquisitorial nature. The officer first lifts up the hat, as if to commence with the crown of the head; and then follows regularly down with his investigations, essaying every projecting contour of the person, and each loose fold of a garment, with the pressure of his fingers. The extraordinary prominence of one gentleman's large stomach-a real John Bull, particularly became the subject of digital operations. One of the officers seemed to take peculiar delight in sounding into the mysterious depths of fat, until his fingers disappeared to the knuckles, and a short grunt, ejaculated with the expired breath, indicated that those vital parts were sensibly affected by his thrusts, unprotected by a breastplate of smuggled goods. The whole ceremony was completed on the portly Englishman, somewhat in the manner that a farmer addresses himself to the ribs of his well fed ox, to gauge the thickness of fat which his stores of corn may have produced. My spare lean sides pleaded so powerfully in my behalf, that I escaped the ceremony of the manipulation of the gastric region, which might have proved as salutary as that of Dr. Halstead. A couple of oranges, the remaining stores of the voyage, were, however, brought to light from a distended pocket. This strict search may perhaps be necessary in such a thoroughfare for passengers as Calais, in order to detect smuggled lace and other articles easily concealed about the person. Indeed, there are frequent accounts of such detections.— But this rigorous personal examination is altogether so completely adapted to the detection of the vilest rogues, that a gentleman feels curtailed of his fair proportions on being subjected to the undiscriminating scrutiny applied to suspected smugglers. This system operates like the

RIGID EXAMINATION AT CUSTOM-HOUSE.

SITUATION OF CALAIS.-PASSPORTS.

15

iron bed of Procrustes, which reduces all men to one standard. A lady informed me that she escaped with scarcely less scrutiny in another apartment, where she fell into the hands of female Custom-house officers, who seemed familiarly acquainted with every possible lurking place for illicit goods about the drapery or person of a female traveller.

After sunset, the streets were filled with groups of women with no other covering to their heads than muslin or lace caps, which they wear also when exposed to the rays of the mid-day sun, a bonnet being deemed a superfluous incumbrance of fashion. Nut-brown complexions, as may well be supposed, abound here; contrasted with which are red cheeks of the most brilliant tints; whether of an artificial, or natural color, it would be ungallant to inquire.

Calais is fortified by brick walls, and embankments of earth, upon which cannon are mounted, and sentinels are constantly walking their rounds. The site of the town is low, and the adjacent country appears like one continued marsh, extending to the verge of the horizon. Navigable canals stretch away over these flats in straight lines to the interior of the country. By the aid of these canals, and of a considerable foreign commerce, a population of about 8000 persons is supported.

The necessity of carrying a certificate of the place of birth, called a passport, similar to that furnished to a ship, to be shown as a sort of answer to those who have a right to hail" where are you from, and where are you bound," becomes indispensable from the first moment you step on the shores of the Continent. To this document is appended also the statement of the age, color of the hair and eyes, and height of the bearer. The original certificate for an American leaving England is to be procured from the American Minister in London, and must be countersigned

16

MILITARY PRECAUTIONS ON ENTERING

by the French Minister resident there. This passport was taken from us at Calais to be forwarded to Paris to the general Police office, and in place of it we were furnished with temporary papers to serve as a pass to that capital. We were directed to report ourselves to the Police office in Paris, immediately on our arrival, to regain the original passports.

Taking our seats in one of the strange sort of vehicles, called here a "Diligence," probably from the plodding, persevering, night and day mode of its progression, we proceeded on the road to St. Omer. The country between these two places is very level, and has the appearance neither of fertility nor of careful cultivation.

Our arrival at St. Omer was delayed till a late hour of the night, after the gates of this fortified city were shut. The conductor of the diligence, who acts as captain of the vehicle, the driver being under his direction merely a sort of helmsman, alighted from his commanding seat on the top of the coach, and made every salient angle of the bastions re-echo with the strokes of a ponderous knocker upon the city gate. Even the silent streets of the walled city seemed to send back from within the sound of the clattering metal. A voice was soon heard, and on the peaceful salutation of the well known conductor, the keys, applied to several locks, revolved in the wards, throwing back the bolts with a clang of resounding iron. The portcullis was raised, and the drawbridge was cast loose to descend with its rattling chains. The sound of all these precautionary movements of bars and bolts, at the dead hour of night, is almost sufficient to chill the heart of a stranger, accustomed to travel unquestioned at any hour, and to any place. Still more chilling is the appearance of polished bayonets gleaming and sparkling, as the light of lanterns fall upon them, and discloses the files of soldiers drawn out for security whenever the gates are opened. After all this

A FORTIFIED CITY IN THE NIGHT.

17

ceremony, and the due examination of our passports by the captain of the guard, the passengers of the diligence were permitted to proceed to eat their supper!

On leaving the city before sunrise, the same formalities of lowering the drawbridge, raising the portcullis, and unlocking the gates were again performed. At Aires, the next city through which we passed, a few miles distant from St. Omer, we crossed three or four drawbridges, and passed through as many gateways, under the same military honors. All this vigilance in observing forms and ceremonies every night, during the state of profound peace which prevails in Europe, must prove a great annoyance to the worthy citizens who are snugly locked up within the fortified walls.

The immense labor bestowed in the construction of the fortifications of these inland towns constantly excites the surprise of an American, who rarely in his own country sees an embattled wall or a mound of earth thrown up for warlike purposes, except near the mouth of some seaport, to protect it from the attacks of hostile fleets.

At Amiens, about 100 miles from Calais, we passed a day. This city contains about 40,000 inhabitants. The various manufactures of wool once formed the principal business of this place, above 8000 workmen, as it is stated, having in former days been employed in this branch of manufacture. Amiens has experienced one of those vicissitudes which in the history of nations is found to be the lot of manufacturing, as well as of commercial cities. A small river, which runs through the town, serves to turn several mill wheels; but the few woollen and cotton mills now in operation are moved by horses, in some instances eight or ten in number, all toiling together in a circular path.

One of the woollen mills which we visited, exhibited a most singular and melancholy instance of the mutability

18

AMIENS.-MANUFACTURES IN AN ABBEY.

of human plans and pursuits. On entering it, we passed beneath an arched gateway, and found ourselves within the walls of a once beautiful abbey, with its cathedral or chapel, gardens, and cloisters, still apparent, although disguised by fixtures pertaining to a woollen manufactory. On the spot at one end of the chapel, where the horses were turning the clattering cog wheels, once stood the consecrated altar. The remainder of the chapel is occupied for machinery, several successive stages of floors, being framed within the body of the building to intersect by their horizontal parallel ranges the lofty Gothic windows, thus forming several stories where once was an open area, extending from the topmost arches of the ceiling to the flagged pavement. There were seventy looms for woollen cloths, arranged on the several stages or floors, all covered with mildew and dust, from having remained long unused. Much other machinery necessary for preparing the wool for the looms, is also mantled with dust. primeval spinner and weaver, the spider, had spun his matchless thread, and woven his gossamer web from beam to beam of the deserted looms, and appropriated to his undisturbed use the apartments which once resounded with the anthem chant of the monk and the priest, and afterwards with the din of worldly labor. The silence which prevails allows you to muse on these changes, until you find yourself lost in reflections that address the mind more powerfully than a sermon upon the uncertainty of earthly pursuits. A few workmen are still employed here at their solitary labors, on the antiquated machines.

The

The machinery of this woollen manufactory, on a first inspection, appears evidently so imperfect and inferior to that used in English mills, that however carefully and perfectly the processes may be conducted, and with the difference in the actual price of labor in favor of the French manufacturer, he cannot maintain a successful competition,