tion_; and the
wisdom of the regulations he has promulgated, on other matters of
general interest (particularly that which enforces the more solemn
observation of Sunday) leaves little room to doubt that this point will,
in its turn, be duly and successfully attended to. Those who have
resided at Louvain have observed, that its inhabitants are in general
_more polite_ than in most of the towns in these provinces; but my stay
was not sufficiently long to enable me to form any opinion on the
subject. The manners of the people do not seem to me very dissimilar
from those of the French, but others think they most resemble the Dutch.
In fact, the _Netherlanders_ have no _very peculiar characteristics_,
but partake, in many respects, of those which distinguish the various
nations from whom they are descended. They have been much and often
abused by various writers, who have attributed to them the _faults_ of
almost all the nations of Europe, without allowing that they possess any
of the good qualities by which those faults are palliated in the other
nations. Those, however, who are of a candid disposition will not feel
inclined to assent to the truth of statements so evidently dictated by
enmity or spleen. But whilst I would not have the Flemish considered as
a compound of all that is exceptionable in the human character, I do not
consider them as meriting any _particular praise_; nor can I vindicate
them from the charge of dishonesty, which has been so often alleged
against them. In general on the Continent, where _the English_ are the
_subjects of extortion_, the fraud is considered as trivial, and the
French often boast in conversation how _John Bull is pillaged at Paris_.
But whatever may be the _Flemish character_, it is allowed by all that
they follow the French customs in their domestic arrangement, but are in
general more cleanly. Their _kitchens_ are kept very neat, and the
cooking apparatus is ranged in order round the stove, which, in many of
the kitchens that I saw in the small inns, projects considerably into
the room.

Many of the inhabitants of these provinces (like my two companions in
the Louvain Diligence) are below the middle size; they are extremely
intelligent and active, and in general civil to strangers. Before I quit
Louvain, I must not omit to notice that it is famous for its beer, which
is certainly the best I have tasted on the Continent. The number of
breweries is said to exceed twenty, and the con