d cheap repast. We found the
bread excellent, as also a profusion of fruit; the wine of Picardy is
bad, but good wine may be had from the southern provinces, at a
reasonable price.

Their meats are so much stewed, that their real flavour can hardly be
distinguished, but were they dressed by a mode of cookery that did them
more justice, I do not apprehend the epicure would have to find fault
with their quality.

The next place which presented any thing worthy of remark, was
Abbeville, a large fortified city, which has manufactures of cloth and
damask. The church which has suffered much during the anarchy of the
revolution, is still a large and handsome edifice. We proceeded to
breakfast at Boix, where the coffee was excellent, and the milk was
served up boiled, as is generally the custom throughout France.

We also found good accommodation at Beauvais, a large and ancient city,
where the architecture of the houses reminded me much of Shrewsbury. The
streets are narrow and winding. The cathedral is well worthy the
attention of the antiquarian, although it has, like many others in
France, suffered greatly during the revolution. In the neighbourhood of
Beauvais are a vast number of vineyards, and the effect produced by them
is very striking to those who have never seen a vine but in a stove. But
the novelty soon ceases, and a vineyard is then seen with as little
astonishment as a field of corn.

We were easily persuaded to make a short deviation from the direct road,
in order to visit Chantilly, the once splendid residence of the Princes
of Conde, but which now affords a melancholy contrast to the scene which
it exhibited in more tranquil times. The Great Chateau has disappeared;
but a small building remains at a distance, which is to be fitted up for
the reception of its venerable owner, who is expected in the course of
the summer to pay a visit to the inheritance which the late happy
revolution has restored to him, after having undergone a sad change in
its appearance. The great stables are standing, but only serve to add to
the desolation of the scene by their vacancy, and the contrast which
they form to the small house which now only remains to the possessor of
this great domain.--St. Denis, where we soon arrived, is a small town
not far distant from Paris; it was anciently remarkable for its _abbey_,
which contained the magnificent tombs of the Kings of France. These were
mostly destroyed early in the revolution (b