s of France and Flanders are discovered from
this commanding situation. The scene is bounded on one side by the sea
and on the other by the mountains of Hainault. Those who are acquainted
with the country assert that from Cassel you can see thirty towns or
considerable villages, of which seventeen are fortified. Cassel itself
is by no means remarkable; it was at one time a place of great strength,
but its fortifications have gone to decay, although its situation must
always render it a strong position. After a considerable descent on
leaving Cassel, we arrived in the plain, which extends to the coast,
with but little variation. It is fertile in corn and produces hops.
There are several rich pastures and a tolerable proportion of wood. This
day we travelled entirely in the department _du Nord_, where the roads
are much attended to. I observed a few country houses and a chateau of
General _Vandamme_.

Berg is a considerable town, but badly situated; the country from thence
to Dunkirk is a flat and marshy plain, resembling those extensive
tracts which occupy a large proportion of the counties of Cambridge and
Lincoln. It abounds with canals and drains, which in some places are
higher than the fields, but this uninteresting district feeds large
herds of cattle, and is in many parts well cultivated. One of the chief
canals leading to Dunkirk runs parallel with the road for a great
distance, its banks are planted with trees, which have a stunted
appearance, owing probably to their proximity to the sea. I observed on
the canal several boats laden with the produce of the country, as well
as the stage boats. Dunkirk is well built, and the streets being
spacious it makes a favourable impression on the mind of the traveller,
who is perhaps more liable to the force of a first impression than most
others. Some of the churches and public buildings are handsome and the
number of inhabitants is estimated at 22,000. Its name is said to
originate from a church built here by the Duns in 646, and in Flemish
its name signifies the _church of the Duns_. There is much similarity
between many words in the English and Flemish, but the latter cannot
claim the praise of agreeableness.

It is endeavoured by a proclamation of the _Prince Sovereign_ to restore
the _Flemish language_ in all public acts and pleadings at law, to the
exclusion of the French, which during the union of Belgium with France,
was alone allowed to be used, and pains were tak