sted on
by the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713; but by the treaty of 1783, the article
against its being fortified was annulled, and although several works
have been constructed since that period, it has by no means re-assumed
its former strength. From Dunkirk, I proceeded to Gravelines, which,
although inconsiderable as a town, is strong as a fortress, since the
flat country which surrounds it may be laid under water to a great
extent on the approach of an enemy. The market-place is spacious, but
overgrown with weeds. I observed that it still bears the name of the
_Place de la Liberte_, and a street which communicates with it is
designated _Rue de l'Egalite_.

The title of the market-place is more applicable to the present than to
the former state of France; that of the street cannot long exist in any
country, for the maxim tells us, "_that all men are by nature unequal_,"
and the attempt to render them equal has been often compared, in point
of absurdity, to the labours of _Procrustes_. _An equal right to
justice_ is all the _equality_ that can subsist in civilized society,
consistent with the _liberty_, _property_, and _personal security_, of
individuals, which would be perpetually violated by a system, to
preserve which, it would be requisite continually to take from the
acquisitions of the industrious, to give to the idle and the profligate.
It is possible that the experience of the last twenty years may not have
produced as full a conviction as might have been expected on the minds
of the French; but it cannot be supposed to have been altogether
unheeded by them.

I found at Gravelines a diligence, which I think the cheapest land
conveyance I ever met with. It runs from Dunkirk to Calais (about
twenty-five English miles) for three francs. It carries six passengers,
and performs the journey in about five or six hours. It is the _spirit
of opposition_ which has so advantageously for the public reduced the
price, which used to be double, and which will probably, in a little
time, rise one franc more.

The country between Gravelines and Calais is as uninteresting as can be
conceived. The ground is shewn where Edward III. of England had his camp
during the memorable siege of Calais. This town continued to be
possessed by England until the reign of Queen Mary, (being the last
place in France _proper_ which remained of the numerous territories once
possessed by England), and its loss is said to have greatly afflicted
her Maj