rt passage of barely two hours, we all
suffered sadly from sea sickness. The boat was small, the passengers
were numerous, and all were thankful to plant their feet upon the soil
of the republic. The examination of our passports, and refreshment at
the station-house, occupied about half an hour, and we again entered on
our journey by the rail. I shall say nothing of the place, at present,
as we fully intend to pass a day here, on our return, to examine this
interesting old city. We found the cars good, the railroad excellent but
every thing looked strange. No farms laid out in fine fields, and
divided off by hedges, as in England; or fences and stone walls, as with
us. We every where noticed women working in the field. We passed through
St. Omer, a fortified town, of twenty thousand inhabitants. This is a
town where many English Catholics have been sent for education. We then
came to Lille, which looked like a large city. It has about seventy
thousand inhabitants. The fortifications look very strong, and were
constructed by the great Vauban. This place has been besieged several
times--once by the Duke of Marlborough, for three months, when it
surrendered under Marshal Boufflers. We were amazed at the vast number
of windmills--amounting to hundreds--every where to be seen around the
town; and the tall chimneys in the town tell plainly that this is a
great manufacturing place. The windmills are employed in preparing flax
for linen.

Douai was our next town. It has about eighteen thousand inhabitants, and
has a foundery for ordnance. The Theological Seminary here has been
famous, and most of the Catholic clergy of England and Ireland were
formerly educated here. Arras is a town of about twenty-five thousand
population, and is celebrated as the birthplace of Robespierre. It is
said to be a very beautiful place, but we saw little of it. The cars
next passed through Amiens, a city of about fifty thousand inhabitants.
It was at this city that a treaty of peace was made between France and
England, in 1802. Clermont is a very neat little town, of about five
thousand inhabitants. It has a fine old castle, and every thing looked
lively and prosperous. Pontoise, on the River Oise, is a small town;
and I should think that, from the upper part of the town, the prospect
is very beautiful.

We reached Paris in about eleven hours and a half from London. Really,
this seems very strange, that I should breakfast in London and dine at
Par