town is large, and has a
striking appearance, owing to the picturesque and varied forms of the
houses and public buildings of which it is formed. From the summit of
the great steeple, to which you are conducted by a stair of 353 steps,
there is a magnificent view over the adjacent country to a great
distance. It is for the most part green, owing to the immense quantity
of land under pasturage, and clothed in every direction with extensive
woods. At a considerable distance we were shewn the woods and heights of
_Malplaquet_, the scene of one of the Duke of Marlborough's great
victories, of which the people still spoke, as if it had been one of the
recent occurrences of the war. This town, when we visited it, was
completely filled with Prussian and Saxon troops, whose intrepid martial
appearance bespoke that undaunted character by which they have been
distinguished in the memorable actions of which this country has since
been the theatre.

On leaving Mons, on the road to Brussels, you quit the low swampy plain
in which the town is situated, and ascend a gentle hill, clothed with
wood, in the openings of which many beautiful views of the spires of the
city are to be seen. The hill itself is composed entirely of sand, and
would be reckoned a rising ground in most other countries, but it forms
a pleasing variety to the level plains of Flanders. From thence to
Brussels, a distance of 35 miles, the scenery is beautiful in the
greatest degree. Unlike the flat surface which prevails over most parts
of this country, it is charmingly varied by hills and vallies, adorned
by beautiful woods, whose disposition resembles rather that of trees in
a gentleman's park, than what usually occurs in an agricultural country.
The cottages, over the whole of this district, are particularly
pleasing; every where white-washed, clean and comfortable; half hid by a
profusion of fruit-trees, or the aged stems of elm and ash.

Brain-le-Compte, Halle, and a number of smaller towns through which the
road passes, are distinguished by the neatness of the houses, and the
number and opulence of the middling classes of society. The vallies are
admirably cultivated in agricultural or garden husbandry, and
interspersed with numerous cottages; the gentle slopes are laid out in
grass or pasture, and the uplands clothed with luxuriant woods. Upon the
whole, the scenery between Mons and Brussels was the most delightful we
had ever seen of a similar description, b