d
with the most incomparable neatness; but the cottages are formed of wood
and mud, and exhibited more symptoms of dilapidation, than in any other
part of the country which we had seen. Whether this was the consequence
of the materials of which they are built, or was the result of some
local institution, we were unable to determine.

We saw a body of 3000 Prussian _landwehr_ enter Brussels, shortly before
we left the city. The appearance of these men was very striking. They
had just terminated a march of 14 miles, under a burning sun, and were
all covered with dust and sweat. Notwithstanding the military service in
which they had been engaged, they still bore the appearance of their
country occupations; their sun-burnt faces, their rugged features, and
massy limbs, bespoke the life of laborious industry to which they had
been habituated. They wore an uniform coat or frock, a military cap, and
their arms and accoutrements were in the most admirable order; but in
other respects, their dress was no other than what they had worn at
home. The sight of these brave men told, in stronger language than words
could convey, the grievous oppression to which Prussia had been
subjected, and the unexampled valour with which her people had risen
against the iron yoke of French dominion. They were not regular
soldiers, raised for the ordinary service of the state, and arrayed in
the costume of military life; they were not men of a separate
profession, maintained by government for the purposes of defence; they
were the _people of the country_, roused from their peaceful employments
by the sense of public danger, and animated by the heroic determination
to avenge the sufferings of their native land. The young were there,
whose limbs were yet unequal to the weight of the arms which they had
to bear; the aged were there, whose strength had been weakened by a life
of labour and care; all, of whatever rank or station, marched alike in
the ranks which their valour and their patriotism had formed. Their
appearance suited the sacred cause in which they had been engaged, and
marked the magnitude of the efforts which their country had made. They
were still, in some measure, in the garb of rural life, but the
determination of their step, the soldier-like regularity of their
motions, and the enthusiastic expression of their countenances,
indicated the unconquerable spirit by which they had been animated, and
told the greatness of the sufferings whic