ing effect from every
part of the adjoining country. The interior of the church, like that of
all the other Catholic churches, is impressive to an English spectator,
from the effect of its vast dimensions. The town was entirely filled by
Prussian soldiers, and landwehr of the Prussian corps d'armee of Bulow,
who went through their evolutions in the exactest discipline.

From Malines to Antwerp the country is under a higher system of
management, than in any other district of Flanders which we had seen. It
is thickly planted with trees, insomuch as, from an eminence, to have
the appearance of a continued forest. The landscape scenery, seen
through the openings of the wood, and generally terminating in a village
spire, is exceedingly beautiful, and reminded us of the scenes in
Waterloo's engravings. Great quantities of potatoes and beans are to be
seen in the fields, which are kept in the highest state of cultivation.
The number of villages is extremely great; but the people, though so
numerous, had all the appearance of being in a prosperous and happy
condition.

On approaching Antwerp, the trees and houses are all cut down, to give
room for the fire of the cannon-shot from the ramparts of the fortress.
We passed over this desolated space in the evening, soon after sunset,
when the spires of the city had a beautiful effect on the fading colours
of the western sky. High over all rose the spire of the cathedral, a
most beautiful piece of the lightest Gothic, of immense height, and the
most exquisite proportions. Though this building has stood for seven
centuries, the carving of the pinnacles, and the finishing of the
ornaments, are at this moment as perfect as the day they were formed;
and when seen in shadow on an evening sky, present a spectacle which
combines all that is majestic and graceful in Gothic architecture.

After passing through the numerous gates, and over the multiplied
bridges which surround this fortress, we found ourselves in the interior
of Antwerp; a city of great interest, in consequence of the warlike
preparations of which it had been the theatre, and the importance which
had been attached to it by both parties in the recent contest. It is an
extensive old city, evidently formed for a much more extensive commerce
than it has now for a long period enjoyed. The form of the houses is
singular, grotesque and irregular, offering at every turn the most
picturesque forms to a painter's eye. We were soon con