n this respect, in England, and that many wealthy foreigners
have in consequence made them their residence.

Dover is an horrible place--a nest of fishermen and smugglers: a noble
beach is hampered by rope-works, and all the filth attendant upon them.
I never saw an excellent and beautiful natural situation so miserably
spoilt.

The Captain being ready, and my necessary papers procured, I joined, and
having set sail, we were alternately tossed and becalmed for nearly
three weeks, and almost daily in sight of land. Some of the spring winds
in the English seas are very violent. A favourable breeze at length
sprung up, and we flew before the wind. "If this continues," said our
Captain, "we shall reach Calais before daylight." This was at sunset;
and we had been so driven to sea by a contrary wind on the preceding
day, that neither the coast of England nor France were visible. From
Dover to Calais the voyage is frequently made in four hours.

Several observations very forcibly struck me in the course of my
passage, one of which I must be allowed to mention. I had repeatedly
heard, and now knew from experience, the immense superiority of the
English commerce over that of France and every nation in the world; but
till I had made this voyage, I never had a sufficient conception of the
degree of this superiority. I have no hesitation to say, that for one
French vessel there were two hundred English. The English fleet has
literally swept the seas of all the ships of their enemies; and a French
ship is so rare, as to be noted in a journal across the Atlantic, as a
kind of phenomenon. A curious question here suggests itself--Will the
English Government be so enabled to avail themselves of this maritime
superiority, as to counterweigh against the continental predominance of
the French Emperor?--Can the Continent be reconquered at sea?--Will the
French Emperor exchange the kingdoms of Europe for West India Colonies;
or is he too well instructed in the actual worth of these Colonies, to
purchase them at any price?--These questions are important, and an
answer to them might illustrate the fate of Europe, and the probable
termination of the war.

I must not omit one advice to travellers by sea. The biscuit in a long
voyage becomes uneatable, and flower will not keep. I was advised by a
friend, as a remedy against this inconvenience, to take a large store of
what are called gingerbread nuts, made without yeast, and hotly spiced.
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