A late plain dinner, with my favourite vin ordinaire, recruited my
strength, and kept me in perfectly good humour with Dieppe.

The deportment of the _Dieppois_[33] towards the English, is, upon the
whole, rather gracious than otherwise; because the town profits by the
liberality and love of expense of the latter. Yet the young ones, as soon
as they can lisp, are put in training for pronouncing the _G---- d----_;
and a few horribly-deformed and importunate beggars are for ever assailing
the doors of the hotels. But beggary is nothing like so frightful an evil
as I had anticipated. The general aspect of the town seems to indicate the
poverty of the inhabitants; their houses being too large to be entirely
occupied. Bonaparte appears to have been anxious about the strengthening of
the harbour; the navigation into which is somewhat difficult and intricate.
The sides of the walls, as you enter, are lofty, steep, and strong; and
raised batteries would render any hostile approach extremely hazardous to
the assailants.

There is no ship-building at this moment going on: the ribs of about half a
dozen, half rotted, small merchant-craft, being all that is discernible.
But much is projected, and much is hoped from such projects. Dieppe has
questionless many local advantages both by land and by sea; yet it will
require a long course of years to infuse confidence and beget a love of
enterprise. In spite of all the _naval zeal_, it is here exhibited chiefly
as affording means of subsistence from the fisheries. I must not however
conclude my Dieppe journal without telling you that I hunted far and near
for a good bookseller and for some old books--but found nothing worth the
search, except a well-printed early _Rouen Missal_, and _Terence_ by
_Badius Ascensius_. The booksellers are supplied with books chiefly from
Rouen; the local press being too insignificant to mention.