be fortified at all--is a place of such extreme platitude, that the
belated wayfarer longs to escape almost as soon as he arrives. There
is literally nothing to be seen. But a few miles away, there is to be
found a place which will indemnify the disgusted traveller, viz.,
BERGUES. As the train slackens speed I begin to take note of rich
green banks with abundant trees planted in files, such as Uncle Toby
would have relished in his garden. There is the sound as of passing
over a military bridge, with other tokens of the fortified town. There
it lies--close to the station, while the invariable belfry and heavy
church rise from the centre, in friendly companionship. I have noted
the air of sadness in these lone, lorn monuments, which perhaps arises
from the sense of their vast age and all they have looked down upon.
Men and women, and houses, dynasties and invaders, and burgomasters,
have all passed away in endless succession; but _they_ remain, and
have borne the buffetings of storms and gales and wars and tumults. As
we turn out of the station, a small avenue lined with trees leads
straight to the entrance. The bright snowy-looking _place_ basks in
the setting sun, while the tops of the red-tiled roofs seem to peep at
us over the walls. At the end of the avenue the sturdy gateway greets
us cheerfully, labelled 'Porte de Biene,' flanked by two short and
burly towers that rise out of the water; while right and left, the old
brick walls, red and rusted, stretch away, flanked by corner towers.
The moat runs round the whole, filled with the usual stagnant water. I
enter, and then see what a tiny compact little place it is--a perfect
miniature town with many streets, one running round the walls; all the
houses sound and compact and no higher than two stories, so as to keep
snug and sheltered under the walls, and not draw the enemy's fire. The
whole seems to be about the size of the Green Park at home, and you
can walk right across, from gate to gate, in about three minutes. It
is bright, and clean 'as a new pin,' and there are red-legged soldiers