Boulogne to Wapping: he did a manifest injustice to this place
which is a large agreeable town, with broad open streets,
excellently paved; and the houses are of stone, well built and
commodious. The number of inhabitants may amount to sixteen
thousand. You know this was generally supposed to be the portus
Itius, and Gessoriacum of the antients: though it is now believed
that the portus Itius, from whence Caesar sailed to Britain, is a
place called Whitsand, about half way between this place and
Calais. Boulogne is the capital of the Boulonnois, a district
extending about twelve leagues, ruled by a governor independent
of the governor of Picardy; of which province, however, this
country forms a part. The present governor is the duc d'Aumout.
The town of Boulogne is the see of a bishop suffragan of Rheims,
whose revenue amounts to about four-and-twenty thousand livres,
or one thousand pounds sterling. It is also the seat of a
seneschal's court, from whence an appeal lies to the parliament
of Paris; and thither all condemned criminals are sent, to have
their sentence confirmed or reversed. Here is likewise a
bailiwick, and a court of admiralty. The military jurisdiction of
the city belongs to a commandant appointed by the king, a sort of
sinecure bestowed upon some old officer. His appointments are
very inconsiderable: he resides in the Upper Town, and his
garrison at present consists of a few hundreds of invalids.

Boulogne is divided into the Upper and Lower Towns. The former is
a kind of citadel, about a short mile in circumference, situated
on a rising ground, surrounded by a high wall and rampart,
planted with rows of trees, which form a delightful walk. It
commands a fine view of the country and Lower Town; and in clear
weather the coast of England, from Dover to Folkstone, appears so