monuments, brazen gates, and glittering marbles. In the great church
were two or three pictures by Rubens, mechanically excellent, but
these realities were not designed in so graceful a manner as to
divert my attention from the mere descriptions Pausanias gives us of
the works of Grecian artists, and I would at any time fall asleep in
a Flemish cathedral, for a vision of the temple of Olympian Jupiter.
But I think I hear, at this moment, some grave and respectable
personage chiding me for such levities, and saying, "Really, Sir, you
had better stay at home, and dream in your great chair, than give
yourself the trouble of going post through Europe, in search of
inspiring places to fall asleep. If Flanders and Holland are to be
dreamed over at this rate, you had better take ship at once, and doze
all the way to Italy." Upon my word, I should not have much
objection to that scheme; and, if some cabalist would but transport
me in an instant to the summit of AEtna, any body might slop through
the Low Countries that pleased.

Being, however, so far advanced, there was no retracting; and as it
is now three or four years since I have almost abandoned the hopes of
discovering a necromancer, I resolved to journey along with Quiet and
Content for my companions. These two comfortable deities have, I
believe, taken Flanders under their especial protection; every step
one advances discovering some new proof of their influence. The
neatness of the houses, and the universal cleanliness of the
villages, show plainly that their inhabitants live in ease and good
humour. All is still and peaceful in these fertile lowlands: the
eye meets nothing but round, unmeaning faces at every door, and
harmless stupidity smiling at every window. The beasts, as placid as
their masters, graze on without any disturbance; and I scarcely
recollect to have heard one grunting swine or snarling mastiff during