[25] ["Signifying, that the French postilions do not ride like the
    English.”  LICQUET.]

[26] ["Dieppe for a long time was the rival of Argentan and Caen in the
    lace-manufactory:  at the present day, this branch of commerce is
    almost annihilated there.”—­LICQUET.]

[27] [In a note attached to the previous edition—­I have said, “Here also,
    as well as at Rouen; they will have it that the ENGLISH built the
    Churches.”  Upon which M. Licquet remarks thus:  “M.  Dibdin’s expression
    conveys too general an idea.  It is true that popular opinion
    attributes the erection of our gothic edifices to the ENGLISH:  but
    there exists another opinion, which is not deceptive upon this
    subject.”  What is meant to be here conveyed?  Either the popular
    opinion is true or false; and it is a matter of perfect indifference
    to the author whether it be one or the other.  For Mons. Licquet’s
    comfort, I will freely avow that I believe it to be false.]

[28] [Louis XVIII.]

LETTER III.

VILLAGE AND CASTLE OF ARQUES.  SABBATH AMUSEMENTS.  MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
BOULEVARDS.

As I had received especial injunctions from our friend P—–­ not to leave Dieppe without paying a visit to the famous Chateau d’Arques[29], in its neighbourhood, I resolved to seize the opportunity of a tolerably fair, or rather gray-looking day, to go and pay due homage to those venerable remains of antiquity.  The road thither is completely rural:  apple-trees, just beginning to burst their blossoms; hamlets, small farm-houses:  a profusion of rich herbage of various kinds—­delighted and regaled me as I pursued my tranquil walk.  The country is of a gently-undulating character; but the flats or meadows, between the parallel ranges of hills, are subject to constant inundation from the sea; and in an agricultural point of view are consequently of little use, except for summer grazing of the cattle.

It was drawing on to vespers as I approached the Village of Arques.  The old castle had frequently peeped out upon me, in my way thither, from its elevated situation; but being resolved to see “all that could be seen,” a French village, for the first time, was not to be overlooked.  For a country church, I know of few finer ones than that of Arques.[30]

The site of the castle is admirable.  My approach was to the western extremity; which, as you look down, brings the village and church of Arques in the back ground.  If the eye were to be considered as a correct judge, this venerable pile, composed of hard flint-stone, intermixed with brick, would perhaps claim precedence, on the score of antiquity, over most of the castles of the middle ages.  A deep moat, now dry pasture land, with a bold acclivity before you, should seem to bid defiance, even in times of