the MOTHER CHURCH.  They spared both:  but many marks of their devastation are yet seen; and pieces of old sculpture, dragged from their original places of destination, are stuck about in different parts, over shopkeepers’ doors.  I could have filled a caravan with several curious specimens of this kind:—­which would have been joyfully viewed by many a Member of the Society of Antiquaries.  The population of Rheims is estimated at about thirty thousand.  It appears to be situated in a fertile and picturesque country.

As the weather continued not only serene, but almost sultry—­and as we began to be weary of packing and unpacking, and sleeping at so many different inns in the route—­I resolved upon travelling all night, and pushing on at once for Paris:  where our fatigue would have a temporary cessation.  I left, therefore, this venerable city about six o’clock in the evening—­intending to travel without intermission till I reached my old quarters at the Hotel des Colonies, in the Rue de Richelieu.  The road is paved in the middle, the whole way to Paris; but we were careful to avoid the centre.  In other respects, this road is broad, and has a noble appearance.  As we quitted Rheims, and were gaining the height of the first hill, on the Paris side, we turned round to take a farewell view of the venerable cathedral.  It will be long ere I forget that view.  The moon, now at full, was rising—­in unclouded majesty—­just above the summit of the old towers of the cathedral.  Her orb was clear, pale, and soft; and yet completely irradiated.  The towers and western front were in a cold, gray tint:  the houses, of inferior dimensions, were shrunk to insignificancy.  There was, therefore, nothing but a cloudless sky, a full moon, and the cathedral of Rheims:—­objects, upon which the eye rests, and the imagination riots... as ours did ... till a turning of the road shut out the scenery from our view.

It was considerably past midnight when I reached Soissons—­the principal town between Rheims and Paris.  I breakfasted at Dammartin.  About mid-day I entered Paris, and found the hostess of the Hotel des Colonies, (who had been apprised by letter of our intention of returning thither) perfectly disposed to give me a cordial reception, after an absence of about three months.  Having settled my affairs, and enjoyed a short repose at Paris of a fortnight, I returned with my companion, by the diligence, to Calais; and landed at Dover within about six months, and a half of my departure from Brighton to Dieppe.  Although my tour was carried on in the most favourable of seasons—­and with every sort of comfort, and attention arising from letters of recommendation, and hospitable receptions in consequence—­yet I had undergone, from a constant state of excitement and occupation, a great deal of bodily and mental fatigue; and I question if poor Park, ... had it pleased Providence to have allowed him to re-visit his native shore... would have retouched BRITISH EARTH with greater joy than I experienced, when, leaping from the plank, put out from the boat, I planted my foot upon the shingles at DOVER ...