old, to the foot and the spear of the invader.  There are circular towers at the extremities, and a square citadel or donjon within.  To the north, a good deal of earth has been recently thrown against the bases of the wall.  The day harmonised admirably with the venerable object before me.  The sunshine lasted but for a minute:  when afterwards a gloom prevailed, and not a single catch of radiant light gilded any portion of the building.  All was quiet, and of a sombre aspect,—­and what you, in your admiration of art, would call in perfectly “fine keeping.”

I descended the hill, bidding a long adieu to this venerable relic of the hardihood of other times, and quickened my pace towards Dieppe.  In gaining upon the town, I began to discern groups of rustics, as well as of bourgeoises, assembling and mingling in the dance.  The women never think of wearing bonnets, and you have little idea how picturesquely the red and blue[31] (the colours of Raffaelle’s Madonnas) glanced backwards and forwards amidst the fruit trees, to the sound of the spirit-stirring violin.  The high, stiff, starched cauchoise, with its broad flappers, gave the finishing stroke to the novelty and singularity of the scene; and to their credit be it spoken, the women were much more tidily dressed than the men.  The couples are frequently female, for want of a sufficient number of swains; but, whether correctly or incorrectly paired, they dance with earnestness, if not with grace.  It was a picture a la Teniers, without its occasional grossness.  This then, said I to myself, is what I have so often heard of the sabbath-gambols of the French—­and long may they enjoy them!  They are surely better than the brutal orgies of the pot-house, or the fanatical ravings of the tabernacle.[32]

A late plain dinner, with my favourite vin ordinaire, recruited my strength, and kept me in perfectly good humour with Dieppe.

The deportment of the Dieppois[33] towards the English, is, upon the whole, rather gracious than otherwise; because the town profits by the liberality and love of expense of the latter.  Yet the young ones, as soon as they can lisp, are put in training for pronouncing the G——­ d——­; and a few horribly-deformed and importunate beggars are for ever assailing the doors of the hotels.  But beggary is nothing like so frightful an evil as I had anticipated.  The general aspect of the town seems to indicate the poverty of the inhabitants; their houses being too large to be entirely occupied.  Bonaparte appears to have been anxious about the strengthening of the harbour; the navigation into which is somewhat difficult and intricate.  The sides of the walls, as you enter, are lofty, steep, and strong; and raised batteries would render any hostile approach extremely hazardous to the assailants.