not mine—no man upon earth loves, honours, respects them more than myself you consider them too partially-my affection for them is as unbounded as love itself you only want to add to the number of the elect-I would wish to increase the inhabitants of Heaven. "I know you are a papist, doctor, and from a fondness for your female relations, may wish to have two thirds of your sisters, aunts, and cousins, become nuns and saints-but I, upon sound protestant principles, cannot for the soul, or for the body of me, or both united, consider a woman, but as a woman." After our readers have thus satisfied themselves, that` Paterson's heart was in the right place, and disposed of his philosophy to their liking, we beg to offer to their notice, one of those opinions, which we regard as quite characteristic of the author, but of the soundness of which we entertain some doubts. "The shops of booksellers should always be visited by the curious traveller; since they may be considered as the abstracts of the genius and learning of the country. A well-read, and at the same time a well-bred man, might in half an hour learn to dress his conversation by them; chusing such subjects as were most for his own information, and best suited to the humour of the people, and avoiding such as he apprehended might give offence. I am so clear in this conceit, though some may be disposed to laugh at it (and they have free leave so to do), that I do not know whether, in some situations, I would not pay the bookseller a visit, even before I had sent for the dresser. "To strengthen this opinion, and to guard against the fleers of some of my merrily-disposed readers, give me leave to observe, that if I had been hoodwinked, and privately conveyed from London, not knowing whither I was going, and had been set down in Myn Heer Van Praet's shop, at Bruges, as soon as mine eyes had been uncovered, and that I could look about me, I should not have hesitated a moment to pronounce, that the religion of the country was popish, and the bulk of the inhabitants bigots. Upon a slight survey, I should have discovered, that the country was Flanders; and a little more reflection would have opened to me, that the secular clergy were profound canonists, and not a little enveloped in the rubbish of the schools; but that the regulars delighted mostly in monastical history, and the lives of saints and founders; that the learned laity were able civilians, but vague philosophers, the principles of Descartes being still the reigning ones, maugre all experiment; that, from the number of obsolete books of medicine, I should judge their physicians depended more upon reading than practice: that the politer sort amused themselves with the antiquities of their own country, and the genealogies of their own houses, (a voluminous body!) and, that their belles lettres were the last new books imported from France. "Have I made it out?-if not, I must postpone it till another opportunity; for see, the waiter is come to tell us that supper is ready.' : Our first extract related to a fair nun; we now present our readers with a sketch of a Carthusian monk and if they admired, in any degree, the chivalry of our traveller towards his interesting countrywoman, Grace Fox, we opine, that they will receive with some satisfaction the following slight portrait of father M- and his silent associates. * "For my part, had it been as many leagues, I should not have been tired of the agreeable company I found there; particularly of the unaffected politeness, and edifying conversation of my countryman, father M, prior of the English Carthusians, at Nieuport, a gentleman who appears to be blest with many of those rare talents which endear their possessors to society; insomuch, that lapsed humanity may well regret that the plain paths of virtue are so often thought to be diametrically opposite to the purposes of grace. His relations, and more intimate friends, must certainly have lamented the early surfeit which he took of life; and measuring life's prosperity by the false scale of human prudence, foresaw more glory to their hopes and their inheritance in heading an army, than in presiding over an handful of mute solitaries; we may, therefore, conclude, that several of them regarded him as one born to disappoint their most sanguine expectation, from the moment he exchanged the camp for the cloister. "Doubtless, his calling was sure-nor could it be mistaken for a strong conceit of the will-or the after-weakness which often succeeds disgust and the rage of disappointment-for some of us, I fear, are too apt to place, indiscriminately, religious election to the score of the divine call. His, I am persuaded, was quite otherwise-if he says so. "Well, be that as it may-I here give it under my hand, that as often as I find men called to a Christian temper, to love mercy, aud walk humbly, that I shall not dispute the fitness of their call; and, if they chuse to walk in some particular habits, (wherever such distinctions are warranted) I shall be apt to say, that, from custom, one habit is as eligible as another, if they prefer solitude to the world; it may be that they have some private views of their own, as to their abstinences and other mortifications; I must own, I cannot see any great pleasure in them-but, it seems, some of them won't talk; I therefore conclude, they find more comfort in contemplation, than in speechhow they cross their arms, some will say, and what odd gestures they use!-so much the better-I admire attitudes, of all things-especially when they are graceful. "The small remnant of the cnce flourishing Carthusian abbey of Shene, (I think they are of the foundation of Shene-abbey, but I cannot be positive) are now settled at Nieuport, where they have resided ever since the general wreck of monasteries in England, in the memorable days of our eighth Harry. "This is the only English house of that order now remaining; and travellers of all nations who pass that way, but more especially * Formerly a commander in the Spanish cavalry. the English, expatiate much upon the sanctity of their lives, and their unbounded hospitality, under the direction of their present worthy prior; their number is reduced to six, so that, in case of any unforeseen mortality among them, that order must be shortly extinct respecting our countrymen; they will not easily find novices to enlist under their severe banner; the rigid impositions of perpetual silence, (except to the prior for the time being) their fastings and watchings, their total abstinence from flesh, and the comfortable refreshment of linen, ill suit with the accepted rules of life. Notwithstanding those discouragements, it is not many years since an English gentleman of fortune, and of a protestant family, went over to them; maugre his education in one of our celebrated universities. "What shall we say to these extremes?-nothing-but that man will be always found a contradiction to himself-still groping, darkling, in the midst of an imaginary blaze still studying more and more to bewilder the maze of his existence-the sage of folly-the fool of his own wisdom!" If we have succeeded according to our wishes in establishing the claims of our bibliopolistic friend to some portion of our readers' regard, we trust we have excited a wish to peruse more of his sketchy outlines of character and piquant reflections. Having, in the first place, as in duty bound, paid our respects to the church, by presenting his views of the clerical life, in both sexes, it is but fair that we now turn to another class of heaven's creatures; and a specimen, exemplifying the peculiar manner of the author as completely as any we could select, is to be found in the following portrait of the landlord of Alost: "And here it may not be improper to acquaint the reader with the true character of mine host. Do not imagine that De Heer Cooreman (for so he is called) is a mere publican,—such a one as is to be met with upon every road in England;-one, bred a postboy, converted first into an ostler, and afterwards into a tapster;-or, tired out with lazy servitude, now, under his late master's escutcheon, reposes his future care in the lap of his once-loved Dolly, smoking from morning till night, drinking more than he brews, seldom opening his mouth but to swear, and welcome his customers in and out;whose industry had enabled him to pick up his pence as a marker at a billiard-table;—or whose parts had promoted him, from being a feeder at a cock-pit;-or, lastly, from having been formerly the foremost in the Olympic field, and frequently playing booty on all sides, at last, confessing himself the rascal but of one, was set up in a first-rate inn, as the reward of his treachery. ;-or one "De Heer Cooreman had no such excellencies to boast; he had been simply bred up at the university of Louvain, had Latin enough to break a thousand charms, had gone through his courses regularly, was as good a polemic as the best of them, and no mean philosopher. Mine host was, certainly, the most learned and highest bred publican I ever knew, not excepting old King, at the Angel, at Oxford. "You see, then, discerning reader, by those two instances which I have produced, that men's business are often the effect of accident, not choice. The enlightened mind must sometimes stoop, for bread, to such employment as the heart ill brooks. One man, without desert, shall have place and distinction; but strip him of the accident of his birth, or partial favour, and he may be found scarce worthy to bear a trencher; whilst another is fated to draw wine, who, notwithstanding, may have brains enough to make a bishop. De Heer Cooreman, I am persuaded, independent of the chapter of accidents, would have made a better figure in a higher station. "Let no man, then, plume himself too much upon his lot in lifeupon the accident of his good fortune. If he is happy, let him study to increase his own happiness, and that of others, by a course of humility. If he is simple, let him not offend his neighbours, but labour to conceal his weakness. But if he has understanding, no matter for his situation, he will, nevertheless, be grateful to heaven that he is not a fool." Our extracts have hitherto been taken rather from the digressions than from the journal of the author, and our readers will not be surprised at this announcement, when we tell them, that the book is made up of digressions. We are anxious, however, to give them an opportunity of judging of his powers of description, and, therefore, we quote the first portion of narrative which occurs after his separation from the worthy landlord of Alost. "So, having settled some few points with myself, such as are hinted at in the preceding chapter, and taken leave of our learned host at the Three Kings, with a promise never to pass his door in any future Flemish peregrination, we ordered the coachman to drive to the Abbey of Affligem, about half a league distant from Alost, in the way to Brussels, and about half a mile out of the main road. "Here the eye of the curious passenger is, at once, charmed with the delightful situation, the elegant avenue, the universal grandeur! If a man, thought I, was ambitious of going to heaven like a gentleman, he need not wish to be transported thither from a more stately terrene mansion. To this palace of piety, princes might retire, after a surfeit of giddy greatness, and quietly lay down their ensigns of human pomp; sure marks of superior place, but not of more inward peace. "There's the comfort, after all! The grand achievement is to be acquired without them; nor will it have place in any quartering of the laboured escutcheon. What have the parties per pale, the parties per fesse, and the parties per bend, of our ancestry to do here? where each is conscious that he has a serious party per se to act; the record whereof is incognizable to, and totally independent of, every court of honour. For my part, no offence to the general, nor any man of quality, I hope to be saved!' "The door of Hospitality is ever open, and some of her ministers always upon the watch for the next comer. The modest stranger may spare himself the blush of timidity at this time: let him approach with respectful confidence; my life on 't! he will not be rudely in terrogated, What do you want?' before he is let in, but he will be first admitted; the pious brethren never doubting, but that some or other of them can administer to his wants, either in matter of beneficence, or courtesy. 1 "No such question will arise as- What the devil has brought him hither?' Each has resolved it in his own mind: devotion might stimulate-necessity might urge-curiosity might prompt. It may be, to make an offering, to beg an alms, or to contemplate a passionflower. For the love of truth! let us not misreport, neither, for our own sake, let us not be unmindful of benefits, from strangers especially; and if of a different communion, so much the more to be admired. It would be the height of ingratitude in me to pass by the kindnesses of Father Martin Stercks, the Hospitalarius of Affligem, in a work purposely calculated to blazon humanity and to depict men, not to villify establishments or bedaub sectaries; to laugh at those who fancy they are pursuing the old, or hoot at such as are persuaded they have discovered a new road to heaven. 66 - 'Having passed through two rooms, and being entered a third, the Hospitalarius, observing that my attention was wrapt in a picture of a holy family, addressed me, as it were, by accident, You are a Catholic, Sir,' said he, I take it for granted?" (apparemment was the word he made use of.)- No, Father,' said I; in your sense I am not.' Hence followed a remarkable instance of his politeness, and another of his extensive charity, (such as should make bigots blush, and bridle the tongues of fools,) for, from that moment, he never opened his mouth upon the subject of religion; nor could his kindness, notwithstanding, have been more liberal, even though I had been a pope's nephew. 66 'Having gone through the several apartments which are commonly shewn to strangers, he afterwards conducted us to the church: but it would be an endless task to enumerate the treasures of churches in that country. An elaborate collector has long since filled the greatest part of four volumes in folio, with the trophies of churches in that province only. "I rather chuse to pause for a moment at this undecorated marble, sacred to the memory of Antony Sanderus, a learned Flemish antiquary of the last century, who, after a life of much labour, falling into distress when most he wanted comfort, found a ready asylum among the pious Benedictines of Affligem, who received him with great kindness, treated him as a brother, made him bless his latter years, and, lastly, found room for his bones within the bosom of their sanctuary. "Soon after, we were ushered into the prior's parlour to dinner, |