The Steam-Packet: A Tale of the River and the Ocean — page 322: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

’ ; Bi : 4 THE STEAM PACKET. 249 Boulogne-sur-Mer was reached shortly after the recitation of this very masterly production—or rather the translation of that very mas- terly production—of De Berenger. Boulogne, as a summer resort or bathing-place, is now unsurpassed by any other town on that part of the French coast which is within a con- venient distance of England. For a considerable extent on either side of the town the shore consists of a fine sand, upon which there are numerous bathing machines, fitted up with every accommodation. In the vicinity of Boulogne are many pleasant spots, adapted for rural ex- cursions and pic-nic parties: angling may be indulged in, with a cer- tainty of good sport, in the Liane; and permission to shoot over the estates of the neighbouring landholders may be obtained with ease, and for which the game licence costs only fifteen francs. The chief objects that arrest the attention of the steam-packet pas- senger, as he approaches the harbour of Boulogne, are the monument built upon the hill to commemorate Napoleon’s intended descent upon England, the lighthouse upon the pier, the bathing establishment, over the portico of which floats the tricoloured flag, the unfinished dome of the cathedral, and the huge belfry standing behind the Town Hall. The monument, concerning which Englishmen have heard so much, is of exceedingly symmetrical, chaste, and elegant architecture, and stands near the Calais road, at a distance of about twenty minutes’ walk from the Low Town; for, like Calais, Boulogne is divided into an Upper anda Lower Town. The first stone of that monument was laid on the 9th of November, 1804; and upon it was engraved the follow- ing inscription :— FIRST STONE OF THE MONUMENT VOTED BY THE EXPEDITIONARY ARMY OF BOULOGNE, AND THE FLOTILLA, TO THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. PLACED BY MARSHAL SOULT, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ; 18 BRUMAIRE, YEAR 13. Upon the restoratoin of Louis XVIII., the monument was finished, and converted by him into a memorial of the return of his family to the royal seat. ‘The following inscriptions were then added at differ- ent times :— asi, THIS COLUMN, VOTED EY THE ARMY ASSEMBLED AT BOULOGNE, « FROM WHENCE IT MENACED ENGLAND, WAS BEGUN IN 1804. Gomicbooks (E(0)