The scheme of again uniting Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine to France, is here perpetually introduced. The French talk of the oppressed state of the Belgians, and of the vast number of _ordinary_, _extraordinary_, and _indirect_ imposts to which they are subject, and conclude that they must wish to become again the subjects of France, as if they would by that means escape taxation. That they would rather be subject to the _mild government of Louis XVIII_. than to the _oppressive tyranny of Buonaparte_, I can easily conceive; but is it unnatural that they should be desirous of existing as an independent nation, under a government of their own? Yet were it ascertained beyond dispute, that the wishes of the Belgians are such as the French represent them, surely the general interests of Europe, and the preservation of that balance of power so essential to its permanent tranquillity, would forbid the further extension of France, which might again reassume that preponderance which it has cost the other powers so much to reduce. I am, however, inclined to think, that the wishes of the Belgians are not such as they are represented; but the French _knowing a little, presume a good deal, and so jump to a conclusion_. The merchants here seem to expect that their city will obtain the privileges of a _free port_, which have been lately granted to Marseilles, but upon what grounds their hopes are founded, I did not distinctly understand. Dunkirk was at one period subject to England; being taken in 1658, it continued an English garrison until sold by that needy monarch Charles the Second, to Louis the Fourteenth, in 1662. The odium of this transaction was one of the causes of the disgrace of that great statesman, Lord Clarendon, and a house which he was then building, obtained the popular appellation of _Dunkirk House_. In the possession of so enterprising and ambitious a sovereign as Louis, Dunkirk became so formidable by its fortifications, that the demolition of them was deemed essential to the interests of England, and was accordingly insisted on by the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713; but by the treaty of 1783, the article against its being fortified was annulled, and although several works have been constructed since that period, it has by no means re-assumed its former strength. From Dunkirk, I proceeded to Gravelines, which, although inconsiderable as a town, is strong as a fortress, since the flat country which surrounds it may be laid under water to a great extent on the approach of an enemy. The market-place is spacious, but overgrown with weeds. I observed that it still bears the name of the _Place de la Liberté_, and a street which communicates with it is designated _Rue de l'Egalité_.