QHENT. 89 



crowded with long narrow waggons, having lofty orna- 

 mented backs, like sterns of ships. Very exact representa- 

 tions of such waggons may often be seen in the paysages of 

 the Dutch masters ; the form of them having probably un- 

 dergone no change for centuries past. — In Ghent, the prepa- 

 rations for shoeing a horse are so formidable, or the animal 

 is secured with such precaution in a strong wooden frame 

 or case, that, at first, we could not help thinking that the 

 farrier was about to let blood or draw a tooth, and were ra- 

 ther surprised to find that only a shoe was to be fastened, 

 — The manufacture of lace has, we understand, vanished 

 from this place, and been replaced by that of cotton ; no- 

 wise, it is believed, to the advantage of the morals of the 

 young females employed, who are thus brought together 

 in great numbers, instead of working, as formerly, in the 

 houses of their parents. — There is a large iron manufac- 

 tory in the immediate neighbourhood of the city, the most 

 considerable, we understand, in this part of Flanders. 



De Bussche and Son are the booksellers or publishers in 

 whose shop any agricultural, statistical, or horticultural 

 work, regarding the Low Countries, is most likely to be 

 met with. — We Could not fail to remark the dearth of 

 newspapers. The common people seem never to think of 

 such things. What a contrast with Edinburgh, Glasgow, 

 or London ! If the extensive circulation of newspapers 

 sometimes promote the aptitude to political ferment, we 

 must not forget, that much of the superiority of the 

 great body of the people in Britain is to be ascribed to 

 " these rivulets of intelligence, 1 "' as Dr Johnson beautiful- 

 ly styles them, " which are continually trickling among 

 us, which any one may catch, and of which every one par- 

 takes." 



