This town, if we may trust its archives, the authority of which I see
no reason to call in question in this place—was _once_ no more than a
small village belonging to one of the first Counts de _Guignes;_ and as
it boasts at present of no less than fourteen thousand inhabitants,
exclusive of four hundred and twenty distinct families in the _basse
ville_, or suburbs——it must have grown up by little and little, I
suppose, to its present size.
Though there are four convents, there is but one parochial church in
the whole town; I had not an opportunity of taking its exact
dimensions, but it is pretty easy to make a tolerable conjecture of
’em—for as there are fourteen thousand inhabitants in the town, if the
church holds them all it must be considerably large—and if it will
not—’tis a very great pity they have not another—it is built in form of
a cross, and dedicated to the Virgin _Mary;_ the steeple, which has a
spire to it, is placed in the middle of the church, and stands upon
four pillars elegant and light enough, but sufficiently strong at the
same time—it is decorated with eleven altars, most of which are rather
fine than beautiful. The great altar is a master- piece in its kind;
’tis of white marble, and, as I was told, near sixty feet high—had it
been much higher, it had been as high as mount _Calvary_
itself—therefore, I suppose it must be high enough in all conscience.
There was nothing struck me more than the great _Square;_ tho’ I cannot
say ’tis either well paved or well built; but ’tis in the heart of the
town, and most of the streets, especially those in that quarter, all
terminate in it; could there have been a fountain in all _Calais_,
which it seems there cannot, as such an object would have been a great
ornament, it is not to be doubted, but that the inhabitants would have
had it in the very centre of this square,—not that it is properly a
square,—because ’tis forty feet longer from east to west, than from
north to south; so that the _French_ in general have more reason on
their side in calling them _Places_ than _Squares_, which, strictly
speaking, to be sure, they are not.
The town-house seems to be but a sorry building, and not to be kept in
the best repair; otherwise it had been a second great ornament to this
place; it answers however its destination, and serves very well for the
reception of the magistrates, who assemble in it from time to time; so
that ’tis presumable, justice is regularly distributed.
I have heard much of it, but there is nothing at all curious in the
_Courgain;_ ’tis a distinct quarter of the town, inhabited solely by
sailors and fishermen; it consists of a number of small streets, neatly
built and mostly of brick; ’tis extremely populous, but as that may be
accounted for, from the principles of their diet,—there is nothing
curious in that neither.——A traveller may see it to satisfy himself—he
must not omit however taking notice of _La Tour de Guet_, upon any
account; ’tis so called from its particular destination, because in war
it serves to discover and give notice of the enemies which approach the
place, either by sea or land;——but ’tis monstrous high, and catches the
eye so continually, you cannot avoid taking notice of it if you would.
It was a singular disappointment to me, that I could not have
permission to take an exact survey of the fortifications, which are the
strongest in the world, and which, from first to last, that is, for the
time they were set about by _Philip_ of _France_, Count of _Bologne_,
to the present war, wherein many reparations were made, have cost (as I
learned afterwards from an engineer in _Gascony_)—above a hundred
millions of livres. It is very remarkable, that at the _Tête de
Gravelenes_, and where the town is naturally the weakest, they have
expended the most money; so that the outworks stretch a great way into
the campaign, and consequently occupy a large tract of ground—However,
after all that is _said_ and _done_, it must be acknowledged that
_Calais_ was never upon any account so considerable from itself, as
from its situation, and that easy entrance which it gave our ancestors,
upon all occasions, into _France:_ it was not without its
inconveniences also; being no less troublesome to the _English_ in
those times, than _Dunkirk_ has been to us, in ours; so that it was
deservedly looked upon as the key to both kingdoms, which no doubt is
the reason that there have arisen so many contentions who should keep
it: of these, the siege of _Calais_, or rather the blockade (for it was
shut up both by land and sea), was the most memorable, as it with-stood
the efforts of _Edward_ the Third a whole year, and was not terminated
at last but by famine and extreme misery; the gallantry of _Eustace de
St. Pierre_, who first offered himself a victim for his
fellow-citizens, has rank’d his name with heroes. As it will not take
up above fifty pages, it would be injustice to the reader, not to give
him a minute account of that romantic transaction, as well as of the
siege itself, in _Rapin_’s own words: