_Calais_, _Calatium_, _Calusium_, _Calesium_.
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 masterpiece 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, from the time they
were set about by _Philip_ of _France_, Count of _Boulogne_, 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 out-works 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 withstood 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: