7 a.m.
As we were to be absent from Brussels but one night we were enabled to indulge in the gratification of travelling without our luggage . A small sac-de-nuit was prepared ; brushes , combs , razors , strops , a change of linen , & c. & c. , were carefully put up ; but our heavy baggage , our coats , waistcoats , and other wearing apparel were unnecessary . It was delightful to feel oneself so light-handed . The reverend gentleman , with my humble self by his side , left the portal of the Hôtel de Belle Vue at 7 a.m. , in good humour with all the world . There were no railroads in those days ; but a cabriolet , big enough to hold six persons , with rope traces and corresponding appendages , deposited us at the Golden Fleece in something less than six hours . The inward man was duly fortified , and we started for the castle . It boots not here to describe the effects which gunpowder and grape-shot had had on the walls of Antwerp .