a town of France, in the department of the Pas de Calais, the capital of a canton and arrondissement of the same name. It is situated on the sea-shore at the mouth of the Liane, in 50° 44' N. Lat. 1° 36' E. Long., 166 miles from Paris by railway. It was known to the Romans under the name of Gessoriacum, and was afterwards called Bononia, from the name of a fort built at the beginning of the Christian era on the opposite bank of the Liane. A bridge was thrown across the river, and Caligula erected on its northern bank a lighthouse which attracted first the fishermen, and ultimately the entire population of Gessoriacum. During the middle ages the town was frequently besieged. In 882 it was taken and sacked by the Norman pirates. In later times it was assailed, but without success, by Henry III of England. In 1544 it was taken by Henry VIII after a siege of six weeks; but five years after it was restored to France by Edward VI for the sum of 40,000 livres. Boulogne consists of two parts, the High or Old Town, and the Low or New Town. The Old Town, situated on the top of the hill, still boasts its ancient ramparts and arched gateways. The citadel, flanked by high towers, and separated from the town by a fosse, has been recently converted into a barrack. In the middle of the old town is the Hôtel de Ville, behind which is the ancient beffroi or belfry. A cathedral has been in course of erection since 1827, and in the immediate neighbourhood are several nurseries. The New Town or basse-ville, extends from the foot of the hill to the harbour and along the shore, and is the chief seat of commerce. The only public building of importance is the museum, which is said to contain one of the best provincial collections in France. Attached to it is a public library of 22,000 volumes, and 3000 MSS., many of them very rare and richly illuminated. The present entrance to the harbour, in which the tides rise from 17 to 28 feet, was formed in 1829. It is flanked on both sides with wooden piers, which in fine weather are the favourite promenades of the inhabitants. It is calculated that from 100,000 to 150,000 passengers annually land here. On one side of the harbour is the basin formed by Napoleon for the flotilla of flat-bottomed boats, which was intended to convey his troops to the English shores at the time of the projected invasion. On a hill at a short distance from the town is a marble monument, erected by the grande armée in commemoration of this event, 164 feet in height, surmounted by a statue of the emperor, by Bosio, 16 feet high. Boulogne possesses 1300 vessels, all engaged in the fisheries. The fish taken, consisting chiefly of herrings, mackerel, whitling, turbot, cod, and oysters, are transmitted in large quantities to Paris by railway, but there is always an abundant and cheap supply reserved for the town itself. Government makes provision for the widows and families of fishermen accidentally drowned. In 1848, 1158 steamers entered the harbour of Boulogne; and 1149 left it. Pop. in 1821, 16,607; in 1851, 29,488, of whom nearly 7000 are English. Boulogne has two English chapels, and upwards of a hundred boarding schools, many of them managed by Englishmen. The arrondissement of the same name comprises 6 cantons, 100 communes; pop. (1851) 117,615. The house in which Le Sage died is still to be seen at No. 3 Rue de Chateau. John Wilkes lived here for some time in voluntary exile, and the poet Churchill is buried in the cemetery. Thomas Campbell, whose house is still pointed out to the stranger, died here in 1848.