BOOK CXLV. Haguenau. Saverne. descend to the wrist, the petticoat is made of green serge, and bordered with red ribbons. Haguenau contains several manufactories, and a population of seven thousand five hundred individuals; it was founded by Frederick Barbarossa, and afterwards included in the number of imperial cities in Alsace. The sandy lands in the neighbourhood are very fruitful in madder, of which more than 2,000,000 kilogrammes are annually sent to different parts of France and England. The small town of Saverne is situated near the base of the Vosges, at the extremity of the chain; it is well built, and the heights round it are planted with vineyards. The hill that bears its name, rises on the west, while on the south-west are seen the ruins of Haut-Barr, a castle founded in the thirteenth century. Bouxviller is commanded by a fine Gothic castle, and surrounded with agreeable walks; it contains about three thousand five hundred inhabitants, it is situated, like the last, at the base of the mountains. Two or three places may be mentioned in the most northern district of Lower Rhine, which borders with Rhenish Bavaria. Soultz-sous-Forets, a town of two thousand inhabitants, carries on a trade in the best wines that are produced in the department; coal mines and a saline spring, that yields a great quantity of salt, are worked in the neighbourhood. Seltz does not contain a greater population than Soultz-sous-Forets, if it be better known, it may be attributed to the gaseous and mineral water, of which more than thirty thousand casks are annually consumed in Paris. Weissembourg or Wissembourg, a town on the Lauter, derives the importance which it possesses, from its position on the northern frontier. The fortifications have been celebrated in the annals of war from the reign of Lewis the Fourteenth to the year 1815. The inhabitants carry on a trade in linen, porcelain and leather; the population has quadrupled since the time that Alsace was united to France. BOOK CXLVI. EUROPE. Europe continued. — Kingdom of France. Fifth Section. BOOK THE twenty-one departments in the northern region are formed by the ancient provinces of Lorraine, Champagne, CXLVI. Ile-de France, Normandy, Picardy, Flanders and Artois. Education is more general, and wealth is more diffused than in the rest of the kingdom; the population relatively to the surface is also greater, for the mean number of inhabitants to every square league is nearly equal to one thousand six hundred and forty. It surpasses the other regions in the extent of the forests, in the number of horses and oxen, in the industry of the inhabitants, and in the amount of the revenue. of Moselle. The department of Moselle is contiguous on the north Departto the possessions of Bavaria, Prussia and the Netherlands. ment The length from east to west is equal to thirty-nine leagues, or to three times the greatest breadth from north to south. The land, although uneven and well wooded, yields twice as much corn as the inhabitants consume. The country is well supplied with horses, and if more attention were paid to the breed, they might be very valuable for the light cavalry. Oxen are sufficiently numerous, but the rearing of sheep has been much neglected. The abundance of timber enables the inhabitants to carry on many works or manufactories in which fuel is required, and to derive a considerable profit from their iron mines. The prosperity of the country may be attributed to the extent of the roads and BOOK CXLVI. Bitche. Sarregue mines. navigable rivers, and to the aptitude for labour by which the lower orders (manufacturers as well as husbandmen) are distinguished. Agriculture is in a more advanced state than in the rest of France; the peasant, as indefatigable in labour as he is brave in war, adopts willingly every improvement, raises a great variety of products, and multiplies different kinds of fruit; the vineyards which he cultivates, particularly those on the left bank of the Moselle, do not yield much wine of a good quality, but it should be recollected that the exportation of wine is not encouraged, and the petty proprietors do not think it worth while to substitute the best stems of Burgundy for the large vines of Lorraine. Bitche is situated below the western declivities of the Vosges, it contains two thousand seven hundred inhabitants; it may be considered a stronghold of the fourth class, it is defended by an impregnable fortress on the summit of a rock, the Prussians attempted in vain to take it in the year 1792. Sarralbe derives its name from its situation at the confluence of the Albe and the Sarre; the number of inhabitants amounts to three thousand three hundred; the salt works in the neighbourhood yield annually a thousand tons of salt. Sarreguemines, of which the ancient German name or Gemunde signifies an embouchure, is situated above the last place, at the junction of the Sarre and the Blise. The population has increased two-thirds since the year 1790. The red porcelain made in the town, and generally used in the department, and the snuff-boxes made in the neighbourhood are the principal articles of trade; the yearly sale of the latter is supposed to produce a sum almost equal to L.42,000. The houses are well built, a broad street extends along the whole length of the town, it terminates at the bridge, on the Sarre. The road that communicates with the same bridge, leads to Forbach, a burgh of three thousand inhabitants; it was there Charles the Fifth encamped in 1552, and determined to risk his military glory before the ramparts of Metz. Bouzonville is the most important place in the country beThionville. tween Forbach and Thionville; the last town was founded in the eighth century; as a stronghold, it belongs to the third BOOK class, part of the ramparts were raised by the Spaniards, it was taken by Condé after the battle of Rocroy. The riding- CXLVI. school is perhaps the finest building, but there are few edifices of any consequence; the wooden bridge, more remarkable for its clumsy shape than any thing else, is mentioned as a wonder both by ancient and modern geographers, it can certainly be quickly taken to pieces in a case of emergency. The population of the town, now the capital of a district, is ten times greater than when it was united to France after the treaty of 1659. The village of Cattenom is situated about two leagues below Thionville, on the left bank of the Moselle; it is the place where the greatest cattle fair in the department is annually held. Sierck on the banks of the Sierck. same river, may be about two leagues and a-half distant from the village; it stands at the base of a rock, a strong castle rises on the summit. It carries on a trade in different manufactures; the stones which are obtained from a neighbouring quarry, are used in paving the streets of Metz and Nanci. Longwy, situated on the west of Sierck, not more than Longwy. half a league from the frontier, does not contain three. thousand inhabitants, but it is divided into the high and low town. The first stands on a rock, it was fortified by Vauban; the second occupies the site of an ancient fortress, where many Roman medals have been at different times discovered. There is reason to believe that the same place was the station of a Roman camp, bore the name of Longus Vicus during the middle ages. Brie, the capital of the district, is a very insignificant town, consisting of steep streets on the declivity of a hill which rises above a fruitful and well wooded valley, watered by the Voigot, a small river. The most frequented road to the ancient capital of Metz. Lorraine, is not considered the best approach; to judge favourably of it, one must descend from the neighbouring heights to the village of Rozerieulles, which is concealed in a narrow valley, and surrounded by orchards. and vineyards. The Moselle winds below the village, waters fruitful meadows, and divides itself into several branches which give perhaps a more imposing appear BOOK CXLVI. Antiqui ties. ance to the formidable fortifications of Metz. The court of justice, a white building, seen to most advantage from a distance, forms a quadrangular mass near the lofty trees on the glacis, the finest walk in the town. The blackness of the cathedral contrasts well with the general colour of the houses, it may be admired also on account of a light and bold steeple, not less than a hundred and forty-five feet above the ground, and surrounded with others of a smaller size. The heavy modern portal is not in harmony with the graceful Gothic architecture of the building; the nave exceeds 363 feet in length and 75 in breadth. When the Mutte or great bell is rung, all the steeples are perceptibly shaken. Ars-sur-Moselle is situated near the village of Longeville, at the place where the waters of the Moselle are confined. by a dike, and form a cascade; it contains two paper mills, a velvet and cloth manufactory. The name derived from the Latin word Arx, indicates the site of a Roman fortress. The remains of an aqueduct may be observed in the neighbourhood; pillars are seen in the vineyards and on the river, they extend along the right bank to the village of Jouy, and support the majestic arcades that the country people call the Devil's Bridge. The aqueduct, it is supposed, was the work of Drusus, it supplied the baths and naumachia of Divodurum, the city of the Mediomatrici, which in the time of the Roman empire was called Metis, and afterwards corrupted into Metz. An ancient bath of red porphyry, an admirable work of art, and much larger than any in the Louvre, is preserved in the cathedral, where it is used as a baptismal font.* Roman tombs have been discovered at different periods near the site of the former citadel, particularly at the time when the building was pulled down in order that the public walk might be enlarged and completed. Ruins attest the past splendour of Metz, but the ancient edifices have been destroyed by time and barbarians; it might be difficult to recognise the place from the pompous panegyric of Ausonius, which has been engraved below the peristyle of the townhouse. It is ten feet long, four broad, and three and a-half in depth. |