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Metz was the capital of Austrasia, a country of which Thierry was the first king. Lewis the Debonnaire died CXLVI. there in the year 840, and the body of that unfortunate. Metz in prince was deposited within the church of Saint Arnoult, the middle then in the suburbs, now in the town. It became a free ages. and imperial city during the reign of Otho the Second; it reached the height of its prosperity about the end of the fourteenth century. It maintained long wars against different sovereigns; it is not less certain that several princes solicited the honour of being enrolled among the number of its citizens. It was added to the dominions of Henry the Second by the intrigues and address of the constable Montmorency. The Duke of Guise compelled Charles the Fifth to retire from its walls, who attacked them with an army of more than a hundred thousand men. Although very populous in proportion to its size, it is much less so than when it was independent.*

stitutions.

The improvements made in the city, the number of broad Interior Instreets that have been built in modern times, the quarter of Saint Thiebaud, the large barracks, the military hospitals, the royal college, Saint Vincent's church, of which the portal is adorned with a triple range of columns, the new market, the theatre and five spacious squares render Metz worthy of being ranked among the best built towns in France. The public library consists of thirty-six thousand volumes; the places connected with education are a school of artillery and fortification, an academy of commerce and drawing, schools of arithmetic and geometry in its application to the arts, and lastly, an institution where lectures are delivered on natural philosophy and chemistry. Much certainly has been done for the intellectual improvement of the

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BOOK inhabitants since the time of Voltaire; but the philosopher condemned Metz, because when he happened to pass through it, he saw only one bookseller's shop, and read the signs of several confectioners and pastry-cooks. Among the charitable institutions are an orphan-hospital and a gratuitous school for the Jews. The citizens refused a passage to the allied forces when they left the French territory, and the troops had to cross the Moselle on a bridge which was built for the purpose below the ramparts. A foreign flag had never been seen within the walls in time of war, such a spectacle was thought disgraceful in time of

Depart

ment of Meuse.

Etain.

Verdun.

peace.

The country through which the Meuse flows from southeast to north-west, is intersected in the same direction by fruitful vallies and lofty ridges, where the air is cold but wholesome. The lands are well wooded, they yield plenty of grain, and the neighbourhood of Bar is famous for its wine; the inhabitants rear many horses, the number of other domestic animals might be increased with advantage.

Leaving the ancient province of Lorraine, we may cross the heights that rise above the right bank of the Meuse, and arrive at Etain, the first town in the department; it contains three thousand inhabitants; it is well built, but ill situated in a marshy plain on the banks of the Ornes, a river abounding with fish.

The ramparts of Verdun are seen at no great distance from Etain. Iron and glass-works, paper-mills and manufactories are situated in the neighbourhood: the town rises on both banks of the Meuse; the houses are well enough built, but the streets which descend rapidly towards the river, are paved with sharp stones, as inconvenient for foot passengers as for carriages. The horse barracks and the ancient episcopal palace are the finest buildings, indeed there are no others of any consequence in the place. Verdun is mentioned in the itinerary of Antonine under the name of Virodunum. A road along the banks of the Meuse leads to Stenay, a town of three thousand inhabitants, formerly a stronghold, it still possesses very large bar

racks. Montmedy, although ill-peopled and worse built, is more important as a fortified town and as the metropolis of a district. If the inhabitants are poor, it may be attributed to the want of commerce and industry.

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Bar, one of the three cities of the same name in France, Bar. and the chief town in the department, is watered by the Ornain. It was formerly called Bar-le-Duc, because it was the capital of a dutchy which made up the small country of Barrois. The town was founded in the tenth century by Frederick, duke of Mossellabe, the brother inlaw of Hugh Capet. It is supposed that on an average fifty thousand kilogrammes of cotton are annually manufactured at Bar; that branch of industry, the numerous iron works, the conveyance of the timber which is obtained from the neighbouring forests, and the transport of wines, account for the activity that prevails in the harbour. The Ornain waters Ligny, a small but neat town four leagues. above Bar.

Mimiel.

The other places that remain to be described in the department, are situated in the fruitful valley of the Meuse. Saint Mihiel, a town of five thousand inhabitants, was for- Saint merly fortified, but the danger to which Lewis the Thirteenth was exposed when he besieged it, induced him to raze the fortifications. It is pleasantly situated, the river passes below well wooded banks, cultivated fields' and hills covered with vineyards. A monument, that judges are likely to appreciate, may be seen within the modest cemetery of the parish church; it is a sepulchre made from a single block of granulated limestone, white as marble; thirteen figures indicate the band of a master from the simple way in which they are grouped, as well as by their finished workmanship; they are attributed to LegierMichier, a pupil of Michael Angelo. Commercy, a neat town on the same river, encompassed by a forest through which a road has been made, is situated at the distance of four leagues above Saint Mihiel. The Meuse leads also to Vaucouleurs, which derives its name from verdant meads

The kilogramme is equal to 2 lb. 5 oz. 3 dr. Avoirdupois.

BOOK CXLVI.

Depart ment of Vosges.

and vallies enamelled with wild flowers. The town contains two thousand souls, it is built in the form of an amphitheatre; a small canal supplied by the Meuse and the fountain of Vaise, serves to augment the trade of the inhabitants, which consists chiefly in leather and cotton stuffs. It was the birthplace of the Abbé L'Advocat, who published a geographical dictionary under the feigned name of Vosgien.

It is necessary to ascend the Meuse the distance of four leagues, to visit the village where the heroine of the Domremy. fifteenth century was born. Domremy-la-Pucelle rises in a valley embellished by the windings of the river. These verdant meadows, these hills covered with pastures were the places where the young Joan of Arc tended her flocks; her days were spent in solitude and in peace until she left her rural labours, and led the French to victory after they had been disheartened by defeat. The house in which she was born, stands near the church; it may be easily discovered by a Gothic door that supports three scutcheons and a statue, in which she is represented in full armour. In the year 1818, a Prussian count wished to purchase the statue from the proprietor of this ancient abode, on his refusal to part with it, he was offered six thousand franks for the house; but the Frenchman unwilling to sell it to a foreigner, gave it to the department for a third part of the sum. The house of Joan d'Arc has thus become national property, and the former owner was decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honour, as a reward for his patriotism. Lewis the Eighteenth granted the village twelve thousand franks to erect a monument to the memory of Joan, and eight thousand to found a school of mutual instruction, in which the young girls in Domremy and the neighbouring hamlets are gratuitously educated. The house, which had almost fallen into decay, was lately rebuilt, but the original plan has not been altered; a fine painting, the gift of the king, decorates the principal room. The market place is surrounded with poplar trees, and watered by a fountain, of which the quadrangular base supports four pilasters crowned with an entablature and a double pediment, beneath them is placed a

statue of the Maid, which was also the gift of royalty. The inscription on this monument, To the memory of Joan d'Arc, may recal the simple habits of the person it is intended to commemorate.*

The burgh of Grand, about three leagues on the west of Domremy, stands on the site of an ancient city, and at no great distance from it are the remains of a large amphitheatre; the inhabitants carry on a trade in hard-wares. The neat town of Neuf-Chateau, the capital of a subprefecture, is situated in the midst of high hills at the confluence of the Mouzon and the Meuse. Mirecourt, also a chief town, is watered by the Modon, it bore the name of Mercurii Curtis in the middle ages; it does not possess, however, any marks of antiquity. It is ill-built, but the neighbouring country is fruitful and well cultivated; the trade of the inhabitants consists chiefly in lace. Contrexeville, a small village encompassed by the waters of the Vair, which divides itself into two branches, is famed on account of a medicinal spring to which many persons afflicted with oppilations resort; more than four thousand bottles of the water are annually sent to Paris.

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ance and

Ramberviller or Rambervillers carries on a great trade in hops; the inhabitants are wealthy and industrious, their number amounts to more than five thousand; there is a public library in the town, consisting of more than ten thousand volumes. It is the last place of any consequence that can be mentioned in the lower part of Vosges. The lofty region is formed by a series of rounded summits Appearwith gentle declivities, very different in appearance from riches of the heights that extend on the side of Alsace. There the Vosges. are no old castles associated with different epochs of the middle ages, but scenery constantly varied, and landscapes not unlike those in Switzerland, although in a much smaller scale. The mountains abound in iron, copper and lead; these metals are a source of wealth to the inhabitants; and numerous works are set in motion by the streams which descend from almost all the heights.

See the work entitled: Forces productives et commerciales de la France by M. le Baron Charles Dupin, tome i, page 202.