BOOK are exported; the number of horses, oxen and sheep, reCXLVI. latively to the extent of surface, is much greater than in Guise. Saint Quentin. most other parts of the kingdom. The department is well provided with roads and navigable rivers, and it seems as if the knowledge and industry of the inhabitants were proportionate to their means of communication. The Oise is not larger than a rivulet at the burgh of Hirson, which carries on a trade in lace, cutlery, nails and iron bars. Nouvion-en-Tierarche contains three thousand individuals; glass forms the principal article of commerce, and the glass works are the most remarkable buildings in the place. The rich pastures in the district enable the inhabitants to supply different parts of France with excellent cheese. The small town of Guise, formerly a stronghold, was erected into a titular duchy by Francis the First in favour of Claude of Lorraine; it is at present peopled by three thousand five hundred inhabitants, and the lower orders are mostly employed in manufacturing cotton. Vervins, still less populous, rises like an amphitheatre on the banks of the Velpion; it is mentioned in history on account of the treaty concluded between Henry the Fourth and Philip the Second. Many villages, burghs and small towns are scattered in the district of Saint Quentin; the inhabitants manufacture fine linen, gauze and shawls of different sorts. All these branches of industry are united in Saint Quentin, the chief town, of which the population has doubled within the last forty years. It is well built, and a subterranean canal, almost two leagues in length, facilitates the conveyance of goods. The situation on the banks of the Somme, at some leagues from its source, corresponds with the position of Augusta-Veromanduorum on the Lanara, in ancient times, the chief city of the Veramandui. Sacked by barbarians in the sixth century, it was afterwards rebuilt; it then obtained the name which it now bears, probably because Saint Eloi pretended to have found the bones of Saint Quentin three hundred and sixty years after his martyrdom. The Oise, at no great distance below its confluence with BOOK CXLVI. La Fere. the Serre, waters an island; La Fere, a small fortified town, is situated near its southern extremity; it contains two thousand five hundred inhabitants, it has a school of artillery, and an arsenal. A subterranean passage, two hundred feet in length, supported by arcades sixty feet in height, is said to be the work of Goujon, it is certainly constructed with great elegance and skill. A detachment of the Prussian army appeared before La Fere on the 26th of February 1814, and as it was then only defended by four hundred men, they were compelled to surrender; the enemy took possession of whatever was in the arsenal and in the library. The Prussians having been informed that it was well supplied with provisions, attempted to take it a second time in 1815. The garrison was by no means strong, but the troops, the national guard and even the women displayed great bravery and determination; they suffered the severest privations during a blockade that lasted nearly five months, at last the enemy thought it prudent to retire. The Prussians asked permission to pass through the town, a condition which the citizens refused; the general then raised the blockade, and sent a letter to the authorities, congratulating them on the courage of the inhabitants and the garrison. The burgh of Saint Gobain in Saint Gothe same district, is known in France for its mirrors and bain. looking glasses, some of the former are ten feet in height by five in breadth; three millions of bottles are made every year in the neighbouring burgh of Folembray. Laon, about five leagues on the south-east of La Fere, Laon. crowns a detached hill in the middle of a large plain. It owes its origin to a Gallic fortress, which was called Laudunum in the fifth century; it was enlarged by Clovis, and it became a royal residence under the kings of the second race; indeed Lothaire and Lewis the Fifth were born in the town. The most remarkable buildings are the old cathedral, a Gothic edifice, that was finished in the year 1115, and the tower of Lewis d'Outre-Mer, which the Vandals of the revolution attempted in vain to destroy in the year 1794. The burgh of Notre-Dame de Liesse, about three leagues on the north-east of Laon, was built in the time of the crusades; it possessed formerly a miraculous image of CXLVI. BOOK the Virgin, which, according to the legends, was brought from Cairo in a single night by the daughter of an Egyptian sultan. Soissons. La Ferté- Soissons, the capital of a district, and the seat of a diocess, a clean and well built town, claims a very ancient origin; it was called Loviodunum before the munificence of Augustus induced the inhabitants to change the name into Augusta-Suessionum. It is situated in a fruitful valley watered by the Aisne; it had its kings before the conquest of Gaul, and even after the invasion of the Franks. It was in the neighbourhood that the feeble remains of Roman power were destroyed by Clovis. The present fortifications were erected by the duke of Mayenne, who made it his principal depot of arms and ammunition. The temporary works of defence that were raised in 1815, enabled it to offer a long resistance to the allied armies. The small town of La Ferté-Milon near the forest of Villers-Cotterets, is built like an amphitheatre on the declivity of a hill; it is watered by the Ourcq, encompassed. with walls, and commanded by the ruins of a strong castle. It claims the honour of having given birth to Racine; the bust of the poet decorates the public library, which contains seventeen thousand volumes, but his statue ought to be erected in the court of the town-house. As there are three churches, an hospital and different public institutions, it might be supposed that the town was a place of some importance, the population, however, does not exceed Chateau- two thousand three hundred individuals. Chateau-Thierry is situated on the Marne; a public walk extends on the right bank of the river, and the town is separated by a modern bridge from one of the suburbs. The new buildings contrast well with the ruins of the castle, from which the town derives its name. The old castle was built by Charles Martel in the year 720, as a residence for the young king Thierry the Fourth. It was inhabited by that prince, by the counts of Vermandois, by those of Champagne, by Henry the Second, the Duke of Alençon, who died in it, by Lewis the Thirteenth and the dukes of Bouillon; houses were gradually built round it, and in one of them still inhabited, the celebrated Lafontaine was born. Thierry. Depart Marne. sous The department of Seine and Marne is watered on the BOOK south by the first river, and on the north by the second. La Ferte-sous-Jouarie, a small town on the Marne, is situated in a fruitful valley; the cleanliness which pre- ment of vails, the elegance of the houses, and the activity of the Seine and harbour indicate an industrious city. The population La Ferteamounts to more than four thousand souls; there are Jouarie. two manufactories of carding combs, in which forty thousand kilogrammes of leather and iron are used every year; it exports a great quantity of mill-stones into different countries, and carries on a considerable trade in wood and charcoal for the supply of the capital. The neat burgh of Dammartin on the north of the Marne, rises on a detached hill, and commands a view which extends to a distance of more than fifteen leagues; a cattle fair of some consequence is held every year in the month of December. Juilly, a place of some celebrity on account of a college, is situated near the burgh of Chelles, where Chilperic was assassinated in 584; part of a rich abbey still remains, it was founded in the seventh century by Batilda, the wife of Clovis the second. Meaux on the banks of the Marne is the chief town in a Meaux. subprefecture, and the scat of a diocess. It is the ancient city of Jatinum, the capital of the Meldi; hence it was called Melda after the Roman conquest. It was a place of some importance under the kings of the first race; at a later period the inhabitants were among the first in France, who embraced the principles of the reformation, and no other town suffered more during the religious wars in the sixteenth century. The Marne divides it into two unequal parts, and the Ourcq canal flows below the remains of walls that were destroyed in the time of the League. The streets are regular, the houses are well built, and within the cathedral are deposited the ashes of the celebrated Bossuet. The town carries on a great trade with Paris in oats and corn; it sends besides into different parts of France, more than 3.200,000 kilogrammes of cheese, which still bears the same of the ancient province. The kilogramme is equal to 2 lbs. 3 oz. 5 dr. Avoirdupois. VOL. VIII. 55 BOOK CXLVI. Melun. bleau. Many places are supplied with quills from Brie-ComteRobert; the church is elegantly built, the Gothic arcades in the interior are remarkable for their lightness, and the tower rises to a considerable height; ruins covered with ivy indicate the site of an ancient castle, that belonged to the counts of Brie. Melun, the birthplace of James Amyot, is the ancient city of Melodunum; the Seine divides it into three parts, it stands at the base of a hill, and neat houses and clean streets add perhaps to the effect of a picturesque situation; the ruins of an old castle rise on the adjoining hill, it was inhabited by queen Blanche and several kings of France. Melun is the capital of the Fontaine- department, and a road leads to Fontainebleau, from which it is distant about four leagues; the latter town is regularly built and surrounded by a large forest. The neighbouring country is covered with the richest verdure, lofty oaks shade the walks and alleys, inequalities in the soil, and masses of sandstone vary the scenery. The plan of the royal castle was committed to Primatice by Francis the First, it was afterwards embellished by five kings. Henry the Third was born in the same edifice, and Pius the Seventh resided in it eighteen months; it was there that the crime which has been attributed to Christina of Sweden was committed, it was there that Napoleon abdicated. The town consisted originally of the houses which were grouped round a castle built by Lewis the Young in 1169. It has been affirmed that it was first called Fontaine-Belle-Eau, but the name of Fons Bliaudi which occurs in several deeds, serves to confirm the common opinion concerning the discovery of a spring. A dog named Bliaud, belonging to Lewis the Seventh, was missed in the chase, and after a long search the king found it quenching his thirst at a stream until then unknown; the place was afterwards chosen as the site of a hunting residence. Dancourt and Poinsinet are perhaps the most dis. tinguished literary men that the town has produced. Nemours. Nemours is situated at the extremity of the same forest below the old castle of Nemus; the groves, by which they were formerly surrounded, account for the names of the castle and the town. Nemours was erected into a titular |