its vast size and the beauty of its modern facade. The other noteworthy buildings are the Archbishop's Palace, and the Porte-deMars, a triple archway of Roman construction, forming one of the city gates. Rheims contains a University, a School of Design, a Picture Gallery, Botanic Garden, and a Public Library. It is one of the principal entrepôts for the wines of Champagne, and a chief centre of the woollen manufactures of France.

The trade in champagne wines is chiefly carried on in Rheims, Avise, Épernay, and Châlons-surMarne. The cellars in which the vintages are stored are cut out of the calcareous rock. The entire production of sparkling champagne wine is a little less than 13,000,000 bottles per annum, of which 3,000,000 bottles are exported to the United States. A railway connects Rheims with Namur in Belgium by way of MEZIERES-CHARLEVILLE, and GIVET, a frontier fortress of France. MEZIERES is a fortified town connected by a suspension bridge over the Meuse with Charleville (distance from Rheims 56 miles). From Mézieres-Charleville a railway extends to Thionville, a station on the railway between Luxembourg and Metz. Pursuing this route we pass, after leaving Mezieres, Donchery, just outside of which, at a weaver's cottage, took place, on Sept. 2d, 1870, the memorable interview between Napoleon III. and Bismarck. The next station of importance is SEDAN (64 miles from Rheims) (Hotels de l'Europe, Croix d'Or), a fortress of the third class, with a population chiefly engaged in the manufacture of woollen goods. Around this place occurred, on the last three days of August 1870, the desperate conflicts between the French army under MacMahon (150 000

strong), and the German armies under King William, the Crown Prince of Prussia, and the Crown Prince of Saxony (250,000 men), which were brought to a close on Sept. 1. The whole French army, with the exception of a small part which escaped into Belgium, surrendered as prisoners of war. The Emperor gave himself up as a prisoner to the king. It is said that on Sept. 1 the Emperor stood at Iges, near Sedan, exposed for four hours to the German fire. The interview between the King and the Emperor, on Sept. 2d, took place at the Chateau of Bellevue, near Frenois, about 2 miles from Sédan. The names of the stations beyond Sédan, BAZEILLES, Douzy (70 miles), Carignan (77 miles), MONTMEDY (95 miles), and Thionville (138 miles from Rheims), are familiar in connection with the military operations which preceded the battle of Sédan. During that battle Bazeilles was burnt by the Bavarians, and great outrages committed. Of the 2000 inhabitants scarcely fifty were left alive. THIONVILLE, population 8500, is a fortified town, before 1871 belonging to France. It is situated on the Moselle, about 15 miles from Metz. It was an occasional residence of Charlemagne and his successors. It successfully resisted the Austrians in 1792, and the Prussians in 1814. It was invested by the German army in August 1870, and having been bombarded and set on fire, surrendered on Nov. 24. Distance from Luxembourg 23 miles.]

The

Resuming our journey we next reach CHALONS-SUR-MARNE (107) miles) (Hotel de la Haute Mère Dieu). It carries on a considerable trade in champagne. church of Notre Dame is worth notice. M.Jaqueson's champagne cellars, near the station, are six miles long, and are excavated from the chalk rocks. In the

neighbourhood was the once important camp of the French Army. [From Chalons a railway leads, by St Menehould, to VERDUN, a strongly fortified town of 15,000 inhabitants. It surrendered to the German army November 8, 1870.] VITRY-LE-FRANÇAIS (128 miles) was built by Francis I. in the sixteenth century. We next pass BLESME (135 miles) and other unimportant stations, and arrive at BAR-LE-DUC (158 miles), the ancient seat of the Ducs de Bar. Charles Edward, the pretender, lived here for some time. At COMMERCY (183 miles), on the Meuse, we see the barracks, formerly a chateau, in which Stanislaus, King of Poland, resided. We presently cross the Meuse, and reach TOUL (199 miles), the spires of whose cathedral are visible from a great distance. In the Church of St Etienne preserved "a nail of the true cross," used by the Emperor Constantine as a bridle bit. This strongly fortified town was invested by the German army on August 14, 1870, and was surrendered on September 23 while burning in twenty-three places. Passing FROUARD (214 miles) (where a line branches off to Metz), we arrive at NANCY (220 miles), (Hotel de France). This is considered one of the handsomest towns in France. It is situated on the left bank of the Meurthe, and is divided into the old and new town. In the former we may observe the remains of the old palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, part of which is devoted to a collection of antiquities; the ancient Citadel; the Church of the Cordeliers, which contains some finely sculptured tombs, with the Ducal Chapel adjoining it; the latter was the mortuary chapel of the Dukes of Lorraine; the Arch of Triumph, at the extremity of the Cours d'Orléans; the

Palais de Justice, in the Place de la Carrière, which is separated from the Place Royale by another magnificent triumphal arch, &c. The new town contains the Hotel de Ville, the Episcopal Palace, the statue of Stanislaus, King of Poland and Duke of Lorraine, to whom the erection of the greater part of the new town is due, and two fine fountains, several churches, &c. At the extremity of the Faubourg St Pierre is the church of Notre Dame de Bon Secours, on the site of an older church built by René, Duc de Lorraine, to commemorate his victory over Charles the Bold, in 1477. In this church are the tombs of Stanislaus and his Queen. [From Nancy a line branches off to Epinal (74 miles) and Remiremont (80 miles from Nancy). Eight miles from this place is PLOMBIERES, a watering-place much frequented for its warm saline baths.] LUNEVILLE (240 miles) (Hotel: du Faisan), the place where, after the battle of Marengo, the Treaty of Peace was signed, in 1801, between France and Austria, by which the Rhine became the frontier of France. The palace was the birthplace of Francis, Duke of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa, and progenitor of the Imperial House of Austria. AVRICOURT (255 miles) is THE FIRST GERMAN STATION. SARREBURG (268 miles) (Hotel : Sauvage), is a fortified town on the left bank of the Sarre. The inhabitants of the Upper Town speak French, those of the Lower Town, German. We now proceed through the Vosges Mountains by several tunnels, and pass under the canal connecting the Marne with the Rhine, which takes the same route. We then cross the beautiful valley of the Zorn. Passing through a tunnel beneath the Castle of Lutzelburg, we reach SAVERNE (285 miles)

(Hotel: Bauf Noir). The castles of Haut-Barr and Gerold Seck stand on the hills in the neighbourhood. The plain of Alsace, along which our route extends, is one of the richest agricultural districts in Europe.

STRASBURG.

(312 miles.)

(Hotels: see "HOTEL LIST"). This is a fortified city, and was the capital of the Department of the Bas Rhin. It is situated at the confluence of the Ill and the Brusche, and near the left bank of the Rhine. Strasburg was a city of the German Empire, before it was taken by the French in 1681, and the language and customs of a large proportion of the inhabitants are still German. The streets are, in general, irregular, and the houses oldfashioned and curious. There are several squares and extensive promenades.

The most celebrated building is the CATHEDRAL, one of the finest in Europe, founded in 504, and one of the best existing specimens of Gothic architecture. It is rich in sculpture, statues, and bas-reliefs.

The spire rises 474 feet above the pavement; it is 68 ft. higher than St Paul's, and is 24 ft. above the great pyramid of Egypt. Still, owing to the large dimensions of the entire building, and the light and graceful structure of the spire, it does not impress the observer as being of this extraordinary height. The nave of the church is 230 ft. high, and the round window at the end is 48 ft. in diameter. This wonderful structure was begun nearly 800 years ago. It has suffered very little from time, and the chiselled and carved material, after so many

centuries of exposure to the weather, retains the sharpness of outline which it had when first finished. It was intended to have two towers, like the Cathedrals at York and Westminster Abbey; but, as the expense is enormous, it is probable that the existing tower will remain alone. This deficiency gives the Cathedral a disfigured appearance, especially as the unfinished tower, which is square, rises but half way.

Externally, the Cathedral is distinguished by a light and airy gracefulness of structure and material; the sandstone is cut and carved into many varied forms, some of them extremely delicate and beautiful. The number of images that cluster around the portal, and adhere to its wall, is very great.

The magnificent rows of columns are very striking. The windows, on both sides, are filled with stained glass, commemorating the events of the Bible, and the characters and events in the lives of saints and martyrs.

A

There is in this Cathedral a wonderful astronomical clock, which has been substituted for an older one that has been removed. The present clock is about 50 feet high, and more than half that width. Among its many performances are the following:-It indicates the hours, half, and quarter hours, and the bells are struck by automaton figures. youth strikes the quarter, a man the half hour, and an old man, as the figure of Time, the full hour. This clock tells also the times and seasons of ecclesiastical events, as far as they are associated with astronomical phenomena, the phases of the moon, and the equation of time. At noon, a cock, mounted on a pillar, crows thrice, when a procession of apostles comes out and passes in view of the Saviour. There is