Chapel belonged to the Knights of St. John. Close to it is the Protestant Temple. A Library of 26,000 volumes is at the Hôtel de l'Université; with a cabinet of natural history and of côins in the Rue de la Monnaie. There are also a college, a priests' seminary, large hospitals, a deaf and dumb asylum (at Coeur en Côte, where the heart of Louis XV.'s queen was handed over to the Lorraine clergy), new barracks, a society of arts and sciences and botanic gardens (both founded by Stanislaus), and an exchange.

Near the Citadel are the old pinnacled Tours de la Craffe (or Notre Dame), built 1430. At Bondonville, in the suburbs, is a cross to which pilgrimages are made; here, too, is the best vineyard about Nancy (Côte des Chanoines). Nancy is the chief head-quarters of several female religious societies, as the Sisters of Christian Doctrine, Sisters of St. Charles, and Sisters of Providence.

Some of its natives are Marshal Bassompière, General Drouot, Maimbourg, the historian; Hoffman, the critic; Isabey and Grandville, the painters, &c. Drouot accompanied Napoléon to Elba; his statue (by David d'Angers) is in Cours Léopold. A statue of Dombasle, in Place Dombasle, by the same, was erected 1851. Another native was Callot, the engraver, whose old House is in Rue Callot. Manufactures of cotton cloth, woollen serges, muslins, and embroidery, are carried on here.

It was occupied by the Germans 1870-1, and was the head-quarters of their army of occupation, after the removal from Compiègne.

Branch Rails are open (1) to Ludres (near a Roman camp), Pont St. Vincent, Ceintrey, and Vézelise, 22 miles long; and (2) to Eulmont, Brin, Burthécourt, (branch to Vic Saltworks) and Château-Salins (as below.

[Château-Salins, a sous-préfecture of 2,300 souls, on the Seille, so called after a Castle, built 1342, by Isabella of Austria, near the salines or salt-works. Great quantities of salt are got at Vic, Moyen-Vic, and Dieuze. Hotels.-Du Cygne; De la Couronne d'Or.

The line to Epinal turns off at Varangeville (see Route 59).

From Nancy, on the rail to Strasbourg, you pass up the Meurthe, to

Varangeville - St. Nicholas-du-Port (7 miles), two places on opposite sides of the riverthe latter having a fine Gothic Church, built 14911544, with light pillars 92 feet high, and towers to match. Many pilgrims visit it on the Monday of Pentecost. Joly, a painter of the last century, was born here. Population of both places, 4,120.

Rosières-aux-Salines (34 miles), before which you leave on the left, Dombasle (2 kil.), where a branch of the Moselle falls into that stream, passing a ruined Chateau on the top of the hill. Population, 2,360. The old salt-works are now a breeding stud. Blainville-la-Grande (34 miles), on the Moselle; sometimes called Blainville-sur-Eau, from a rapid which turns a few mills. Here the Branch Rail to Epinal turns off (see Route. 59).

Lunéville (53 miles); Buffet; a sous-préfecture in department Meurthe, with 12,370 inhabitants, in a fertile spot on the Meurthe, where the Vesouze joins, was at first a hunting-seat, and was taken by Marshal Longueville, 1638, when the fortifications were pulled down. At the old Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, the Emperor Francis I. was born; it is now a cavalry depôt. There are also a large ridinghouse and stores, halle au blé, Champ de Mars, fountain in Place Neuve ; Church, built 1750, with two towers, in which is the tomb of Voltaire's friend, Madame Châtelet; and a new church, opened 1854.

Girardet, the painter, Chevalier Bouffleurs, and General Haxo, were born here. The Treaty of Lunéville, between France and Austria, was signed in Rue d'Allemagne, 1801. Trade in pottery, gloves, embroidery, wine, and beer.

Hotels.-Des Vosges; Du Faisan (Pheasant). Coach to Rambervillers, up the Mortagne (already described). Rail to St. Dié, &c., 38 miles.

[It passes up the Meurthe, to Baccaret (21 miles), under a rocky height, having a crystal factory; Raon l'Etape (5 miles), in the Vosges mountains, with a castle and monastery, and a good timber trade; to St. Dié (10 miles), as in Route 60.]

Emberménil (10 miles), was the cure of Abbé Gregoire, who figured in the States General of 1789.

Avricourt (5 miles), 255 miles from Paris, on the new German frontier. This, with Raon l' Etape, on the Donon hills, was given back to France, by the convention of 12th October, 1871. For the rest of the line to Strassburg, Colmar, and Mühlhausen, see BRADSHAW'S Hand-Book to the Rhine.

Hereabouts, short rails turn off to Dieuze (north) and Cirey (south). The rail to Cirey passes Foulcrey (23 miles), Blamont (34 miles), to Cirey (5 miles; passing over the new German boundary.

ROUTE 55.

Epernay to Reims, Mézières, and Belgium.

Distance by rail, 73 miles. Four trains daily, mail, 4 hours. This is one of the Ardennes Company's Lines.

Epernay Station, on the Paris and Strasbourg line, as in Route 54. Leaving this, the line crosses the Marne, on a four-arched bridge, and is still further continued on two other bridges or archways (to save it from the inundations of the river), and on two skew bridges over the Canal, to

Ai, or Ay (2 miles), where the best Mousseux wines are grown. Population, 4,180. Marcuil is the seat of the Marquis de Montebello. At

Avenay (2 miles), is the church of an ancient abbey, founded in the 7th century. The line, after winding among forests and hills, passes a long Tunnel of nearly 2 miles, to

Rilly-la-Montagne (7 miles), and its old church, at the foot of a hill. Then 7 miles further, is

REIMS, or Rheims,

107 miles from Paris,

Where the junction from Tergnier and Laon falls in (see Route 6). Buffet.

HOTELS.-Du Lion d'Or, very good hotel, recommended to English travellers. Mr. Disant, proprietor.

Hotel du Commerce; De la Maison Rouge; Du Palais.

American Consul here.

OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Cathedral-Old Walls -Church of St. Remé-Hotel de Ville-Port de Mars-Maison Rouge,

Reims, though a sous-préfecture only (in department Marne), has a population of 81,830, is the seat of an archbishop, and a very old city, having been the chief town of Champagne.

It stands on the Vesle, at the bottom of gently sloping chalk-hills, covered with vineyards, though the neighbourhood is dull. It was the capital or the Remi, in Belgic Gaul, and called Durocortorum by the Romans, whose consul here, Jovinus, became a Christian, 366. Clovis and his Franks were baptised here, 496. It was taken by Charles Martel, 719, and by Hugh Capet's rival, Charles of Lorraine, 900; besieged by Edward III. of England, 1359, and captured, 1421, by the English, who were, at length, driven out by the Maid of Orléans in Charles the VII's time. He was crowned here, as were all the French sovereigns from Philippe Auguste down to Charles X. except Henry IV. and Louis XVIII. The ampulla, or vessel of consecrated oil, used at the coronations, was destroyed at the great Revolution.

It was taken by the Allies, 1814. In 1870, the King of Prussia entered the city with his forces, 5th September, on his march to Paris; and, after the peace, 1871, it became for a time the headquarters of the German army of occupation.

Parts of the Gothic walls, with their turrets, still remain; the streets are wide, and most of the houses one storey high, but it has a dull look, with grass growing in the streets. Of fourteen open Places, the largest is Place Royale, built 1756, which has Cartellier's bronze copy of Pigalle's statue of Louis XV. (who greatly improved this old city), with the statues of Commerce and France, and the ancient Hôtel des Fermes. Place Godînot takes its name from a canon who built a château d'eau for supplying water, now replaced by a new reservoir (by Cordier, 1843), in Place de la Tourdu-Puits. An old fountain, by Coustou, the sculptor, stands in Place St. Nicaise. Place Drouet-d'Erlon has a bronze statue of Marshal d'Erlon. A statue of Colbert stands opposite the Railway Station. One Gate leads out to Grand Cours, a well-planted walk by the river, as far as Porte de Laon. Close to the latter (built in the wall), is the Porte de Mars, a genuine Roman relic. It was a triumphal Arch, built by Agrippa, in honour of Cæsar Augustus, with three openings in it, and eight Corinthian columns, all much worn.

An Amphitheatre may be traced at the Mont d'Arènes, near it. But its finest ornament is the noble Gothic

Cathedral, covered with a multitude of figures and ornaments, and built, for the most part, 1212-42, by Robert de Coucy, on the site of one founded as early as 360-400. The transept (164 feet long) was rebuilt after a fire, in 1491. Length, 467 feet; breadth, 98 feet; height, 118 feet. The richly beautiful Front has a triple portal (the middle one being 39 feet wide), a large stained rose window, bas-reliefs of the Passion, the Judgment, Crowning of the Virgin, David and Goliath, Baptism of Clovis, and from 530 to 550 Statues of various sizes, in rows, besides a row of 35 niched prelates near the top; above which rise the two Towers, made of open pillars and windows, and ending in a heap of little turrets, instead of the spires which they were designed to carry. One tower (the south), a little shorter than the others, was not finished till 1480, and has the bells of a clock as old as 1570, with moving figures, &c. Going in, you see about 90 niched statues inside the doors; the Windows are richly stained with figures of apostles, kings, &c. In the nave (which had a painted ceiling of lilies, on a blue ground, when Charles X. was crowned,) is the very curious marble tomb of Jovinus, the Roman consul, carved over with a lion hunt, and brought from St. Nicaise's church, "An. VIII. de la Republique," or 1800. Nine Chapels surround the choir, which has a rich altar, the canopy of St. Nicaise's church, a large organ, 64 feet high, and Poussin's painting of the Israelites gathering Manna, with others by Titian and Tintoretto.

The Church of St. Remi, or Remigius, was built 1041-60, as part of Archbishop Turpin's Benedictine abbey, being older than the cathedral, and the place where the early kings were consecrated. It is a mixture of the Norman and pointed Gothic styles, and is 361 feet long, with a plain front, having five portals and a rose window, between two slender towers with slated spires. It contains a modern copy of the tomb of St. Remi, ornamented by marble life-size statues of the twelve Premier Peers of France (the Count of Champagne and the archbishop are two), saved from an older tomb. The pavement is done with mosaic figures from the Bible; and ten pieces of Tapestry (the life of St. Remi) line the walls. Several kings and bishops

were buried in this church, which has lately been restored. Here the procession of the Herring used to take place on Holy Wednesday. Each canon trailed a herring after him, and it was his business to tread on the one belonging to the man before him, while he did his best to prevent his own being trodden on by the next following.

The Churches of St. Andrew and St. Thomas are both modern Gothic.

The Hôtel de Ville (which a new street joins to Place Hotel de Ville), begun 1627, and enlarged 1825, consists of a centre and wings (one new), 200 feet long, ornamented with 68 pilasters, and bas-reliefs (at the middle) of Louis XIII. Here are placed the cartulaire, or collection of Archives; the bibliothèque or Library of 60,000 volumes, besides 1,500 MSS. and autographs; and a Museum of pictures. At the archbishop's Palace is a collection of portraits of kings and prelates. A new Doric Palais de Justice was built, 1845; the Hôtel Dieu has a fine chapel; a new covered market, 1840; Reims, a college, priests' seminary, Theatre, public baths, botanic garden, and general hospital.

A few old buildings are left, as the Hôtel des Comtes de Champagne, in Rue du Tambour; Hôtel de Joyeuse, near the Hôtel de Ville; Hôtel de Chevreuse, in Rue des Gueux; Maison des Musicians; and the Maison Rouge Inn (near the cathedral), on which you read, "In the year 1429, at the coronation of Charles VII., in this inn, then called the Zebra, the father and mother of Jeanne d'Arc were lodged at the cost of the city authorities." At the English College for priests here, the Rheims Version of the New Testament was published, 1582. In the old house of Long Vétre, in Rue de Cères, Colbert, the statesman, was born 1619, the son of a wine merchant. When he wanted, afterwards, to make one of his sons Grand Bailly of the Order of Malta, for which four descents of nobility were required, he proceeded in this way. He fabricated an epitaph for a pretended ancestor, Richard Colbertby, a Scotchman. To get this placed in the Cordeliers' church, where several of his family lay buried, he bribed the guardian with the promise of a bishopric (which he never got); and here the epitaph was to be seen till the Revolution. In Rue du Marc, Pluche, who wrote the Spectacle de la Nature, was born. Gobelins, who gives name to the tapestry, and Marshal Drouet d'Erlon, were

also natives. Trade in Champagne wines, corn, and woollens, which are spun here. It is the "original seat" of pain d'épice, or gingerbread.

The trade in Champagne at Reims reaches 30 million francs yearly; and 600,000 bottles are usually stored away in the chalk cellars of MM. Moet, Cliquot, and other proprietors. It sells from 2 to 4 francs a bottle on the spot, according to quality; but the inferior sorts drunk here is as low as 1d. a bottle; the local consumption being reckoned at 84 bottles a head. Of the four million bottles of sparkling Champagne exported from the whole department, upwards of half-a-million finds its way to England, and three-quarters-of-amillion of the rest to France; brandy and sugarcandy being added to suit the English and Russian markets. Flowers are greatly cultivated by amateurs and others, among whom may be mentioned M. Souillé, for roses; M. Joltras, for dahlias; M. Rénart, for tulips.

Sillery is on the road to Chalons. The rail hence to Laon, &c. (see Route 6), was, as well as that which we follow, constructed by the Ardennes Company.

Vitry-les-Reims (54 miles).

Bazancourt (5 miles); at the Branch Rail of 10 miles, to Isles-sur-Suippes and Bétheniville.

La Châtelet (7 miles).

Cross the Aisne, and the Canal des Ardennes, to Rethel (7 miles), a sous-préfecture of 7,100 souls, in department Ardennes, on a hill, by the Aisne, was an old Roman Castrum rectectum, and the head of a Duchy, once held by the Duc de Meilleraye, who married Cardinal Mazarin's niece. It was besieged, 1660, by the Spaniards, who defeated Turenne close by, then fighting for the Fronde. Condé took it four years after, but gave it up to Turenne, who was now on the court side, after changing his religion. An old tower remains. Linens and nails are made.

Hotels.-Du Commerce; De France.

Coaches to Château-Porcien, Signy l'Abbaye, Novion, &c.

[At 8 kil. west-north-west, is CHATEAU-PORCIEN, down the Aisne, under an old Castle on a rock, which belonged to the Counts of Champagne.]

Amagne (5 miles), where the Branch Rail (16 miles), to Attigny and Vouziers turns off. [Attigny (7 miles), on the Aisne, has traces of a palace of the early kings from Clovis, who built it 647. A council was held here 765; and here Witikind, the Saxon, was baptised, 786. Charles the Simple built St. Walburg's church here. It was afterwards a countryseat of the Reims archbishops, but suffered so much from the English and the Frondeurs, that it is now a village of only 1,800 souls. Vouziers (10 miles), further up the Aisne, a a small sous-préfecture of 3,060 population, near which the Prince de Ligne was killed, 1792. It was about here that, in the Revolutionary war, a sudden panic took possession of the French under Doumouriez, when, 10,000, fled 40 leagues before 1,200 Prussian hussars, Hotel.-Des Voyageurs. The Line is continued to Apremont towards Ste. Ménehould. BUZANCY (22 kil. east-north-east of this) has near it the Château de la Cour, which belonged to the Reims prelates, and a building like a mosque, called Mahomet, and built, they say, by a crusader. At 21 kil. further is Stenay (see Route 5).]

Launois (15 miles), on the Vence.

[At 10 kil. west-north-west is SIGNY L'ABBAYE, so called from remains of a Benedictine Abbey, founded 1134, by St. Bernard, and endowed by a seigneur of Châtillon, to whom the saint gave a written contract, kindly promising him as many acres in heaven as he had made a donation of on earth. The original document was to be seen here till the last century.] Pass Poix-Terron (5 miles), &c., and 10 miles further is

MEZIERES (162 miles from Paris). HOTELS.-Du Palais Royal; Du Cheval Blanc. Population, 4,310.

This small, dull, capital of department Ardennes, is a military post of the second class, opposite Charleville, close to the Belgian frontier, on a bend of the Meuse, in a pleasant hilly spot, surrounded by Vauban's Lines and a citadel. It is as old as 847, when a castle was built here, which the Counts of Rethel took possession of. Among

the few buildings worth notice are, the old Gothic Church, built 1412-1506, which has a good portal, a high vault, painted glass, and an inscription, "feliciter," put up when Charles IX. married his wife here, 1570. At the Hôtel de Ville, built 1732, is the flag of the Chevalier Bayard, "sans peur et sans reproche," who with 2,000 men defended the town against a force of 40,000 Austrians, in 1521, when bombshells were used for the first time; this

flag is carried in procession every 27th September. It also stood a seven weeks' Siege in 1815, after Waterloo. Both it and Charleville were evacuated by the Germans, 22nd July, 1873, exactly three years after the blowing up of the bridge of Kiel; thus ending the occupatiou of France. The Hôtel Dieu was built 1746. About 4,000 volumes are in the public Library.

Leather, serge, &c., are made. Rail to Hirson (35 miles), Sedan, Givet, Verdun, Metz, &c.

From Mézières, on the rail to Namur, you pass Charleville, only of a mile, by a viaduct, near the suspension bridge, on the Meuse. It was built by, and called after, Charles, Duke of Nevers and Mantua, 1606; and has a modern Church; Hôtel de Ville; Hôtel Dieu; a new College and Seminary, with a chapel; Theatre; and Bibliothèque of 24,000 volumes, with a Museum of natural history. Palace Ducale has a fountain, A castle stood on Mont Olympe. Population, 12,680, who make nails, firearms, iron goods. Hotels.-Du Commerce; De l'Europe.

Rail, down the Meuse, to Charleroi and Brussels, to Sedan, &c. Two bridges cross the Meuse. From Sedan it is continued to Thionville or Diedenhofen (Route 58), and from Charleville to Givet; thus completing the north-east frontier line.

Pass Nouzon (4 miles), &c., to Deville (8 miles), to the west of which is

ROCROY, or Rocroi, a fortress of the fourth class, with a frontier custom-house or douane, on a plain, 1,190 feet above the sea, where the great Condé, when Duke of Enghien, and only twenty-two years old, gained his famous victory over the Spaniards, 19th May, 1643. The town stands among the forests of Ardennes, and was founded by Francis I. Population, 3,600. Hotel.-De France. Coach to Couvin. It is about 85 kil. to Landrecies, (Route 6).

Fumay (12 miles on the Meuse, is noted for its ardoisères, or Slate works, in the hills here, through which the river has made a deep cutting. An old Castle stands over it. Merinoes, flannels, steam engines, and glass, are made. Population, 3,400. It was the centre of a little neutral spot, when joined to France, 1770.

Givet (15 miles), a fortified town on the Meuse, close to the Belgian frontier, in a hilly and rather picturesque spot, is composed of Petit Givet, at the end of the stone bridge, and Grand Givet, with Charlemont fort at the other end, the latter being on a high rock. It was used as a depôt for English prisoners in the war, when the Rev. R. Wolfe voluntarily laboured among twelve hundred of them, preaching the gospel, forming schools, &c., as related in his work, "English Prisoners in France." It has the churches of St. Hilaire and Notre Dame, a library of 5,000 volumes, and chamber of manufactures. Population, 5,105. Méhul, the composer, was a native (bust at Hôtel de Ville).

Pottery, pipes, and iron goods are made. In the neighbourhood is the old Château of Mont d'Hano (near Vireux Wallerand); and up the river, the high slate cliffs, called the Dames de la Main. Boats ascend it to Mézières.

Blesme to Chaumont.

Distance by rail, 55 miles, or 90 kil. Four trains a day.

Blesme, as on the Strasbourg line (Route 54). Then over a wide plain to

St. Dizier (7 miles), a sous-préfecture, in Haute-Marne (population, 12,230) on the Marne, among woods. It was besieged by Charles V., in 1544, and mostly burnt by accident, 1775. It has part of an old Castle, near the Gothic Church, and a modern Hôtel de Ville.