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. Gobelin, who gives name to the tapestry, and Marshal Drouet d'Erlon (to whom there is a statue), were also natives. Trade in Champagne wines, corn, &c., and woollens, which are spun here. It is the "original seat" of pain d'épice, or gingerbread. The trade in Champagne at Rheims reaches 30 million francs yearly; and 600,000 bottles are usually stored away in the chalk cellars of Madame Cliquot and other proprietors. It sells from 2 to 4 fr. a bottle on the spot, according to quality; but the inferior sorts drunk here is as low as 14d. 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 threequarters-of-a-million to the rest of France, Flowers are greatly cultivated at Rheims, by amateurs and others, among whom may be mentioned M. Souillé, for roses; M. Joitras, 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 (5 miles) is near Isle, on the Snippe. Bazancourt (5 miles). La Chatelet (7 miles). [At 8 kil. west-north-west, is CHÂTEAU-PORCIEN, down the Aisne, under an old castle on a rock, which belonged to the Counts of Champagne, &c.-At 16 miles east-south-east, up the Aisne, is ATTIGNY, which 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 baptized, 786. Charles the Simple built St. Walburg's church here. It was aftewards a country-seat of the Rheims archbishops, but suffered so much from the English and the Frondeurs, &c., that it is now a small village of only 1,600 souls. VOUZIERS (12 kil. south-east of this), up the Aisne, a small but thriving sous-préfecture of 2,800 pop., 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, to the number of 10,000, they fled 40 leagues before 1,200 Prussian hussars, and for a moment threw all France into alarm. BUZANCY (22 kil. east-north-cast of this) has near it the Château de la Cour, which belonged to the Rheims 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.] At 14 miles further is MEZIERES, 162 miles, from Paris. HOTELS.-Du Palais Royal; Des Postes. Population, 4,900. This small, dull, capital of department Ardennes, is a military post of the second class, 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, Cross the Aisnes, and the Canal des Ardennes, to Rethel (7) miles), a sous-préfecture of 7,900 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; du Lion d'Or painted glass, and an inscription, "feliciter," put up Golden Lion). when Charles IX. married his wife here, 1570. At Coaches to Château-Porcien, Attigny, Signy l'Ab- the Hôtel de Ville, built 1732. is the flag of the baye, Novion, &c. 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. The Hôtel Dieu was built 1746. About 4,000 vols, are in the public library. Leather, serge, &c., are made. Conveyances to Sedan, Givet, Verdun, Metz, &c. From Sedan (see Route 58), it is about 7 miles to Bouillon, in Belgium. From Mézières, on the road to Namur, you pass CHARLEVILLE, by a short road, only mile long, leading over a suspension bridge on the Meuse. It was built by, and called after, Charles, Duke of Nevers and Mantua, 1606, and has a pretty walk at Petit Bois, a college or school, hospital, theatre, and bibliothèque of 24,000 vols., with a museum of natural history. A castle stood on Mont Olympe between 1639 and 1689. Pop. 9,400, who make nails, fire-arms, iron goods, and a trade in slate, coal, marble, grain, &c. Coach to Couvin, on the Sambre and Meuse line, for Charleroi and Brussels. The rail between Charleville and Sedan was opened in December, 1838. Two bridges cross the Meuse. From Sedan it is to be continued to Thionville (Route 58), and from Charleville to Givet; thus completing the north-east frontier line. RIMOQUE (15 kil.) ROCROY (11 kil.), 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, &c., 19th May, 1643. The town stands among the forests of Ardennes, and was founded by Francis I. Pop. 3,600. Coach to Couvin, as above. Hilaire and Nôtre Dame, a library of 5,000 vols., and chamber of manufactures. Pop. 5,900. 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 Boats slate cliffs, called the Dames de la Main. ascend it to Mézières. Hotel.-Du Mont d'Or. Coach to Vireux, on the Sambre and Meuse line. Further down the river are Dinant, and Namur (in BELGIUM), from which the rail can be taken to Waterloo and Brussels. A rail is making to unite Dinant and Namur. The dark slaty cliffs of the river are high and imposing. ROUTE 56. 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 Hauté Marne (pop. 7,200) on the Marne, among wood. 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. Hotels.-Du Soleil d'Or (Golden Sun); L'Arbre d'Or (Golden Tree). Wood is cut and iron forged here. One of the forges, Marnaval, owes its origin, says tradition, to the following story. Henry IV. having visited St. Dizier, the échevin or sheriff, Beaudesson, came to pay his respects. He was so like the From Rocroi, it is about 85 kil. to Landrecies, king, that the guard presented arms and sounded described in Route 6. FUMAY (16 kil.), on the Meuse, is noted for its ardoisères or slate works, in the mountains here, through which the river has made a deep cutting. An old castle stands upon it. Merinoes, flannels, steam engines, glass, &c. are made. Pop. 3,400. It was the centre of a little neutral spot, when joined to France, 1770. GIVET (22 kil.), 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. trumpets, to the astonishment of Henry, who, Eurville (6 miles), on the Marne, the nearest Roman arches of the aqueduct, which went to Metz; stat. for Vassy. one arch across the road is 60 feet high. Ars (3 miles), or Arches-sur-Moselle, from the further is remains of the same aqueduct visible here. At 5 miles METZ, 24 miles from Nancy, 228 from Paris. HOTELS.-Hotel de l'Europe, a first-rate hotel for families and gentlemen. Table d'hôte, 4 fr. Grand Hotel de Metz, an excellent hotel, combining every kind of comfort with reasonable prices-recom Chevillon (6 miles), further up the Marne. Joinville (6 miles), an old place in a pleasant spot on the Marne, among vineyards and iron forges, under a hill, on which stood (till the Duke of Orleans pulled it down, 1790) the old Castle of the Sires de Joinville and and the Ducs de Guise, where the famous Catholic League was entered into, 1585. The Prince de Joinville takes his title hence. One of its lords was the Sieur de Joinville, who wrote the "Histoire de St. Louis IX. du nom," a work which affords a charming picture of the French knight of that age and his excellent and pious sovereign. Vignory (6 miles). Bologne (5 miles), and its tunnel, of feet. of a military division, seat of a bishopric, &c., in a And 9 miles further is mended. The buffet at the Station, which is half a mile from the town, is good. Omnibuses and other vehicles convey passengers to the hotels, Pop. 57,713. Chief town of department Moselle (in Lorraine), a first-class fortress, head-quarters flattish spot on a bend of the Molesse, where the Seille Chaumount, on the Paris, Troyes, and Mul- joins it at the old three-arch bridge of Pont des Bas house line. See Route 62. ROUTE 57. Nancy to Metz, Forbach, and Mannheim. By branch rail (from Frouard) 113 kil., or 782 miles to Forbach; four trains a day, in 3 to 4 hours. Nancy, as in Route 54, on the Strasbourg line, 220 miles from Paris. Grilles. It was the capital of the Mediomatrici in Roman times (whence comes the present name), and of Austrasie under Clovis. Afterwards it was held sometimes by the French and sometimes by the German Emperors, but was finally annexed to France in spite of a long siege by Charles V., in 1522. At present it is a most important frontier post, strongly fortified with works by Vauban and Cormontaigne, including the Double Couronne and Belle Croix Forts, Frouard (6 miles), towards Paris. The Moselle built 1728-31. These works are so extensive that it is is navigable from here. Marbache (4 miles). Pop. 7,000. Dieulouard (32 miles), an ancient village on a rock, by the Moselle, on the site of Scarpone, or Sarpane, which the Huns destroyed (906). It has a Gothic church of the 15th cent., and a ruined château. Coins and remains of a Roman way have been found at Scarpone. Through a pretty valley, to Pont-a-Mousson (4 miles), a town of 7,840 souls, at the brick bridge (pont) on the Moselle, under Mousson hill, which is crowned by a ruined castle of the 12th cent. Here are a Gothic church of the 13th cent., with two good six-sided towers on square bases; large cavalry barracks; part of St. Marie's old abbey; and an arcaded place (square), in which stands a house carved over with the Sept Péchés Capitaux (seven capital sins), in the quaint coarse style of the middle ages. Marshal Duroc was a native. Charles III., Duke of Lorraine, founded an university here. Pagny-sur-Moselle (53 miles) is under the fine ruins of Prény, or Prigny Castle, built in the 10th cent., a celebrated fortress from which the Dukes of Lorraine took their war cry of "Prigny! Prigny!" The river improves in beauty, to the suspension bridge, at Noveant (32 miles), between which and the next station are seen (at Jouey), near the river, 20 or 21 fine calculated it would take 120,000 men to lay siege to the town, with any expectation of capturing it. One of its nine gates, that called Porte St. Thiébaut, leads on the Esplanade, near the citadel, which is laid out with walks and trees, and commands a fine prospect of the river and country, with its vineyards and woodland. Several quays line the rivers, which are crossed by as many as seventeen bridges-as the Pont des Morts, &c.; some being very short, and old-fashioned, with water-mills upon them. The Places Napoléon, de la Comédie and Moselle, are the best squares. In Place Ste. Croix is the old Church of the Trinity, now the Protestant Temple. Most of the streets are narrow and dirty; the houses are chiefly of stone, two or three stories high, and some curiosly carved, especially in Place St. Louis. The noble Cathedral, in Place d'Armes, with its flying buttresses, &c., was begun in 1014, by Bishop Thierri, but not finished till 1546. 1t is pierced with a great number of windows-many beautifully stained, by Busch, 1526. Its length is 398 feet; width of nave, 51 feet (of the transepts, 46 feet); height of nave to the vault, 109 feet (of the transepts, 43 feet); the two side chapels of the choir are 53 feet by 50; while the Gothic spire, built in 1427, is just as high as the church is long, and carries an immense bell, called La Mutte, weighing about 28,600 lbs. The very old font is called Cuve de César (Caesar's Tub). Several councils were held here, between 590 and 1280. Four or five other churches are of old date. That of St. Martin offers a variety of styles, from the earliest down to that of the 16th cent. One of the Knights Templars' round churches is in the large Arsenal, which stands on the site of an abbey of the 10th cent., and contains, besides 80,000 stand of arms, &c., a famous bronze culverin, taken at Ehrenbreitstein, 15 feet long, 17 inches wide at the muzzle; it weighs 28,717 lbs., and the shot is 176 lbs. An Ecole d'Application, or practical school, for young officers from the Polytechnique, is attached to the Arsenal (once part of St. Arnold's abbey), with a military library of 10,000 vols., besides charts, maps, and MS. treatises. The hotel of the Regimental School of Artillery is a handFome building, completed in 1852. There are also extensive barracks, magazines (that for bedding is the abbey of Clement, built in the 16th cent. by an Italian architect); and a military hospital-the latter an immense building, begun by Louis XV., large enough for 1,500 patients, and which would accommodate 1,800. The palais de justice (once the Hôtel de l'Intendance, begun, it is said, by a Duke of Suffolk), is an extensive structure, near the esplanade and the river. The old church of Petits Carmes contains the The museum and the public library of 30,000 vols. (many of them early printed books) besides 800 MSS. Hôtel de Ville, a simple but good building, was finished 1771, from the designs of Blondel. It has some portraits. Other buildings are the new Préfecture, the Hôtel de Monnaies (mint), the college, and priests' seminary, both large edifices; theatre, &c. The covered market was begun for the archbishop's palace in 1785. Near the Mayen-Pont is part of an old tower, close to the Fontaine des Pucelles. these, and wines, eau-de-vie, excellent beer and fitures, drugs, spices, &c. Conveyances to Siarck Boulay, and Verdun by rail to Thionville. Omnibuses to the pretty village of Moulins, 30 cents. (3d.) In the neighbourhood of Metz are also the rock of Roche-Rudotte, in the valley of Mance; the Château of Montigny-les-Metz; the cascade on the Digne of Wadrineau, &c. [Etain (40 kil. west-north-west), on the Ornes, in the middle of the fertile plain of Voëvre, which belonged to St. Euchane's Abbey at Trêves, in the 7th cent., and was given up to the Duke of Lorraine by the peace of Ryswick, 1697. It has a good Hôtel de Ville. About 18 kil. west-southwest of it is Verdun.] From Metz, on the railway to Forbach (towards Frankfort) you pass Feltre (4) miles), which was for a time the headquarters of the allied powers in 1815. Courcelles (4) miles), or Courcelles-les-Chaussy, on the Nied. Remilly (5 miles), has a pinnacled church. Faulquemont (7 miles), or Falkenberg in Ger man (Falcon's Hill), was once the head of a marqui sate. St. Avold (6 miles), a pretty little place of 3,600 pop, under the Bliesberg, once a fortified post of Lorraine; with some mineral springs, and cloth ma nufactures. After crossing the Rosselle two or three times, and the neighbouring ravines, where the works were heavy and difficult, you come to Hombourg (4 miles), or Hombourg-le-Bas, at the bottom of a hill, which has on the top the ruined château of Hombourg l'Evêque, called the Guerite du Monde. Pop. 2,040. Cocheren (4 miles). Forbach (3 miles) is the last place before the Prussian frontier, with a custom-house, and remains of a château fort on Schossberg hill, under which the town is built. Pop. 4,830, who make pipes, glass, and hardware. Coaches to Sarreguemine, Bitche, Rorbach, Niederbronn. For a long time Metz has been one of the chief seats of the Jews, who have a rabbi and a rabbinical school here. The Romans constructed an amphitheatre and a naumachia (for sea fights) here, but the traces are almost gone. An aqueduct went out to the south west, of which several arches remain at Jouey (8 kil.) on the Moselle, as mentioned above. Among its emi-At nent natives are Marshal Fabert, a noble creature, whose statue is on Place Napoleon; Generals Kellerman, Custines, and Lallemand; Bouchette, who was war minister under the convention; Barbé Marbois, one of Napoleon's ministers; La Vaillant, the naturalist; Raspail, the chemist; and Mademoiselle Tastu, the poetess. Manufactures of leather, cotton, linen, woollenclotb, muslin, nails, stained papers, &c.; trade in 16 miles to the south-east is SARREGUEMINE, & sous-préfecture of 5,400 souls, on the Sarre, where the Blièse falls in, which was called Guemonde, and had a Capuchin convent founded by Duke Leopold, 1621, now turned into a Hôtel de Ville, college, &c. It is noted for tabatières en carton (pasteboard snuff-boxes), of which 100,000 dos, are sold: good pottery is also made. Hotel.-Couronne d'Or (Gold Crown). The glass works of St. Louis are near.] At 9 kil, beyond Forbach is Sarrebruck (in PRUSSIA), whence the rail continues to Mannheim, Heidelberg, Mayence (in 5 to 7 hours), and Frankfort (see Bradshaw's Hand Book for the Rhine.) ROUTE 58. Metz to Thionville (Treves, Luxembourg), Montmedy, Sedan, Mezieres. Along the north-east frontier; distance to Mézières about 177 kil., or 110 miles. To Thionville, by rail, 20 miles, four trains daily. Metz (as in Route 57), on the Nancy and Forbach branch. The line turns round the fortifications, crosses the Moselle on a handsome bridge, and reaches Devant-les-Ponts (5 miles), in the environs. Then across a plain, with wooded hills on both sides, to Maizieres (5 miles), on the Moselle. Hagondange (3 miles), from which is a tram road up the pretty valley of the Orne. At Uckange (3 miles), conveyances should be taken for Hayange and Longwy, described below. [HAYANGE (10 kil. west-north-west), is an industrious village, in a pretty spot, on the Feusch, among ironworks and mines. A tram road leads to it, past the Chandebourg mineral spring. 19 kil. to the west, is BRIEY, a small sous-préfecture, on a hill-side over the Wagot, a branch of the Orne.] Thionville (11 kil.), a fortified port of the third class, where Pepin l' Heristal had a seat, which Charlemagne used to visit, in a flat part of the Moselle. After being held by the Spaniards, it was taken by Condé, 1643; the Prussians captured it, 1792, and held it again in 1815. It has many old houses of the 16th cent.; a Place d'Armes, surrounded by barracks, and a manége for cavalry; a large parish church; halle au blé (corn market); works for steamengines; a college, botanic gardens, &c. The old covered bridge on the Moselle was re-built of stone, 1844. Large distilleries and sugar-works are carried on in the neighbourhood. Pop. 5,645. HOTELS.-Du Luxembourg; Du Commerce. Coaches to Luxembourg, in HOLLAND; and to Sierck, to which a rail is making. [SIERCK (19 kil.), the last place near the Prussian frontier, at the bottom of the hills on the Moselle, commanded by an old château, from which there is a good prospect. Further down the river are the lines of Künsberg, where Marlborough was stopped by Villars. At 26 kil, beyond it is Sarrebourg, in PRUSSIA; and Treves is about 8 kil. past it.] Leaving the terminus of the rail at Thionville, we now follow the road, near the Belgian frontier, to LONGWY (45 kil.), or Longus-vicus, on the Belgian frontier, includes the Basse (lower) Ville, on the Chiers, and Haute Ville, on the hills above, strongly fortified by Vauban. It belonged to the Dukes of Lorraine till the French acquired it, 1679; and was taken by the Prussians 1792. General Mercy, who fell in battle, 1659, was a native. LONGUYON (16 kil.), on the Chiers, has ironworks, where fire-arms, &c., are made. MONTMEDY (23 kil.) is a sous-préfecture in department Meuse, of 2,700 souls, and one of Vauban's fortified forts of the fourth class, irregularly built on the Chiers-the upper town being placed between two hills (mons medius); from which the town derives its name. It was taken by France, 1657. Trade in pottery (made by gipsies, here as elsewhere, called "Bohemians"), leather, hosiery, &c. [At 7 kil, to the north is the deserted Gothic church of AVIOTHE, with some elegant carvings, and light spires; near it is a small chapel, having a pretty spire porch in front. Many traces of Roman possessions were found in 1823. To the westsouth-west (15 kil.) is STENAY, an old place on the flats of the Meuse, called Satanacum, when the kings of Austrasia had a seat here. Louis XIV. in 1648 gave it to Condé, and captured it: a few years after from the leaders of the Fronde, who made a treaty with the Spaniards here.. There are large cavalry barracks, and forges turned by the stream.] CARIGNAN (22 kil.), on the Chiers (which joins the Meuse above Sedan) was called Ivoi, and belonged to: the families of Soissons and Penthièvre. It was given up to France at the peace of Ryswick, 1693, having been part of Luxembourg before that. SEDAN (21 kil.) up the Meuse, a sous-préfecture (pop. 14,700), and fortified town of the third class, in a flat spot. It had a castle in the 9th cent., belonging to the archbishop of Rheims, which came to the ferocious De la Marck, the Wild Boar of Ardennes, in the 17th cent., and then to the Ducs de Bouillon. Turenne was born, 1611, in the old château-a site now marked by a stone; a bronze of him by Gois, stands near the Hôtel de Ville. He was brought up at Bazeilles, outside the town. Here died, in 1662, another French Marshal, Fabert; a fine genius, and most high-minded man. Sedan is well built, of stone and slate, but the water is so bad that the people are subject to goitres in the neck. There are, a library, a theatre, three barracks one being for cavalry, a well-supplied arsenal and magazines, and a military hospital, on a hill, 130 feet |