Hautvilliers, Dizy, Epernay, and Pierry. In the first class of red champagne, or Montagne, we have the varieties of Verzy, Verzenay,

Mailly, St. Basle, Bouzy, and Thierry; all having fine colour, clearness, good body, sufficient spirit, and a pleasant bouquet. The trade in champagne wines is chiefly carried on in Rheims,

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.]

Proceeding on our journey we

next reach CHÂLONS-SUR-MARNE (107 miles) (Hotel: de la Haute Mère Dieu), with a population of 17,700. It carries on a considerable trade in champagne. The church of Notre Dame is worth notice. There is a beautiful promenade along the bank of the river. M. Jaqueson's champagne cellars, near the station, are six miles long, and are excavated from the chalk rocks. In the neighbourhood is the camp of the

French army. VITRY-LE-FRANCAIS (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 CoмMERCY (1834 miles), on the Meuse, we see the barracks, formerly a chàteau, 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 is preserved "a nail of the true cross," used by the Emperor Constantine as a bridle bit. Passing FROUARD (214 miles) (where a line branches off to Metz), we arrive at NANCY (220 miles), (Hotels: de France, de Metz, d'Angleterre); population, 50,000. 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'Orleans; 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. LUNEVILLE (240 miles) (Hotel: du Faisan), a town of 15,184 inhabitants, is 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. SARREBURG (2683 miles) (Hotels: Sauvage, Grand) 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); population, 5,500. 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 of France. No place of note is passed before reaching STRASBURG (312 miles) (Hotels: de Paris, d'Angleterre); population, 84,167. This is a fortified city, and 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 formerly a city of the German Empire, 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 basreliefs.

The spire rises 474 ft. 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 walls, 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.

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 ft. 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. A 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 also a celestial circle or

orrery that shows the motions of the heavenly bodies.

In the Lutheran Church of St. Thomas is the interesting and beautiful monument of Marshal Saxe. There is an open tomb, a marble sarcophagus of large dimensions : the lid is raised, as if in preparation for a burial. At one end of the tomb is a skeleton, representing Death, with a robe thrown loosely over him, while he reclines his head upon the sarcophagus, and Hercules, with sorrowful expression, leans upon the other end of the tomb. On the right a bending female figure, personifying France in deep sorrow, raises her hand to prevent the voluntary descent of Marshal Saxe to the grave, and at the same time to arrest the advance of Death; the Marshal stands erect, with a calm demeanour, and with one foot advanced, as if he were about to seek his last resting place. On his right are allegorical figures representing the nations over whose armies he had been victorious.

Other notable structures are the Temple Neuf, Hótel de Ville, Palace of Justice, Arsenal, Episcopal Palace, and the Theatre. There is a Public Library, rich in Incunabula, and which, together with the University Library, occupying the same building, contains 160,000 volumes. Strasburg has a great variety of manufactures, comprising watches and clocks, leather, cottons, silks, and cutlery. It also supplies beer and provisions in considerable quantities to all parts of the continent, and is famous for the manufacture of " Pâtés de foie gras."

The distance from Strasburg to KEHL is a little more than four miles.

German time is used on the railways beyond Kehl. It is 32 minutes in advance of Paris time.

After leaving Kehl the train arrives in one hour at Oos, the Junction for BADEN-BADEN. (See Route 114).

ROUTE 59.

PARIS TO BALE.

323 miles; First class, 58.45 francs; second, 43.85 francs; third, 32-15 francs.

HORTLY after starting from Paris, we pass, on the left, the junction of the line to Strasburg. Beyond Nogent-sur-Marne (10 miles), in the church of which place there is a monument to Watteau, the painter, we cross the valley of the Marne over a viaduct upwards of half a mile long. A few miles further, we traverse part of the Forest of Armanvilliers, which is laid out in fine avenues. The first stoppage is at GRETZ (244 miles), from which we proceed to MORMANT (36 miles), and NANGIS (43 miles.) The Gothic church of the latter has a beautiful triforium. There are pleasant walks in the neighbourhood, and we observe two towers which are the only remains of the ancient family residence of the Counts of Nangis. Near FLAMBOIN (59 miles) we see, on the right, the ruins of its Castle, and proceed along the valley of the Seine to Nogent-surSeine (68 miles). On the tower of the church is a statue of the martyr St. Laurence, whose deathscene is represented in a picture, attributed to Lesueur, over the high altar. Two other pictures merit attention-"The Triumph of the Virgin" and the "Flight into Egypt." About four miles distant, in the valley of Ardusson,