twisted over her shoulder, and the toes of one foot turned out and the others turned in, she looked like a pilgrim who had walked all the way from the Black Forest with peas in her shoes. This, we confess, is setting out ill; but if we begin to expunge there will be no end to it. If we had met these Germans surrounded by English instead of Frenchwomen, would the impression have been different? We claim a parliamentary privilege, and "blink the question." Strasbourg is only a debatable city, so far as manners and appearance go. In the year 1681, with perfect coolness, and in the time of a general peace, it was severed for ever from the German empire by Louis XIV. This splendid personage was then in his pride of place. The treaties he condescended to enter into were binding upon the other parties, but not upon him. His name was added like that of a patron who consents to grace with his signature a list of subscriptions, on condition that he is not to be expected to pay. Strasbourg was famous then, as it is now, for its artillery, of which nine hundred pieces cumbered the arsenal. We do not know how many there may be to-day, but the city seems absolutely full of cannon, apparently new. The roll of the drum is heard without ceasing; and if you pass near the fortifications on the side of the citadel, you see bodies of troops, with their glittering arms, emerging, every now and then, from subterranean passages. Every thing impresses you with the idea that you are in a great and important city of war; |
