﻿MAKNE, HAUTE. 



MA.RNE, HAUTK. 



hosiery, pottery, refined sugar, and leather; and trade largely iu 

 bottles, corks, wire, champagne wines, &c. J)ormant, a email town 

 west of Epemay, on the left bank of the Marne, has 214S inhabitants, 

 who send large quantities of wood and charcoal to Paris bytheXianie. 

 Fire-Champetiaiie, south of Epernay, the scene of the defeat of 

 Marshals Marmont and Morticr by the Austro-Russian army under 

 Schwartzenbei^ (March 25, 1814), stands on the Pleura, and has 2118 

 inhabitants. SfoiUmirail, situated on a hill near the right bank of 

 the Petit-Morin, a feeder of the Marne, has a population of 2545. 

 Napoleon I. defeated a large force of Russians and Prussians here 

 Februai-y 11, 1814. Sfzantie, an ancient and well-built town, is 

 situated on the slopes of a hill, partly in Brie, partly in Champagne, 

 and has 4440 inhabitants, who manufacture coarse woollens, tiles, 

 bricks, lime, pottery, flour, oil, and leather. Suzanne was formerly 

 fortified, and stood several sieges ; the site of its defences is now laid 

 out in gardens and public walks. 



3. In the third arrondissement the chief town is Reims. Ay, or Ai, 

 near the right bank of the Marne, and nearly opposite to £pemay, 

 from which it is only 2 miles distant on the railway to Reims, has 

 3130 inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in the culture of the vine, 

 and in the distillation of brandy. Fisma, in the north-west of the 

 department, on the left bank of the Vesle, is a well-built walled town 

 with 2366 inhabitants, who manufacture woolleuHdoth, and trade in 

 flour, wine, hemp, wool, &c 



4. Of the fourth arrondissement the chief town, SainU-iKnihovld, 

 situated in a pretty well-wooded country on the Aisne, in the east of 

 the department, in 49^ 5' 27 ■" N. lat, 4° 53' 57" E. long., 450 feet above 

 the lerel of the sea, has a tribunal of first instance, a college, and 

 4137 inhabitants, who manufacture hosiery, leather, and small wares. 

 In the environs there are several iron-forges, glass-works, and potteries. 



6. The fifth arrondissement is named after its chief town, Vitry-U- 

 Pratifoit, or Vitrytur- Marne, a well-built fortified town on the ri^ht 

 bank of the Marne, 21 miles by railway S.E. from Cb&lons, and h:i8 a 

 tribunal of first instance, a college, and 7796 inhabitants. Vitry-la- 

 Fran9oi8 stands in 48° 43' 34" N. lat, 4° 35' 23" li long., 331 feet 

 above the level of the sea. The town is modem ; it was founded in 

 1545 by Fran9ois I., after the destruction of Vitry-en-Perthole, or 

 Vitry-le-Brul^, by Charles V. The streets are wide, straight, clean, 

 and provided with foot-pavemeuts ; the houses are mostly of wood ; 

 the supply of water is from 27 fountains, from which also streams run 

 through all the streets. The central square, on one side of which is 

 an unfinished church of large dimensions, is adorned with a handsome 

 fountain, and planted with a double row of lime-trees. The manu- 

 factures are hosiery, cotton-yam, oil ; the chief trade is in corn, wool, 

 wood, and charcoal. 



The department, with the exception of the arrondissement of Reims 

 (which with the department of Ardennes is included in the see of the 

 Archbishop of Reims), forma the see of the Bishop of Ch&lons. It is 

 comprised in the jurisdiction of the High Court and within the limits 

 of the University-Academy of Paris ; and belongs to the 4th MiUtary 

 Division, of which Cbdlons is head-quarters. It returns 3 members 

 to the Lejjislative Body of the French empire. There are at Reims 

 an archiepiscopal seminary, a secondary ecclesiastical school, and an 

 endowed college ; at Ch&lons a diocesan seminary, a preparatory eccle- 

 siastical school, and a communal college ; and communal colleges also 

 in Epemay, Sainte-M^n^bould, and Vitry-le-Francois. 



(iMctionnaire de la Prance; Annuaire pow V An libZ ; Slatittique 

 de la France ; Official Paper:) 



MARNE, HAUTE, a department in the north-east of France, is 



R long. Its form approximates to an oval. Its greatest length from 

 north-north-west to south-south-east is 78 miles; and its greatest 

 breadth, at right angles to the length on the Meuse is 48 miles ; but 

 the average width is only about 37 miles. The area is 2401-5 sqtuire 

 miles. The population in 1841 was 257,567; in 1861 it amounted to 

 268,398, which gives 111-76 inhabitants to a square mile, being 62-82 

 below the average number per square mile for the whole of France. 

 The dep:irtment is formed out of the soulhei-u part of Champagne 

 and small portions of Bourgogne, the duchy of Bar, and Franchc- 

 Comts ; and it is named from the circumstance that it comprises the 

 basin of the Upper Mnme (Haute-Marne). 



The department is hilly, in parts mountamous. The plateau of 

 lAngres and the Faucillcs Mountains (which with the hills of C6tc- 

 d'Or fonn a continuous chain that unites the CtSvcnnes to the Vosges 

 Mountains) cover the southern part of the department The Faucilles 

 Mountains surround the sources of the Meuse and the SAonc, and form 

 part of the watershed between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, 

 thence two branches mn northward screening the narrow valley of 

 the Upper Meuse and ultimately uniting with the Ardenue Hills. The 

 more westerly of these branch ranges is called the Faucilles Mountains, 

 which cover the east of the department and form part of the 

 watershed between the basins of the Seine and the Meuse. From the 

 plateau of Langrea also numerous ramifications run north-eastward 

 between the Marne, the Aube, and their earliest tributaries. The 

 mountains rise near Langres to about 2600 feet above the sea ; they 

 diuiinwli in In i lit as they advance northward. The valleys extend 



OEOU. lilV. vot. lit. 



mostly north and south. In the arrondissement of Vassy, iu the noi-th 

 of the department, there are some fine valleys and extensive plains. 

 Hero and there all through the department, outlying hills, either 

 singly or iu groups, give vai-iety to tlie surface. More than one-third 

 of the department is covered with forests, iu which oak, beech, ash, 

 maple, birch, and poplar are the principal trees. 



The principal rivers are — the Marne and its feeders, and the Meuse, 

 which rises in the department, and flows northward across the eastern 

 boundary into the department of Vosges. The Marne is navigable 

 from St.-Dizier, so that the department lias the advantage of a share 

 in the extensive system of inland water communication mentioned in 

 the preceding article. The south-west of the department is drained 

 by the Aube and its feeder the Aujon; the Amance and the Vingeanne 

 rise on the south-eastern side of the plateau of Langres, and flow to 

 the S&one. The Rognon, the Suize, and the Triere, all feeders of the 

 Marne, have their whole length in this department ; the Blaise, another 

 considerable feeder of the Marne, rises and has most of its length in 

 Haute-Mamc. Except three or four miles along the Marne, below 

 St-Dizier, the department has no internal navigation. It is crossed 

 by 6 state and 8 departmental roads. The only railroad is the short 

 branch which imites St-Dizier to the Paris-Strasbourg line at the 

 Blesmes station mentioned in the preceding article. It is proposed to 

 continue the line from St-Dizier up the valley of the Mai-ne, through 

 the plateau of Langres to Gray, on the upper Saone. 



The climate Is very healthy ; the air is pure and keen in the moun- 

 tains, where the winters are very cold. In many of the valleys, 

 especially in those that open into the basin of the Sadne, the tempera- 

 ture is warm and equable. 



The common breadstufis are produced in quantity sufficient for the 

 consumption. Kitchen vegetables, pulse of all kiud-i, mustard, hemp, 

 cherries, filberts, &a, are grown. "The vine is extensively cultivated 

 in favourable situations, and about 13,000,000 gallons of wine are 

 made, two-thirds of which are consumed on the sjiot, and the rest is 

 exported (o Switzerland and to the departments of Vosges aud Haut- 

 Rliin. The milch cattle of the department are of good breed ; horses 

 and sheep are small ; goats are numerous ; poul^ and game of all 

 kinds are plentiful. 



The department is entirely occupied by the strata that occur between 

 the chalk and the saliferous sandstone. It is rich in iron-ore ; several 

 mines are worked ; the metal is smelted and manufactured into bars, 

 utensils, and tools in 114 furnaces and foundries, iu which wood 

 charcoal is the fuel chiefly used. Building-stone, marble, alabaster, 

 gypsum, &C., are quarried. Marl, brick-earth, fuller's clay, and turf 

 are dug. Besides ironmongery and cutlery, the industrial products 

 include brandy, vinegar, cotton- and woollen-yam, drugget, woollen 

 stockings, leather gloves, cast-iron tubes, paper, leather, beer. &c. The 

 commerce in the products before named, and in timber, planks, fire- 

 wood, oak-staves, oil, honey, &c., is considerable. About 225 fairs and 

 markets are held annually. 



The department contains 1,537,012 acres. Of the whole area 

 829,343 acres are capable of cultivation ; 88,418 acres are grass land; 

 32,461 acres are under vines ; 624,327 acres are covered with woods 

 and forests ; and 69,115 acres consist of heaths aud moors. 



Divition* and Towns. — The department is divided into three arron- 

 dissements, which, with their subdivisions and population, are as 

 follows : — 



' AnondiMcments. 



Can tons. 



Commnaea, 



Population In 1891. | 



1. Chanmont 



2. Lanmres . . . 



3. VaMjp 



10 



10 



8 



19S 

 211 

 Hi 



88,971 1 



106,424 1 



73,403 j 



Total . 



28 



591 



208,398 1 



1. Of the first arrondissement and of the whole department the 

 chief town is Ckaumont-en-Ba»»igny, which stands on a hill at the 

 junction of the Mame and Suize, in 48° C 47' N. lat, 5° 8' 42" 

 K long., 150 miles S.E. from Paris, and has tribunals of first instance 

 and of commerce, a college, and 6088 inhabitants in the commune. 

 The site of the town is 1063 feet abovo the level of the sea. The 

 town is pretty well built, with wide clean streets ; some of them how- 

 ever are very steep. It still retains some portion of its old fortifica- 

 tions. Tho supply of water is from twelve wells and four fountains, 

 to which last the waters of the Suize are raised by an hydraulic 

 engine. The principal buildings are— the church of St.-Jean, the 

 college buildings, the hospital, the remains of the castle of the counts 

 of Champagne, aud the town-hall, an elegant modern structure. The 

 manufactures are woollen stockings, gloves, serge, drugget, common 

 woollen cloth, cotton- and woollen-yam, leather, beet-root, sugar, &c. 

 C/idleau- Villain, l'^ miles W. by S. from Chaumont stands on thu left 

 bank of the Anjou, and has iron-forges and smelting furnaces, and 

 2068 inhabitants. Nogent-k-Roi, 12 miles .S. by E. from Chaumont, 

 near the right bank of the Treire, is the centre of a considerable 

 cutlery miinufacture, and has 2979 iuhabitants. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town m Lanokes, tho 

 site of which is 1551 feet abovo the level of the sea. Jhurbonne-lcf 

 Daini, celebrated for iti warm springs, is situated on tho aouthera 



2 ■/. 



