ALSACE AND GERMAN LORRAINE. 183 



Marsal is an old fortress, which surrendered in 1870 after having been bombarded 

 for an hour. Bokhen (Boulay, 2,520 inhabitants) is the only town in the valley 

 of the Nied. 



3Ietz (53,151 inhabitants), the old capital of the department of the Moselle, is 

 an ancient city, deriving its name from the Mediomatrici, the people to whom it 

 belonged before the time of the Romans. Situated on a fertile peninsula formed 

 by the confluence of the Seille and Moselle, and surrounded by low-lying meadows, 

 the town was capable of resisting attacks ; and attacks were not wanting in the 

 case of a city lying within the debatable frc ntier districts of France and Germany. 

 François de Guise, in 1552, made a stout defence, but in 1870 the town yielded, 

 together with the 170,000 men who had been thrown back into it after the sangui- 

 nary battles of Mars-la-Tour, Bezonville, Gravelotte, and St. Privât. 



Metz has been much strengthened since it has passed into the hands of 

 Germany. Its entrenched camp, formed by a line of detached forts, has a circum- 

 ference of 15 miles, and there are other works farther away from the town. 

 The outward aspect of the town is the same as before, but its streets are almost 

 deserted. They are narrow and tortuous, and many of the houses are sombre and 

 forbidding in appearance. The cathedral is one of the finest Gothic edifices of the 

 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The site of the old citadel has been converted 

 into a public garden, ornamented with the statues of Ney and Fabert, who were 

 born here, as were also Custine, Puixhans, and Pilâtre de Rozier. An abundant 

 supply of water has been procured from the hills above Gorze, about 12 miles to 

 the south-west of the town. 



Metz is above all things a garrison town, and its manufactories are of less 

 importance than those of the far smaller town of Ars-sur-Mosei/e (5,708 inhabitants), 

 which lies close to the frontier. Metz has much decreased in population since 

 its annexation to Germany, and notwithstanding the vast sums expended upon 

 fortifications, the town is becoming impoverished. In 1877 there were over 3,000 

 empty lodgings, and the value of house pî-operty had fallen, in the course of seven 

 years, from £4,400,000 to less than £2,000,000. Thionville (Diedenhofen, 7,168 

 inhabitants), to the north of Metz, is likewise a strong fortress, and, in case of 

 another war, hundreds of thousands of men could be launched forth from these 

 two places. 



