e sarcophagus below. A figure representing Death is
lifting the lid, and another, representing France, is endeavouring to
stay his hand. Flags, a reversed torch, and other symbols, with another
figure representing the genius of war, complete the details of this
elaborate monument.

There is little of anything but Gothic, more or less pure, visible at
Strasburg; but, in spite of this, it is alleged that, from Carlovingian
times onward, there was here a colony of artisans who had been sent from
Lombardy on account of the increased interest in the north in
church-building. If this is so, they must have pushed onward down the
Rhine, as they left but little impression here, and, while Rhenish
church-building was manifestly not Gothic in its inception, here at
Strasburg there are certainly no evidences of the Comacine builders of
Charlemagne's time.

Strasburg's ancient episcopal palace was built in 1731-41 by Cardinal de
Rohan. It was bought by the city before the Revolution and transformed
into a _chateau imperial_, and became later the home of the local
university.

The edifice known in early days as the "Maison de l'Oeuvre Notre Dame,"
and more recently as "Stift zu unser lieben Frauen," was built in 1581,
numerous Gothic sculptures from the cathedral being used in its
construction. There is here a remarkable spiral staircase in the light
and delicate flowered Gothic of its time.

[Illustration]

X

METZ

From across the Moselle, on the height just to the south of the city of
Metz, is to be had one of those widely spread panoramas which defy the
artist or the photographer to reproduce.

There is an old French saying that the Rhine had power; the Rhone
impetuosity; the Loire nobility; and the Moselle elegance and grace.
This last is well shown in the charming river-bottom which spreads
itself about the ancient Mediomatricorum, as Metz was known to the
Romans.

The enormously tall nave and transepts of the cathedral of Metz dominate
every other structure in the city, in a fashion quite in keeping with
the strategic importance of the place from a military point of view.

Time was when ecclesiastical affairs and military matters were much more
closely allied than now, and certainly if there was any inspiration to
be got from a highly impressive religious monument in their midst, the
warriors of another day, at Metz, must have felt that they were doubly
blessed.

[Illustration: _Metz_]

Since the Fran