two
hundred years France coveted and sought her, until she finally yielded
to the greedy astuteness of Richelieu and became formally annexed to
the kingdom of Louis XIII. Perpignan is a gay little town, much affected
by the genius and indolence of the Spanish race. Morning is work-time,
noon-tide is siesta, but afternoon and evening were made for pleasure;
and every bright day, when the sun begins to cast shadows, people fill
the narrow, shady streets and walk along the promenade by the shallow
river, under the beautiful plane-trees. The pavements in front of the
cafes are filled with little round tables, and here and there small
groups of men idle cheerfully over tiny glasses of liqueur and cups of
cool, black coffee; perhaps they talk a little business, certainly they
gossip a great deal. Noisy little teams filled with merry people run
down from the Promenade to the sea-shore; and after an hour's dip,
almost in the shadow of the tall Pyrenees, the same merry people return,
laughing, to a cooler Perpignan. In the evening, they seek the bright
cafes and the waiters run busily to and fro among the crowded little
tables; the narrow streets, imperfectly lighted, are full of moving
shadows, and through the open church-doors, candles waver in the fitful
draught, and quiet worshippers pass from altar to altar in penance or in
supplication.

All the old buildings of the city are of Spanish origin. The prison is
the brick, battlemented castle of a Majorcan Sancho, the Citadel is as
old, and the Aragonese Bourse is divided between the town-hall and the
city's most popular cafe.

The Cathedral of Saint-Jean, which faces a desolate, little square, was
also begun in Majorcan days and under that Sancho who ruled in 1324. At
first it was merely a church; for Elne had always been the seat of the
Bishopric of Rousillon, and although the town had suffered from many
wars and had long been declining, it was not shorn of its episcopal
glory until there was sufficient political reason for the act. This
arose in 1692, and was based on the old-time French and Spanish claims
to the same county to which these two cities belonged.

[Illustration: "ALL OF THE OLD BUILDINGS OF THE CITY ARE OF SPANISH
ORIGIN."--PERPIGNAN.]

Over a hundred years before Charles VIII had plenarily ceded to
Ferdinand and Isabella all power in Rousillon, even that shadowy feudal
Suzerainty with which, in default of actual possession, many a former
French king had c