resence of the
sovereign a regiment made a simulated attack on a "demi-lune" and a
bastion.

On September 6, Saverne arranged a very picturesque reception for the
King. All the cantons and all the communes sent thither, together with
their mayors and their richest farmers, their prettiest village girls
in Alsatian costume. Five hundred peasants, clad in red vest and long
black coat, the head covered with a great hat turned up on one side, a
white ribbon tied about the left arm, were on horseback at the place of
meeting. The young girls, bearing flags and garlands, were brought in
wagons, each containing a dozen or sixteen. In other wagons were the
musicians. The pretty Alsaciennes presented the monarch with a basket
of flowers; then he breakfasted with the authorities, and, at a signal,
fires were lighted at the same time on the plain and on the surrounding
mountains.

The 7th of September, Charles X. entered Strasbourg in triumph. At a
league from the city, on a height from which it was to be seen, and
whence the wooded hills of the Black Forest were visible, he was
awaited by a crowd of young girls in Alsatian costume, in three hundred
wagons, with four or six horses to each. There were also twelve hundred
horsemen, divided into squadrons, the mayors with their scarfs at their
head and carrying the fleur-de-lis standards. The royal cortege passed,
under arbors of verdure and flowers, amid this long file of vehicles
and horsemen, who escorted it to the walls of Strasbourg. Delighted
with the enthusiasm of which he was the object, the sovereign proceeded
to the Cathedral, where a te deum was sung. In the evening the spire of
this marvellous church was illuminated: it was like a pyramid of stars.

The King of Wurtemberg, the Grand Duke of Baden, and his three brothers
came to greet the King of France in the capital of Alsace. He showed
them at the arsenal sixteen hundred pieces of ordnance on their
carriages, and arms sufficient for a hundred thousand men.

"Sire, and gentlemen," he said with a smile, in which kingly pride
mingled with perfect urbanity, "I have nothing to conceal from you.
This is something I can show to my friends as to my enemies."

Yes, France was great then, and no one could have predicted for Alsace
the fate reserved for her forty-two years later. The army was the
admiration of Europe. The navy had just recaptured at Navarino the
prestige and power of the time of Louis XVI. Charles X. said to M