[200] A folio volume, printed at St. Nicolas, a neighbouring village, in
    1518.  It is a poem, written in Latin hexameter verse by P. Blaru [P.
    de Blarrovivo]—­descriptive of the memorable siege of Nancy in 1476,
    by CHARLES THE RASH, Duke of Burgundy:  who perished before the walls. 
    His death is described in the sixth book, sign. t. iiij:  the
    passage relating to it, beginning

      “Est in Nanceijs aratro locus utilis aruis:” 

A wood cut portrait of the commanding French general, Renet, is in the frontispiece.  A good copy of this interesting work should always grace the shelves of an historical collector.  Brunet notices a copy of it UPON VELLUM, in some monastic library in Lorraine. [Three days have not elapsed, since I saw a similar copy in the possession of Messrs. Payne and Foss, destined for the Royal Library at Paris.  A pretty, rather than a magnificent, book.]

[201] See page 362.

[202] When this ‘chaussee,’ or route royale, was completed, it was so
    admired, that the ladies imitated its cork-screw shape, by pearls
    arranged spirally in their hair; and this head dress was called
    Coiffure a la Saverne.

LETTER XIII.

STRASBOURG.  ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROTESTANT RELIGION.  THE CATHEDRAL.  THE
PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Hotel de l’Esprit, July 26, 1818.

MY DEAR FRIEND;

It is Sunday; and scarcely half an hour ago, I heard, from a Lutheran church on the other side of the water, what I call good, hearty, rational psalm-singing:  without fiddles or trombones or serpents.  Thus, although considerably further from home, I almost fancied myself in old England.  This letter will touch chiefly upon topics of an antiquarian cast, but of which I venture to anticipate your approbation; because I have long known your attachment to the history of ALSACE—­and that you have Schoepflin’s admirable work[203] upon that country almost at your finger’s ends.  The city of Strasbourg encloses within its walls a population of about fifty thousand souls.  I suspect, however, that in former times its population was more numerous.  At this present moment there are about two hundred-and fifty streets, great and small; including squares and alleys.  The main streets, upon the whole, are neither wide nor narrow; but to a stranger they have a very singular appearance, from the windows being occasionally covered, on the outside, with iron bars, arranged after divers fashions.  This gives them a very prison-like effect, and is far from being ornamental.  The glazing of the windows is also frequently very curious.  In general, the panes of glass are small, and circular, confined in leaden casements.  The number of houses in Strasbourg is estimated at three thousand five hundred.

There are not fewer than forty-seven bridges in the interior of the town.  These cross the branches of the rivers Ill and Bruche—­which empty themselves into the Rhine.  The fortifications of Strasbourg are equally strong and extensive; but they assumed formerly a more picturesque, if not a more powerful aspect.[204]