church. The same may be said with equal truth of the
atrocious Renaissance and Pagan structures to be seen at Cambrai and
Arras, though the conditions under which they were built differ. At
Cambrai, however, the present building replaces a former structure
levelled by fire.

Chalons-sur-Marne,--dear to every French patriot as being renowned for
the manufacture of flags, a suffragan of Reims, has a remarkable
cathedral of Romanesque foundation of the fifth to the seventh
centuries. Its warlike record, from 273 A. D., when Aurelian vanquished
Tetricus, to the occupation by the Germans in 1871, is one long
succession of military affairs. To-day the city is the domicile of the
most important army corps of France.

These towns, with Nancy, Toul, and St. Die in the valley of the Moselle,
complete the list of those cities which by any stretch of territorial
boundaries could be classed under the head of "East of Paris."

It may be a debatable point as to whether Strasbourg and Metz might not
have been included; the writer is inclined to think that they might have
been, though their interests and influences have always been more
Teutonic than Gallic,--still, they are thoroughly Germanized to-day,
and, as we cannot interrupt the march of time, and the present volume
will otherwise approach the limits originally set out for it, they must
perforce be omitted.

[Illustration: _CATHEDRAL NANCY_]

[Illustration: _BOULOGNE_]

[Illustration: _St. OMER_]

[Illustration: _ARRAS_]

II

NOTRE DAME DE BOULOGNE-SUR-MER

Boulogne-sur-Mer is one of those neglected tourist points through which
the much travelled person usually rushes en route to some other place.
It perhaps hardly warrants further consideration except for the history
of its past, and its intimate association with certain events which
might seriously have affected the history of England. It is, however, an
interesting enough place to-day, if one cares for the bustle and rush of
a seaport and fishing town,--not very cleanly, and overrun with
tea-shops and various establishments which cater only to the cockney
abroad, who gathers here in shoals during the summer months. There is,
too, a large colony of resident English, probably attracted by its
nearness to London, and possibly for purposes of retrenchment, for there
is no question but that the franc, of twenty per cent. less value than
the shilling, accomplishes quite as much as a purchasing power. This
must