The evacuation of Verdun by the German army appears to
have been a singularly dramatic and touching spectacle. The last parade of the foreign garrison is described by the Times' correspondent as having taken place in the front of a silent crowd of the French townsfolk, with a group of women dressed in deep mourning 'standing in front. The Germans stood with the grave stolidity, moved with the exact order of their drill, cheered in three great volleys of hurrahs for the " Kaiser and. King" at grim General Manteuffel's bidding ; and then the bands, striking up the March of Victory, infantry, artillery, Uhler's, last of all, the old veteran and his staff, turned their backs on France and their faces to Berlin, and marched. The last German files through the gate, and in an instant the silent town wakes, as it were, from the stupefaction of three years, with a thousand sounds of joy and life. " Vice is France!"—" Vice Thiers r'—" Vice la Re'publique!"—" Vivent l'alsaee-Lorraine !"—bells, trumpets, drums, guns, rockets, and the chant of the priest and the young girl's song of joy. In the twinkling of an eye the town is draped from cellar to chimney with bunting of red, white, and. blue. The French regiment which has been waiting outside the walls then advances, with the whole population of 10,000 clinging to its ranks—" every eye moist," says the correspondent, "profound joy in the hearts of the whole population "—and three Alsatian girls in national costume pour out the wine of welcome to the officers, and the mayor receives the colonel at the gate, and the flag of France is run up atop of the fort, and the French sentry is once more posted on the wall.
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