The statue of Strasbourg on the Place de la Concorde
in Paris was freed from its mourning wreaths on Monday, for on that day, after forty-eight years of German rule, Strasbourg was restored to France. Marshal Foch entered the old Alsatian capital on Monday afternoon, and all the Alsatian loyalty to France, so long pent up wider the tyranny that proscribed even the use of the French language in the street, burst forth in a torrent. British people, who have rejoiced in the renewal of our close friendship with America after generations of misunderstanding, may understand, in part at least, the emotion of the French•. and the Alsa tians at being reunited after a long period of weary waiting. The pedantry, or bad faith, of those who proposed to take a referendum to discover whether Alsace wanted reunion has been swept aside in the outburst of popular feeling. Alsace is as thoroughly French in sentiment as Normandy, and no one knows that better than its late oppressors.
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