THE COUNTRY OF THE VOSGES.* THERE is not a more
interesting district in Europe, for its size, than "the Country of the Vosges;" and Mr. Wolff's new book will do much to attract his countrymen there in future years. The slackening of the strict German passport regula- tions also removes the greatest difficulty in visiting Alsace and Lorraine, for there is not much pleasure in a holiday taken in an atmosphere of unfriendly bullying. It is true that under the best of circumstances frontier-travelling is never very peaceful or agreeable, and this special frontier must always, in the nature of things, be more troublesome than most others ; but for special beauty and interest in a country, people will sacrifice something, and here, indeed, in this land of the Vosges, every variety of taste finds its satisfaction.
It is not necessary to enlarge on the beauty of mountains, forests, and rivers, nor on the architectural interest and grandeur of such old towns as Metz and Strasburg, which most travellers know already. We would rather follow Mr. Wolff into less-known places, into the remote towns, castles, and villages every one of which has as part in the history or legend of that wild and romantic border. The beautiful Vosges country, unfortunate because so peaceless, has been coveted and fought for since the very dawn of history. All European conquerors have tramped over this ground, and many struggles that changed the fate of nations have been fought out here. Charlemagne loved Alsace, and considered it his home. But the last three hundred years, on the whole— not including the last twenty—have been the happiest and most prosperous in the history of Alsace and Lorraine. They had become French in the course of that time ; they loved France, and they love her still ; and it will be a very long time before they are Germanised. The process is a painful one, and Mr. Wolff describes it vividly. For ourselves, it would inter- fere extremely with any real enjoyment of a visit to the Vosges. But many people might see things differently. Some people might even admire the "system of dragooning" which goes on in these conquered provinces, and which is meant to make "good Germany" of them with as little delay as possible. It may succeed in the end; force generally does, at least to out- ward appearance. But in the meantime the country has paid dearly for its position :—" Ce pays admirable, mais mal- heureusement place entre le marteau de la France et l'enclume de l'Allemagne."
Any one, we think, who wishes to be really happy now in the Vosges, should visit the unconquered parts, such as the Ballon d'Alsace and Belfort, or, more beautiful still, the charming Gerardmer, of which Mr. Wolff gives a most attractive description,—" the Interlaken of the Vosges." Or there is Epinal, whose prettiness and antiquarian interest are equal to its importance as a military position, and which is now a centre of merchant as well as soldier life, gathering. up the trade of Alsace as it commands the lovely Moselle. Then Remiremont, the old town of St. Ame and St. Romaric, the home of the far-famed chanoinessea who ruled over all the surrounding country. The chapter on Remiremont is a very good example of the manner in which Mr. Wolff takes us back into the old times which have left such living traces in the country of the Vosges. In fact, much of his book's attractiveness lies in the legendary, romantic, poetical interest with which, as he describes it, the whole district lives again. Such history as that of Remiremont, of Marmoutier, and other great mediEeval communities, with all their strange old feudal and religion& customs ; such stories—at any rate, partly true—as those of the saints and hermits by whom mountains and forests were. once inhabited, who worked miracles and built churches and, bore spiritual rule over fierce tribes,—all this, in a land of so much beauty and mystery, has the nature of poetry and romance. And no province, except perhaps Brittany, is richer.
• The Country of the Vosges. By Henry W. Wolff. With a Map. London t Longmans, Green, ana Co. 1891.
than the Vosges in ancient traditions and customs affecting daily life, in songs and dances, in witch and fairy tales, in proverbs, strange superstitions, unwritten laws. Mr. Wolff says that he could write a volume on the legends of Alsace and Lorraine. We heartily wish that he would. His most interesting chapter, on " Vosgian Song, Legend, and Custom," is only too sketchy and short. Alsace, we here find, is the country of witches, Lorraine of fairies. The story of " Lohen- grin " belongs to Lorraine, the "Wild Huntsman" to Alsace. The Christmas customs of Lorraine are more remarkable and more diligently kept up than those of any other country. Perhaps this is no wonder, when we remember that St. Nicholas, "Santa Claus," is the patron-saint of Lorraine. And people devoutly believe "that on midnight on Christmas Day beasts talk, wine bubbles in the casks, and all water-pipes flow with wine." These lingering beliefs and fancies, shadows of the Middle Ages, are well worth attention. Alsace and Lorraine, with all their outward changes, are still happy hunting-grounds for students of folk-lore.
But many people are more interested in the present than in the past, and care more for the every-day life and trade and progress of a country than for old battle-fields and ruins, the haunts of witches and fairies, or even of Kings and saints of long ago. These modern minds will find much in Mr. Wolff's book to satisfy them. It is a most complete picture of the present state, as well as of the past history, of the Vosges. The many manufactures of the country are fully described : the ironworks of Styring-Wendel, the faience and matches of Saargemiind, the glassworks of Gotzenbriick and Saint-Louis, the great mills and cite ouvriere of Miilhausen, the centre of Alsatian trade in cotton, wool, paper, spinning, and dyeing. Then, on a smaller scale, there is the cottage tape-weaving of the Ban de In Roche, founded a hundred and twenty years ago by the good Oberlin ; there are the tanneries of Barr ; gunstock-making, sabot and sock-making,—these last in- dustries have been a good deal affected by the annexation, which has not, on the whole, been favourable to the trade of Alsace. There is also, scattered about the country, a great deal of basket-making and straw-plaiting, also hand-weaving, in wool, silk, and rich colours, of what the French call articles de Ste. Marie aux Mines. Mr. Wolff seems to think that every one must know these articles by sight ; but the present writer must confess ignorance, and would have liked a little fuller de- scription. Of cheese-making and wine-making, two of the great industries of the Vosges, we have many interesting particulars. Some people may think the book too long, too discursive, too full of allusions, sometimes a little far-fetched, to be a very practical guide to the country of the Vosges. But if it is read carefully, with a little judicious skipping, and with con- stant reference to the good map which is bound up with it, we think that the impressions left will be very useful, as well as pleasant. The idea suggests itself, it is true, that the author has written almost more for his own enjoyment than for our instruction. But this feeling only increases the book's charm, and adds to rather than diminishes its value.
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