Setting out from Saint Cloud the 3lst of August, he
arrived at Metz the 3d of September. All the houses of this great
military city were hung with the white flag adorned with fleurs-
de-lis. After having visited some of the fortifications, Charles
X., following the ramparts, came to an elegant pavilion erected on
the site of the ancient citadel. Long covered seats were arranged
for the ladies of the city; a prodigious number of spectators
occupied the ramparts. In the presence of the sovereign a regiment
made a simulated attack on a "demi-lune" and a bastion.
On September 6, Saverne arranged a very picturesque reception for
the King. All the cantons and all the communes sent thither,
together with their mayors and their richest farmers, their
prettiest village girls in Alsatian costume. Five hundred
peasants, clad in red vest and long black coat, the head covered
with a great hat turned up on one side, a white ribbon tied about
the left arm, were on horseback at the place of meeting. The young
girls, bearing flags and garlands, were brought in wagons, each
containing a dozen or sixteen. In other wagons were the musicians.
The pretty Alsaciennes presented the monarch with a basket of
flowers; then he breakfasted with the authorities, and, at a
signal, fires were lighted at the same time on the plain and on
the surrounding mountains.
The 7th of September, Charles X.
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