The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-08-18
rcorre,pondeuce Of the Richmond Dispaich.l

fcorrcspondeuce Of the Richmond Dispatchl
NANCY, FRANCE. July IA.
The cIty OF Nancy deserves letter all 10
itself. II was formerly fortified city.
Scarcely anything OF the forlIlications re-
main now but the seven gates. These are
Of grand old Roman architecture, and VIII
last centuries yet. The city has outerown
the walls, and Il simply envlroned at pres
ent by vineyards. Germany Is strongly LOT.
tifying her border lines, for upon every hill
that commands the railroad she has. or Is
building, strong Notifications. But France
is--wel, doccord in singing La Marseli-
leise., The city OF Nancy IL one OF the
most beautiful bave ever seep--the public
grounds surprisingly lovely. In the Court
Of Leopold there Is a fountain OF at least
a hundred spouts, the topmost throwing
water tjfty feet In the air. Here also -
statue OF General Drouot. He was WITH the
French at Hobenlinden, "where furious
Frank and fiery Hun shouted In their SUI
phurous canopy" He was also at the burn
ing OF Moscow.
MARIE ANT0INETTE.
We went 10 the Church of Basilica, and
there saw the buriaI-vault OF the Ducal
House OF Lorraine. They lie in grand
state in black marble collins. Upon the top
OF each cofiin il placed the cushion upon
which they kneIt In life, the crown they
wore. and the sceptre they welded. The
reader must not suppose The vault coID-
mon or unsightly one. 1t was a magnifi-
cent, spacious room, with every design
upon the walls the sculptor could divine.
The while marble altar in II is exquisite,
and in front has carved life-sized image OF
our Saviour living In the tomb. which 1t IS
SAID was wrought by Jew fifteen hundred
years ago, and is considered the best Ike
ness we have ever had. In this church
| is memento OF Marie Antoinette. IU her
first flight from Paris she got this far,
and went into this church TO pray,
and then suddenly determined to return 10
Paris and share the fate OF her husband. A
marble slab marks the spot where the un-
happy Queen and wife stood. The cathe-
dral here is very handsome, and the priests
exceedingly kind and courteous. Present.
ing them our letters from the Bishop
O, Richmond and the French consul sta.
toned there, they bestowed the unusual
kindness and honor upon us OF exhibiting
The church treasures, one OF the most re-
msrkabe OF which was copy Of the Four
Eyangelists written i'm 920-writlen all In
one hand, without blot or blemisb, and In
the Latin language. The leaves were OF
sheepskin and the backs OF plank. Upon
one back were carved likenesses OF the Four
EyangeIsts, and the other back was studded
with Jewels OF immense value-presents
| from crowned heads. Each jewel had its his
tory. The entire church serviceis OF beaten
gold, studded with rich iewels-all very an
cient. They have cross given by King
Stsnislas, upon which there were more than
hundred diamonds; also, crucitX OF The
third century. and the copy OF picture OF
the Blessed Virgin and Holy Child said to
have been painted by st. Luke. The Nlr-
gin in this picture is lovely, but more de-
cidedy OF q Jewish cast OF cOuntenance
than / have ever seen in any other paint
ing before. The cathedral contains MANY
magnificent pictures relating TO State and
church history when the two were COM
bined. We arrived in Nancy at happy
time-On the eve Of the anniversary OF the
republic. Upon every house you see the
letters "R. f." | must say | am disap-
pointed in the French soldiers. They wear
loose red uniform pants. And what man
could look well and soldierly in loose
red pants? The night Of the 18th at
tended large concert. There SEEM
ed 10 he tive thousand people pres
emit. There were $50 performers. In
the midst Of the performance roar OF hu-
man voices was heard in the distance, and
the sound OF heavy marching. Everybody
in the theatre rose from their seats and
rushed out. The performers seemed for
moment to besitAie, and then threw music
and instruments down and rushed out TOO.
GREAT DAY.
Remembering l was in France, and being
competeIy helpless. as understand the Ian
guage very imperiec'ly, feared a revolu-
lion was about to take place, and instant and
bloody deeds commence. But soon every
one returned laughing merrily, and ]
learned that grand procession OF lights and
a masquerade party had passed. Seats were
resumed and the concert proceeded, and nn-
isbed with LA Marseiese." never heard
such inspiring sounds before, for each man
breathed his soul into the song. Five thou
sand voices shouted applause; and shouted
madly too. for dearly love the gay and gall
lent French, the c)urtrvmen OF Lafayette.
This morning (the l4Ih) Nancy was sud-
denly transformed into Il scene OF enchant'
ment. From every window flag is floating
as IA ras the eye can see, and dozens from all
public buildings; every child has one; busi-
mes. is suspended; every face is wrcathed in
smiles; soldiers are seen in all directions;
music is heard everywhere. and deep. great
joy is the order OF the day. The Pepin
grounds five times larger than our Capt.
tol Sqnare) are decorated in a rare, beauli-
| full style-altogetbe French. Light chains
! hang in festOOns across every road and ave-
nue., and millions OF small tumblers are sus-
pended IN regular, short distances, in which
there is mixture OF wax aud oil, and a
| wick that will burn until midnight. Where
these chains cross chandeliers are formed OF
the glasses, while in the distance thousands
OF lanterns may be seen. Along the streets
and over all public buildings and monu.
ments iron tubes with countless gss-Iets
are gracefully festooned, frequently ending
| in fantastic shapes, such as coiling serpents,
dogs, or lions, presenting these animals
when lighted shaped in blaze OF fire. AT
| 10 O'Clock cannons commenced firing and
continued all day, and balloons ascended.
| Ats O'Clock at night the illumination com.
menced. and the Pepin grounds with Its
triumpha festoons OF light formed pie
ture OF briIlancy and beauty rarely seen,
while twinkling around every fiower-bed
even there are hundreds OF little tum-
blers with their burning wax lights
hid away evenly in the grass, add
log fairy grace 10 the gorgeous scene.
| WONDERFUL FIREWORKS.
Away in the distance are graceful rows OF
Chinese lanterns aud large fires OF green
and red. lending a weird, magic appear.
ance to the whole. At night procession
twenty thousand strong filed in under the
triumpha arch that seemed to have bor-
rowed Heavens inpumerable stars 10 light
the way, and bands OF music played La
MarseilIeise, and every throat sang it, mo-
theirs held their babes up and taught them
| to sing It. In this procession there was no