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Matilda Betham-Edwards - East of Paris
State which afforded maximum profits to the cultivator. With regard to the indebtedness of the
peasant-owner, my informant said that it certainly existed, but not to any great extent, usury having been
prohibited by the local Reichstag a few years before. Again I found myself among French surroundings,
French traditions, French speech. Let me add, however, that I heard none of the passionate regrets,
recriminations, and wishes that had constantly fallen on my ears ten years before. One prayer, and one
only, seems in every heart, on every lip, "Peace, peace - only let us have peace!" It must be borne in mind
that 20,000 French Alsatians quitted Strasburg alone, and that those of the better classes who were unable
to emigrate sent their young sons across the frontier before the age of seventeen. Thus, by a gradual
process, the French element is being eliminated from the towns, whilst in the country annexation came in
a very different guise.
This will be seen from the account of another excursion made with French friends living in Strasburg.
It is a beautiful drive to Blaesheim, southwest of the city, in a direct line with the Vosges and Oberlin's
country. We pass the enormous public slaughterhouses and interminable lines of brand-new barracks,
then under one of the twelve stone gates with double portals that now protect the city, leaving behind us
the tremendous earthworks and powder magazines, and are soon in the open plain. This vast plain is
fertile and well cultivated. On either side we see narrow, ribbon- like strips of maize, potatoes, clover,
hops, beetroot, and hemp. There are no apparent boundaries of the various properties and no trees or
houses to break the uniformity. The farm-houses and premises, as in the Pyrenees, are grouped together,
forming the prettiest, neatest villages imaginable. Entzheim is one of these. The broad, clean street, the
large white-washed timber houses, with projecting porches and roofs, may stand for a type of the
Alsatian "Dorf." The houses are white-washed outside once a year, the mahogany-coloured rafters,
placed crosswise, forming effective ornamentation. No manure heaps before the door are seen here, as in
Brittany, all is clean and sightly. We meet numbers of pedestrians, the women mostly wearing the
Alsatian head-dress, an enormous bow of broad black ribbon with long ends, worn fan-like on the head,
and lending an air of great severity. The remainder of the costume - short blue or red skirt (the colours
distinguishing Protestant and Catholic), gay kerchief, and apron - have all but vanished. As we approach
our destination the outlines of the Vosges become more distinct, and the plain is broken by sloping
vineyards and fir woods. We see no labourers afield, and, with one exception, no cattle. It is strange how
often cattle are cooped up in pastoral regions. The farming here is on the old plan, and milch cows are
stabled from January to December, only being taken out to water. Agricultural machinery and new
methods are penetrating these villages at a snail's pace. The division of property is excessive. There are
no lease-holds, and every farmer, alike on a small or large scale, is an owner.
Two classes in Alsace have been partly won over to the German rule; one is that of the Protestant clergy,
the other that of the peasants.
The Third Empire persistently snubbed its Protestant subjects, then, as at the time of the Revocation,
numbering many most distinguished citizens. No attempts, moreover, were made to Gallicise the
German-speaking population of the Rhine provinces. Thus the wrench was much less felt here than in
Catholic, French-speaking Lorraine. Higher stipends, good dwelling-houses and schools, have done
much to soften annexation to the clergy. An afternoon "at home" in a country parsonage a few miles from
Strasburg, reminded me of similar functions in an English rectory.
At the parsonage of Blaesheim we were warmly welcomed by friends, and in their pretty garden found a
group of ladies and gentlemen playing at croquet, among them two nice-looking girls wearing the
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