|
Matilda Betham-Edwards - East of Paris
odd years ending in 1870, do much in the way of assimilating the German population of Alsace?
It would not seem so, seeing that up till the Franco-Prussian war the country folk retained their German
speech, or at least patois. Under the present rule only German is taught in communal schools, and in the
gymnasiums or lycees, two hours a week only being allowed for the teaching of French. At the Auberge
du Bouf, over against the church and parsonage, we chat with the master in French about Goethe and
Frederika; his womankind, however, only spoke patois. Here, nevertheless, we find French hearts,
French sympathies, and occasionally French gaiety.
Unidyllic, yet full of instruction, is the drive in the opposite direction to Kehl. We are here approaching
friendly frontiers, yet the aspect is hardly less dreadful. True that cannon do not bristle on the outer line
of the triple fortifications; otherwise the state of things is similar. We see lines of vast powder magazines,
enormous barracks of recent construction, preparations for defence, on a scale altogether inconceivable
and indescribable. Little wonder that meat is a shilling a pound, instead of fourpence as before the
annexation, that bread has doubled in price, taxation also, and, to make matters worse, that trade has
remained persistently dull!
A tremendous triple-arched, stone gate, guarded by sentinels, has been erected on this side of the lower
Rhine, over against the Duchy of Baden. No sooner are we through than our hearts are rejoiced with
signs of peace and innocent enjoyment, restaurants and coffee gardens, family groups resting under the
trees. Beyond, flowing briskly amid wooded banks to right and left, is the Rhine, a glorious sight,
compensating for so many that have just given us the heartache.
Of Strasburg I will say little. Full descriptions of the new city, for such an expression is no figure of
speech, are given in the English, French, and German guide books. The first care of the German
Government after coming into possession was to repair the havoc caused by the bombardment, the
rebuilding of public buildings, monuments and streets that had been partially or entirely destroyed in
1871. Among these were the Museum and Public Library, the Protestant church, several orphanages and
hospitals, lastly, incredible as it may seem, the beautiful octagonal tower of the Cathedral. The incidents
of this vandalism have just been graphically described in the new volume of the brothers' Margueritte
prose epic, dealing with the Franco-Prussian War, entitled "Les Braves Gens."
I remember writing on the occasion of my first visit to Strasburg, a few years after these events - "There
is very little to see at Strasburg now. The Library with its priceless treasures of books and manuscripts,
the Museum of painting and sculpture, rich in chefs d'oeuvre of the French school, the handsome
Protestant church, the theatre, the Palais de Justice, were all completely destroyed by the Prussian
bombardment, not to speak of buildings of lesser importance, four hundred private dwellings, and
hundreds of civilians killed and wounded by the shells. Nor was the cathedral spared, and would
doubtless have perished altogether also but for the enforced surrender of the heroic city."
Since that sad time a new Strasburg has sprung up, of which the University is the central feature. A
thousand students now frequent this great school of learning, the professorial staff numbering a hundred.
One noteworthy point is the excessive cheapness of a learned or scientific education. Autocratic Prussia
emulates democratic France. I was assured by an Alsatian who had graduated here that a year's fees need
not exceed ten pounds! Students board and lodge themselves outside the University, and, of course, as
economically as they please. They consist chiefly of Germans, for sons of French parents of the middle
and upper ranks are sent over the frontier before the age of seventeen in order to evade the German
military service. They thus exile themselves for ever. This cruel severance of family ties is, as I have
|
