The Argosy — page 334: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Far Normandy. 313 lords or chiefs elected by the people. These were followed by hereditary chiefs, who, from being vassals to the throne of France, gradually bécadine absolute thonachd of their little kingdom. In the Middle Ages, like most French towns, Dreux was divided into districts, and its affairs were governed by a species of Civil Court. Justice was administered and all public affairs were directed by a Mayor and Aldermen, who erected the quaint, curious, strangely interesting and beautiful little building of which we give an illustra- tion, and which to-day is called the Town Hall. BET Here all public matters are attended to, and Justice, with eyes blindfolded and scales carefully balanced, deals forth equity. The bell in the tower, cast in the reign of Chatles IX., was decorated with bas-reliefs representing the ceremony of the Flambards, and this bell rang out upon the night air during the progress of the procession. It must have been a strange mingling of sounds, not altogether sweet, not soft and low, but quaint and original ; and one could almost wish that it still continued, for the sake of assisting at this relic of old times. It was here, in the plains of Dreux, between the Blaise and the Eure, that the great battle was fought known as the Journée de Dreux, in 1562: a day of terrible slaughter between the Roman Catholics under the Duc de Guise, and the Huguenots under the Prince de Condé. ‘The Catholics were victorious, and the Prince was taken prisoner. Dreux has indeed gone through all the vicissitudes of a country given up to frequent changes of government. It has seen all the horrors and desolation of war. Six times it has been besieged. Now it has fallen and become a dependency of the French throne; now, freeing itself, has submitted to the rule of the Counts of Dreux. It formed the dowry of the powerful and bigoted, the cruel and relent- less Catherine de Medicis ; and the sad fate of the Huguenots seemed to culminate at its very gates when the tide of the Journée de Dreux turned against them and their champion was taken captive. All these bygone ceremonies and events make Dreux very interest- ing, and we felt as we passed through the winding streets that we were treading on ground consecrated by the lapse of ages. Not that the houses themselves bore much trace of antiquity. They seemed for the most part modern, with very little form or comeliness of outline. The quaintest, most interesting building, was the Hotel de Ville near the great church. It stands with its back to the square, focussed by the narrow street; a curious Medizval monument, with rich seulptures and latticed windows, and a high roof surmounted by a small turret or bell-tower, reminding one forcibly of some of the quaint and curious monuments of the dead cities of the Zuyder Zee. Some of its rooms are now devoted to a museum, but nothing they contain can be half so interesting and worthy of study as the exterior of the building itself. WOL, XLIX. econatkcloooks (S©@) am