current of civilization. By an irony of destiny the Tricolour no longer
waves over the cradle of the Marseillaise!

That witty writer, Edmond About, as well as the "Heavenly Twins" of
Alsatian fiction, was born in Lorraine, but all three so thoroughly
identified themselves with this province that they must be regarded as
her sons. Those travellers who, like myself, have visited Edmond About's
woodland retreat in Saverne can understand the bitterness with which he
penned his volume--_Alsace 1870-1_--and the concluding lines of the
preface--

"If I have here uttered an untrue syllable, I give M. de Bismarck
permission to treat my modest dwelling as if it were a villa of Saint
Cloud."

The literary brethren whose pictures of Alsatian peasant life, both in
war and peace, have become world-wide classics, suffered no less than
their brilliant contemporary, and their works written after annexation
breathe equal bitterness. The celebrated partnership which began in 1848
and lasted for a quarter of a century, has been thus described by Edmond
About: "The two friends see each other very rarely, whether in Paris or
in the Vosges. When they do meet, they together elaborate the scheme of
a new work. Then Erckmann writes it. Chatrian corrects it--and sometimes
puts it in the fire!" One at least of their plays enjoys equal
popularity with the novel from which it is drawn. To have witnessed
_L'Ami Fritz_ at Moliere's house in the last decade of the nineteenth
century was an experience to remember. That consummate artist, Got, was
at his very best--if the superlative in such a case is applicable--as
the good old Rabbi. No less enchanting was Mlle. Reichenbach, the
_doyenne_ of the Comedie Francaise, as Suzel. Of this charming artist