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Updated: June 15, 2025
Accordingly, having had an itinerary written out for us by friends who had gone over every inch of the ground, mostly on foot, I set off with an enterprising lady, a native of these parts, for a few days' drive in the most romantic scenery of the Doubs, southward of Montbeliard, and in the direction of Switzerland.
I did not omit books of controversy, and amongst other writings of this nature the records of the Montbéliard Conversation, which had revived the dispute, appeared to me instructive. Nor did I neglect the teachings of our theologians: and the study of their opponents, far from disturbing me, served to strengthen me in the moderate opinions of the Churches of the Augsburg Confession.
He happened to be at Montbeliard, and, taking a kindly interest in the town, offered to do it for a nominal price. Years passed and the promise was forgotten, but, on being reminded of it, the artist, with true French chivalry, redeemed his word, and the decorations of the Montbeliard Theatre are really a magnificent monument of artistic liberality.
There is evidently money for everything, and the cure of Maiche must be a happy person, contrasting his position favorably with that of his fellow-cures in the Protestant villages around Montbeliard. The down-hill drive from our airy eminence amid the pine-forests was even more striking than our ascent two days before; and we naturally got over the ground in less than half the time.
Le Doubs, part of the ancient Franche-Comte, is so Protestant, indeed, that in some towns and villages the Catholics are considerably in the minority, as is even the case still at Montbeliard. So late as the French Revolution, the Comte of this name belonged to Wuertemberg, having passed over to that house by marriage in the fourteenth century.
Situated on the confluence of two rivers, the Allaine and the Lusine, Montbeliard is a quaint, and homely little Venice in miniature, sure to be flooded once or twice a year, when people have to pay visits and carry on their daily avocation in miniature gondolas.
You find the same spirit animating all classes, tradesmen, hotel-keepers, and others, and doubtless this is to be traced to several causes. In the first place, Montbeliard is one of the most enlightened, best educated, and most Protestant departements of all France.
The excavations at Mandeure a short drive from Montbeliard the Epomanduoduum of the Romans have afforded a precious collection of interesting objects, pottery, small bronze groups of figures, ornaments, terra-cottas, &c.; at Mandeure are to be seen the ruins of the ancient city, amphitheatre, baths, tombs, the vestiges of a temple, and other remains; but excavations are still going on under the direction of the learned President of the "Societe d'Emulation," M. Fabre, and further treasure-trove is looked for.
This little town of eight thousand inhabitants possesses an intellectual atmosphere in which it is possible to breathe. Wherever you go you find books in plenty and of the best kind, and this difference is especially noteworthy among women. I find the young ladies of Montbeliard as familiar with the works of Currer Bell and Mrs. Gaskell as among ourselves.
The College of Montbeliard, called after its greatest citizen, was founded a few years ago, and is one of the first objects seen on quitting the railway station of the Rue Cuvier. English tourists do not often turn aside from the Swiss route to visit the quieter beauties of the Department of the Doubs, and residents here regret the absence of travellers, which, of course, tells upon the hotels.
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