The fine =Promenade de l’Esplanade= served as a parade-ground for the garrison troops, who defiled along the first row of plane-trees, past the statue of Marshal Ney (_by Pètre_, 1855). Ney, Duke of Elchingen and Prince of Moskowa, was born at Sarrelouis. He is represented, rifle in hand, ready to fire. [Illustration: STATUE OF EMPEROR WILHELM I. TAKEN DOWN BY HIS “GRATEFUL SUBJECTS” OF METZ. IT WAS REPLACED BY A STATUE OF “LE POILU”] Moskowa, was born at Sarrelouis. He is represented, rifle in hand, ready to fire. _Go to the end of the Esplanade, beyond the bandstand on the terrace_; magnificent view of the Hill and Fort of St. Quentin, Fort Plappeville and the Moselle. The island of Saulcy, on which stands the powder-factory, is just opposite. [Illustration: THE “POILU” STATUE, WHICH REPLACES THAT OF WILHELM I.] It was on this terrace that the bronze equestrian statue of _Kaiser Wilhelm I_. (1892) used to stand. According to the inscription on the pedestal the statue was erected by the Emperor’s “grateful people.” The conqueror was represented pointing to the Moselle and the powerful forts of Plappeville and St. Quentin which protect the town. [Illustration: THE “PROMENADE DE LA MOSELLE”] The “grateful people” dragged this statue off its pedestal into the mud a few days before the French entered the town, and on the night of January 6 replaced it with a statue _“To the Victorious Poilu,” bearing the inscription “On les a”_ (variation of the famous rallying cry “_On les aura_”) as a pleasant surprise for Marshal Pétain who, next day, was to decorate sixteen regiments with the “fourragère” cord and bestow decorations on various officers and soldiers. This statue was made in seven days by the local sculptor Bouchard (_photos, p. 128_). _In the Esplanade stands the Palais-de-Justice (1776), on the site of the former_ Hôtel de la Haute-Pierre, the property of the Duke of Suffolk, lover of Mary Tudor, Queen of England. He had this mansion pulled down and the fine Hôtel de Suffolk built, which, for a long time, served as the Government House. Finally, in 1776, _Clairisseaux_ built the present palace. The =iron railings= of the grand staircase and, _in the inner court_, =two bas-reliefs=—one recalling the humanity of the Duke of Guise in succouring the soldiers of the Duke of Albe after the raising of the siege; the other glorifying the peace concluded in 1783 between England, France, Spain, the United States of America and Holland, are especially noteworthy. [Illustration: STATUE OF KAISER FREDERICK CHARLES DRAGGED DOWN FROM ITS PEDESTAL BY THE PEOPLE OF METZ] _Return to the Place de la République and take on the right the Avenue de la Citadelle, which separates the Esplanade from the Place de la République. Follow this avenue, which soon skirts on the left the Engineers’ Barracks, and a garden._