Calais

kal'is, a seaport town of France. It is situated on the Strait of Dover, at the junction of several canals, and is the terminus of a railroad leading to Paris. It is at the narrowest part of Dover Strait and is about twenty-three and one half miles from the English port of Dover. The harbor may be entered at all stages of the tide. The greater part of the travel between London and Paris, as well as between London and other continental cities, goes by way of Dover and Calais. Nearly a quarter of a million of passengers cross the strait at this point annually. A submarine telegraph connects the two towns, and there is talk of a railroad tunnel beneath the water. Calais is an important commercial town of 60,000 people. Supplies for the London markets, including about 5,000,000 dozen eggs a year, form a considerable part of the export trade. Calais was the last French territory held by the English.

In the long wars between the English and the French Calais was considered the key of France. In 1347 it was captured by Edward III after a siege of eleven months. The story runs that he promised to spare the people of the city on the condition that six of their principal citizens should come out to him with ropes around their necks. He ordered that their heads should be cut off at once, but his queen, Philippa, fell at his feet and begged their lives. Calais was considered the "brightest jewel in the English crown." .A boastful inscription was placed over one of the gates:

Nevertheless, Calais was recaptured by the French in 1558, in Queen Mary's reign. She considered that England had suffered a national misfortune. "When I die," said she, "Calais will be found written on my heart."