midnight
After the Te Deum , the authorities gave a grand dinner to the officers of the garrison at the `` Ville de Metz . '' The weather was fine and the windows were open , and the hall was lighted by clusters of lamps hanging from the ceiling . Catherine and I went out in the evening to enjoy the spectacle . We could see the uniforms and the black coats sitting side by side around the long tables , and first the mayor would rise , and then his assistants , or the new commandant of the post , Mr. Brandon , to drink to the health of the Emperor or of his ministers , of France , to peace or to victory , etc. , etc. , and this they kept up till midnight . Inside the glasses jingled , and outside the children fired crackers . They had erected a climbing pole before the church , and wooden horses and organ-grinders had come from Saverne , and there was a holiday at the college . In Klein 's Court , at the `` Ox , '' there was a fight between dogs and donkeys ; in short , it was just as it was in 1830 and in 1848 , and afterward .