The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-15 00:00:00

. -
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE ON THE
WAR.

Additional correspondence respecting the war between
France and Germany in continuation of that issued on
July 29, 1870, has just been laid before Parliament. The
correspondence forms a volume of 269 pages, and includes
the period from about the battle of Worth, August 4, to
the signing of the armistice at Versailles. From the
earlier despatches it appears that the danger of a revolu-
tion in Paris became imminent immediately after the first
French defeats. The British Government from the first ex-
pressed its readiness to mediate. Lord Granville, in a
letter to Lord Lyons, dated the 17th August, said that
her Majeety:s Government had certainly no intention or
desire to obtrude their mediation either on France or
Prussia ; but Prince de la Tour &Auvergne might be
assured that if at any time recourse should be had to their
good offices, they would be " freely given and zealously
exerted for the restoration of peace between her Majesty's
allies." The French Government did not, however, con-
sider that the time for such action had arrived. Prince
de la Tour d'Auvergne said that just then " France
could not with propriety or, indeed, with honour accept
any mediation. It had been insinuated that she
was endeavouring to induce Austria or Italy
to
come to her assistance. This was entirely untrue.
The present conjuncture was one in which any appeal
for material foreign aid would be peculiarly inoppor-
tune and undignified." The leading statesmen of Aus-
tria and Russia were of opinion that mediation could do

no good.
When the Empire fell after the catastrophe of Sedan,
Earl Granville issued his instructions to Lord Lyons :
" I have to instruct you to remain at your post as long
as any of the Corps Diplomatique are able to do
so, with a view to protect as efficiently as possible the
interests and the property of her Majesty's subjects re-
eiding in France. You will, to that effect, communicate
with any de facto Government (but without any
forr t fomhe
al
acknowledgment of such) that may hold power
time being, until you receive further instructions from me.
In the event of her Majesty the Empress deciding to re-
tire from Paris with a view to maintaining the Imperial
Government with even a mere shadow of power, you will
under no circumstance follow her Majesty, but you will
do everything in your power that may contribute to her
Majesty's safety and comfort if called upon to offer your
advice and assistance."
Then followed M. Thiers's well known tour through
Europe. He arrived in London on the morning of Sep-
tember 13th, and Earl Granville called upon him the same
day. He expressed the desire of the French Ministry of
Defence for peace, and without asking for forcible inter-
vention, pressed the English Government earnestly to
exert her moral influence to obtain peace. It was not, he
said, for the interest of England that a dishonourable
peace should be patched up, which would leave France
weak amid irritable, unable to assist us, but ready for every
occasion to recover herlost prestige. Earl Granville says in a
despatch to Lord Lyons : "M. 'Piers was much
fatigued; so I shortly recounted what had been our
course. We had done all in our power to obtain peace ;
we went beyond what we had a right to do in urging
Spain to abandon a candidate whom she had a right fully
to choose. We succeeded in removing the ground of
quarrel. But the French Government had not been
satisfied, had left us on one side, and had hastened to
declare hostilities. We declared to Parliament (and our
declaration was approved) that
,we intended to maintain
a strict neutrality, and to endeavour to keep up
friendly relations with both countries. From the
first, we told all who pressed us that it was not our
intention to offer ourselves as mediators, unless we
had reason to believe that meditation would be acceptable
to both parties, and that there seemed to be a basis on
which both belligerents would agree to negotiate ; that by
all we could learn such a state of things had not arisen.
We had some conversation as to the advantage of M.
Favre going to headquarters. I thought it would be of
use, and M. Thiers was of opinion that M. Favre would
not refuse to go." In another interview M. Thiere urged
that the Republic should be recognised, but Earl
Granville declined, for reasons which will be found

further.
In accordance with the opinion given by Earl Granville,
M. Favre had the interviews at Ferri6res with Count Bis-
marck. It resulted in nothing but the famous declaration
of the Defence Government that they would not yield an
inch of their territory nor a stone of their fortresses.
Shortly after the interview at Ferribres, a formal appli-
cation for the intervention of Great Britain as a neutral
Power was made by M. Jules Favre. To this application
Earl Granville made the following reply, dated Oct 4
Her Majesty's Government deeply regret to see France
oppressed with great misfortunes. They behold with
profound concern that a great nation their nearest
neighbour—with whom they have been long in friendly
alliance that has been daily strengthened by continually
increasing intercourse, and with whom they have co-
operated in peace and war for interests common to both;
should be weakened by such disasters as those by which
she is now oppressed. They would gladly do anything
consistent with their duty to their owu country to
abtain for France a permanent peace, which, in the
circumstances of the war, the French Government could
with honour accept ; but they would not be acting a
friendly part if they did not fully state their views to the
Provisional Government. The object of the Provisional
Government appears, from the present application, to be
that the neutral Powers should, if needful, support by
force ony representations that they might make to Prussia.
Her Majesty's Government are bound to state explicitly
that they are not themselves prepared to adopt any such
course, or to propose" it to other neutral Powers. They
can only anxiously await the moment when some prospect
may appear of bringing to a conclusion the sad conflict by
the wisdom, the moral courage, and the moderation of the
belligerents, or by an opportunity presenting itself for the
exercise by neutral Powers of their influence for the resto-
ration of peace." A little later, viz., ou the 11th October,
Earl Granville stated, in a despatch to Lord Lyons, that
her Majesty's Government was of opinion that the rigid
adherence by M. Favre to the conditions of yielding "no
inch of territory nor stone of a fortress" was a great ob-
stacle to peace. The Government of the United States
had previously expressed the same opinion.
The aspect of affairs by the 16th of October induced
Earl Granville to make an application to Russia
for aid in an endeavour to restore peace- He
instructed the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg
to inquire of Prince Gortschakoff whether any understand-
ing could be come to between the Powers as to the terms
upon which peace could be made. Prince Gortschakoff,
however, did not think that any agreement between the
neutral Powers would prove of practical utility. The
attempt of M. Thiers to obtain an armistice was then
made and failed. Earl Granville, touching these negotia-
tions, thought that both parties had been extreme
in their demands, and that a compromise might have been
agreed to.
On November 12th Earl Granville sent a despatch to
Lord Lyons stating that he had been informed by Count
Bernstorff that the German Government would still wel-
come renewed direct communications between the Provi-
sional Gouernment and the Prussian headquarters. Count
Bernstorff added that, if the Provisional Government were
in earnest, they would make application direct to
Versailles, not through a neutral Government. Earl
Granville says : —" I answered that, if I might use the ex-
pression without offence, it appeared strange on the part
of a great country like Germany in the plenitude of its
power and success to be so sensitive as to the
friendly action of any other Powers; that I could repeat
my assurances that her Majesty's Government had no
amourp•opr'e in the matter ; that we had no wish to put
ourselves forward unnecessarily ; that we did wish for
peace, and should equally rejoice at it, by whatever means
it was promoted; that we should rejoice at such
conclusion, whether it was brought about directly or indi-
rectly by any friendly power, and that it would have
given us great satisfaction if an individual like General
Burnside had succeeded. Count Bernstorff assured
me that there was no sensitiveness on the part of
his Government, but that Count Bismarck believed that
these communications only encouraged the French Govern-
ment to believe that they • could rely on the neutral
Powers, and thus prolong their resistance. I answered,
the French Government complained of the want of encou-
ragement from us, and that the dead-lock seemed to be
created by the Germans declining to make advances,
while the French, from feeling possibly incensed by the
defeats which they have suffered, were at least equ,
indisposed to take first steps."
In a later despatch (January 9) the English Foreign
Minister reports a conversation he had with Count Bern-
storff on the chances of the war being prolonged after the
fall of Paris. Earl Granville seems to have spoken
very plainly on this occasion :—" I added that, if
Germany was unable to conclude the war at
once, obtaining her own terms of peace, she
would regret the persistent way in which she had
shewn her objection to make use or to allow of the
friendly offices of the neutral Powers. I quite understood
that, being successful in a great war of which she had to
bear all the brunt and all the sacrifices, she had deter-
mined not to be dictated to by those who had stood aloof.
It was probably the same feeling which had prevented the
Imperial Government from consenting to any mediation.
The Republican Government had made different appeals

to us, to which we had invariably answered that we
could not interfere unless our mediation or advice would
be acceptable to both parties, or would be likely to be
effective. If the war was continued, if France became
totally disorganised, a curse to herself and to Europe, in-
capable of indemnifying Germany for the costs of the
war, and Germany had no resourse but to seize and
occupy vast territories, filled with unwilling inhabitants,
blame would attach to her for having rejected, not the in-
tervention, but the good offices of some of the neutral
Powers, of a character which had so often led to satisfac-
tory results in international disputes."

In a subsequent dispatch Earl Granville explains on
what grounds the Government still refused to formally
recognise the Government of National Defence. He
says, writing on the 20th January :—" It is gully
admitted that France, by her heroic and patriotic
co-opertion with the Government of National Defence,
has fully recognised that Government in the capacity
which it has claimed for itself -by the name it has
adopted. Her Majesty's Government, however, are not
satisfied that it would be for the interest of France herself
at the present moment, as regards foreign Powers, to com-
ply with the request for recognition on the part of Eng-
land ; but such a measure on their part would seem to pre-
judge the ultime decision of the French nation, and admit
of the construction that it carried with it an intimation on
the part of England that she would view with special
favour one particular form of Government. But it is the
ruling principle of this country scrupulously to abstain
from interfering in the internal affairs of foreign nations,
and from indicating a preference as to the particular form
of Government to which the notion would do best to con-
fide its interests."

THE NEUTRALIZATION OF THE
BLACK SEA. .
The " Correspondence respecting the Treaty of March,
1856," laid before both Houses of Parliament, .and now

just published, is full of interest. An analysis of the
leading points of controversy and the positions from time
to time taken up by the representatives of the Great
Powers will be useful at a crisis when we expect to
learn speedily the decisions of the Conference now
sitting. The present instalment of correspondence extends
in point of date from the 9th of November last.•
On the 9th of November Baron Brunow communicated
to Lord Granville a circular note, declaring that the
Czar felt himself no longer bound by the provisions'of
the Treaty of Paris. It is worth while here to cite a
provision of Clause 14 of the Treaty, which stated " that
it could not be either annulled or modified without the
assent of the Powers signing it." Prince Gort-
chrkoff's circular, through Baron ,Brunow, to England
pointed out the necessity of Russia to review her political
position. The Prince, moreover, made two allegations of
a strange nature. Ist. That the Treaty of 1856 had been
already violated by other Powers in important particulars.
Moldavia and Wallachia, the position of which had been
fixed and guaranteed by the Treaty, had been permitted
to pass through revolution into union, and to
elect a foreign prince. 2nd. That on several occa-
sions the neutrality of the Black Sea had been violated
under various pretexts by the admission of war vessels
and even "whole squadrons," within the Straits. The
Czar, in view of these facts, it was stated " could not admit,
de ,jure, that Treaties violated in several of their essential
and general clauses should remain binding in other
clauses" directly affecting the "interests of his Empire,"
nor could he " admit, de facto, that the security of Russia
should depend on a fiction which had not stood the test of
time."
In reply to the note, Earl Granville expressed " deep
regret" at the opening of a discussion which '
might un-
settle the cordial understanding " between England and
Russia, but he firmly refused "to give any sanction to
the course announced by Prince Gortschakoff." Lord
Granville, taking his stand upon the faith of Treaties, de-
clined to enter into any argument respecting the actual
grounds of complaint advanced byßussia. In reference to
the second subject of Russian complaint, is the union and
independence of Roumania, which was protested against,
Prince Gortschakoff alleges, by the Russian representative
at the time, Sgr. Visconti-Venosta, in a despatch of later
date than Lord Granville's, recalls to the memory of the
Russian Chancellor these remarkable words, contained in
a letter from Prince Gortschakoff to General • Ignatieff,
recognizing the election of Prince Charles of
Hohenzollern as Hospodar of Roumania :—" The
Imperial Cabinet can only applaud a result as
fully in harmony with the traditional sympathy which
binds Russia to these people—her co-religionists—as with
her desire to see the Ottoman Empire consolidated by the
satisfaction of the legitimate wishes and wants of the
Christian races which inhabit it."
The Italian Minister pointed to the difficulty of recon-
ciling this langaage of congratulation with the alleged
protest. Lord GI anville's first care was to send to
Sir H. Elliot, at Constantinople, copies of the Russian
dispatches and of his own replies, and to reassure the
Porte by pointing out the determination of England not
to admit the assumption of Russia that she was privileged
to break the Treaty of her own free-will. With Lord
Lyons at Tours a similar communication was made ; but
in the case of Prussia, Count Bismarck's unavoidable
absence from Berlin during the sieve of Paris rendered
it necessary to send Mr. Odo Russell as a
special envoy to Versailles with the Russian and
English despatches. This was the more needful, as
a general doubt existed respecting the relations of Prus-
sia and Russia in regard to Eastern policy. On the •12th
of November Lord Granville addressed Count Bernstorff on
this subject, asking whether there was any reason to sup-
pose that an engagement of mutual support existed in the
matter between the two Northern Powers, and adding
that, unless there was such au engagement, the de-
claration was as little courteous to Prussia as to any
other of the Powers. Count Bernstorff professed his
ignorance and his surprise at the form of the circular ;
he
stated that Mr. Odo Russell would be welcome at Ver-
sailles. In default of instructions from his Court, Baron
Brunnow decided on maintaining a reserve and declining to
reply to Lord Granville's arguments. The Austrian
Ambassadorwas the first tobring the news that his Govern-
ment had agreed to the course taken by England.
The action of Prussia, France, and Turkey now became
matters of interest. A somewhat discouraging telegram
from Mr. Odo Russell produced the impression that Count
Bismarck was in favour of a revision of the treaty in the
sense of the Russian demands, and suggested a Conference
at St. Petersburg. The receipt of another despatch from
Prince Gortschakoff, in which he spoke of the futility of
conferences, and repeated his assurance that in abrogating
one part of the Treaty, Russia never intended to annul
the whole, did not seem to favour a Conference
on the basis which alone Lord Granville instructed Mr.
Odo Russell to assure Count Bismarck would be accepted
by England—viz., "an express understanding that it
should be in no way prejudiced by any previous assump-
as to the result of its deliberations." Count Bismarck,
without much hesitation, agreed to the English basis of
action, and agreed upon London as the best place of meet-
ing. It remained now. to obtain the assent of
the other Powers, but some little difficulties here be-
came apparent. The chief objection was made by
the Porte. It strongly resisted the plan unless confined
to the Black Sea question, but Lord Granville endea-
voured to reassure Musurus Pasha by the declaration that
the Government thought it decidedly expedient to main-
tain the suggested restriction, but could not adopt it as
" a foregone conclusion." The Turkish Government,
seeing that the modification or repeal of the
neutralisation clauses was recognised as inevi-
table, ultimately cooled down in their idea of
resisting Russia in the Black Sea by force, and they re-
rolved to limit their opposition to a solemn protest. The
Russian Chancellor, on the 3rd of December, having not
only withdrawn the claim to the maintenance of a " fore.
gone conclusion " as the basis of a Conference, but having
admitted that the Conference might record any opinion
on the question of principle raised in Lord Granville's
earlier despatch, the main difficulty was removed,
and Turkey appointed a representative. All the Powers
had now given in their adhesion except France, and owing
to the protracted difficulty in obtaining one from that
country it was (some weeks ago now) determined to proceed
with the Conference, leaving the chair for the French
Ambassador vacant, but always under the stipulation
that the Conference should not draw up its deliberations
in any formal treaty until the chair should be filled, or
until French assent should be given to the terms of such a
tally
1 treaty.

MORTALITY OF PARIS.—The latest returns of the
mortality in Paris are for the week ending February 3.
The number of deaths wa5•4,671, an increase of 295 upon
the previous weekly return. Smallpox was less fatal,
having caused 258 deaths as compared with 327 in the pre-
ceding week. Typhoid fever numbered 324 victims
and bronchitis 627. Pneumonia was fatal in 465 cases,
while diarrhoea caused 150 and dysentery 63 deaths.
BREAKFAST.—EPPS'S 0000 A.—GRATEFUL AND Co/41-
FORTING.—The very agreeable character of this preparation has
rendered it a general favourite. The Civil Service Gazette re-
' marks :—" By a thorough knowledge of the natural laws which
govern the operations of digestion and nutrition, and by a
careful application of the fine properties of well-selected cocoa,
Mr. Epps has provided oar breakfast tables with a delicately
flavoured beverage which may save us many heavy doctors'
bills." Each packet is labelled—JAMES EPPS & Co., ifolnceo-
pathic Chemists, London. Also, makers of Epps's Cacabine, a
very thin evening beverage.—Advt.

THE WAR.

BOURBAKI'S ARMY.

GENEVA, February 7.
Happily, the last few days have proved that the disaster
of Bourbaki's army is less complete than was supposed.
The number of troops who succeeded in turning into the
Gex district, and thus escaping the Prussians without
taking refuge in Switzerland, is much larger than was
hoped or believed. They mustered at Gex, and thence
proceeded to Lyons along the Swiss frontier. This afforded
the kindly Genovese ample opportunity of showing their
goodwill, and they sent ample supplies of provisions
and of clothing. The inhabitants of the little
Swiss villages situated between the Rhone and the
Jura, despatched waggons laden with food to the roads
where they knew the French troops would pass, and very
welcome have their gifts proved to the famished and
frozen soldiers, who march along crying " Vive la
Suisse " he French villages offer an unfavourable
comparison, and the troops inveigh against the avarice
and apathy of their countrymen. In one little village
the innkeeper asked thirty sous a head for a little bread
and cheese and honey. Another man would not
lend a cooking utensil to make soup until
he was paid for it. The soldiers were ready
enough to tell their grievances to the inhabitants of
Geneva, and they indulged in some very plain speaking
against their officers. All who held superior positions
kept aloof in a kind of separate party, and made no pre-
tence of sharing the common dangers and hardships. The
captains would not march with their companies until they
received positive orders ; and, in fact, discipline was
thoroughly relaxed throughout the troops. While passing
Swiss territory the men were heard to refuse in insulting
terms to carry out the orders given them by their officers,
and yet the officers did not resent the affront. Some of the
cavalry were well mounted, and some of the artillery, but the
horses, who had been at work two months among frog; and
snow, were not rough shod. The soldiers are for the most
part disheartened and declare they will not fight—they
have been betrayed! The incapacity and indifference of
many of the newly appointed officers have in fact had a
great deal to do with the disaster, but they trouble them-
selves very little about it, and are the gayest of the party.
The old officers, who have {alight through other campaigns
in which France played a very different part, present
another appearance. It is painful to see their saddened
and humiliated look and the traces of tears
on, their cheeks. They deny the charge of treason
but attribute the misfortunes of the army to the corrup-
tion and venality of the empire. They are not all favour-
able to the Bordeaux Government, but not one has yet
made his appearance here who is in favour of the man of
Sedan. Some of the generals are still sanguine that
France will have her revenge before long.
One of them 'does not believe that peace
is possible. Some of the soldiers who are
kept at Geneva are behaving very ill, but they are
deserters who have been picked up here and there on the
roads. The real soldiers who have fought and suffered are
very different, and their patience and gratitude form a
striking contrast to the grumbling of the others. A
soldier who had lost his leg at Woerth, said to one of
these malcontents the other day, Be content, lam so,
and it now seems to me I was born with one leg."

A. GERMAN ON THE DISTRESS OF
FRANCE.
Herr von Wickede, one of the leading correspon-
dents of the German press, has furnished some account of
his journey from Belfort to Pontarlier. He says :—ln
1863 I made some excursions on foot in Montbeliard and
Pontarlier, and I returned with pleasant recollections of
this beautiful country. Some days ago I saw it again,
but what a difference there was in it. Where in former
days abundance and prosperity flourished, we now witness
misery in its most appalling form. Since the battles ofWoerth,
Weissenburg, Metz, Versailles, and Orleans, I have cer-
tainly beheld many scenes of carnage, but what I have
seen during the last few days surpasses all description.
The unfortunate army of Bourbaki was driven into a
corner with a most surprising want of skill, and with-
out the least care having been taken to provide it with
the necessary provisions. Everyone in the south of
France who could carry a musket was pressed into the
brigades that were formed, and with badly trained and
poorly equipped regiments 120,000 men were got together,
who were sent to the unfortunate Bourbaki with orders to
relieve Belfort and enter Alsace, The General, in the
first instance, refused to take the command of troops
without cavalry, ambulances, or gun-carriages ; but
Gambetta having appealed to his patriotism
ho accepted. The French officers told me that
he exclaimed, on the occasion referred to, " I
will direct these undisciplined troops but it will be my
death, for I shall never survive a second Sedan." The
army came into the Jura and marched with such disorder
and so many delays that a catastrophe was the inevitable
result. At every halting-place on the march hundreds of
soldiers fell down dying of fatigue, cold, and hunger, they
were so badly clothed that their uniforms hung about them
in rags, and their bad shoes were destroyed by the rough-
ness of the stony roads. They rushed like a crowd of
shrimps on the unhappy villages of the Jura and left
nothing behind them but empty barns, cellars, and kitchens.
The hunger and misery which prevailed were already
great when Bourbaki marched on Belfort; but when
hi
General Werder, after two days' hard fighting, repulsed
the French, and Manteuffel, by s skilful operations,
assailed them in flank, a rapid and disorganised flight
commenced. The soldiers attacked our batteries with the
courage of despair, and very often half the assailants wereo
annihilated before the Nest could make up their minds t
retreat. Although our losses were comparatively few in
those cases where the artillery decided the success of the
day, those of the French, on the other hand, can be
counted by thousands of dead and wounded. The German
doctors did their best to divide their attentions equally
between their friends and enemies, but they
could not attend to all, We made no
more prisoners, for there was nothing to feed them
with. Hundreds of stragglers and deserters died of
hunger, fatigue, and want of care ; and the retreat from
Russia could not have been more disastrous than this.one.
Heaps of abandoned corpses rotted in the hedges and
ditches of the high road. A doctor and I found in a
house not far from Montbeliard eight corpses of French-
men,-which were already in an advanced state of decompo-
sition. In the midst of thege was,a wounded man still
living, who called out most piteously for help. We go
him out of the place with some difficulty, and brought
him into the open air. He was a young student of Avig-
non, not more than 17. A Prussian grenade had lacerated
both his legs below the knee. He had been for seven days in
that wretched place without having his wounds bathed,
without any water, and in the midst of the corpses. He
had covered his wounds with strips from his uniform, and
the cold had stopped the bleeding. He crawled along the
ground and got some biscuits from the pockets of his com-
panions, and relieved his thirst by drinking the snow
which fell in large flakes on the windew ledge. He thus
sustained himself for a week. lie was taken into Switzer-
land, and the doctors think he may recover. Horseflesh
is just now the food of the inhabitants of the country,
and I have seen a group of starving women rush like a
troop of wolves on the body of a dead horse, tearing it
with all kinds of instruments, and eating the pieces raw.
It has been said, but I cannot put faith in the assertion,
that those wretched creatures had eaten someof the flesh of
the dead soldiers. This is the eighth campaign in which I
have taken part, but neither in Algiers, nor the East, nor
Italy, nor Bohemia, nor even. in Schleswig, have I wit-
nessed similar scenes of horror. Switzerland is now send-
ing thousand of hundred weights of flour and rice to re-
ieve as far as is possible the sufferings of the people of
;hese districts.

THE PARIS PRESS AND THE ELECTIONS.
The Paris press has been greatly excited during the
electoral period, and great divisions have existed among
the parties. Great efforts were made to combine the
diverse factions of the Moderate Republican and
Conservative parties, and the Presse endeavoured
to obtain the support of these
other neo-
Republican journals, the Coristilutionnel, the France,
and the Llterte, for the Dufaure committee.
These journals all published a list of candidates, which the
Patric objected to as including the names of Victor
Hugo and Louis Blanc. These were, however, to
be found in all lists. Matters were complicated
by the Journal des Dlbats, which broke off from the
Dufaure committee, declaring that the committee had pre-
judged the form of government by announcing itself
Republican, and therefore would divide the Liberal-Con-
servative party. The four papers, Siec'e,
National, Rappel, and Temps, agreed upon thirty-
two names of Republicans more or less pro-
nounced, and resolved to . devote the surplus to the
extreme element and the Socialists. The other side found
it more difficult to agree. In a club meeting at Belleville,
Victor Hugo was rejected as an aristocrat, and though
Rochefort gained some suffrages by his advocacy
of regicide, he was also put aside on account of his having
shared in the Government of National Betrayal,
and especially for his rupture with Felix Pyat, who in
these quarters stands very high. Most extraordinary
rumours have been current in Pavia of the state of affairs
at Bordeaux. According to on; Gambetta had arrated