The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-28 00:00:00

THE CAPITULATION OF PARIS.

The Times, in announcing the important event, says
The capitulation of Paris may by this time be looked
upon as accomplished. At an early hour yesterday the
negotiations were said to be already so far advanced as to
leave little doubt that they would be brought to a conclu-
sion before night. Hardly any other result could be an-
ticipated. The mere fact of M. Jules Favre's journeys
between Paris and Versailles might satisfy the
world either that the terms to which Count Bismarck
would consent were in themselves acceptable, or that they
were rendered so by a force of necessity which no one in
Paris could withstand. There are also rumours of an
Armistice to be extended to all France, and of a discussion
-of terms of Peace on the principle of territorial cession.
There is, in short, every reason to believe that we
are approaching the end of the struggle far
sooner than could have been expected. The appointment
of General Vinoy in the place of General Trochu as Com-
znander-in-Chief of the Army and Garrison of Paris
could not and did not, most fortunately, bring about any
change in the determination of the Government. It had
been said that the new Governor would not give up
the contest without one more attempt at a sortie.
But, like Trochu, Vinoy is a soldier. He knew that suc-
cess was impracticable, and he would not take upon him-
self the responsibility of wanton bloodshed. It will, at
all events, be a great gain for Paris to have a man of firm
character at its head at this juncture, for it is impossible
to foresee what call may yet have to be made
on his energies. We have wt last come to the
supreme crisis, and it may as easily have a mad-
dening as a sobering effect. For our own part we are
inclined to take a hopeful view of the subject. There is
a necessity for silence and self-concentration which
adversity easily enforces, and there never was
a time, perhaps, in which France was more
likely to exhibit calm sense and self-control than
upon the abatement of that war fever which will
leave her weary and prostrate. Revulsion of feelings
among multitudes are apt to be sudden and violent ; and
even in the midst of the present turmoil, when the rolling
of drums and the shouting of multitudes are reported
from Paris, convulsed with the first apprehension of her
surrender, there is, perhaps, no great rashness in predict-
ing that the day is sure to come—and soon to come—in
which the Party of Order, and even the Peace Party, will
re-assert its ascendency.
The Daily News observes :—At last the news has reached
us. There was scarcely a man among us who believed
that the Capitulation of Paris could be longer delayed ;
and it -had come to be a question of the terms
which France would accept and Germany ratify. The
coming and going of M. Jules Favre between the
capital and Versailles clearly foreshadowed the end. It
has been clear for some time that Paris must capitulate ;
and, her falling being inevitable, humanity has
prompted the wish that the sufferings of the non-com-
batants should not be prolonged a day more than is neces-
sary. Nevertheless, it is far from certain that the first
tidings of the surrender—however unavoidable that may
obviously be—may have been received with peaceable
resignation. The popular cry recently has been for more
sorties. We have for some time been told that prior to the
capitulation a final sortie en masse would be made by the
troops, whether the Government said Aye or No. If
anything of this kind be now attempted, if enormous
masses of men resolve to throw themselves at any cost
and without preparation on the German line of de-
fence, there will ensue a slaughter such as niodern
history has not yet known. The object of M. Favre's
visit to Versailles having been to negotiate for a
surrender of the great fortress, the fact must be-
come known to the people, and that speedily. Time
hurries on at a terrible rate, with nearly three millions of
human beings watching the approach of the spectre of
famine. Whatever M. Fevre is empowered to do he
must do quickly ; for starvation is swift of foot.
There is not a movement on the part of any
army to go to the assistance of the capital. The final days
of the great siege chime in with the collapse of a great
series of provincial efforts. East, west, and north, the
armies of France are looking to their own safety, rather
than thinking of the release of the capital. It is on this
account that proposals of peace would come in oppor-
tunely with the fall of Paris. There is obvious truth in
the statement of M. Gambetta that France, if only she
keep on long enough, must win. The waves dash against
the rock apparently with no effect ; but in time the rock
is eaten through. France, however, has to look at the
probable duration of this experiment—at the fearful
misery which would fall upon the non-combatants
of both nations, and say whether she will undertake so
cruel and indefinite a task. In a very short time,
as things appear at present, she will have an
opportunity of saying Yes or No to the anxious
inquiries of Europe. A National Assembly will, at all
events, absolve the members of the Provisional Govern-
ment from further responsibility. If France elects to
continue the campaign, she will appoint those Ministers
most likely to carry out her wishes ; if she votes for
peace, she will at the same time indicate the Government
she desikes. Notwithstanding the serious rumours current
about a restoration of the Empire, we still believe that
Germany, once the war is finished, will leave France to
pick and choose her own rulers.

The Telegraph says :—Paris has fallen, and a pldbiscite
must now be taken, or a Constituent Assembly must be
summoned. And what will be the result ? If the nation
is determined to prolong the war, it will, probably, vote
for a continuance of the dictatorship which has fallen
to Gambetta ; for, if France is to fight, his audacity,
inflexibility of will, and clearness of purpose are
all-important. But, in the event of a plebiscite,
the chief votinv power will be with the peasantry, and
there is scarcely a doubt that they will demand peace
with something like unanimity. Their wasted fields, their
empty granaries, their sons who lie dead at Sedan, at
Paris, or await death in the ranks of the
Mobile Guard, will plead irresistibly for peace. And,
if the peasantry do not seek war, they will vote to
a man against a Republic ; for they have been
wont to connect that form of Government with
the idea of anarchy and Socialism, and now they will
identify it with the terrors of a dreadful war. A plebiscite
will in all probability doom the Republic to death, at least
for a time. The Orleanist dynasty will have a far stronger
hold on the middle classes than on the peasantry
restoringan the ..En
and then there will
His acceptance l,re.mahl questiontheaee h
03,
the great towns is out of the question. In
them he is hated for having added the capitulation of
Sedan to the past sins of the Empire. But the peasants
around Paris, and throughout the Department of Seine-et
Oise, are displaying a returning sympathy for that regime,
because, in spite of the fact that the war was begun by
Napoleon 111., they fancy that his dynasty would
restore order and protect their property from
spoliation. If that feeling prevail throughout the pro-
vinces, a return of the Imperialists is not unlikely. A
contemporary has, indeed, stated that Count Bismarck
has already in his possession a document, signed by
the Empress as Regent, accepting for France the
terms of peace demanded by Prussia. If that were
true, the return of the Bonapartists would certainly
be improbable, for their name would be associated dis-
gracefully with the cession of Alsace and Lorraine. But
we have ascertained that this statement is utterly des.
titute of foundation. Meanwhile, before the taking
of the plebiscite, all eyes are fixed on Paris.
The city is falling after its long and heroic defence,
and it is falling amid the homage and respect of civilised
mankind.

IThe Standard remarks :—France is well nigh at her last
gasp, and her silent but yearning appeal to England still
remains unanswered. France is our true and loyal ally,
and has a right, in her bitter extremity, to plead the
friendship we have professed towards her as the
justification for her claim on our good offices. As a
nation we condemned her precipitation in drawing the
sword in a quarrel which history will show to hive been a
just one. Looking merely to the facts, and ignoring the
considerations which gave them their right significance,
the great bulk of the English people gave its voice for
Germany, as a nation defending its soil against an
invader. But the misconception was not long-lived.
from the moment of the fall of
ThesSedan, revealed
policyrev
eoafl
eKd
itnligeWtruillialecnh'aracter of the Power which
had been making capital out of the fable of the wolf and
the lamb. Having annihilated the military power of the
i
Empire, havn, , demonstrated her own superiority, and
her full capacity to protect her soil against all comers,
Germany commenced to make war upon the French
people, with the view of satisfying the lust for terri-
torial agarandisement, and under the plea that the
Fatherland would not be safe until it possessed a frontier
absolutely dominating France. In the very act of proving
her invincibility, and having inflicted upon her neighbour
a series of ruinous defeats, which must cripple her power
for invasion for years to come, Prussia set out upon a new
campaign to crush out the life of the French
nation under the pretence that she dreaded a fresh
attack. We have seen with what vindictive ferocity,
with what devastating fury, she has carried out her
purpose. The fell work of the German armies will
not be obliterated in a quarter of a century. Wherever
they have marched they have left their traces in blood,
shed, ruin, and desolation. They have burned, plundered
wasted, and assassinated until they have brought the
horrors of war to nearly every home in Paris.
For months past Europe has looked on in silent but
earnest sympathy at the revolting spectacle of an enor-
mous army of trained soldiers making war upon a
civilian population, crushing their raw levies in
the field, bombarding their towns, plundering their
homes, and wasting their fields. The unequal
struggle has been gallantly maintained by the nation
fighting against such terrible odds, but all Christian
peoples have surveyed it with shuddering horror, and the
voice of the civilised world has gone up in an indignant
demand that the conqueror should be compelled to show
mercy,and that the massacre of a nation should be stopped.
But the Governments of Europe have remained unmoved,
and Germany has been permitted to pursue her savage end
without let.or hindrance.