The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-23 00:00:00

AFTER THE CAPITULATION.

The Telegraph says :—ln the absence of relief from
without, the fall of Paris before the end of the next
month at the furthest—probably at an earlier date—may
be assumed as certain ; and the most sanguine can
hardly perceive any combination of chances that
would enable the armies which France has in
the field to raise the siege within a month.
Whether the fall of the capital would put an end
to the war it is impossible to say ; but the probability is
that it might. Gambetta could still cry "No surrender ;"
but after such an event he would scarcely be able to play
the Dictator. The energy and fertility of resource which
he has displayed are really marvellous ; but he is,
after all, merely the delegate of a Provisional
Government, and with the close of that Govern-
ment his functions and authority would cease. The
capitulation of Paris would be tolerably certain to para-
lyse the resistance of the provinces, and would almost
necessarily lead to some overtures in favour of a pacific
arrangement. Here the real difficulties of the neutral
Powers would begin. No one having authority to speak
in the name of Germany has laid down any defi-
nite terms of peace. Count Bismarck has, indeed-
refused to treat at all, except on the basis of a cession of
territory ; but such a basis is, of course, equally compa-
tible with the most insignificant rearrangement of boun-
daries, and with the most sweeping annexation. The
defenders of the German cause have, for the most
part, assumed that the victors will be content with
such a slice of Alsace as shall secure a stronger frontier
against France. It is not, however, the wishes of
Germany, but the voice of Bismarck, which will decide
the conditions of peace ; and the intentions of that states-
man can hardly be considered doubtful after the pro-
clamation which the new Emperor of Germany lately
addressed to the inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine.

THE CABINET MINISTERS AND THEIR CONSTITUENTS.
In the opinion of the Standard, to the Government and
the Liberal party the past week has been indeed a sea-
son of tribulation The Premier is invited to resign
his seat; Messrs. Forster and Stansfeld are pub-
licly censured by their constituents, and, as a
significant contrast, Chatham records its enthusiastic
approbation of the conduct of Mr. Otway in throwing
up his post as Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Mr.
Gladkone has made the mistake of supposing that the
Radicals are content to look at all national questions
through the spectacles of the Manchester school.
There are times when Englishmen become impatient of
mere party traditions. Party considerations have no
place in the momentous discussion which concerns
the true duty of England at the present crisis. The feeling
of sympathy for France and of distrust of Germany is not
peculiar to any political section. It is common to an
enormous majority of Englishmen' of all parties and
shades of opinion. It is an active and energising sentiment,
and is as impatient of the cold, callous, selfish policy
of the Manchester school as it would be of any
pro-German tendencies on the part of the Ministry.
The policy which Mr. Gladstone has adopted is
that of a clique. The policy which he resists is that of
the nation, and he will find that it will be too strong for
him. Already the public voice is declaring against him
with an emphasis which, after the manifestations of last
week, he and his colleagues cannot affect to misunder-
stand. His newspaper organs admit that there is a
split in the Liberal party, and the breach is daily
widening. The vehement disapprobation excited by the
listless attitude of the Government in the face of a Euro-
pean crisis has given force and momentum to other causes
which must of themselves have brought about a schism
sooner or later. The ties which unite the Liberal party
were never less strong and durable than at the close of last
session. With the consummation of Mr. Gladstone's Irish
policy in the abolition of the Establishment and the
revolutionary change in the land laws, the bond of
union ceased to exist. There is now no common principle,
no accepted policy, to serve for the party as a basis for
united action in the future. The official Liberals will
follow their leaders as of yore ; but the Irish Ultramon-
tanists, the political Dissenters, and the thoroughgoing
Radicals no longer perceive the necessity of making
common cause together under the banner of Mr.
Gladstone. They are each working on their own behalf,
and in some csses against each other, and in antagonism
with the Government. It is possible that they may be
united in the English sentiment which has sprung out of
the war crisis ; but in that case their union will only
strengthen the defection which promises to leave Mr.
Gladstone in a minority.