The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-13 00:00:00

THE BONI 811 l DMENT.

From Margency,•the headquarters of the Crown Prince
of Saxony, the special correspondent of the • Dail) News
thus writes on January 9 :—Forts Rosily, Noisy, and
Nogent preserve their strange silence, with the blinds
down or the shutters up, whichever expression may be
preferred. Nevertheless, we are not daring to take liberties
with them just yet. That mask of facines may hid
what would fearfully punish any rashness. But
MIN they are being steadily fired into measures
are in progress to test tbsir actual condition
and if. contrary to my expectation, this is
found to h what it is wished to be, operations
will at once follow which will involve the disuse of the
battery emplacements that are now doing service.
Fcstina lente is the motto, but that does not hinder judi-
cious following up. Meanwhile, the last intermittent
French fieldwatch is definitely ascertained to have quitted \
Bondy, and Bondy utterly .deserted is a strong tempta-
tion to men who are in the mood for yielding
to one that need not be very strong. Drancy, which
still shews signs of hostile occupation, would then
become utterly untenable, if, indeed, it shall not
have been deserted to-night. In a day or two I shall
have no cause to refrain from plain speaking on what is
passing, because the necessity for reticence will have
passed away.. But it may be safely assumed that things
are looking very well on this side for the cause of the be•
siegers. I may not be travelling out of the record
when I allude in a sentence or two to some
information which I have casually obtained, but which
may be relied on, concerning the progress of the bom-
bardment in the south. Forts Issy and Vanvres were
silenced yesterday, it was believed definitely, and experi-
mentally during the night some batteries were pushed for-
ward a thousand paces closer to them. Under this

aggravation these forts this morning recommenced a
feeble fire reply to a very brisk one. The batteries play-
ing on these forts are at Meudon, Clamart, and Porte
Chatillon. Six batteries in all, as I understand, con-
verge their fire into Issy, five into the other fort.
The batteries in the Park of St. Cloud face in
three directions—one to St. Cloud and Valdrien,
another to Boulogne and further, a third to Billancourt
and beyond. The batteries at Meudon radiate their fire
towards Boulogne, Billancourt, and over the Ile St. Ger-
main, to Point-du-Jour and Paris. Of the six Clamart
batteries four concern themselves solely with Fort Van_

vres, and two devote their attentions to Fort
Issy. La Verite states that there is no loss
of courage, or evidence of despair among the
Parisians. They are, however, clamouring lonely
for a change of Government. Trochu is branded as an
imbecile, and his "plan" denounced as fatuity itself.
The demand is for 4 Government that will act, and the
clamour is for sorties, sorties, sorties. Of course, it is
easy either for a patriot in a wine shop or a journalist in
his bureau to advocate frothily a continuous resort to
sorties. We have seen sorties tried, and tried very
hard, too, under better conditions than any sorti e
can now, even by the most sanguine, be expected
to embrace. What came of them? To the
clamour for sorties, sorties, sorties, the echoes of the
past continually are answering, failures, failures, failures.
What is there in the future that its echoes should reply
more favourably ? But Paris, or what passes for Paris in
the way of making noise and revolutions, will not look
plain facts in the face. There is a strong revolutionary
tone in the writings of La Verite. A revolution might be
no bad thing. If I read Trochu aright, although
something of a potterer, he is a man who has set his teetl
bard against capitulation. Were he " dismounted ".
use the expression the Germans are so fond of as regards
fort guns—a pant must take his place after the hearts of
the Parisians, in their present mood. lie would go at a
sortie like a bull at a gate. The result would be
disastrous. Then the army the real fighting
men—who have already been shouting `• Peace "
as their generals rode past, would shout " Peace " in the
ears of Paris, in accents not to be misunderstood,
pointed as they would be with a firm determination
to endure no more, for the sake of others who w;'

--to

not stand abreast of them in the field, slaughter
in battle, ruthless destruction by bombshells,
the agonies of cold that kill men as they stand
at their posts—in a word, hopeless tortures, dangers, and
hardships. When this shout, from the throat of the
army, rings in the ears of Paris, then we may make
ready, for the end will be very nigh at hand, and
neither impulsive general nor clamorous patriots will
postpone it.