The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-25 00:00:00

THE ARMISTICE.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

BORDEAUX, February 18.

The same precautions were taken to-day as formerly,
and the troops were on guard not only in the Place de la
Com&lie itself, but also in the adjoining streets, some-
what to the amusement of the inhabitants, who are not
yet accustomed to all this. Parisian precaution.
There was, too, the same difficulty as previously
in obtaining admission to anything like a favourable
seat in the house, especially if one had the misfortune to
be a journalist, though all the boxes on the first and most
of those on the second rank were filled with the ladies of
Bordeaux. At half-past two the house met. After some
uninteresting, because local, matters had been dis-
cussed, M. Grvy read a letter from M. Thiers
thanking the Assembly for the great confi-
dence they had reposed in him, and assuring them
of his most absolute devotion to the duties confided to his
care. This letter was signed, ". Le Pr4sident Chef du
Pouvoir ExtScutif de la -Republique Francaise." M.
Henri Rochefort then rose to ask the Government what
they meant by the prodigal display of troops outside the
theatre ; not a branch of the army, he said, but was
represented, even to the gunner. It was re-
plied to this that the display was necessary to protect
the country members (les ruraux) from the insults of the
Bordelaise ; " let us, then," exclaimed a voice, "go and
deliberate in a village." The uproar became general, and
the meeting was declared at an end.

February 19
The fight, however, was continued in the papers that
appeared this morning, and the House met again at half-
past two. The great incident of the day, of course, was
M. Thiers' speech, of which I send you a pretty full
transcript :
Gentlemen, I must before aught else thank you, not
for the responsible post you have entrusted to my charge,
but for the proof of the cofidence you gave me in yester-
day's meeting. On hearing your decision I had one
thought, one only,— that of immediate and complete
obedience to the wishes of the country, a country to be
more eagerly obeyed, more truly served, and
more loved, now that she is so unfortunate.
Alas, she is more unfortunate than she ever
has been at any former period of her history, when she
has so often been precipitated into the depths of misery
only to resume her former greatness. France is no doubt
unfortunate, but she is still one of the greatest countries
of the earth, full of inexhaustible resources, and always
heroic, witness the heroic defence of Paris, which will
remain as one of the monuments of human energy and
constancy. I conform to the national will, full of faith
in the country, and am ready to obey you unless you
wish me to act imprudently, when I shall offer my oppo-
sition, as I did eight months ago, when you were about
to enter on a disastrous war. You have permitted me to
choose my colleagu es, andl have selected them from all shades
of parties, as the country did in giving you her votes,
sending to the Assembly these who were divided in opinion,
but united in patriotic intentions. You will have seen
that I take no Ministerial department for myself, so that
I may have more time to devote to the general consieration
of affairs. I cannot present you with a programme of
my Government, but I can give you some idea of the policy
which will influence me in reconstructing the Constitution
of our country. In a prosperous condition of society all
political parties are represented ; and it would not be
advisable to unite them in one Ministry. But,
alas ! such is not a type of our present condition ;
France has had half her territory invaded, and her
finances destroyed, her sons taken from the field and
the workshop to die on the battlefield. After the forced
surrender of Paris, the war, which was suspended, is ready
to break out again, if a Government possessing the confi-
dence of Europe does not courageously assume power, and
undertaking the responsibility of painful negotiations, does
not put an end to these fearful calamities. How can two
political opinions exist in such a state of things? On
the contrary, does not one only prevail which
advocates putting as speedy a period as possible to the
evils which are now overwhelming us. Can any one
deny that it is indispensable as soon and as fully as pos-
sible to put an end to the foreign occupation by means
of a peace which will be courageously discussed and only
accepted if it be honourable ; to relieve our rural districts
of the enemy who tramples on them and devours them ;
to recal our soldiers from foreign prisons, and to reconsti-
tute a disciplined army; to re-establish order and reform
our disorganised civil administration ; to put a stop to
ruinous expenses and restore our finances, which will not
be the work of a day, and especially to restore our credit,
which is the only means of facing our pressing engage-
ments ; to send back our Mobiles to their fields
and their workshops, to re9pen the intercepted roads and
rebuild the destroyed bridges, to resuscitate labour, which
*lone can give our workmen and peasants the means of
livelihood? Can anyone assert that any objet is more
pressing than these things ? Could any one here present
discuss learnedly the articles of the Constitution while our
prisoners are dying of misery in distant countries ; or
while our people, fainting with hunger, are forced to give
foreign soldiers the last piece of bread they possess ?
No, no, gentlemen ! To restore peace, to reor-
ganise, to raise credit, to reanimate labour,
this is the only policy possible at such a
moment. For these dais every man of honesty and
intelligence must labour, whether he desires monarchy or
republic, and if he labours but for a year or for six months,
he may feel his conscience satisfied. When we have
rendered to our country these services so urgently demanded,
when we have raised this noble wounded victim named
France from the ground, and restored her, then, no
doubt, she will tell us now she means to live. When this
work of reparation is over, and it cannot be very long, the
time to discuss theories of government will have arrived,
and that time will not be snat hced from the safety of the
country. Having effected our reconstruction under
the Republic, we shall be able to pronounce
deliberately on our destinies, not by a minority,
but by a majority of the citizens, that is to say by the
will of the nation itself. This is the only policy, possible
under the present painful circumstances, and it is the
policy to which my colleagues are ready to devote them-
selves, to which I, in spite of age and fatigue, am ready
to consecrate the powers which remain to me, without cat
culation, without other ambition, I swear to you, than that
of securing for my last days the regrets of my fellow-
citizens, and, let me add, without feeling assured of even
obtaining justice for my efforts."