The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-21 00:00:00

THE ARMISTICE.

NEWS FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, February 18.

Paris has, •to a great extent, recovered its usuat
demeanour. The shops are re-opened, almost without
an exception, the streets are filled with wheeled vehicles,
the boulevards are crowded in the day-time and in the even-
ing, and, finally, the theatres have again opened their doors
to a public addicted beyond all other, to the love of novelty
and excitement. The Palais Royal, which has been shut
up for the last four months, on Thursday again com-
menced its performances, and the rush of spectators, and
the shouts of laughter with • which they greeted
the play, made it appear to an on-looker
that the 'Parisians scarcely realised the present
dreadful position of France. So cynically, indeed,
do the people treat the memories of their misfortunes that
a melodrama entitled the " Siege of Paris," which is an-
nounced shortly to appear at the Theatre Gait& is jocu-
larly expected to have as long a duration as the horrible
tragedy on which it is founded.
The proclamation of the ex-Emperor has excited the
utmost contempt and disdain. A cafe concert in the
Quartier Latin, known among the students as the " Cpfe
Beuglant," is making a sensation through the striking
resemblance of its chief actor to Napoleon 111. He
dresses as a French general, sings a song anything but
complimentary to the prisoner at Wilhelmshohe, and, by
way of a chorus, dances round the stage with a sword
between his legs, amid shrieks of laughter and shouts of
" Badinguet ! Badinguet !" " Bravo," and " Encore."
The police, however, have interfered, and the performance
has been stopped.
Various rumours are afloat about the future entry of
the Prussians ; the police are said to have seized a quan-
tity of hand grenades in the disaffected parts of Paris ;
and the authorities generally seem determined to
prevent any disturbance. It has been proposed that
all the inhabitants en masse should wear mourning that day,
as if for a national funeral. Indeed, some enthusiasts
go so far to insist that the blinds of all the houses should
be close-drawn, the shutters firmly barred, and that the
inhabitants, as in a memorable case at Coventry, should
keep within doors. Even at Coventry, however, there
was a Peeping Tom, and here where all, women as well
as men, are of an essentially Peeping Tom-like nature,
there is little chance of this modest blindness being
adopted. The very 'pavement in the streets, they further
urge, should be taken up as soon as it is once polluted by
a Prussian foot.
Ora dit that General Fleury, before leaving St. Peters-
burg, sold by public auction all the furniture, silver,
&c., in the French Embassy, which was, of course, the
property of the State.
General Trochu gives a farewell dinner to his friends,
and will leave Paris to-morrow for Bordeaux. The
inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine, who are at present
here, have held a meeting, at which, before France,
and the whole civilized world, they solemnly declared
themselves to be French, and express their desire to remain
Frenchmen. It was determined that a protest, without
loss of time, should be sent to the National Assembly at
Bordeaux.
Figaro is seriously trying to reform the levity of the
Paris press. Though a startling case of Saul among the
prophets, Figaro is really earnest in its tone; and peaceful
and Conservative in its views. It has recently published
a letter from Bismarck, pointing out the danger and folly
of indulging in braggadocio and invective, now that the
papers circulate freely in Prussian mess-rooms, and has
endorsed it with sensible editorial remarks.
You will, of course, have heard the precise results of the
elections long before this, and you will probably know as
a fact, while we can only surmise, that the armistice has
been officially prolonged.

The Times correspondent telegraphs from Paris, Sunday

afternoon :
"The Halles-Centrales have resumed their wonted
appearance. Horse flesh hai disappeared from them, and
there is a large supply of beef and mutton. The former
may be had at about the same prices as before the siege,
beginning at from 7d. to Bd. the pound, legs of mutton
110. the pound. Fresh vegetables are scarce.
" Last night nearly 50 bankers held a meeting for the
Purpose of proposing to Government that the payment of
bills should be further postponed until four and six months
after the signing of peace.
" The Journal des Debats believes the National Assem-
bly to be fully impressed with the fact that it has but one
question before it—the life or death of France.
" The Patric learns that petitions to the National As-
sembly, requesting it to occupy itself without delay in
considering the question of peace, are being signed in a
great number of departments.
" Let Verite and other Parisian journals state that In
several battalions of the National Guards the men have
been requested by an order from their superiors to give up
to the sergeant-majors the cartridges at present in their
possession. This order, which is to be rigorously carried
out, is believed to have reference to the approaching entry
of the Prussian troops into Paris. The Moniteur states
that apartments in No. 52, Avenue Malesherbes, have
been taken for a General attached to Count von Moltke's
staff.
" L'Electeur Libre observes that in the Queen's speech
there is evidence of an uneasiness which is attempted, but
unsuccessfully, to be disguised. The loss sustained by
France, a natural ally of England—the increased power
of a formidable military Power on the Continent—and the
helplessness of Turkey, oven under the safeguard of
England, to impose obstacles to the pretensions of Russia
—cannot but be a cause of anxiety to English statesmen.
England commences to understand that she ought to
abandon the theories of the Manchester School, and the
Gladstone Ministry, which proceeds from it, begins to
recognise that economic science alone will not suffice for
national policy.
•` La Senzaine Financiere states that Count Bismarck
required the payment of 200 millions of francs in this way
• —5O millions in billets de banque, 50 millions in cash, 63

millions in bills on London, and 37 millions in bills on
Berlin. The 50 millions in billets de banque were paid im'
mediately. Up to the 19th February was given for the
payment of the cash, but payment then had to be
guaranteed by seven bankers. The Semaine Financiere
gives much credit to Baron Alphonse de Rothschild for
the part he took in arranging the matter."