The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAI, JANUARY 27, 1871.

commenced. Colonel Deufert, the commander•in-
chief, allowed it to continue as though nothing was
known, and gave the preconcerted signals. But when
the Prussians, at a given sign, endeavoured to seize
the fort, they were received by a hail of shot. They
left many dead on the gronnd, and retreated. The
next day the comman:lant of the fort was shot.
Such is the account which is given of the affair, and
it appears to have been confirmed by private letters

'rom Belfort.

THE :',TRENGTH OF FRANCE AND GERMANY.
A correspondent of the 'limes makes an elaborate
comparison of the relative extent of the territorial
area, and the amount of the population of the Ger-
man Empire and of France. The population of North
Germany, including Saxony, Baden,. and South
Hesse, but exclusive of Bavaria and Wurtemberg,
who are not certain to be with her in every quarrel,
is estimated at 31,000,000, the area at 435,000
square kilos. With Bavaria and Wurtemburg, the
population is 38,000,000 ; the area 530,000. France
with Alsace and Lorraine, has 38,000,000
population, and an area of 543,000.
ul at Without
on
them she will have 36,000,000 pop
and 523,000, while Germany, with Saxony,
Baden, Hesse, Lorraine, and Alsace will have only a
population of 36,000,000 and an area of 455,000.
In addition to this, France has immense advantages
in her seaboard, ports, and arsenals ; and in the
short strip of land frontier she has to defend against
Germany, whereas Germany has the long boundary
dividing her from Russia and Austria, and must always
reckon on Denmark assisting her enemies. France
will, moreover, be always superior in compactness,
and unity to the new German Empire, while the two
countries would be numerically on equal terms. Two
points are, however, overlooked in this statement.
One is that recent experience has prove I whatever
other quarrels they stand aloof in, Bavaria and
Wurtemburg will support Germany against France ;
the other, that supposing France to be really as
strong as Germany, she will certainly never rest
until she gets her two provinces back again.
INCAPABLE OF INJURY.
Prussia The behaviouri
so t
of
fthe
he
appealed
toNap hyo
Germanseon I. towards
justification
le forphrtah a
see
ofimieixisatiniosioof
pAarltstaccuelaarnfdavLoourr-.
BeingoftotlhdebpyrsoosmsiaenbsocwlyotailftdereauJsee thnaeeto
thatl his oppres-
sionbear him
eating hatred, he replied, "I know it, but I
.1 to render them incapable of injuring
e" (hors i
nuire). This, say
o
;le Groman s('a
, isti
precisely
n
i 6
what we mean to
to with France. They should, however, re-
member the rest of Napoleon's experience. It is
true that he attempted to render Prussia incapable
of injuring him ; but he did not succeed. His doings
raised up a spirit of hatred which was never allayed
until Prussian troops encamped in the courtyards of
Paris. It was Doctoroll's 12,000 Prussians who
eylan.
nabled the
stanetooßkuia
assprnosmitic hold
koitpartthehi own at
in the
the fataEl
cam-
paign of Leipsic. Prussians made the defeat of
Waterloo an irretrievable rout.

meal

M. CONTI ON THE REPUBLIC.

A pamphlet has just been issued by M. Cony
with the approval of the Imperial prisoner o
Wilhelmshiihe, the object of which is to show that,
according to law, the Senate and the Corps Ldgis-
latif haus never been dissolved, the Republic ne-ter
accepted by the French nation, and that, conse-
quently, the Assembly elected by universal suffrage
is the legitimate exponent of the national will. M.
Conti reminds his readers that on the 17th of
August General Trochu was, by order of
the Emperor, appointed Governor of Paris
and that on the 19th a Committee of Defence
was nominated by order of the Empress. On
the 9th of August the Chambers had been convoked
by order of M. 011ivier, but without the sanction of
the Emperor. M. Jules Favre then proposed the de-
position of the empire, but his suggestion met with
no support. On the 3rd of September the
Deputies were summoned to a midnight meeting, at
which they were informed of the surrender of
Sedan, whereupon Jules Favre again renewed his
demand to pronounce the decheance of the
Empire. On Sunday they met again, when
three resolutions were considered ; first, that of M.
Favre; second, Comte de Palikao's motion to trans-
fer supreme power to a Committee of National
Defence ; and third, a proposition of M..Thiers to
hand over the Government to a Council of Defence,
and convoke a Constituent Assembly. M. Thiers's
motion was adopted by eight out of the
nine bureaux into which the Chamber was divided.
In the afternoon the mob broke into the building,
shouted out " Long live the Republic ! " and the
Assembly was dispersed without coming to a decision
on any one of the three propositions. M. Gambotta at
once telegraphed to all the Departments that the Em-
pire had fallen. After the sitting had been brokenup
200 Deputies met in one of the rooms of the Palais
L6gislatif, and adopted M. Thiers' proposal.
They then proceeded to the Chamber, but
they found seals had. been placed upon the
doors by order of the Government. On the fol-
lowing day a declaration, signed by upwards of 200
Deputies, was drawn up, protesting against the vio-
lence they had suffered, and disputing the power of
any of the citizens to decide their country's destinies.
It is somewhat strange that this singular protest
should have been issued when the fall of Paris is so
near at hand, and that Napoleon 111. should object
to a revolution because it was not conducted with a
proper regard for legal forms.
THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY.
King William has received a petition from Frank-
fort-on-the-Maine begging him to permit that city
to be the scene of his coronation. Frankfort has
historical claims to urge in support of this demand.
It has been a prominent city since the days of
Charlemagne. The German Emperors were crowned
at Aix-la-Chapelle until the sixteenth century, but
since that time Frankfort has enjoyed the pre-emi-
nence. - The Emperors of the House of Austria were
all crowned in the city. The electors of the Empire
were accustomed to meet and make arrangements
for the election in one of the halls of the
old Homer House. In the Kaiser-Seal, another
hall, there are fifty-two portraits of the German Em-
perors, in regular succession, from Conrad the First
to Francis the Second. Here the Emperor used to
be feasted after his election, kings and princes wait-
ing on him at table. It is believed that the Romer
would be a most appropriate place for the formal
re-establishment of the ancient empire, and that to
make Frankfort the scene of the Emperor's coro-
nation 'would in some degree atone for the hardships
endured by the grand old free city in 1800.
MR. MOTLEY'S RECALL.

General Butler supplies an odd reason for Mr.
Motley's recall. lie was not recalled because he had
been too zealous, nor because he had not been zealous
enough. General Butler's solution was ver
Motl y simple ;
it was this—that you might M
place r. ey in
a room with eleven Englishmen, and no one would
pick him out as the American. Unfortunate
Motley ! lie did not, we presume, possess the regu-
lation tuft of beard on the chin, was not sallow or
lanky, did not spit about the carpet, nor display
much tall talk. Clearly, General Butler himself
would be the right ambassador. Nobody could
mistake his American citizenship.

years back was the scene of a terrible explosion,
whereby 189 lives were lost. The pipe and matches
had been found in the defendant's clothes in the pit,
and evidence proved that he had often been seen
smoking on his way home from work. In the part
of the pit where he laboured the gas was liable to
escape, and the pit was wo.ked entirely with
safety lamps, except at the pit bottom. The manager
said each man received a copy of the rules on entering
the service, and one of these rules forbade that
pipes or matches should be taken in. The chairman
said that after the Oaks explosion the Bench made it
a rule to send all persons to prison who offended in
this way; and they committed the defendant to
prison for two months with hard labour. It is to
be hoped the example will be useful.

COLONIAL EXHIBITORS.
Our colonists in New South Wales are determined
to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the
groat International Exhibition to give the people at
home a fair view of Australasian life. In

New South Wales a very interesting series

of photographic views has been taken. I
S 3 duey the public buildings and public works, the
banks, the churches, the principal schools, and the
large mercantile establishments are all included.
There will also be views from the Bush.
Accompanying these representations there will
be some valuable practical information. Speci-
mens of raw material will be sent, as well as
of manufactured material, in or,ler that
the English workman may see whather he could
turn them to better account. Statistics as to the
wages of different clasies, the salaries in the large
establishments, the cost of rent and living, will be
added, so that English working men may form a
correct idea of what life in Australia really
is. The Commissioners appointed by the Go-
vernment of New South Wales to superintend
the articles sent to the London Exhibition, propose
that after the central display is over, the colonial
articles shall be exhibited in the principal English
provincial towns, Mr. Cowper, the Secretary to the
Commission, being the expellent.
DISTRESS ROUND VERSAILLES.

Mr. Bullock has been actively engaged in exa-
minipg the state of things in Versailles and its I
neighbourhood, and has found matters very different
from what he expected. He did not find a single
instance of starvation, which result he at-
tributes to the careful' provision made by
the Mairie and Bureau de Bienfaisance. A.
double system of relief is at work in Versailles,
furnished by Sisters of Charity and by the Make.
The Germans have in a great measure supplied the
funds which have supported these charities by pro-
moting business in the town. The shopkeepers
have realised such profits that they are
glad to invest money on the security of the_town,
which is thus enabled to make provision for its own
poor and the refugees of the surrounding villages.
It appears from inquiry that about one thousand
destitute refugees are now in Versailles. The bulk
of the dispossessed population is out.ot reach, either
shut up in Paris or far away in Normandy,
or the South. The Mairie has instituted
a Caisse des Frets et Avances to meet
the delicate form of distress prevalent among pro-
fessors, journalists, governesses, pensioners, &c. ➢lr.
Bullock thinks that when the siege is over and the
refugees have returned to their devastated homes
there will be an unlimited field for English charity
to give them a fresh start in life, and to furnish them
with the necessary means for pursuing their avoca-
tions.