The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-12 00:00:00

PARIS UNSUBDIJED,

This war can never end, says the Da%ly Neiv3, if the
German leaders resolve to force humiliation and spoliation
upon France. But it may end at any time when both
shies are ready to purchase peace by mutual concessions.
The continuance of the war since the disaster of Sedan
has shewn at least the more heroic side of the French
character. The German soldiers no longer despise their
opponents. If it has been shewn that united clermany
is invincible, it is being sheen' th at free France is
irrepressible. If France has failed to break into Germany,
Germany is failing to subdue France. Me capital may
fall, but not the nation. Paris may have to treat, but
France will still be a nation in arms. Nor is it possible to
see what end would be answered by continuing the war.
The cost to Germany, to France, to civilization would be
terrible ; and what would be the result ? Ger-
many could gain nothing which she has not
already won, and might imperil all. France could
lose little that she has not already lost, though
she might win something back. She has already won
back her self-respect and the respect of the world, but
anything else she might win would probably be bought
too dear. Both sides need peace. When the supreme
effort which now centres round Paris is over,
peace ought to follow, whatever be the result.
Any further continuance of the war would be as much
a folly as a crime. Then will come the great oppor-
tunity which will test the virtue of German statesmen
more than the war has tested the virtue of their soldiers.
Will they be moderate? Can they be magnanimous ? Is
it possible that they may be so generous to their enemy as
to heap coals of fire upon his hea I? There have been
greater surprises in history than even this. If Germany
is true to her bettor nature, she may shake hands
with France, and the army may go home, leaving a friend
instead of a foe beyond the Rhine. The struggle has
been pushed to a terrible extreme ; but Franca is a nation
full of noble impulses, and if she is not to be subdued by
force, she may be won by kindness.

CAN PARIS BE SAVED?

Reviewing the strength and position of the armies of
France, the Standard remarks :—The military situation
in France developes rapidly. Paris is still, no doubt, the
point round which centres the main interest of the war,
and it is in its probable bearing upon the fate of the be.
sieged capital that each movement of the armies in the'
field must even yet be primarily considered; but this is no
longer the only test by which they must be measured,
and still less can we pass them by as comparatively,
unimportant, and base our estimate of the military pros-
pects of the war on the position of Paris alone. The;
area of the actual fighting is at this moment larger than
it has ever been. Nor does this enlargement at all arise.
from any extension of the amount of territory occupied
or threatened by the Prussian troops, which, on the'
contrary, has rather contracted. It arises solely
from increased movement on the part of France.
The almost superhuman efforts of both Government
and nation in improvising and organising troops are at
length bearing their fruit. The long series of disasters is
teaching her generals their work, and weeding out the in
competent and the weak. The costly but effective process
of hard fighting is turning her raw levies into soldiers
who can already measure themselves fearlessly man to
man with their veteran foe. The chaos of independent
commands and conflicting tactics has settled down
into one general plan of operation, and the result is a
combined movement along the whole German front, not
actually protected by neutral territory, far exceeding both
in magnitude and importance any previous operation of the
war. And, finally, in Paris it,elf the situation, though
anxious, is by no means desperate. Time is of course
wearing on, and the sufferings of the heroic city must
needs be on the increase. The day must come at last,
when—if still unrelieved --Paris must fall, and no one can
now venture to say how near that day may be. But there
it at least good reason to hope that it may not b? yet,
nor is it by any means impossible that the relief may even
now be in time. Regarded as a whole, we do not believe
that the military situation has ever been so hope-
ful for France. Nor is it only to the friends
of France that the future appears thus hope-
ful for her. Every movement of the Prus-
sian troops shews how serious the crisis is felt to be.
A very few days may now make a startling change in the
position of affairs. 'We are on the eve of great events.
There is good ground for hope that they may be—as we
most earnestly trust they will be—the commencement of
a new and glorious era, for the arms of France.

OUGHT ENGLAND TO SEE FRANCE CRUSHED ?

Referring to an article that has been published in the
Journal du Havre by M. Chevalier, the Telegraph remarks
—The occupation of Paris by the Muscovite would be the
coup de grace, says M. Chevalier, to our traditional policy,
and a perpetual menace to our Indian Empire. France
is our only possible ally upon the Continent, and if she
be crushed England remains isolated. M. Chevalier denies
that we have any right, letting alone our interest, " to
see France crushed." Let neither the French nor
any other foreign people commit the absurd mistake of
supposing that the " war spirit" is gone out of English
blood. We were once known pretty generally as the
hardest fighting race in the world, and the " old Adam"
is among us still, so ready to be called forth that
the reasons must be prodigiously strong which keep
us peaceful when blows are being dealt abroad.
And the reasons are prodigiously strong ; other-
wise our Ministry would not have been able to keep
this terrible war from extending over the entire civilised
world. One word arousing our sense of honour, and
carrying with it the accent of right and justice, will always
awake England from her apathy ; and the wisest soldiers of
Europe know very well that, even as we stand, the inva-
sion of this country is but a madman's dream. There
are conceivable circumstances, too, in obedience to
which we should give life and blood and gold as
freely abroad as at home ; but what, in reality, is the
cause for which M. Chevalier wants us to participate in
the existing fray ? It is nothing more nor less than " the
balance of power." Now, the fatal error of France has
been that this phantom has ever loomed before her eyes.
Her jealousy of the growth of Germany was jealousy against
natural law. France 'shouldapne a
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tc. foughto n
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Chevalier and his countrymen naturally call it " crushing
France," when Von Moltke destroys her military
armaments and discomfits her passion for •
" glory," we cannot thus confound the true and
the false greatness of that nation. If France be not
dismembered, all that can be " crushed " is that which
appertained to the old and persistent idea of warlike in-
fluence, her armed force. France cannot and could not be
"crushed ;" her genius, her gifts, her mission in humanity
are necessary to the world, and, fortunately for it, they
are immortal,

The John Bull says the Bishop of Melbourne is,
no doubt, a sincere man; but a greater bigot never
lived.

There are 115 original applications for admission
as attorneys this term. Upwards of 10,000 are on bile
rolls.

Mrs. Moffat, wile of the Rev. Robert Moffat, the
well-known African missionary, died on Monday night of
bronchitis, at the age of 76. •

Archdeacon Denison is fairly on the road to per-
fect convalescence, and hopes to take his seat in Convoca-
tion at its reopening next month.
In a case heard before the ju Ige of the Birken-
head County Court, sitting in bankruptcy, on Monday,
mthaegriestwraetreessoamree revelationssenletimes j
asm it)oosetdhe way
upon at
which the
dummies,
licenses.
One man, by means of obtained five

OUR COTEMPORARIES---This Morning

TILE REIGN OF DELUSION.
The Times, referring to the conflicts that have lately
taken place between Chanzy, Bourbaki, Prince Frederick
Charles, and Von Werder, says :—All these engagements
however, may be only preliminary to more serious en-
counters. The Germans seem to be aware of
the danger which may threaten them in these
Eastern districts, as we are told that reinforcements
to the amount of 59,099 men are coining from Alsace,
and Von \Verde,- is to be superseded in his supreme
command by Manteuffel, who loaves V.);t Goebel].
in his place to coafront.Faillierbe in the North. Of Faid-
herbe himself nothing it:lp Jr ta!t t ha; been heard for
several days beyond his loss of Neonne. Sneh, as far as
we can make out, is the intelligence Mae), a-; we learn
from Bordeaux telegrams, has been cenve.‘,l by e Levier
pigeons to Paris, and is said to have eleeritled the be-
seiged citizens. Probably there is only as much ground
for the alleged joy of the Parisiaa; as there is for
the " happy and glorious news " which is said to have
given rise to it. Paris and Bordeaux, as usual, are.
playing into each other's hands. Tile reign of delusion-
and mystification is evidently not over, and will in all
probability continue as long as the investment of Paris,
and even survive its fall. With Chanzy "at
twelve leagues' distance from Paris," Faidlierbe " victo-
rious in the North," and Bourbaki "on the- point of
crushing Von Werder, and raising the siege of Belfort,"
the Parisians may certainly endure a little longer, and
submit to a few days more of fire and starvation. But,
unless we are greatly mistaken, matters are by no means
such as they are reported to the Parisians. The victory
hitherto seems to us to have been invariably on the Ger-
man side.