The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-09 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1871

THE temper of the French people is so distinctly ik
favour of ending the war that it is not rash to
entertain great hope of peace. The press, with the
exception of some extreme organs, breathes little of
a bellicose spirit. The terrible penalty, cession of
territory, is faced with something like resignation in
not a few journals. The candidates for the Assembly
are stauding on the peace "ticket" in great numbers,
and even those who would prefer fighting on, take
care to express their willingness to accept reasonable
These are signs which cannot be without
meaning. The nation accepts its defeat; its spirit is
broken ; its resources are greatly exhausted; not
fewer than one million of its able-bodied men are
prisoners of war. To fight on would simply be to
struggle against hope. It appears unlikely that any
further resistance will be determined upon, unless the
German terms are so heavy that to fight would
be less ruinous than to make peace. It
would be much less ruinous it the demands of
Count BISMARCK resemble thos3 telegraphed by the
Beilin correspondent of the Timls. This programme
was not original, for it was first published in the
Schlesische Zeitung, and appears to have
emanated from some military source. 'With
the exception of the CROWN PRINCE, the
Prussian officers are generally in favour of very
harsh terms. It is to be hoped, however, and there
is some reason for believing, that the Prussian
statesmen will be wiser and more moderate. It is
as useless to ask for four hundred millions sterling as
to attempt to annex the whole of France to Ger-
many. War cannot be made "to pay."

terms.

IT may perhaps be prudent to defer speculation as
to the character of the French National Assembly
until the choice of the electors becomes known ; but
some considerations naturally present themselves.
The representative body will consist almost
wholly of men who have never before
sat in a Legislative Chamber, or taken
any part in the functions of Government. The
number of members to be elected is 753 (some re-
ports give 759) whilst the Corps L6gislatif, which
was dissolved last September, was at its maximum
when it counted 292 deputies. If the whole Imps-
rialist Chamber were returned again, nearly two-thirds
of the New Assembly would be new men. But there
is not the slightest prospect that all, or indeed any
large proportion of, the ex-deputies will secure re-
election. It does not appear that many of them are
making the attempt. The great majority of
the old Chamber were official candidates, elected
on a system which made the Legislative
Body a mere Imperialist machine. They were nomi-
nated by the prefects of the divers departments :
the prefects carried on the campaign, and bullied,
bribed, and cajoled the peasantry into voting straight.
Thus an official candidate was not expected to dis-
play any ability ; on the contrary, the more stupid
he was, the greater his fitness for his past. lie was
not required to make speeche3 to the electors, alai in
the Chamber his only duties were to vote for the
Government and to put down the Republican orators
by rattling his paper-knife. There is no more like-
lihood of these gentry finding con6tituencies willing
to have them under a free system than there is of a❑
owl or a bat flourishing in the light of clay.
The candidate who got a majority by the votes of
some convicts who were let out of gaol for the express
purpose of polling, and the candidate who won by
premising one district a dungpit at the Government
expense, and of excellence unparalleled, are not
likely to prevail without these aids. These and
many more legislators of similar stamp have served
Paris to laugh at, and their day is done. A few