The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-03 00:00:00

were perfectly sure that Paris would ultimately fall
and that the French armies would be defeated, as there
was not sufficient time to drill, arm, or clothe them.
The most sanguine of these members--M. Gambetta him-
self—speculated only upon the difficulties the Prussians
had, the intervention of foreign Powers, the inclemency of
the season, and the good luck of France."
NEWS FROM CHERBOURG.--A correspondent in
Cherbourg writes :—" Everything is very quiet here,
although numerous bodies of troops, infantry and cavalry,
are continually marching through the town. We have
received an official notification of the armistice, but not
one word have we beard of the capitulation of Paris from
French sources. True, the English journals bring us the
news, but their statements are altogether disbelieved by
the population, who denounce them as canards, intended
to affect the sourse. English steamers, laden with pro-
visions of all sorts, are constantly arriving here. Small-
pox is on the decrease."
GERMAN DEVASTATIONS.-The Times corres-
pondent at Versailles says :—Early on the 26th the
town of St. Cloud was set on fire by the
Germans. The palace was ruthlessly destroyed by
Valerien. The town is now laid in ashes to prevent the
houses affording cover to the French should they be
minded to make another sortie on the Montretout
position. It has long since been deserted except
by the outposts and a few wretched people ; but
it was five months ago a busy suburb of 6,000 inhabitants
with chateaux perched on the slopes around and great
bustle of life in its narrow streets. In one house, hid in a
cellar, the soldiers found a girl of eighteen, who had fled
there to perish in the flames sooner than leave her home.
She was saved When I went out the other
day to St. Denis and witnessed the havoc at Francon-
ville, Ermor,t, Sannois St. Gratien, Eaubonne, Enghien,
and the lovely slopes of Montmorency, I felt
that if making war as destructive as it can be to the
enemy in the field and out of it, converting neutrals
living in the land and non-combatant natives into
bitter, if not potent, enemies for ever, be the true art of
war, the Gemans are masters in the art. Every house
not needed by the troops is wrecked more or less, and
rather more than less—even the window frames and
staircases torn up and used as fuel. This war has been
very fitful in its character. Some towns have been
spared, and some have ceased to exist. Even in Ver-
sailles, on the 19th, under the eyes, as it were, of
the King and Crown Prince, many houses were
broken into and wrecked. The reinforcements of
Bavarians, Guard, Landwehr, &c., marched into the city
were left without shelter or billets in the open street, and
it was cold and raw. The men were told to find quarters
for themselves, and this they did by the summary process
of forcing the doors of unoccupied houses. Why they
wantonly destroyed what they found in the places
where they had been sheltered is more than I
can understand. The Duke would have come down on his
men very heavily in the old Spanish days for such con-
duct. But then " Kertch ! ' When the war is over
there will be a great flood of bitterness let loose. I
confess I despair of any permanent olive tree coming
out of a soil watered with so much blood and tears.
The land will be a very Niarah. The Germans, well
knowing this, will seek to render the rage against them
impotent. The fortresses in their hands, and fortifications
of towns, will probably be blown up, unless specially saved
by stipulation, and the new frontier acquired by force of
arms will be guarded by an extension of the great system
of works which now watch the Rhine. The fact is that
the Germans regard the French almost as the British
'ublic looked on the " niggers" of India in 1857-8.