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

-'4

carrying on negotiations that France is ready, whatever may
happen, to perform her duty in the most courageous
manner. (Applause.) The Assembly will form their
decisions with full liberty, as it becomes those who
are representatives of the country, who only consult the
safety of France, and have no thought but for her honour.
(Bravo.) This is what the enemy should know. At the
same time, it is essential that they should be told they
are no longer addressed by citizens who assumed.
their powers during the recess, and were afterwards,
elected by one city, but that we ask in the name of the
whole country, and in the name of an assembly which:
legitimately represents it, that we may have time to.
complete the work we have begun. You are aware
that a time had been previously fixed, but.
the Oonvention stipulated that the armistice might•
be renewed. In my opinion this prolongation
should be for the shortest possible time. We ought not,
to lose a minute. We must not forget our unhappy
countrymen who are ravaged by the enemy without our
being able, in spite of all our efforts, to improve their
position. You may rest assured that their tears and their
sacrifices weigh heavily, I will not say upon my con-
science, for I can declare before Heaven that I am
innocent, but upon my sense of responsibility,
and I am most anxious to come to the encl
of this misery. lam certain that you will assist us to do.
so. I will, tell those with whom I have to treat that the
Assembly of France wishes for an extension of time
short ; but of sufficient duration to enable you, with a full
knowledge of all the circumstances, to decide on the
destinies of France." (Applause.)

THE FRENCH PRESS AND THE REPUBLIC.
The Echo du Nord, after announcing the appointment
of Thiers as head of the Executive, says :—So far as we
can judge by the summarized report which the tele-
graph brings us irregularly enough, the pre-
dominant opinion in the Assembly has declared
itself favourable to a Conservative Republican
Government, and if this desire becomes more'
strongly marked it can readily satisfy itself. For the time•
being the principal question is not to ensure the triumph
this or that shade of opinion, of to bring about this or that
reform, or to practise this or that favourite doctrine. All
this is of little consequence. The great National
interest, which supersedes everything and ought
to silence all theoretical differences, is the definite
establishment of a form of government which will save the
present and guarantee the future. The experience ac-
quired since the beginning of the century has shewn that
the Monarchial regime is povierless to give France internal
stability and security of frontiers. Napoleon I,
after having, during fifteen years, bathed Europe in blood,
left France less than he found her': the reign of
Charles X., which may be regarded as the completion of
that of Louis XVIII., was an incessant encroachment of
the royal authority on popular rights, and ended by
a revolution. The reign of Louis Philippe, often troubled
by insurrectionary movements, was born on a barricade
and died on a barricade. In conclusion the most refined
efforts of a systematic corruption, however temporarily
successful, did not preserve Napoleon 111. from a greater
/nd more disastrous fall than all his prede-
cesgars. ' The deduction is evident. Monarchy is
dead in France. The kings themselves have killed
all respect for the institution, and have destroyed the
prestige without which the institution could not exist.
The Republican form is the only resource which
remains to us. Whether or no it has the
sympathy of some parties matters little. It is
imposed on us by the impossibility of finding any
other solution it is imposed too by the necessity of a strict
financial economy. Whether the Republic assumes' an
aristocratic or democratic form is absolutely secondary.
The Empire affected a certain democratic tendency, which
did not prevent it from being extremely despotic and
Caesarian. We care little though the Republic should
be governed at its outset by the partisans of old preju-
dices, the country will complete its political education by
degrees, and the progress will be made in spite of all
obstacles under the protection of liberty. The vital ques-
tion is that the Republican system should be installed,
that the French Republic should not be again transformed
into a monarchy destined to perish speedily in fresh
revolutionary convulsions. That is all. The tree once
firmly rooted will produce sooner or later its beneficent
fruits. It is but a question of time.

Le Francais announces that the Prince de Joinville and
the Duke d'Aumale have arrived at Bordeaux.
The deaths from smallpox at Lille are said to reach fifty
per day.
- - - •

Active preparations are being made in the Palais
Royal, which is designated as the future residence of M.

il'hiers.

Alphonse Karr has addressed a letter to the Sala
Public, in which, after reviewing the situation, he an-
nounces himself as an advocate of peace at any rice.
General Chanzy is completing a full and detailed report
of his operations and the condition of his army for pre-
sentation to the National Assembly on the first opportune

occasion.
A singular coincidence has been noticed by the French
papers. The war began on July 28th, Strasburg capitu-
lated on September 28th, Metz on October 28th, Paris
on January 28th !
General Von Goeben has given orders that no requi-
sition is to be made on seed sent to the North of France
by the London Aid Society, but, on the contrary,
assistance is to be given in distributing it. The railway
service between Abbeville and Amiens is suspended.

It appears that at the Paris elections only 328,970
electors out of 547,858 voted. " General" Cluseret, who
became so notorious for his attempts to incite the people
of Lyons to insurrection, positively found 20,000 Pari-
sians to vote for him. Flonrens received 42,000 votes,
Blanqui 52,000, so that these two prominent members
of the advanced party are for some reason unpopular
with it.

at
Some statistics, just furnished, relative to the fisheries
Boulogne, the most important fishing port in France, silo
their growing importance, as well as the severe shock he
trade has this year sustained from the war, by which ,
fishermen were draughted off to the service of the ,st%etl
and the most productive markets in the interior, 3of
especially Paris, were for months cut off. The nuraberea
1
fishermen in the maritime district of Boulogne incressblo.
from 3,106 in 1860 to 3,597 on the Ist of January, .03
In the snme period the numbei of fishing-boats Were— a
from 138 to 219. The money value of the fish, fret) 10
salt, landed at Boulogne was 4,658,900 f. (£186,3:450),
1860. In 1869 it had increased to 6.811,250 f. (0'
but in 1870 it was only 4,705,550 f. (2118,222).

sanne.

BIRTHS.
On the 17th inst.,
of
3, St. George's-3quare, Pimlico,*5.
Edmond St. John-Mildmay, of a daughter. the
On the 17th inst., the wife of C. N. Luxmoore, D"'
Hove, Torquay, of a son.

MARRIAGES. Ar'lliAll3
On the 18th inst., at St. Michael's, Stockwell, ‘• 1 to
Lawford, Esq., The Crescent, Clapham-corn
hlna
Catharine Jane, the eldest daughter of J• F. -1.-c
Esq., Walliligford, Berks. vaOn the 16th inst. at St. Thomas's, Portman-sqll—, To cif
ward Owen Tullor; Esq., eldest son of 14(1nr.' daug'""
Esq., of Portland-lace, to Ellen Blanche, onlyf Lower
ter of the late William Henry Surman, Bsq'' °
Berkeley-street.

DEXTIIS. r ~ EA''
On the 17th inst., at Maldon, Essex, George l'xa
aged 83. • 'l'l'e 0'
of
On the 18th inst., William Jackson, B 611;
Penge, and 38, Leadenhall-street, age" ",...............
_--- -
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-1 BOVVrbt
1:

London : Printed by GIDEQN ACL2-1,--1-' by hil'ihe
No. 112, Strand, Printer, and r uhris he Precinct of
THE SUN Office, O. 112, Strand, in
the
Savoy, in the County of Middlesex,
•
Tuesday, February 21, Ib7l,

Count Bismarck has taken the Paris press in hand,
"The tone of the Parisian Press," says he, in a communi-
cation addressed to it, " which is in great part responsible
for this war, is a serious obstacle to the conclusion of
peace; it prevents the French nation from recognising
the necessity of peace, and produces the most prejudicial
effect upon the disposition of the German mind in regard
to it." Figaro supports the Prussian's representations.
A telegram from Paris to Brussels on Saturday says
that a letter from Versailles states confidently that Prussia
has proposed the following conditions of peace. France i'4
to surrender Alsace and part of Lorraine, with -MeV'
Thionville, and Belfort, and to pay seven milliards,
indemnity. The telegram adds that the news was received
in Paris with incredulity, as it was not thought ilk&
• Prussia would put forward such exorbitant pretensions.
The Phare de la Loire says that the Count de Chambora
is living under the name of K Aubry at Grand Saccoues:
close by Geneva. The ex-Queen Isabella is at the Hots,'
de la Pain at Geneva. The Princess Clotilde, daughter 0'
Victor Emmanuel, and wife of Prince Napoleon, is alf,
at Geneva, at the Hotel de la Metropole. Prangins, svittfP
its furniture and all its belongings, has been sold for br,
a million francs. Prince Napoleon himself is movilt
about. A month ago M. Rotion, the PlenipotentiarY,
of the French Republic, invited him to dinner at La