The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-16 00:00:00

I'll LS UN, LON DON, MONDAY, JANITA R 16, 1871.

THE WEEKLY PRESS.

THE' WM?.
The Saturd,ay Review thinks that if Chanzy has been
thoroughly defeated, and if this is known at Paris, the
feeling in favour of capitulation, which is already sheaving
itself in a timid manner; may gain rapid and sudden
ground. France must judge for herself, and it is imperti-
nent for mere bystanders to offer their adVice to yield so
long as she thinks she has a chance of ultimate victory.
But the defeat of Chanzy; if it is of the character ascribA
to it at Versailles, will offer an occasion to France for con-
sidering whether peace might not now be made, and Paris
relieved from its profitless agony. Enough, and more than
enough, has been done to save the honour of France, and
to give a prestige to the Republic, if any prestige can be
of use to it. It is stated that Austria is now prepared to
come forward, and not only to mediate, but to suggest the
terms of peace, and that Germany is prepored to counte-
nance her movement. The terms she would recommend
have been laid down, although we presume that they are
are given with much more precision than diplomatists
would use in the first instance. The basis, however,
appears perfectly reasonable, and as favourable to France
as Germany could be expected to accept. This basis is
that transfer of a portion of the French fleet, and that
payment of a pecuniary indemnity, which M. Jules
Favre was, it is understood, willing to admit after Sedan.
Germany, on the other hand, is to give up the project of
annexing Alsace and Lorraine, and merely to gain a small
strip, including of course, Strasburg, along the left bank
of the Rhine ; and thus that rivers, so dear to German
hearts, would flow through none but German territory on
its way from Switzerland to Holland, and the arrogant
pretensions of the French to the whole left bank would be
stamped with an incontestable and lasting rebuke.

THE NEW FRENCH DISASTER.
The Spectator says General Chanzy's defeat appears to
imply that time is not working now, as it was some weeks
ago, on the'side of France, but rather against her. The
almost unbroken history of defeat is beginning to tell on
the spirits of the soldiers. And French soldiers do not
fight, like English or German soldiers, as well in defeat as
in victory. They respond far more quickly to the thrill of
success, and they also give way far more quickly under the
paralysis of failure. The great significance, however, of
this collapse is in its too probable effect on Paris. Now
that, for a Bedew' time, the hope of relief is dashed aside,
it is hardly to be hoped that the spirit of Paris will again
rally to the emergency. We fear that the result of this
calamitous defeat of the Army of Le Mans must be to put
off indefinitely any chance of relief to Paris, and that the
indefinite postponement of any relief to Paris will mean,
under the existing circumstances of that city, the surren-
der of Paris. Of course, everything may be changed by
the sudden appearance of one of those great commanders
who sometimes manifest themselves in war, and suddenly
turn calamity into success. But for this we have no right
to hope. As far as we can judge the present situation of
France, it is exceedingly gloomy. Paris, exhausted by
long-deferred hope, can hardly be expected to hold out
till another great army can be raised to attempt its relief ;
and that either Faidherbe's or Bourbaki's, and still less
Chanzy's, can do anything effectual for Paris, we have

THE WAR.

THE BOMBARDMENT OF PARIS.
(BY BALLOON MAIL.-PROM THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
OF THE " CENTRAL PRESS."

PARIS, JANUARY 10.

General Trochu's proclamation is generally approved,
and has had a good effect. The people are ready, if need
be, to support a military dictatorship during the present
crisis. They are determined to resist to the last, and this
determination has been increased by the Prussian outrage
of beginning the bombardment of the city without having
summoned the garrison to surrender. There is a general
desire that the Government should act with
firmness in regard to the authors of the
Red Poster which was placarded throughout Paris.
It was calculated to excite the population to civil war.
After accusing the Government of gross mismanagement,
and of causing general misery and death from cold and
hunger, it attacked the direction of military affairs as incom-
petent, and proclaimed that the Commune was the only
safeguard for the people. The present Government, it said,
intended to capitulate when the army and the National
Guard would be sent prisoners to Germany. The Reds further
demand gratuitous rations and an attack en masse, and
the placard concludes with the words " Make way for
the people ! Make way for the Commune !" General Trochu's
proclamation is a complete answer to this. He says
that while the enemy is redoubling his efforts at intimida-
tion, he also tries to mislead the citizens by trickery and
calumny. "Nothing will make the arms fall from our
hands. Courage, confidence, patriotism The Governor
of Paris will not capitulate."

The Government has decreed that all asphalte, bitumen,
oils, pitch, tar, and tan, within Paris and the communes,
or within the lines of investment, be declared within 48
hours. .

The bombardment of the southern forts has been
going on at the rate of about thirty rounds per
hour. The St. Maur redoubt and the buildings near the
Champigny bridge were shelled without much effect by
the Prussians, and the damage done to Forts Rosny and
Nogent has been very trifling. Fort Noisy, however,
has done considerable damage among the Prussian
batteries. Its shells burst in the entrenchments, and
the Prussians were twice observed carrying away the
dead and wounded. The French loss is generally unim-
portant, though several civilians have been wounded. A
shell burst in a room occupied by the three daughters of a
wood seller, and one of the large splinters fell on the bed
between two of them, without wounding either ! The
service of the small passenger steamboats on the river
has been suspended in consequence of one of them having
been bunk by a shell between the Point du Jour and the
Pont de l'Alma. A Prussian officer has been arrested on
the Place de l'Hotel de Ville dressed in the uni-
form of a captain of French dragoons. The pavement
in the courtyards of the houses hi the Montrouge
quarter is being taken up. The Governor of Paris has
visited the whole of the ramparts under the enemy's fire,
and was satisfied with the patriotism of the men. The
calmness and the determination of the people are sur-
prising, and give France reason to be proud of her
capital.