The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-03 00:00:00

A HEAD WANTED.

The correspondent of the, Times at Tours, writing on the
27th, says :—" In the present strange and unprecedented
posi;ion of the country we know little, and can foresee less.
There is a great.clank of arms, much stir and,bustle, great
goodwill to resist, but concerning the power I Dm not so
sure. The levy en masse is necessarily limited by the lack of
arms for more than a certain nuMber of men. It is no use
to fill the streets of the depot toxviiS .with idlers, more or
less uniformed, if one cannot put .a musket in each fist
and fill each pouch ,with cartidges.. One measure you will
probably soon hear of . will be a requisition for all the
fowling pieces in the country. It is difficult to believe
that anything serious can be 'elfOtea by such means. A
million of men thns armed, lint unproVided with a powerful
artillery, could be of no avail against the Prusisian army.
Aud who is there ,to. wield the brava but •onlY:partially
disciplined forces ;paw muStAripg ? look. in ;vain for
head, , for a master mind, "a guicliug spirit, , for. General
whose name shall inspire confidence. We have not evea.
a General in the*GoVernMent- Of National Defenee=iii
that one, I mean, which Sits' at Tours,' and Which ii in
reality the Government of-France.now that Paris is cut
off from the outer world estcept by favour of a lucky balloon
or a stray pigeen. Another balloon has come into-day,
and the aeronaut (who does not say that his car was made
to ' vibrate ' two Miles above the earth by shots from
perpendicular Prhssian cannon), reports very heavy
fighting just as he came away, and that the Prussians
had lost 1(1,000 men, and ten guns—a tale
which finds little credence. Paris, then, being
besieged, has , need of a General, whom it has in
Trochu, but hardly of a complete Council of Ministers,
and it would have been better if M. Gambetta or M. Favre
had come to Tours. The Government here consists of M.
Cr4mieux, a highly respectable person ; of M. Glaiz-Bizion,
an eccentric, who wastes much of his colleagues' valuable
time by the development of crack-brained notions ;
and of Admiral Fourichon. As delegates of the
Minister of the Interior we have M. Laurier, said to
be one of the most efficient members of the Council ;
and Count Chandordy is an excellent representative
of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but, unfortunately
there is not much for that department to do just
after the break-down of the Favre-Bismarck inter-
view. What are wanted are Generals. It seems
strange that now that MacMahon is wounded,
Bazaine shut up,,and Canrobert with him, Lebreuf and
De Failly disgraced, Frossard forgotten, and Palikao
in Belgium, not a military name of mark sug-
gests itself at the present emergency. Can it be
that, with the exception of the three first named,
France contains none but courtier Generals, not
one worthy and able to lift her banner at this
moment of peril ? There seems not one to take the
lead, and we are driven to the conclusion that the
Imperial regime has been As baneful to the military
genius of France as it has been in many ways to the
national dignity. It is difficult very highly to esteem
the mental and moral calibre of a nation which
accepts the Figaro for its leading journal, and which, for
eighteen years, submits to the despotism of a handful of
adventurers, who, while filling their pockets, have finally
led it to the brink of perdition ; but it might have
been expected that the terrible circumstances of
the present time would have evoked some energetic spirits
from out of the numerous herd of French Generals who
would have stepped to the front and at once assumed
the provisional direction, which none would be disposed
to refuse them. Unfortunately, we still await their
• appearance."

THE PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE OF
NAPOLEON 111.

The Journal Officiel of Sunday last has been received
from Paris by balloon post. It contains an important
publication, of which the following is an extract --" The
first instalment of documents, found amongst the cor-
respondence and papers of the Imperial family was pub-
lished to-day. The Government haS believed it to be
its duty to publish these documents without commentary,
and with. that impartiality which appertains to history,
The importance of four of these papers prompts us to
publish them at least in part. The first of them only
proves too plainly the facts so often affirmed by the men
who have at present the honour to preside over the
Government of the country. It is a letter addressed by
M. Jecker M. Conte, Chef du Cabinet of Napoleon
III.: ' Paris, December 8, 1869. Sir, --Do not think
it strange that I prefer addressing myself to you, having
to draw your attention to an affair which particularly
concerns the Emperor. You will have heard enough
about my affair of the Treasury bonds to know
something about it. Very well ; I think the
Government is treating it with too much indifference,` and
if they do not pay Attention unpleasantness to the Em-
peror will arise from it. You are no doubt ignorant of
the fact that my partner in this affair was M. le Duc de
Moray, who had undertaken, in consideration of 30 per
cent. of the, profits in the offair, to cause it to be ack-

knowledged-and-paid --irY the Mexican Government as
! had been the case from the beginning. Upon this
subject there exists a voluminous correspondence' With
his ,agent, M. de Marpon. In January of'. 1861,
these gentlemen sent to me to . treat of this affair.
This arrangement was come to when
,:my house was
already in liquidation, so that everything . regarding it
belongs exclusively to it. As soon as this arrangement
was concluded, I was thoroughly supported by the French
Government and its legation at Mexico. The latter had
even assured my creditors, in the name (.4 France, that
the bonds would be fully paid, and had addressed very
strongly-worded notes to the Mexican Government ripen
the subject of the fulfilment of my contract
with them, and to the extent that the ulti-
matum of 1862 required the fulfilment pup' et
sonple of the decrees. Since that period I have
been constantly exposed to the hatred of the party in
power, who threw me into prison and finally banished- me
after confiscating my property. The affair remained in
this state until the occupation of Mexico by the French.
Under the Emperor Maxithilian, and at the instance of
the French Government, the settlement of my affair
was again taken into consideration. In August, 1863,
I succeeded, aided by French agents, in coming to
an -a-rrangement" With ' the I\lexicair Governthent.
At that -period- •it happened That 'M. le- Due
de Morny died, so that -tire -powerfull protection that
the French GoveiTiment had accorded to` me ceased coin-
. letter by Napoleon first hintsat the secret
treaty. Amongst the letters and projects dictated by
Napoleon to his Chef `du Cabinet, the- folio-whigfettei
figure~.. Itf.throws a ,light on.theilesigns.and the pro-
ceedings of the imperial polity (without date) : . if
France is. to boldly. adopt, thp:doctrines of nationali-
tie • it
s, is necessary to maintain henceforth that
'there is no Belgian nationality With- the' French
nationality, and to establish this essential point
with the French nation. On the ;other hand the-Cabinet
of •Berlin being.disposed to enter into such arrangements
as it may suit. France to entertain with, it, there will
be occasion to negotiate a secret treaty which will bind
both parties. Without relying on this treaty being a
' perfectly sure guarantee, it would have the double
advantage of compromising Prussia, as being for her a
proof of the sincerity of the policy, and the intentions
of the Emperor. It is recommended not to hide from
ourselves, so long as one knows the character of the King
of Prussia arid of his Prime Minister, the. fact that the
late diplomatic incidents, as well as the actual tendencies
of public opinion in France, must have opened their eyes
to the circumstance that we have not ceased to claim the
frontier of the Rhine. To make sure of meeting with
that confidence which is necessary for the maintenance of
an intimate entente, we must employ ourselves in dis-
sipating those apprehensions which have always
been fostered by the expectation
,of: this eventuality,
and the apprehensions .which have . also . been
awakened by our late communications. These results
cannot be; attained 131' words ; there' inuSt be an act (and
one which would consibt in determinhig the'ultirnate fate
•Of Belgium) in concert with Prugaia; 'by proving at
Berlin that the Emperor is really looking elsewhere than
-on ;the. Rhine for that extension necessary to France.
After the events which have recently transpired, -in
Germany this will gain for us at least a relative certainty
that the 'Prussian government will not place any obstacle
in the way of our aggrandisement in the.north.' "