The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-20 00:00:00

EFFECT OF THE FRENOH DEFEAT.

The Times maintains that patriotic Frenchmen can have
but one thought for France at this juncture—" Peace,
peace." The army of Prance is shut up at Metz. The
Commander-in-Chief makes day by day gallant efforts to
cut his way through his enemies, but they are ineffectual,
and while his forces are wasted by battle outside the lines
of his stronghold, famine stares them in the face if they
suffer themselves to be penned within its walls. And this
is the Army of France ! There is another small force
co ,;,,,1 up in Strasburg, exposed to a bombardment. There
is, theoretically, a Third Army at Chalons. It consists of
the remnants of MacMahon's corps, said to number
about 15,000 men, all of whom reached the cam
broken and worn, and wanting every accoutrement and
means of war. It contained some battalions of
Garde Mobile of very doubtful temper, but fifteen
of these battalions have been ordered back for
the defence of Paris. Besides this it comprises
the Pompiers and some supernumerary forces of
the same semi•military oharaeter. What can these do,
wanting the central support of Marshal Bazaine and his
army, and of what defence is Paris capable behind the
fortifications of M. Thiers ? The Frenchman who con-
templates the present emergency without any attempt
to hide the truth from himself must, however unwillingly,
arrive at the conclusion that peace is an nevitable neces-
sity for France.

The Daily News considers that a tremendous responsi-
Vity now rests upon Marsha/ Bazaine. He is called to
du what a French General does not naturally
know how to do. The British drummer who
was taken before Turenne as a spy, and as a
test of his veracity was required to beat a retreat, replied,
"Retreat ! There is no such beat in the British service."
Similarly, Marshal Bazaine may say that the surrender
of an army is unknown in French warfare. Nevertheless,
if he sees no prospect of accomplishing any further object
by resistance, he is bound by every consideration of
justice and humanity to come to terms with his powerful
enemy. His soldiers have well discharged their
debt to France, and deserved to be considered.
With the great defeat of Thursday the war enters
upon a new phase. It began on the part of France
with a threatened invasion of Germany, then it be-
came the defence of the Vosges, and afterwards of
the Moselle. The next plan was a retreat of the
Army of the Rhine for the defence of Paris at Cha-
lons. The Army of the Rhine being no longer in
the lists, a stand at Chalons is out of the question,
and Paris must be defended, if at all, at its own
walls. And thus we reach the middle of a week of
battles, a week, perhaps, in which more men have fallen
by the hands of their brother men than in any similar
period since Cain inaugurated the practice of war. It is
no exageration to say that between the morning of Thurs-
day, the 11th, when the Crown Prince of Prussia
fought the battle of Weissenburg, and the evening of
Thursday, the 18th, when his father won the battle of
Rezanville, 100,000 men have fallen on the field of battle.
Surely it is time to say, "It is enough." Fhe contest is
already decided. If more brave men fall, it will be from
very obstinacy. The sword has no longer anything to
decide. Let it return to its scabbard.

The Standard argues that a siege of Paris is out of
the question. When Europe was united against France
it was hard work enough. Now, when the com-
batants are the German nation and the French, it is prac-
tically impossible. There would be no chance of such an
event unless France were broken by long wars, or
irreconcilably divided by bitter political and personal
quarrels. That she is not so broken is clear, and all
the reliable intelligence we receive shows that
the nation has subordinated all ( they political ques-
tions to this vital one of asserting French honour and free-
ing French soil from invaders. A nation like France
can, if it wills it, clear its soil of all enemies. But, in any
case, the fight is bound to be a long one, and is not likely
to be terminable by a series of Prussian successes which
have very little affected the issue, now that it has become
a contest of the French people for the protection of the
French territory.

The Telegraph thinks that as a military operation no
experienced soldier would undertake to hold Paris long
against an army which could attack it on four or five
sides ; and yet it believes that M. Thiers' expensive
creations, the ramparts, have an ample justification now.
If Bazaine could have cut his way through, they would
have ensured him ground for a great battle, in sight of
all that is most French, and in a spot where defeat would
be most fatal for an 'invading army. Even should the
"Red Prince " hold the Army of the Rhine fast, the
modern girdle of forts might still give Paris and Europe
time to deliberate on the measures dictated by events.
Who is there that would wish to see the streets of
the capital of all the world again patrolled by an
enemy? When it comes near to that the oup of expiation
for the faults of the past will surely have been drained
deep enough.