The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-13 00:00:00

THE BOMB ARDMEN f OF PARIS.

The correspondent of the Telegraph sends from Brussels,
December 12 :—A trusty messenger has just comeirom
from Versailles,, and has brought intelligence of the latest
aspect of affairs at head-quarters. Count Nostitz was the
officer who carried the despatch to General Trochu on the
6th inst., with a flag of truce. The despatch did
not contain a formal summons to surrender, but
put the whole case, as affecting the military
operations in the field, very strongly. The, batteries are
completed, and are furnished with traverses, shields, and
everything netessary to receive three hundred biege pieces.
One night was calculated as sufficient time to transport
these heavy guns from the parks at Villa Cou
blay and Sevran to their respective - positions,
tp mount them, and to unmask . the batteries.
Within a week, it was asserted on the Bth,
a concentrated fir© was to be opened from
eighty batteries on the forts and on Pails itself. The
prospect is looked upon as very. serious. The King him-
self comes regretfully to this conclusion, but, it is
said,.he is forced to consider his soldiers, who begin to
complain that the Parisians are be* spared at their
expense, and urge him to put an end to an
unbearable period of slispenso. Ills Majesty also feels
that is a greater cruelty to starve a couple of hun-
dred thousand eon combatants than to .kill a certain
number by shelling the city. He is, again, much irritated
by Ow folly of the Parisians in holding out when their
last hope of relief from the forces in the field is destroyed
the more, so as General Trochu himself declared publicly
some time ago that 4.Paris could not protract her resist-
ance unless the provinces came to her aid." In the next
place, he is constantly being urged to take extreme tine,-
sures by those upon whose judgment he places the
greatest reliance. Despite these facts, his Majesty 'has
held out until now, but he is believed to be 'yielding. His
eistei's death deeply affected him, The Crown Prince,
whobroke the news, had taken the precautiuns that the
telegram announcing the royal lady's decease, which had
been expected for several days, should not reach the Kinn
by any other hands than his own. The interview between
the King and the Crown Prince took place on the morn-
ing of the 7th, at eight o'clock. No one was• present
besides the father said son.

THE PRUSSIAN ADVANCE ON HAVRE.

The correspondent of the Standard at HaVre thus writes
under date December 10 i—The "enemy is close to
Havre." Last night shots were exchanged at the outposts,
and in pursuance of " precise orders " General Briaud, his
staff, and a portion of the troops prepared to
" replier " themselves in Choourg. To facilitate
that "strategic" movement a huge transport, the
Hermione, arrived in harbour yesterday morning,
and a number of Mobiles were .shipped on board. The
people of Havre, like those of most great mercantile
communities, possess a more than average quantity of
backbone and common sense. Hawing witnessed for the
two previous days the transport to the town by water of a
force considerably exceeding 30,000 men, they felt not
unnaturally indignant at this—as it apiteured,to them---•
desertion. They came to the conclusion that to bring eo
many men with gime and horses from Pont Andemer end
Hohfleur on Tuesday, Wednesdny, and Thursday, and to
ship them off again on Friday (when the enemy was only
eight leagues off), to take them .to Cherbourg, from
whence the Prussians, are 'Upwards of forty leaguesi
appeared like running away. In consequence there wast
a detionstration in front of the hotel where General
Briaud had his headquartere, to` protest against his
leaving, and another on the quay to prevent the shipping
of some field guns, and of the troops and Mobiles which
the gallant commander tneant to take with him. In
some cities of my acquaintance this " demonstra-
tion" would have grown into £ riot, but it proved
ano4ne enough. • A drunken Franc-tireur fired off
a revolver, and the crowd, scared at the sound, immedi-
ately dispersed. A little later the municipality waited
on the general, and asked him notto go, but he replied
that he had precise orders, and^ had no choice in the
matter. These " precise " orders aid not, hewever, affect
the troops under the general's command, us a procla-
mation informs us that he had landed figain most.
of the troops he meant to take with him. I
do not know, and if I did I could not say so,
how far this official assertion is in conformity with
fact. But General Briaud left last night, and the
huge transport Ilermione followed him by this
morning's tide. A great number of troops and Mobiles
have gone to the outposts. The town council of Havre
have issued a proclamation informing the inhabitants
that they had the enemy before them, the sea behind
them, and that they had only to choose between victory
and death, &c. The people of ilavre have, Trona what
I have seen of them, claims not to be treated in the
theatrical style which their administrators seem to affect.
In spite of their being deserted by General Briaud,
they do not despond, and now pin their faith on
Commandant Moschez, of the rnavy. There are
plenty of troops at the outposts—the forts are well
mannned.. The gunboats and floating batteries in har-
bour will, I presume, take up a position in the river so
as to sweep the road from Harfleur, and if men, muskets,
ships, and guns are anything, " the Germans
taking Haevre " is likely to prove as incorrect
as many other Radical predictions. I will not
say that I have a high opinion of many of the
Mobiles, but the people of ;Havre thQmselvee, and espe-
cially the seafaring population, seem to me eletsrroined•to
hold out ; and the sturdy fishermen of Dieppe, Treport,
St.. Wen; en Vaux, and Fecamp have come over here in
-.their fishing boa% well armed and accoutred, and from
what I.lcnow of them I fancy they will not follow the
prevalent system, and `.replier" themselves. without
striking a bloW. The French merchantmen in harbour
have been awl are going out as fast as the tide will allow
them, and the town itself wears a strangely deserted
appearance.. This is hardly to be wondered at, as the
conduct of the Government in retreating from Tours to
Bordeaux has led business people to anticipate an utter
collapse. This Tours Delegation has been called the
Government de la dentenee Nationale. If it be at all
anxious to prove that it does not deserve that oppro-
brious epithet, it has but one course loft it,
not to sacrifice the country by continuing further
a struggle, the issue of which is nod but too clear to
the most sincere and ardent well-wishers to France. The
Prussians are now in possession of Metz, Strasburg,
Orleans, Laon, A,-niens, and Rouen. Their troops are all
over Normandy ; they hold 'Abbeville and Dieppe, and
are about to storm Havre. France has fought in a way
that fullyliretrieves her honour, and the victorious Power
is as exhausted as herself. Is it not time for England to
interfexe, and meet the wishes of both belligerents by
issuing a fiat that this useless war must now ,cease