The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-26 00:00:00

THE FIGHTING AROUND PARIS.

The correspondent of the Standard, writing from Rouen
in the 23rd inst., says :—The report circulated yesterday
of a great defeat of the 'Prussians between Sevres
and Meudon, came through Evreux, Lisieux, and
Havre, and was obviously but another version of
the rumour current on the previous day, which
*iced the scene of the conflict at Ville d'Avray. There
is no confirmation of it, and that alone suffices to shew
,hat it was devoid of any foundation, as if the Prussians
nad sustained a serious defeat anywhere between Paris
And Versailles they would have been compelled to evacuate
the left bank of the Seine, and communication would
nave been instantly re-established. The cordon, on the
z.ontrary, is drawn closer than ever ; it is highly probable
that skirmishing has been going on in the intermediate
cone, with varying results ; thuse we hear to-day
that to the south-west of Paris a Bavarian
and a Saxon corps d'arnge had attacked three
divisions of Vinoy's corps, captured seven guns,
ind a good number of prisoners, and forced them
back "behind the fort."
t What f
Valerien ort ? h
and the
ere are
two on the south-west, he Mont
Fort d'lssy. If the former, it would lead to an in-
ference that an action was fought on the plain
which stretches between the hills of Suresnes and
St. Germain, and that the object of the Prussians
was to occupy the hills about St. Cloud, which com-
mand the Seine and the road from Sevres to Paris.
Those hills partly command the works of Mont Vale-
Tien, but they are liable to be swept by the fire of its
inner works. I do not believe in so close an approach, and
incline to think that the affair was a mere reconnaisance.
The engagement at Wissous seems to have been more
serious. Wissous is a village nearly due south
from Paris, half way between Sceaux and
Longjumeau, and stands in the plateau of
Monthlery. About 2,000 runaways are said to
have made their appearance at Pithiviers. It is said that
the enemy were outnumbered ou this occasion, the French
being 25,000 to 15,000. Isolated attacks of this kind
against the weak points of the blockading
force are quite within the means of the regular
forces in and around Paris, and the facility of
communicating by rail and by excellent roads from one
part of the circumference to a point diametrically oppo-
site gives the French an advantaire of which Groneral

Trocliu will not be slow to avail himself. It is curious to
intice that the report of a French victory shOuld have
prevailed simultaneously in various parts of the
country, it seems to have arisen almost at the same
hour at Rouen, Havre, Goreau, and Beauvais. Havre
had yesterday a very narrow escape of being blown up.
A drunken magazine keeper, enraged at being repri-
manded, swore he would have revenge, and coolly made
preparations to blow up all the powder stored in Fort
Tourneville. He was arrested in the very nick of time.
There was some little difficulty in preventing his being
lynched by the infuriated garrison. There was also a panic
throughout yesterday all along the coast, in consequence
of a report that a Prussian iron-clad had been sighted off
the Doggerbank, where she had sunk four French fishing
smacks. The Prefect Maritime at Cherbourg thereon
forwarded a telegram to all the-fishing ports, telling them
they had no cause for apprehension, as the French
squadron was off the coast. By way of precaution, how-
ever, a floating battery has been sent to the mouth of the
river, and is to be stationed off Harfleur.

OUR COTEMPORARIM3---This Morning

END OF TEE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.

The Times very much regrets that the Government
of Defenee did not resolve to surrender Strasburg,
Toul, and Verdun as the conditions of an Armistice.
Their position was, without doubt, one of extreme
difficulty. No Government, and most certainly no
Government assuming power under such circum-
stances as the Provisional Ministry, can willingly
surrender, even temporarily, a portion of national
territory. They may have the fullest faith in
the representative energies of France, low as
she has been struck, but they ought to recognise
the truth that their faith is in time, and that the struggle
at this moment is against them. Was Count Bismarck's
demand so great that they could not admit it ? He asked
for Strasburg, Toul, and Verdun. The report of his
demand, in passing throne' Paris to Tours, has
changed " Verdun " into " Vrarien," and M. Cremieux,
the Commisary of the Government there,
has issued an indignant proclamation, com-
menting on the enormity of the cl;dm. His
resentment would have been just had Mont Valdrien
been demanded, for the cession of ValSrien would
have been an acknowledgment that Paris itself was on the
eve of capture ; but it is unnecessary to attribute to M.
Crdmieux or any other of the agents through whom
the intelligence must have passed a wilful misrepre-
sentation which was certain to be immediately
corrected. The Government Defence have, by
their refusal to assent to the terms M.
Favre reported, prolonged the interregnum before
France can be represented by any regularly con-
stituted authority, and have, indeed, left the way
open to that disintegration of the country into
independent local units which must be contemplated
as possible should the supreme misfortune —the fall
of Paris—happen. The question as to the terms
of peace is for the present thrust again into the
background. What we have now to contemplate
in the process of Paris being starved if not stormed,
into submission ; but whether this be the work of a week
or of a month, or fail entirely, we must wait till thc
problem is solved one way or the other before the word
Peace is again uttered.
The Telegraph says nobody can watch without pitying
sorrow the thorough Bismarckian process of
crushing the pride and vain glory out of the
heart of poor France. It is the most solemn and
moving example of retribution following upon
aggression which the modern world has beheld.
Count Bismarck, in the performance of his stern duties,
has now only one more page to teach her of the Art of
Belligerency—the page whereon it is written that French
soil is no more sacred than Italian, Algerian, Danish, or
German soil; and that, having made war upon the
Fatherland, France must abide the issue, and must pay
in the same kind in which, as historic precedents tell us,
she intended to exact her own payment. Had it depended
upon England, so painfully abortive an issue would
unquestionably have been avoided. Her part was loyal
and disinterested. By suggestion, by advice, by
anxious projects of conciliation, our statesmen
did all that was possible to close a struggle which
the public opinion of this country had at the outset la-
boured sincerely to avert. For the present our attitude
can only be one of pained and anxious suspense. We
must acknowledge the conqueror's right when
he demands such terms as those which he
avows will secure to him peace in the fu-
ture. Upon him must rest the responsibility
of deciding whether his terms will insure peace, or whether
they will not rather provoke to war by perpetuating ani-
mosity. Germany, interrogated upon that point, answers
with seeming unanimity, that, in her judgment, Metz,
and Strasburg must be had. She must be the judge,
subject to the further fortunes of war—Europe has de-
cided upon that ; but history, knowing no impulses of
vengeance—no hot-blooded lust for victory—will in its
turn be the judge of Germany.