The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-22 00:00:00

THE FORTIFICATIONS OF PARIS.

A. decree has been issued dated the 19th instant,
instituting a committee of defence for the fortifica-
tions of Paris. General Trochu is president, and
Marshal Valliant, Admiral Rigault de Genouilly,
General Soumain, and Baron Jerome David are
among the members.

THE SITUATION AT PARIS.

FRIDAY.

Owing to the wretchedly slow and bad supply of news
we are still struggling here over the details of
the great battle fought on Tuesday. No intelli-
gence worth mentioning has arrived since. Of
course we have, as usual, learned from the English papers
a story quite different to that which Marshal Bazaine told.
The German telegrams claim the victory. The Paris jour-
nals proudly reject this assumption, but it has obviously
increased the doubt and alarm here. In truth, before we
knew that the Germans called Vionville (or
Doncourt) a victory, we were quite sufficiently
depressed by Marshal Bazaine's bulletin. It
alone looked very suspicious. The Commander said that
be had won, but all Paris knew that he wished to
retreat and he clearly intimates that he is not retreating
at present. Is he cut off ? This dreadful question is not
to be set aside by the optimist assurances of the news-
papers. There has been no rejoicing of any kind;
but on the contrary this "victory" has made all thinking
Paris sad and thoughtful. There are rumours to-day of
more fighting ; and nothing can be more likely ; but at
present we do not know where or what it is.
In addition to the trouble of a mysterious and dis-
heartening campaign, the state of the Government gives
rise to great doubt and embarrassment. What is the
Government? Everybody agrees that the Emperor has
virtually ceased to reign ; but if he has fallen,
it seems scarcely likely -that a Ministry com-
posed of his most faithful adherents can long
retain power. If the Empire collapses, the Imperial
Cabinet ought to go with it. And, assuredly if the
Emperor is never more to reign, he had better give way
at once, for the difficulties, the quarrels, the waste of
strength, that arise trom his anomalous position are most
njurious. The mere loss in force through keeping so
many soldiers in the capital, and afterwards, when they
were sent to the front, recalling numerous battalions of
Garde Mobile from Chalons, whether they were brought
to meet the enemy, is most serious. Clearly there should
be some definite settlement. A Provisional Cabinet is
talked of, but it is difficult to believe that the men
who are named for the office would co-operate
a week. Now appears most decisively the weak-
ness of that wretched Chamber of Deputies, which was
selected under official corruption and intimidation. It
will not adjourn,' it will not work; it dare not
uphold the Emperor ; and it is equally fearful of sup-
planting him. At this supreme crisis, the National Assem-
bly is utterly useless. It has no fixed policy of its
own, nor the nerve to take one from an adviser.
The ',Wide takes a survey of the military situation, and
of the proceedings since the 14th. Before that _date
Marshal Bazaine had established his line of defence along
the right bank of the Moselle, from Fauquemont to Etang,
and the length of the little river of Nied. From this
defensive position he watched the movements of
the enemy, and gave the forces under Frossard and Can-
robert time to rally. On Sunday, when Metz had com-
pleted its provisionment in victuals and munitions, Bazaine
decided on the retreating movement along the left bank of
the Moselle. He crossed the river at Metz, and during that
operation was attacked by Prince Frederic Charles
Seventy thousand men of the second Prussian army
fell upon the French rear guard, composed of the divi-
sions of Decaen and Ladmirault. The Prussians tried
in vain to break the French battle line. They delayed
the westward march of the army for some hours, but
they were repulsed after suffering immense loss. The
fort of St. Quentin, which inflicted great damage,
was only armed twenty-four hours before by General
Changarnier, and the fire from that quarter was quite
unexpected. It was owing to this that they asked for
a suspension of arms to bury their dead, which was
granted. On the 15th Bazaine crossed the Moselle with
all his army without difficulty, but this movement, which
was purely strategic, gave to the Ding of Prussia a
pretext for announcing another victory. On the 16th
Prince Frederic Charles, having also crossed the Moselle.
with a large part of his army, attacked the right
French wing at Gravelotte and Vionville. At
the same time the first Prussian army, under
Steinmetz (the conqueror of Nachod and Skalitz in 1866)
advanced towards the French centre and left at Don-
court. A great battle ensued, in which the object of the
Prussians was evidently to surround the French army on
the north and east, and drive it broken to the south to
encounter the Crown Prince. If this daring plan had
succeeded, the road to Paris would to-day have been open

to the three Prussian armies without any forces being left
to oppose them but those in process of organisation
at Chalons. The successes of Bazaine on the 16th
have for the time being diminished this great danger, and
enabled the Minister of War to announce that the losses
of the Prussians had compelled them to ask an armistice
to bury the dead, which was refused them, as they wished
to gain time. The Ist Prussian army, according to this,
must have suffered heavily, but the chief point is that
the junction of the Prussian forces was delayed. It is
said that the Crown Prince passed the night of the
15th at Charmes, between Nancy and Epinal. He
intends, it is said, to reach Paris by Chanmont
and the valley of the Seine, avoiding Chalons.
The complaints of the scarcity of provisions among the
French troops are very numerous. How is it, it is asked,
that the French, fighting on their own soil, cannot obtain
the necessary supplies either of food or of munitions of
war, while the Prussians, marching through a hostile
country, have everything in abundance ? Marshal
Bazaine must retreat from positions he might have held
from sheer scarcity of rations and of materials of war.
This is a very moderate estimate of the week's opera-
tions, and coming from a French source deserves atten-
tion. But it obviously fails to reveal the aspect of French
chances in all its darkness.

The hospitals of Paris are being emptied of their occu
pants to receive the wounded in the war, whom each train
brings in great numbers to the capital. All the invalids
in the hospitals who can possibly be removed are
being sent home. Figaro condemns this as a
highly imprudent measure. The wounded men
have already travelled so far that a little further
journey could scarcely hurt them, and they might be sent
to the other great towns. Their accumulation in the Paris
hospitals is neither wise, on the grounds of public health,
nor of the possibilities of the war, since, in the event of a
siege, it might prove very unfortunate to have filled the
hospitals in advance.

The " Marseillaise " is apparently going out of fashion.
Two young men were walking along the boulevard Bonne
Nouvelle at one o'clock this morning, singing a few lines of
the famous song. The police agents pounced upon another
passenger, who had not been singing, and exclaiming " On
ne chante pas, canaille !" dragged him off to the bureau,
and scrupulously took down his name and address. After
a few threats the man who had not sung the " Marseil-
laise " was released.

The Government ought to do something for the protection
of those pompiers, or firemen, who have come in crowds
from the country in order to defend the capital. These
unfortunate men cannot take care of themselves. They
are spending all their money in riotous living, and hun-
dreds of drunk and destitute pompiers are wandering
about this confused capital.

Clesingei, the celebrated sculptor, has entered a regi-
ment of cuirassiers.

The Empress Eugenie has decided that the great palace
'of Compiegne shall be converted into a hospital. The
gardens of the Tuileries are to be used for the same
purpose.

In the island of Alsen and at Sonderburg, where the
Prussians have raised formidable fortifications, a bom-
bardment by the French fleet is expected. The in-
habitants have fled, and the ramparts are armed with
cannon.

The French journals continue to claim a great supe-
riority in the battle that took place before Metz on Sun-
day—that is, the battle of Borny. They affirm that the
Germans left 8,000 dead, whilst the loss of the French
was at most but 1,800.
The Patric says that numerous Arab and Kabyle chiefs
are offering their own and their retainers, services to the
French Government. The horsemen who are willing to
engage number 20,000.
The Prussian press speak of the cession of Alsace and
Lorraine as the basis of any treaty that may be drawn up.
The organs of the national Liberals propose the formation
of these provinces into a new German State, to be neutral
like Belgium.
The inspector of the Academy at Vievre has received
a letter from one of the professors proposing that instruc-
tion should be suspended for the prosecution of their
country's defence, and that all the schools along the rail-
way line should be transformed into military hospitals.

M. Thiers's enthusiasm about the defence of Paris has
extended, it seems, to the Government. General
Chaband-Latour has frequent interviews with the veteran
statesman, and takes abundant council from him. It
appears, then, that the military authorities at Paris are
hopeful of the capital being able to hold out.
The Paris correspondent of the Independence Beige says
the Empress is very much isolated. The usual fate has
attended the unfortunate. A large number of persons
have already forgotten the way to the Tuileries. A few
days ago Her Majesty sent for Marshal Baraguay
d'Hilliers, to interrogate him as to the state of the
capital. He replied that Paris would soon be quite calm.
" And the dynasty ?" inquired the Empress. " Oh, as to
that nobody thinks about it. France only looks to
driving away the Prussians ; for the rest we shall see."
The Marshal was soon deprived of his command.
The mismanagement as to stores, commissariat, &c.,
has excited the greatest indignation. It has even been
said that it is, after all, fortunate the war has been waged
on French rather than Prussian ground, because if the
French had been led into the enemy's territory no better
provisioned or equipped to encounter greater reverses
than those met with by Generals MacMahon and Fros-
sard, the result might have been the total annihilation of
the army. On the national soil its reorganisation was
possible and the ruin of the country averted.
An English writer says :—" I met an English mechanic
who had lived in Saargemiind over fourteen years, who
told me that he had at that moment six men quartered on
him and two horses. I asked him which his fellow-towns-
men preferred, the French or Prussians troops, as lodgers,
when he unhesitatingly declared in favour of the latter,
as they always paid for everything they had, and
that he had heard no complaints of them from any-
body. This, coming as it did from a perfectly dis-
interested person, I look upon as valuable testimony."
The Progres de Lyon hears the old story from the camp
at Gathonay. The most complete confusion reigns there.
No proper steps have been taken to ensure the subsist-
ence of the 150,000 men at the Garde Mobile who have
been collected there for some days. The pay of a franc a
day has not been regularly paid, many of the troops
getting nothing, and many more only half a franc. Some
who live at Lyons actually take their meals with their
parents, but wretched indeed is the case of the rest.
An officer of the garrison at Neuf-Brisach writes to his
father to say that there are no defaulters among them.
All is as yet perfectly tranquil, but preparations are
being made in the event of an attack taking place. The
commandant has called all the officers together, and in-
formed them he had taken an oath to blow up the place
rather than give it up to the enemy. They all responded
to his appeal, and took the same oath.
A lady in attendance upon the sick and wounded at
Hombourg relates horrible stories of barbarities committed
by Turcos. In the last engagement, she says, they scalped
several wounded Germans, flayed their faces alive, and
stabbed them with penknives. Three German officers
found in this state by their comrades prayed to be shot
instantly to be relieved from their sufferings; their wish
was complied with, as there was no chance of life. Of
three Hanoverian soldiers caught by the Turcos they cut
off the hands, noses, and ears. Another Turco, who had
both legs shot off, crawled with difficulty to a wounded
Prussian, and bit him in the neck ; another, also wounded,
shot an officer (from behind) dead through the neck. The
committed other atrocities in the hospital.
The North Eastern Correspondent states that those best
informed of the condition of the Prussian army attribute
their successes at Weerth and Saarbruck to the acourate
information they gained respecting the movements of the
French troops rather than to the bravery of the soldiers
or the skill of the generals. The army of spies under the
command of General Blumenthal has rendered invaluable
service during this war. As in 1866, General Blumenthal
sends to head quarters each day a statement of
the most complete kind concerning the state
of the French troops, and by this means the
Prussians contrive to outnumber their opponents,
whenever an encounter takes place, Besides this, it has
been arranged that all the German forces shall be concen-
trated in France, in order that the war may be finished in
a fortnight's time, by striking decisive blows in succession.
Orders have been received at Berlin to call out the last
division of the landwehr, and to direct their movements
on France. It is therefore supposed in some quarters
that the safety of France lies in the retreat of the army
upon Paris, and that the Prussians will come to grief if
they are kept for a prolonged period in the interior of
France or under the walls of Paris,