The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-08 00:00:00

THE CAPITULATION OF SEDAN.

The following text of the capitulation, of Sedan is
vouched for by a correspondent of the Standard, who
received it from a French officer :

"Sedan, Sept. 2.
"By the chief of the staff of his Majesty King William,
Commander-in-Chief of the German armies, and the
General Commanding-in-Chief of the French armies,
both with full powers from his Majesty the King and
the Emperor of the French, the following agreement has
been concluded :

"Art. 1. The French army, under the command of
General Wimpffen, is surrounded actually by superior
forces around Sedan, are prisoners of war.
"Art. 2. Owing to the valorous defence of that
army, an exception (exemption) is made for all the
generals and officers, and for the 'superior employes
having rank of officers in the military list, who
will give their word of honour in writing not to
take up arms against Germany, nor to act in
any way against the interests of that nation,
till the end of the present war. The officers and
employes accepting that condition will keep their
arms and the effects belonging to them personally.
"Art, 3. All the other arms and the army material,
consisting of flags, eagles, cannons, horses, war ammuni-
tions, military trains, will be surrendered at Sedan by a
military commission named by the commander-in-chief,
to be given at once to the German commissary.
" Art. 4. The town of Sedan will be given up at once,
in its present state, and no later than the evening of the
2d of September, to be put at the disposal of the King of
Prussia.

" Art. Z. Tim officers who will not undertake the
engagement mentioned in Article 2, and the troops of the
armies, will be conducted with their regiments, in their
corps, and in military order.
" This measure will commence on the 2nd of September,
and will terminate on the 3rd ; the soldiers will be brought
up by the Meuse, near D'Yzes, and put in the hands of
the German commissary by their officers, who will then
give their commands to their non-commissioned officers.
The military surgeons will remain, without exception, at
the rear to take care of the wounded."

The same correspondent states that the French colo-
nels, on hearing it, burned the flags and eagles of their
regiments, the soldiers threw their guns, their swords,
ammunition, &c., into the Meuse, breaking everything
at hand, sooner than let them come into the hands of the
enemy.

FROM

'eJ
services, &c. Some of them would fain have accomP3ni
her, but she said "No ;" that nobody should go with ber.",
Meanwhile Pietri wag close at hand, in an inner room, f,
they went off together. By a rather curious coincidenee,t;
three principal members of the Imperial family Were
one and the same time in Belgium, but without COwry'
nicating. —Times Paris 'Correspondent.

ALSACE AND LORRAINE.
A Berlin paper, the VollcB Zeitung, has an article on the
provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, whose possible absorf
tion into the German Confederation is now matter of old,
discussion The principal difficulty attending tiaA„
annexation, says the German organ, is to be found in
disunion of Germany, sinCe every strip of land that
be added to it must be given to one of the existing St3t4s:.
or formed into a separate government. There;
every reason to rejoioe at the wonderful unity manifest
by Germany during the present oontest, and the We P
sgaux. awakened In every German heart that out of tbblood of the battlefield the resurrection of a united God
many may be. accomplished. But the Bavarians
Wortembergers would be now lass than ever inclined
resign their sovereignties, and agree to a single goverun'eoo
of Germany, and. .in the lack of Gerifi
• av
unanimity in reference to the proposed
ere
nexation of the provinces in, question, ti/of
would be no other . way open but to form n'll-,0
State of Alsace and Lorraine, or incorporate them into
existing Stato. Both courses present serious difficultli
To form a new State in Germany, too rich already
o
States, is in itself by no means advisable :a
if the population of this new comer were thoroul
imbued with German feeling. Our ahnl
German unity ; and if we created a rieta
German State, we should create only a new obstacleo
the accomplishment of our desire. Added to this,
population of Alsace and Lorraine, though these
vinces were formerly on German soil, has through ":
crimes of centuries become partiallyhostile to our countri;
We could give them a German monarch ; but tba
would scarcely be the way to instil into el.'
German sympathies. A Government of these l',,
vinces could maintain its ground by express'l
the sympathies of the population, and it is doubt i
if these are in favour of Germany. Alsace
Lorraine as an independent State might easily be decl3rb,
German in name ; but, in spite of this, they viroula,lo
nothing else than what they are now, however strong
pressure employed to make them German. The
culties attending the annexation of the provinces to
existing German State are still greater, and ,10
Yolks Zeitung goes on to enumerate the sPecjiel
obstacles attending their appropriation by either 133, Dd
or Bavaria, while their annexation to Prussia would 4t
most unpalatable to the provinces themselves. Whell'y
the dissolution of the German Confederation in 1866,
question was mooted whether Luxembourg should be bio
mitted into the North German Confederation,
Prussian Government declined to entertain the idea,
cause it did not consider it advisable for any State to lei
corporate a foreign element forcibly into its newly fora
organisation, If this observation of Bismarck
true of so small a province as Luxembourg,
had been a member of the German Confederation
more than fifty years without shewing the least hostill;i,
how much more forcibly does it apply to Alsace and Ir
of
mine, which really might prove to us a kind of Polito'
Venetia ? The mission of Prussia, so it appears to ii°!o.
to weld Germany into a, federal unity. In the solutlii
of this mission, it was pardonable to reject, not 194
Luxembourg, but also a large portion of Austria, 0'
sympathy with Germany has now been manifested t°
fullest satisfaction. In the face of this relinquisbni,..4,
of Luxembourg, of this rejection of German Allsw
in order to obtain a possible unity of the rest of Ger ,'
—in the face of this polioy, it would be a wonderful'
tradiction on the part of Prussia to annex on the furt,lti
end of her frontier, already too much extended, a cenli,e,
which is ten times more anti-German than Luxembow:j
and ten times more hostile than the population of Ger7d
Austria ! Such a policy cannot possibly be advail
as the object of a war which, in the truest selot.
was to be a war for the unity of Germany. Thouo,.o
ful politicians have, therefore, endeavoured to Pre r,t
to this momentous question a more definite inter F
tation. Not the enlargement of Prussia, but the till"),
of Germany, and such a weakening of France 9,51113
make her for ever incapable of aggression, are the elly t
to be accomplished. From this point of view •
question assumes another and a more acceptable she
and we shall, therefore, take the possibilities of
situation into coilsideration with the calmness that3ll
comes a. nation which knows how to conduct its war .1"i
irresistable passion, but also knows how to use vie°
with moderation and wisdom.

TAX MILITARY POSITION.
out
Metz has not yet fallen; Strasburg still holas
bravely; the attack on IVlontmedy continued Yeeter,:ipi
morning; a new Prussian force has crossed the
near Kembs ; and the German scuts have appeared
Valenciennes. To this is limited to-day's intelligena
regarding the campaign. We have as yet 111-0
no account of the manner in which General
Treschow, the King's aide-de-camp sent to Metz to info
Bazaine of the disaster at Sedan, has been receiv of
It is possible that, before capitulating on the receipt
0
information which shows his position to be hopeleo
the Marshal may demand a certain delay, during Whi+bp
he may satisfy himself formally as to the truth of v p
startling news. But the importance of detainieg4
large hostile army on the Moselle, and thus liol5t;11
the Prussians before Paris to a number too let
to invest the oily, can hardly fail to make Bazaine
maturely before he.capitulates. The question for
now simply one of provisions and time. If he need Ito
starve for a week or a fortnigheto come, it is his do":
hold out; but we suspect that, apart altogether Iftet
sickness in his camp, he has not supplies left, If
full three weeks' consumption, -sufficient for many 615'
longer. The resistance which' Montmedy presents
the German attack is worthy of the courage and eedcl
ante shown at Strasburg, Phalsburg, and Toul; 31:j
higher praise could not be bestowed. Strasburg has gad t
a respite, by the King of Prussia4s order to cease firillgAe't
the town, and to attack only thd works ; but the °I."
cornea rather late in day, sinci the city has alreicie•
been most cruelly used, and in great part
stroyed. Probably the molt interesting itenlinl.
a,
the news, however, is the Sub-Prefect of IP-e0
house's announcement that German troops have
seen at several points in his arrondissement, that eS
have crossed the Rhine at Kembs—a village eight to
s,
below Huningen—and that Francs-Tireurs, Volunteeii
and National Guards are hastening to meet thew.
Paris the Guards of various sorts—National, Sederit'7„i
and Mobile—are drilling lustily; and it would seem t,,
the fortifications are now in a state of readiness for t'
ent my. Telegraph.

Emile Girardin, in an article in the Liberte, throe 511
the blame of the disasters since the 21st August on 63
persistent refusal of the Emperor to listen to advice.
According to diplamatio usage °Prince IVletternioe
credentials, as Austrian Ambassador in Paris, 11.:
expired with the appointment of a Provisional
ment. He has, however, been instructed to enter sew"'
officially into relations with the new Ministry.
The organs of the Republican Government are append
for aid to the ancient allies of Frtnee, and notably "0
United States. The Government confidently reckons °t
a republican propaganda throughout the whole oontillen
if Prussia persists in its attack on Paris, and the disinelle
berment of Prance.

A considerable number of the Frbnch Republican
in London have taken advantage of the political annleesc-
proclaimed by the new Republican Government in Fran
i:
and left by the South-Eastern Railway for Paris. °t-erg
are preparing to follow as soon as arrangements o b
n t:
made. Amongst the exiles who are about to retur%,
Paris are, it is stated, Louis Blanc, Ledru Rollin, 1-'°'-
Pyat, Talondier, Tibaidi, and Flourens.