The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-24 00:00:00

PARIS AND THE PROVINCES.

The Siecle has a strong article on the difference between
the conduct of the Parisian population and that of the
provinces. Paris is the heart and head of France, and
the heroism of her resistance will serve to purify
her from all her faults. After the war her
regeneration will be complete. The clerical organs
say that if the defence of Paris has been as noble as that
of the provinces has been 'unworthy, it is because Troche
is a man of war and Gambetta of the• long robe. The
Siecle prefers to attribute Trochu's success to the genuine
Republicanism of Paris, whose citizens have shevin
themselves ready for any sacrifices to preserve their ideal
In the provinces we have the towns and the rural dis-
tricts. The towns have for the most part done their.
duty, and if some have too readily opened
their gates to the Prussians, it was because
their defenders had left them to join the armies
elsewhere. As for the peasants, it must be ac,knowledged
that for the most part throughout the war they *have
proved the real allies of Prussia. Subdued under the
despotism of the mayor and the curd they
have lost all sense of patriotism. What matters
it to them if France succumb so long as their
fields and houses remain intact? What are they to
let themselves be killed for? To save Alsace and Lorraine?
What care they for Alsace and Lorraine ? To preserve a
free and liberal Government for France ? But at what
rates under this free and liberal Government' can
they sell their eggs, their fowls, and their cattle ?
From all this it must be gathered that if France is to be
saved, she will be saved by those who do not consult their
personal interests, but think no sacrifice too great when
it is a question of saving a country.

The French Government have begun to "requisition"
for cavalry horses.

The Bordeaux shopkeepers have gone clean crazy in
the expectation of making enormous profits out of the
sudden crowds of visitors. At one cafe five francs were
charged for a duck's liver, the average price of the whole
duck being three francs.
The Phan de la Loire says that M. de Keratry will
soon be reappointed to the command of the Breton arn3Y-
Great deputations of influential citzens have waited upon
him, and he has expressed his willingness to defend
Brittany the day the Government gave him the mission
to do so. Accordingly several leading Bretons have gone to
Bordeaux to cbtain the necessary consent.

The Prefect of the Nord visited the cantonments of the
mobilised National Guard on the 20th inst. He found
the National Guard in excellent spirits, and bearing with
the best possible grace all the discomforts of a soldier'4
life. Their greatest privation was the want of tobacco,
and the Prefect gave orders that this requirement should
be supplied without delay.

An address from the Lyons Commune to the Provi-
sional Government sets forth that the Department of the
Rhone alone, besides its contingent to the regular army
and to the Garde Mobile, has furnished 10,000 volunteers
and that Lyons has spent at least 12,000,000 francs. It
also insists that the Government should be stimulated by the
zeal shewn by the Departments, and above all things should
chew itself to be pitiless towards • functionaries, inerts, or
incapables."

The following is Garibaldi's reply to the offer of a sword
of honour :—" Autun, December 18.—My dear Chevas-
sus,—l consider a sword given by France as the most
glorious of gifts, and you will certainly be astonished
that Ido not accept it. Having closed the door against
all decorations for the brave men who accompany me, I
can admit no preference. At the close of the war I ill
accept with them whatever Republican France chooses
to award. Not before. My gratitude to the generous
initiators of an idea flattering for me and for you. —Yours,
G. GARIBALDI."

A correspondent says that one French general who, if
not shot richly deserves shooting, was riding quietly in his
carriage on the road between Blois and Orleans, when en
aide-de-camp warned him of the presence of Prussians in
a wood hard by. "We will see to that," said the
General, still lolling in his carriage. Presently some shots
came from the wood in question, and then the General
got out, and, jumping on the horse of a private soldier,
gallopped away from his men as hard as ever he could.
To use a French idiom, it court encore.
The Constitutionnel thinks that another argument
against the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine may be
found in the fact that, in spite of the Prussian occupation,
the Alsatians have come en masse to assist in the National
Defence. About 4,000 of them, after having crossed the
Prussian lines, have arrived from different points. The
people of Lorraine have also sent volunteers ; and there-
fore Alsace and Lorraine may be considered to have pro-
tested in the most eloquent manner against the German
annexation.

La Liberte announces that Count Chaudordy has sent a
diplomatic despatch to the Cabinet of the Hague, de-
claring that France and civilised men of all countries
have learnt with horror and indignation 'that the four
French prisoners who had escaped from Germany and
reached Dutch territory were surrendered by the Dutch
authorities into German territory, where they were shot.
Count Chaudordy in strong terms recalls to the Cabinet
of the Hague the principle of the right of peoples, and
that law of superior justice which everywhere protects
courage in misfortune, and gives it a claim to inviolable
hospitality amongst civilised people and in all regularly
constituted States.

The correspondent of the Union de la Sarthe at Tours,
writes to complain of the manner in which he has been
treated. He was arrested on the charge of having been
guilty of acts which militated against the National De-
fence. He was taken to prison in daylight,
and after being subjected to a strict interrogatory he
was set at liberty after thirteen days of imprisonment.
He would not mention these facts if he did not feel that
the great principle of liberty was interfered with by such
a course of proceeding. He will, however, reserve his
defence for a more fitting time and opportunity, but he
thinks it expedient to hold out a warning to those who
have so violated the rules of justice, and renounced the
respect that is due to journalists in a free country.
The German governor of Alsace has issued a decree
empowering courts-martial to inflict the following punish-
ments : For enlisting or procuring enlistments in military
service against the German army, 20 years' hard labour
and a fine of £1,500 ; if under extenuating circum-
stances, of imprisonment with hard labour and £l5O fine.
For defaming the King of Prussia or any of the allied
German princes, not less than two months' imprisonment
or " interment " in a fortress for any term not exceeding
five years. For obstructing any official or soldier in the
execution of his duty, three or five years' imprisonment for
active, and a fine of £3O, or a year's imprisonment, for
passive obstruction. In consequence of the " strike "of
the French judges, the military tribunals are also autho-
rised, until further orders, to try charges of murder, theft,
and embezzlement.

A meeting was lately called together at Vienna for the
purpose of passing a congratulatory vote to Count Bis-
marck, but it resulted in a failure. The Prussian, party
wished to hoist the German flag, but a struggle took place,
in the midst of which the partisans of Prussia were
turned out. A Democratic meeting was subsequently
held, at which a resolution was passed condemnatory of
the course pursued by sone Vienna journals, in defending
the Prussians, whose policy was denounced as execrable.
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BIRTHS.

On the 18th inst., the wife of J. Stewart Hardy, Esq.,

M.P., of a son. _
On the 20th inst., at 56, Rutland-gate, the wife of R. F.
F. Campbell, of Craigie, Ayrshire, of a daughter.
MARRIAGES.'
On the 22d inst., at St. Mary's, Yatton, Charles Wathen,
third son of the late John Sayer, of Yatton, So'
merset, to Susan Elizabeth, youngest daughter of the,
late Thomas Burton, of Madley, Salop.
On the 20th inst., at St. Mark's, Hamilton-terrace, Adolph
Herschell, Esq., of Liverpool, to Anne, daughter of the
late, W. Emerson, Esq., of Hamilton-terrace, London.

DEATHS.
On the 21st inst., at Edinburgh,John Ritchie, Esq., of
the Scotsman newspaper, aged 9.
At sea, on board the ship. York, near Madras, on the 15th
Nov., Ebenezer Thomson, aged 21 years, son of Mr. V•
Thomson, 91, Englefield-road, Islington.

London : Printed by GIDEON ACLAND BOYCE, of
No. 112, Strand, Printer, and Published by hinl
ht
THE SUN OffiCe, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of
Savoy, in the County of Middlesex.
Saturday, December 24, 1870,