The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-20 00:00:00

THE CAUSE OF THE DECLARATION.

PARIS, MONDAY.
There is a visible decline, it would not be well to say in
popular enthusiasm, but certainly in the outward and
visible signs thereof. People cannot always be
singing the' " Marseillaise," inspiriting air though
it be. Moreover, it is no longer a forbidden
ditty, which is a sufficient reason - for its falling
into discredit. Newspapers which contain nothing, can-
not furnish food for endless excitement, nor is the empty-
ing of bocks to the confusion of Bismarck a performance
that can last for ever. There is at present a sad lack of
interesting intelligence ; there has been no fighting, and
the news of troops moving to the frontier is very sparse,
nor, indeed, is the fact that this regiment
of Dragoons has started from Paris, or that that regiment
of Chasseurs is rapidly coming home from Algeria, at all
a matter to get frantic over. Until the main army of
action gets into order on the frontier—a task which will
require about a week—we are likely here to suffer from
that reaction which always follows a state of preternatural
excitement. There is, however, one topic of interest
which may probably develop into a question of serious
importance. It is the attitude of the British press. The
Vrench are seriously offended at the stern condemnation
which has been measured out to them from across the
Channel. They declared that they had the sympathy of
Europe with them. They speedily find that the reverse
is the case. The Telegraph gives the proceedings of this
Government a sort of modified support ; but with this
exception, which will give no great surprise, the British
press speaks in terms of the most unmeasured blame.
The Times is a special offender. It dubbed the
declaration of war the greatest crime of the cen-
tury, and though this is no stronger indignation
than that shewn by other British papers—no stronger
than that shewn by most of them, it has attracted especial
attention. The French think much of the Times. It has
a great name. It is of great size. They believe, rightly
or wrongly, that it represents the views of one at least,
perhaps two, of the Cabinet Ministers. Hence the wrath
with which the whole British press is assailed falls
with especial weight upon " the Thunderer." It is spoken
of in every café, raved against in every knot of talkers.
The war fever is still so violent that advocates of peace
meet with scant justice. M. Thiers, who condemned the
war as unjust, was assailed in his house by au in-
furiated mob. How, then, are the English newspaper
writers likely to fare when they not only condemn the
war as unjust, but stigmatise it as a. crime?

How far are these accusations true? It is to be feared
that there is but small effectual answer to them. The
French urge that the war was forced upon them by
Prussia, and M. 011ivier has declared that the King
of Prussia not only refused to give any gua
rantee that the candidature would not be resumed,
but actually regretted its withdrawal, and sanctioned- its
resumption. But the Germans say the very reverse, and
there is no special reason why one nation should be be-
lieved in preference to another. The Cologne Gazette uses
the ugly word liigen in speaking of the French official state-
ments. The North German Gazette—Bismarck's paper—
is at special pains to point out that the French Ambassa-
dor was treated with no discourtesy until his conduct in
the Kurgarden became unbearable. Then all that hap-
pened was a courteous refusal on the part of the king
to engage in any further conversation with the French
representative. It is true that the King
persistently declined to order Prince Leopold to
withdraw his candidature. But Prince Leopold
himself withdrew it, and this surely ought to have put an
end to the warlike situation. The King himself was
hardly called upon to interfere, for, in fact, the traditions
of the Hohenzollern House give him no power of this
kind over a Prince who is merely related to him in name.
The Cologne Gazette, indeed, says that King
William, as soon as he heard of the proposi-
tion, dissuaded Prince Leopold from accepting ;
and when the Prince, after twice declining the
candidature, allowed himself, on the third occasion, to be
over-persuaded by the Spanish agents, he, having already
accepted the nomination, acquainted the King, as an act
of courtesy, of his resolution, whereupon the King was
unfavourably moved. In any event, the withdrawal
of the candidature was all that could reasonably
be expected of a great nation. It was not
likely that King William would humbly crave the
forgiveness of Napoleon 111. So clearly did it appea,
that the casus belli, if there ever was one, was withdrawn
that the Debats and the Temps here both came out with
articles confident in the assurance of peace, in the most
blissful unconsciousness of what was going to happen.
To M. Thiers such a cause of war was
equally repugnant—Thiers, the ardent enemy of
Prussia, the man who thinks that German unity
will be the ruin of France, and who has for years ranked
as the most bellicose of French politicians. Is no meaning
to be attached to these expressions of opinion on the part
of Frenchmen ? In Germany the hope for and belief in
peace appeared unanimous. The outburst of astonishment
at the declaration in the French Chamber was general.
Moreover, Prussia is notoriously unprepared for war as
compared with France. Says the Cologne Gazette :—" And
who ever dreamed of attacking France ? We had armed
forsooth, cried Napoleon's Ministers. Why, up to Friday
night, no man in the reserve corps here, to say nothing
of the Landwehr—no single individual had been sum-
moned to his colours. On the interpellation of Gambetta,
Emile 011ivier declared he knew that considerable arma-