The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-27 00:00:00

A. GOVERNMENT INQUIRY.

The Patrie says that Gambetta has condescended to
decide that a committee of inquiry should be immediately
opened at Bordeaux to examine into the circumstances
attending the capitulation of Metz and of
Strasburg. Strasburg and General Uhrich ! Finding
no longer anyone to immolate for his breakfast
M. Gambetta has fallen upon General Uhrich, and he who
was two months ago proclaimed a hero is now in his turn
suspected. But it matters little. We also desire an in-
quiry, but we donot wish it to be composed of relations, of
allies, of associates of the Minister of the Interior, and
of war. We do not wish it to be restricted to examining
the capitulation of Metz and Strasburg. We want an inquiry
conducted by men appointed by the country; in a word, we
want a council of inquiry appointed by a national assemby.
Among the_points to be examined must be the following :
Whether Metz and Strasburg, which were not assisted,
could have been assisted ; whether the safety of the
armies was not compromised by. the false statement that
Ducrot had broken the Prussian lines ; whether the Dele-
gation of the Government did not bring about the evacua-
tion of Orleans by inducing General de - Paladines
to make a movement which, without this false
intelligence he would not have ateinpted,whether the eamp
of Conlie was not destroyed by the abrupt dismissal of M.
de IC6ratry ; and whether, by constant suspensions, bur-
lesque nominations, perpetual accusations of treason, and
the elevation of notorious nullities to superior ranks, the
soldier has not been discouraged, the army disorganised,
and the present situation of France produced. But un-
less the committee emanates from universal suffrage there
can be neither judges nor defendants, neither accused,
condemned, nor acquitted.

The three hundred and fifty thousand French prisoners
in Germany are beginning to give trouble. They were
pacific enough until proclamations bearing the signature
of the French Government found their way to the for
tresses ia which they are detained. since then some

have tried to escape, and many others evinced a mutinous
disposition, necessitating the proclamation of martial law
to keep them within bounds.
Somebody has written a Christmas parody on King
William's pious proclivities. It begins—
" There's twenty thousand French laid low;
Thank God, from whom all blessings flow."

Better preparations have been made in Paris for the
removal and treatment of the wounded. On the 2nd
many a brave man who might have recovered from his
wounds lay out all through that bitter, night, and was
found dead next day on the frozen battle-field.
A correspondent, writing from Autun, says :—" We are
curious to know what is the real fate of General Werder.
From Berlin direct, as I wrote in one of my last letters,
came the official telegram that he had been ' killed under
the walls of Autun by a bail aimed by one the legio-
naries of Garibaldi.' "
The French have some reason to complain of the unfair-
ness of newspaper correspondents in sending reports
exclusively favourable to the Germans. Thus, the other
day, it was said that no contribution had been imposed at
Dieppe, and that a Prussian soldier had been barbarously
murdered in a wood. The reverse of these facts are the
case. A contribution was imposed, and no Prussian
soldier was murdered.

GARIBALDI AT AUTUN.—The Daily News corre-
spondent writes :—Autun may now be said to be in a very
tolerable state of defence. I have just returned from a
visit to the fresh fortification works, and assuredly the
time and money expended since our return from Dijon
have not been spent in vain. Batteries, redoubts, con-
tinuous earthworks form an ensemble that look quite
reassuring, and you recognise at once Garibaldi's own
hand in their erection. His eye lights at once on the
best positions, and it is probable that he would have
even extended his labours had not the scant material
and net too numerous troops compelled him to limit his
defensive projects. The inhabitants of Autun are evidently
frightened and displeased to see their quiet, studious city
reduced to a sort of fortress, and they know enough of
the General by this time, to realise that he means fight
and no pretence, especially as he is reported to have said
to some one who observed to him that the Prussians
would probably invest Autun, " Well, if the Prussians
bombard the city, we will send the inhabitants to the
forests ; " which meant, of course, that he' would allow
the Prussians to burn it to the ground rather than yield.
GERMAN PRISONERS IN FRANCE.--A German
paper gives the letter of an English resident at Pau, for
whose respectability and veracity it vouches, describing
the treatment of the German prisoners there. They were
mostly captured in and near Orleans on the recovery of
that city by the French, and number from 900 to 1,200,
the majority being Bavarians, and 200 or 300 being sick
or wounded. The first batch, of 50 or 60, were placed in
the hospital of the Jesuit College, under the charge of
the Little Sisters of the Poor. The next batch of 300,
chiefly sick, were at first put in the cells and corridors of
the prison, no preparation having been made for their
reception, but nine of them were soon removed to an
ambulance erected by French Protestants for French
wounded. Madame Km uger, the wife of the Protestant
minister, takes temporary charge of them, and being in-
formed by a Dutch ambulance surgeon that those still in
the prison were ready to die of hunger she visited them.
They had' been four days on the way from Orleans to
Pau, and had had nothing but dry bread and water.
These typhus and dysentery patients, some covered
with frightful wounds, crawled to her, to get some-
thing warm to drink. Only after great trouble, the Pre-
fect and other authorities being very apathetic, was a
house obtained, in which 22 wounded were placed. Mrs.
G., an English lady, hired at her own expense another
house, which accommodated 14. "Ah, oui," say the
French of us English " ils ne le feraient pas pour des
blesses Francais." All have' now beds, the prison and
the barracks being both used, and great improvements
have been made, but things are still bad enough.