The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-05 00:00:00

ffiE SUIN.T, LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, tB7O.

aid from this source. The Ministry of Moderate
Republicans represents very imperfectly the views of
the most dangerous class in Paris. The Ultras only
tolerated the Moderates whilst both parties had
the common aim of overthrowing the Empire.
The Reds have never made a secret of their resolve
to dispose of the Moderate Republic in the same
fashion as the preceding form of rule. And when
we consider the determination and energy of these
men, the capacity for violence enjoyed by some of
their leaders, the fear with which the EMPEROR re-
garded them even whilst unarmed, it appears
highly creditable to the Government and the order-
loving section of the populace, that the formidable
foe should have been kept in order so long after arms
had been given it. But the outbreak has come at
last, and it ought to be a warning to the Govern-
ment. One cause of the tumult was the
•
1 love of its originators for their Commune, another
their hatred of an armistice. Here we have some
clue—though it was tolerably plain before—to the
desire for peace of men who govern at Tours, and to
the obstinate determination to fight of men who
rule in Paris. An armistice or a peace
would almost certainly produce :an insurrection.
It might very possibly overturn the present
Republic, and set up a ghastly Red caricature in its
place. Undoubtedly this is a serious difficulty for
the Government, but it is one which they must meet
sooner or later. It will not diminish by waitir.g.
Indeed, if fresh disasters befall the nation, And
then a rime be concluded, there can scarcely
be a doubt that the existing Government will fall
amidst the ruin. It might' stand at present, for in
Paris,- at least, it has obviously the orderly portion
of the people on its side. It is desirable that it
should stand, for if it fall there is small prospect of
France getting a better substitute, and a very black
prospect that it will get a worse.

FURTHER details respecting the surrender of Metz
are not in favour of BAZAINE'S exculpation. The
very able Daily News correspondent, indeed, assures
us that the MARSHAL will hereafter be regarded as
the brightest star in the Imperial firmament, but
the source from which he will borrow his lustre is
not apparent. The narratives of officers escaped
from the captured army are very unfavourable.
Almost the whole army and the civil population of
the city regarded the surrender as either treachery
or weakness, which was not precisely the
case at Sedan. The correspondent of the
Manchester Guardian, who was shut up in the
fortress throughout the investment, gives very
trustworthy particulars. Ile says that after the fall
of the Empire (the news of which reached Metz on
the 7th of September) it became evident that BAZAINE
refused to act any longer on the aggressive. Ile
had determined to play a waiting game, ready to take
advantage of whatever might turn up. If the Re-
public prospered, his sword might be sold to it; if
there was a chance of restoring the Empire, he
w uld, by keeping his attitude doubtful, be
ready to take advantage of that chance. These
are serious statements ; but it is certain
that the Marshal commenced political nego-
tiations some time ago, and it is now asserted that
he fell into his own trap. BISMARCK, says one
account, pretended to favour the political designs of
the French commander, and thus managed to pass
the time without serious fighting until the provisions
were exhausted. Then BAZAINE was informed that
the capitulation was a purely military matter, and
must be considered as such. This is an exceedingly
probable hypothesis, and with the information at our
command, is to be preferred to any other. It
skews that the Marshal playe 1 a discreditable
parti scarcely unworthy of the ugly word
" treachery." Indeed, there is hardly the slightest
ground for the hope that his conduct throughout
was irreproachable. Still, the Ministers at Tours
were not justified in proclaiming him as a traitor to
all France, without reserve, trial, or formality of any
kind.

IlonacE, hardly less than SHAKSPERE, has an
universal application. Perpetually, during the lapse
of the centuries, the utterance of either poet seems
to have especial reference to matters altogether
undreamt of in his philosophy. It is a constant
surprise to scholarship, and a surprise that is among
the truest evidences of the far-reaching genius alike of
the pagan lyrist and the Christian dramatist. In
the instance of HORATIUS FLACCITS we areremiiided
of all this rather vividly at the present moment by
the reflection that among the familiar words of that
most beloved among all the old Roman classics there
are four impassioned lines exactly expressing the
actual situation at the seat of war as between the
infuriated Franco-German belligerents—the ex-
clamations of HORACE delineating in luminous
touches more especially the attitude assumed
at this most critical juncture by the dismayed, dis-
trought, distracted majority of Frenchmen. To
them across the distance of two thousand years the
lyrist at this moment seems to be especially address-
ing himself—

Furorne omens, an rapit vis acrior ?
An culpa ? Itesponsum date !
Tacent ; et albas ora pallor inficit
Mentesque perculsaa stupent.
The solution of this bewildering difficulty may
happily emerge, after all, out of the now tardily-
pr.posed armistice. The stupor is there, the alarm,
the blind fury, and the criminal perversity, but all
may even yet be dissipated far sooner than
even the most instructed of the Euro-
pean diplomatists can themselves as yet conjecture.
Astounding as have been the various incidents of the
war throughcut, the most astounding of them all, we
cannot help feeling beforehand, will be the abrupt.
ness and the character of the eventual pacificaiion. It
is all that there is left to hope for among the
neutrals, and our conviction is that the negotiation
of the terms of war will, when it comes, be more of
a surprise to Europe than that brought about by the
memorable interview at Villafranca.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.