The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-22 00:00:00

87U.

Germans armies meet with a reverse, and he
gives np his claim on Lorraine, and offers France
Belgium, on the condition that Prussia takes Alsace,
Luxemburg, anti Holland, what can England say or do ?
I do not believe that the Belgians, as a rule, are opposed
to annexation to France. Their sympathy for her cause
is marked, and numerous young Belgians are serving in
the French volontaires. The long lists of French officers
interned in Germany who have protested in the columns
of the Independence Beige against the Emperor's resto-
ration are very imposing in appearance, but too
much importance must not be attached to them. I
have counted the signatures from more than one
place in Prussia where I happen to know how many
French 'officers there are, and the names do npt
approach half the number there interned. The cam-
paign has indeed entered on a new phase, and
a very terrible one it is. At present it is literally a war
of races, and is marked by the inevitable consequences of
such a conflict—savage reprisals on either side. I myself

have heard both French and Germans boast of acts
which at another time, or even if engaged in a war
with another nation, they would themselves have
considered cruelty of the most dastardly description.
Will the other natians of Europe allow this to go on?
Both countries long for peace. France would, I believe,
pay any war indemnity that might be demanded, and be
willing also to forfeit Alsace ; but Lorraine, never. And
how can the Prussians expect to get such terms from a
warlike race of 40,000,000 of people? With Metz in the
hands of the Germans, France must for ever be
at the mercy of the Teutonic Empire. Can what
every Frenchman believes be true—that King William's
one object in continuing the war is to gratify himself
with the petty revenge of signing the peace in Paris, be-
cause the First Napoleon signed the peace he forced on
Prussia in Berlin ?

COUNT BISMARCK'S LUXEMBURG
CIRCULAR.

The special correspondent of the Telegraph under
date of Berlin, December 21, says :—I am now
able to send you a full and trustworthy summary of the
Note which was addressed by Count Bismarck, on the
3rd of December, to the Government of the Grand
Duchy of Luxemburg, and to the European Powers which
signed the Treaty of London in 1867. The Note points out
that Prussia, at the outbreak of the war, had declared
her intention to respect the neutrality of Luxemburg—
supposing that France did the same, and that Luxemburg
herself sidcerely endeavoured to remain neutral. The
Gove'rnment of Prussia has scrupulously observed a
strict neutrality ; but neither France nor Luxemburg
has acted in the same manner. The hostile
sentiments of the population have manifested themselves
in the maltreatment of German officials in the Duchy ;
but Prussia does not hold the Government of Luxem-
burg responsible for the bad conduct of indivi-
duals, although more might haye been done to
repress it. The provisioning of Thionville, how-
ever, by trains run from Luxemburg, was a flagrant
breach of the laws of neutrality, which could not have
taken place without the connivance of the officials. The
Prussian Government at the time lodged a complaint with
the Government of the Grand Duchy, and pointed out
the consequences to which proceedings of the kind must
inevitably lead. The warning was disregarded. After
the fall of Metz, numbers of French officers and sol-
diers, escaping from the captured fortress, passed
through the territory of Luxemburg to evade the German
troops, and to rejoin the French. Army of the North. In
the city of Luxembourg itself the resident French Vice-
Consul had an office at the railway station, designed to
assist the French fngitives in reaching their own country ;
and at least 2,000 soldiers had in this manner reinforced
the French Army. The Government of Luxemburg
did nothing to prevent these acts : and the fact
undoubtedly constitutes a gross violation of neutrality.
The conditions upon which Prussia had based her neu-
trality have, therefore, ceased to exist ; and consequently
Prussia declares that on her part she no longer considers
herself, in the conduct of her military operations, bound
by any regard for the neutrality of Luxemburg,
and she reserves to herself the right of claiming com-
pensation from the Grand Ducal Government for the
German losses arising through the non-observance
of neutrality, and of taking the necessary steps to secure
herself against the repetition of similar proceedings.