The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-24 00:00:00

DUCROT'S DEFENCE.

The Paris correspondent of the Standard, writing
under date October 18, forwards the following letter :
In the Journal Officiel of this morning (which by the way
publishes a translation of Count Bismarck's version of the
interview with Jules Favre) appears a long letter from
General Ducrot, commander of the 13th and 14th corps
d'armee, now operating under the walls of Paris,
explanatory of his escape from the Prussian lines. Gover-
nor Trochu had seen an article in the copy of the
Standard which has got into the city, commenting on his
subordinate's conduct, and had it immediately brought
under his notice. The consequence is this letter,
which is dated October 17, and opens thus :
" Monsieur le Gouverneur,—l have just read the
article in the Standard you were good enough to com-
municate to me. It results from that article that the
German press, doubtless under the inspiration of com-
petent authorities, accuse me of having made my escape
while a prisoner under parole, and of having failed in an
obligation of honour, and thus placed myself outside the
law, conduct which would give to the enemy the right to
shoot me if I happened a second time to fall into his
hand." The general dismisses the threat of shooting with
contempt ; but expresses himself cruelly touched
by the impeachment of traitorism (felonie) made
against him. Ile says he rejected the clauses of the
capitulation of. Sedan which would make his lot other than
that of his soldiers, and openly expressed his disdain for
those who had accepted them. Thus preferring to consti-
tute himself prisoner of war, he admits having given his
word of honour to go from Sedan to Pout-a-Mott:lsola, where
he was told to present himself before 12 o'clock on the
11th September, to the Prussian staff, to reconstitute
himself prisoner. He narrates that he was alloWed to pass

freely by the Belgian frontier to his destination, and that i
he had a splendid opportunity then, if his intention were
such, to violate his parole. But he went on, and ar-
rived at Pont-a-Mousson on the appointed date. On
going to the railway station there to report himself
he was told that the train to convey him to Germany
would leave at half-past one. At a quarter past one he
went with his staff to the station as arranged ; his orderly
officer, Captain de Gaston, delivered up the sauf-conduit
of which the general was possessor, and the baggage of the
party was put into the train. Then came a hitch. There
was no room for General Ducrot in the train, and
the Prussian officer charged with its departure told him
another would be formed later for himself and party.
Here follows the passage in the letter oh which contro-
versy will turn. I translate it in full:—" I enter into
these minute details in order to let it be clearly known
that I had scrupulously kept the engagement of
honour I had taken to re-constitute myself at the day
and hour fixed, and that it was from that moment, that
is to say, after having resumed with my staff the right
that belongs to every prisoner of war to try and recover
his liberty at his risk and peril, that I escaped from
the hands of the enemy. I will not say -where nor how,
lest it might compromise the worthy people who aided
me. But that which I can avow publicly is that I
traversed the Prussian columns and posts in the dress of a
workman, and that in a few hours I got over on foot or in
waggon, upwards of a hundred kilometres (about sixty-
two miles English), and that I got back into the centre of
France by way of Epinal, and to Paris by the Orleans
line of rail—the direct communications being already inter-
cepted."

The French troops, who took part in the affair at
Bagneux, before Paris, on the 13th, were mostly Gardes
Mobiles. They behaved exceedingly well.
The Times correspondent mentions a report that the
King of Bavaria, the King of Wurtemburg, the Grand
Dukes of Baden and Hesse are coming to Versailles, and
that they, in conjunction with the German Princes now
at Versailles, will hold a Grand Council, at which the
King of Prussia will be declared Emperor of Germany.
This is stated with all needful reserves.

A now paper has appeared at Versailles, under the title
of the Newsmonger of Versailles. It is printed in French,
but it is edited by Germans, .and merely chronicles the
events of the day without any political news. The paper
was read with great interest by the population, and the
first edition was-bought up within two hours.
The brother of Count Daru, Minister for Foreign
Affairs to the 011ivier Cabinet, has written a favourable
letter about the state of Paris. He says the men are well
led, and march with courage and decision against the
enemy. "We have meat—beef or horseflesh—for forty
days, and bread and wine for four or five months, and we
have a good supply of cartridges."
The Mayor of Palaiseau has been executed by the Ger-
mans. His house was occupied by half-a-dozen of the
enemy's officers, who came to settle the terms of a requi-
sition. An altercation ensued, and the Mayor, Dr.
Morbre, an old man of 75, losing his temper, drew a
revolver and fired off six barrels at the officers, wounding
four of them badly. The other two seized the Mayor, who
was summarily tried and shot within an hour.
A Wurtemberg infantry company encamped before
Paris has sent the following advertisement to the
Ellwanger Zeitung :—" Villiers, near Paris, Oct. 9,
1870. Housekeeper Wanted.—The occupiers of a
picturesque country seat in this village require a house-
keeper. A person fond of cleanliness and conversant with
cooking preferred. A French cookery book and cooking
utensils are available. The situation can be entered on
immediately. Applications are to be addressed to the
undersigned soldiers."
At the 87th bastion, facing the fort of Bicotre, the
students of the Polytechnic School serve the marine guns
on the ramparts like old artillerymen. With praiseworthy
devotion and self-sacrifice, the professors of the school,
notwithstanding their age, dignity, and position, willingly
serve as simple soldiers, under the orders of such of their
pupils as are invested with the grade of lieutenant.
Savants like M.M. Bertrand, Bonnet, Tissot, La,guerre,
and other members of the Institute, who are Professers in
the College of France or at the Sorbonne, may be seen
working assiduously at their posts in the bastion, which
is admitted to be the best worked of the whole enceinte.

The other night a party of Prussian Jagers tried a
daring experiment near Argenteuil. They crossed the
river in a boat in the night, and crept up to a French
post, which surely could not have been of regulars. The
men were all asleep. The Jagers, who were aware, perhaps,
that any firing or any violent attack would arouse the
pickets along the river, played a practical joke on their
enemies, which the latter relished, it is likely, more than
they would have appreciated bayonet thrusts or bullet
wounds. They took away all the arms, and carried them
off in triumph to the other side of the Seine without
Arousing a man.