The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-22 00:00:00

IRE SUiN, LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 187 C.

THE MONEY MARKET.

JULES FA.VRE'S REPLY TO BISMARCK.
The following is the full text of the important circular
addressed by M. Jules Favre to the representatives of
France abroad :

CITY, Two o'CaoeK. •
Stock markets dull all round. Consols are unaltered at
92a to 921 for both money and account.
Foreign Government Securities are generally 1- to -1 per
cent. higher, Spanish being especially in request.
Official contradiction is given to the statement of the
Chairman of the City Markets Committee on Thursday
that the Privy Council hail approved a site (meaning
Deptford Dockyard) for the proposed Foreign Cattle
Market. Nothing has yet been decided, but is believe d
a sits will be selected near Shadwell.
The Council. of India u:11 receive tenders on the 2nd
pro), for bills on Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, to the
amount of £400,000. &hem ;rig an increase of £100,C30
compared with the last allotment.
It is announced that the mail and passenger service to
Australia mid New Zealand, via San
.Francisco, which
was commenced in May last under a tempora►y postal
ccntract with th. 3 Colonial Goverr•nents, a R be con-
tinued under a permanent arrangement, and a superior
class of boats, it is said, will replace those now plying
between the coasts of California and Australia. The de-
partures are monthly, either way, and the route includes
the Great Trans-Continental Railway across the American
Continent.

Sir,—When this despatch will reach you I know not.
For thirty days Paris has been invested, and its firm
resolution to resist until it has obtained victory may pro-
long for some time to, come the violent situation which
separates it from the rest of the world. Nevertheless, 1
did not wish to delay for a single day the answer which
M. de ,Bismarck's report on the interview at lerrik.es
deserves. In the first place, I affirm that it corroborates
in all points my account, that portion alone ex-
cepted, which deals with our exchange of ideas on the
conditions of peace—a subject which, according to M.
de Bismarck, we did not discuss at ill. I perceived that
on this subject the Chancellor of the Northern Confede-
ration from my first words opposed to me a sort of plea
in bar (une sorte de fin ile non-recevoir), grounded on my
absolute declaration " that I would not consent to any
cession of territory." But he cannot have forgetten that,
on my urging him, he explained himself categorically,'
and that he mentioned, in the event of the prin-
ciple of a cession of territory being admitted, those
conditions which I have enumerated in my report—
the surrender by France of Strasburg, all Alsace, Metz,
and a part of Lorraine. The Chancellor makes use of the
observation that these conditions may be aggravated by
the continuance of the war. This, in fact, he declared to
me; and I thank him for mentioning it himself. It is well
that France should know how far the ambition of Prussia
goes. bhe will not stay her course when she has con-
quered two of our provinces. She will pursue coldly the
systematic work of our annihilation. Afterhavingsolemnly
announced to the world, through the mouth of her King,
that the only objects of her ill-will were Napoleon and
his soldiers, she abandons herself to the task of
destroying the French people. She ravages the soil,
burns the villages, and oppresses their inhabitants with
requisitions, shoots them when they cannot satisfy her
wants, and expends all the resources of science on a war
of extermination. France has now no illusions left.
The question for her now .is, shall she, or shall she not
exist ? In proposing to her peace at the price of those de-
partments which are united to her by close affection,
she has been offered dishonour. This she has rejected.
Death is to be her punishment. Behold her exact posi-
tion. Vain to tell her that there is no shame in being
conquered; still vainer to say that she must submit to
the conditions imposed by defeat ; vain to add that Prus-
sia has a right to take back the violent and unjust con-
quests of Louis XIV. Such objections are beside the
question, and well may we be surprised at having to
answer them. France does not seek for impotent
consolation in the too easy explanation of the causes
which have brought about her defeat. She accepts her
misfortunes, mid will not discuss them with the
enemr. The very dgy she regained the control of her
own affairs she loyally offered reparation, with this re-
serve only, that the reparation cannot be in the form of a
cession of territory. Why ? Is it because of the loss it-
self ? No, but because it would be a violation of the jus-
tice and equity of which the Chancellor of the Northern
Confederation seems to hold such little account. He
refers us back to the conquests of Louis XIV. Will he
return to the status quo by which those were immediately
preceded? Will he reduce his master to the ducal crown
that paid , homage to the Kings of Poland ? If,
in the transformation which Europe has undergone,
Prussia has, from an insignificant State, become a power-
ful monarchy, is it not to conquest that she owes it?
But with the two centuries which have favoured this vast
transformation there has taken place a change still deeper
and of a higher character than that which up to this deter-
mined the parcelling out of territory. Human rights have
come out from .the abstract regions of philosophy.
These rights are every day taking stronger hold on the
world, and it is these Prussia tramples under foot when
she tries to tear from us two provinces which, as she
herself confesses, reject her rule. In this respect,
nothing indicates better her doctrine than the words
quoted by the Chancellor of the Northern Confederation
"Strasburg is the key of our house. It is as a proprietor,
then, that Prussia stipulates, and this proprietorship she
claims over human beings, whose moral liberty and indi-
vidual dignity she thus takes away. Well, it is precisely
her respect for this liberty, this dignity, which forbids
France to consent to the sacrifices demanded of her. She
may submit to the abuse of might. She will not add
the subjugation of her will. I was wrong not to have
sufficiently explained my opinions on this subject when
I said what I still maintain, that we could not, with-
out dishonour, give up Alsace and Lorraine. Such an
act I should characterise, not as a penalty imposed on
the conquered. It would rather resemble the mean-
ness of the accomplice who, stretching out his hand
to the oppressor, would consummate a piece of iniquity
to buy himself off. Count Bismarck will not find
a Frenchman worthy of the name who thinks
or would act otherwise than lin this matter. And that
is the reason why also I could not see that a proposition
for an armistice, which could really be accepted, had been
made to us. I ardently desired that honourable means
should be offered to us to suspend hostilities and to con.
yoke an Assembly. But I appeal to all men of impar-
tiality, could the Government accede to the com-
promise proposed to it ? The armistice would
have been merely a mockery if it had not made
free elections 'possible. The actual duration of
that proposed to us would have been but forty-eight
hours. During the remaining fifteen days or three weeks
Prussia reserved to herself the right of continuing hostili-
ties, so that the Assembly might have been deliberating
on peace or war at the very moment which was de-
ciding the lot of Paris. Besides, the armistice
would not have extended to Metz. It excluded us from
revictualling the city, and condemned us to con-
sume our provisions whilst the besieging army was
living freely on the plunder of our provinces. In fine,
Alsace and Lorraine were not to return Deputies, for the
really unheard of reason that the question to be decided
was their lot. Prussia thus asked us to hold the handle of
the sword with which she severed the rights which she
refused to recognise in Alsace and Lorraine. These
are the conditions which the Chancellor of the Northern
Confederation does not hesitate to call " very
conciliatory ;" at the same time accusing us "of
not seizing the ' opportunity of convoking a
National Assembly, thus showing our resolution not to
get rid of those difficulties which prevent the conclusion
of a peace conformable to national law, and not to hear
the public opinion of the French people." Well, then, wo
accept before our country, as before history, the responsi-
bility of our refusal. Not to have thus treated the demands
of Prussia would haye been in our eyes an act of treason.
What lot fortune reserves for us I know not. But this
I feel profoundly, that had I to elect between the
would actual position
be
m yc
hoof Franceicei
I p raenf
edr tohuart os
frerriuns Pia,
sufferirussngs,
otuh former
re
perils,
our sacrifices, to the inflexible and cruel ambition of our
enemy. lam fully confident that France will be victo-
rious. Were she conquered, she would still remain so
great l n her misfortune that she would continue to be the
object of the admiration and sympathy of the entire
world. In this is her true strength—in this will
be, perhaps, her vengeance. The European Cabinets
which have confined themselves to sterile declarations of
cordiality will one day recognise it ; but it will be too
late. In place of inaugurating the doctrine of haute
mediation, in accordance with the dictates of justice and
eApediency, they authorise, by their inactivity, the con-
tinuation of a barbarous contest, which is a disaster for
all, an outrage on civilisation. This bloody lesson will
not be lost on nations. And who knows ? history teaches
us that human regenerations are by a mysterious law
narrowly bound up with ineffable misfortunes. France,
perhaps, stood in need of a supreme trial, whence she will
come forth transfigured, and her genius will shine with a
splendour the brighter because she will have sustained
and preserved it from feebleness in the face of
a powerful and implacable enemy. When, Sir, you
are able to act in accordance with such views, in
your relations with the representatives of the Govern-
ment to which you are accredited, Fortune will have
pronounced her decree. When I see the great population
of Paris, which has for a month been besieged, so resolute,
so calm, so united, I await, with a firm and confident
heart, the hour of her deliverance.—Received, Szc.,

In anticipation of the meeting to be held on the 28th
instant, the report of the directors of the Cape Railway
Company has been issued. The receipts for the half-year
ending June amounted to £24,530, against £23,472 for the
corresponding period of 1869, showing an increase of
£1,058. A dividend is recommended on the preference
stock at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum for the six
months, and at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum on the
ordinary stock, free of income tax.
The half•yearly report of the directors of the West
Flandersßailways shews a balance of £9,023, out of which
it is proposed to pay a dividend of ss. 9d. per share, and,
after investing .2425 in Consols on account of the Contin-
gency Fund, to carry over a balance of £906.
The financial statement of the Illinois Gentral Railroad
Company for the month of September has been issued.
During that period the sales of land amounted to 6,011
acres, realising 65,088 dols., while the estimated earnings
in the traffic department reached 870,584 dols., against
total actual earnings in the corresponding month of 1869
representing 979,400 dols.

JULES FAVRE.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—At this afternoon's Saturday
concert Beethoven's Fourth Symphony and Third Con-
certo and the overtures to "Ruy Blas " and " Mireille "
will be the instrumental pieces. Mdlle. Coraui and Sig
nor Foli are the vocalists, and Miss Zimmermann the solo
pianist. In pursuance of last seascn's plan of exhibiting
objects of special interest on Saturday, a photograph,
twenty-seven feet in length, of Krupp's steel works, and
one of the great thousand-pounder guns now on its way to
be used on the bombardment of Paris, will be shewn in
the centre transept this day. These and others have been
lent by Herr Krupp to the company's Technological
Museum.

BREAKFAST. —EPPS'S COCOA.--GRATEFUL AND COM-
FORTING.—The very agreeable character of this preparation has
rendered it ageneral favourite. The Civil Service Gazette re-
marks:—" By a thorough knowledge of the natural laws which
govern the operations of digestion and nutrition, and by a
careful application of the fine properties of well-selected cocoa,
Mr. Epps has Provided our breakfast tables with a delicately
flavoured beverage which may save us many heavy doctors'
bills." Made simply with boiling Water or milk. Sold only in
tin-lined packets labelled—JAMES EPPS & Co., llomueopathi
Chemists, London.—Advt.

COUNT BISMARCK AND MR. RUSSELL.
Mr. Russell, in his letter, dated Headquarters, Ver-
sailles, gives the 'following full explanation of the circuru•
stances under which his trustworthiness appeared for the
moment to have been called in question by Count
Bismarck must ask leave for a few lines
relative to a matter of infinitesimally small snag,
nitude indeed in relation to such grand events,
but still, as I told Count Bismarck, of immeasurable
importance to me, and consequently to the Times,
in so far as its character is affected by the reputation of
its correspondents. I have sent you in some detail an
account of the conversation I had the honour of holding
with the Chancellor, and I trust the telegram I despatched
to you as soon as I had seen him was duly forwarded. All
messages from the army must go by special permission
through Headquarters, and as I have had no communi-
cation from the Ober-Commando's office, I presume
thrt the telegram was duly despatched. * On the
10th of October I saw the telegraph dispatch attributed
to Count Bismarck in one of the London journals by the
very merest chance. I sought Count Bismarck at once;
and in vain, but, riding through the park of the Palace in
the evening, I perceived him dismounting from his horse
and walking towards the hospitals in the Salle des Mar -
chaux. I dismounted, overtook him, and at once told him
the nature of the subject which caused me to approach
him. A long conversation ensued, for the Chancellor
walked with me round by the wing of the
Palace into the Court by the Chapel, and so out towards
the Place d'Armes, " reviving," as he said, " the memo-
ries of eighty years ago," and examining the statues.
When I stated what the telegram attributed
to him contained, Count Bismarck said, " I
never saw that message—l never authorised it;
I never directed your name to be used ; and
I never allowed my name to be put to such a
message." I shewed him the extract, which he read
attentively. "I never would, under any circumstances,
have thought of using such language to you, and had I
had occasion to contradict your statement in a peremptory
manner, I should have sent to you and told you
beforehand." I replied that t.lis was what I
would have expected from his Excellency. Count
Bismarck was then good enough to explain
that he had not seen the report of what occurred at
the interview between the King and the Emperor at
Sedan, but his attention had been called to a translation
of an extract from my letter in a German—l think he said
a Berlin—paper, and that his Majesty said it was not
correct. Count Bismarck laid stress on the fact that the
King bad not talked politics with or to th.) Emperor.
Now, as I remarked, there were only present at the inter-
view that august Sovereign and his captive. Neither
Count Bismarck nor I could have known what passed
except by a conversation subsequently with some one to
whom the King himself or the Emperor had spoken,
or by direct communication with one or other of the
illustrious personages who had been in tete-d-tete
I had no copy of The Times in which my
letter appeared, had not seen it in print, and
did not even know the date ; but I had
a strong conviction that there was nothing in it which
justified the opinion that I had attributed the discussion
of or reference to political topics at the interview, and I
said so. Count Bismarck explained that he had merely
given general instructions to one of his secretaries to send
a denial of the correctness of the account of the interview
in the Berlin paper, but he had not authorised or
desired any mention of my name or of his own. He ex-
pressed his great regret if any w.in had been caused to me
or any annoyance by the improper language in
which the denial was conveyed, and went on to say
that before he had seen me at all he had caused a
communication to be made through Count Bernstorff
(of which I hope you have taken public cognizance
before this), and had also ordered a message to be
sent to the Nord Deutsche Zeitung, of which I have
yet seen no copy. Such, as well as I can
recollect, was the substance of the conversation,
at the end of which Count, Bismarck shook hands
with me, saying that he would speak to his
Majesty in reference to the parts of the account which

were inaccurate. Of course I told Count Bismarck how

it was I became acquainted with the particulars stated in

my report, and his Excellency could at once appre-
ciate the ditficuity of my position. The account
of the interview between the King of Prussia

and his prisoner was given to me without reserve, and in
the presence of a third person, who had previously
narrated the substance of it to the correspondent of
one of your contemporaries, in whose columns,

as I am informed, an abstract of the conversa-
tion, very like my own, appeared before the
publication of my letter. Next day I called
at the Bureaux of the Foreign Office in the
Rue de Provence, and, while speaking to M. von

Rehdell in reference to a letter I had received from

London for his Excellency, the Chancellor came iu,

and renewed the conversation.

This was on the

11th of October, and, on the conclusion of it—his
Excellency remarked that he gave me more time than
he afforded to many Ministers—l forwarded the tele-

gram to Reuter's office, and it was through that agency

the contradiction appeared. I have now only to add

that the whole account of what occurred was taken

iroin the lips of another, and that not a particle

except the writing of it was mine, or was founded
on any " invention "of mine. And so I wish those
who have, I am told, been so exceedingly grati-
fied that " Count Bismarck has given the Times
Correspondent the --," &c., all the joy possible
of the transaction. The persons best acquainted
with the circumstances know well how far I am right
and how completely I um justified. This statement is
due to you and to my own character, and it scarcely
needs any apology, I hope, to your readers, who are in-
terested in knowing on what foundation the statements in
your journal repose.