The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-21 00:00:00

KING WILLIAM'S POLICY TO THE EMPEROR

AND THE FRENCH PEOPLE.

A letter to a Belgian paper makes some comments on
the inconsistent manner in' which King William has be-
haved with respect to the Emperor Napoleon and the
people over whom he formerly ruled. King
William denounced to his Parliament those who governed
France Inon who turned to their own advantage the
just but susceptible sentiments of a great people, and
y. t we may well be surprised at the different treatment
he bestows on those who formed the scheme, and those
who were its victims. To the personage who was at the
head of the plotters,King William sends cooks, and to the
French, who were plotted against, he sends balls, abuses,
and bombs. We may admit that it was
the French who provoked the arrival of those
halls and abuses, and that Germany was in a
state of legitimate defence; but compassion for
the man who receives cooks while France receives nothing
but munitions of war, cannot easily be awakened. He
who wished for the war to take place is at his ease in a
fine castle, well fed, well 'looked after, and cour-
teously treated, , while those whom the war has
bereft of children, houses and fields, still feel on their
throats the foot of the stranger. This is an acknowledged
fact, and yet we are called upon to mourn for the fate of
the man who las made a prudent journey to Wilhelm-
shohe, and found there everything to make life
enjoyable. We reserve our sadness for those
who the war is crushing and molesting, but as
for the Emperor, who commenced on the second of
December and did not finish at Sedan, we see in such a
fugitive not even a conquered man in this sovereign en
voyage, not even a prisoner, and, above all, no great mis-
fortune to bewail when we look upon his unfinished
crimes.

FRENCH SOLDIERS.

A great sensation was caused in Rouen by the '"-

anent that Bazaine and Canrobert had broken loose from
Metz, and were on their way to Paris to annihilate the
army of General itloltke with 7,000 men. In the railway
carriages, the cafes, and the streets, the news produced
the greatest enthusiasm. Officers who had been at
Sedan invited strangers to celebrate the coming
victories of France by drinking petits verres. Nay, so
circumstantial an account of Bazaine's progress passed
from mouth to mouth that yesterday a portion of his
army was said to have reached Amiens, and to be on the
way to Rouen. Accordingly a crowd of people
went to the railway station to await the arrival
of the men who were to save France. But the
train brought no such heroes ; and now it is found that
Bazaine is still shut up in Metz, and that Paris must rely
on her own arms. Yesterday afternoon, when the frag-
ments of several regiments passed through the streets on
the way to the train for Angers, it still seemed to half
believe that the men had come from Metz ;
and, although that was a delusion, the soldiers
had the look of men who had seen service,
and who could endure more. All were young, lithe,
wiry fellows, many being mere boys, and none seeming
to be over thirty. To a physiologist their look of ner-
vous energy, rather than of physical strength, would,. I
fancy, have explained why the French soldiers are the
finest in the world at a dashing assault, and why they are
among the worst at every task demanding patient,
monotonous, stupid endurance. The French system
developes the individual powers of the soldier, giving
free play to his actions rather than turning him into a
machine. Prussian critics assert that, in consequence,
the French soldiers fight like an armed mob. And it is
certainly true that they march with an amazing con-
tempt for military form. They keep neither step
nor line, but dash along at a swinging, careless pace.
Yesterday some had cigars in their mouth, others had
newspapers pushed into their breasts, and two men had
laughingly given their Chassepots to two urchins, who had
shouldered the ponderous fusils, and were running by the
side of the columa in a breathless attempt to keep up
with the swift sharp tramp. Thus does young France
learn the sweetness of la gloire, which leads to military
dictatorships, and Sedans, and revolutions. The bronzed,
tired, perspiring, dust-stained young soldiers could, I
fancy, have made some pungent commentaries on
la gloire.- -Correspondent of the Telegraph at .R,ouen-