The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-17 00:00:00

OUR COTEMPORARIES---This Morning
GARIBALDI IN FRANCE.
The Times, referring to the presence of Garibaldi at
Besancon, says :—At this place, as we learn, Garibaldi
has put himself at the head of all the irregular forces, and
will thus lead the Army of Lyons. We have already ex-
pressed our conviction that the presence of Garibaldi in
France bodes no good to the country, and we have now
evidence that his mere name has awakened strong feelings
of indignation and di. crust among the Bretons, the
Picards, and other Western and Northern people on
whose earnestness and steadiness France might de-
pend for her stoutest defenders. It is not, we re-
peat, by guerrilla war that France can hope to rid her-
self of the Germans. Her wars must be fought by
armies, and armies must be led by generals. Bour-
baki's appointment to the Army of the Loire is cer-
tainly a step in the right direction, though it is question-
able whether any commander can restore the courage
of an army which has just sustained a double defeat, or
whether his presence will make up for that deficiency in
cavalry and artillery to which, as much as to bad general-
ship, those defeats were owing. It would be rash to hope
that such an army, even under Bourbaki, will recover
strength sufficient to recross the Loire and rescue Orleans, at
least for a month. And within a month who can
say what may have become of Paris, and what may
have become of Metz ? The Germans arc already
too strong for the French in the field, and fortified
places fall into their hands one by one, even before
all the railway lines are cleared and their heavy
artillery can be brought into action. It is only too easy
to imagine what will be the course of the war when mate-
rial obstacles of that nature are removed, and when the
forces that are scatterrd here and there on a variety of
minor enterprises can combine in one effort for the attain-
ment of their main object.
THE FALL OF BOISSONS.
The Daily News remarks that the fall of Soissons has
been accomplished according to what has now become the
understood formula of German procedure before a forti-
fied city. First they " bounced" it, then they pelted
it with field artillery, and next they invested it
and repulsed several sorties. At length, when all
these measures had failed, they took the trouble to
bring up their great guns, and then, as at Toul, the place
was reduced in a few days. Soissons was summoned to
surrender when the Crown Prince of Saxony's army passed
it a few weeks ago, and its commandant returned a fiery
reply, with the customary allusion to the last man con-
suming the last biscuit. The place was gallantly de-
fended, and it has been judiciously surrendered. There
was no rampart fighting ; the defence was kept up as
long as the artillery could maintain it ; and then a capitu-
lation put an end to a resistance which had no longer
an object. Hitherto this campaign has afforded no instance
of a stronghold being taken by storm. Soissons is the most
important fortress which the Germans hold in the north of
France. Its capture gives them a strong position, where
they will no doubt establish magazines and depots, and
from which they can carry on operations against the
departments north-west of Paris. The very short
time that has sufficed for its reduction, although it was a
regular fortress, may be expected to have its influence
with the authorities of those open towns in its
neighbourhood which the Germans are proposing
to visits The solicitude of the German
Commanders for the acquisition of fortified places
does not promise an early termination of the war. The
capitulation of Soissons in 1814 precipitated the fall of
Napoleon, but the Great Emperor had not an army at
Paris sheltered by fortifications.

THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY.
The Telegraph, speaking of the non-election of the Con-
stituent Assembly, says :—Whatever else may be the
defects of the national character, it is assuredly not
wanting in patriotic passion ; and at the present
moment the one desire, with Frenchmen of every
province and party, is to preserve the integrity
of their country. If, therefore, elections had been now
held, we believe the instinct of every department would
have been to return men pledged to the support of the
existing Government until the close of the war.
Thus, if the Constituent Assembly had met, the
Government would have acquired the inestim-
able advantage of being recognised, both abroad
and at home, as the accepted Executive of the
Republic. It is true that Paris and the provinces
occupied by the Prussian forces would have been virtually
unrepresented ; but, then, no one doubts that Paris,
Alsace, Lorraine, and Champagne are eager to uphold the
integrity of France ; and, therefore, an Assembly
returned by the provinces outside the actual
seat of war would have been able to speak with
as much weight on the issue of resistance or concession
as a body in which the whole of the country was directly
represented. We entirely disbelieve Count Bismarck's
theory that any such Assembly would sue for terms of
peace at present; but if that should prove to be the temper
of the delegates, it would only show that Paris was
not entitled to speak in the name of the entire na-
tion. Unfortunately, in France itself the adjournment
of the elections will not be ascribed to any official fear
lest a freely-elected Chamber should fail to support the
war, but to a suspicion that such a body would not
look favourably on the Republic as a permanent
system of Government. And a belief that
the Committee of Public Defence have for-
bidden the meeting of the Chamber because
they are afraid of some anti-Republican de-
monstration on its part, is calculated to damp
very seriously the national enthusiasm for the war.
Down to this time exhibitions of patriotic feeling
on the part of the provinces have abounded, but
there has been no national uprising. What is
wanted is, some power to concentrate all the vast energies
of the nation into one direction—some recognised con-
stituted authority, which would say, "We act in the
name and interests of no party, no faction, no dynasty,
but in the name of France."
THE UNION OF THE GERMAN STATES.
The Standard says the union of all the German States in
a Federation, of which the King of Prussia will be the
chief, and in which the majority of the nation, or the
rulers who speak in the name of that majority, shall deter-
mine its policy, is the common object bf all the Govern-
ments and of the mass of the people. But how is the end
to be attained. How are the southern kingdoms to be
brought into such a Federation ? There are two ways,
each of which has its advocates. They may enter the
existing North German Confederation, accepting all its
institutions, and taking just the position in it relatively
to their population, &c., as the present members do ; or,
after having obtained certain changes in that constitu-
tion which give them a privileged position, allowing
them to retain some portion of the sovereignty the
original members of the Confederation have surrendered,
or attributing to them a voice and vote in the Federal
Council, if not in the Parliament, larger than that which,
as a question of arithmetic, they would be entitled to
demand. On the other hand, they may agree with the
Government of the North German Confederation upon the
outlines of the constitution of a new Federal State, and that
constitution having been submitted to a Parfiament
elected ad hoc from the South as well as the North, might
be proclaimed as the constitution of united Germany.
The great bulk of the people of the South and all the
Radicals of the North would prefer the latter process. It
would soothe the feelings of the former to see Prussia
profess to dissolve into Germany, and they have
the same itching as the Radicals of the North for the dis-
cussion and declaration of fundamental rights. The con-
stitution of the North German Parliament satisfies no
theoretical Radical, and must appear a very maimed and
paltry-charter to any practical Liberal. It is a com-
promise not only between the ambition of Prussia and
the instinct of self-preservation in the smaller States,
but between universal suffrage and divine right,
between the claims of a people to govern themselves and
decide what shall be the policy pursued in their name,
and a King and his Ministers who have made up their
minds to keep that power in their own hands. Well,
the Prussian Radicals would like to substitute for this
document a beautiful new constitution, in which all
the great principles of civil and religious, or
rather irreligious liberty are sonorously expressed, and all
those sureties are taken for their protection which
are unnecessary when a nation knows what free-
dom is, and possesses the virtues which are needed
to prize and preserve it, and which where that sense
of freedom is wanting are worth nothing at all. It
needless to dwell upon the objections to this
scheme, the least of which is that it would waste
much time, because it cannot be supposed that the Prus-
sian Government would assent to it. The other plan,
therefore, of an entrance of the South German States
into the North German Confederation, which might then
drop the " North" from its title, is that which will most
probably be adopted, and the real question is as to the
naagnitudeofthec
and especiallyoncessionsPrussitoa will make to the two
Southern kingdoms,

meTethinegsphlao‘u.eghheineng
hseelasdodnuriisngtttohwe
paatstitws
ehekeigihntm, and
parts of the kingdom. Messrs. Ransome have even more
than ever kept up the great reputation in which their
ploughs are deservedly held, local men during this short
time having won no less than four All-England prizes,
whilst four silver cups have been awarded to farmers' sons
for the best work with these implements. Messrs. Ran.
some's own man, Barker, did a splendid piece of work at
the Severn Valley meeting ; the furrows were cut and laid
with the greatest precision, and the fine, rich soil showed
what a good implement, properly handled, would do. At
the young and thriving agricultural society's meeting at
Bourn, Lincolnshire, on Thursday, Barker again won the
prize with a very fine piece of work, defeated the cele-
brated Blunt with his Howard plough, as well as Messrs.
Cooke's man. It is worthy of especial note that, at the
Awliscombe meeting, the only two of Messrs. Ransome's
ploughs in the field won the two All-England prizes for
crume work and deep ploughing.—Morning Post.