The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-31 00:00:00

strongest excitement. , Outside the Chamber the
agitation was tremendous, and the mob shouted
"La d6ch4ancer It seemed at the time only too
likely there would be a repetition of the scenes of
1848, but 'happily, and chiefly through the advice of
GAMBETTA, the crowd dispersed without blood-
shed. That Fame night the Corps L6gislatif met
again. PALIKAd\ made an official statement,
lof the events at Sedan, JULES FAVILE proposed

three resolutions, sinned by himself and twenty-.ix
other deputies, which declared the deposition :of
NAPOLEON, the appointment of an Executive Com-
mission charged t) drive the enemy from Trance,
and the maintenance of Geeeral Tnocnu as Goveri:or
of Paris. The fint thing which the Parisians saw
on entering the streets on that Sunday mor-
ning • was an official Ministerial notice, an-
nouncing the capitulation of, NAPOLEON and his
army. The people by one consent marched towards
the Palais Bourbon,: shouting '6 La dilch6ance!" and,
" Vive la Republique!" The National Guard were
there before them, but they soon let it be seen that
they were not going to fight for the Emperor. In
the Chamber there was dire confusion, so much so
that it is not known to this day if the dethronement
was formally put to the vote. It was no time for forms.
A list of names was selected for a Provisional Govern-
ment. In the course of the evening a placard announced
to the Parisians that the Republic had been "pro=
claimed," and the Government " acclaimed," and
that the latter consisted' of JULES FAVRE, JULES
FERRY, JULES SIMON, ARAGO, CREME U.X,GAMBETT A,
GARNIER7PAGES, GLAIS-BIZOIN, rELLETAN, PICARD,
and ROCHEFORT. The last was a prisoner in :the
political prison of St. Pelagie, but he was
speedily liberated. Thus fell the Second
Empire. The EMPRESS took to flight, and
escaped to England eleven days before the
enemy appeared before the walls of Paris. On the
18th Versailles was occupied by the German head-
quarters, and has ever since then been tenanted by
the King of PRUSSIA. On the 20th the city was
completely invested, and a delegation of the Govern-
ment was established at Tours. The victors had
confidently hoped that after the victory of Sedan and
the investment of Paris they would be able to enjoy
the fruits of their successes, make peace, and return
to their own country. Negotiations were opene I
with the Empress, and the conditions were that her
son should be declared EMPEROR under hei regency,
and that Strasburg and a portion of Alsace
should be ceded, and Metz dismantled. It
is understood that NAPOLEON would have
accepted these terms; but the EMPRESS indig-
nantly refused them, declaring that she would
never regain the throne by sacrificing a portion of
France. If she had been more yielding, it is not
probable that peace would have been restored. The
new Republican Government was resolutely deter-
mined to make no such concessions as that upon
which the victors most strongly insisted. This was
clearly seen a little while later, when negotiations
were opened between the Government of the
National Defence, in the person of M. Jurats FAVRE,
and Germany in the person of 'COUNT
BISMARCK. By that time the German
terms had risen. The victors demanded not
only Strasburg, but the surrender of Verdun and
Toul, and • the• cession of Alsace. To this the
French foreign Minister made the now historic
reply, " Not an inch of our territories, 'nor a
stone of our fortresses." This interview took place
on Septeinber 22. In less than a week two of the
fortresses demanded had yielded in the ordinary
coursd of war. At this time the fortunes of the
Republic seemed to be at the lowest ebb. With
half 'the Government in Paris and half in
Tours, with the cekßvocation of a Constituent
Assembly impossible et ept upon terms which the
French would not accep the prospect appeared
hopeless. On October 7, EON GAMBETTA escap.‘cl,
from Paris in a balloon, an descended at Tours. He
soon made his presence fe by the new energy which
he inspired into the deynce. For some time, indeed,
the course of the war was as uninterruptedly disas-
trous as before. The greatest disaster
of all was the surrender of Metz, whereby
Prince FREDERICK CHARLES and his large army
were set free to advance against the new levies which
the Marseilles Deputy was organising. But for this
most -untoward incident there is little doubt
that the siege of Paris would have been
raised. The first gleam of success was the
reoccupation, on November 9, of Orleans, which bad
been taken by the Bavarians on October 11.
This victory greatly encouraged the Pari-
sians. They sorely needed encouragement. A new
negotiation had been undertaken by TRIERS, but
with no better success than that which was carried
on by JULES FAVRE. While it was proceeding,
an insurrection of the Reds took place in the capital,
and for a time the members of the Government were
prisoners in the hands of the mob. One of them
effected his escape, and succeeded in obtaining
I sufficient military support to put down the insur-
gents and restore order. Immediately afterwards,
on November 3, the Parisians were asked to declare
by a plebiscite their approval of the proceed-
ings of the Government, and this approval
was given by 557,976 ayes against 62,638 noes., On
the last day of the month a desperate sortie was
made in force under Generals TRocnu and DUCROT,
but the main object was not obtained.
The Parisian host did not break through
to join the Army of the Loire, which was itself
defeated at the same time, but the Paris army
obtained additional ground, which it continued to
held at the end of the fight, and which it subse—
quently fortified, thereby rendering , more difficult
than ever the attempt to bombard the city or to
take it by assault. At the present time
it is thought that Paris will yield only
through starvation, and that this will not
happen under two months at , the earliest,
four months at the latest. In the meanwhile it -is
possible that the French armieS, outside the capital
may obtain such advantages that the besiegers will
be obliged to abandon the task they haVe taken in
hand. .

• The war in France has produced the most sign it
changes in two other countries. It has led
to the establishment of the Empire of Germany,
and to the downfall of the Papal Sovereignty.
When NAPOLEON rushed into the war six month;
ago he announced among its other objects the de-
liverance of Southern Germany from Prussian aggres-
sion. Seeing what followed it is difficult to beFeye
that he really credited his own statement. At once,
on the announcement of hostilities, and without a
day's hesitation, the whole of the South German
States ranged. themselves on the side of Prussia,
and followed her lead with alacrity. Through-'
out the war the Southern Germans, especially
the Bavarians, have been foremost in the attack.
The corps led by VON PER TANN has been re-
duced from 30,000 to an effective of only 5,000. The
French Emperor having thus succeeded in shattw-
ing the French Empire, and welding together the
German Enipire by the same blow, it only re-
mained for the event to be consummated by
one of the most marvellous incidents that
history has ever recorded. While NAPOLEON
was still a prisoner in Germany, WILLIAM, lord of
the palace of Versailles, received in the "Hall of the
Glories of France" the deputation which came to
offer him the Lnperial crown of Germany. Tile
pictures on the walls of the palace told how the
French Empire had overthrown the German, and

now the day of vengeance was come—vengeance the
most wonderfully dramatic that the world has ever

The event was all the more striking because
another and even more formidable foe of the old Ger-
man Empireisad just been laid prostrate by a marvol-
lons conjuncture Of circumstances, stich as in any other
year than this would have riveted the attention of
the world. This time last year the i'oi'i
had just opened with magnificent pomp, such es
only the Roman Catholic Church can di:•ptry,
the CEcumenical Council. On the declaration
of war by France against. Prussia, it became evident
that France would want all her troops to defetul
herself. The French troops were recalled from Rome,
On September 20, after a- feeble resistance from the
Pontifical Zouaves, General CADORNA entered Rome
at the head of the Italian army, and the Pors's
temporal power was at an end. Pius IX. is still at
the Vatican, and VICTOR EMMANUEL 'is not yet in
the Capitol. It is understood that the King of
ITALY is haunted by superstitious fears. It is, there-
fore, conceivable that even now the Pope-King will
regainhis throne. Meanwhile the House of Savoy
has supplanted another reigning family, the Bourbons,
and the second son of VICTOR EMMANUEL iS illSt on
the point r f mounting the throne of Spain.
We have mentioned the most astounding events of
this remarkable year, but there are others beyond
the limits of our own country which concern us more
closely than.the fall of Pope or Emperor. Olt July'
25, England was astonished -and alarmed by the
publication of an allegerd " project of treaty " between
France and Prussia, whereby France was to have.
Belgium in consideration of her acknowledgement
of the unification` of Germany. The revelation
fell like a thunderbolt upon the En_ 1. sh
people. • They saw at once the danger which
such a conspiracy as this' involved, inasmuch
as there is no one .foreign obligstion which lies so
strongly upon us as this of preserving the neutrality
of the little state for whose indepen hence we
became responsible nearly forty years ago.
The English Government, which had tor the pre.
vious 18 months been. engaged in reducing arma-
ments, and:curtailing military expenditure, suddenly
found itself called upon to reverse its pacific policy.
Lord GRANVILLE drew up a treaty,whereby France and
Prussia agreed to respect the neutrality of Belgium
with the understanding that the first of them who
violated that neutrality should have England for a
foe. At the same time the Government obtained an
additional vote of £2,000,000 in order to raise time
strength of the army by 20,000 men. The first
measure was more effectual than the second. Hitherto
Belgium has kept free from all embroilment with
either of the belligerents, but not one-third of the
new soldiers have been raised. On November 10:h
there was another diplomatic surprise. It was
announced that our Government had received
from St. 'Petersburg a communication to the
effect that Russia would no longer be bound by the
Treaty of Paris, which guaranteed the neutrality of
the Black Sea and the independence of Turkey.
This event caused very great excitement, and it was,
and still is, generally believed that the step taken by
Prince GORTCHAKOFF was part of a preconcerted
arrangement with Count BISMARCK, under which
Russia was to be allowed to aggrandise herself in the
East as a reware, for her neutrality in the,Fzanco-
German war. About the same time 'the United
States Government siiewe I itself exceedingly un-
friendly towards England, and it was alleged that
General GRANT had gone so far as to 'der the
fleet of that Power to Russia in the event of hos-
tilities with England. The statement has not been
denied, and the author of it has been banished from
St. Petersburg for .revealing what was intended to
have been a secret. The annual Message delivered
by the President at the early part of the month gave
additional credence to the rumour. So far, how-
ever, his unfriendly policy has not been endorsed
by the Union generally. On the contrary,
the chief promoter of it, General BUTLER, has been
discredited by all respectable politicians except the
President, and the only quarter in which it finds
favour is among the Fenians. These persons are no
longer formidable. Their last undertaking was, such
a 'ludicrous failure, that they covered themselves
with ridicule. On May 25 two thcusand of them
under "General" O'NEILL invaded Canada. The
invasion lasted just ninety minutes, and terminated
in the arrest of the General by the United States
marshsl. But though Fenianism seemed to have
become extinct, a combination between Russia,
Prussia, and the United States, or betweenthe two first
only,was sufficiently formidable to cause excitement in
diplomatic circles. Lord GRANVILLE again displayed
mingled firmness and dignity, and wrote a despatch
on November 10, in which he declared that it, was
impossible for the British Government to recognise
the right of any Power which signed the Treaty of 1856
to repudiate it, or any portion of it, at pleasure. At
the same time he intimated that if Russia had any
just cause of complaint, England would be willing to
consider it. The unexpected prolongation of the war
in France having deprived Russia. of the German
military support, upcn which she countel, she deemed
it expedient to moderate the arrogance with which she
had put forward her demands, and the result is that by
mutual consent a conference of the Powers which
signed the Paris treaty will assemble in London on
Tuesday to revise it. The general belief is that
Russia will obtain her wish, and that the Black Sea
will be thrown open to the navies of all the world,
thus giving another excuse for the still further
development of those " bloated armaments" under
which Europe has so long been groaning. But
this will not l e the only matter which
the Conference will have to discuss. A third
diplomatic problem has been raised within the
present month by Prussia. The neutrality of the
Grand Duchy of Luxemburg was guaranteed by the
Great Powers so lately as May, 1867. Nevertheless
'BISMARCK has declared that he cannot any longer be
bound by it„ alleging that the Duchy has itself
violated the neutrality which it was bound to observe.
Lord GRANVILLE had made a similar reply in thi-
case to that which he made to Prince GORTCHAKOFF.
He has said that no Power could withdraw from a
treaty to which it had been a party, without referring
the matter to the other Powers. Therefore by
mutual consent the matter will be re-
ferred to the Conference about to assemble.
It is possible, though at the present time it does not
seem probable, that the diplomatists met to
discuss these two questions of the Black Sea and the
Ditch) ,of Luxeinburg may be able to devise some
menis for terminating the war which is now devas-
tatiog France and. outraging the moral sense of
Europe.

Foreign politics have so greatly engrossed the at-
tention of the most insular among us that our own
affairs have excited comparatively little notice.
The two great political achievements of the year
are the Irish Land and the Education Acts. The first
appears to have in great measure conciliated the
country for whose benefit it was passed; the second
has only just began to be put in operation by the
election of the School Boards which are to supply
the e. ucational deficiencies of the district which they
represent. The year has been marked by an excep-
tional number of calamities. In January there was a
panic in a Roman Catholic Church at Liverpool,
by which 16 persons lost their lives. On the
28th the City of Boston sailed from Halifax, Nova.
Scotia, for Liverpool, and from that day to thi,
has never been heard of. On March 17, the channel