The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-27 00:00:00

THEATRES, AND AMUSEMENTS.

DRURY-LANE—A Domestic Hercules. Amy Robsart.
Phobus's Fix.
ILAYmARKET—A Kiss in the Dark. The Love Chase. My

Uncle's Will.
ADELPHI THEATRE.—Milliners' Holiday. Green Bushes.
VAuDEviLLE—Chiselling. Two Roses. Don Carlos.
STRAND—On and Off. Living at Ease. The Idle

'Prentice.
PRINCESS'S THEATRE.—Peep o' Day and Great City.
ST. JAmEs's—To Oblige Benson. Fernande. Only a
Halfpenny.
HoLßoßN—Farce. The Odds.
GLoßE—Board and Residence. Taming of the Shrew.
Marco Spada.
NEW SURREY—A Striking Similarity. Link by Link,
Nobody's Chill.
QUEEN'S—Aunt Charlotte's Maid. Midsummer Night's

-Dream.
RoYALTY—Wealth and Stranger Stranger than Ever.
OLYMPIC--Little Emily and (Burlesque) Panl and
Virginia.
GAIETY—The Happy Village. Zampa. Trombalcalzar.
SADLERS WELLS.—Farce. Othello.
STANDARD —Little Emily. Chapter of Accidents.
AMPHITHEATRE AND CIRCUS (Holborn)—Scenes in the

Arena.
ST. JAMES'S HALL.—Christy Minstrels. Every evening.
PoLrrEcHNlo—Professor Pepper's Ghosts. Afternoon and
Evening.
ALHAMBRA—Grand Ballet and Varieties.
CREMORNEF—Fireworks, Ballet, &c.
PALAIS RovAL—Professor Faber's Talking Machine.
Siege of Paris.
MADAME TUSSAUD'S (Baker-street) —From 10 a.m. till 10
p.m. ls. ; extra rooms, 6d.

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Z.4111Y 4p,-, 111P‘

LONDON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1870.

THE prorogation of Parliament once more pro
forme! for another. brief interval, that is, from Thurs-
day, the 27th of October, until Tuesday, the 13th of
December, when, of course, there is not the smallest
intention in the world that it should be called toget Ii r
almost immediately on the eve of Christmas, comes
as a vivid reminder to us all of the really sore
and grievous pity it is that the Lords and
Commons, for once in a way, have not been sum-
moned to their respective houses for an autumnal
session. Had the legislature been sitting during
the past month, it is true that matters might have
been still exactly as they are now. But then,
on the other hand—they might not. An
armistice might have been brought about at the
instigation of the English Parliament as applied to
the sensitive nervous system of European diplomacy.
The difficulties of the situation might, at any rate,
have been dealt with a trifle more energetically.
Whatever might thereupon have been attempted in
the interests of peace, it is tolerably certain, at least,
that the result of trying to do something
could hardly have boon worso than the results
actually are at this moment, through simply making
no endeavour at all. Lord MELBOURNE'S laissez
aller axiom—" Why can't you leave it alone P"—seems
really to have guided the policy of the
Government all through this appallingly destructive
campaign, although seated at the head of this
Government, is one of the most energetic Ministers
who ever obtained the supreme dignity of the Pre-
miership. Mr. GLADSTONE himself is notoriously a
glutton of work. Yet, Mr. GLADSTONE has not only

been perfectly contented to see his noble colleague
the head of. the Foreign Office doing nothing
for weeks tcgether, but has denied the legislature the
opportunity of taking the necessities of the hour
into its deliberate consideration. The right hon.
gentleman the member for Tamworth strove to
urge upon the PRIME MINISTER'S recognition the
advisability, so visible to himself as an
experienced diplomatist, of summoning the
Lords ani Commons to the exceptional
labours of a brief autumnal session. In spite of all
Sir HENRY BULWER'S argument 3, however, the
autumn has run out without Parliament having been
convened. Seeing that the war is .still continued,
we cannot but consider this to be very serious matter
for regret. Now that Parliament is again prorogued
we cannot but give utterance to this regret en pas-
sant. An autumnal session might, as we have
already admitted, have led to nothing practical.
But then again, on the other hand, it might—and
there is the sting of the reflection—just possibly
have resulted before this in an armistice.

INDICTMENT AGAINST IMPERIALISM.
WIDE generalisations are always hazardous, and
particularly those which involve conclusions respect-
ing the character and genius of a whole people; but
it seems really worth while inquiring whether
there be not some truth in the common
assertion that the French people of to-day
are demoralised, effete, and very different
from the French people of yore. The evidence is
certainly disquieting. Every day, and in every in-
cident of this war, do we recognise symptoms of a
species of decay. Helplessness, lack of spirit,
lack of public virtues, are apparent every-
where. The officers know nothing of their business.
The soldiers will neither obey nor fight. The jour-
nalists habitually publish false news and foolish rho-
domontade, The people, except in some districts,
of which Paris is the most notable, have utterly failed
to display the energy and self-sacrifice which the
terrible necessities of the situation demand. The
disasters which led to the fall of the Empire were to
be set to the discredit of the Empire, for the system
disregarded the national wishes, and its successes and
failures are alike to be attributed to those who origi-
nated and supported it. But now that the Empire
has vanished we look in vain for that display of
patriotism which might deliver the nation, or at least
teach its enemies to respect it. In Paris the people
have rushed energetically to the defence, and,
if firm resolve and enthusiasm could save
the capital, the Mobiles and National Guards
would accomplish one of the greatest feats in history.
But even here a large portion of the defenders accept
arms through necessity; the Ministry does nothing
but gaze at the enemy ; while the Reds, despite their
errors, are the only element of the population dis-
playing the qualities which might promise success.
Yet Paris excels the whole nation. The provinces do
next to nothing. The Loire army has been beaten
twice ; the force in the Vosges is scattered every
time it confronts the foe. Elsewhere there is no army
and the irregular resources which the population
might employ are not half utilized. Free-shooters
are organised, but they are neither so numerous as
they ought to be, nor so mischievous as
the opportunities at their command permit.
As to the regular forses,- their attitude since Sedan
has been disgraceful. Men and officers seem to vie
with each other in bringing discredit upon them-
selves and their country. The leaders are ,
ignorant and incapable, the rank and file
disobedient and fainthearted. To the ques-
tion whether France has done all that lay
in her power to save herself from the strait in which
her late rulers have left her, the answer must be in
the negative.
It is not difficult to account for this demoraliza-
tion. The Imperial system has departed,
but its effects remain behind. The French
nation has not suffered eighteen years of
despotism without losing in energy, inde-
pendence, and powe of resource. It was inevitable
that demoralisation should follow from the long-
continuance of such a system. A despotism alway s
degrades a people, audits effects are the same whether
the despot be called NAPOLEON or by any less alluring
name. That large section in England which admired the
Empire as a praiseworthy structure conveniently
forgot that it deprived the French of those very
liberties which Englishmen themselves had struggled
for centuries to obtain, and from which no English-
man would consent to be separated at any price. Of
what value can freedom be if the French people
could lose it, and remain as good in all respects as
if they still possessed it ? The late Government of
France forbade the liberty of speaking and of writing;
it concocted a legislature of its own crea-
tures; it gave offices to its worshippers rather
than to the men most competent to fill them; it
encouraged frivolity and vice in order to turn men's
attention from politics. The result is as we find
it. As the " Besieged Resident," who writes from
Paris to the Daily News says, the people are unable
to do anything for themselves ; they require a
master and a guide in everything. The only men
who are equal to the emergency are the extreme
Democrats. These, though wild, visionary, and
fanatical, are at least energetic, simply because,
having no dealings with the emasculating
system, they have preserved at least the
good qualities which the bourgeoisie and the
upper classes have lost. It is a fact attested by
every observer of mark that the French Reds wield
more moral power than all the other classes of the
nation together. What this means time,
and probably a very short time, will
shew. It is not unlikely that ono of the greatest
of nations will recover the position from which a
wretched Government has dragged it. But it must
never again get a "Saviour of Society" to do its
business.— Western Morning I‘l ewe.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

GERMAN HOSTILITY TO ENGLAND.

A very remarkable letter on "Public Opinion in
Germany" conies from the special correspondent of
the Times at Frankfort. This communication opens
by denouncing the unreasonable demands made by
Germany upon England in respect of our conduct as
neutrals demands which are never imposed
upon America, though the latter country
is exporting arms to France far more
extensively than England. The United States
have not only sent weapons to France in great abun-
dance, but it is openly announced by the Americans
that this course will be continued. These facts are

never mentioned in the German papers, which delight
in exaggerated accusations of the kind against
England. The writer (and he has abundant oppor-
tunities of judging) affirms that there can be but one
explanation : this violent onslaught upon England
is not the spontaneous expression of the Ger-
man people, but the result of an active propa-
ganda of hostility towards England on the part of
the Prussian Government for political purposes.
"To those accustomed to watch the mode by which
the public opinion of Germany is officiously directed
by the Government this is a matter which scarcely
admits of a doubt, more especially when it is coupled
with the well-known and deeply-rooted dislike of the
Junker party for England—a dislike which is based
upon their instinctive aversion to the Liberal insti-
tutions of England, and so the civil and political
virtues which they *engender, and which render un-
scrupulous I Benedetti' combinations with our

fli SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1870.