New-York tribune., 1870-08-10

dcmonstrative sin sgnaed their approval fancy the
upper classes considered they have done ther uuy Dy
subscriptions, but the peasantry bore therow gs' We
Were for these times civilian train, Of which about TWO
in the day the frontier and at tins people
showed themselves disappointed but we had enough OF
the military element-considerably more than hali-io
make us respectable. | large slices OF real pread
beer, and wine offered the officers only smiled meTo
when these articles prohercd the men were 700
pampered to partake much Of the eatabes they drank
little, and loudly expressed their Willingness 10 accept
cigars, of which they got some from the richer Blsch
wilers there was shouting, there fnternzng there
was occasionally "Vive Ia Ligne," and "iteh - NNe III
France" and when the engine gave the usual Jaekal
howl which here replaces the English shrek ana again
took tow, soldiers and civilians parted the Dest o
friends.
Now for few words As TO the attitude OF the popula
ton. have by this time gone through large secuoh
of France-the war scction-t is true that having only
Travelled by rail view have had is but "a nasty
cutting up this portion of the country still hnd spnlos
too clearly and evidently marked to make me personally
doubtful of the state of public opinion. lst by the
officers the war is received at their due ana ~
the greatest the Emperor could bestow upon them
2d. The soldiers with the colors accept II with enthus
asm, in many cases with pleasure. sd. The reserves
who have been out on unlimited leave take IL as ler-
rble duty which 1t is thc hard luck to have odscharg
rapidly their opinions merge in those OF Their comrades
serving with the eagles. 4th. The upper classes,
Ia France, how the Prussians must be
beaten, how Ia France should be and Is united,
how il is not patriotic 90 abuse the Government THIS
being settled they Immediately pull the Government to
pieces. "Mexico the Of SadOwa; we should
have fought in &C., Bismarck outwited Government
in &C. the pretcxt Of war ia bad one; should not
have fought until III still. the inevitable, and
Ia France must be and is united" 9Th The peasantry
and the lower classes Of Asace: their attitude plain
and unequyoca They elect the war. Their homes may
be burned, their crops and cattle taken by acquisitions
although it be said that they firmly believe this
Will happen 10 their German ncghhOrs the b0rdeT;
still they acclaim tine war-they fte the soldiers. Most
OF them talk German well French. To be sure that
is not ying much many of them do not talk French at
all StiI Tcrs says, the wise policy Of Colbert has
made Of them the best Frcnchmen In France, ana the
larger number Of the who speak their own tongue
that fall in the first battle, the better they will be pleased
At Haguenau and companion had an unpleasant
adventure the details OF which do not wish to enter
on we wero informed with thousand protcstation' OF
the extremely ridiculous nature OF the suppoton' t
We had been reported Prussan spes that OF course
was folly, &c but had any papers luckily our pa
peIs were IN good order; Secretary OF the French MIN
lister of War had strongly advised me TO obtain pass
port and my companion had taken even greater precau-
tons After We had shown papers were able to
get something eat, which, long as we were under
BAN had different pretonses been alleged TO
| be impossible; whether we were kept under sur
| veillance until answers TO kilograms came back,
! / am not absolutely certain, but the hotel talked
| principally OF us-mOrc Of us than the war The
! whole adventure was dccidedy-and more than would
be gathered from the few words have said-decdedy
unpleasant II would not Ice fair TO conclude without
adding that we werc while under suspicion, treated Dy
those in authority with considerable courtesy While at
the hotels was amused by the petshness shown by the
mattresses upon being told by some Of the numerous
nic ers who were that they were Prussians they
would Immediately try talk French, rapidly gliding
back into German or Alsaan when they grew excited
One of the officers declared that he heard cannon TINS
morning in the direction OF Strasbours his com
| rades said he was mistaken, but he was toeraDy
! right Upon going into the train | was told by
one of the passengers who had that morning left
srasbourg that the Prussans had blown up their share
of the swinging portion of the railway bridge. have
already told you that this bridge Is built in three por
tions the center resting upon four piers, and pvoted
portion of either end of about 80 yards in length THESE
movable ends had been swung back but the PrnsSian7'
not satisfied with ntcTruptng the traffic, suddenly
blew up their swinging portion whichhas fallen into the
Rhine The populace the French side were FOR ten
| minutes greatly alarmed, and there was complete
All DcuL some 30 German cavalry gaopng about
on the opposite bank aud brandshng their saber or
course this blowing up the bridge shows that the FTus
slams do not intend deliver attack on the sras5ourg
/ side and fear one from the French.