New-York tribune., 1870-09-13
THE FRENCH CRISIS.
THE CRUSHED HOPES OF FRANCE.

HER RESERVED FoRCES-SENTIMENT OF
PARIS-BRIGHT EXPECTATIONS FOR THE
FUTURE.
lFROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT
LONDON, Aug. 26.-Azsmat Batuk, the war CORE
spondont of The Pau Mall Gazette whose letters from
the Continent have created considerable sensation
here last evening delivered the following lecture ON
the military situation in Europe. The proceeds are
TO he given to the suffering peasantry in the deyas
tated provinces of Alsacc and Lorraine;
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Before commencing my lee
ture must say few words, partly Of apology parity ot
explanation. The apology refers to my broken Enghsh
which OF You may be accustomed TO see IN PRINT yet
may not Willingly tolerate in speech. hope however that
you will presently that my appearance before you Is
Justified nv more or less reasonable aim, aud that you
WILL therefore excuse the defects of my pronunciation
The poipt reouising explanation is this: have seen
the dreadful surin OF the population Of Lorraine and
Alsaoe saw them running away with wives and chill
drcn having FOR their whole property nothing but loaf
OF bread them lying exhausted on the hgh-roads
and hiding themselves I'm the forests and though did not
actually witness their deaths know they did die from
hunger Just people the east end London in the
time o the proOundeSt peace In the Of the Lorraine
and Asae peasants, there only, in addition TO the
sucrugs Of starvation. the fear Of the enemy and all
that nervous despair which is provoked in human crea
lures by the sight Of their homes being
burned levcled to the ground. l wished
10 ne lp tiost people, Dut as personally hdu
Tor doing So appealed to you. This is the chief reason
why took The liberty Of appearing with my bad English
before Engismen, who, as a rule, do not themselves
excel in pronouncTc foreign languages, but, at the same
time often object when their own language is not prop
crly pronounced. It might SEEM perhaps that contr
button in favor Of the wounded would be more apPro
prate but Of opinion that everything Is provided
IN France the wounded in the best possible way anu
beside ts the soldier paid and maintained the whole
Df his life by the country upon the stipulation that
ne gives his life the moment il is wanted otherwise
the very foundation Of his social position would he non
sense The rural population, on the other hand' VINO
neither mix with politics. have any prospect OF being
crowned with laurcls, suffer physically just as much s
the soldiers, and in addition To that often loses every
thing which hard unthankful work might have allowed
ii 20 accumulate during the first part Of the ife These
people seemed TO much more worthy OF cOnQaSsloh
and know that absolutely nothing lis done for them
secondary stimulus acting in was Of more prac
teal nature When have paid over the money ra sea
With your gracious aid into the hands of the French En-
bassador shall ask him for receipt This receipt
will put in my pocket, and start tomorrow back to the
Continent TO fulfil the duties which The Pau Mu!I Ga
eefte ntrusted to and If am again arrested as
Prussan spy a correspondent OF an Enghsh paper
In the pay of Prussia, shall show this receipt OF the
French ambassador 10 every blessed gendarme who may
intend TO arrest me- They will thus that we are here
not so bad people as they suppose and this hope, Will
secure me both certain degree of safety and possib
ity of further writing to you from time TO time what Is
going on in that great prosperous aud merry country
which is now being deuged with human blood Having
finished the apology and the explanation Thought II my
duty give will proceed, If you allow It, with my lee
ture.
Europe was happy enough to enjoy so long peace
that 1t has quite forgotten what is Since the Cr
mea we have seen only the little campaigns OF Italy,
Denmark, and Austria All Of them were uncommonly
short brilliant for side only and carried ON under
circumstances which left doubt whatever as to which
side would finally prevail The present campaign is a
very different 1t likely TO finish soon
was never susceptible Of having the chances OF the
cOmbatants fOretOd with anything like precision But
as cOtemporary people had gained their impressions on
military subjects from watching the course OF the dimn
utve campaigns, they at once assumed that France,
having three battles and perhaps some 10000
$1,000 men, finally defeated and that there wa
no doubt to the final issue Of the Now, anyone
having watched the Of things on the spot and
who has closely followed tho few Trustworthy reports
afforded by the press, will probably come to somewhat
different conclusions from those which prevalent
among the general public at the present moment The
chances of actual fighting dependent upon so great
multitude of trhng circumstances that it Is utterly i'm
possible TO predicate how things may afterward turl
this does not prevent from wishing TO give
oneself account Of how things stand now, and wha
must be their probable supposing everything Il
go in its normal way.
MUCH FRANCE HAS SUFFERED.
The first question which presents itself is Has France
really suffered much from the defeats 1t has endured
do not think So II she has lost some $4,000 men, she
has enlisted at least four five times many fresf
troops The levy OF 1869 alone numbers $4,000 men, all
whom have not been called until now, and all Of whom
were brought to ChAlons only week before left th
place. Besides this, there Is the levy OF 1870, which
just drawing its number. Thus besides the various de
scriptions of volunteers who freely enlist themselves
thp F0O0 he
Corps which returned from Cherbourg, the two Corps
Tenth and Eleventh-which came from Lyons, besides
the batalions formed out of the Cadres and various
sources there 100000 young soldiers to enter
the ranks such discrimination being used In the se
lection Of them that myself land to the great
constituent Of American and English friends who
travelling with mel that recruits rejected not
only on account of a generally feeble cOnstitu
tiOn, but even for bad teeth. That is q
proof that there is lack in France
OF fighting materials Whereas in Prussia every
who could have possibly been taken has been taken
up years of age These French forces Of
require time to fit them for service but then
BILE suppose that the campaign will be a short
one, and with little better management than have
up the present time they may be prepared for
service within couple Of months. Usually dark pic
lures drawn Of recruits going 10 service and those
pictures quite legitimate In time OF peace But
ali the cOnscripts have going join their reg
iments were apparently perfectly Of the duties
devolvng upon them. They seemed % De almost happy,
and at every station they passed you might have
bread and wine in profusiOn prepared for them
by the inhabitants Of the villages and towns,
and the train starting after d few minutes
rest amid the "Vvent les habtants Of sucb aDdsuch
place. And not train that passed thur but
hundreds Of them all the lines Of France. far for
the purely military force Of the French. To lie sure with
bad management all this be turned into nothing
but there is 10 believe that the management
viii always remain bad. The people in France have
already taken many things into their hands, and
will probably continue TO do Therefore, unless
suppose the nation utterly destitute Of all admnstra
tive or military capacity, we must believe that few