The New York herald., 1871-01-17

TAs Bonbardmeus or Paris-Thc War
TAs End 1t Haud-The Herald's News
Victories.
The end is at hand. The readers of the
HERALD who, from the lifting of the curtain,
have followed through our columns, from day
to day, the progress Of this terrible drama in
France, win fully comprehend the meaning of
this brief announcement. 1t means that
heroic Paris, with the terrors, as of a rain of
fire and thunderbolts from the heavens, super
added to the pressure of famine and the
hopelessness of sorties and outside relief, is at
the point when she must choose capitulation
or destruction. It means that at any moment
now we may get the news by the cable, our
lightning conductor across the water at the
bottom Of the sea, that Paris has surrendered,
with the three or four hundred thousand
armed men within her encircling walls and
Notifications, and that this overwhelming col
lapse will be the end of the war.
| We say the end of the war, because, from
the movements of all her outside forces to
| rescue Paris, it is evident that France in this
struggle has staked everything upon Paris,
| and that Paris is France. The fall Of Paris
will add to the three hundred aud fifty
thousand French soldiers held now as prison
ers by Germany not less, from all accounts,
than three hundred thousand more, assuming
that Trochu, whatever he may still attempt,
will fail to break the enclosing German wall Of
frowning cannon and bristling bayonets.
Thus, with the loss of Paris France will be
deprived of the strength, including her best
generals, of say six hundred and fifty thousand
of her best soldiers, held as prisoners of war,
and of at least two hundred thousand killed,
wounded and otherwise disabled since July
How, then, with Paris gone and all its warlike
materials, can France, shorn of eight hundred
and fifty thousand of her fighting men-how
can she continue the fight against the undi-
minished legions of disciplined Germans upon
her soil As it is, all the French armies on
every side, operating for the relief Of Paris
have been baffled and thrown back or de-
feated and dispersed. Chanzy's overthrow at
LIE Mans is a sort of Waterloo in itself; and,
from all appearances, only timely retreat to
some distant or otherwise secure shelter will
save Faidherbe, Bourbaki and Garibaldi from
the misfortune Of Chanzy.
But, again; the capitulation of Paris will
enable Won Moltke to reinforce the German
armies operating in the west, north, south and
east of France to the extent of at least two
hundred and fifty thousand veteran troops
This is doubtless understood, even by Gam
beta, who has been prosecuting this war
as bold adventurer, who has nothing
to lose from continued war and nothing
to expect from peace. Hence his desperate
efforts to prolong the struggle, reckless of the
consequences to Paris and to France. We
believe, however, that Trochu is more the
patriot than Gambetta, and that when it is
made manifest to him that further resistance
is useless and worse than useless, he will, in
self sacrificing spirit of patriotism, humanity
and common sense, surrender the city to save
it and its people from death and destruction.
Meantime the bombardment Of Paris goes
on day and night. The surroundings of the
city are in ruins or in flames. Explosive bolts
of iron, Of over two hundred pounds in weight,
bowling like demons in their destructive
fight, are plunging down through the humblest
roofs and grandest domes in the heart of the
doomed metropolis. 1t is the bombardment of
Strasbourg ten times magnifed. In its
destructive projectiles, and in the war
like engines and forces employed, it dwarfs
all precedents Of modern or ancient times.
The remorseless siege and destruction of Car
thage, We do not forget, involved the extinc-
ton Of great nation and grea. people
nor will the intelligent reader fail to recall
the appalling loss Of human life-eleven hun
dred thousand souls involved in the siege and
burning of Jerusalem by Titus; nor do we
overlook the sacking and burning Of Rome by
Alaric; but neither Babylon, Tyre, Jerusalem,
Carthage or Rome, furnishes anything in the
horrors of war more shocking to the Christian
humanitarian of the nineteenth century than
this horrible bombardment of Paris, with its
blind and indiscriminate killing and mangl ling
of soldiers and non-combatants, the strong
and the helpless, men, women and children.
Yet this is modern war, with ''all the
modern improvements. As the historian of
passing events, however, it is the province Of
great journal to record them faithfully and
without hinching. This duty in our daily
reports Of this war, as of our war with Mexico,
and of the European revolutions Of 1889,
and the war in the Crimea, and the war in
Italy and the Schlsswig- -Holstein war, and the
war of our great rebellion, and the war of the
French occupation of Mexico, and the war
between Prussia and Austria, and the marvel
lous campaign Of Napiers Abyssinian expe-
dition, and the war in Paraguay, and the revo-
luton in Spain, and as in our reports of
various other wars, is duty which, regardless