THE CAPITULATION OF PARIS.

Press, Volume XVIII, Issue 2490, 24 April 1871, Page 3

THE CAPITULATION OF PARIS.

I resume the narrative of events from the capitulation of Paris. When I last wrote, negotiations for an armistice had. already commenced, and we were hourly expecting the declaration of terms. We had not long to wait. The resistance of the city was virtually at an end when M. Jules Favre first went oat to Versailles. After the great sortie the mayors were called together, and it was proposed to surrender the government into their hands, hut they refused the responsibility, for famine was now too close upon them. So evident was the hopelessness of the situation, that it was accepted by the whole population without any serious out-

buret of feeling. There was no response to the riotous cries which were rs-sfxl by a handful of Reds : a fc • -hots rt'.-: small mob that gather, <i : mid it •■.a* to the vast majority of people an i'.ifeuseri u> f when at length the bombardment ceased, asul the unaccustomed silence told that an armistice had been concluded. P>v the terms of the convention, bearing date the 28th of January, all the forts of Paris were to be. delivered up to the Germans, and the French troops of the line and the Mobiles to lay down their arms and remain within the city as prisoners of war. The National Guard, with one division I of the regular army, retained their muskets, and were entrusted with the maintenance | of order. Paris was spared the! immediate humiliation of a foreign occupa- j tion, but required to pay within a fortuisht i no less a sum than £8.000,0(10. Those terms were promptly enforced. The very next morning the Germans took quiet possession of the forts, the cannon of which were quickly . turned upon the city, so that it now lies completely at their mercy, and day by day vast stores of war material have been appropriated or destroyed. The armistice extended beyond Paris, the east of France only being exempt from its operation, a neutral zone being established between the French and German armies in the north and west, but the siege of Belfort in the cast still being pressed to an end, and the movements of Bourbaki"s army left to the fortune of war. The express J object of the armistice was to allow time for the election of a National Assembly, free to deliberate on the question of peace. The time allowed ran to the 19th of February, but of the prospects of peace improved, it was prolonged till to-day (the 24th). and then again till Sunday night next, the 28th of February. The first Englishman to enter Paris after the cessation of hostilities was Mr Forbes, the enterprising correspondent of the Daily yip7vs, whose account of the surrender of Metz excited so much interest. Mingling with the crowd upon the neutral ground to the north, and " looking straight betweeuhis horse's ears." he contrived to pass one of the gates unchallenged. " I put my trust," he says, " in the aspect of preternatural stolidity with which nature has gifted mc." Once inside, there was a cry of -l Down with the Prussians," but he succeeded in proclaiming his nationality, and diverting attention. His first impressions most vividly represent the ajipearanee of the city : — " ' Paris is utterly cowed : fairly beaten'— so said the first Englishman I met ; and his opinion is mine. Yet Paris is orderly and decent, and with n certain solemn morose self-restraint mastering the tendency to demonstrate. The streets were crowded, almost wholly with men in uniform. Civilians were few and far between. Many shops were open, but many also were closed. There is no want of hardware in Paris. You may buy enough and to spare of anything except edibles. Drink is plentiful enough, but except near the gate I saw not a soul drink. The food shops had nothing to show. There were comfitures and preserves, jellies, &c, but solid comestibles were conspicuous by their absence. In one shop I saw several large shapes of stuff that looked like lard. When I was asked what it was, I found it was borse fat. The bakers' shops were closed, the grating down before the butchers'. And oh, the number of funerals ! One, two, three ; I met six altogether in the course of my ride. Sad with an exceeding great sadness ; such was what I found as regards Paris long before I reached the American Legation, self-respecting, too, in her misery —not blatant, not disposed to collect in jtibbering crowds. Each man went his way with chastened face and listless gait. I spoke with a soldier of the line. Yes, he had had enough of it. Sacre. They had nearly killed him, those terrible Prussians, and he was very hungry. When would the gates open for food ? Food began to be with mc a personal question. I had nearly filled my wallet with newspapers, and only stowed away, for an exigency, a few slices of tham. Did ever the rarest geological or mineralogical specimen make such a sensation as those slices of ham ? When lat length reached my quarters, the servant women asked permission to take the meagre plateful out and show it as a curosity to their companions; and after the ham was eaten, stray visitors came in, attracted by the tidings, and begged for a look at the unwonted viands." Mr Forbes states that " the moral effect of the bombardment on the population was terrible. After the first day of defiance the Government felt the pressure. M. Jules Simon said that the bombardment of St. Denis had shortened the siege by a week." The pinch for food after the capitulation was greater than before. In more than one arrondisement neither bread nor meat could be distributed. "The day before yesterday," says the same correspondent, "the hungry broke into the reserved store of potted provisions in the Halle, smashed, all obstacles, and looted the place. From one who has paid the prices himself, and has the figures down in black and white without exaggeration, I have the following list : —2f for a small shrivelled cabbage; If for a leek: 45f for a fowl ; 45f for a rabbit (which may be taken for granted as cat); 25f for a pigeon, 22f for a 21b chub, 14f per lb for stickleback; 2f per lb for potatoes, 40f per lb for butter, cheese 25f per lb when procurable. Meat other than horseflesh is absolutely not to be procured. I was assured that if I offered £50 down in bright shining gold for a veritable beefsteak, 1 should have no claimant for the money! The last cow that changed hands 'for an ambulance,' fetched £80. Those left cannot now be bought for money. The bread is not bad, the difficulty is to get it. Only people say there is nothing else to do'but wait ontside the bakers' and the butchers'. I saw huge throngs at both as 1 rode through Paris, and chiefly women, waiting silently in the cold. What it must have come to when the Parisians are so utterly crushed down!" The scarcity of wood was terrible. "People cannot get their -washing done for lack of wood to heat the copper." Yet the trees on the Boulevards are not greatly injured. For several days we heard little from Paris. No more balloons were sent out, and the Germans kept a strict investment, which made communication both slow and difficult. But gradually a greater freedom was allowed, and soon we in London were able to learn by word of mouth all we were anxious to know. Correspondents whom we had not seen for months came hastening back from various points, glad of a brief breathing time in England ; others, having watched the siege to its end, were glad to escape from the beleagured city, and appeared looking not much the worse for hard fare, and constant ambulance service. They have helped us to correct the exaggerated statements of some sensational writers ; and are precise in their ideas as to the respective qualities of horse and donkey, dog and cat—praising especially the donkey ; though I am told there was not a day during the siege in which a good orthodox dinner could not be procured by those who liked to pay the heavy charge. As to the failure of the sorties, the men throw the blame on their leaders, the officers ascribe it to the troops ; but wherever be the fault, what I have heard has not increased my admiration of the "sublime" attitude of Paris. The "Besieged Resident" —Mr Labouchere —is now himself in town, and about to bring out his letters—a little cynicai and overcolored, but very able—in a volume.