The New York Herald Newspaper, January 29, 1871, Page 3

NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 1871.—TRIPLE SHEET. SURRENDER, | ST42 728 Panis. Capitulation of Paris to the Germans on Friday. Its Terms the Surrender of the Garrison and the Summoning of the National Assembly. Count Bismarck’s Basis of Peace the Cession of Alsace and Part of Lorraine. Imperialists Willing to Accept the Conditions. VeErsAILyxs, Jan. 27, 1871. The articles of capitulation have been signed. Its terms are the surrender of the garrison of Paris and the summoning ef the National Assembly. : BEFORE THE SURRENDER. Expected Siguing of the Terms of Surrender on Friday—Germany’s Terms of Peace. Lonpon, Jan. 27, 1871. A despatch from Versailles, dated to-day, reports that negotiations in reference to the surrender of Paris are now so advanced that the articles of capitulation are expected to be signed in the course of to-day. TERMS DEMANDED BY GERMANY, A Berlin despatch, dated to-day, says that it is positively known that Count Bismarck is endeavoring to treat for peace on the basis of the cession of Alsace and a portion of Lor- raine to Germany. If M. Favre accepts the proposed terms Germany will recognize the republic. The imperialists are willing to ac- cept the conditions. Favre again With Bismarck—Settling Terms of Capitulation—Paris Ready to Surrender— An Improbability. Lonvon, Jan. 27—5 P. M. There is a ramor on the Stock Exchange of the capitulation of Paris, but as yet there is no authentic intelligence confirmatory of the FAVRE AGAIN WITH BISMARCK. The Versailles correspondent of the London Times writes, under date of the 25th, that M. Favre returned from Paris yesterday and had another interview with Count Bismarck, SETTLING THE TERMS OF CAPITULATION. An official despatch from Versailles Friday morning says M. Jules Favre returned yester- day to Paris. He will come to Versailles again to-day, accompanied by a military officer, for the purpose of settling the terms of capitulation. DETAILS OF FAVRE'S FIRST VISIT. The following particulars have been received of the first visit of Jules Favre to the German headquarters at Versailles :— It appears that M. Favre arrived at Ver- sailles on the 23d, at five o'clock in the even- ing, in Count Bismarck’s carriage, which had been sent to the Prussian outposts for him. He was much fatigued, but drove at once to the Chancellor’s office, where, after a long interview, he took dinner with Count Bis- marck, The latter held a conference with the Emperor at eleven the same night. Odo Russell, the representative of the British For- eign Office, had been apprised beforehand of tho approaching visit of M. Favre, VERY IMPROBABLE, The correspondent of the Times writes from Paris that there will certainly be one more sortie, and probably more, It will require a firm hand to prevent the enaction of terrible tragedies ; for Paris loathes the word ‘‘surren- der,” to which it must be forced by its thou- sands of hungry mouths. THE SIEGE. No Firing on Either Side Since Thursday. GERMAN BATTERIES. RANGE OF THE German Losses in the Recent Sortie. TELEGRAM TO THE NEW YORK HERALD. Lonpoy, Jan, 27, 1871. A despatch from Versailles, dated to-day, re- ports that there has been no firing on either side since midnight of Thursday, 8T, DENIS SHELLED. St. Denis was bombarded on the 24th, the German guns eliciting but,a feeble reply from the French forts. A SLOW BOMBARD MENT, A special despatch from Versailles, 26th, to the London Yelegraph, says the bombardment of Paris continues, though slowly, and that shellg have fallen near the Church of Notre Dame. GENERAL ITEMS, The total losses of the Germans in the three days of sorties were only 2,000 men. None of the German batteries, except those on the southern and southwestern sides of Paris, throw shells into the city. Fires are still occasionally kindled in Paris by the German shells, Herald Special Report from French Capital. Stringent Measures Against the Revolu- tionary Element, TROCHD SUPERSEDED BY VINOY. Moral Cowardice of the Parisians. TELEGRAM TO THE NEW YORK HERALD. Lonpon, Jan, 27, 1871. The following is the continuation of the despatch forwarded by the New York HERALD correspondent in Paris and dated on the 23d inst. RESUME. (The first part, published in the HERaup of yesterday, described the attempted revolt in Paris, The turbulent residents of the Belle- ville and Charonne districts assembled ia front of the Mazas Prison, which they broke open and released Flourens and other political pri- soners, They subsequently dispersed ; but met again in front of the Hotel de Ville on Sunday, the 23d, and, aided by a battalion ef Na- tional Guards, demanded a surrender of the governmeat, A collision ensued. The mob fired upon an officer of the Gardes Mobiles, severely wounding him. The fire was re- turned and the rioters fled, the guards making no effort to arrest the leaders. FLOURENS DISAPPEARS. Continuing, the Herarp correspondent writes:—It is a notable fact that Flourens, who was prominent among the rioters before a shot was fired, was not seen again after the first discharge. STRINGENT MEASURES. This morning an official order has been issued which forbids future meetings of clubs and suppresses two inceadiary journals—the Combat and the Reveil. The people generally approve the firm stand against the rioters by General Vinoy. THE OHANGE OF RULERS—TROCHU’S INCOM- PETENCY. Indeed, much satisfaction is felt at the great change effected in rulers during the past forty- eight hours, A few weeks age it would have been regarded as treason to oppose Trochu ; now, he is removed from commaad, if not actually degraded. For many days past it had been evident that such must be his fate. All are willing to admit his personal honesty, bravery and conscientiousness ; but few, if any, are willing to deny his complete failure in the crisis now upon the country. His four months’ rule have been four months of de- crees, proclamations and promises, but not one successful fight, He even failed to or- gauize the army during the four months, for it is now little better than an armed mob. VINOY'S RESPONSIBILITY, General Vinoy is now the real spirit of the Although, unfortunately too late to hope, he gets the responsibility of future events when every chance of success is dead. detence. It is impossible not to sympathize with a man who, in his seventieth year, after a life of service to the country, accepts such a hope- less task, STILL FOR RESISTANCE. Yet even now it is difficult to find a man or woman who will boldly say, ‘‘Let us capitu- late.” A few days since, while the usual crowd of women was waiting to receive the rations of three hundred grammes of bread, one poor wretch, half dead with fatigue, cold and hunger, enciente and wasted by misery, exclaimed, ‘‘Mon Diew / que cela Sinisse.” (My God! when will this end.) She was immediately surrounded by the other starving and suffering women of the neighbor- hood, who abused and hustled her about till she fainted on the street. She was rescued by some men who were passing and carried tothe ambulance. This illustrates the moral cowardice of the people. Every one of these women, when alone in their wretched, cold rooms, would say, with tears in their eyes, “Mon Dieu ! que cela finisse.” : FOOD GOING. During the past six days there has been an increase of 500 in the mortality report. So far as food is concerned that gets scarcer every day. The decrease in the supply is percep- tible. The Prussians may fail to shell Paris into submission, but the poor, suffering people must soon yield to Famine—a greater General than even Von Moltke, Before three weeks more have passed it is certain that the end of the siege of Paris will have come. Increased Against Change of Rulers. Mortality in ParisPrecautions RiotersAunouncement of the Lonvon, Jan. 27, 1871. The deaths in Paris for the week ending January 20 were 4,465, an increase of 387 as compared with the previous week, PRECAUTIONS AGAINST RIOTERS, Later advices from Paris state that the gov- ernment has stationed a large force of troops and artillery in the Place of the Hotel de Ville. The courts martial have been doubled in num- ber. ANNOUNCING THE CHANGE OF RULERS. Official despatches from Paris to the 22d announce the separation of the command of the army from the Presidency of the gevern- ment, General Trocbu retains the latter office and General Vinoy is now commander of the forces, STORY OF THE FALLEN CITY. A Brief Sketch of the Franco- Prussian War. The Campaigns Under the Empire and the Struggles of the Republic, Now that the end has eome, and Paris, after @ heroie defence, has at last passed into the bands of her joea, the Franco-Prussian war seems naturally to divide itself, as we look back at it, into two grand acts, The first begins with the declaration of war and the outbreak into open conflict of the long smouldering national hatred and Jealousy of France and Germany. Then comes, on the 2d of August, the first crossing of swords at Saarbriick, telegraphed to Paris as a “French victory,’’ aud immortal in history as the scene of the ‘baptism of fire’ of the Prince Imperial. The follewing day the Germans eniered French territory, and from that tlme down to the crowning disaster of Sedan, the war is but one dreary chronicle of French humiliation, On the 6th August the troops of the Crown Prince attacked De Failly’s corps at Weissemburg and overwhelmed it by sheer force of numbers. De Failly retreated, and, his forces having made a junction with MacMahon’s corps, took up @ position at Woerth. On the 6th August the French sustained the two crushing defeats of Woerth and Forbach. In the former the Crown Prince utterly routed MacMahon, ana in the latter General Steinmetz inficted an equal disaster upon General Frossard’s corps. For eight days after these reverses the war paused, and on the 12th Marshal Bazaine, who had been stationed with the Gardes at Metz, was ap- pointed Generalissimo of the French armies. He decided to retreat to Chalons with his own large and splendid army; but the decision was made too late. On the 14th, as his troops were crossing the Moselle, he was attacked by Steinmetz, and two days after- wards it was seen that bya rapid movement the Germans had got between the French and Chalons. The French made @ desperate attempt te force a passage, but in vain. On the 18th of August the great battle of Gravelotte was fought, and upon its ending 1n a disastrous French defeat, Bazaine found himself compelled to shut himself and his army within the defences of Metz. Meanwhile, MaoMahon’s army had recovered some- what from its first disaster, and, having been reorganized, set off te relieve Bazaine by a round- about reute, Two German armies—one under the Crown Prince, from Chalons, and another under the Crown Prince of Saxony, trom before Metz—has- tened to engage MacMahon, wio was accompanied by the Emperor in person, On the 30th the Crown Prince of Saxony surprised De Failly’s corps at Beaumont and routed him, and on the following day took place the battle of Sedan, which ended in the surrender of the whole of MacMahen’s army and of the Emperor himself. These are the bloodstained steps by which the eagles of Prussia have climbed to European supremacy. The second act of this eventful drama of strife and death and hatred opens with the overthrow of tne empire and the march of the Prussians upon Paris, And that act has now closed, as did the first, in the brilliant triumph of the German arms. No doubt the full details of the siege of Paris, as daily chronicled in the HERALD, are still compara- tively fresh in the minds of our readers, But it ts well, now that an Emperor of Germany is about to pass through its gates in military triumph, to briey recount once more the thrilling progress of this most wonderful and interesting episode of medern wariare. Scarcely had the fallen Emperor been despatched to his prison at Wilhelmshihe, and the cagtured army consigned to the fortresses of Germany, than the Crown Prince at once began his advance upon Paris. That advance was made without a check. Day after day the Prussian troops marched forward, with @ steadiness and persistence that seemed to naturally call up before the mind of the onlooker the resistless progress of fate. In about a couple of weeks, on the 17th of September, their advanced line was only & few miles from Paris, A day or two of sharp skirmishing succeeded; but the defenders of the city were in no position to risk a battlé, and the Crown Prince was permitted to draw his lines closer and closr round the walls, until, on the 19th of September, the investment was com- plete and Paris was tsolated by a glittering gyrale of Prussian bayonets from the outside world. Vigorous measures had, however, been taken by the Parisians to make a desperate and protracted defence. Following upon the disaster of Sedan and the captivity of the Emperor they had, in the name of France, renounced the. empire and amid the wildest enthusiasm of patri- otism declared a republic. On the 4th of September a government of national defence was appointed, headed by General Trochu, and com- posed of Jules Favre, Gambetta, Rochefort, Jules Simon, Mons. Crémieux, Picard and a few more obscure names. Trochu’s reputation as @ military man and his undoubted patriotism inspired the greatest contidence. He appreciated, perhaps, more clearly even at that early day than most of his col- leagues and cempatriets the peril in which Paris stood. Under his auspices the preparations for de- fence were strenuously pushed forward, Nightand day thousands of laborers toiled to yet further com- plete the elaborate fortifications that the foresight of M. Thiers years before nad caused to be begun. Provisions of all Kinds were rapidly collected and stored. The patches of forest that formed the suburbs were burned down lest they should give cover to the enemy. Ammunition was unceasingly manufactured, and in every public square the work of drilling the volunteers for mill- tary service, who had answered the call of the gov- ernment from every quarter of the city, was carried on from dawn to sunset. Thanks to these signs of hope, the approach of the Prussians, instead of reaucing the Parisians to despair, only lit the fires of patriotic ardor into a flercer and brighter fame. To the donpts of foreign military critics they gave but one uofinching reply—that Paris would never surrender, Trochu encouraged this resolution to re- sist to the last extremity by several high- flown proclamations, the wording of which, in these last days of humiliation, reads sadly Indi- crous, He 13 said to have thought at this time that 70,000 men would be enough to hold Paris against aay beleaguering force, however stroag, and that the stores already gathered would certainly last six months, or even longer. When at iast, however, Paris was actually cut off from the rest of the world, it was plain that her citizens realized for the first time what isolation meant. They had laughed at the possible inconve- niences of such a conditien of aifairs, and had said, with a smile and a shrug of the shoulders, that the world would miss the pleasures of Paris and the in- fluences of civilization and refinement which she shed all over Christendom fag more than Paris would miss the presence and the money of the barbarians. But when nearly all the foreigners hurriedly fea from the doomed city, when the telegraph wires were cut and the mail lines stopped running and all the thousand and one consequences of the siege pressed upon their minds with ever-increasing force, they began to appreciate the gravity of the pass to which the misgovernmeat of wie empire had brought them. They consoled themselves by amusing abuse of Prusstan barbarism—Victor Hugo’s mani- festo upon this head must stil be fresh in the memory of our readers—and at the same time, under the influence of a more manly inspiration, began to devise means for eluding the vigtlance of the Prusstans; and as the air was still free to them they navigated it with a very fair degree of suc- cess, and with only occasional mishaps, jby bailoons. ‘These were manufactured constantly at several es- tablishments specially organized for the purpose, and were despatched at short intervals with matls ‘and news to the outside world. Each balloon also took out carrier pigeons, Which returned to the city with news of the progress of the warin the pro- vinces and with the Instructions of the government, which had moved to Tours. For the first two or three days after the beginning of the siege there was heavy skirmishing. The rassians on the 20th made @ determined attempt J to storm the fort of Mont Valérien, on the west side of the capital; but they were repulsed with heavy losses, But most of these engagements were very trivial importance, A great sensation was, however, created by the occupation of Versailles by the Prussians and the establishment of their head- quarters in this the most celebrated of French palaces, ‘The siege had scarcely begun when an attempt Was made to bring about the close of hostilities. M. Jules Favre was commissioned by the govern- ment to see Bismarck and endeavor to negotiate reasona»le terms of peace. After some not very dignified wrangling on both sides, extending over several days, the negotiation fell through. Favre was willing to end the war on @ basis of a money compensaation by France to Germany, but refused to assent so the cession of au inch of territory. Bls- marck, while also looking upon @ money compensa- ton as a necessary basis of settlement, de- manded some territorial fruits of victory as well, especially insisting upon the hand. ing over to Germany of Strasbourg, which did not surrender untit a week subsequently. Upon this rock the whole negotiation split, and M. Favre returned to Paris, only to impress more earnestly than ever upon bis countrymen the ne- cessity of vigorous resistance, and to assure them that it was impossible to agree with Prussia upon any honorabie tering of peace, Even thus early it was clear that Paris was a city divided agatnst itself. Two different forms of au- thority had been created. The frst was the Pro visional Government, before referred to, upon whese shoulders rested the responsibility of maintaining order and resisting the foe. The second was the Central Republican Committee, com- posea of four delegates from each arron- dissement, or eighty members in all. These Your delegates were elected from among twenty-five chosen by the vote of the people—the other twenty-one remaining in their arrondissement to canvass the daily Quctuating opinion of the popu- lation, as expressed jn conversation and at night in public meetings. This committee was organized under the auspices of the International Association of Workingmen and soon began to inspire fear both on the part of the government and the bourgeoisie, The disaffection was headed by M. Gustave Flourens, who became conspicuous in the affair of Victor Noir. But the fear o disturbances from this cause did not continue long after the confusion inct- dent to the beginning of the siege had sub- sided. Trochu drilled and organized the volunteers and sounded the sentiments of the community, while he temporized with the malcontent: and, a8 soon as he found himself strong enough to do so, repressed the mis- chief-makers with a strong hand. Nothing, per- haps, shows the injustice of the abuse recently heaped so lavishly upon this great man than the good order which he has succeeded in maintaining in Paris. Through nearly all the four months of the stege there has scarcely been anytaing like an at- tempt at revolution, since the first disturbances reached their height and were quelled; and itis only within the past two or three weeks, when the people had lost all hope of prolonging resistance, that the spirit of disaffection and disorder has ven- tured again to make its appearance. With the surrender of Strasbourg on the afin of September the besiegers and the besieged settled down in serious earnest to work. The Parisians were dally growing appurently more resolute, the city was rapidly acquiring a government in which ithad the greatest confidence, and all the arrange- ments for defence were being perfected. The great difMiculty was, 1twas clear, the food supply, and mea- sures were adopted by the authorities to make the stores hold out as long as possible. Fresh meat de- manded naturally the first attention, ana the gov- ernment took possession of all the live steck within the walls, and allowea only a certain number of beasts to be Ktiled each day. Every butcher re- ceived daily a certain amount of meat, based upon his average sales. The meat supply, hew- ever, under this system was complained of as being insufficient, and restaurants were frequenuy unable to supply their customers, All stores of flour were also taken possession of by the govern- ment and doled out on asimilar plan. Only three weeks from the opening of the siege rates already were enormously high for everything of which the government did not thus supervise the sale. Ham Was quoted at seven francs the pound; salt butter, nine francs; chicken, ten francs the pound; rabbits, eleven francs; ducks, nine francs; goose, twenty *,uc® Still, in spite of these enormous indica- tions, the government announced that 1t could easily hold out feur months without imposing any great privations upon the people. And it was looked upon as beyond all possibility that the capital of France would be allowed to remain thus iong un- relieved. At this time the troops under Trochu mustered nearly four hundred thousand men, fully equal in apparent strength to the beleaguering army. But this vast force was composed chiefly of volunteers or the demoralized wrecks of the great armtes that had already been destroyed. They were, therefore, either inexperienced or unreliable, and Trochu might well hesitate to hurl them against the Ger- man veterans who surrounded him. He avowed his determination te wait until an army of relief arrived to aid the besieged in raising the siege, and for the purpose of hastening on this happy consum- mation M. Gambetta was commissioned to leave Paris and organize a force in the provinces. He leit the capital in a balloon, and will probably go down to history as the first Minister who ever ventured for a serious object in so hazardous a means of travel. Some two hundred Americans anda number of other foreigners still remained in the city. All of these were, of course, strongly in favor of the French cause, and the Americans organized an ambulance corps on the model used in our own war, which did good service In alleviating the sufferings of the wounded. For a month after the investment rumors were daily circulated that the bombardment was to begin immediately, On the 11th of October the first three shots were fired by the Prussians, but their position was too far removed from the city for a bombard- ment to inflict any great damage. Besides this, the besiegers were unable to bring up their heavy guns, owing to the breaks in the railroad communication and the impassability of the roads from heavy rains. In fact, the bombardment was from these causes deferred until a few weeks ago. From the outset the French maintained a vigorous fire on the Prus- sian lines with cannon and small arms, On Wednesday, the 12th of October, the French made a first grand sortie, with brilliantly successful results. The sortie was led by General Trochu in person, and 120,000 French treops participated in it. They displayed the greatest gallantry and their cou- rage was well rewarded. The Prussians had crept up almost to the walls, and if they had been able to plant batteries of heavy guns in these temporary positions they could have shelied Paris. The “Prus- sian line was driven back at all peints with heavy slaughter, all their works were destroyed, and, as the beleaguering circle expanded, hope for the French became brighter and brighter. Metz surrendered on the 27th, with 159,000 men, and the news of this grand disaster more than coun- terbalanced the confidence in ultimate victory that had deen inspired by the victory of the 12th of Ucto- ber. Before this last misfortune hopes had been entertained that Bazaine would afford employment for the troops of Prince Frederick Charles, while the first Army of the Loire, organized by Gambetta, could advance eliher to the relief of Pang or Metz. The fall of Metz dispersed this hope, how ever, and imréediately after M, Thiers began ne- gotiations with Bismarck for an armistice. These negotiations, however, fell through, as the Prussians would not allow victuals to pass into the city during the temporary cessation of hostilities. While this armistice was pending the disturb- ances which have already been referred to finally came to ahead. They had been growing more and more serious since the beginning of the siege; and now, Trochu, being perfectly prepared, determined to put them down once for all. On the last day of October groups of people assembled in the Place de l’Hotel de Ville, in a great state of excitement about the report that had been set afloat that the provisional government were about to agree tosthe armistice on the Prussian terms. The mob at last pushed through into the Hotel de Ville and_practi- cally captured the Ministers. The gardes nationales, however, rescued the government from this perilous dilemma, and Trochu arresied the leaders for trea- of | fon against the republic, This was the last serious Internal trouble that occasio: any anxiety. In the beginning of November the Army of tne Loire, under De Paladines, actieved a signal vic- tory over Genera! Von der Tann and forced the Prus- | slans to evacuate Orleans, Later on in the month of November other French victories were also obtained | in the same cepartment, and the news of them car- ried to Paris by a carrier pigeon, which was wounded by the Prussians as it entered the city. Until the end of November the siege went on but slowly, while the stock of provisions became palpa- bly smaller and the Parisians experienced the most disagreeable consequences of the investment. Fresh meat gave out at the beginning of the month, and the animals of tne Jardin des Piauts were siain an sold to the peopie—elephants, nkeys, lions gers, yak and rhinoceros included, There was an abundance of other provisions, however, and to re- animate the patriotism of the citizens General Tro- chu issued, about the 20th November, a proclama- tion, of which the following extract contains the gist:— ‘The attitude of Paris makes the astonishment of Europe. The enemy has been surprised, He ts kept for a space of two months bef re the capital by the exertions of the population of Paris alone, which had not been thought capable of such wv power of resistance. Prussia accepted the de- mands of the government for an arinistice, but the fatal day of the ist of October at Metz compro- mised the position so that commun.cation with the provinces from the city was interrupted. ihe enemy tried te discourage the besiegers by creating here dissensions, They circulated false reporis, which Were originated at the German out- poats and printed in the German newspapers. The Garde Nationale has been increesed to ve fold its number, Private enterprise apd industry have pro- duced a large quantity of new cannon in Paris. History docs not afford the example ef a people, after the destruction of their armies in the field and the capital of the country invested and all commu- nication with the provinces cut olf, naving opposed to disaster, apparently irreparabie, more vigorous efforts of moral and material resistance. It would be unworthy of France, alter having prepared ener- getically for any and every sacrifice, not to go sull further and suffer in thé struggle to the last ex- treme. If successful we will ‘deserve well of our country;” ‘uf we have to succumb eventually we will do so with nonor.”? Toward the end of November the Army of the Loire was siguahy defeated by Prince Frederick Charles, who after the surrender of Metz had turned his march southward. The day after this news was received at Versailles General Ducrot, with 100,000 men, made @ grand sortie from Paris. On the night of the 29th of November a lively fire was maintained from the forts round Paris, and the following morning the garrison made sorties at various points on the Seine and Marne. The fignt- ing was very desperate and lasted until night. The result was doubtful; but General Ducrot was at first believed to have been successful in break- ing through the Prussian lines. He took some of the villages about Brie-sur-Marne, and practically for twenty-four hours the investing circle was broken. On the following day (Friday, December 2) the Germans, however, by dreadfully hard fighting, succeeded in again establishing their positions, and Ducrot and his army were once more prisoned be- neath the walls of Paris. The losses in these days’ tighting must have been frightiully heavy, but the es- timates given are very various, The German loss alone in the two days, according to their own esti- mates, was 6,500 men, while the French loss in killed and wounded was even greater, and in prisoners +800. Vollowing this defeat came the final disaster to the Army of the Loire, and a further unsuccessful and not very vigorous attempt by Ducrot on the loth of December te again break through the investing lines. These disasters, and especially the first, produced a very bad effect upon the defenders of Paris, and affairs within the doomed capital grew more and more discouraging. From this time until almost the close of the year the record of the siege was not very inceresting. In the north, under General Faidherbe, tn the south a second Army of the Loire, under Chanzy, and In the east an army, under Bourbaki, had been slowly gathered together. Faldherbe was soon defeated, and Bourbaki’s command was not very promising. The Army of the Loire again achieved @ few succeses, which inspired great confidence in its new leader. On the 29th of December the Germans obtained an advantage that led to the ultimate capture of the city. The bom- bardment on the part of the Prussians had been postponed again and again, until it was believed that they adhered to their original intention to starve the city into submission. On the 26th, how- ever, tbe beyinning of the end took place by the bombardment of Fort Avron and its forced eyacna- tion by the French. This position gained ‘¢ became clear that the Prussians were able at any time they chose to begin In serious earnest the work of shell- ing the city. Avron once taken, the Germans directed a fire from that position and silenced Fort Nogent. On the 3d a heavy bombardment on the forts on the north, south and east was begun, but with very little effect. . Meanwhile affairs inside the doomed city had be- come more and more desperate, Meat, ever salt or wild of any Kind, had for weeks been out of the market. Two-thirds of the population were living ouly upon the insuficient rations of four served out by the government. Owing to these privations and to the severity of an unusually cold winter, there were & great many deaths from sickness. Still the temper ef the people remained true to the pro- visional government until the inaction that suc- ceeded Ducrot’s unsuccessful and disastrous sor- ies of the 12th and 2ist December showed that all hope, in the opinion of General Trochu, lay in suc- dor from without. In the fretfulness of forced inac- tivity the people began to complain, and Trochu has had to make a choice between wasting French lives im useless sorties or bearing the taunt from his own people of be.ng cowardly and incompetent. Finaing that efforts were again being made to stimulate dis. affection he issued the following proclamation on the ‘7th Inst:— Efforts are being made to destroy union and con- fidence, to which Paris owes her prolonged defence, Political crane bemg made ot disappointments caused solely by the severity of the weatner. The army has indeed been sorely tried and requires a brief rest, which the enemy seeks to prevent by a most violent bombardment. But that army 1s pre- paring to act and will do its duty. There are no dissensions among the members of the government, who are perfectly united in face of the country’s perils and tn hopé of her deliverance. The bombardment having begun on the 34, gra- dually imcreased in severity, and the damage it has done has no doubt terminated the siege. On the 6th Fort Vanyres was destroyed and on the 8th instant the barracks of Fort Montrouge were set on fire and burned, and a few spent sneils fell into the gardens of the Luxembourg. Tne firing from this time was kept up all through each day, and through the night until four o’clock in the morning. It soon be- came evident, too, that part of the city would have to be destroyed or the entire city capitulate. Trechu, however, still neld firm to his resolution to resist to the last, and even after Fort Vanvres had been re- duced to silence, issued the lollowing defiant proclamation:— The bomoardment of Paris has been commenced by the enemy, Not content with firing at the sorts, the Germans threw projectiles at the houses in the city and threaten our hearths and families with vio- lence. This can only redouble the resolution of Paris, which desires to fight and conquer. ‘The de- feuders of the forts are exposed to an incessant fire, but they do not lose their calmness; they know how to inflict terrible reprisais upon the aggressor. The population of Parts valiant y accepts the new tesor their courage and endurance. The enemy expects the bombardment to intimi- date us. It will only make our energy more vigorous and make us show ourselves worthy of the Army of the Loire. which has driven back the enemy, and the Army of the Nortn, which is on the warch to our succor. “wwe le France!” “Vive la Republique !” The bombardment censtantiy grew more severe, On the 13th Paris was on fire in several places, and the French battery at Notre Dame de Ciamars was captured. This was a point nearly a mile in advance of the former Prassian lines, and guns were imme- diately mounted on the position and directed against | Fort Issy. On the following day the French made a determimed attempt to repossess themsel ves of this position, but were repulsed with heavy loss. The #ame day the French made a sortie from st. Denis, under the personal superintendence of General Trochu, but without success. On the 15th the Pras- sian fire destroyed Fort Issy and Fort Montrouge, ‘This brings us down to the present, and when the desperate condition of Paris is placed side by side with the disasters to the armes of Chanzy, Bour- baki and Faidherbe, it is clear that tue eapitulaion ot the city has been necessary and unavoidable. Fortunaiely the damage done by the bombardment has not hitherto been very severe. A few bulldings have been «destroyed and a hunared or so people willed, but that is all, The Parisians nave tasted the horrors of war, in some of their most aggravated forms, but their beautiful city still remains compara- Uvely unharmed, and the precious treasures of art which it contains have been salely preserved. HISTORIC SIEGES. Leleaguered Gities in Ancient and Modern Timag, The Horrors of {mprisoned Populations. Famine, Pestilence and Rapine, A Retrospect of the Annals of Thirty Ceataries. Sieges of Troy, Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, Carthage, Jerusalem, Rome, Constanti- nople, Paris, Rochelle, Amiens, Bore deaux, Calais, Bel:rade, Vienna, Antwerp, Leyden, Magdeburg, Acre, aragossa, (ibraltar, Sebastopol, Kars, Delhi and Vicksburg. Paris has fallen! The capital of France, which for over four months has maintained a brave but hope- jess defence, has succumbed. ‘The formidabie forti- fications which surrounded the city nave not been able to save it from the result which was inevitable, All that man could do to save the country from the humillation which the surrender of the capital en- vailed have failed to attain the end deserved. Suf- fering, privation and starvation have accomplished more for Germany than the admirable armies which she possesses, and which are directed by a com- mander whose military genius is universally ac- knowledged. The heroic defence of the Parisians has closed in vain, and the crowning success of German arms has culminated in the capitulation of Paris. ‘The last act of the dreadful tragedy ia performed, and while waiting, not without impatience, for the full particulars of the surrender, the following harried sketch of some of the principal sieges chronicled tn history may be read with attention. It is not, of course, an exhaustive record of this branch of mill- tary annals, but it, at least, presents examples of nearly all that has been suffered by invested cities in the past; and happily it records some horrors which will probabiy never again stain the pages of history. TROY. First among historical sieges comes that famous one of Troy, which, thanks to the genius of Homer, will live forever in the memories of men. Perhaps, as a minority of critics assert, this slege is wholly fabulous, but its details are told with such* painfully graphic minuteness in the pages of the grand old Iliad that we can at least accept it as a representative specimen of the nume- rous sieges which, though history has preserved no record of them, doubtless marked what has been termed the Homeric age of Greece. The Greek expedition against Troy was undertaken to redress the wrongs of Menelaus, whose wife, Helen, reputed to have been the loveliest woman of her time, had been, not against her own consent, carried off by the handsome heir of Priam, King of Nium—Paris, At that time Greece was a family of petty kingdoms, and in response to a general summons all its chiefs mustered thetr forces, and, having elected Agamemnon to be thelr leader, sailed with twelve hundred galleys across the smiling #gean Sea, ana beleaguered the city which sheltered the princely Lothario. Dismissing allthe poetical machinery of gods and goddesses wiih which Homer has embellished his narrative, a fair remainder of probable truth is still left us, and we can see in our mind’s eye the scenery, the actors and the deeds of this wonderful drama. For ten long years the Greeks lay before the walls of the devoted city, encamped in rade tents, faring hardly and exposed to the privations af a changeable and occasionally inclement climate. This scason their forces were decimated by sickness; the next the anger of the gods punished them with the loss of a tried and respected leader; the third, perhaps, they fell victims to a not unnatural despondency, Inside the city, the Trojans held out with unflinch- ing firmness, and, as (hey Wad stored abundant supplies of provisions, doubted little that they would sucessfully tire out the patience of the beleaguer- Ing army. Day by day the routine of operations seems to have been much the same. There were no cannon or sharpshooters in those days, aud the leaders could, therefore, without fear, irflict long taunting speeches upon each other, after the man- ner of Indian braves, while, if they found themselves getting the worst of it in some petty fray that en- sned, they could throw down their arms and run away. Regularly, after breakfast, the Greek chiefs promenaded under the walls, and called the Trojans, who appeared upon them, bastards and dogs, and yet more opprobrious epithets. Now and then a sally would be made from the city, but httle damage. on either side resulted, and probably during the whole course of the siege there were more deatns among the combatants in the way of nature than by hostile thrusts. So languished on this famous siege for ten weary years. By that time most of the great chiefs on both sides were dead, and at last the city was taken, not by force of arms, but by a strata- gem of the cunning Ulysses. Under his direction a huge wooden horse, in which a number of soldiers could be concealed, was built, and the in‘atuated Trojans admitted it within the gates. The hidden Greeks sallied from their retreat, admitted their comrades and Troy was taken, That ts the Homeric end of the story, and readers can believe it or not, Just as they please, and just as the rest of the world have done tor the past three thousand years, A PLAIN OF SIEGES. Next after the slege of Troy, in time, we have the celebrated sieges of Nineveh and Babylon. Both these cities were situated in that fertile plain watered by the Euphrates and the Tigris, which was the seat of the earliest civilized empires. This plain has ever since been the theatre of countless sieges. Late travellers (and one of the last was @ HERALD correspondent, whose letters were published only a few weeks ago in these col- umns) describe itas a vast treeless waste, with regular and very gentie undulations, On the east it 1s bound- ed by the mountains of Kurdistan, whose hardy off- spring nave from almost time immemorial occasion- ally descended on the rich lands spread beneath their eyes. The necessary result has been that the inhabitants of Mesopotamia and the plain of Shinar have heen forced, for the sake ot security, to dwell in fortified towns. They have untformly, too, adopted a curiously ingenious method of defence. Selecting some swell of land, they, with infinite labor, reared up huge mounds of earth, whose summits were defended by circling walls of massive stone. ‘These are, perhaps, the ‘‘cities built upon a hill,” re- ferred to in’ Scripture; and, as the traveller rides through the monotonous deserts of this now almost- abandoned land, it 1s with no common emotion that he gaze3 upon the vast heaps of mute earth that here and there dot the plain, They are lifeless, and yet they speak volumes, They tell the long story of the past in words that cannot lie. And that story 1s one dreary, chronicle of constant strife. Indeed, the annals of this plain, if told, would be little else than a sad and continuous record of the successful de- fence or of the ruthless sack and pillage of imper- illed cities. NINEVEN AND BABYLON. But it ts high time to return to Nineveh and Baby> lon. Of the siege of the first we Know but little, ex- cept that tt occurred about the year 600 B, C., that It was not very protracted, and that it resulted in the overthrow of the mighty Assyrian empire. The Assyrian king at that time was the effeminate Sar danapalus, who Itved solely among his women, and who even adopted the dress of the weaker sex. When it was announced that the city could no longer hold out against the foe he collected all his treasures in one vast pile in che courryard of his palace, and then mounting it, applied with his own hands the torch to what he thus made his funereal pyte, But in regard to the fall of Babylon we have fuller, though conficting, details. There 18, first, the Scrip- tural account, which has to be stretched a little to CONTINUED ON TENTH PaGk