or 90,000 soldiers, hampered with the condition of having the same battle to fight for the city, and his answer simply was, "Metz, or nothing at all." Meanwhile, so confident were the German authorities of the early surrender, that a château at Frescati was prepared for the expected negotiations. Morning after morning every eye was turned anxiously in the direction of the town and outworks, until, on the 25th, a flag of truce appeared with a despatch to Prince Frederick Charles, intimating that General Changarnier would wait upon him at twelve o'clock that day.

Marshal Bazaine had received, almost at the same moment, a despatch from General Boyer, and another from Count von Bismarck, in which the latter declined all negotiations save on the basis of unconditional surrender. On receipt of these documents, which destroyed the marshal's hopes and plans, he immediately convoked his council of war. The council decided unanimously, with one exception, that the capitulation was necessary. Almost up to the last moment General Coffinières desired to make another attempt to break through the Prussian investment. By seven o'clock in the evening, however, Bazaine had succeeded in convincing Coffinières that, even if successful, such an attempt would only postpone the capitulation for a few weeks, at a great sacrifice of life; and accordingly a messenger was sent to Prince Frederick Charles, intimating an intention to surrender. This was the first proposition which included both the fortress and the army of Bazaine encamped outside. In expectation of an outbreak on the 24th, Bazaine, whether rightly or wrongly, had fully made up his mind that further sorties were useless, and that Metz must speedily succumb. The Viscount de Valcourt contrived to escape in disguise through the Prussian lines, with a despatch in a hollow tooth, covered with a top dressing of gutta percha. This was addressed to the authorities at Tours, and ran thus:—“I must give up Metz in a day or two. Make peace as soon as you can.-BAZAINE, Marshal," &c. On the 25th October the marshal communicated to the council of war that he had received a despatch from General Boyer, stating that the empress would not accept the regency. Bazaine added, that as Bismarck had now refused to separate the fate of the town from that of the army, nothing remained to be done but to endeavour to get the best terms possible, and to

accustom both soldier and civilian to the idea. of capitulation.

General Cissy was then sent to arrange a meeting between the headquarters of the two armies, and, as we have just stated, General Changarnier subsequently had an interview with Prince Frederick Charles. It was hoped that the veteran soldier of France now sent to negotiate would be able to obtain exceptionally honourable terms for a valiant army, which had held the Prussians in check for three months and a half, after having been beaten by them several times. The prince gave the general an affable and cordial reception, but told him, that as he did not form part of the active army, he could not treat with him regarding the conditions of the capitulation; and that their conversation must be confined to pure and simple details respecting local events. He said, he knew well that Metz had victuals for only three days, and showing Changarnier a train in the railway station crammed with different kinds of provisions, he added: "That is for the city of Metz and for your army, which is in want of everything. We wish to put an end to your suffering!" Changarnier, however, proved to the prince that, although holding no separate command, he was nevertheless officially attached to Bazaine, and was acting in this matter with his authority. He pleaded hard to obtain for the soldiers the privilege of returning to their homes and families; but of course such a request could not be granted, and it is almost surprising that so old and experienced an officer should have thought of making it. At the conclusion of the interview he was almost heartbroken, and said, with a flood of tears, “We shall fall, but with honour. I wish, gentlemen, that neither you nor any brave soldier may ever experience this." Changarnier was then conducted back, as he had been brought, blindfolded, through the Prussian camp, and General Cissy was once more sent to continue the negotiation. He urged that though the army capitulated, that was no reason why Metz should surrender. The prince replied: "Before the declaration of war, we knew as well as you, down to the most minute details, the state of the defences of the town. Then the forts were scarcely sketched out, and the town could only make a feeble resistance. It is since the presence of the French army under its walls that Metz has become. what it is. Through your exertions it has been converted into a fortress of the first class, and

of a capitulation which will make no distinction between the town and the army." As no mitigation of the humiliating terms thus seemed possible, submission only remained, and General Jarras, of the marshal's staff, was sent to arrange the clauses of the capitulation.

The discussion of these details was long, obstinate, and often warm, the terms demanded by the Germans appearing to their adversaries extremely and needlessly severe. The evening of the 25th, the whole of the 26th and the 27th, was occupied before the clauses were finally settled. So certain, however, were the Germans of the ultimate issue of whatever negotiations were carried on, that their second corps received marching orders for Paris at noon on the 25th, and was on its way early in the evening. On the 26th the interview became very stormy on the part of the French commissioners. They insisted on the officers retaining their side arms, and it was found necessary to telegraph to the Prussian king at Versailles for specific instructions. The king conceded the privilege in a telegraphic despatch which arrived at three a.m. on the next day. Early on the morning of that day the commissioners again met, there being present General Jarras, Marshal Bazaine's chief of the staff, and Colonel Fay and Major Samuele on the part of General Coffinières, the commandant of the fortress. The German commissioners were Generals Stiehle and Wartensleben. The conference lasted until eight o'clock at night, when a draught was signed for the absolute surrender of Metz and all its fortifications, armaments, stores, and munitions, together with the garrison and the whole of Bazaine's army.

In addition to the leading points of the surrender, the draught stipulated that the French troops should be conducted, without arms, by regiments or regimental corps, in military order, to some place to be afterwards indicated by the Prussians; that the French officers in command of the men should, after their arrival at this place, be at liberty to return to the entrenched camps, or to Metz, on giving their word of honour not to quit either place without an order of permission from the German commandant; that the troops, after surrender, should be marched to bivouac, retaining their personal effects, cooking utensils, &c.; that the French generals, officers, and military employés ranking as commissioned officers, who should en

Germany, or to agitate against Prussian interests during the war, should not be made prisoners, but should be permitted to retain their arms, and to keep their personal property, in recognition of the courage displayed by them during the campaign. It was also agreed that all questions of detail, such as might concern the commercial rights of the town of Metz, and the interests and rights of civilians and non-combatants, should be considered and treated subsequently in an appendix to the military paper of capitulation; and that any clause, sentence, or word which might present a doubt as to its exact meaning, should be interpreted in favour of the French people.

The Metz municipal council, wrought up to the highest pitch of excitement by the reticence of the military authorities, went on the 24th to General Coffinières and demanded to be informed how matters stood. The governor told them he had no information to give, either as to the position of affairs in the rest of France or of those more immediately outside Metz; and advised them to apply to the marshal, which they agreed to do. The result of the inquiry confirmed their worst fears, that a capitulation was in course of arrangement. A thrill of rage and consternation passed through the city as the truth flashed upon it. The town council now met daily, and in answer to their persistent demand for a true statement of the situation, General Coffinières, on the morning of the 27th, issued the following official proclamation :

-

Inhabitants of Metz,-It is my duty to faithfully state to you our situation, well persuaded that your manly and courageous souls will rise to the height of this grave occasion. Round us is an army which has never been conquered, which has stood firm before the fire of the foe, and withstood the rudest shocks. This army, interposed between our city and her besiegers, has given us time to put our forts in a complete state of defence, to mount upon our walls more than 600 pieces of cannon, and has held in check an army of more than 200,000 men. Within our walls we have a population full of energy and patriotism, firmly determined to defend itself to the last extremity. I have already informed the municipal council that, notwithstanding the reduction of rations, notwithstanding the perquisitions made by the civil and

military authorities, we have no more food than will serve till to-morrow. Further than this, our brave army, tried already by the fire of the enemy, has lost 42,000 men, after horrible sufferings from the inclemency of the season and privations of every kind. The council of war has proof of these facts, and the marshal commanding in chief has given formal orders, as he had the right, to direct a portion of our provisions for the purposes of the army. With all this, thanks to our economy, we can still resist up to the 30th inst., but then our situation will not be sensibly modified. Never in the annals of military history has a place resisted until its resources have been so completely exhausted as this has, and none has ever been so encumbered with sick and wounded. We are, then, condemned to succumb; but it will be with honour, and when we find ourselves conquered by famine. The enemy, who has so closely invested us for more than seventy days, knows that he has almost attained the end of his efforts. He demands the town and the army, and will not permit the severance of the interests of the one from that of the other. Four or five days' desperate resistance would only place the inhabitants in a worse position. Rest assured that your private interests will be defended with the most lively solicitude. Seek to support stoically this great misfortune, and cherish the firm hope that Metz, this grand and patriotic city, will remain to France.

"F. COFFINIERES," "the General, &c.

"METZ, 27th October, 1870." This proclamation, though full of kindly feeling, did not satisfy the people. The old question was asked and re-asked-Why were we not told of the shortness of provisions before? Why were not some means taken to prevent waste? Waste indeed there had been. On the retreat from the battle of Gravelotte, coffee, sugar, and biscuits, to the value of more than 100,000 francs, were burnt because they encumbered the roads. More than seventy carriages, which had been in the morning full of provisions, entered Metz empty. The roadside ditches were choked with boxes of biscuit bearing the English weight, and with the familiar inscription, in large black letters, " Navy biscuit." Soldiers filled their sacks with sugar, which they sold in town, or returned with a sugar loaf on each shoulder as a trophy of the maladministration of

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the army and the weakness of their generals. "How was it," it was inquired, "that in the early days of the siege officers were allowed to draw their double rations in camp, and then to come into the town and eat and drink as though no allowance had been made them! There were for three-quarters of the time an average of 8000 officers, with double rations for at least fifty days of the blockade, giving a total of 800,000 single rations, and who, meanwhile, fed upon the provisions of the town. All this, if you knew we had not sufficient provisions for a lengthened time, you should have prevented."

There seems to have been some truth in this, but expostulation came too late to serve any good purpose; already upon the walls was the proclamation of Marshal Bazaine, announcing the dreaded event in even plainer terms than that of the commandant. It ran as follows:

"GENERAL ORDER.-No. 12.

"To the Army of the Rhine.

Conquered by famine, we are compelled to submit to the laws of war by constituting ourselves prisoners. At various epochs in our military history brave troops, commanded by Massena, Klèber, Gouvion St. Cyr, have experienced the same fate, which does not in any way tarnish military honour when, like you, their duty has been so gloriously accomplished to the extremity of human limits.

"All that was loyally possible to be done in order to avoid this end has been attempted, and could not succeed.

"As to renewing a supreme attempt to break through the fortified lines of the enemy, in spite of your gallantry and the sacrifice of thousands of lives, which may still be useful to the country, it would have been unavailing, on account of the armament and of the overwhelming forces which guard and support those lines: a disaster would have been the consequence.

"Let us be dignified in adversity. Let us respect the honourable conventions which have been stipulated, if we wish to be respected as we deserve to be.

"Let us, above all, for the reputation of our army, shun acts of indiscipline, such as the destruction of arms and matériel, since, according to military usages, places and armament will be restored to France when peace is signed.

Q

"In leaving the command I make it a duty to express to generals, officers, and soldiers all, my gratitude for their loyal co-operation, their brilliant valour on the battle-field, their resignation in privations, and it is with broken heart that I separate from you.

It is almost impossible to describe the excitement which prevailed when this order was issued. The bewildered citizens ran to and fro in the streets, seeking a leader but finding none. The national guard refused to give up its arms, and assembled in the Place d'Armes. Some few officers of different regiments would have placed themselves at their head, but they were without any plan or point of union, and ran about like ants in an invaded ant-hill. The door leading to the clocktower was broken in with the butts of muskets; the staircase was carried, and the great alarm bell of Metz was rung for the first time since 1812. The population streamed into the square from all quarters, and the streets were crowded with angry citizens. In the caserne of the engineers, a huge building on the esplanade, a band of officers of artillery and engineers, who had long been discontented with their enforced inactivity, were gathered together, and 8000 officers and men, divided into bodies, hidden in different parts of the town, were ready to put themselves under a general who had promised to lead them; but at the last moment he failed, and consternation and disorder were the result.

Now was exhibited a ridiculous feature of the outbreak. Foolish men crept in, and wise men crept out. An editor of one of the Metz newswho had before achieved glory by entering papers, the ante-chamber of General Coffinières and breaking down the harmless bust of the ex-emperor, preserving the whip with which he had done it as a trophy of his prowess, mounted his horse armed with a revolver, which he fired repeatedly in the air. He was attended by a young lady, the daughter of a gunsmith, who, mounted on one of her father's horses, and armed with one of his pistols, having a pocket handkerchief tied to it, bore aloft her standard, like a second Joan of Arc, through the streets of Metz. Ridicule speedily put an end to the silly movement; but it had the

quickly suppressed the disorderly demonstration. The arms of the national guard were taken from them, and the few officers who could fled in sorrow from their last hope. Some of them managed to steal through the gates of the town, and tramped along the muddy road to Grigy, joined here and there by a few stragglers. They crept through the dark wood, but there all hope was lost. At four mètres apart stood the Prussian outposts; to proceed was death, to go back shame. They chose the shame, and the last night they entered Metz was one of weeping and tears.

Once more, and for the last time, the municipal council of the French city of Metz assembled, and, as if ashamed of the childish display of their fellow-townsmen, addressed to them a manifesto as follows:

in supporting an evil without those agitations "Dear Fellow-citizens,-True courage consists which but serve to aggravate it. Afflicted as we all are by that which has fallen upon us to-day, not one of us can reproach himself with having failed, even for a single day, to do his duty. Let us not present the wretched spectacle of intestine strife, nor furnish any pretext for future violence, or for new and worse misfortunes. The thought that this trial will only be a transient one, and that country or to history attached to it, should be in we have assumed none of the responsibility to the

such a moment our consolation. We confide the common security to the wisdom of the population."

This proclamation was signed by the mayor and all the council, but it had no date. The date was, in fact, sufficiently fixed by the circumstances. That black Friday-a day henceforth doubly unlucky in the history of the city of Metz-needed no formal date.

At one o'clock on the 28th it was ordered that the French army should formally lay down its arms within the city. There was no set ceremony, yet the affair was imposing from its very simplicity. Each corps, in order, laid down its arms in the neighbourhood of its own station. The third army corps-that