of Leboeuf-began the movement, and the marshal himself came first, with a scowl upon his swarthy features. He wheeled to one side, and stood by the single Prussian officer whose duty it was to superintend the stacking of the arms. Regiment after regiment, the men defiled past, piling their arms in great heaps at the word of command from their own officers, who gave their parole, and were allowed to retain their swords. Some, however, declined accepting the terms, and preferring to go into captivity in Prussia, laid down their swords as the men did their Chassepots. The disarmed troops then returned into their bivouacs, which they occupied for one night more, before quitting for others round which should stand Prussian sentries. The weather on the 29th of October was as dismal as the day was a dark one in the history of unhappy France. Thick masses of black clouds rolled overhead, and the rain poured down in torrents as the Frenchmen came forth and rendered themselves to their captors. Prince Frederick Charles, with his staff and officers, had posted themselves behind Jouy, on the Frescati road. Bazaine appeared first of all; he rode at the head of his officers to the prince, to whom he simply said: "Monseigneur, I have the honour to present myself." The prince motioned him to his side, and then began the march of the officers and the army, partly classified according to their arms, partly pell-mell. Those who had a command were on horseback; the others had their arms in the state in which they afterwards laid them down in the town. Each corps, as it marched out, was received by the Prussians covering the respective section of the environment. They were led by their own officers, who formally handed them over to those of Prussia, after which those who had given their parole were at liberty to quit the ranks and return to Metz. The men were then marched out to the bivouac places, where wood for fires had been collected, and a supply of provisions was ready for distribution. The demeanour of the French troops was on the whole becoming, though here and there was evidence of considerable demoralization, the men being in a state of intoxication, and their clothes disarranged in utter disregard of decency. The officers, however, were taciturn and downcast. The reception of the prisoners, in the meadows near the Jouy road, lasted from 1 till 9. The last corps that finished the procession as evening closed in was the finest of all—the grenadiers of the guard, and they, as they parted from their officers, in many

instances embraced them, kissing them on both cheeks. Never was seen more quiet, soldier-like demeanour than that exhibited by this splendid. body of men as they marched past in perfect silence. Not a word was spoken. All that could be heard was the measured tread of thousands of feet as they splashed along the muddy road. The Prussian officers gazed with surprise and no little admiration, as regiment after regiment filed past, and congratulated themselves that they had no longer to fight such men.

At the same hour that the French commenced leaving the city, a battalion of the seventh army corps marched forward and took possession of La Porte Serpenoise, one of the gates of Metz, and another battalion from the same corps occupied the Porte Moselle. Two hours before the occupation of the fortress, an artillery officer and a small body of under-officers, accompanied by engineers, had been sent forward from each of the occupying detachments, to take over the powdermagazines and the respective forts, and not till they had reported that all was in order were the troops allowed to march in. This precaution was no doubt dictated by a recollection of the catastrophe at Laon. As the party approached the gate their wonderful discipline revealed the secret of their victory. Steady, resolute, unimpassioned, not a sign of exultation was visible on their faces. At a word they scaled the slippery glacis, and ranged themselves with mathematical precision along the rampart's crest. Their officers marched in front, keenly scanning the fosse, and guarding against every possibility of surprise; possession of the town was taken with as much caution as though its occupants had formed the grand guard of an impending battle-field. First the tête du pont was passed, the ravelin was reached, and the same minute surveillance was used. Lastly, the town's gate was entered with even greater precaution, and at twenty minutes past one o'clock the first Prussian foot fell within the city of Metz-la-Pucelle. Possession was quietly taken of the Place Moselle, and at four o'clock in the afternoon the battalion marched through the sad and silent streets (in some of which the houses were completely shut up), playing victorious German tunes. They entered the Place d'Armes, where the first object they saw was the black-draped statue of the gallant Marshal Fabert, who, as the inscription on the pedestal recalled, would, "rather than yield up a place intrusted to

him by his sovereign, place in the breach himself, his family, his goods, and all he had, and never hesitate a moment." Four bodies of infantry, whose burnished helmets glistened in the fading light, marched and counter-marched in the square, speedily clearing it of the few idle gazers of the lower classes who had gathered in it.

General von Kummer was appointed provisional German commandant of Metz, and on the day after his entry he issued the following proclamation :

-

The fortress of Metz was occupied yesterday by the Prussian troops, and the undersigned is provisionally commandant of the place. I would wish to maintain among the Prussian troops their known discipline, the liberty of the person, and the security of property. Difficulties may occur at first to the inhabitants before all affairs are properly regulated; but they ought to be brought to me, and I shall know how to appreciate the circumstances under which the difficulties have occurred. If I encounter disobedience or resistance, I shall act with all severity and according to the laws of war; whoever shall place in danger the German troops, or shall cause prejudice by perfidy, will be brought before a council of war; whoever shall act as a spy to the French troops, or shall lodge or give them assistance; whoever shows the roads to the French troops voluntarily; whoever shall kill or wound the German troops, or the persons belonging to their suite; whoever shall destroy the canals, railways, or telegraph wires; whoever shall render the roads impracticable; whoever shall burn munitions and provisions of war; and, lastly, whoever shall take up arms against the German troops, will be punished by death.

"It is also declared that, (1) the houses in which, or from out of which, any one commits acts of hostilities towards the German troops will be used as barracks; (2) no more than ten persons will be allowed to assemble in the streets or public places; (3) the inhabitants must deliver up all arms by four o'clock on Monday, the 31st of October, at the Palais, rue de la Princerie; (4) all windows are to be lighted up during the night in case of an alarm.

"VON KUMMER.

"METZ, October 30, 1870."

By the capitulation of Metz a terrible blow, indeed, was inflicted on the French nation. Metz the

invincible, Metz which was always French in tongue and race, even when it was a city of the holy Roman empire, Metz which had been incorporated in France for more than three hundred years— indeed, from before the English lost Calais-Metz had fallen, and three marshals of France and a vast army had surrendered with it to the enemy. To the victorious Prussians the Sedan prize of an emperor was of little use. But the great stronghold and the beautiful city that the French loved, along with the very flower and front of the army of France, and a mass of munitions of war, among which were 400 pieces of artillery, 100 mitrailleuses, and 53 eagles-all these formed a trophy which the German armies looked upon as shedding a new brilliancy on their victorious banners. The material gains indeed were past calculation. The strongest fortress in France, surrounded by works so extensive and formidable that the army of Bazaine could take refuge behind them without fear of a direct attack, was now in the hands of the Germans. On French territory they held a place from which all the armies of France, if France had armies, could not drive them. It was easily accessible from their own frontier, connected with North and South Germany by lines of railway, and possessed of it they could, even if they held nothing else, command the north-east of France up to the Argonne. Nor was this all. Metz was an arsenal as well as a fortress; to the guns on its fortifications must be added those which were found inside, as well as a vast machinery ready for the fabrication of arms and munitions of war. The spoils of the greatest army that had ever laid down its arms within historical times were in the hands of the victors. The entire army of the Rhine was armed with the Chassepot, and every weapon, except those which the French soldiers destroyed in their rage and despair, would be available to arm the German levies; while such was the quantity of field artillery, both of guns and mitrailleuses, which now fell into German hands, that it would be in the power of the king of Prussia to equip a first-rate army with the spoils of a single day. As to Metz itself, the French were, as we have said, intensely proud of their, till now, virgin city-proud of her historical fame, proud of her great strength, proud of her gardens, and bridges, and promenades that made her the queen of the valley of the Moselle. Her cathedral, if less renowned than that of Strassburg, was yet a noble and stately building; and there was this

further point in her favour, when contrasted with Strassburg, that she was a French city, and had never belonged to Germany. It is true that she was once, as a free town, under the protection of the German empire; but then, as now, Metz was French in all her ways and habits, her speech and costume. And in her present days of bitter distress France had never ceased to look towards Metz for some faint gleam of consolation and hope. The sunlight that touched the grey forts of the capital of Lorraine, seemed to shed from thence a vague warmth and light of comfort through the gloom that lay dark over the nation. The hope of France was with Bazaine. Bazaine was to do this and that; the army of the Rhine was suddenly to appear in the rear of the Germans besieging Paris. Wild stories and rumours grew and flourished amid these eager anticipations. Bazaine could get away if he wished. Bazaine was amply provisioned for three months. Bazaine was lying inactive only that he might delude his foes, and strike hard and sharp when the moment came for his co-operation with the nebulous armies which, from over the whole of France, were supposed to be floating like clouds towards him. Nay, Bazaine had already broken through, and was at Thionville. Such were some of the delusions which the French people, following the example of their rulers, had invented for each other to believe. Long anticipated as it had been, the capitulation of Metz came upon the German army with a strange suddennesss. It had been announced but a day or two before that the negotiations had been definitively closed; and men prepared themselves as they best could for another tedious period of on-waiting, diversified with fighting. It was not till the following proclamation of Prince Frederick Charles was issued, that the men could fully comprehend the extent of the victory their patient courage had achieved: :

“Soldiers of the First and Second Armies,-You have fought and invested in Metz an enemy whom you had vanquished, for seventy days, seventy long days, which have made most of your regiments the richer in fame and honour, and have made none poorer. You allowed no egress to the brave enemy until he would lay down his arms. This has been done. To-day at last this army, still 173,000 men strong, the best in France, consisting of more than five entire army corps, including the imperial guard,

with three marshals of France, with more than fifty generals, and above 6000 officers, has capitulated, and with it Metz, never before taken. With this bulwark, which we restore to Germany, innumerable stores of cannons, arms, and war material have fallen to the conqueror. Besides these bloody laurels, you have defeated him by your bravery in the two days' battle at Noisseville and in the engagements round Metz, which are more numerous than the surrounding villages after which you name these combats. I acknowledge your bravery gladly and gratefully, but not it alone. I estimate almost higher your obedience and your composure, cheerfulness, and resignation in enduring difficulties of many kinds. All this distinguishes the good soldier. To-day's great and memorable success was prepared by the battles which we fought before we invested Metz, and as we should remember in gratitude to him-by the king himself, by the corps then marching with him, and by all those dear comrades who died on the battle-field or through maladies here. All this previously rendered possible the great work which, by God's blessing, you to-day see completed-viz., the collapse of the power of France. The importance of to-day's event is incalculable. You soldiers, who were assembled under my orders for this object, are about to proceed to various destinations. My farewell, therefore, to the generals, officers, and soldiers of the first army and Kummer's division, and a God speed to further successes.

catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude as the "most important event of the month." And yet a very slight effort of memory will show that the language was as strictly warrantable as simple. July had the declaration of war and the arming of Germany; August the triumphs of Woerth and Spichern, of Vionville and Gravelotte; September the capitulation of Napoleon's army at Sedan; and October, ere its close, gave into the hands of the monarch of an united Germany the maiden fortress which in other times Charles Quint beleaguered in vain! On the 28th the king conferred the dignity of field-marshal on the Crown Prince and Prince Frederick Charles; and it was about this time that rumour first began to speak of a restored empire of Germany in the person of the Prussian monarch—a project which was carried into effect not many months later, and to which the extraordinary successes of the war were manifestly leading the thoughts, and probably the desires of the German people.

On the 3rd of November the event was further alluded to in the following order of the day:

"Soldiers of the Confederate Armies!-When

we took the field, three months ago, I expressed my confidence that God would be with our just

cause. This confidence has been realized.

I recall to you Woerth, Saarbruck, and the bloody battles before Metz, Sedan, Beaumont, and Strassburg each engagement was a victory for us. You are worthy of glory. You have maintained all the virtues which especially distinguish soldiers. By the capitulation of Metz the last army of the enemy is destroyed. I take advantage of this moment to express my thanks to all of you, from the general to the soldier. Whatever the future may still bring to us, I look forward to it with calmness, because I know that with such soldiers victory cannot fail!

"WILHELM."

That King William did not overrate the importance of the great event of October 27, was abundantly shown by the way in which the news was received throughout France. Her armies might be defeated, her emperor made prisoner, her fortresses of minor rank, or even Strassburg, fall into the hands of the enemy; but that Metz, her virgin and greatest stronghold, should share the same fate, seemed never to have entered the minds

of Frenchmen. At Lyons, some persons who repeated the rumour of the capitulation were assaulted and taken to the police station. Several days after the Journal de Genéve ventured to intimate that Bazaine had surrendered, but the Lyonnais set upon the vendors, tore their papers, and threatened to drown all who should be found reading them; while the copies which had been supplied to the public establishments of the city were publicly burned. In Marseilles, and several other large towns, the news was received with a feeling of grief and depression befitting the greatness of the calamity. Immense crowds of workmen, displaying flags draped in mourning, but crowned with immortelles, marched bareheaded and in silence to the prefectures. When rumoursof the capitulation reached Tours, the delegate government were besieged with crowds of excited citizens eager to know the truth, and the following official notice appeared in the Moniteur on the evening of the 28th:

"Grave news, concerning the origin and veracity of which, in spite of my active researches, I have no sort of official information, reach me from all sides. The rumour of the capitulation of Metz circulates. It is good that you should know what the government thinks on the announcement of such a disaster. Such an event could only be the result of a crime, whose authors would deserve to be outlawed. I will keep you informed of what occurs; but be convinced, whatever may happen, that we will not allow ourselves to be cast down even by the most frightful misfortunes. In these days of vile (scélerates) capitulations there is one thing that cannot, and must not capitulate, and that is the French Republic.

“LEON GAMBETTA.”

The

As the unwelcome truth was gradually confirmed, those of the French papers formerly published in Paris, but which now appeared at Tours, Poitiers, and Bordeaux, all commented upon the fall of Metz in terms expressive of pungent sorrow, and more or less of indignation. Français referred "with deep grief to this great catastrophe. But before judging and denouncing we feel bound to wait for an explanation of the cruel necessities which induced Marshal Bazaine to take that fatal step, and also for a statement of the clauses of the capitulation. The disaster of

us. It is now a time to repeat, with supplications and tearful eyes, May God protect France!" The Gazette de France recorded the fact "with a broken heart. It is almost impossible to believe that such a thing is possible. What curse is it that weighs upon France? 150,000 men formerly sufficed to gain victories over 400,000 enemies, but now they only serve to hasten the capitulation of a fortress. What a melancholy history is this! Strassburg fell because it had not a sufficient number of defenders, while Metz, in whose walls the enemy's cannon had made no breach, succumbed because it had too many soldiers shut up within its defences."

was.

The fall of Metz was an event so grave as to justify a little caution in making it known to the French nation, in the excited state in which it then Anxious, however, to account for the event in such a way as to save the credit of the country, and at the same time, to detract from the triumph of their enemy, the Tours government scrupled not to heap upon the head of Bazaine charges of the vilest treachery. The gallant Uhrich of Strassburg, after having his praises sung throughout France for weeks, was at last accused of treason; and after making a surrender on a far greater scale, Bazaine could never have hoped to escape the same fate. M. de Valcourt, the officer of his staff who had escaped from Metz and arrived at Tours as the bearer of a despatch, drew up a long indictment against his chief, according to which Bazaine never seriously attempted to make an exit from Metz, from the 18th of August, when he was first driven under its walls. With a view to his own aggrandisement, he first of all deeply involved himself in imperialist intrigues, and proposed to the king of Prussia that the army of Metz should, after being neutralized for a time, return to France to "insure the liberty of elections;" his real design being to establish himself as regent during the minority of the prince imperial. But when his majesty declined to listen to any overtures except those of unconditional surrender, and Bazaine became convinced that he could only bring France and the Prussians to adopt the idea of a Bonapartist restoration, by adding to the other misfortunes which were already weighing down the unhappy country that of the capitulation of Metz, then, said M. de Valcourt, the marshal made it his busi

Unless they could be fully established, charges such as these against a soldier who had served his country with distinction for forty years, came with little grace from the delegate government. There is no doubt that, for at least eight days after the defeat at Gravelotte and retreat to Metz, Bazaine gave way to a culpable inactivity. This time was invaluable to the Germans; it gave them the means of counter-intrenching their army so strongly as to make egress from Metz very difficult, and enabled them to withdraw the three corps forming their new fourth army, to occupy the line of the Meuse, and frustrate the effort of MacMahon to relieve his brother marshal. The latter waited for his coming, and at his supposed approach attempted his one real sortie, that of the 31st of August, which opened the Prussian line eastward of Metz at the time. But this attack was so feebly followed up that at daybreak on the 1st the enemy recovered easily the positions he had lost. Strategically, indeed, it was so ill-directed that for the time its success would have carried Bazaine towards the Sarre, and left the first and second armies between his own and that of MacMahon which he had expected.

As to the later stages of the investment, when we examine the French and the German accounts, and compare with them the narrative already alluded to of Mr. Robinson of the Manchester Guardian, who spent the ill-fated seventy days with the army in Metz, we find the most perfect agreement on one point. No sortie after the 1st September ever showed the slightest indication of a real design to break out of the German lines. That of the 7th October, the most important, was conducted on a scale which sufficed to draw the attention of both armies to it, and to convince the French soldiers of the difficulty of the undertaking; but it was plainly not a serious attempt. It is perhaps possible that loyalty to the Empire, the political state of France, and the supposed prospect of an imperialist restoration influenced Bazaine's conduct; chiming in, as it does, with his direct communication with Versailles and Chislehurst, and with all that is known of his movements during the seven weeks in question. With this may possibly have been mixed up the idea, that in case of the tide of the Prussian