The Voice of the French People.
The election for a National Assembly which has taken place in France in the course of the present week will rank among the most important elections of the present century. It will have to decide two most momentous questions: first, whether the conditions of peace which are demanded by Germany shall be adopted; and, secondly, what form of government the country shall adopt after the conclusion of peace. If it were possible to convey to the French voters an accurate account of what the statesmen, the generals, the press, and the educated people of all foreign countries, think of their present situation and of their prospects, they would see that, according to the almost unanimous opinion of the civilized world, further resistance to the German army is utterly hopeless; and that France would do well to make peace on the easiest conditions she can obtain; but that peace should be made at all events. The Provisional Government has of late made the most desperate efforts to establish communication with the large force which was shut up in Paris. All the available men were massed in three armies—that of the Loire, that of the North, and that of the East. These armies simultaneously attacked that portion of the enemy's army which was not engaged in the siege of Paris with the impetuosity of despair, knowing well that if they failed, Paris would fall, and that none of them would ever have an equal chance to strike a decisive blow for the deliverance of France. The tragic result of this last effort is well known: each of the three armies has suffered a crushing defeat; one of them, the Army of the East, under General Bourbaki, has been annihilated; Paris has fallen, and with it an army of nearly 200,000 men, with several thousand cannon, has been captured. Nearly one half of the entire German army has thus become free for other operations, and can be hurled upon the shattered and demoralized remnants of the armies of the Loire and the North. The latter army, if hostilities should be resumed must, without fail, be annihilated within a few days; for it is cut off from the remainder of France, and as the German army of Paris is separated from it by only a very short distance, it would be at once overwhelmed and overpowered. Thus, nothing but the Army of the Loire, and what new forces the Government may be able to raise, would be left. The inferiority of these forces to the German army is too vast to consider it possible that the speedy occupation of all France by the Germans could be much longer delayed. A refusal of the National Assembly to conclude peace could, therefore, only add to the profound misery into which the country has been plunged, and entail on it new losses and severer conditions of peace. We hope, therefore, in union with all those who sympathize with the misfortunes of France, that the majority of the coming National Assembly may consist of moderate and considerate men, who, laying aside the traditional pride and ambition of this great nation, will show an earnest desire to conclude peace. The conclusion of peace is all the more necessary, because the conflict between the three great parties into which the French people are divided will again make itself felt. The country has for several months been controlled by a Provisional Government, which has not only not proceeded from a popular election, but which has studiously avoided an appeal to the universal suffrage of the people. From what has become known about the disposition of the French people, it is extremely doubtful whether the acts of the Provisional Government, and, in particular, of that portion of it which is represented by M. Gambetta, are approved by a majority of the French people. Thus far, the adherents both of the Bonapartes and of the Orleans family have had no opportunity to show their strength. They would not fail to strain every nerve to secure the greatest possible number of their adherents in the National Assembly. Thus there will be in the Assembly a race of three parties for the helm of the Government, and whichever party may find itself in the ascendancy will have before it not only the task of making peace with the Germans, but of keeping down the other parties, and of preventing a revolution, into which Frenchmen are always ready to embark. The difficulties which beset the National Assembly are immense. We sincerely hope that the people may choose as their representatives the best men of the country, and the combined wisdom of the nation may find the way that leads back out of this present chaos into a happier period of its history.—Methodist.