France Preparing for War.
The war between France and Germany is not at an end. There has been no peace, only an adjournment of hostilities. No fact is more evident than this. The one idea that controls the French mind is “the settlement of accounts with Germany.” Although little is said about it in the papers, and there have been discreet reservations in the debates, the Government has been making strenuous efforts to bring the army up to its fullest capacity. There have been large purchases of horses in Hungary, England, and Germany. The workshops for the manufacture of artillery and firearms are in full blast. There are more cannon now than there was before the war, and more small arms. Paris is being strengthened by new lines of forts. Great quantities of provisions have been introduced into the city of Paris, enough for two years’ consumption in case of a siege. When the new works are completed, a successful siege of Paris will require the investment of a line of circumvallation ninety miles in extent—a feat not within the resources of any army. The soldiers are under constant and severe discipline. They are kept in camp, away from Paris and the large cities. You see fewer soldiers in Paris than in London—a group here and there, at the Invalides and public buildings, for instance, but no more. Whatever difference there may be as to dynasties, and parties in this work of re-organizing the army and strengthening the resources of France, every one is interested. The French army to-day is the strongest army in Europe, except that of Germany. Beyond and above all, there is a public spirit, a sense of industry and self-denial, a desire for information and study that are a wholesome evidence of improvement. It may be, and I would not be surprised if history so recorded it, that the appalling disasters that fell upon France have served to show the strength and weakness of the country, and to teach that strength that comes from a true knowledge of weakness and a resolution to overcome it.