On Thursday, M. Ferry officially announced the rupture with China
to the Senate, and a singular scene occurred. Marshal Catrobert did not venture to deprecate further war, but inti- mated quietly his belief that General Briere de l'Isle, in supreme command in Tonquin, was at present reduced to stand upon the defensive. M. Ferry peremptorily denied this, and. declared that, if the troops were not advancing, it was in consequence of his own orders. At another moment in the debate, moreover, he declared the pause in .Tonquin to be intentional, and that as his moderate policy did not succeed, people in a few days would understand how the Government intended " to respond to their legitimate impatience." All this points to some sharp blow to be struck at China, and as it is .quite certain that General Briere de l'Isle cannot strike it, if only from the difficulty of traversing the distances before him, M. Ferry must intend to use the Fleet, either against Canton or on the Yangtse Kiang. The rage of the French Government at its diplomatic defeat comes out in a long letter to the Times from its Paris correspondent; attacking the Marquis Tseng. He is accused of personal malevolence against M. Ferry, and threatened with death at the bands of his own Government. Considering that the Marquis is Ambassador to London, we doubt if a parallel to that letter can be found in the annals of diplomacy.
