The blow may be said to place France outside Paris
at the mercy of the Germans. There does not exist an organized force outside the capital which could meet the shock of such an army as that which has been released by the capitulation, seven corps d'armge, comprising at least 180,000 men. One corps, the 2nd, has marched to Paris, probably to destroy the Army of the North, while the remainder will probably overrun the unpillaged South. Hope remains with Paris alone, and in a few days, perhaps a few hours, we ought to know what that hope is worth. If Trochu can fight and win a great battle France may yet survive ; if not, she must choose between submission and the fate of Poland. If the war closes without one gleam of victory for France, the country for thirty years will, as regards the external world, be non- existent. Frenchmen, of all human beings, are powerless without self-respect.
