The Sun. — London, England, 1870-12-23 00:00:00

TDER. f two actions, MlSSgainst gi rtent-Colono the Straight iti,' lantine, Mr ;ther (Tbaoi'r Amin i ster ecl i,e s body vaaY e are, sir, „ [ PowNALL. Ind Co., a li t,' re. It wo-4 Newington. 0 per which 11 6, lees office , 'l 5 The esso re a part)" 0 , ,ject.—We i PowNaLD. which was stributed t° :opy of it rs, aristoc rati c , ithout dislaP i ebe avoided. ndertakera e',7„ ; Lersonally _ l ,', 6, MyddletTi, 3. Forman, - 1,, to the suPer,`", emetery, win g allowed, 5 ° 4 Lg the 11 0116 ; Lds, or relativ e s E common seo Fas addressed t: l 7 ' It hapPel le adanta with he ted and sent the inquest the that the aef e' a They ale° 5/ ' 1 she had aloe cb t relu ctance ti) t was there l e i .ned counsel ti ling to gal l ' i• . amounted 92 at his cl° st still paying °if, i to prove ti r o was no truth endants tli3t plication fo r 5 ivestigation te l o inquiry. l l ' e o loath arose f r .4 r strong °pill' cation. 00 to ask for iev arse not be- 3. heart and 1 0 1 ;ause it was il re a Ir. It aPP eS I3 O orman, and t upon his sil°o t. chair you sh as e ' l aess it apPe vi ff ion that his o j irism burst , 14 ar. Forman °l e a r wife pois 0 1 . 1) has been a p Of enough. , 13e 0 y, assuring ! o t! I from an a ct requested tbaii ice. It Was" logy when ° o il )ng. TheY a the first ac ti l i , tP on oatbo the also said t e tr ith theii broth ;lines. el a that the d e co ct s they lived o il re ; and he 11 . ° 08 opinion b 7 images, rP" s ll° Slander that 0 4 the verdie' t holding tbo f Standard °„ nd A (lilbeY lif er l s a ting de. re a cells rsg o ro and were I° l 4, London ! /4 0 # stores by o c "0.15 which the ,„,0r,4 1 Xerxes, ",.'14 5 ,, )ond. UPS piecework, 13 11 0 4 s weight 0 1 o which, ev e' e j o? r steam. Tb. ti it o , vernment 13 10 0 ,0 entire Wine t of nts in almos t heir goods . v t io o .o, id their pe ,3 A r+ lity and gool' e s 3 o # ) agents, ill! 0 0 0 1 or three liti 4 io holds in re 2l ,, ' O 4 varietfe',." 0 0 selected f u c l,l o io, leult to ow deo , and cone PD l ;ablishmeo b i , as with vrlo gt oy, eof the t IF; Id a visit 0 1 1 , i f they will $ e 0 0`" on Buell ! e , even in "- nber, 1870. SPECIAL EDITION. SUN OFFICE, 7 P.M. LATEST INTELLIGEINCE. THE W TOURS SHELLED BY THE GERMANS. TOURS, December 21. The Germans appeared this morning near the Pont Pierre. As a party of cuirassiers came on the bridge they were fired upon by the civilians. Three or four of them were killed, and the rest quickly retired. Immediately afterwards a severe cannonade was opened on the town, and several persons were killed in the streets by the falling shells. A white flag was hoisted, and the Mayor of Tours at once went to the officers in command, after whi,ch the shelling ceased. The town had not been entered by the Germans, but it was expected they would do so immediately the whole of the troops come up. General Pisani has had an engagement with the Germans atMonnaie. The Germans suffered severely, losing several hundred men. AUXERRE OCCUPIED BY THE GERMANS. A despatch has been received in Fours, stating that the Germans have occupied Auxerre. GREAT SORTIE FROM PARIS. The Sing of Prussia has sent a telegram to Queen Augusta, dated from Versailles, December 22. His Majesty says that believing the French Army of the North was close at hand, the enemy yesterday made a great sortie against Stains, which twas retaken by the Ist Regiment of Guards. He also informs the Queen that an important artillery eugagement took place at Bourget, which was also retaken by the Germans, with many hmndred prisoners. The Saxons were also attacked at Sevran from Bobigny, and at Chelles from Rosny, and Neuilly on the Marne, but the French were everywhere repulsed. It was fully expected that a fresh attack would be made on the 22nd. The German loss, his Majesty says, is small. REPULSE OF THE FRENCH. VERSAILLES, Wednesday. Fifty thousand French moved along the wood to Le Bourget, covered by the fire of the forts St. Denis and de l'Est, and attacked the Guards, whose bead-quarters are at "Genesse. The fighting raged in the villages of Arnouville, Garges, and Bonneuil, and the 12th Corps was moved from Sevran to reinforce the Guards. At four o'clock the sortie was repulsed. An official despatch•from the Royal head-quarters at Versailles states that more than 1,000 unwounded prisoners fell into the hands of the Germans. The positions which were not attacked were, during the sortie, shelled, but without damage being done. Of the 350 grenades which fell on the sth Army Corps alone, only one man Was wounded. Yesterday (the 22d) two brigades of the French marched against the Saxons, but their efforts were foiled by the fire of the Wurtemberg batteries. THE GERMANS ENGAGED BY DUCROT, BOREEAUX, December 22. Operations against the Prussians re-commenced yesterday morning by a general artillery engage ment, which was a success for the French General Vinoy attacked the Germans at Villa Evrard and Maison Blanche, from both of which places he drove the enemy. General Ducrot has engaged the Germans at Drancy, but the result is not yet known. MOVEMENTS OF THE PRUSSIANS. TOURS, December 22 The Prussians evacuated their positions last night in front of Monnaie. Other Prussian forces in the neighbourhood have retired upon Chateau Renault, Beaufort, and the Loire. THE SITUATION OF PARIS. BRUSSELS, December 23 M. du Jardin, Secretary to the Belgian Legation at Paris, has just arrived here from the besieged capital. He states that the persons iu his station of life have not modified, till now, their mode of living. RUMOURED DEFEAT OF GENERAL CHANZY. The latest despatch from Havre, dated the 21st, says the report was in general circulation that a severe battle had been fought by the united armies of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg and Prince Frederick Charles against General Chanzy, that the latter had suffered a defeat, and was falling back on Cherbourg, but no confirmation of the report had been received. _ _ No material change at Tionfleur. Large bodies of troops are at Fort Levesque. At present there are 60,000 troops here, and every possible measure is being taken to increase their effi ciency for immediate active operations. A soldier was shot in the presence of the troops for desertion ; five others are condemned to death for the same offence. GERMANS PREPARING FOR THE ATTACK LAGNY, December 20. The siege guns to be used against Paris are arriving in numbers, but they are not of so large a calibre as is desirable. They are being placed in position as they come in. There is still a deficiency in the supply of ammunition. Two hundred sailors from Kiel and its vicinity left Lagny to-day to man the gunboats on the Loire, taken from the French. These gunboats are intended for further operations. To-day the deputation of the German Reichstag passed through here on its retard from Versailles. The members of the deputation dined in a very homely way, and left for Epernay, where they are to stay the night. GERMANS SURROUNDING GENERAL F BISMARCK AND THE FRENCH WAR LOAN• BERLIN, December 22, BRUSSELS, December 22 (6 p.m.) It is reported from Lille that Genaral Faidherbe has arrested his march upon Paris. The German forces are executing a movement tending towards the surrounding of the General. They now occupy Soissons and Hirson. From Lyons it is reported that an address of the Commune has been sent to the members of the Provi sional Government. The address sets forth that the Department of the Rhone alone, besides its contin gent to the regular army and to the Garde Mobiles, has furnished 10,000 volunteers, and that the town of Lyons has spent at least 12,000,000 francs. It also insists that the Government should be stimu lated by the zeal shown by the Departments, and above all things should spew itself to be pitiless towards " functionaries, inerts, or incapables" (functionnaires. inertes, ou incapables). Fewer decrees and proclamations—more boldness and more energy. LILLE, December 22. The report that General Faidherbe had engaged the Germans is untrue. Manteuffel's army is near Amiens. It is generally believed that a battle is now being fought near the city. The Kreuz Zeitung has published, without re mark, a letter alleged to have been written by an i English resident at Bordeaux, who g iv s it as his opinion that Count Bismarck, on t he c nclusion of peace, will endeavour to stipulate for t e repudia tion of the recent French Loan contracted in Eng land. The Vienna Tagespresse publishes a letter from a French officer escaped from Prussia, who says that he broke his parole when he found that the Napo leonic paper, Le Drapeau, was officially distributed among the captive officers, all other French papers being denied them. PREPARATIONS AT CHERBOURG. A. despatch, dated the 21st, states thatlarge num bers of well-armed troops were at Cherbourg. Ten thousand have already left, as an advanced guard, to take up a position in the field. Arms and equip ments are coming in rapidly, and drilled men are adding almost hourly to this new army. THE BREACH OF PAROLE BY FRENCH OFFICERS. BERLIN, December 22. A circular has been addressAd to the North Ger man representatives at Foreign Courts by the Chancellor of the Confederation, dated the 14th inst. It draws attention to the frequent escapes of French officers from captivity by breaking their word of honour. This proceeding, it states, has acquired a special importance, from the fact that the French Government sanctions this violation of faith by giving appointments to those who escape, and that the French army does not refuse to receive in its ranks men who have broken their pledged word. The German Government, it also states, have now to decide whether the customary alleviations of captivity shall henceforth be ac corded to the French officers who have been taken prisoners, and also what amount of confidence they can have in conventions unattended by material guarantees, which may in future have to be concluded with French commanders, or with the French Government. The Chancellor of the Confederation concludes by saying that while re serving to himself to make known the decisions of the German Governments on this question at a future time, begs to call attention to the subject, in order that a proper judgment can be passed on any complaints which may be made by those now in power in France against the precautionary measures that will have to be taken. THE LUXEMBURG QUESTION. EARL GRANVILLE's REPLY. BERLIN, December 22. In his answer to Count Bismark's Circular rela tive to the violation of neutrality by the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Lord Granville expresses his regret that the Grand Ducal Government should have given cause for the reclamation made by the Government of the North German Confederation. However, Earl Garnville adds that, before coming to e decided opinion upon the matter, he must await the expression of the views of the other Governments interested, and especially the of the Government of Luxemburg. The tone of the English despatch is friendly and conciliatory. The English Government entertains the hope that Germany does not propose to renounce formally the Treaty of 1867, and that, in any Lase, she will be prepared to take part in deliberations in view of arriving at a pacific solution before taking any further steps. The Telegraph publishes the following telegrams received from its own correspondent : BERLIN, December 22. - I have reason to believe that the answer of the Grand Ducal Government to the Prussian note on the question of neutrality will be conceived in the same spirit, and almost identically the same terms, with the resolution which was voted yesterday by the Luxemburg Chamber o 1 Deputies. BERLIN, December 22. If Prussia should make an appeal—though I have considerable doubt whether she will—to an European Court of Arbitration for the Luxem burg affair, I have reason to believe that the Government which would be invited to; undertake the arbitration would be that of the United States. Down to this time, however, I have good reason for believing that no official steps in the direction of a settlement of this kind have, as yet, been taken. _ BERLIN, December 22. I have not yet been able to ascertain that there is any official ground for the statement which I trans mitted to you the other day, that Prussia would con sent to submit the Luxemburg difficulty to the arbitration of an European Court. THE PROPOSED CONFERENCE. IIIENNA, December 21. The reported movement of Prince Charles is par tially contradicted by the Official Warren's Corres pondence, which says it would be advisable to give information we received from Roumania no greater significance than properly attaches to it. The Presse states that the Berlin account of the Aui4trian note on the Luxemburg Question is prema ture. Austria has as yet only addressed England and Holland ; from Holland no answer has been re ceived. 3 telegram of the Presse states that the Ozer has addressed an autogrankletter ;to the Sultan. A large part of the Turkish fleet, under Hobart Pacha, has been ordered to the Red Sea to suppress Egyptian intrigue with Arabian revolutionists. From other sources the reported understanding between Russia and Turkey is denied. VIENNA, December 22. Accounts frpm Bucharest state that the agitation for Roumanian independence is confined to the newspapers, and is not supported by the Govern ment. Five Turkish ships, with 5,000 men, have started for the Red Sea. The troops will be landed to me t the insurgents at Mecca. INDIA. OALOurrA, December _21_(10 Accurate information has reached the Govern ment with respect to Mr. Hayward's murder, which was completed with the sword. The body was buried with military honuurs in Gilort Fort. The Maharajah of Cashmere has elicited these facts, and done his best to make a searching inquiry. All found guilty. Sir H. Durand's frontier expedition has examined the rivers as sources for irrigation and for• supplying Peshawur city and cantonments with pure water, and also-the nature and progress of revenue settle in Peshawur and other frontier districts. THE CONFERENCE. - - We have received advices direct from Paris, informing us that the Provisional Government has agreed to send a representative to the Conference on the Russian diffi culty, which will be held in London. M. Thiers has been selected to represent France on this occasion. Telegraph. A. NEW GRIEVANCE WITH AMERICA. The Secretary of the United States Navy, in his annual report, says, in reference to the sinking of the United States corvette Oneida, after collision with the Penin sular and Oriental Company's steamer Bombay :—" I recommend that the department be authorised to take such means as may be available to obtain redress from the Bombay's owners for our pecuniary loss." The boring of the Mont Cenis Tunnel has been completed for a distance of 12,215 metres. Only five metres more now remain to be pierced. A heavy fall of snow, accompanied by a very severe frost, took place in the northern counties on Wed nesday. The Yorkshire Derwent and other rivers are swollen to a great height by the recent rains. InE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 187 L, THE MONEY MARKET. CITY, Two o'OLooK. On the Stock Exchange to-day business was very quiet. Consols are 012 to 911 for money and account ; New and Reduced, 911 to 911; India Five per Cents., 110 to 1101 i Exchequer Bills, 10s. to 15s. prem. There is no change in Foreign Stocks. Italian of 1861 are 554 to 551; Spanish, 314 to 311 ; Turkish Five per Cents., 444 to 441.; French Scrip, dis. to 1 prem; North German, to I prem. ; and Egyptian, 771 to 78. It is understood that the subscription list has been filled for the £300,000 6 per Cent. Debentures of the Metropo litan District Railway Company, offered on the 17th inst. at 102, or 101-1, reckoning allowances. The Manchester Courier states :—" Consequent on the failure of Messrs. Higson,-West, and Co., announced yes terday, the suspension is reported of Mr. John Higson. merchant, of Hamburg, which will involve some further liabilities to houses in Manchester, but not to any serious extent either in number or amount." The proposal for a railway to connect the. Euston ter minus with the Charing-cross line of the South-Eastern Railway has been actively revived, with the view of bring_ ing the manufacturing districts and the north of England generally into connection with the system of southern railways at that point, an undertaking which was reported to be of public utility by the joint Committee of Lords and Commons on Metropolitan Railways in 1864. At the Board meeting of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, the dividend on the Arbitration Deben ture Stock was ordered to be paid on the 15th of ' January to all proprietors who shall have sent in their securities for conversion on or before the 31st inst. As private telegrams to and from Bordeaux are now stopped, and letters by mail arrive very irregularly, and are generally seven and eight days en route through France, a correspondent suggests that the steamers which trade regularly between London and Bordeaux, leaving each city two or three times a week, should be employed by the Post-office to take mails, the direct passages seldom exceeding five days. A second dividend of Bs. in the pound is announced to the creditors of the Hop Planters' Joint-stock Company (Limited.) Sir Charles D. Crossley announces his retirement from the Stock Exchange. POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—Tffis DAY. THE CONSTABLE AND THE COACHMAN.—Henry Chaplin, coachman to Sir Sydney Dacres, of New-street, Spring- Gardens, appeared before Mr. Knox to a summons charging him with using offensive language to Police-constable Robert French, 130 Reserve. The constable stated that on the Ist instant the defendant pulled up at the Civil Service Co-operative Stores in the Haymarket, and re ceived a box with a name on it. He then requested the defendant to move, as he was causing an obstruction, but he refused to do so, and on asldng him a second time, there being several vehicles on the rank, he refused and said, "Go away you swine, do you think I'll be ordered by a like you." He found the defendant had only called for the box, and on asking him his name, he refused it, saying that he would find him at Scotland-yard. He afterwards went to Scotland-yard and found the defendant lived there, and having got his name a summons was applied for. The defendant said the constable gave his name and address, and he did not make use of the ex pression mentioned by the constable, but he did call him a" fool." There were no other carriages on the rank. A witness, a fellow servant of the defendants, said the defendant gave the constable his name and address, " Mr. Chaplin, Scotland-yard, servant to Sir Sydney Dacres." The constable said the defendant never did so. The defendant said, he should like some of the persons from the stores to attend. Mr. Knox said they should be sent for. On their attending, Daniel Harrison, commissionaire on duty at the stores, and John Warren, a porter at the stores were sworn. The former deposed. to hearing the constable tell the defendant to leave as he was causing an obstruction, and the defendant became very abusive and stopped some time, there being car riages on the engaged rank ; while the • latter deposed to taking out a box to the defendant, and hearing that he had been abusing the constable. Mr. Knox said the defendant's own witnesses had proved that he had used very insulting language to the constable, and he had no doubt that the offence charged had been made out. He was sorry to see a person like the defendant in such a position, after the character (handed to the magistrate) he had received from Lady Sidney Dacres. He had no doubt the defendant had allowed his temper to get the better of him, and he had no doubt, if the defendant's, master was sitting by his (Mr. Knox's) side, he would very properly call the defendant to account for it. The defendant would have to pay 205., or fourteen days. ROBBERY OF LINEN.—Eliza Williams, a woman of the town, was brought up at the Thames Police-court, charged with stealing a quantity of wet linen, from a yard in the occupation of Mr. Tutte,'of Cold Harbour, Blackwall. A police-constable named John Currin, No. 230 K, met prisoner at half-past one o'clock this morning, in the Burdett-road, Limehouse, with a bundle consisting of shirts, drawers, handkerchiefs, and other things, which she said a man she had never seen before had given her to carry. Mrs. Davis Tutte, the wife of the owner of the property, said the things had been stolen from her yard between the hours of eight and ten in the evening. The prisoner was committed for trial. A CONVICT NEGLECTING TO COMPLY WITH HER LICENSE. —Catherine Galvan, a ticket-of-leave convict, and known to the police as a thief for many years, was charged with not reporting her change of residence to the police in the terms of her license. The police, who exercise a very rigid and proper surveillance over ticket-of-leave convicts (called licence-holders), could prove that the prisoner had changed her abode. She was discharged, with a caution to be careful and to report herself monthly at the nearest police station to which she resided. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. LATEST LONDON BETTING.. WATERLOO CUP. 20 to 1 agst Lord Lurgan's nomination (taken) 20 to 1 agst Mr. Clark's nomination (taken) 1000 to 50 agst Mr. Spinks's nomination (taken) 25 to 1 agst Mr. Gibson's nomination (taken) 1000 to 30 agst Mr. Bland's nomination (taken) 500 to 15 agst Lord Stair's nomination (taken) (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.) COMMITTAL OF TWO MEN FOR MURDER AT WARRINGTON. Yesterday the Warrington magistrates committed for trial, at the Liverpool Assizes, James Halloran and Patrick Macgrath for the murder of John Forrest, near Warrington, in November. Halloran had been appre hended in Rochdale and asked if it was for the Warrington murder. Macgrath was apprehended in Warrington. The police swore to the foot marks of both at the coroner's inquest, but an open verdict was returned notwithstand ing. The magistrates, after hearing the case four times, in which a dozen witnesses swore to an alibi, committed the prisoners for trial for murder. PRUSSIAN TIREATS AGAINST ENGLAND. Writing from Havre, December 20, the correspondent of the Standard says :—A young Englishmai4 Mr. Julian D. Scott, just returned to. Havre from a trip to Mantes, vta Rouen—that is through French and Prussian lines— has favoured me with some interesting particulars, which lie noted in the way. He had no difficulty 1 whatever in lassing the Prussian outposts, but his flaxen beard and Jermanic appearance more than once brought him into trouble with the French. The Germans he described as remarkably overbearing, and even insulting in their language toward England and the English, the- officers in particular talking of the invasion of England by Prussia as a dead certainty " as soon as they had polished off the French." He had to discontinue wearing a Scotch cap ,vhile at Mantes, as it exposed him to the jeers of the men, who pursued him with derisive shouts of " Englander Englander." They did not, however, molest him in any other way, and he was even able to march alongside one of their columns between Vernon and Louviers without having a word addressed to him. He describes their discipline whilst on duty as perf'ct, and is especially loud in praise of their cavalry and artillery. The marching of their ill, fantry—every man keeping step and rank during a long march—also impressed him more favourably than the free-and-easy, not to say slovenly, way in which the French disregard both these essential conditions of military marching. At Rouen he saw nothing un usual, save that the French kepis were replaced by the German pickel haube, but as he was naturally anxious to get home he did not pursue his inquiries there very diligently. Staying at an hotel kept by an Englishman, he met several German officers, and there heard the same tale as at Mantes as to the fate in store for England—with some further embellishments. Tne Prussian ogre, having digested France, is to swallow Holland and Belgium, and Luxemburg (of course), and then " invade England," in connection with Russia and the United States. One of the officers, who happened to be an Hanoverian, and had served in our navy seven years, was good enough 'to shed a tear over the dismal prospect in store for us, and intimated an intention of returning to our service "as soon as this war was over." These threats of a Prussian invasion of England must be taken for what they are worth. Prussia is so well acquainted with all branches of our natural literature that she cannot be ignorant of the fate which befel a certain aspiring bactracion, on matrimonial thoughts intent ; and what happened to the " frog that would a wooing go" ought to be a warning to her attempts to venture herself on salt water. But, at the , same time, these threats of war against England are too general—they come from too many quarters to be wholly disregarded. WRECK OF TWO SHIPS. Two ships, the Blossom, of Aberdeen, and the Reno vatio, of Portsmouth, were wrecked at North Berwick, yesterday. John Williams, of the Renovatio, was the only person saved out of the two crews. THE EDUCATION ACT IN CAMBRIDGE. A meeting was held in the parish of St. Andrew the Great, Cambridge, last night, when it was decided by a large majority that a School Board should be established. It was further resolved that the Mayor should be re quested to convene a meeting of the whole town to con sider the subject of School Boards. DISCOVERY OF DEAD CHILDREN. The dead bodies of two children, male and female, have been discovered in a box addressed to Mr. Thomp son, County Hotel, Carlisle, "to be left till called for," which has remained in Carlisle railway station since Sep tember. The children appear to have died from the effects of violence. CARLISLE AND THE EDUCATION ACT. The Carlisle Corporation yesterday determined to make application for a School Board. MURDER AT TIPPERARY. Two men, named White ',and Brien, have been com mitted for trial at Tipperary for the wilful murder of a farmer named Michael Brien, who died from the effects of blows inflicted upon him on Saturday night by the prisoners, who, it is stated, had an ill feeling towards him in consequence of his having purchased their interests in some land for which they were negotiating. The prisoner Brien is deceased's cousin. THE RAILWAY COLLISION NEAR BARNSLEY. The second coroner's inquiry into the circumstances attending the recent railway collision at Stairfoot, near Barnsley, was concluded last night. In this, as in the first investigation, the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter against Hathershaw, the guard who had the direction of the shunting of the goods train which caused the, catastrophe. FRENCH OFFICERS IN GERMANY. The special correspondent of the Telegraph sends the following from Berlin, dated December 22 (Evening) On the 14th of the present month Count Bismarck addressed to the representatives of the North German Confederation abroad a circular despatch devoted to the behaviour of French officers who have been taken pri soners by the German armies. In the first place, he dwells upon the fact that many French officers, among them Generals Ducrot, Barral, end Cam briels, in violation of their word of honour, have again placed their swords at the disposal of France. They have thus shewn that the French officers' word of honour does not in every case afford that guarantee which, when it was accepted, it was understood to imply. The Chancellor further mentions that hitherto the French officers who are still detained in Germany as prisoners of war have not yet bad to suffer by reason of the bad faith of their comrades ; and the despatch continues " But the matter assumes a different aspect from the fact that the Government of National Defence has given an express and authoritative approval to this breach of faith on the part of the escap ing French officers, by bestowing upon them commis sions in the armies now fighting against us. And yet, from the active French army, no one has yet ever heard a protest against the return of those dis loyal officers into their lines. Evidently, by such a course of procedure, the Paris Govern ment, and all the officers who hold commissions under it have themselves become participators in the responsibility which these individuals have in curred by their breach of faith against the recognised usages of war. Under these circumstances, the German Government is under the necessity of taking into conside ration whether it is compatible with their interests to grant to captive French officers the favours which they have hitherto enjoyed ; and also of asking, with respect to the contingencies of the future, the still graver question, what confidence they can repose in the fulfilment of the convention which may be concluded with French comman ders or with the French Republican Government, unless satisfactory material guarantees shall be given. Reserving to the German Government its decision in this matter, I feel it necessary to draw the attention of the Government to which you are accredited to our experi ences, and to their importance as bearing upon the inter national relations of France ; for only now can protests made by the French rulers against precautionary measures on our part meet with their proper appreciation." THE VOLUNTEER FORCE The Morning Advertiser says : Mr. Cardwell is in great difficulty as to what is to be done for the volunteers and militia, and suggests that he cannot be wrong in having the militia embodied, and in raising the status of militia officers, so as to make the service somewhat more popular than it is. He cannot err in brigading the volun teers under paid and permanent military officers, which might cost the country annually some £50,000 or £60,000. He might turn his attention or that of a sub ordinate equal to the task, to the drill, discipline, uni form, and efficiency of volunteers who desire to remain in the service as effectives, and not or mere triflers or supernuinerary incumbrances in time of peace.' Thus, the volunteers might, it is true, lose a third of their num bers in the beginning, but then it should be remembered that these same individuals would either disappear at the first indication of active service being required from them, or if they uid remain, would imperil and dis grace the wliole force. And thom;11 tie Volunteer army might be thus diminished at first, not only would the loss be a gain, but the service would hold out considerably greater attractions to earnest men, who like to belong to something real and business-like, and thus the force, in a very short time, would, in all probability, be numer i ca lly stronger than ever. But even 50, 000 fighting men would be somewhat better to meet Earl Derby's 100,000 invaders (it is known that 100,001 could not land), than 150.000, of whom two-thirds should be a mere mob of armed men, unable to march, skirmish, fight, or even retreat in order. THE ERA ALMANACK FOR 187]. LEDGBIL The most thoroughly reliable and entertaining of all the almauacks, the " Era Almanack," in this new issue of it, for 1871, more than sustains its already high reputation. It is the completest repertory anyone could reasonably desire to have upon all matters relating to the dramatic and operatic professions. Conducted by a skilled editor like Mr. Edward Ledger, it has a splendid band of contributors. Conspicuous among these con tributors are Mr. E. L. Blanchard, who tells us all about such places of out-door amusement as Bagnigge Wells, White Conduit House, Highbury Barn, and Cremorne Gardens—Mr. C. L. Gruneisen, who describes the Operatic Season of 1870—Mr. Tom Taylor, w ho tells a True Story of the Far West—Mr. J. B. Buckstcne, who rejoices us with a reminiscence of Edmund Kean Mr. John Oxenford, who pour trays the Toy Theatre—Mr. Shirley Brooks, the Editor of Punch, who depicts, in a Shaks perian monologue, Macbeth's Medical Man and Mr. Benjamin Webster, who has a few words to say to us about Ancient Theatres. Besides all this, the " Era Almanack " has a surprising mass of professional infor mation, such, for example, as a theatrical, musical, and equestrian obituary, a record of new pieces produced in 1870 in London and the provinces, a dramatic and musical chronology, and a wonderfully interesting catalogue of the first appearances in London of actors and actresses. " Dietrichsen and Hannay's Royal Almanach; for 1871, is remarkable for having no mention whatever of either the Emperor Napoleon 111., or his Holi ness Pope Pius IX. among the Reigning Sovereigns. Bacon's Railway Guide Map of London and Suburbs—a pocket folding map, mounted on calico in a cloth cover, brilliantly coloured, perfectly legible, and arranged throughout on an entirely new plan, is the cora pletest and handiest map of the metropolis we ever remember to have examined. Its range extends from Alexandra Park to the Crystal Palace, from Greenwich to Richmond. It displays to view at a glance of the eye every railway company's line in a sepa. rate character. The routes from one part of Lon don to another are traced out with the utmost facility. As a pocket companion it will save an incalculable amount of time and worry, being .purchasable itself for very little more than a shilling. MALvErgi COLLEGE.—The annual examination for the £9O scholarships. tenable at the masters' houses, resulted in the following awards : Scholarship for two years : F. H. Fowler, Gloucester Grammar School. Scholarship for one year : E. C. Tyndall, private tuition : J. E. Vaughan, Weston -super-mare, preparatory school ; H. Elton, Dedham Grammar School. The school exami nations for the West Classical and Wilton Mathematical Exhibitions terminated in favour of E. N. Jones and H. Haddon. Examiners : The Rev. P. Frost, M.A., late fellow and tutor of St. John's College, Cambridge, ' and A.' 0. Prickard, Esq., M.A., fellow of New College, Oxford. OPINION ON THE WART A correspondent of the Daili News thus writes, under date December 21 :-- Notwithstanding , a powerful organisation both in the military and non-military inva sion, it is easy to observe a certain anxiety in the German mind: They are surprised at the length of the siege, and ask how long one thinks the war is still likely to last. They have made up their minds to three more months of it. An 'ignorant German Kaufmann, or small merchant, who forced his conversation upon me at Epernay, said he could not understand the long-sufferineanll patience of the King in not pressing the siege of Paris. For, he added, we must be prepared for other nations not being being pleased with our successes, and if wee l are attacked from any other quarter before we have settled things in France, we may be in a very grave position. Most Ger mans, however, say that Paris is well provisioned, and can not be bombarded yet from any point. At Nancy two army contractors, who seemed well-informed men, had a very animated discussion in my presence. The one was a thorough Prussian, and as sure of victory and the invinci bility of Prussia as any Prussian can well be. He was also under the conviction that the war had been forced upon Prussia, and that Prussia had never desired it. The other was an Austrian subject, a Hungarian, a Republican in politics, and a thorough French sympathiser. This man contended that, even should Paris fall to-morrow, the war would not be ended, that the French people would yet drive the Prussian in vasion out of France, &c, All this was openly and noisily discussed. He said the Landwehr-men who were now passing through Nancy went along crying ; that it was well known that it was only by actual force they could be made to leave Germany. At Saarbrucken I spoke with many of the trades people. Here also I found great anxiety, mixed with hatred, against the French for holding on to what the Germans declare is now a desperate cause. And say they: " Here are all our sons and nephews gone, our men up to forty gone, or going, our business at a stand-still, and our losses in men increasing every day. all be cause Paris will hold out, and because Gambetta 1 tells the French people to fight on." Another man said to me, " You dont't know how we are losing men. I overheard in the room of the hotel the host talking to a fellow townsmen. They were launching imprecations against Paris for keeping up the war, but said they, if our last soldier should fall, we old men will go if necessary, but we will conquer them." What would they say if they knew, which they do not, that after Paris there is Lyons, Grenoble, Toulon, &c. ? What wonderful resources France possesses. We went through provinces which have been trampled upon for the last four months by hundreds of thousands of men, wive thousands and thousands of men are passing con tinually and preying upon them, and yet there is abund ance of everything. I see by the papers, and by the public talk here, that the political horizon is still gloomy ! , and that we must he prepared for some time to come for stormy weather. That is the general opinion here, it senns to me. The "braves Beiges," as the French used to call the Belgians, seemto think that the day may not be far off when they may have to show by the side of other nations what they can do. WITH THE BESIEGERS. From Margency, under date December 18, the special correspondent of the Daily News at the headquarters of the Crown Prince of Saxony writes :—For the last few days we have lived here in a quiet, presenting a strange contrast to the bustle and excitement of the early part of the month. The French have seemingly taken to economise their ammunition. We hear their stock of villainous saltpetre is exhausted, and that, therefore, they can make no more powder—this may be the reason for the unprecedented paucity of fire. If you want to hear any shooting at all you must go down to Argenteuil. There there is no cessation of the crackling fire across the river, but it is almost wholly musketry fire. Some casualties occur, but so far as I can learn they are very few. Can the French sharpshooters on the other hand have some occult means of discerning their countryfolk ? I can't tell, but I can testify to the briskness of their practice against those who are not their countrymen. The other day I went into a house which overlooked the es planade on our bank of the river. It is about one hundred feet wide : then comes the stream, and on the other side are the Frenchmen ever ready. I incautiously shewed at the window for less than a minute, and drew quite a brisk fire, more than one of the bullets striking the walls of the house. When I went down into the street I found a Frenchman composedly posting up a proclamation issued by the com mandant. There was nothing between him and the river but a loose barricade of timber. It turned out that it was his house in which I had been. Now how was it be accounted for that he lives there without being shot, while I, wearing like him civilian clothes, could not show for half a minute at a window without being fired at? -Activity continues in the transport tawards Paris of guns and ammunition, in view of the bombardment, the anxiety for the commencement of which is daily on the increase, and is shared in univer sally. A bombardment, so far from being barbarous, would be an act of the truest humanity. Not a single day passes while this war endures which does not claim more victims, with the inevitable train of widows and orphans, than by any computation such a bombardment as that to which, according to my thinking, Paris would succumb, would demand. Shorn of sentiment, the question becomes one simply of the relation which a large mortality, with its consequences, bears to a comparatively small mortality with its consequences. The only compli cation arises from this, that what I estimate to be a com- paratively small mortality is an unknown quantity ; but it is impossible to hold that it can approach the mor tality caused by the prolongation of the siege. I can only repeat my firm conviction that very little actual slaughter would be involved in the reduction of Paris by means of a direct bombardment. This opinion I share with those here who have perhaps as good means of judging as any outside Paris. REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE FRONT. Writing from Bordeaux, December 17, the correspon dent of the Telegraph says :—General.Bourbaki, who is in command of the army at Bourges (the First Army of the Loire, as it is called), writes to his wife at Bordeaux, that in two or three days he will be able to assume the offen sive against the Prussians. The enemy has, for some unaccountable reason, vacated Vierzon, and is moving along the valley of the Cher upon Tours —much annoyed, as we are informed by the pri soners and deserters, that the French Government has managed to evacuate that town before the spiked helmets could enter an appearance there. On the other hand, a wounded officer from General Chanzy's force (now called the Second Army of the Loire), who arrived in Bordeaux to-day, tells me that the troops commanded by that leader are holding their own at Marchenoir, some twenty miles to the south of Coulmiers, and have in, several minor engagements repulsed the enemy, who had made some half-dozen at tempts to dislodge them. On the 15th instant a brigade of Bourbaki's army, feeling for the enemy to the north-east of Bourges, fell in with three battalions of Bavarians, and repulsed them with great loss, driving them back upon their main body at Gien; At Havre, whence the enemy had withdrawn a day or two ago, fresh Prussian troops have assembled ; and the conflict there threatens to be very severe, for the French have brthight together no fewer than 60,000 men, and are determined to resist to the last. Nothing can be better than the spirit of both troops and people in Paris, and itis said that the siege is certain to last at least sixty days from this time, if not longer. Trochu has, it is also re ported, done marvels with the Garde Nationale and the Mobiles, who form the garrison ; and that they are now preferable in every respect to the troops of the line. So far as it is possible to gather from the War-office authorities here, it seems that now Tours has been, so to speak, abandoned, a most determined push in two columns will be made upon Paris ; and that even if Bourbaki and Chanzy leave half their men in the field, they will push on with the remainder. From Bordeaux,as from other chefs•lieux des ilep•trt inents, immense bodies of the Garde Nationale Mobilisee start every day for the front—l should think not fewer than 15,000 men from La Gironde must have taken their departure from here six days ago. The warlike spirit of the people seems to increase rather than to diminish ; and here, even more than at Tours, it may truly be said that every man under fifty years of age, as well as many beyond that age, carries a rifle and is a soldier. By high and low, but one single object seems to be aimed at—the expulsion of the Prussians. The drill of these citizen battalions is naturally imperfect, and hundreds of them are altogether without that personal smartness and pro feesional neatness which distinguish the English and other armies. But the men are "all there." They have their hearts in their work. Morning, coon, and even by gaslight at night, they are drilling. Work of every kind is left to the women, to the married men who are no yet called out, to the men who ere upwards of fifty years of age, and to those who are not yet twenty ; nay, even of these last not a few have taken arms, for a legion composed of lads fm.n sixteen to nineteen years of age has been raised, and is . busy at work drilling for twc or three hours every, ;lay. . -a OUP. COTEMPORARIE3--- hi Morning - 4. - THE UNITY OF GERMANY. The Times, commenting on the steps taken for the unity of Germany, says : The King having once grasped the idea of establishing the unity of the country by the extrusion of the assimilating elements of Austria, came to the conclusion that the knot , of the old Con federation could only be cut by the sword. To the maintenance and strengthening of the army he devoted all his energies, and, seconded by Count Bismarck, he defeated the efforts of the Liberal party in the Chambers, who opposed his .maments on the ground of economy as well as on the ground that with large armies the royal influence must remain excessive, The singular part of this business is that, had this very Liberal party been aware of what the King purposed, a great part of j it would have made common cause with him, and voted him by acclamation all the money he desired. But it was ne eessary the Royal intentions should remain a secret from rival States, which had it in their power to combine and frustrate them. Thus it was that the ideas which were first cherished by few enthusiasts, mostly belonging to the democratic iichool, have been at last worked out by an old King, against all the Influ ence of the friends of liberty and progress. He has it now —kingdom, victory, empire; andashe stands in the temple of the God whom he so confidently believes to have chosen him and to befriend him, he must reflect that seldom has Providence committed to man so great a task, or laid on him so heavy a responsibility. He has taken now the position in Europe which belonged ten years since to the captive of Wilhelmshohe. At that time all had been glory for Napoleon, and his first fatal step had not yet been taken. Emperor William and his House may ponder on the greatness and the fall of the ruler to whose style and pre-eminence they have suc ceeded. If they make good use of the power they have won, the ceremony at Versailles will be only the begin ning of their glories, but if prosperity induce them to contemn the rights of nations, we have an example before us that neither Emperor nor King is too high or too strong to be cast down. THE STRUGGLE IN FRANCE. What may be the result of this tremendous struggle, remarks the Dully News, it is impossible to say with absolute certainty. We are witnessing the death struggle of two great peoples ; German patience against French endurance, Teutonic pertinacity against Gallic energy. It is, perhaps, too much to expect that the gallant resistance of Paris will be rewarded to success. The Germans are capable of greater efforts than they have yet made, and we have no reason to believe that they will loosen their grip of the capital till they have passed it under the yoke. There is, of course, no knoN;ing what winter may do. The hard weather may tell against the besiegers, but it can hardly do other than increase the privations of the besieged. Apart, however, from any of the contingencies which may arise, the one object of the war, which is now clearly the possession of Paris, is more likely to be eventually attained than abandoned by the German forces. But what then ? Well, then it is that the long resistance of Paris and the uprising of France will tell with irresistible effect. Count Bismarck will hai dly attempt to hold such a nation in subjection. Germany cannot afford to send all its able bodied men as a permanent garrison to hold France as a material guarantee for German claims. It would be buying gold too dear. The German soldiers are all wanted at home. Their wives and children are mourning their absence at this Christmas season ; their business is standing still while they are away, and if their absenee is prolonged till the return of spring, there is no knowing what discontents may arise at home. It is getting to be the interest of Prussia to finish up the war ; and we therefore see reason to hope the struggle may quite wear itself out around Paris. The two hostile nations have learned to respect each other's powers, if not to respect each other's territory. Even if Prussia wins some French soil, she will always remember with how great a price she bought it; and if France loses it, she will always be proud of the heroic struggle she made in its defence. Why cannot two such nations agree with each other while they are in the way—why must they play the dicer's game of double or quits, and risk all to gain a point of honour? The Standard says :—The war goes on, and demands every day larger sacrifices. The slaughter, confined in the first weeks of the contest to a narrow slip of French territory, is now waged almost continuously over well-nigh half of France. Every day has its tale of killed and wounded. Great battles rival ling Woerth and Gravelotte in their sum of car- nage have become such matters of course that two or three may be expected every week, and on the " off days," if we may use such a phrase, come stories of small encounters in different parts of the country, which make up in the aggregate of their bloodshed the bloodshed which usually gives the rank of a serious en gagement. Each day disease and want claim an increas ing number of victims. Each day adds immensely to the desolation of France, to the misery of her unfortu nate cultivators, to the privations and to the sufferings of Germans and Frenchmen alike. What has to come promises to be even more terrible. Winter is on the land in its bitterest mood. Fighting, more desperate than any yet witnessed, is likely to mark the Christmas week. And what then ? Who will dare to say ? Who can venture to do more than to suggest that the daughter and the starvation, the destruction and the desolation, will continue to increase in something like geometrical prcportion ? No wonder, therefore, that Englishmen are almost as impatient as the Germans themselves that the contest should end. Their humanity, not to say their interest, impels them to shew themselves impatient for the termination. France may be wrong in continuing the war, but the question is one which she has to determine, If she thinks anything better than the humiliation Prussia seeks to impose upon her, she is right to continue the war; and, as we have said, she has the further right, which even her critics will probably have to admit, of being able to continue it with a good hope of success. We recognise and applaud such patriotic efforts, but we offer no opinion as to the course France should take, further than to state the reasons which may influence her. Her destiny is in her own hands. THE ARREST OF THE GERMAN DEPUTIES. The Telegraph says: This journal was the only newspaper in England that published intelligence reporting the arrest of the North German Deputies Bebel and Lieb• knecht on a charge of high treason against the King of Prussia. We were indebted for our knowledge of the fact to our correspondent in Berlin. A record of all such events is expected to be sent through the tele graphic_ agency of Reuter, but not a word of the occurrence was received by that channel. Nor need we look far to find the explanation of the un wonted secrecy. The agency of Reuter very naturally gets its Prussian information from that of Wolff, and it is too clear that the German News Company dared not use its own means of publicity to spread the strange intelligence. The Prussian press seems to have greeted the event with the discretion of well-drilled silence. Only one journal appears to have singled it out for comment, and the guilty print was instantly supressed by the indignant authorities. There is a grim eloquence about the story. Two members of Parliament distinguish themselves by the vigour with which they denounce the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine, and by the fervent hostlity with which they greet the proposal to make King William Em peror of Germany. They proudly say that they are Republicans. But what they have done to incur the charge of high treason seems still to be un known outside the official class. If any phrases that they have used in the Chamber can be construed into words of high treason against the King, they can be prosecuted : yet, according to our Berlin correspondent, the only sen tence that will bear such a character was the charge of Herr Liebknecht, that the German Princes, " and especially the Hohenzollern," were respon sible for the cession of Alsace and Lorraine to France. Even that general accusation seems to have been withdrawn. The two deputies have, indeed, been charged with taking the pay off Austria, and thus with playing false to their country ; but the imputation seems to be as groundless as the idea of the French people, that some of the English journals must have been bribed by Bismarck because they had condemned the aggression of France. We will not ask the German people what they would think of England, if they found that the leaders of her Majesty's Opposition had been sent to Newgate for flinging strong words against the Government. But we ask the German Princes and the German people, whether it is good policy to, punish free dom of speech with the prison -cell? REFUGEES' BENEVOLENT FUND.—The Earl of Zetland (late Grand Master) following the liberal exan of the Grand Lodge of England, has contributed the :Atm of £lOO to this fund. A. late telegram from South Shields says the gale on the coast is now considerably abated, and the sea has fallen greatly. There has been some more damage done to the works at the end of South Shields pier, and the total damage is estimated at above £5,000.