The Sun. — London, England, 1870-08-08 00:00:00

LATEST iNTELLIGENCE. THE WAR. GREAT PRUSSIAN VICTORY. BATTLES AT WOERTH & SAARRRUCK. RETREAT OF THE FRENCH ARMY. The following telegram from Count Bismarck was re ceived yesterday by the North German Ambassador " MAYENCE, AUG. 7 (7.45 A.M). "On the 6th a brilliant victory was won at Haguenau by the Third Geiman Army, under the command of the Crown Prince, over the united corps of MacMahon, Pally, and Canrobert. Up to now 4,000 prisoners have been brought in. Over 100 officers, 30 and odd canon, six mitrailleuses, and two eagles have been taken. MAYENCE, AUG 6, 1870, (11.45 P.m.) "In their pursuit of the retreating French army the heads of the Prussian columns overtook them on the sth. Early on the morning of the 6th General von Kamers attacked the enemy west of Saarbruck in a strong position on the hills near Speicheren. At the sound of cannon detachments of the Barnekow and Stulpnagel divisiDns advanced in support. General von Goben undertook the Command, and after a fiercely contested battle the enemy were driven to flight after the position occupied by the French Corps Froissard had been carried by storm. General von Traunwitz and Colonel Reuter were mounded. • Later in the day the following despatches were also received at the Prussian Embassy : "King William, Queen Augusta. " Wonderful luck ! This new great victory won 'by Fritz. Thank God for his mercy ! We have taken thirty cannons, two eagles, six mitrailleuses, four thousand Prisoners. MacMahon received reinforcements from the main army. " A victorious salute (one hundred and one guns) were fired off upon the field of battle." MAYENCE, AUG. 7, (10.11 A. m. ) " General Goeben furnishes further -details concerning the battle of Saarbruck. Several hundred prisoners were taken belonging to the Corps Froissard. The prisoners describe their strength as consisting of four division. The battle only ended when it became completely dark. The enemy covered his retreat by a strong cannonade from Spicheren." ACCOUNT FROM THF. CROWN PRINCE. The following is from the Crown Prince : " BATTLE-FIELD, NEAR WOERTH, AUGUST 6, 4.30 P.m. " Victorious battle near Woerth. I have completely defeated Marshal MacMahon with the greater part of my armY. The French are driven baok to Bitche." The following telegram Mayence, Saturday, 4.30 a.m. is also f rom , the Crown Prince :—" In the victorious battle over MacMahon, whose corps had been reinforced bY:divisions of General de Failly's and Marshal Canrobert's corps, two eagles, six mitrailleuses, and about thirty can nons were captured. The number of prisoners made by 1 18 is on a first calculation upwards of 4,000. General Bose is wounded. General Kirbach commanded a corps. heavy losses were sustained on both sides." A telegram received subsequently from Soulz states that yesterday the Crown Prince was at that place. Upwards of 4,000 prisoners, taken at Woerth, were brought in. Marshal MaeMahon is said to be wounded. Yesterday salvos of artillery were fired at Berlin in honour of the Prussian arms. THE ENGAGEMENT AT SAARBRUCK. The following telegram from the Prussian side describe the engagement at Saarbruck MAYENCE, AUGUST 6, 6 P. " The French army is retiring along the whole line, and is in retreat into the interior. Even Saarbruck, which was occupied by the French after the famous battle of the three French divisions against three Prussian com l'anies4as been evacuated by them. Before their depar ture, however, they set fire to that open and prosperous tO wn, and in their retreat they assisted the conflagration by throwing explosive shells from the neighbouring hills." MAYENCE, AUG. 6 (9 P.m.) On Friday, the sth inst., the advanced guard of the Prussian columns had approached the Saar, and early this tc t°rning General Count Kamecke encountered the enemy to the west of Saarbruck, in a strong position on the hills tear Spicheren. He immediately commenced the attack, and upon the cannonading being heard detachments of the Barneckow and Stulpnagel Divisions hurried to the spot. General von Gceben assumed the command, and after a very sharp engagement succeeded in carrying by storm the position occupied by the French corps, under General Froissard. General von Francois and Colonelvon Reuter were wounded." " MAYENCE, Aua. 7 (6 A.)!.) " General Gceben reports the following further particu lars of the engagement to the wept of Saarbruck : Several hundred men of General Frossard's Corps were made prisoner. According to their statements, we were opposed by four divisions of- the French army. The fighting did not terminate until dark. The enemy Covered his retreat by a heavy artillery fire from,Spicheren. General Steinmetz arrived towards evening, and assumed the command. General Francois fell. Our loss is great, especially in officers. The enemy left many dead. THE ADVANCE OF THE CROWN PRINCE. An official telegram was received at Berlin on Saturday morning from the seat of war announcing that the Crown Prince continued his advance beyond Weissemburg with out encountering any serious resistance. On his advance Il e Passed French villages filled with wounded men, among whom was the colonel of the 50th Regiment. uno deep impression made by this last engagement is deniable. The enemy continue to shell the unoccu pied town of Saarbruck. TELEGRAMS FROM THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. The following telegrams from the Emperor were pub lished in Paris in the course of yesterday. The first is dated— "METZ, AUG. 7 (12.30 A.M). "Bilarshal M ac M a h on h as l os t a battle. General ' ▪ r oissard, on the Saar, has been compelled to fall back. he retreat is being effected in good order. All °may be regained (tout pent se restablir). " NAPOLEON." " METZ, SUNDAY, 3.30 A. M. "My communication with MacMahon being inter ruPted, I had no news from him up to yesterday. It is General L'Aigle who announces to me that MacMahon has lost a battle against considerable forces, and that he as retired in good order. On another side, on the Saar, an to commence d a t one o ' c l oc k. It did no t a pp ear ' 43 b e very serious until small masses of the enemy had considerably accumulated, without, however, obliging the se cond corps to retreat. It was only between six and ! ev en o'clock in the evening that, the masses of the enemy Z the _ continually more compact, the second corps and e regiments which supported it retired on the heights. I'6 night has been quiet. I go to place myself at the centre of the positiOn. " NAPOLEON." METZ, AUG. 7 (6 A.M.) , Yesterday's engagement at Forbach (west of Saar r} only only the third-array corps were engaged, supported by two divisions of other corps. The corps of General Ladreirault, that of General Failly, and the Imperial Guard did not take part in the fight. The engagement e i," 7 "nenced at one o'clock, and appeared unimportant, u t soon numerous troops, concealed in the w° °ds, endeavoured to turn the position. At five o'clock, the Prussians appeared to 'be re- Pulsed, and to have abandoned the attack; but a fresh Corps arriving from Werden, on the Saar, obliged General Froissard to retreat. To day the troops which b ad found themselves divided are concentrated at Metz. "In the battle which took place near FreisdWiller, MacMahon had five divisions. The corps of General Failly was unable to join him. Only very vague details have been received. It is said that there were s everal ch arges o f cavalry, b ut t h e P russ i ans h ad mitrail ellses, i which caused us much havoc. " NAPOLEON." The fourth despatch is to the following effect : " " METZ, AUGUST 7 (8.25 A. M. ). The morale Of the troops is excellent. The retreat will be effected in good order. There is no news from General Froissard, who appears, however, last night in good order. " NAPOLEON." -.---.,. The first of the Emperor's telegrams was pußlished in Paris at 10 .40'a.m., but earlier in the morning it was offi cially stated that no news /204 been AO yet recviyod trout THE SUN, LONDON, MOND V MORNING, AUGUST 8, 1870. Marshal MacMahon. It was, however, announced from Metz that an engagement had taken place between General Froissatd's corps and the enemy. The telegram goes on to say :—" It appears to be confirmed that im portant concentrations of troops were effected on the Baden bank of the Rhine, and were vigilantly watched by the French authorities, particularly between Colmar and Huningen. Most efficacious measures were taken against all eventualities in this direction. The General Douay killed at Weissenburg is not the commander of the Seventh Army Corps, but General Abel Douay, com manding the second infantry division of Marshal M`Mahon's Corps. The following tele e; rams are dated : PARIS, AUGUST 7 (10 A.m.) " Official and several other despatches from Metz, dated up to half-past four o'clock this morning, state that after a series of engagements, in which the Prussians deployed considerable forces, Marshal MaßMahon retired behind his first line. The corps of General Froissard had to fight from two o'clock in the afternoon against an entire army of the enemy. After having held its position up to 6 p.m., it effected a retreat in good order. Particulars of the lossos are still wanting. Our troops are full of spirit, and the situation is not compromised. But the enemy is on our territory, and a serious effort is necessary. A battle is imminent. " PARIS, AUG. 7 (3.50 p.m.) "The following despatch has been received from Metz, dated 11.55 a.m. :--` The troops continue to concentrate without difficulty. All hostilities appear to have ceased. The infantry regiments engaged yesterday [at Saarbruck] were the 32nd, 85th, 76th, 77th, Bth, 23rd, 66th, 67th, 69th, 2nd, 63rd, 24th, and 40th of the Line, with the 10th and 12th battalions of Chasseurs.' " [The regiments mentioned in this telegram belong to, the three divisions of General Froissard's corps, the Seeond ; with the exception of the 69th, belonging to the second division of Marshal Bazaine's Third Corps, which, according to the Emperor Napoleon's despatches, was at least partly engaged at Saarbruck.] The Cologne Gazette of last evening says : "Yesterday's success at Saarbruck was greater than was expected. The baggage and encampments of two French divisions remain in our hands. Forbach is occupied by our troops ." According to a despatch in the Etoile Beige of last eve ning, the corps commanded by Marshals MacMahon and Bazaine have attempted to surround the corps of Prince Frederick Charles. Marshal Bazaine crossed the frontier at Saint Avoid. The Prussians having learned from a spy that General Froissard's Corps had taken the direction of Saint Avoid, they retired and re-entered Saarbruck. The Prussians occupy Styring and Benning. , The Emperor was about to proceed to Saint Avoid when he received a despatch announcing that the lines had been cut. A battle is imminent. MOVEMENTS OF THE PRUSSIAN ARMY., Prince Frederick Charles proceeded yesterday from Homburg to BliescasteL General Steinmetz is between Sulzbach and Saarbruck. The chief head-quarters of the Prussian army are now at Kaiserlautern. GREAT EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. PARIS, AUGUST 6. Great effeverseence was manifest on the Boulevards on Friday evening in consequence of the news of the engagement at Wissembourg. Circulation was almost impossible on the Boulevards des Italiens and Montmartre from the immense crowd of people. About 6 p.m. the shop of the money changer, M. Dreher, was assaulted by a mob in consequence of it being asserted that he had pub licly expressed his satisfaction at the French defeat. A similar manifestation was made before the shop of the money-changer Hirsch. The energetic intervention of the police alone prevented the door being driven in. About 10 p. m. the excitement on the boulevards somewhat abated upon the announcement of the numerical superiority of the Prus sians at Wissembourg. M. Dreher wrote a letter to the Gaulois on Saturday morning stating that the demonstra tion was caused by words of his which were misunder stood. On Saturday, no news having been received in Paris in confirmation of the reported capture of the fortress of Landau, the city was in a state of the greatest excitement. A great crowd assembled in the Place VendOme, shouting for the Minister of Justice, and protesting against the false news spread at the Bourse. They also deManded to know the name of the author of these reports, and whether he had been arrested. M. 011ivier appeared on the balcony, and was very well received. He harangued the crowd, telling them that all news would be communicated as soon as it arrived; excepting such as related to the movements of troops, the knowledge of which would profit the enemy. M. 011ivier assured the people that the author of the false Bourse reports had been arrested, but he refused t o give his name until his guilt had been proved, and he concluded his speech with the appeal :—" In the name of our country let us have patience. Let us dis perse amid cries of Long live our country.' " The crowd then withdrew, shouting " Vive la patrie." Later on the same evening the Council of Ministers issued the following proclamation to the people of Paris : " You have been justifigbly moved by an abominaltrick. The culprit has been arrested, and the matter placed in the hands of the law. The Government is taking the most ener getic measures to prevent the repetition of Buchan infamous manoeuvre. In the name of your country, in the name of your heroic army, we ask you to be calm and patient, and to preserve order. Disturbances in Paris would be a victory for the Prussians. As soon as any certain news, whether good or bad, arrives it will be communicated to you imme diately. Let us be united. Let us at this hour have but one thought, one desire, one idea—the triumph of our arms." The Proclamation was signed by all the Ministers. Paris was placed in a state of siege, and the Chambers were convoked for to-day. PROCLAMATION BY THE EMPRESS. • PARIS, AUGUST 7, 3.50 p.m. The Council of Ministers is sitting en permanence. Messrs. Rouher and Schneider have been summoned to the Tuileries, where the Empress arrived at five o'clock this mornin'. Her Majesty issued the following pro clamation : "Frenchmen ! The opening of the war has not been in our favour. Our armies have suffered a check. Let us be firm under this reverse, and let us hasten to repair it Let there be among us but a single party, that of France—but a single flag, the flag of our national honour. I come into your midst. Faithful to my mission and to my duty, you will see me first where danger threatens, to defend the flag of France. I call upon all good citizens to pre serve order ; to disturb it would be to conspire with our enemies. " EUGENIE. "The Tuileries, August 7, 11 a.m." A telegram despatched from Paris early yesterday morning, but not received in London till the evening, states that the young man who was arrested on the charge of spreading false news had made a full confession of his guilt, but declared he had been incited by another indi vidual, who has also been taken into custody. The pro clamation of the Ministers, promising to publish all news from the seat of war, whether good or bad, has produced a favourable impression. iien;l:ty of death, - and therefore the reason for the bullion secretly away will have to be fully explained. It is said that one Franco-German house has despatched no less than a million sterling abroad since the opening of the war, but it is not stated whether or not they were legiti mate transactions. EXPORTATION OF ARMS FROM BELGIUM. The Belgian Government has provisionally prohibited the exportation and transport of arms, munitions of war, and specie, excepting to neutral countries. TELEGRAM FROM THE KING OF PRUSSIA. The following is the text of the telegram from the King of Prussia to Queen Augusta, announcing the victory gained at Weissenburg :—" Under Fritz's eyes, we to day gained brilliant but bloody victory by storming Weissenburg and the Gaisburg behind it. Our sth and 11th corps and the 2d Bavarian corps were engaged. Enemy in flight ; 500 unwounded prisoners. One cannon and their camp in our hands. The French General. of Division, Douay dead. On our part General von Kirch bach slightly grazed. My regiment and the 58th had heavy losses. God be thanked for this first glorious achievement. May He help further." NEUTRALITY OF THE UNITED STATES. It is reported from Washington that the President will soon issue a proclamation declaring neutrality on the part of the United States during the present war between France and Prussia. Some surprise is felt at the fact that in the few encoun ters which have taken place between the French senti nels and the Prussian cavalry, or even between horsemen and the Uhlans, the fire of the latter has been so in nocuous. A letter from Forbach explains the circum stance in remarking that King William's cavalry is armed with pistols solely, while the French is furnished with carbines, which although shorter than the Chassepot, have nevertheless a longer range than pistols, and carry more correctly. A correspondent of the Independance Beige, writing from St. Avoid on the 2d, immediately after the affair at Saar bruck, which he had witnessed, speaks of it as a very small affair, une Comedic, and says that it was got up to satisfy the public impatience, the Emperor having satis fied himself that it would not be well to undertake im portant operations for several days. The North Eastern Correspondent publishes the follow ing :—" Herewith I send you an exact detailed statement of the Prussian Landwehr of the first ban, which comprise all the men from 25 to 35 years complete, 1,218 battalions of infantry, consisting of 14,000 officer; and 140,000 Privates. 2. 16 Regiments of cavalry of reserve, having, 500 officers and nearly 10,090 men. 3. 10 regiments of artillery, comprising 1,000 officers and 42,000 non-com missioned officers and soldiers Including the pioneers and other troops, they number altogether 205,000 men. Of these three armies the first is about the only one that has a chance of entering on the campaign." UNVI LLE and Co. , Belfast, are the largest holders of whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is r ommended by the medical profession in preference to French brand . Sup• plied in.casks and cases for home use or exportation. Quotations on application to Messrs DUNVILLE & oyal Irish Dis tilleries. Belfast; or at, thei London Offices, 4. Co., 'Beaufort Buildin tzs Strand, "..C. THE PRESS ON THE BATTLES. THE FRENCH DEFEATS. The Times notes that the Emperor's language in his bulletins is by no means confident, and in any imme diate conflict, such as he announces as imminent, he would find himself at the head of forces numeri cally 'inferior, and perhaps, also, somewhat dispirited. It is questionable, however, whether an imme diate and decisive battle is any longer • a matter of choice with him. Strategically and politically, the Emperor's position at Metz has become exceed ingly precarious. The Crown Prince and Prince Frederick Charles may indeed prefer to move respec tively on Nancy and Luneville, Thionville, and Verdun. to joining in an attack upon the French position at Metz. They may leave von Iteinmitz in observation of the army there, and either steal a march on the Emperor on the way to Paris, or intercept his retreat in that direction by throwing themselves upon his line of communication. Those of the South German Divisions which have not yet emerged from the Black Forest may cross the Rhine at Mulhouse or at some other point, and advance by Belfort and Vessoul either overrunning the centre of France, now almost de fenceless, or joining the other armies on some of the lines converging upon Paris. This wish to stem the Teutonic irruption setting in from so many quar ters may and, in our opinion, ought to induce the Emperor to abandon his position at Metz, if he be still in time, and to fall back upon those battlefields of Champagne, where he may hope to renew some of the strategical prodigies by which his uncle made the year 1814 famous in history. But, besides these considerations of what he owe' to his army, the Emperor must also be influenced by the excitement which so ter rible a shower of evil tidings as has fallen upon Paris for these last eight-and-forty hours could not fail to create —an excitement of which we read the ominous symptoms in the proclamation of the state of siege and the convocation of the Chambers, and still more in the appeal of the Ministers to the devotion of the French people—an appeal in which the name of the Emperor and all allusion to the Empire are carefully and, as it is only too evident, purposely avoided. That the Emperor is in a critical position is sufficiently clear; and the question whether the state of his health leaves him in possession of his ordinary faculties becomes momentous. Hitherto he has seemed to carry too far in war that hesitation which has often proved disastrous to him in politics—a hesita tion to which, perhaps, more than to any other cause, may be ascribed the random and objectless strategy, and the puzzling inaction which have brought such sudden calamity upon the Imperial forces. The Standard must assume from the language of the Emperor, and the course he has pursued, that the French army is retreating along the whole line, and that the Emperor and his generals feel that i the nation must be asked to make extraordinary efforts to repel the now triumphant invaders—that they contemplate, indeed, the possibility of a march of those invaders up to the fortifications of Paris. We imagine that even those persons, perhaps the majority of all venturing to express a decided opinion, who predicted the ultimate success of Germany, will be startled by these early and, in a sense, decisive victories. We have no desire to attempt to account for the French defeats by any such explanations as will doubtless be given officially. And in plain truth it matters little, if any army is defeated, how the defeat is occasioned. But the fact of these signal defeats upon a large scale coming immediately upon the first French move to the frontiers certainly suggests the conclusion that if, as M. Rouher says, France has been for four years preparing for war, she has been making all that time very serious blunders. We see the ex planation of these hurried reverses in the fact that France was hurried into a war for which she was unprepared, and upon which she had not calcu lated. These two battles supply a melancholy testimony to the genuineness of the love of • peace and economy Professed by the Cabinet on the 3rd January. There is one thing more they seem to chew, and that is how - ill France is served by her diplomatic agents. The French Government evidently could not have expected this rapid concentration of the German troops upon the frontier. It must have calculated that it could move at its own time, and in its own way, or it must have believed that it had allies where it finds most bitter antagonists. But, says the etandard, whatever injury those reverses to the nation, these fearful dangers for which his policy may, perhaps, be held responsible, may do to the presttge of the Emperor, they are not likely to break the spirit of France, but to force the whole nation to' an effort against which the German armies, if they would pursue a career of conquest, will court defeat and disaster. It is not a war now to extend French territory, to regain old frontiers, but to drive from French soil an invading army, to maintain the honour of France against her secular foe. It may be that, as some writers suggest, these reverses will sober France ; but the sobriety, if we must adopt the word, will be a great deal more formidable and terrible than the alleged intoxication. Frenchmen may not have the old love of glory or the old taste for soldiering, but they have not lost the patriotism or the pride which has been wont to possess them ; and if the French Government comes to the Chambers to-day to admit its own short-sightedness, its ignorance of the con dition of the conflict, and to' ask for a levee en masse, there can be, we expect, little doubt that it will obtain all it asks. — The Post says that if the Emperor is compelled to sign a peace implying the humiliation of his country, the last hour of the Napoleon Dynasty will have sounded ; and if France be compelldd to accept terms dictated in, or under the walls of, Paris, her glory as a great nation will have departed. She may thenceforth bid fare well to protections of Popes, to interferences in Egypt, to dictations in Italy or in Greece. Her voice in the affairs of the world will be shrunkeu and impotent. She will have dwindled from the first place in Europe to the position of a mere second-rate Power. But it is still " a far cry" to Paris, and we have yet to learn that the French, attacked by one enemy only, are incapable of repeating the feats of arms which they achieved against united Europe• The Telegraph observes that the collapse of the Empe ror's programme of campaign is grave to the last degree, and a slight study of the map will explain even to non military eyes the extremely hazardous position in which he now finds himself. The Crown Prince had hidden one hundred thousand men in the thickets of Bieneu-wald, at the point where the Lauter runs into the Rhine ; and at the moment when he sprang forth upon Weis senburg and the Goat's Hill, MacMahon was sending regiments away towards the centre. Snatching the first great triumph of the war, the Prince has since brought over forces enough from Mannheim and Mayence to ()rush the reinforced wing of the French ; and, as he stood at Worth after his victory, he was master of the Haguenau Railway ; while, by pushing on some twenty miles to-Saverne on the other line, he could cut off Strasburg from Nancy and Paris. But, whether or not he essays that feat, his eyes must be turned towards Saarbruck and Saarlouis, where—his own part of the design of Moltke being so gloriously accomplished— the King's army from Kreuznach, and that of Prince Frederick Charles from Kaiserslautern, are ready to take up their share in the advance. There is no need to speculate upon the purpose of the battle of Worth ; the entire line of the Emperor has acknowledged the terrible blow by retiring, and " moral effect " must have been entirely put on one side at the French head-quarters, in favour of sheer safety, when the scene of the • " baptism " of the Prince Imperial was so ignominiously surrendered. Surprised by enemies who were looked upon as slow in movement, driven out of strong entrenchments, bayonet to Chas sepot, at the hill of Weissenburg, and forced to leave mitrailleuses, artillery, and eagles in the valley of \With, the Emperor now sees his right wing rolled up ; and, as he himself says, in a proclamation dated yesterday afternoon, he at this moment goes to place him self "at the centre of the position." At present he stands in danger of being cut off from Metz by the Germans approaching from Bliecastel and • Saar louis ; and even as it is, the position of Maplahon at Bitsche must be one of great peril now that Saarbruck is yielded. It appears, indeed, doubtful whether Napoleon can safely reform his broken line even under the walls of Metz, Nancy, and Thionville. These conquering soldiers of the Prussian Heir Appa rent are wonderfully near success in their project of approaching the road to Paris, while the news of such wonderful victories against Chassepot, mitrail leuses, and Turco- will rouse a new zest and fire in the hearts of the men of Prince Frederick Charles and King William. A place, however, must be reserved in all human affairs for " accident." It is " accident " which has mainly overturned all the plans of the Em peror, and has, at the outset of his campaign, brought his fortunes to a pass which can, perhaps, hardly be retrieved. He told the truth when he said he was not ready for this war—albeit that unreadiness lay hi a quarter compara tively unsuspected. It is the state of the French Com missariat which, amongst other things, has ruined the chances of gepoleon. He • ought to have ad vanced at once into - Germany. He intended and desired to advance ; but, when the armies came into position on the frontier, the condition of the stores compelled him to halt. The meat was putrid, and the bread musty, and it was simply impossible to' move until new, supplies should be prepared and brought to the front. The delay gave Germany time to mobilize her vast forces. Night and day, day and night, she poured her manhood to the Rhine ; and now her strength in fighting men is much greater than that of the Em peror : while it has been proved that, man to man— Chassepot and mitrailleuse notwithstanding-- the Ger mans are not inferior to the French as warriors. The Daily News observes that• the French attack on Saarbruck, which now appears in its true light, was a Puerility to which the Emperor must now regret that he lent his presence. It is proved that there never was a moment when a Frenchman could enter the town without being arrested, nor when the German guns did not command its approaches. It was the defeat of Froissard's Third Army Corps on Saturday that opened the Emperor's eyes to the truth of his position. He attributes his defeat, no doubt with good reason, to the overwhelming numbers in which the Germans present themselves, and he adds that " they have mitrailleuses." The French, continues the Daily News, must fall back on Metz. They have no other rallying point, and if the Germans are in such force as they appear to be, there is good reason to believe that even there they will not be safe, as the . enemy may cut them off from Paris. The German railway communications, interrupted for four days at Saarbruck, are now restored and safe. " All may yet be well," the Emperor says ; but if so, it must be well soon. His Majesty must display a fertility of resource such as he has not hitherto mani fested to extricate himself from his difficulties. A great and victorious German army stands upon French soil, two great armies are advancing to its side, and one more blow such as those struck on Saturday would place the united armies of Germany on the road to Paris. FRENCH PRISONERS. The following memorandum has been issued by the the police in Berlin :—" A number of French prisoners will arrive here this evening, and will be at once sent fur ther on by rail. Although we hope and expect that the Parisians will not be afforded a similar spectacle during the war, we Berliners wish to take this opportunity of showing our calm and dignified behaviour that we know how an enemy's prisoners should be treated." THE FRANKFORT EXCHANGE. In Frankfort yesterday a great rise took place in all securities upon the important news. Austrian Credit Bank Shares are quoted 212 ; Austrian Railway Shares, 310 ; Lombards, 169 50 ; American Five-Twenty Bonds, 88. GREAT SEIZURE OF BULLION. The Paris Journal contains the following :—" Great excitement prevailed yesterday among the bullion mer chants. A few minutes before the departure of the trains for London and Brussels, the Northern Railway station was visited by agents from the Prefecture of Police. A similar visit was made to the Lyons Railway station, before the departure of the mail for Switzerland. The agents immediately set to work to examine the luggage departments, and a large quantity of precious metals was found.. The forwarders were mostly Parisians, and among them MM. Raphael, Rothschild, Hirsch, and Bischoffsheim. The destinations were Switzerland, Hol land, Italy, and England. The bullion was at once seized, and a proces-verbal drawn up, and the parties to whom the money was consigned were informed by telegraph of the seizure. The whole amount represented about three ''quarters of a million sterling. The merchants have of course protested. This is all we know of the matter, the importance of which cannot escape any one." Afew days ago an official notification was published to the effect that anybody who supplied the enemy with money would be liable to the THE EVACUATION OF ROME. A telegram from Florence states that the news pub lished by some Paris journals, asserting that, in pursuance of an understanding between France and Italy, the de parture of French troops from Rome will be retarded, is entirely unfounded. DISTURBANCES AT GENOA. The Florence Official Gazette of Friday publishes intelli gence relative to some disturbances which occurred at Genoa on Wednesday, in consequence of the trial of some persons for conspiracy. Four barricades were erected by the rioters, but were carried by the troops, when one rioter was killed and two wounded. Eleven arrests were made. One soldier and one police-officer were hurt. In the Senate on Friday, Signor Lanza, replying to questions, confirmed this information. The elections in North Carolina on Thursday last passed off quietly, and shew large Democratic gains. The returns, which at present are meagre, indicate that the Conservatives have secured a majority in the Legislature and four out of the seven members of Congress. The New York Tribune states that Mr. Frelinghuysen accepts the British mission. (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAMS.) A TOWN HALL BURNT. At ten o'clock on Saturday night a cupola, on the Town Hall of Newport, Salop, was observed to be on fire. The flames spread with the utmost repidity, and by twelve o'clock the handsome front block of buildings was gutted. The hall is insured in the Sun Office. PURCHASE OF HORSES FOR PRUSSIA, A Prussian cavalry officer visited Limerick on Saturday and made very large purchases of troop horses for the Prussian Government. THE WAR. Orders have been given to place the forts at and around Plymouth in an efficient state of defence. A large number of cannon, including some 300-pounders that have been tested at Shoeburyness, are to be placed on all fortifica tions sufficiently advanced to receive them, and to replace the smooth-bores on the old forts. - The Lords of the Ad miralty have given notice that they will decline to sanc tion any discharges by purchase in the Royal Marines until further notice. ACCIDENT AT PRESTON. On Saturday, the new covered market at Preston, which is near completi3n, fell with a great crash. Five men working on the roof slid down, one of them Thomas Bate son, was severely crushed and shaken, and taken up insensible. The building, a large open shed, was con. structed of iron. ' A " villainous looking fellow," named Thomas, a labourer, who has for some time been assaulting women of all ages and conditions, on the mountains of Mon mouthshire, was sentenced to fifteen years' penal ser vitude by Baron Pigott, at the Monmouth assizes on Sdt urday. Three charges of rape were proved against him. PASSPORTS IN FRANCE. We have been requested to publish the following :- - " Earl Granville has received a despatch from her Ma jesty's Consul at Calais, stating that all travellers enter ing France are required to have a French visa attached to their passports. "Foreign Office s August 7, 1870." • FRENCH CRUISERS IN THE CHANNEL. A large French war steamer, ironclad, ran bark rigged, passed the Downs on Saturday, shaping her course easterly. It is believed that the post of Assistant-Adjutant General at Aldershot, which will be shortly vacated by Colonel Newdigate, on ;the expiration of his term of office, will be bestowed upon Colonel Sir Archibald Alison. This appointment will undoubtedly give universal satis• faction. WORKMAN'S INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.—The following numbers visited the exhibition during the past week, exclusive of season ticket holders, exhibitors and others. Monday, 8,623; Tuesday, 8,832; Wednesday, 8,043 ; Thursday, 6,730 ; Friday, 5,701; Saturday, 11,529, DESTRUCTIVE FLUE AT CROYDON.—Another serious fire—the second within a week—broke out at Croydon on Saturday night, between nine and ten o'clock, at the extensive flour mills of Messrs. Collis, situated in Cherry Orchard-lane, and close to the East Croydon Railway - station. The building was entirely destroyed, the roof falling in between ten and eleven o'clock. When it was found impossible to save the mill, the efforts of the fire brigades were directed towards saving the out buildings and the adjoining properties. The Croydon Volunteer Fire Brigade, under Captain John Allsop, rendered most important aid ; and to their immediate appearance on the scene must be ascribed the early check to the progress of the fire and the protection of a vast quantity of valuable property. Great alarm was ex pressed by the travellers in the trains, who had to pass within a few feet of the burning premises. Messrs. Collis are, it is said, inadequately insured. YACHT RACE AT NEW YORK FOR THE QUEEN'S CUP.—The race for the Queen's Cup, won by the America at Cowes, in 1851, takes place to-day over the inland course. At pretient light winds prevail, and if they con tinue, the Cambria stands no chance, her forte being heavy winds. No less than 23 schooners are entered, in cluding the Cambria, America (fitted out expressly by the American Government), Sappho, Dauntless, Hen rietta, and other clippers, and, as it is a time race, some fine sport is anticipated. Great public interest is taken in the race, and Admiral Porter, of the United States navy, accompanies in a Government steamer. One of the principal reasons of Mr. Ashbury's taking the Cam bria to America was to contend for the Queen's Cup, won by the America in 1851. Since that time the America has fallen into the hands of the American Government, and they have fitted her out expressly for this race. THE DETAILS OF THE TWO BATTLES The Standard sums up the various facts bearing upon the two engagements, as they have yet reached us: It appears by the present accounts that, after the defeat of Weissenburg, on Friday, the sth, the troops under MacMahon must have retired from their first positiop on the Pigeonnier in a south-westerly direction, on Lembach, and from that point, finding probably that the Prussians were not pursuing towards Bitsche, but were taking the road to Soultz, that they struck off South wards down the valley of the Saar, and took up a position at Woerth, a small town at the junction of the Saar and the Saltzbach, on the direct road from Soultz to Niederbronn and Bitsche. It is probable that the Crown Prince moved south by the road and railway as far as Soultz, and then turned due west tc meet MacMahon. By this means he would turn that spur of hills which commencing with the Col du Pigeonnier, on the bank of the Lauter, runs in a southerly direction, till it terminates a little north of Woerth. Here, on Saturday, the 6th, he encountered not only the troops driven back from Weissenburg, but others, brought up to reinforce them, including, doubtless, the other divisions of MacMahon's corps. The telegram to the Foreign Office from the headquarters of the Crown Prince simply states that MacMahon was totally defeated, and that the losses on both sides are considerable. The Crown Prince's own despatch says—" Marshal MacMahon, with the greater part of his army, is com pletely defeated. The French were driven back to Bitsche." But there is yet another telegram from Count Bismarck to the North German embassies, des patched from Mainz yesterday morning, which de scribes a brilliant victory as having been won by the Crown Prince, at Haguenau, over the united armies of MacMahon, De Failly, and Canrobert ; and adds that, up to that hour, 4,000 prisoners have been brought in, and that -over 100 officers, more than 30 cannon, six mitrail leuses, and two eagles, had been taken from the French. We must suppose this despatch to have been penned after the prisoners had been examined, and from them it would have been ascertained what regiments, and thus what corps, were present on the field. If this despatch is correct the corps of De Failly, which we yesterday stated was concentrated at Bitsche, must have marched on the night of Friday to join 111`Mahon. For the pre sence of Canrobert's corps we are unable to account, except by supposing that it had quite recently been brought by rail to Metz, and then dispatched into a posi tion where it was able to support either wing of the army. If these three corps were present at Woerth, there cannot have been much less than 100,000 French engaged. MacMahon's corps has four divisions, De Failly's three, and Canrobert's either three or four. But the latest dispatch from the Emperor states, on the other hand, that MacMahon had only five divisions engaged, and that De Failly's corps was unable to join him. But the Emperor admits that his communications with MacMahon are severed, and that only vague details have been re ceived. On the other side, we may suppose that at least the same corps were present with the Crown Prince which were engaged in the action of Weissenburg. These were officially announced as being the Fifth, or Posen Corps, and the Eleventh,. or Hesse and Nassau Corps, of the North German army, and the second Bavarian corps. These three corps would amount to not less than 90,000 men ; and it ifT not improbable that they were assisted by some of the troops of Baden, for it was announced by telegram on Saturday that a Baden division had crossed the Lauter, and fixed its headquarters at Lauterburg. In this case the Crown Prince's army would have been about 100,000 strong ; so that if Count Bismarck's despatckdoes not ex aggerate the French forces, the Prussians appear to have gained a victory over equal forces, holding a position which we must suppose to have been strong, or it would not have been chosen by such a commander as Marshal MacMahon. The Crown Prince admits very heavy losses, but that makes his victory none the less valuable. The action near Saarbruck, adds the Standard, was scarcely less important. It appears that on the night of the sth, the day of the action of Weissenburg, the French centre began to fall back from its advanced position. It will be remembered that after the affair at Saar bruck, to which we attrched but little importance, the French occupied the heights immediately abo vi the town, on the left bank of the Saar, * with the advanced posts of General Froissard's. corps. A telegram from Count Bismarck dated Mains, just before midnight on Saturday, says that the French army retreated, and that the heads of the pursuing Prussian columns overtook them on the 6th ; that early on the morning of Satur day the Prussian General Von Kamers attacked the French west of Saarbruck in a strong position on the hills near Speicheren ; that at the sound of the guns detach ments from the divisions Barnekow and Stulpnagel ad vanced to the support of Von Kamer; General Von Goe ben took the command, and after a fiercely-contested battle drove the French from the position occupied by General Froissard, carrying it by storm. General Steinmetz arrived on the field in the evening and assumed com mand. It will be remembered that it was from these very heights of Speicheren, a village almost due south of Saarbruck, that the French first brought their guns into action against the Prussians, who occupied the lower heights on the left bank of the Saar, and if General Froissard's corps still held their position, it is evident that the first retreat was merely from the untenable position on the bank of the Saar to the superior position on the heights of Speicheren. This position appears from the French staff map to be very strong. The left of an army would be protected by wooden defiles, the villages of Speicheren and of Alsting would form strong posts for defence, and the stream of the Saarbach would cover the right flank. From this strong posi tion the French were driven by the Prussians. The latter were probably superior in numbers, but not to any very marked extent. If, as we gather, the whole of Gceben's corps, and one division of another corps, were engaged, about 40,000 Prussians must have attacked 30,000 French. We give these numbers merely as con jectural from the slight information at our disposal. We hear nothing from Prussian sources of any other troops being engaged than the corps of Frossarch Woerth, says the Post, is about twelve miles from Weissenburg, seven miles from the railway junction at Hagenau, five miles from Niederbronn, on the Hageuau- - Bitsche Railway, seventeen miles as the crow flies from Bitsche, and 25 miles from Strasburg. Woerth 18 also about three miles to the west of the Weissen burg - Hageneau Railway, so that MacMahon must have taken up the position with the double object of covering Hagenau and the passes of the Vosges Mountains, especially that by. Niederbronn to Bitsche. Holding the position, there was no alternative for the Crown Prince in advancing but to attack MacMahon. The French army at Woerth barred the passage between the Vosges and the Forest of Hagenau, and covered the railway from Strasburg to Bitsche, and the defeat of that army was a necessary preliminary movement, either south or west, by . the Crown Prince from his Weissenburg-Lauterburg posi tion. MacMahon seems to have stationed his army with strategic skill—he was beaten by either superior tactics or superior force. The Telegraph considers the probable future movements of MacMahon, who has been driven back on Bitsche. The road runs upwards into a rugged part of the Vosges ; :lie narrowness of the gorge leaves him but a sin tile route and that route leads, not south westward, towards the point where the French, driven hack from the frontier, would naturally concentrate, but north-westward, right into the teeth of the triumphant Prussians of the centre and right, advanc ing along the whole line from Saarlouis to Sarreguemines We learn that Prince Frederick Charles has advanced. from Homburg to Bliescastel, while the bulk of Steinmetz's army lies between Sultzbaeh and Saarbruck. Both points are equidistant from Sarreguemines, within the French frontier, from which they are only sepa rate by 12 miles of territory, traversed by several good roads, and totally clear of an enemy. Upon Sarreguemineg leads the road from Bitsche by which, on Saturday after noon, MacMahon's beaten army retreated. But from Worth to Sarreguemines the distance is at least 25 miles, through a broken and difficult hill country ; and it remains to be seen whether, victors at Saar bruck at nightfall on Saturday, Steinmetz and Von Goaben pushed forward towards St. Avoid and Sar realbe in time to cut , off MacMahon's retreat whe ther he proceeded from Bitsche to Sarreguemines or struck off at Bitsche due southward into the mountains upon Phalsbourg, or, choosing a middle cour6e, continued his march past Bitsche to Rohrbach, and there turned south-westward upon Bouquemont and Marsal. It would be simply preposterous for him to seek to sustain himself in the bleak, rough upland about Bitsche where he would k)/M have to surrender to the superior forces pressing on him on both sides ; and by any of the lines of retreat we have indicated he would take about three times as long to reach a point of safe communica tion with the Centre as tie Prussians from Saarbruck and Bliescastel would require to anticipate him. He - cannot, in fact, resume communication with the corps retiring from Saarbruck and Forbach, save by a march across the front of a victorious, a numerically superior, and an enterprising enemy ; and we shall look with much interest for intelligence as to the result of this race against time. Meanwhile it is not to be concealed that, on the face of our present advices, the French right wing is in grave jeopardy. WHAT WILL PARIS DO Paris, says the limes, ever effervescent, has become tumultuous. Exasperated against everything and every body that can be blamed for contributing to the disas ters of France, it is wild with excitement that has to to be restrained. At the same time the fortified bar racks commanding the straight thoroughfares of the Third Empire are comparatively empty of troops. And if this is the state at Paris, what is the condition of the army in front of the enemy ? They have learnt that the mitrailleuse they fondly cherished may be taken from them ; nay, they have discovered that the enemy possesses the arm they thought exclusively their own, and can use it with deadly effect. On the other hand, the forces of the enemy, firm in the consciousness of victory, are converging towards the heart of Lorraine. It is under such conditions that the Emperor must make his stand and trust his fortunes. " Tout peut se retablir," but what if the chance of the battle should not re-esta blish his strength ? It is impossible not to remember the historical parallels of the . situation, and if the mind re calls the repulse of Brunswick by the volunteers of the Republic, it recalls also the Cour des Adieux at Fon tainebleau. How, asks the Telegraph, could the capital receive this crushing news ? How could the excitable boulevards bear this capture of guns, mitrailleuses, and eagles, with the loss of legions which no Varus can give back ? What will now be done by that Garde Mobile, which flung stones at its officers the other day at Chalons ? Judging from the anger and disap pointment with which the tidings of Weissenbmg were received, Paris will for a long time be like a sea of turmoil almost more dangerous to_ Napoleon than the iron line pressing him back into French territory. On Saturday—when the question was one of false intelli gence and comparatively trivial losses —M. 011ivier managed to calm the mob with " Vive la Patric ! " But what cry could charm the furious passion of the French capital when it learnt the terrible approach of the German standards? Confronted by an infuriated nation, which he awakened from industry and prosperity to make it fight for its very life, and burdened with a capital in his rear, whicn can only be kept quiet by a series of victories, the Emperor's position is such as might almost wring pity from his enemies. It is a moment of superlative peril to his dynasty, and a period of cor responding enthusiasm to the Fatherland, which has re solved to 'make the Rhine now and henceforward safe for ever. The Standard thinks that in such a moment it is hardly probable that the party most opposed to the Empire will attempt to profit by the errors or misfortunes of the Em peror. To use the defeats and humiliations of France as political capital, to make German invaders political allies, has never answered in France, for those parties, at least, whose strength must lie in popular support. THE WAR. A form of prayer, in the present crisis, has been for warded to the bishops of the province of Canterbury. In a lettey to the Bishop of London- the AreltiishDp of Canterbury says :—" As at present advised, I find that the precedents are against the issuing of such a form, while the United Kingdom and the rest of her Majesty's dominions are mercifully preserved from any-participation in the war. In common, however, with yourself and all others with whom I have conferred on the subject, I feel that in prospect of the miseries now threatening two great nations, with which our country is most, intimately connected, the English people are bound to present their supplications to God for the restoration of peace. " 0, Almighty God, King of all Kings, whose power no creature is able to resist, to whom it belongeth justly to punish sinners, and to be merciful to them that truly re pent ; assuage, we beseech Thee, the horrors of this war, which Thou past permitted to break forth in Europe ; re strain the passions of the combatants; inspire the con querors with mercy. and the vanquished with submission to Thy will; give patience to all who suffer'; prepare for the summons those who .are called to die ; and set to this war fare bounds which it may not pass, We pray Thee, 0 God, speedily grant peace to the nations, and so over rule, in Thy good providence, the course of all events, that our present anxieties may end in the spread of righteousness, enlightenment, and true liberty, and thus Thy Kingdom may at last be established on earth. And this we pray through the merits and medi ttion of Jesus Christ, onr Lord and Saviour, the Prince of Peace. Amen. How PARIS RECEIVED THE. FIRST DEFEAT.— Even during the most fortunate campaign occasionai reverses must be expected ; but it . was quite pain ful —and, I may add, to a thoughtful observer, not a lirtle . disquieting —to see that expression of anger and mortified surprise painted on every coun tenance as each reader in turn, having secured, not with out difficulty, an evening paper, took in at a glance the sad meaning of the official note. There was no necessitp to read it twice—no misunderstanding it ; we had suffered defeat, a general had been killed, and one gun taken. I witnessed the distribution of the evenings papers at a railway terminus where I was going to embark on a dinner ex pedition to a country house at some distance from Paris. In. general, such places, at those hours, are a scene of noisy, chattering merriment, but yesterday there was gloomy silence. I3oth at the terminus and in the train every man had his newspaper, and when he had read it he said nothing to his neighbour. Now and then there would be a characteristic exception to this rule, when some one with true French im patience would strike the odious official communi cation with the back of his hasid, muttering, " And they don't say what they are going to do next. They are not going to leave the Prussians there, I suppose 1" Knowing them well, as I do, even I could scarcely have imagined that so trifling a reverse would have created so mach soreness and disappointment. It shows how little the real nature of the struggle in which we are engaged has been understood by the general public hem—French Cor respondent of the Times. ENTIIUSIASTIC MEETING OE GERMANS.--The in telligence of the two most recent victories last night -brought together a large number of Germans at the Ger man Gymnasium, Old St. Pancras-road. The latest editions of the Observer were read in succession, and their contents produced extraordinary enthusiasm. A telegram congratulating the King of Prussia upon the success of her armies, and styling him " the future Ruler of United Germany," was sent to Berlin in the course of the evening. Many patriotic songs were sung, and the toasts, "The German Army," " Success to the Germ an A rms, " an d " United Germany," were most enthusiastically responded to. It was, writes an eye-witness, most touching to wit ness the effect of the war news on all present. Germans from the far North and South, from Austria and Hanover, embraced each other like brethren, in the firm belief that the German soil is saved from the common foe for ever. NAVAL AND MILITARY.— In addition to the armour-clad vessels of war now building and fitting at Chathem, instructions have been received from the Ad miralty for the commencement of another large ironclad vessel, to be named the Raleig!t which is to be built from the designs of Mi. Reed, C. 8., the late chief constructor of the navy. The Raleigh is intended to be cased with wood over her armour-plating, and is designed to be of 4,066 tons bur den, with machinery of 1,000 horse power (nominal), but, with the improvements now made in marine engines, capable of exerting a 6,000 horse-power. Her armament will consist of 27 guns of heavy calibre, which will be mounted in her central main deck battery, and on her upper deck. The Raleigh is to be forthwith taken in hand, and will be pushed :orward as -rapidly as the resources of the dockyard will permit. as dia litv its the the hat len tpd Sod em hat ids, ied the Less ast ary ing the efi ir a