The Sun. — London, England, 1870-12-22 00:00:00

__, ON. a Was 3ident tubers aP 1, a nd the time ar ; a £250 i, men ferrea brio 31110 11 S Mall. idered ) were merlY there given. hat of great their 6bility possi- e first .t him %time be the ; core 3oard, •ative. the struc clerk, was to lment A the 3xcept ;1,000. :1 and Os to of the name ,0 the arches of the jesty's .ee im- Vice be dis amal- Toes :otel at ie pur s been r assis %nee of motors THE WAR,. PRUSSIANS. PARIS. NORTH. ing of lay for con )-called taken fined in police to the e novo. nment, ,s jury- I OF sed on med on. egrams 3 north ; storm e loss of ondent barque bta that °loured I named Jones aeeting n Tues against mching, ittee to intment ily two ch .44 for peti t put off xt. No Ld New- recent as was tt being 'or £2OO falf the he tem as York OF A who lies s, Man - County the coo ative la, spice ate told to the SPECIAL EDITION. SUN OFFICE, 7 P.M. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. REPORTED RISE AGAINST THE LILLE, December 21. A Saxon corps, 6,000 strong, has left °balmy for Rehm, with orders to make forced marches. It is rumoured that an insurrection has broken out in that town against the Prussians. THE CONDITION OF PARIS. OFFICIAL. PROCLAMATION. The Government of Defence, sitting at Bordeaux, has addressed the following document to the muni cipal authorities of the various departments : " Information which the Government has re ceived from Paris enables it to deny in the most. categorical manner the rumours which have been Propagated by certain journals of disorder in the streets of the capital, and their violent expression. The only nnfortunate facts which could be sig nalled are the breaches of military discipline which are, however, exceptional and very limited, and which have resulted in the dissolution of two bat talions of the National Guard—namely, those of Belleville, and the 147th Battalion of Volunteers. Flourens has been sent before a court-martial for actions unconnected with politics—namely, for the ursurpation of military rank. A certain number of Belleville Volunteers have also been gent before a similar court for desertion in presence of the enemy. Neither the occasion of these particular occurrences nor any other circum stance has produced any symptoms of civil discord, but the union of spirit and patriotism on the con trary continues to rise." ANOTHER ATTACK FROM PARIS. VERSAILLES, December 21. The forts around Paris last night opened a _heavy fire, but no serious damage was occasioned. An attack was made by three divisions, they moving on the 12th corps, but it was gallantly repulsed. The fight lasted over three hours. Artillery took a leading part in the affair, but the German loss was very trifling. A large body of Mobile Guards, between 6,000 and 7,000 strong, with cavalry and artillery was driven back to Notre Dame d'Or from the position it had taken yesterday, at Monnaire. The Germans were under the command of General Doigts Metz. REPORTED ESCAPE OF DUCROT FROM LUXEMBOURG, Wednesday. General Ducrot left Paris in a balloon on the 15th inst. to take command of an army corps. SURPRIZE BY THE GERMANS. An official report has also been received at the Royal Head-quarters from General Goltz, stating that he surprised the French whilst in the occupa tion of some of the cantonments at Langres, and drove them back to the north. A great number of prisoners were captured, and a ,large quantity of baggage and ammunition was also secured. ADVANCE AGAINST THE ARMY OF THE A despatch from Mezieres, December 21st, states that a strong German force had been seen near La Francheville, proceeding towards Rheims. It is believed that this force is proceeding onwards to Laon, La Fere, and Uhauney, to attack the Army of the N orth. THE BOMBARDMENT. BERLIN, W e dnesday . Large numbers of carriages, laden exclusively with ammunition for the bombardment of Paris, are for warded daily on the Magdeburg and Anhalt Railway. Herr Camphausen, Minister of Finance, stated this morning in the Second Chamber that the war had not been nearly so injurious to business as is usual in such cases; and that the direct taxes for the ele v en months of 1870 had yielded 494,520 thalers More than the same months in 1869, and that he expected no deficit either for 1870 or 1871. MORE FIGHTING NEAR AMIENS. • LILLE, December 21. To-day there has been a renewal of the fighting before Amiens. The struggle is reported to be desperate, but no reliable information as to the result has yet come to hand. The Echo du Nord says a French officer who has Just arrived here from Thionville states that duri ng the last fortnight the railway from Paris to Nancy has conveyed a large number of wounded from the German armies before Paris and on the Loire. 2,000 invalids passed through Toul in three days. The Germans ,in -Lorraine have imposed a contribution of 700,000 francs upon the inhabi tants. A GERMAN RETREAT: HAVRE, December 21. Yeiterday a sharp encounter took place nea Brionne between some Franc-tireurs of the Seine and Oise, and about 200 Prussians, who occupied some wooded heights. The Prussians were dislodged at the point of the bayonet, and retreated on Bourgth6roulde, leavi ng numerous dead and wounded behind. General Manteuffel left Rouen on the 19th. Torpedoes have been placed in the Seine from Duclair to Rouen. The boats requisitioned by the Prussians at Lenorniand-Bandu have been armed with guns. The population of Rouen are becoming exaspe rated by the presence of the Prussians, The 31oniteur Prussien has been christened La Gazette des Etrangers. THE SIEGE OF BELFORT. BERLIN, December 20. The bombardment of Belfort is being carried on vigorously. After the completion of the third Parallel a considerable postion of the Faubourg de Prance was burnt down. CAPTURE OF GENERAL TROOHU'S DES PATORES. BERLIN, December 21, (1.55 p.m.) The Paris balloon which descended in Nassau con tained an official despatch from General Trochu, announcing another attempt to break through the the investing forces for the 20th inst. EXPECTED ATTACK ON THE PARIS FORTS. _ _ --- According to the Provinzial Correspondenz of the 2 1st December, many indications lead to the conclu sion that, should Paris not be surrendered within a abort given time, a regular attack up on the forts will be made. REPORTED REORGANISATION OF THE LOIRE ARMY. Dispatches from Bourges state that the Army of t ll O Loire is completely reorganised, and that t his , chiefly due to the untiring activity of M. Gam betta. F ORMATION OF A GUNBOAT FLOTILLA. LYONS, December 18. The Defence Committee at Lyons has ordered the HIE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, THE LATE JUNIOR CONSERVATIVE CLUB. THE PRUSSIAN ADVANCE ON HAVRE. In a communication from Havre, under date December 17, the correspondent of--the Daily News says —" To-day we ha 1e no news of the Germans or their whereabouts in this n ghbourhood, but people from the adjoining towns state t at they have left and returned towards Rouen. It 1 is said hat the Germans while in this locality conducted thews lees admirably, and , that their demeanour was both espectful and conciliatory. They imposed no money contributions, but demanded provisions and /orag,„3, the officers, however, paying for what they r quired. At Bolbec, where they were to the num ber of 3,000, they were billeted on the inhabitants in the follo g manner :—On the arrival of the advanced corps the o cm went through the town and chalked on every door he number of soldiers to be provided for ; as high a number as forty appearing frequently. The officers while so journeying in that town declared it to be their intention to " come and see Havre for a little time and return again." But they have not come yet, and it is difficult to guess whether they really mean to come, or whether their object is merely to neutralise the services of the very large force at present in this garrison. A rather singular story Is told of some Uhlans who visited this locality about a week ago. It runs thus. In the town of Saint Rnmain six Prussian horsemen rode up to a cer tain cafe and demanded a bottle of wine each. The worthy landlord, on supplying the enemies of his country with the wine, scrutinised their appearance sharply, and immediately he thought he recognised fea tures that were not unfamiliar to him. He looked again and exclaimed, " Ah, monsieur, I thought I knew you ; I recollect often seeing your face in this locality before the war." It turned out that the landlord recognised two of them as clerks, who were in some commercial house in Havre, and were occasionally in the habit of walking to Saint Romain. What wonder that the Germans should be so successful in this campaign? What wonder that they should be so well versed in the geo graphy of Erance, when they can find men to act as their advanced guard who are acquainted with every inch of the road over which they travel ? Rouen, it appears, is thoroughly under Prussian rule at present ; the French papers Hive been suppressed, and the French officials superseded. It is enacted that any person who shall injure or destroy a bridge, canal, railway, or telegraph shall be tried by a council of war and tried with death. Not only those appearing in arms are made prisoners of war by the Prussians, but youths of the age of twenty are now liable to the same fate as regular soldiers. This, I must say, appears to be an act of injustice on the part of. General Manteuffel. Yet he has arrested over one hundred youths of the age of 20. Their time would arrive to be soldiers next month. The several towns in the arrondissement are re quired to furnish 200 carriages and 400 horses, and the in habitants are compelled to accept Prussian money in pay ment for provisions, &c. THE FRENCH AND GERMAN WOUNDED. The special correspondent of the Telegraph, writing from the German headquarters at Versailles on the 17th, says:—Sad accounts of the state of the French and German wounded in Beaugency have been received. A great* many of the men injured in the battles between the Grani Duke and Chanzy have positively died of hunger. Not a few were brought into Beaugency to expire, who had been lying for three days and nights in their blood, without a particle of food to eat or a drop of water to drink. Edibles of any sort are not to be bought for money in Beaugency or in the villages near that town. One hundred and sixty severely wounded men are lying in the cell of an Ursuline convent there—as many more in the tiny provincial theatre. Every house contains from six to a dozen or more sufferers.; but there is only a single surgeon to attend to six or seven hundred cases. The stench in some of the houses is horrible ; for fester and gangrene are raging, and many of the men are in a state of partial decomposition before they give up the ghost. The little town was shelled for a short time, as you are aware ; and I will take leave to relate one inexpressibly sad episode of the bombardment. A French gentleman of the neighbourhood —a truer servant of the Cross than many that bear it on their arms—had volunteered his services as a bearer and infirmier. During the action he had been busy in the field, bringing in under heavy fire wounded men of both nations ; amongst others a Prussian soldier whom he attended before the town was captured, in an extempore hospital, established in a private house. He was standing by the bed of his suffering enemy, minis tering to his wants, when a shell struck the house, pene trated the wall of the room in which his ward was situated, and burst, not injuring any of the patients, but carrying off both legs of the good Frenchman, who fell, never to rise again. The wounded Prussian managed to get out of his bed, though badly hurt, and endeavoured to staunch the blood of his benefactor, over whose dead body he was subsequently found, sobbing like a little child. Could there be a more glorious death ? formation of a flotilla of gunboats, to navigate between Lyons and Chalons-sur-Saone, and between Miribel and the Saut-du-Rhone. The flotilla will be composed of twelve gunboats, each armed with two mitrailleuses and a 24-pounder gun. The movements will be combined, so as to support the operations both on the banks of the Saone and the Rhone. THE ASSASSINATIONS AT VERSAILLES. In order to put a srop to the aksassii ations that have occured at Versailles, General Von Voight Rhetz has issued an order forbidding all circulation in the woods around Vine d'Avray, Meudon, and Marnes between the hours of three p.m. and nine a.m. The patrols have received orders to fire upon any person attempting to infringe this order. PRUSSIANS FORTIFYING BOURG THEROULDE. The Prussians are fortifying themselves at Bourg thdroulde, and erecting barricades from Barneville sur-Seine up to La Bouille. Thay are also forming a strong circle of Defences around Gisors. CALLING OUT THE -PRUSSIAN RESERVES. An official order has been issued by the Govern ment in Berlin calling for the formation of garrison battalions. They will be employed in taking charge of prisoners of war, and thus make the Landwehr available for garrisoning the extensive tracts of hostile country occupied in consequence of the steady and victorious advance of the German army. A BALLOON CAPTURED IN BAVARIA. A balloon with four - persons descended on the 20th at Rothenburg. The Germans were on the look out for it. Seeing this, one of the passengers jumped out, and the balloon again rose, but it was ultimately captured, as well as the other three passengers and letters, at Zwieser. THE LUXEMBURG QUESTION. LIIIRMB ITRG, December 21. The despatch of Count Bismarck was communi cated to-day to the Chamber, with the reply of the Luxemburg Government,refating in every particular the French accusations, and pointing out instances in which Prussia has herself violated the neutrality of the Grand Ducal territory. _ _ An order of the day was unanimously adopted, declaring that the Prussian statements have produce' a profoundly painful impression ; that the Chamber is convinced that the allegations made cannot be sustained, or are without the sig nificunce attributed to them ; that it wishes the duties of neutrality to be strictly fulfilled; and that the position which was guaranteed to the Duchy by the Treaty of London should not be modified without the consent of the Duchy itself and the guaranteeing Powers. The Chamba; moreover, hopes that the Powers will continue to maintain their friendly attitude towards Luxemburg; and declares its attachment to the dynasty and the insti tutions of the Duchy. BERLIN, December 20 (10 p.m.) To-night's Staatsanzeiger contains Count Bis marck's note to the Luxemburg Government of the 3rd of December. It is almost word for word the same as yesterday's article in the iVord Deutsche Zeitung. NEW AMERICAN MINISTER. PHILADELPHIA, December 21. General Robert C. Schenck has been appointed Minister for London. He is instructed to propose a re-opening of the Alabama negociation, also to complain respecting the fishery troubles. He sails in January. ROUMANIA .AN 1) TURKEY. VIENNA, December 21 (11 p.m.) The alarming rumours current about Roumania are unfounded. No steps have been taken by the Roumanian Governmeut to free itself from its obliga tions to the Porte as its Suzerain. TURKISH EXPEDITION AGAINST THE ARABS. CONSTANTINOPLE, December 17. Fifteen thousand men of all arms have been des patched by the Porte against the Assiyr Arabs, and other reinforcements will soon be sent, matters having assumed a serious aspect at Temen. THE PROPOSED CONFERENCE. VIENNA, December 20. The new Roumanian question has created immense excitement here. The Presse says it is a life and death question for Austria. The connivance of Russia is suspected. GERMANY AND AUSTRIA. BERLIN, December 21 (9 p.m.) Count Bismarck has sent a very courteous note to Vienna, announcing the imminent reunion of Ger many, and hoping that the new Commonwealth and Austria will always entertain friendly relations. THE NEW KING OF SPAIN. • FLORENCE, December 19 (Evening.) The new King of Spain will delay his departure for Madrid until the present Constituent Cortes shall have been dissolved, and a Legislative Cortes can be convened, before which Amadeus I. will take the formal oath to the Constitution. (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAMS.) BOAT RACE FOR £lOO. A boat race between Griffins and Thomas, from Putney to Mortlake, took place this afternoon. Griffins took the lead, and kept it throughout the distance. He was about four boats lengths ahead on passing the bridge. The result was evident from the start, Thomas creating disappoint ment among his backers, who considered he made no effort to win. LIVERPOOL ASSIZES. At the Liverpool Assizes, yesterday,'Eliza Ann Law, of Haslington, Lancashire, recovered £4OO from Walter Slater, of the same town, for breach of promise of mar riage.—At the same assizes, Messrs. J. and B. Bradbury, silk manufacturers, of Macclesfield, recovered £62 from Sutton's Parcel Express for the non-delivery of a bale of silk consigned to London. THE STORM ON THE NORTH-EAST COAST OF SCOTLAND. The storm continued on the north-east coast of Scotland up to yesterday morning, and the sea is still very heavy, but the wind has gone to the north, and brought a fall of snow. A Norwegian vessel, name unknown, was driven ashore on the rocks at Muchalls, twelve miles south of Aberdeen, and became a total wreck. Three of the crew were drowned and four saved. SUICIDE. Yesterday a man named Thomas Dennis was found with his throat cut in one of the waterclosets of the Bordesley station, Birmingham. The only thing found upon him were a pair of gloves and a will, in which he said, ":Being homeless and friendless, and expecting death, I leave my wearing apparel to the landlady of the house where my body is taken to pay her for her trouble. I give my body to the General Hospital for dissection, for the benefit of the pupils and the advancement of science." % CAPSIZING OF A BARQUE. Yesterday afternoon, as the Belgian barque, Ville de Auvers, was proceeding in tow of a steamer across the river, from North to South Shields, she capsized and sank in forty feet of water. The crew of about thirteen had just time to run up the jibboom and spring into the water, where they swam about. Several small boats rowed to the spot at once and saved them all, some of them being in a very exhausted condition and injured. But for the promptitude of the boats, several must have perished. She was an iron barque, two years old, and about 400 tons burden. She was built at South Shields, and commanded by Captain van Copenolle. She arrived a month ago from Antwerp, and had just finished under going repairs. It is supposed that being without ballast she tripped. Means are being taken to raise her. She lies in mid Channel off her Majesty's ship Castor, and is dangerous to navigation. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. you allOw me to ask through your columns why the affairs of this Club are not settled ? It stems to me that the honour of the Conservative Party iH involved, and that it would be wise to accelerate the moiements of the unknown obstructives. _ I' resigned the hon. secretaryship on the 18th of February. Captain Bertrand Payne, my successor, resigned early in March ; and Mr. J. Murray Dale, who succeeded him, retired in June ; since which latter date nothing has been heard of the Club ! On inquiry at the banker's, I learn that there are' assets amounting to more than.£loo, enough, I imagine, to pay every creditor 20s. in the pound, especially when it is born in mind that on retiring Captain Payne very handsomely gave up the debt to himself for printing, &c., amounting to more than £3O. No committee at present exists, I believe—only an indefinite number of creditors. The £lOO referred to stands in the names of two irrespon sible persons, who ought at once, after eight months' un necessary delay, •to. wind up the affair. Indeed, if they do not, I hear of threatened litigation. Whatever deficit there may be is amply provided for in a minute of March 19th.—I am, sir, yours obediently, J. R. TOWNSHEND MAYER. Richmond, S.W., December 21st. THE MONEY MARKET. CITY, Two o'OLooK. In the Foreign Stocks prices are now :—French Scrip, dis. to prem. ; Italian of 1861, 551. to 551 ; Russian of 1870, 83 to 85 ; Spanish Three per Cents., 31± to 31/ ; and Turkish Five per Cents., 44±. to 441. Business on the Stock Exchange is exceedingly quiet, and no': likely to improve until after the holidays. Italian are 3.16 tower. Consols are 911 to 91-i for money and account. Exchequer Bills, 10s. to 14s. prem. The Corn Exchange will be shut on Monday, Fthe 26th. The directors of the National Provincial Bank of Eng land have again voted a bonus of 10 per cent. to all their officers and clerks on their salaries for the present year.l New York advices mention the stoppage of Messrs. Phillip Wadsworth, and Co., clothiers, at Chicago, for about £lOO,OOO ; also of Messrs. Ikirchof, Brothers, and Co., distillers. The Manchester Courier states :—" The failure of Messrs. Higson, West, and Co., merchants, of Manches ter, Chas been announced. The liabilities are variously stated, the gross amount, including Fthose oni bills and in 'all other ways, being estimated at £230,000. The unse cured, however, are about £BO,OOO, of which from £25,000 to £35,000 is due to Manchester houses. The firm was originally in the South American trade, but has more lately been exporting to India and China. It is feared that the liquidation will not be favourable." It is understood that, in consequence of the recent rail way accidents, the London and North-Western line have concluded arrangements, to !adopt Clark's continuous breaks. At the annual meeting of the National Bank of Scot- land, at Edinburgh, the profits of the last official year were stated at £140,817. The ordinary dividend of 13 per cent. was declared. The directors of the National Steamship Company (Limited) (Liverpool) have declared a dividend for the half-year ending 31st inst., at the rate of 10 per cent. per annum. Advices from Buenos Ayres are to the 14th ult., at which date the various markets were unaltered, with the exception that money had become less scarce, and that the quotation of the Internal Argentine Bonds stood at 66 after having touched 67. On the 21st of November.the Minister of the Interior was to turn the first sod of the' new railway from Villa Nueva to Rio Cuarto, which is to be carried out at the cost of the Government by Mr. Jackson, an English contractor. A cargo of 200 tons of Patagonian guano had just been brought into port, and sanguine expectations had been expressed as to the results of this new branch of trade for the Republic, but it had been pointed out that an experiment from the same quarter twenty years ago had resulted in failure owing to the difficulties of the coast and to the fact of the region being liable to heavy rains. The present cargo is destined for England. The rebellion of Lopez Jordan in the pro vince of Entre Rios, although defeated, had not yet ter minated in the capture of that chief, and was therefore still a cause of considerable expense. In the Republic of the Uruguay no settlement had yet been effected, the Government retaining possession of the city of Monte Video, while their opponents continued to hold the sur• rounding country. THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. A solar eclipse was announced for to-day, and at 12.15 the sun turned itself most clearly into a " crescent moon," with the horns point-downward& Without a voyage to Sicily and a shipwreck, Londoners, who happened to be on the look-out, were gratified by the most good-natured dispersion of the clouds, and a perfectly clear and singular sight of the phenomenon throughout the whole of the con tact. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. LATEST LONDON BETTING. WATERLOO CUP. 20 tol 1 agst Lord Haddington's nomination (taken and wanted) 200 to 10 agst Mr. Spinks's nomination (taken) 400 to 20 agst Lord Lurgan's nomination (taken) 20 to 1 agst Mr. Clark's nomination (taken to £lOO after 22 ponies taken) 25 to 1 agst Mr. Gibson's nomination (taken and wanted) GRAND NATIONAL STEEPLECHASE. 25 to I'agst Doctor (offered-3000 to 100 wanted) TWO THOUSAND. 6to 1 on the field (offered) 200 to 30 agst King of the Forest (taken) POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-THIS DAY. BRUTAL ASSAULT ON A TOLL COLLECTOR--William Thomas Miller, who was also called Millen, was brought up at the Thames Police-court, charged with violently asssaulting William Drew, a toll-collector, at the Orchard House-gate, East India-road, near the East dock en trance. The prisoner came up to the toll-gate yesterday afternoon, and was driving a horse and cart, for which the legal charge of 6d. was demanded. The prisoner put hi hand in his pocket as if he was about to take out the money and pay the toll, but, while the collector's atten tion was being paid to another horse and cart, the pri soner whipped his horse and drove onwards. The col lector pursued him and again demanded the toll, on which the prisoner lashed the collector with his whip in a savage manner over the head, face, andbody. The collector to save himself pulled the thong from the whip, and the prlsoner then beat him with the butt end of the whip, which was of considerable thickness, over the hands. After a fierce struggle the prisoner, who made use of foul language to the collector, was secured by Job Pope, a police-constable of the K division, who promptly came to his assistance. Prisoner's only palliation for the outrage was that the complainant pulled the thong out of his whip. Mr. Lushington s Which he was quite justified in doing after you began to flog him. You have acted in a very dishonest and brutal manner, first in evading the toll, and then in flogging the collector, whose conduct was perfectly justifiable, and who was merely fulfilling his duty. I sentence you to one month's imprisonment and hard labour. MISS BECKER ON WOMAN'S DUTIES. Miss Becker, at the meeting in connection with the Queen-street Ragged School and Institute, Salford, on Monday, expressed her gratification that the managers of the institution had discarded the system of sepa rate schools for girls and boys, and that "the two sexes were placed on that footing of equal rights and thorough companionship which they ought to main tain through life." Adverting to some recent remarks of the Lord Bishop of Manchester to the effect that women ought to be "keepers at home," Miss Becker said she was one of those who was taken in her infancy to the parish church, and was there " signed with the sign of the cross, in token that she would be Christ's soldier and servant, and should not be ashamed manfully to fight under His banner against sin, the world, and the devil," and as within the peaceful domain of home she could not find the foes whom she was sworn to encounter, she conceived it to be her duty to walk abroad to meet them. The Bishop of Manchester, who presided at the meeting, observed that if ladies who hal no home-ties sought employment in the way Miss Becker had indicated he would, be the first ' to welcome their assistance. With regard to the complaints that the inquiry of the Contagious Diseases Act Commission is conducted privately, and that female witnesses have not been ad mitted to give evidence, it is stated that each of the societies formed to oppose and to support the operation of the Act has been invited to send a representative, and both have been allowed to bring forward witnesses. Nor have female witnesses been excluded. FRANCE WEARY OF THE WAR. The special correspondent of the Standard thus con cludes a a letter from Havre, under date December 19 : The only gleam of sunshine, the only ray of hope that shoots through the night of French despair, is afforded by the heroic conduct of Paris. In the capital, as in many other towns, there are probably many thousands who would only be too glad to give in, who care very little about Alsace, less about Lorraine, and would purchase at any price a release from the privations and horrors of war. But the one fact which should keep up our hopes, and which in itself is a sufficient rebuke for the unworthy sneers which the resistance of France meets with in many quarters, is that Trochu—no rash politician, no fanatic—the man of all others whose horror of unnecessary bloodshed would prevent him continuing to " fight for fighting sake," is still determined on resistance, and has obtained such a power over the most fickle of large modern cities that his decision is not questioned even by those who disagree with it. This great fact is not, I think, sufficiently appreciated by those who discuss the prospects of France with a heartless flippancy which to me, I confess, is revolting. The admirable accounts of the fighting from Paris though written from utterly different " points of view," are singularly concurrent in chewing the desperate character of the fighting, and the very narrow •ecape of the Germans from utter defeat. Why should another action not bring about the desired result ? We know that in the German camp weariness does exist at the unexpectedly protracted character of the war, that the men are longing for a sight of their homes, and that this very season of Christmas now approaching renders still more gloomy and depressing the effects of camp life and privation, with the prospect of no speedy release but that of the grave. We also know that by the power of example far more than the power of per suasion, Trochu has trained every man whom he leads forth to a sortie to make the sacrifice of his life, and all these men have an enduring faith that their country can not perish, and that every day they prolong their resist ance is a step gained towards the object their trusted leader has in view. France is now fighting for that which Prussia fought for in 1813—which Spain fought for for so many years—and I cannot but think that every generous heart must be with her in the struggle. MILITARY DISORGANISATION IN FRANCE. From Lille, under date December 19, the special corre spondent of the standard writes :—I had heard before leaving England of the extent to which suspicion exists in France, but to realise it ono must come to the country itself. And yet I can hardly blame the people. They are no longer waging a war ; they are fighting for their lives. Freely as they are sacrificing their lives, however, they find themselves betrayed on all sides. My sympathies with the French cause are even stronger now • than when I left England. A nation in arms, and burning with revenge, is a terrible engine of war if methodically organised ; but this is exactly what the French appear to lack—method. The fact is every (French general as soon as he gets a com mand, attempts impossibilities, in the hopes of outvieing his predecessors ; the consequence is that their success lies chiefly in the magnitude of the disasters they bring on army they command.. One cannot, feeling this, see the crowds of men clothed in uniform, in every direction, without a deep sense of sorrow and sympathy. I had until now always considered the French a comparatively puny race, but this is certainly not the case. If Paris can only hold out for some time longer, and one man with the genius of organisation comes to the front, France will have by March an army in the field that will overrun Europe. But to attempt pitched battles at present against the veteran soldiers of Germany is but to court defeat. Frenchmen who have spoken to the prisoners have told me that they one and all • declare that the rank and file of the German army are sick of th 6 war. And I believe it is true. It is all very well for the Jewish habitues of the cafes at Berlin to hold out for the • annexation of Alsace and Lorraine. Let them try a month's campaigning in France at this season of the year, and then ask them what their opinions are on the subject. I suspect that even Bismarck himself does not contemplate Lorraine being embodied h the German Empire for any length of time. He wants it now, but chiefly as so much stock in trade. The mouth of the Rhine, in other words, rfallandiais ,what. he has set his eyes on. and if the 87U. Germans armies meet with a reverse, and he gives np his claim on Lorraine, and offers France Belgium, on the condition that Prussia takes Alsace, Luxemburg, anti Holland, what can England say or do ? I do not believe that the Belgians, as a rule, are opposed to annexation to France. Their sympathy for her cause is marked, and numerous young Belgians are serving in the French volontaires. The long lists of French officers interned in Germany who have protested in the columns of the Independence Beige against the Emperor's resto ration are very imposing in appearance, but too much importance must not be attached to them. I have counted the signatures from more than one place in Prussia where I happen to know how many French 'officers there are, and the names do npt approach half the number there interned. The cam paign has indeed entered on a new phase, and a very terrible one it is. At present it is literally a war of races, and is marked by the inevitable consequences of such a conflict—savage reprisals on either side. I myself have heard both French and Germans boast of acts which at another time, or even if engaged in a war with another nation, they would themselves have considered cruelty of the most dastardly description. Will the other natians of Europe allow this to go on? Both countries long for peace. France would, I believe, pay any war indemnity that might be demanded, and be willing also to forfeit Alsace ; but Lorraine, never. And how can the Prussians expect to get such terms from a warlike race of 40,000,000 of people? With Metz in the hands of the Germans, France must for ever be at the mercy of the Teutonic Empire. Can what every Frenchman believes be true—that King William's one object in continuing the war is to gratify himself with the petty revenge of signing the peace in Paris, be cause the First Napoleon signed the peace he forced on Prussia in Berlin ? COUNT BISMARCK'S LUXEMBURG CIRCULAR. The special correspondent of the Telegraph under date of Berlin, December 21, says :—I am now able to send you a full and trustworthy summary of the Note which was addressed by Count Bismarck, on the 3rd of December, to the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, and to the European Powers which signed the Treaty of London in 1867. The Note points out that Prussia, at the outbreak of the war, had declared her intention to respect the neutrality of Luxemburg— supposing that France did the same, and that Luxemburg herself sidcerely endeavoured to remain neutral. The Gove'rnment of Prussia has scrupulously observed a strict neutrality ; but neither France nor Luxemburg has acted in the same manner. The hostile sentiments of the population have manifested themselves in the maltreatment of German officials in the Duchy ; but Prussia does not hold the Government of Luxem burg responsible for the bad conduct of indivi duals, although more might haye been done to repress it. The provisioning of Thionville, how ever, by trains run from Luxemburg, was a flagrant breach of the laws of neutrality, which could not have taken place without the connivance of the officials. The Prussian Government at the time lodged a complaint with the Government of the Grand Duchy, and pointed out the consequences to which proceedings of the kind must inevitably lead. The warning was disregarded. After the fall of Metz, numbers of French officers and sol diers, escaping from the captured fortress, passed through the territory of Luxemburg to evade the German troops, and to rejoin the French. Army of the North. In the city of Luxembourg itself the resident French Vice- Consul had an office at the railway station, designed to assist the French fngitives in reaching their own country ; and at least 2,000 soldiers had in this manner reinforced the French Army. The Government of Luxemburg did nothing to prevent these acts : and the fact undoubtedly constitutes a gross violation of neutrality. The conditions upon which Prussia had based her neu trality have, therefore, ceased to exist ; and consequently Prussia declares that on her part she no longer considers herself, in the conduct of her military operations, bound by any regard for the neutrality of Luxemburg, and she reserves to herself the right of claiming com pensation from the Grand Ducal Government for the German losses arising through the non-observance of neutrality, and of taking the necessary steps to secure herself against the repetition of similar proceedings. THE ARMY OF THE NORTH. The correspondent of the Standard, writing on the 19th from Avesnes, thus describes the Army of the North : I watched the drill for over an hour, and am still of opinion that the new army suddenly come into life in the North of France will prove most formidable. It may be a good joke in England to speak of Frenchmen as little, but during the last three or four weeks I have been lite rally astonished at the number of tall, stout fellows I have met with. Of my own actual experience the average height I have encountered has been fully five feet eight or nine inches. There is no doubt whatever that the wars of the First Empire had the effect of draining the country to an enormous extent, and for a time the people did not show to advantage. But they have had time to grow since then, and the splendid specimens of northern Mobiles I see on all sides will show that they have grown to some purpose. But it is not for their physique alone that they are noticeable. It is for the un mistakeable earnestness with which they are steadily settling down to their work, and for the efficiency I already see them display. It takes a long time to excite emotional feelings in the people of the North here, as in most countries. They have none of the im petuosity or poetic imagination that is so easily lighted in the South. They are a cautious, long-headed, calculating, money-making race ; and the prosperity of such towns as Lille testify to their dogged perseverance. They weigh a question long and deeply, and look at both sides ; but when it comes home to them, and they are fairly roused, they are terribly in earnest. I no longer hear the people deprecate the war, or harp, as they used formerly, on its being the fatal result of despotic caprice. They have made up their minds to accept it as an inevitable fact, and to meet it accordingly ; and they swear, no matter what may be the extent or nature of the sacrifice they will be called on to make, never to sit down till they shall have wiped out the bitter shame that has fallen on the French nation. CRYSTAL PAL &CE PANTOMIME. The Christmas production this year at the Crystal Palace is the story of Gulliver, which is here presented in quite a new form by Mr. H. B. Farnie, the successful author of "Little Faust," &c. The first principal scene is entitled " The Fairy Halls of Enterprise," and here Gulliver is met by the Fairy of Enterprise, who in turn introduces him to Saccharissa. Together they agree to fly to foreign lands, and this leads us to the next scene, "Wapping Old Stairs," and here somelvery excellent pan tomimic business is introduced, which is heartily appre ciated by the juveniles, for whose edification the Palace at this season puts forth special efforts. Scene IV. shows us the sea coast of Lilliput,where the vessel has been wrecked, and from which it is at first feared that none but Gulli ver and Saccharissa have escaped, but greatly to the disgust of the latter it is found that amongst the saved are two of her admirers—but who are not admired by her—Sir Lardy Dardy Do and Captain finks, to one of whom her father (Mr. Sugarplum) is desirous she should be married. Saccharissa will have none of it, and deter mines to stick to Gulliver, despite her father's remon strances. Next follows the scene, " City and Palace of Lilliput" ; and here Gulliver is discovered by the Lillipu tians, by whom he is ultimately doomed to exile. Scenes 6,7, and 8 take place in Brobdignag, and here are intro duced very pretty scenic illustrations of a Brobdignagian cornfield, and the Palace of Brobdig,nag. At last, after many trials and vicissitudes, the return home is accomplished, where of course everybody is made happy, and everything is as it should be. The great transformation scene is entitled the " Flight of the Fairies," and is really a triumph of scenic art, eliciting long-contiaued marks of approbation from the vast audience assembled. The part of GulliTer was most ably sustained by Miss Caroline Parkes, and the character of Sacharrissa met with full justice at the hands of Miss Annie Thirwall. Master Percy Roselle appears as the Emperor of Lilliput ; the rival character of the King of Brobdignag is entrusted to Mr. H. Clements. The minor parts were all excellently provided for. The first performance was extremely well attended, and there can be no doubt bnt that the pantomime of " Gulliver" will be ranked amongst the best of the Crystal Palace produc tions, and will doubtless prove most attractive during the forthcoming holiday season. THE BOARD OF TRADE. It has been stated that Mr. Mansfeld will have Mr. Bright's vacant post ; but we have been informed in other quarters that Mr. Gladstone has offered the Presidency of the Board of Trade to Mr. Chichester Fortescue, and that the Marquis of Hartington will have the Irish Chief Secretaryship. Mr. Fortescue and Lord Har tington are both said to be desirous of this arrangement. —Advertiser. A new postal convention has recently been signed be• tween the British and Italian Governments. CRYSTAL PALACE.—Oue Shilling Day,Wednnsday, December 21, 1870.—Admission by season tickets, 2,371; ditto on payment, 1,115; total visitors, 3,480. OUR COTEMPORARIES—This Morning * THE sTituanr,r BEFORE PARTS. The Times, in referring to the present terrible aspect of the struggle between Franc., and Geemany,-asks: Is there any necessity, on either si,l4, -for prolonging this terrible and i:t-Irilous agony? Our sYmp %thy leads us to ask the question again and again ; while our impartiality T o enabl us to examine it with stifle clearness. 'lt is our duty insist that it is not even yet too late to avert the worst consequences threatened by this struggle ; and the utmost efforts ought row to, be made to induce the leaders of France end Germany to reconsider their posi tion. Would it not be wimifor the Germans, by display ing a readiness to make a moderate use. of their victories, to encourage the French once more to entertain the idea of concession and of peace ? We shall not be misunder stood. Nothing, in our opinion; 'would be more unjust than to ask the Germans to sun mder their claim to a solid security for the future, and a substantial reward for the thousands of precious lives they hate sacrificed. They were driven into a war Of defence, and they have enforced a just punishment in the disasters they have in flicted on the French. But the punishment has already been exemplary beyond any recorded in history. They have taken prisoner the Emperor who menaced them, and the statesmen who shared his schemes are driven into exile. They have destroyed or led into capture the whole .Army which was his instru ment, with nearly all its Marshals and most re nowned Commanders. They have taken Strasburg and Metz, with a number of minor fortresses; they have overrun France and laid her provinces under contribution fromthe Rhine to the Channel ; they threaten her beauti ful capital with fire and famine; their Sovereign has occupied for three months the palace of the man who was their greatest enemy, and " all the glories of France " are humbled under their flag. Is not such a punishment enough for justice? May it not become a cruelty akin to that of the Roman against the Gaul if Germany, with her veteran army and her incomparable organisation, continues to crush the gallant but undisciplined bands who are now fighting in desperation to save some shreds of the honour of France? All the healthy opinion of the world went with the Germans in resisting and avenging an un justifiable invasion ; but it would leave them as soon as they shewed a tendency to use their giant's strength tyrannously. Moreover, unless the rage of war renders them blind, they must ; realise too well their own tremen dous losses, and the grievous suffering which every day's fresh slaughter inflicts on Ger many. They know the urgent need that their bread-winners should soon return to their profit ' able and useful occupation, lest German as well as French land should remain untilled, and German indus tries suffer permanent injury. The difficulties, too, they have already to encounter must be enough to warn them against unnecessarily provoking the Nemesis which is wont to punish excessive demands, or even neglected op portunities. EARL RUSSELL ON ENGLAND'S DEFENCES. Alluding to Earl Russell's letter on our defences, the Standard says: It is not enough that we should be told that it would be very difficult for an enemy to land an army on the English coast, nor is it much consolation to hear, as we generally do, that the invading army would never go back again. We oannot afford to leave this matter in any kind of doubt. It must be made not only diffi cult for any enemy to land—it must be made impossible for him to do so. The security which is not perfect is of little value. If it can be made perfect, humanly speak ing, it ought to be so. We must listen to no calculations of the number of men and of ships of the enemy which will be destroyed before he can land an army of one hun dred thousand on the English coast. If it is ever worth the while of an enemy to make the attempt, we may be sure that he will have assumed all these losses as part of his scheme. What we must do is to render the chance of success so desperate that no Power will ever venture into the undertaking. To do this we must provide not only for a first line of defence, but a second and a third. As Lord Russell justly says, it may be possible so to distract the attention of the British fleet as that an overpowering naval force may be concentrated at one point of the -coast, strong enough to secure the successful disembarkation of an army, even though it may not be strong enough to escape without loss afterwards. We all know how nearly such a design was being successful in 1804, and how it was only foiled by a happy course of accidents, and the vigilant sagacity of Collingwood. What was possible sixty or seventy years ago is still more possible now, when the general adop tion of ironclad ships has robbed us of our old supe riority in seamanship. The problem really begins at the point where Mr. Gladstone and his friends seem to leave it. We' have not to discuss how much security the EBritish Channel gives us. We have to con sider what we should do were that barrier passed and a hostile army fairly landed in England. It is against such a danger that it is our duty to provide at all cost. It is idle to tell us that the enemy can never land, or that if landed he will never return. All the highest mili tary authorities since and during the great war against France have believed in the possibility of the landing, and it would be madness to scorn their advice. Whether it requires 50,000 or 100,000 additional soldiers we must provide them, or we are not assured against in vasion. We have not only to take care that the invaders will never go back ; we must be satisfied they will never come. The very idea of an enemy's army quartered in London, were they the bestbehaved plundorers in the world, is one which we cannot for one moment afford to enter • tain. THE FENIAN AMNESTY. The Telegraph, in referring to this subject: Says that the release of the prisoners should be the cause of much joy in Cork and of exultation in Dublin are facts on which the Government and the Irish people may be equally congratulated ; nor, so far as our fellow-countrymen across the Channel are concerned, need there be much cause for astonishment if we hear of some tendency to look the gift-horse in the mouth and cto carp at the conditions attached to the boon. The captives are from this moment banished men ; and if any of their number are found within the limits of the United Kingdom while the edict of expatriation remains unre pealed, they must expect to forfeit the privilege already conceded. • Unreasoning politicians of an ultra Irish way of thinking may argue that to clog an amnesty with the conditions of exile is to do an act of mercy by halves, and is, in fact, only a refined, piece of cruelty. These men, so long confined, are 'doubtless imbued with the very warmest feelings of attachment towards their native land. They have been for years absent from their homes, their wives, their children, and their friends. Why should the stern mandate go forth, " Get thee out of thy country ?" On what plea can their enforced separation from all they hold dear be justified? We may reply that the justification lies in two pleas ; first, in the interest of the men themselves, and next in that of inevitable expediency. That honest patriotism of a somewhat dreamy, illogical, impracticable kind may have been the inspiring motive in the conduct of these unfortunate per sons, we do not choose to doubt. That many of them have awakened to the delusion, and are sorry for the perversity which led them to conspire against the integrity of the Empire we may hope ; but it must not be forgotten, that the political prisoners comprised a large proportion of desperate and unscrupulous adventurers—men more of the temper of Colonel Titus than of Algernon Sydney— men who thought " killing no murder," and whose avowed associates attempted to blow up prison walls, to surprise garrisons, to debauch soldiers, and'to assassinate police officers. THE GERMAN EMPIRE. What have we to expect, asks the Daily News, from Kaiser Wilhelm? There are some who fear—and the incautious confessions of enthusiastic German professors give them some reason—that the new Empire will be Prussianised and rendered warlike to a dangerous degree. It cannot be doubted that there are tempting provinces on almost every hand which Germany would like ; and the Empire will be furnished with many a pretext which Prussia wants. One of the most audacious acts of the First Napoleon w s to inform the Pope that he, Napoleon, had the right to annex those territories which Charlemagne had given to) the Bishops of Rome as fiefs. Instead of ruling these lands well and peace ably, he remarked, the Bishops and Popes had teen constantly stirring up quarrels ; and so Napoleon, acting for his predecessor Charlemagne, imme diately seized the Papal territories, and left Rome a free city. The Pope excommunicated him, but be did not seem much the worse. If the Empire which is now to be should become unscrupulous and warlike, it will not lack excuses for annexation ; and if the threat of annex ing a certain province should induce a certain kingdom— possessing a convenient seaboard—to join the Empire, no one could say that such an arrangement was not foreshadowed. However, we would fain hope fur better things. Kaiser Wilhelm cannot always occupy the Imperial Throne ; and there are rapidly growing aad widening in Germany influenees which the feudalism of the Hohenzollern Muse will find it difficult to withstand. Should it be given to the present King to set the Empire going ► we need not grudge, him his,tomporary occupation of tho