The Sun. — London, England, 1870-12-02 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN GOSSIP.--TELUR SDAY. panies, and was very interesting. None of the speakers seemed satisfied with the action taken by the Legislature, but some of the older members advised that it should be given a fair trial, Mr. Cornelius Walford observing that very little alteration would make the new enact ment worse than it now was. The proviso that every new company should deposit £20,000 was the topic most discussed. Various opinions as to its ad visability were expressed, some associates thinking it would tend to diminish the number of unsound small companies, and others arguing that it would prove in effectual. The chairman (Mr. Hodge), a gentleman well known in the actuary world, gave it as his belief that the new provision, making it incumbent on societies to pub lish their accounts in a separate form, would be more to the advantage of the printer and waste paper dealer than anybody else. Lord Penzance, in referring to the Shedden case, ad dressing the bar, once said, " A case you may have heard of," an expression that did not fail to excite a certain amount of risibility among the members of the wig and gown fraternity. If the Godrich case goes on much longer a similar remark will aptly apply. After an im mense amount of expensive litigation Mrs. Godrich has obtained from Lord Penzance a new trial in the suit where her husband was the petitioner. The jury found that two of the witnesses who testified against Mrs. Godrich were guilty of perjury, and she obtained warrants for the apprehension of two more whose evidence was of much the same effect ; but unfor tunately it has not been possible to execute them. Bear ing in mind that two of the persons who gave testimony have been guilty of false swearing, it really seems neces sary to have the whole of this miserable business reviewed. As by the new Act the two principals will be able to give evidence themselves, perhaps their case may now be got rid of. The Eastern question has once more lapsed into compa rative obscurity. It arose at a convenient time to fill up the dull gap in the chronicle of warlike events, whilst the hostile armies were marshalling for the decisive campaign round Paris. Now the great struggle has commenced in earnest bOth at the capital anti on the Loire. It is evi dent that another great crisis of the war has arrived, and the excitement here is well nigh as great as at any former stage of this amazing contest. The newspapers are again at a premium. The wildest reports fly about. Last night serious credence was given to a rumour that Paris had capitulated ; this morning, on the other hand, the story was started, and had a good run, that a great sortie had secured important advantages for the French. All that can certainly be ascertained up to the time that I am writing is that on Tuesday sorties were made in several directions from Paris, the most important being on the south. None of them, how ever, were very serious. They were evidently intended as feints. Yesterday a great battle commenced on the north side, on which, probably, the Germans are least well prepared. The Army of the Loire has been severely beaten, according to the German accounts ; and it would appear that, on the whole, the French had the worst of the battle. But the result can hardly have been so serious as to prevent the army fighting again. The whole French force was not engaged, and it is noticeable that King William does not think the triumph so important as to be worth while thanking Providence for. Doubtless, ere this appears in print, more light will have been cast upon these great events. The Eastern Question, of course, is not altogether for gotten. Some interest in it is kept up by the very mysterious character of the negotiations—it being clear that a Conference is under consideration, but by no means evident how the terrible Russian circular will be got over, whether it will be withdrawn, or whether the English Government will consent to wink at it. The dilemma is not easy to overcome, since the withdrawal of the circular would be a disagreeable feat of dirt-eating for Russia, and, on the other hand, the tone of the document is, in English opinion, the head and front of Muscovite offending. Nevertheless, the apprehension of war seems to have quite died out. Even that portion of the Austrian press—and it is large and important—which believes that the present is the golden moment for Austria to make war, has hopelessly abandoned the propa ganda, and the whole valley of the Danube is now given up to ploughshare and pruninghook talk. Observers who are entitled to a hearing are of opinion that the originators of this Eastern' difficulty, notwith standing the tall talk of the Russian press, and the admi rable disregard of ceremony shewn in Prince Gortscha koff's compositions, have sadly bungled. Mare proper, perhaps, would it be to say that the plotters' distrust of each other has marred the plot. The understanding, or alliance, or whatever it may be, between Russia and North Germany is accidental and temporary, not natural and permanent. The two nations rather detest than like each other. This distrust is the grearsafeguard of the Southern and Western powers. In the present case not only did Prince Gortschakoff spoil the combina tion by despatching his circular too soon, lest Bismarck might refuse him his reward, as he refused the Emperor Napoleon, but there is reason to think that similar schemes have been frustrated by this lack of con fidence. Everybody knows that the mild Government of the Austrians in Poland furnishes a disagreeable (to Russians) contrast to the state of things in the Muscovite share of the old kingdom ; and everybody also knows that Bismarck's hunger for the Austrian- German provinces is strong. Ido not intend to say that any set combination for the spoliation of Austria exists between her two formidable neighbours. But I have of ten seen such a combination hinted at in Austrian papers ; and it is no uncommon thing to find a North - German or a Russian writer speak of the heterogeneous combination of States forming the Austro-Hungarian monarchy as legitimate prey. It is certain that the Austrian statesmen live in mortal fear of such a scheme. Hence the army at the outbreak of the present war, hence the covert attempts to break off the Southern States, particularly Bavaria, from unison with Prussia. Of course a futile attempt on the part of Austria to avert the dreaded catastrophe would only precipitate it. Hence she caution displayed at Vienna. The British press is not to be congratulated on its dis crimination in regard to recent important matters of foreign politics. The foolish tone respecting the war is one instance ; the talk about the new king for Spain is another. When the news came of Prince Amadeus's election there was a general chorus of joy at the " settle ment" of the difficulty which has long troubled Spain; your own journal, I believe, was one of the few that expressed a doubt whether 193 votes, when 173 were required for the bare majority, were to be regarded altogether as a triumphant victory. Further details from Madrid shew what a miserable business this election was. The journals deride it ; the people disregard it. On the day of the voting " shops and theatres were shut, and the night passed in silence and darkness." Not only did the majority amount to only eighteen more than the minimum number required, but even this poor superiority was largely made up of placemen. The Duke was elected by the Progressist party, not by the Spanish nation. He is the nominee of Prim, who hal come to the conclusion that some settlement was required, and who felt confident that the son of Victor Emmanuel was not capable of disturbing his own personal ascen dancy. The new monarch will, to all appearance, begin to reign, but he will not find the throne a bed of roses, nor the troubles of Spain at an end. One of the best amongst the war books will be the " Seventy Days in Metz " narrative, which the correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, who was shut up in the fortress, is about to re-issue in a complete form. It is one of the most valuable contribu tions to the history of the war. 11l luck placed this cor respondent in a rare position, and he has made the most of it. The war correspondence of the Daily News also appears in a collected form. With these two compilations the student who would like to review the war will find well-nigh all he requires. Some good letters have appeared in other of the London papers, as well as in the country, but there can be no doubt •as to where the palm of superiority must be awarded. Apropos to this subject I may notice that in some cases the mistake was made of attaching correspondents too closely to German headquarters. The Germans were willing to tolerate such visitors, but only on condition that their letters should be filled for the most part with idle gabble. The journalists with the German army. have been too much circumscribed in action, and too fearful of saying anything unpleasant to great personages. Melancholy evi dence of this fact is furnished by the letters of the cor respondent who was once the most famous of his class. The forthcoming Christmas season has forbidden the appearance of much new drama, and the little there is does not call for notice. Mr. Halliday's "Nell, or the Old Curiosity Shop," is moderate. The original story is dreadfully mangled, and the plot is therefore unsatisfac tory. Some good acting does a little to redeem the general weakness of the play. If the surrender of Paris takes place soon, we shall then have time to look after our own affairs a little. For next year there is no overpowering question, and con sequently the Government are preparing, I hear, a grand social campaign. Mr. Bruce, who cut such an inglorious figure last session, is to command a large army of bills next spring, and it is hoped that he will lead at least a portion of his forces to victory. He will take up his Mines Regulation Bill, and others which were buried last year will rise again ; a serious attempt will probably be made to deal with the adulteration of food; and there will very likely be a railway measure dealing at once with the means of preventing railway collisions, and of estimating the damages arising nut of them. Mr. Bruce will have every chance of making himself the hero of the session, One danger is serious. It is no secret that the Opposition contemplate a grand attack on the Government policy in respect of the army and navy ; and this, with the war and the Eastern ques tion will furnish material for talk highly damaging to the interests of the Minister whose good intentions last year strongly reminded one of the proverb about the way to - MR. MUNDELLA ON LABOUR AND STRIEES. There can be no doubt that a muddle was made of the elections for the School Boards in London. The arrange ments for taking the votes were not capable of meeting any rush of ratepayers ; and when the working men trooped up in hundreds after six o'clock, a com plete collapse was the result. By no means could the officials get through the work by closing time, eight o'clock ; and crowds of voters, many of whom had arrived long before closing time, had to content themselves with giving their candidates their best wishes. Some officials seem to have become a prey to temporary insanity in presence of the angry mob ; one individual distributed voting papers to whomsoever chose to take them; and I myself saw a polling-place closed at a quarter to eight. The remark able person who shed tears because he could not vote was a rare example of delicacy in misfortune ; a good many advocates of a sound religious education vented their dis appointment in a rougher and readier fashion. The completion of the Albert Memorial, after from seven to eight years' labour, is fixed for next spring ; but from what I can see I am inclined to doubt whether the end will he so soon. However, the work is undoubtedly making rapid progress. The upper half of the building, which is almost entirely • composed of gold and mosaic work, is already uncovered. The lower half, it may be as well to remind year readers, is chiefly of granite and marble from the following places ;—Scotch, from the Duke of Argyll's estate, the Irish from Castle wellan, the Italian from Carrara. At the top of four broad flights of steps are the principal groups of statues, which represent the four quarters of the earth. Europe has been executed by Mr, McDowell, Asia, by Mr. Foley, America by Mr. Bell. At the summit of the second flight are four other groups, representing tho arts of peace.—Agriculture, by Mr. W. C. Marshall ; Engi neering, by Mr. Lawlor ; Manufactures, by Mr. H. Weekes ; Navigation, by Mr. Thornycroft. In the centre of these last groups is the monument itself, the base of -which is ornamented by bas-reliefs of the fine arts, Mr. Phillips executing Architecture and Sculpture, and Mr. „Amides& Poetry, g ;} sic, and Painting. On the summit of this pedestal is placed a colossal figure of the Prince Con sort, whom Mr. Foley represents wearing the robe of the Order of the Garter, and seated in an arm phair. Finally, over the figure is raised a magnificent dome of geld and mosaic, which terminates in the form of a pyramid more than half the height of the whole building. Such is the tout ensemble of a work which is perhaps the closest imitation of the Tower of Babel ever attempted. The Albert Memorial resembles the unfinished edifice on the plain of Shiner in the abaurd disproportion of the means to the end, for assuredly posterity will think it strange that such a stupendous edifice should be reaped to the memory of a good husbanfl, whilst men and kings, who have greatly influenced the destiny 9f the nation, are honoured with a London street statue. In the matter of " confusion," too, the memorial is not unlike its great antitype, for many were the intrigues and conflicts of interests which occurred during the progress of the work, and greatly did they impede the undertaking, Intri.g4e and interest kept Mr. Woolner out of the undertaking. Intrigue and interest prevented Mr. Foley from taking part in it until it became evident that the project could scarcely be finished without him. I make no apology for referring to the meeting of the Institute of Actuaries on Monday. It was the first held ,since t'ie passing of the Ad relating to Insurance Com- Mr. Mundella, M.P., lectured at the Co-operative Hall, New York, on the 14th ultimo, on " Strikes, Arbitration, and the Civil Service in Great Britain." In the course of his address the hon. member said :—" The relations of Capital and Labour is the question to which I invite your attention, and I would ask you to consider the conditions under which we approach the solution of this and all other social problems as compared with yourselves. You are an old people in a new country, possessed of all the experience which centuries of European success and failure have given you. You have no tram mels of caste or prejudice, or ancient institution remain ing, to overcome. We, on the contrary, are in an old country, where all the resources of nature are already appropriated. Where laws, traditions, institutions re quire to be changed. Where we cannot build up without first pulling down ; and cannot pull down with out inflicting injury and loss somewhere. We have old wrongs to redress, old neglects to repair, old class prejudices and distinctions to remove. More than all, we have a dense population in a sea-girt fortress without power of extension or expansion. The tendency of industry everywhere is to localise itself. We have ' our iron and our coal districts, our cotton awl our woollen districts. Ribbons are only made in Coventry, cutlery in Sheffield, lace in Nottingham. Wherever numbers are congregated engaged in the same industry, community of interest and sentiment is certain, sooner or later, to bring them into association. Trades- Unions are the natural consequence. Combination is good in itself if wisely directed. It is only to be deprecated when the means it employs and the ends at which it aims are not conformed to order and good government. It is, alas ! too true that Trades-Unions have often been managed by misguided men, have aimed at impracticable and injurious ends, and have stooped to intimidation, out rage, and crime. In my country I believe these evil days are fast passing away. The spirit of intelligence, and the growth of co-operation, arbitration, and industrial part nerships are raising the condition of the workmen, making more pleasant the relations betwixt the employer and the employed, narrowing the area of strife, and rendering strikes less frequent and loss aggravated. In all the large, well-conducted trades unions of England strikes are now of very rare occurrence and very short duration. Still, both in England and America, there is a large class which is bitterly hostile to combinations, forgetful of the fact that labour can only stand on equal terms with capital when it is a.ssociatel. Combination enables the workman to deal on equal terms with the capitalist. Invariably the power pos sessed by each has been exercised in turns to enforce unreasonable demands on the other, and strikes and lock-outs, in the absence of any reconciling influences, have been the result. I cannot recall a strike in my experience which has not bean attended with natural and moral injury to the parties engaged. J could enumerate several. in Oich the pecuniary lops has bpeu front £500,000 to 21,000,000, and the moral ioss beyond all computation. if I have correctly informed myself, you are able to point to examples equally deplorable. The nine months' strike of the puddlers at Pittsburgh, and the one which has recently terminated in Pennsylvania, were barren of any good result. I cannot discover that anybody was benefited by the strike of the miners. They lost their wages and expended their previous savings. Their em ployers lost the progt and interest of their invested capital. The public lost in the high price of coals. And I fear it will cause many a child to be ke?iLP early to work, and many a family to wait longer for new" clothes. The evil of strikes will, I think, be CO generally conceded, that I need not detain you further with proofs. If, in deficribing remedial measures, I appear to give undue promin.snag to Boards of Arbitration, I beg it may not be understood that . there is cny conflict of opinion between Mr. Hughes and myself. I 414 siqcm Advocate of co-operation and industrial partnerships," The Countess of Flanders gave birth on Wednes day to twins, girls. oAc4.oiyp.---Cacoa. nibs on the removal of the oil fall into powder, and this powder is eaefikine. Cac6.oine contains neither Sugar nor any ether admixture whatever. Cee,Soino makes one of the lightest, thinnest of warm drinks, and is the most de sirable of all for use In the later hours of the day. Packoine, by reason of the ingenious method by which the oil is removed, pre serves all the fine natural savour of . cacao nibs.---Prepared only by James Epps end Co., Homceopathfc Chemists, 112, Great Rus sell-street ; 170, Piccadilly ; and 48, Threacirteediers treet ; at their Works for Dietetic Preparations, Euston-road.—Arn. IHE SUB, LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2,18 n. THE EASTERN QUESTION. THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS THE CONFERENCE. Intelligence has, we aro informed, reached her Majesty's GoVernment that the Cabinet of Petersburg has readily accepted the proposition of a Congress, to be held in London, on the Eastern ques tion. The answer of the Tours Government to the i quiry of Lord Lyons whether France would take part in the Congress has not yet been made public, if it has been received. A telegram from Tours says a dispo sition. exists in official circles there to consider the conduct of England as " abnormal " in seeking the adherence of France to a proposal which emanates from Prussia.—Pall Mall Gazette. A Standard telegram says that a Council of Ministers held at Pesth on Wednesday resolved that Austria would accept the propose l Conference only if Russia expressly acknowledged its competency and withdrew notification. Lastly, if the other Powers agree, to adopt joint action iu case Russia refuses. A PROTEST FROM PRUSSIAN LIBERALISM. The Volks Zeitung, the leading Democratic organ in Germany, in a striking article, urges that Prussia is called upon to uphold the Treaty of Paris. By signing the Treaty she bound herself to maintain it. " Prussia was at that time at peace with all the parties 'represented at the Conference. She did not, like the others, conclude peace. She was a party to the transac tion only in her quality of a great European Power. By the signatures of the remaining Powers the Treaty of Peace would have acquired the character of a special document concluding a special war. The Prussian signature—i.e., the co-guarantee of a State not called upon to conclude peace—gave to the Treaty its European character. It was thus alone that the Treaty was able to emancipate itself from the character of a mere contract between belligerents, and to assume the far higher nature of an instrument having for its object to guarantee the peace of Europe." LAW AND POLICE. COWARDLY AND OUTRAGEOUS ASSAULTS. —Henry Her bert, 20, a picture frame-maker, living in Hanover-street, Long-acre, was brought up at the Marlborough-street Police-court, before Mr. Knox, charged with assaulting Mr. Robert Godfree, refreshment shopkeeper, I No. 61, Tottenham-court-road, and also Matilda, Leach, assistant to Mr. Godfree. Mr. Moore, of the Associate Institute for the Protection of Women, watched the case. Mr. Godfree said that on the previous night, the prisoner and another young man came into his shop smoking, and on his telling them that they could not smoke, there the prisoner gave him a violent blow in the mouth and knocked him down, and on his assistant coming to his aid she was also assaulted. Matilda Leach, asssistant to Mr. Godfree, said that seeing the prisoner knock her master down, she went to his assistance, when the prisoner threatened to smash her and knocked her down twice, trampled upon her, and hurt her very much and she felt very unwell. Police-constable T. Carlyon, 46 E, proved running after the prisoner, who was trying to make his escape, and taking him into custody. The prisoner said he was very sorry. Mr. Knox : Well you may be. Persons are sent to prison for three or six months for stealing a shilling's worth of property, and a young man like you goes into a shop and knocks down an unoffending man, and on a poor girl interfering to protect her master you knock her doirn twice and brutally assault her. I shall commit you for a month for the assault on Mr. Godfree, with hard labour; and for the far graver offence of assaulting the girl, two months, with hard labour. IMPORTANT DECISION RESPECTING SKITTLES.-Mr. Jas. Hayward Hughes, of the King's Arms, Cremorne-road, Chelsea, was summoned, at the Westminster Police court, for knowingly suffering gambling in his house with skittles. Sergeant Large, of the D Reserve, proved visiting the house of the defendant and finding several persons playing at skittles, and betting on the games ; defendant was not present, but upstairs at supper. Mr. W. D. Smyth, for the defendant, did not dispute the facts, but' urged that his client could not be held responsible for any act done in his absence ; he had used every means to keep his customers from playing either for money or moneys worth, and since the Com missioners of Police had warned licensed victuallers on the subject, Lhe had posted placards in his house for bidding any gambling. It was necessary to sustain the charge to show the guilty knowledge of the defendant, and that could not be sustained in the present case, Mr. Woolrych was of opinion that the scienta must be clearly shown, and held with Mr. Smyth that the defendant could not be responsible, and dismissed the summons. FRACAS ON A RAILWAY.-Mr. George R. Edgcumb, young gentleman who is clerk in the engineers' office of the Great Northern Railway, and who resides with his parents at 66, High-street, Poplar, and Edward Green, a porter at the Poplar station of the Blackwall Railway, ap- peared on a cross-summons at the Thames Police-court to answer charges of assaulting each other. The first case was that against the defendant Edgcumb, and a solicitor (who represented the Great Eastern Railway Company) said the case was aggravated by the fact that Mr Edgcumb filled a responsible situation in the service of another rail way company, and ought to know bow dangerous it was to interfere with a servant of a railway, and to get into a carriage of a train while in motion. The complainant Green said• that on the 22nd ult. he was receiving 3d. of a lady for the carriage of a dog, and the defendant, who had just taken a ticket at the office, and was waiting for a train, asked him why he charged 3d. for a dog and only 2d. for an ordinary passenger. He told the defendant to mind his own business. The defendant told him to be d— --, and threatened to strike him, and challenged him to fight. He said if he was not in his uniform and on duty be would not challenge him to fight twice. The defendant pushed him backward from the top to the bottom of the stairs, and, while the train was in. motion, got upon the steps of a carriage. He pulled him off and ordered the defendant to go up stairs. The station-master would not allow him to proceed by any train to London that evening. After hearing the station-master, who corroborated Green, Mr. Lushington fined Edgcumb 205., and dismissed the summons against Green. CHURCH RATE LITIGATION.—The appeal Smallbones v. Sidney and Lunn, was resumed before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The appellant is a parishioner of Whitchurch, Southampton and the respon dents the churchwardens of the parish. A sum of £2,000 was borrowed of the Public Loan Commissioners to repair the church, and before the act to abolish church rates was passed, a rate of 6d. in the pound was made, which Mr. passed a rate of 6d. in the pound was made, which Mr. imallbones resisted. The Arches Court ordered payment with costs, hence the present appeal. The contention was, whether, as the chancel was repaired, the repairing resting with the impropriator of the tithes, as well as the body of the church, the rate under the sth George IV. could be enforced. After hearing counsel further on the subject, their Lordship's reserved their judgment. A WIFE'S NECESSARIES.—At the Bail Court the case of " Vanstone v. White " was heard. This was an action to recover money expended in necessaries for a wife. The defendant denied his liability on the ground that he had made his wife an ample allowance. Mr. Lanyon appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Huddleston, Q.C., and Mr. Beasley for the defendant. The plaintiff (wife's father) was a carpenter, residing in Gray's Inn-road, and the defendant the proprietor of the Rye House Tavern, Peckham-rye. The parties were Married in 1850, and for thirteen years lived together, keeping the Express beerhouse in Earl-street, Blackfriars. He subsequently left her in lodging 6. In July, 1864, she ascertained that her husband was keeping the Rye House Tavern., and she went to him, but he declined to receive her or give her anything; and, in consequence of his con duct, they had to go' before the - magistrate. He had allowed her 10s. per week, but she complained that it was insufficient —ln cross-examination she said she drank when she thought she required it. She once broke open the bedroom door with a poker, and had thrown red-hot coals at defendant, lint not with the intention of injuring him.—Lt was arraiNed ifei:diet should be entered for the plaintiff for £lB, with a stay of proceedings, to allow the defendant to move to set the verdict aside if terms were not accepted. A letter from Melbourne, date,' October 10, says General Sir Trevor and Lady Chute have left Victoria per the Hero for England. A large concourse of persons —friends and others—assembled to see thud off, as the General is highly and deservedly respected for his vigorous discharge of his duties as Commander of the Forces in this colony and in New Zealand. Sir Daniel Cooper pro ceeds to England by the present mail. He returns with the goodwiebes of his fellow colonists at Sydney, who feted him on Tuesday last, and made hi m aware of the grateful sense they had of his services in dealing with the wool brokers. He has pledged himself to continue to champion colonial interests in England, and, seeing the large stake he has here, the interests of New South Wales Must h4ye sensible claims upon him. Novog.—IIINATI4N 7B 144. Whisk) , Depot. Kinaban and Co. have removed to their new and spacious premises, No. 6a, Great Titchfiold-street, Oxford-street, leading from Margaret-street, Regent-street, and Market-street, Oxford-street. Kinahan's LL. Whisky.—Tkis famous and most delicious old mellow spirit is the very cream of Irish whiskies in quality unrivalled, perfectly pure, and more wholesome than the finest cognac brandy. Jan be obtained all over the kingdom, in the well-known sealed and labelled bottles, or in bond for exportation at the London Docics. Wholesale Agents to Messrs. Bass, Guinness, and younger, anti Dealers in Foreign Winep and Spirits, THE WAR. THE BATTLE BEFORE AMIENS. An eye-witness of the fight in which General Man- teuffel defeated the French Army of the North, sends an account of what he saw to the Echo du Nord. He says : " On Saturday evening the right of our small army was established at Boves and Dury, our left leaning on Villers Bretonneux. Considerable masses of the enemy were in front of us, but our positions were unfavourable, as we were impeded by the river Somme. On the night of Saturday to Sunday, the engineers of the left wing were ordered to construct earthworks on front of Villers for batteries to be established there. I accom panied Captain A—, who started for that 'purpose with his men. The works were built at a short dis tance from a mill and a brickfield, which jf mention on account of the share they afterwards had in the issue of the affair. Our artillery was placed in position, and opened fire at dawn. The enemy's guns had already been thundering for some time. Our skirmishers at once de ployed, supported by a battalion of Marine infantry, which during the whole day shewed great firmness and a courage above all praise. Most of the skirmishers were Mobiles. They behaved bravely, did not once creak out of their line, advanced or withdrew according, as the necessities of the fight demanded, just as would have been done by experienced troops. The fight lasted thus till the evening. At four p.m. the enemy was repulsed, and we had gained ground. Our artillery, handled with the ut most bravery and skill, had caused considerable injury to the ranks of the enemy, who, attacked on all sides by our own projectiles, in spite of the numerical inferiority of our batteries, had been compelled to withdraw. At half-past four all fire bad ceased, the skirmishers had re-formed, each preparing for departure, and congratu lating himself on an incontestable victory, which had been obtained without much loss. We only waited for orders from headquarters to go and find food and rest, which we needed extremely. Suddenly an orderly came up at full speed, and having exchanged a few words with an artillery officer galloped on, whereupon the artillery immediately left its positions. Not receiving any orders, we determined to follow the artillery. Captain A. and his men proceeded down the road, and I accompanied them. A party of ten engineer pioneers was detached to go and fetch the tools, which had been deposited in the morning at the above-mentioned mill, some 300 paces from the road, which mill had . been during the day used as a refreshment place for our soldiers, who had only just left it. We waited for a quarter of an hour. Nobody was to be seen. The party of pioneers not returning, Captain A., growing impatient, pushed on to the house, At the same moment a wounded sergeant came out of it, shouting—' Do not go on, it is full of enemies.' He had hardly spoken, when a tremendous firing was opened from the inside of the mill, of the bricklayer's house, and from the adjacent villages. Captain A. mira culously preserved, ordered a quick retreat, which was effected under a shower of bullets. Darkness alone saved us from complete destruction, We ran at the doublo to wards Villers-Bretonneux, which we reached sadly deci mated. At the extremity of the High-street of Villers we saw a black motionless mass, above which a white flag was waved. An incredible thing ! There again were Prussians in occupation of the positions in the rear which we had just left, and where our reserves ought to have been. Well knowing what the Prussians were capable of, Captain A. ordered us to enter a bye-street. It was high time to do so, as we had hardly turned the corner when a volley swept the street. At the extremity of the street we had entered another black mass was seen approaching. They were the Prussians again ! We made another move to the left, and found another street obstructed. We were sur rounded. What were we to do ? Surrender ? Never. We quickly agreed to try each of us to escape as best we could. With Captain A.., a lieutenant, a seri eant, and one pioneer, I entered a small house. We hid ourselves in a kind of dark granary. An old woman came and ordered us to be off. lam old and lonely,' she said. You will cause me to be murdered. Be off, or I will denounce you.' We were indignant. We heard the Prussians as they passed and repassed along the street, howling, firing in all directions, and breaking open the doors. We preferred to stay where we were. We had at least a chance of escape. The old woman did not denounce us. After some hours of anxiety she brought blouses and caps, for which we paid 40f., and, protected by darkness, we left the house. We succeeded in reaching Albert, in spite of dangers of all kinds. Here we are now ready again to encounter the enemy. From the foregoing we may conclude that we were outflanked, and that the Prussians must have received considerable reinforcements at the last moment. A wounded German officer told us that the enemy's plan was to reach Lille and Dunkirk, and to occupy the North, with a view to check the operations of the 22nd Army Corps." PANIC IN THE DISTRICT. A member of the corps of Freeshooters writes : "In the villages the inhabitants are flying in terror, bearing with them in their carts their most valuable moveables. At Dury, where the Prussians were reported as coming in the night, I saw women and young girls flying half naked, without knowing where they were going to. I stopped more than one of them in this pur poseless wild race. The cries of these unfortunate people, thus startled, bursting on the silence of the night ; then, in the short intervals of silence, a vague sound of clanking iron in the distance; and far off, at the termination of a long valley, the lurid light of burning dwellings ; while close by were crowds of men and women passing rapidly by, uttering deep sobs—all this may be imagined, but cannot be described ; and these were the people who five days ago would not believe in the approach of the enemy, refused us sustenance, and treated us almost like bandits. On Sunday, while they were fighting along the whole line firma Dury to Villers ; while the cannon were thundering on a line four leagues in extent ; while the villages were burning like funeral pyres, great herds of cattle and flocks of goats and sheep might be seen flying across the country in a style reminding one of the descriptions of the buffalo herds on the American prairies before a fire l" THE CAMPAIGN AROUND THE CAPITAL. DE PALADINE'S EAST CHANCE. The Telegraph thus refers to the position of the armies around Paris ;—On Monday, the 28th, General Aurelles de Paladine tried his push from Orleans and ChAteauneuf to the right of his own centre by Bellegarde and Beaune la-Rolande ; and on the same day General Trochu tried his, on the south of Paris, near the position of the Sixth Corps, which has bad from the first but little fighting, was no doubt greedy for a wrestle with the enemy. The 6th Corps held the ground around Paris from the Seine westwards to Palaiseau. In the direction the French had thrown forward a force of artificers, who had constructed on the heights of Villejuif a strong redoubt, thrusting itself into the German system of " defensive offence " in that quarter. We are told that on Sunday and Monday General Trochu made energetic pointcs in the direction of Longjumeau and Corbeil ; and the significance of this sortie is clear, when we consider that on the same date the French Army of the Loire made its pointes by Beaune-la-Rolande straight towards Fontainebleau. In one word, the French around, within, and about Paris have played their trump card — and have lost the trick. On Monday they tried from both sides to pierce the cordon which had been for nearly three months formed around Paris. On both sides they failed. At Beaune they were repulsed. The 6th German Corps threw back without any costly effort the attempt of Trochu to force its posi tions. Facing both ways, the Germans have repelled the attack which the French have been preparing for many weeks; and their defeat of the French Army of the Loire is but another testimony to what can and must be done by troops of tried valour and hardening experience against new levies —raw to begin with, 'Faye to the very back hone, bnt unskilled in the arts that make a man into a soldier. De Paladin° has one more chance — and only one. If, having sacrificed his left, he can—and the numbers which we publish else where encourage us to believe that he is still able to do it—swing his army fearlessly round by the left upon Etampes, he'may yet redeem the fortunes of the campaign. It is evident that the Germans have too much weakened themselves in the centre. On both wings —that of Mecklenburg on the right, and the Red Prince on the left—they are, strategically, too strong for the French. But they have over-weakened their centre ; and for De Paladine the salvation of France lies in hie chance of scattering the German armies now converging upon Tours—fighting first the weaker force under the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, then fighting the larger force under Prince Frederick Charles—and then standing with 200,000 victorious men between the shattered fragments of the enemy's hosts, and the groat city which, by every voice and every chance of uttering its wishes, prays for relief. THE RECAPTURE OF ORLEANS. The official report by General D'Aurelles on the battle of Coulmiers, which resulted in the recapture of Orleans, on the 9th and 10th of November, has at length been published. It is •a remarkably businesslike document, free from all bombast,—After a Council of War, held' at Tours towards the end of October, it had been decided, the General says, to attempt a combined operation for the occupation of Orleans, to be attacked on the west by the troops under his orders, and on the east by those under General des Pallibres, both acting on the right bank of the Loire. Various circumstances postponed the execution of the project, but on the 6th instant General des Pallibres marched from Argent and Aubignyville, by Gien and - the Forest of Orleans, on the last-named town, so as to arrive there on the evening of the 10th or Morn ing •A the 11th, according to circumstonces. To give him time, the remainder of the army, under d'Aurelles, did not move till the Bth, when they took up positions with the view of attacking the enemy on the following morn ing. They commenced at 8. A . portion of General Peitavin's forces quickly cleared the village of Baccon, and proceeded to attack that of La Riviere and the Chateau de la Renardibre, where the Germans were strongly posted in the houses and in the park. Those battalions briskly attacked and speedily carried the position. On the left General Barry's troops marched against the centre of the enemy's line, but were checked by a heavy artillery fire, and it was half-past two o'clock before they reached Coulmiers, where they found General Peitavin's skirmishers already engaged. " These skirmishers, whom those of General Barry now joined, threw themselves at the double, with cries of Vive la France!' into the gardens and wood to the south of Coulmiers, and passed through them, in spite of the furious resistance of the enemy, but could not take the village. The enemy, who' was there entrenched, and who had accumulated at that point the greater part of his forces and of his artillery, made the most strenuous efforts to maintain himself there in order to cover the retreat of his left wing, whose situation was rendered dangerous by our advance. To put an end to this resistance the General-in-Chief called up General Daries and the artillery reserve, which, after a heavy can nonade of more than half an hour's duration, finally silenced the enemy's batteries. At that moment the Sharpshooters supported by some of General Barry's battalions, led by the General himself, resumed their forward march, and made their way into the village, driving out the enemy towards four p.m." There was some sharp fighting also on General Barry's left, where Admiral Jaur4guiberry commanded. His troops were for some time exposed to a heavy converging fire of artillery from St. Sigismond and G6migny in their front, and also from Coulmiers, not yet attacked by Barry. A bat talion of. the 37th seized the village of Champ, but was driven out again by heavy artillery fire and by columns of infantry. The Admiral held his position till four o'clock, whcn a battery of 12-pounders came up and overpowered the German guns. Pending its arrival, the 37th of the Line and the 33rd Mobiles had suffered heavily. At five o'clock there was a general advance of Jaureguiberry's troops, and the villages of Champ and Ormeteau were carried, the French artillery sending its shells after the retreating Bavarians. General Reyau, who commanded the cavalry, and whose instructions were, if possible, to outflank the enemy on the right, was supported by the Paris Francs-Tireurs under the Polish Colonel Lipowski. But his cavalry, says the report, "met with serious resistance, and his artillery lost many men and horses, expended all its ammunition, and was obliged to retire." General- d'Aurelles sums up his report by saying that all the enemy's position were taken ; that captured Bavarian officers admitted their losses to be considerable ; that the forces opposed to him were the Ist Bavarian Army Corps, with Prussian artillery and cavalry; that the result was the evacua tion by the enemy of all the entrenched positions he held behind La Mauve and in the environs of Orleans, and his retreat from Orleans on Artenav, leaving behind him 2,000 prisoners without reckoning the wounded. The state of the ground, soaked by rain and snow, rendered pursuit impossible, but a reconnais sance pushed as far as St. Peravy led to the capture of two guns, a convoy of ammunition, and one hundred prisoners, including five officers. General d'Aurelles speaks highly of all Isis troops, and particularly praises the Mobiles, who were for the first time under fire, and who displayed, he says, dash, steadiness, and solidity. He estimates the French loss at about 1,500 killed and wounded, and does not attempt to compute that of the Germans except as regards prisoners. GERMAN PLUNDER. " Petrus Desportus," who has travelled all through Germany, says he saw revolting things there, " such as are enough to stifle the sympathy I and other worthy people felt for Germany. I saw at the station of Nieder Lahnstein, near Coblentz, a Prussian sergeant and cor poral escorting a troop of convalescent soldiers who openly sold a quantity of articles stolen in France. They had, with the help of sheets and tablecloths, made five large parcels containing the spoils of two or three house holds—clean and dirty linen, men's women's, and chil dren's clothing, shoes, candlesticks, chignons, flat irons, bits of cheese and ham, the main-spring of a clock, chil dren's toys. All this was displayed as the curtains and shirts were moved, to the great joy and laughter of the peasants and peasant-women, who hastened to buy what ever suited them for a few kreutzers. An old man paid two florins for about thirty little frocks, shirts, aprons, caps, &c., which had belonged to children. As some of these things were spotted with blood, the soldier was asked whether he had killed the children to get them, `No,' replied ho, but they were all crouched up in a cor ner, five crying children. A little girl held a dog on her lap, which shewed its teeth at me. This vexed me ; I took the dog and cut his throat, in spite of the cries of these cursed French little ones.' I never again saw the same public auction in Germany, but I have ascertained everywhere, in Wurtemberg and in Bavaria, as in Prussia that all the sick and wounded soldiers who return are loaded with booty. Besides this, no train by which soldiers or war material has been forwarded to France, returns empty. They come back full of cases or parcels sent by the German soldiers to their families." A new kind of mitrailleuse, firing 420 balls per minute and costing only 150 francs, has been designed by a young civil engineer of Dragnignan. It is M. Gambetta, who excludes all correspondents from the Army of the Loire. Some of the Generals would be willing to admit them. A Frenchman in reply to the Bishop of Marseilles who suggested that the church bells should be melted to supply metal for artillery, calls upon the housewives of France to sacrifice their saucepans which would be more useful, as for one bell there are five hundred saucepans. Nothwithstanding all General Trochu's precautions, it is strongly believed that everything which goes on in Paris is known at German headquarters. It is certain that Trochu is well-informed of events within the German lines. The French bishops are not altogether unanimous in fulminating against the Republic for converting the church bells into bronze cannon. Those of Algeria, Marseilles, and Angers, form the patriotic minority. The others assume the tone of martyrs. An agreeable surprise was experienced a day or two since at Tours by the arrival of several squadron of Spahis, who rode through the streets in their long cloaks, and red and white burnous, armed with Chassepots. Cries of "Vivent les Arabes," greeted the picturesque pro cession on all sides. The German soldiers have taken compassion on the nakedness of the statues in the Palace of St. Cloud. An Apollo was clothed with a chimneypot hat with a black and white cockade, and a black coat with white buttons. The neighbouring Juno was furnished with . a red crinoline and a quilted dress. Zealous correspondents who have been watching M. Gambetta's countenance since his return from Coulie f orm very different estimates of the expression thereon. The Times contributor says he looks very dissatisfied. The Daily News correspondent reports that he is • " well pleased with what lie saw at Coulie." The French papers oomplain that the Germans,lconsider ing themselves definitively possessed of Alsace and Lor raine, are rechristening their towns with frightful Teutonic names. Thus , Thionville • has become Ditten hofen ; Phalsbourg, Pfalzbur4 ; Saverne, Zabern ; Sarre bourg, Sarburg ; Vissembourg, Weissemburg ; Nancy, Nanzig ; &c. Prince Frederick Cfiarles's army, on its march from Metz to the scuth-west, encountered at several points hostile demonstrations on the part of the population. At Troyes some of the inhabitants wanted to defend the city, but the more intelligent and well-disposed people, headed by the mayor, gained the upper hand, and the obstructions_to the entry of the Germans were removed or filled up. The other day, in the German lines before Paris, there oecurrod an instance of the danger attending the expo sure of lights on the fpreposts within range of the enemy's fire. A military chaplain and a count, an officer in a cavalry regiment, shared the same room in a chateau in that exposed village, and neglected to close the shutters when they lit their lights. Presently a shell from Fort Aubervilliers crashed into the room, and exploding killed them both. • Some of the German troops occupy the Prince Impe rial's playground at St. Cloud. It is a large grass plot, with a miniature railway in the middle, with tunnel, bridges, and a station where soldiers arrived and whence they were despatched. Of course, these artificial contri vances are now ruined, only the foundation of the station and a few fragments of the carriages remaining. Then are likewise some remains of a gymnastic apP ost , which the soldiers burn up in making their soup or coe, e c i' In the centre of the ground is a large flagstaff, on wil l the princely flag used to be hoisted, announcing to the Parisians when the " Child of France " condescended t° play. The Echo du Luxemburg says that red trousers are 13 4 longer to be worn in the Belgian army, and a decree " that effect has been submitted by the Government t o the King. The measure is approved by the Echo, as at P re ; sent the similarity of the uniform to that of the Fo lic troops has occasionally exposed them to the fire of Fr °. Sian troops, who mistook them for enemies. A Namur paper remarks upon the gradual disaPP e l; ante of the French bronze coinage from currency Belgium. Whatever may be the cause, it says, the 11'1: is certain that upon certain points of our frontiers the to. five, and two centime pieces of France are being col lected and sent off in large quantities to that country, realiz ieg premium which makes the operation a profitable affair' It appears that the number of forces in the owl' 5t Coulie is far from being as great as it should be; bu t the camp itself is very strong. Two redoubts destined° defend it, surrounded with moats cut out of the solid rocks four yards and a half deep, and armed with large 1 13 r, breech-loading cannons, carrying five miles, are alr eady completed. The signal hill, over five hundred feet hig h ' near the camp, has also been turned to good account I°' its defence. ---------- The Posen Zeitung mentions the arrest at Bromberg °ll the 24th of Bertha Weiss, the heroine whose fame recently trumpeted as having served in the army, aD received the Iron Cross for rescuing a flag cap t u red 11 the French. The whole story is a fabrication, apPare llt . i i i concocted for the purpose of obtaining presents of 0- 01 ,7, from a credulous public. She has been escorted P,j soldiers to Kiinisberg, her apprehension creating no little sensation. The Germans find some rigour necessary in goverilli'' the occupied provinces of France. At ilheims physicians have been arrested and sent to Magdeburg, °I a charge of hostile machinations. At Strasburg, on Set day, an arrest was made at the Hotel d'Angleterre att.cci close of a concert given by a Btvarian military band, 01 ' ,t attended by the principal people of the town. The nrr e t ' is said to be connected with the discovery of a secret P° which /regularly brought letters from the interior of France, to the adherents of the Provisional Goverionell in Alsace. In Lorraine, since the recovery of Orleans 1.11 the French, the rural population have regained confidence' and the most absurd rumours of Prussian losses before Paris circulate among them. M. R-, Professor of Belfort College, met with 9 ,811 ::„ gular adventure as he was taking his wife and children Switzerland. The travellers were conducted to the Ge ne ' ral-Commandant of the German forces on the frontier order to verify their passports. The General finding tb,4 M. R- knew the German language, exclaimed : shall require your services, and I shall expect you to gi v- , me some explanations concerning the state of Belfort. M. R- replied, " General, I shall not give you 5/I , A I information on the subject ; for to do so would be -.- betray my country. Patriotism is an honourable sent ment in all countries ; and I do not think you can ° A upon an honest man to do that which you yourself wow indignantly refuse to do." M. R- was compelled „ return to Belfort. • * Another exploit by Francs-Tireurs is related 111 German letter. On two Uhian companies being sent "; Nemours, where they arrived late in the evening, th e ' inquired for the Mayor. A suspicious-looking Pe rse, officer presented himself, whom the refused to recog llls " , ; and at length the real Mayor was found. On be i % questioned, he stated positively that no hostile troort. or Francs-Tireurs were in the place. A resp ee a able inhabitant was detained as a hostage, gad the troops, consisting of two lieutenants, two ensigns, about sixty men, quartered themselves in a large foil house, stationed outposts, and left the horses saddled bridled. About 1.30 a piercing cry from the sentry heard, and from all sides, through doors, loopholes, at t windows, shot after shot fell on the sleeping Uhlans• officer, a subaltern, and four men escaped ; the fate °{ the the others is still uncertain. The next day a dets o ment of the 2nd Array was sent to Nemours to punish t ile outrage. GARIBALDI AT LYONS.—The Muncipal Con-- of Lyons have decided to confer on Garibaldi the fre.e:, dom of their city, and have embodied their resolution 1 ' highly eulogistic terms. His life, says the p ro positioni has been a long and indefatigable struggle agai n the enemies of liberty. the scelerat of the 2nd ber has always been the object of his p e rseverl and active hatred, America has constituted him one of citizens, and to the title of American citizen and nal l '; citizen, he will now add the title of Lyonnese citizen as ,„„ t tie to the French Republic. Two hundred Prussr prisoners, nine of whom were officerss, captured at CI tillon by Ricciotti Garibaldi, have just passed throlg Lyons. A CHANGED CAPITAL—M. Jules Claretie h a° , made a picturesque sketch of the transformation that 11 1 taken place in Paris. " The powder that has been bur li j has," he says, " purified the air, and saltpetre has ser ve for chlorine. Over the Vari4tes where kings and emit''' . rors had been wont to applaud the can-can of la Schneidf; floats the white standard with the red cross of the Swl c i Republic. The Champs-Elysées are a camp where pas s s the coupe, filled with insolent occupants ; the 1 103 " waggon of the Vosges carries bread or arms. Artilled; men have pitched their tents at two paces from the sP° t where stood those noisy restaurants which resounded 133 year to the unmeaning clamour of idlers. Paris is a trans formed and an improved town." FASHIONS FOR DECEMBER. The changes that have taken place as yet have be °l 2, more with a view to ensuring an extra degree of viarin" and comfort, both in appearance and reality, than 0/1 endeavour to effect a great variation either of style c )„ ,; material. No particularly new colour has been introdu ce ' . this month, though many have been rechristened. 08 vert bouteille (bottle green) is- in great favour, and constantly see very rich shades of brown. The black ye a veteens of this season are very good, both in quality et colour. Some of them have that peculiar blue shade the folds that was, till lately, confined to good silk velvet;' There is no material more useful, and, at the e° time, more fashionable than velveteen, in all colour* either for costumes or underskirts. The velvets, satin* and silks intended for more dressy wear are 04 ,.: nificent in colour, style, and quality. The bonn et and hats worn this month show no difference to the°, described in our last article. As we then prognosticat ed ' hats will be much more generally worn by young ladies' either married or single, than has yet been the case in ari t , l winter season. White felt hats, trimmed with bl ed velvet and small feathers, are very elegant ; the feather' are generally of a very sombre, though rich colou r ' to tone down the brilliancy of the white felt. Velv et hats, trimmed with fur to correspond with the mantle* will also be elegantly worn. Some hats are ° covered with small curled feathers as to render t 1 1 2 74 original material quite undistinguishable. These are v e " distinguds, and the most full dress of any. All t b. bonnets have ends or scarfs falling over the back hair These are never very long, the lowest not reaching 1: 11 °` , than five inches below the collar. This season's Hug el ' is very elegant ; lace, intermixed with very fine broidery, has never been more fashionable than at tr ' present moment. Linen collars and cuffs have medall iov° or insertions of lace let in, the linen being cut avv ° ,, Y underneath, so as to leave the lace transparent. Follet. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Ointment and Pil l s Colds, Coughs, Shortness of Breath.—These correc tile remedies are infallible in all these pectoral complaint* which, when neglected, often end in asthma, bronchit,t or consumption. The Ointment well rubbed upon chest and back penetrates to the skin, is carried direct to the lungs, whence it expels all impurities. All blood in the body constantly passes through the lung s ; and there all noxious particles tending to produce diseal can be quickly, thoroughly, and permanently neutrali se ' rendered harmless, or ejected from the system. gou?r way's Ointment and Pills perfectly accomplish this Pe l „ l i fication, and by the blood, thus cleansed, the influenc e "o these wonderful medicaments reaches the remotest Po' of the human body, and thus cure all diseased actic 4i4 whether internal or external. BIRTHS. ----- --- On the 29th ult., at Felton, the wife of Henry Wis e ' Esq., of a daughter. On the 28th ult., at Waring Place, the wife of Willi` G. Mount, Esq., of a son. MARRIAGES. On the 29th ult., at St. Paul's, Clifton, the Rev. Artie Kemble, M. A., of New Coll., Oxford, second son of Kemble, Esq., of Runwell Mall, Essex, to Fanny 15 „1 bclla, only child of the late C. Haynes Butler, Esq.' " Ingateston. On the 29th ult., at St. James's, Benwell, George Levil to Jeannie, third daughter of John Sowerby, Esq . ' ° Benwell Tower, Northumberland. DEATHS. On the 29th ult., at Warwick-gardens, Kensington, 11-1-1.. Samuel Johns, aged 69. On the 29th ult.. suddenly, at Byfleet, Surrey, gon d Dennett, aged 70. London : Printed by GIDEON ACLAND BOYCE, ° c No. 112, Strand, Printer, and Published by laiiv ' THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of t Savoy, in the County of Middlesex. Friday, December 2, 1870