The Sun. — London, England, 1870-12-09 00:00:00

---a. breadth, nd per- I when placed in a white kneading as placed died over In which nto the throwing o'clock ag rashes remains porcelain into the ;e whose a million y ~ ~,JY• Dec. 8. afternoon, trice, went it out. resterday% as of itox the Queen QUEEN• kiily Press dt of her vereign at leer gather deal of at eir Royal larguerite, Royal and Eu visited DA the case Lci Princess he Royal JIRY. y morning. tain Whit ment made ,unds to a the Central ing off the mined. ne or offered all the can g anything Straight's ) have been to be false.• lwarth con her a day's oto the evi- was taken court for tition WO lo way cri- Ballantine ent, was of only in the :more, The , t been sus had conse valid ; and Parliament. y prevailed erefore, paY special jury Mr. Alfred for Salford riage on the owler, until ;y of Mau 3rooks, and thildren the :te in ISSI. members of ley were ou went out to nds. She her hus-, erborough ' the respon t. He then ietween her is and other Le petitioner. respondent, them. —The at gulty of maces were 1 has three sly, but was ) excitement held by the LWA.Y hea.tre at the is about to [jai co-opera horn, as with avourite. erto played kdon Comedy ments. 'el and c lever, ny boot, an d as this Amery Patent Acm e le agent is . N an Wharl , IT may order LOIRE. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. SUN OFFICE, 8 A M. TITE WA_IL ANOTHER BATTLE ON THE VICTORY CLAIMED BY THE FRENCH. TOURS, Decenil)-r 8. , An engagement has taken place at Ju th i es, be tween Beaugency and Marclienoir. The French, ender General Chanzy, yesterday defeated a PILLS -Bian force, composed of two corps d'armee, with 86 Pieces of artillery. The French General, in his report to the Govern- Ment at Tours, says We had to contend against a numerous park of artillery, reckoned at 86 guns. The force of t he enemy engaged was one Prussian and two tavarian divisions, and 2,000 cavalry, with con liderable forces of the army of Prince Frederick , Charles and the Duke of . Mecklenburg in their t ear. The enemy was driven back as far as Grand ehartre, and we bivouacked in our positions of this Morning. Prisoners state that the loss of the enemy f roze our small-arm fire was considerable, and that our artillery was very effective against that of the e nemy. The battle lasted until night. Ido not yet know our losses, but I hope they are not important. Der army operated with calmness and order. It is Possible that we may be attacked to-morrow. I anticipate that we shall be as successful as to-day. the enemy has been driven out of Marolles." The King of Prussia has communicated the event t o Queen Augusta by telegraph. His Majesty says' that on the evening of the 7th a sharp but successful engagement took place between the enemy and the 1 7th Division, on its march to Blois, near Meung. We are expecting more resistance in that quarter. 11 - gun, a mitrailleuse, and 150 prisoners were captured. The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's telegram to his "echess communicates the fact of an engagement having taken place in Meung, during which the 90th regiment had taken a gun and a mitrailleuse. ORDER OF THE DAY BY GENERAL DUCROT. PARIS, December 6. General Ducrot has published an order of the day, dated from Vincennes, with reference to the late sorties. He tells his soldiers that he has led them back again across the Marne because he is con °laced that further efforts in the line of the late sorties, in which the enemy has had time to concentrate forces, and to prepare means of action, Would have been fruitless. Had he persisted in the atte mp t to advance by that way, he would have 0111 3 sacrificed thousands of brave men. Far from aiding the work of resistance, he would only have seriously compromised it, and led his troops to an i rreparable disaster. The conflict, he says, has how ever, only momentarily ceased, and they must pre- Pare to resume it with courage. • It is stated that a great movement of troops is going on in Paris, and that fresh offensive operations are expected. THE REPORTED OCCUPATION OF ABBEVILLE. A telegram from Lille, dated the Bth, says the reported occupation of Abbeville by the Germans is absolutely unfounded.] REPORTED OCCUPATION OF lIA.VRE BY TIIE GERMANS. BRUSSELS, December 8. There was a report to-day on the Exchange here that Havre has been occupied by the German troops. Daily .N ew s. THE DEFEAT AT ORLEANS. VERSAILLES, December 8 (2 p.m.) Count Moltke wrote to Paris, asking permission f or a staff officer to come out and report upon the defeat at Orleans, which Trochu declined to give. r A- complete battery, with horses and men, taken a squadron of the 4th Hussars, was presented to the King yesterday. Colonel Reilly was taken prisoner at Orleans. Captain Atkinson, the British Resident at Muscat, died here yesterday. Th e Forts are firing a little. There was heavy snow last night. Thaw has now Bet in.—Timm THE ARMY OF THE NORTH. General Faidherbe has issued a proclamation to the 22nd Corps, forming the Army of the North. The most important passages in it are these :—" You will at once resume operations with considerable reinforcements, which are being daily organised, and it will depend upon you to compel the enemy to give way his turn. I shall mercilessly exact discipline from You. If all cannot achieve morality, I shall at least re quire dignified conduct, and especially temperance. those who are now armed for the deliverance of the country are invested with too sacred a mission to allow t hemselves the least licenso in public. As regards contempt of death, I ask it from you even in the Ileme of your own safety." THE. SIEGE OF PARIS. BERLIN, Wednesday (4.20 p.m There is a report in Parliamentary circles that before the commencement of negotiations for peace a congress of princes will meet at Versailles. The purchase and transport of provisions re• quir e d for Paris after the capitulation have been e ntrusted to two of the commissariat, who have con cluded large contracts with English houses. The latter have been preferred to German houses, lest t he enormous export of provisions should produce an I nconvenient rise in prices. PROPOSAL OF AN ARMISTICE BY M. G-AMBETTA. We (Daily News) are enabled to state, upon authority in which we place confidence, that M. G ambetta has made an application to the Prussian head quarters for an armistice sufficiently extended to allow time for the election of a National Assembly. M. Gambetta, we are informed, requests that M. Jules Favre may have permission to leave Paris, in order to associate himself with M. - Gambetta in the pre liminary negotiations. The Provisional Government is not likely, we understand, to insist on the re - victualling of Paris as a condition essential to the suspense of hostilities. Negotiations for an armistice, says the Morning Post, have again been attempted by the Tours Go vernment, and have been backed by the support of the Neutral Powers. It is thought, however, that no result is likely at present to be achieved in bring ing about a suspension of arms. THE WAR AND SHIPPING MOVEMENTS. A telegram from Nantes to the Shipping Gazette says :—ln compliance with the general wish of Com merce, the Government has ordered the concentra tion of a small fleet at the mouth of the Loire, to protect shipping and the ports of St. Nazaire and Nantes. 1t is to consist of the floating batteries Nos. 8 and 10, of the gunboats Flambard, Boute feu, Mutine, Dard, Fronde, Epieu, and Mosquiet and of two or three small steamers. (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAMS.) A LETTER FROM THE PRINCESS ALICE. The honorary secretary of the Manchester Ladies' Com mittee for the Relief of the Sick and Wounded has received an autograph letter from the Princess Alice, acknowledging the receipt of goods which were trans mitted from Manchester in October for the purpose of furnishing one of the wards of the Alice Cross Hospital at Darmstadt, which ward is now called the Manchester Ward. The letter is signed, "Alice, President of the Alice Hospital Committee, Princess Louis of Hesse, and Prin cess of Great Britain and Ireland." The Princess says that not only are the sick sincerely grateful for the bene fits bestowed upon them, but public opinion has been ex pressed in various quarters acknowledging the excellence of the English gift. It gives the president of the institu tion the greatest possible pleasure thus to receive a token of active benevolence from her native land. MR. NEWDEG ATE, MP., ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS. At the annual dinner of the Rugby and Nunchurch Association, held yesterday, under the presidency of the Earl of Dalkeith, the members for North Warwickshire were present. Mr. Newdegate took a lengthy review of the events of the past year, which had witnessed the pro clamation by the Pope of his own infallibility amid a thunderstorm, and the outbreak of a war of unpre cedented magnitude. This was followed by the downfall of the Emperor, the eldest son of the Pope, and of the Government of Spain, the most Catholic Government in Europe. These results he attributed to the ambitious designs of the Jesuits. Mr. Newdegate deprecated the idea of a war with Russia, which country bad recently effected the enfranchisement of a great part of her population, and was Protestant like England, and opposed to the encroachments of the Papacy. MR. BRYDGES WILLYAMS, M.P., ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. Speaking at the agricultural dinner at Callington, yes terday, Mr. Brydges Willyams, one of the members for East Cornwall,- said he should like to see the Game Laws abolished, but if this were done a stringent law against trespass must be enacted. Europe, he believed, was on the eve of a great crisis, the issue of which, in a great measure, depended upon England. This country, he hoped, would be prepared to defend her Treaties with arms if necessary. He advocated the establishthent of a strong military reserve, and that the militia should be placed on a more stable accommodation and commanded by half-pay officers. MR. HORSMAN, M.P., AND HIS CONSTITUENTS. Mr. Horsman, M.P., addressing his constituents at Liskeard last night, stated that the result of the Irish Land Bill had surpassed his expectations, while that of the Education Bill had fallen below them. Government had not dealt so fairly with the latter question as with other questions of the day. Referring to the Russian difficulty, he expressed himself perfectly satisfied with the answer Earl Granville had returned to Prince Gorts cha,koff's despatch. Of the Franco-Prussian war he said that though England bad done what she could to bring it to an end, he doubted if she had done all that lay in her power to prevent its commencement. THE NEW MASTER OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD. The Rev. George Granville Bradley, M.A., head-master of Marlborough School, was last night elected master of University College, Oxford, in succession to the late Dr. Pluratre. HEAD MASTERSHIP OF MERCHANT TAYLORS' SCHOOL. Last night intelligence was received at Oxford that the Rev. W. Baker, Tutor, and formerly Fellow of St. John's, had been elected head-master of Merchant Tay. lors' Schools. THE NEU'IRALITY OF LUXEMBURG The Independance Belge of the Bth contains the t i oll ow g n :—" A rumour is circulated to - day in the lobbi es of the Chamber of Deputies that Prussia has N otified the Luxemburg Government that she shall 110 longer consider herself bound by the Treaty of /67 . We do not know what truth there may be in t he rumour." The A msterdam Hande/sb/ad of the same date also Publishes a telegram from Luxemburg, asserting that ) P russia has informed the Government of the Gr a nd t achy that the latter having allowed its neutrality ° be violated by the French, she no longer consi d e rs he rself hound to respect the neutrality of the 4-411 xemburg territory. THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY. BERLIN, December 6. - the Dresden Journal of to-day states that the b n g of Saxony has accepted the proposition ma de German th e King of Bavaria, that the President of the Confederation should also bear the title of D L e aperor. Th e Bremen Senate has also accepted tae Proposal. We hear f rom V ersa ill es that the arrival - of the 41 -Ilig of Bavaria is expected there. The Baden Chamters have been convoked for the 12th inst. , The .Weather here is frosty, sharp, and clear. — -cel egraph. CHURCH EDUCATION. A large county meeting was held at Wakefield yester day, under the auspices of the Ripon Diocesan Board of Education, for the purpose of taking steps to supply the deficiency in elementary Church education in the diocese. Earl Fitzwilliam presided, and the Bishop of Ripon stated that there was a deficiency of accommoda• tion in 180 of the Church schools, omitting Leeds, 95 of these were in large towns, and the remainder in manufac turing and agricultural districts. Between seventy and eighty thousand pounds needed to be raised to meet the wants of the diocese, and as it was hopeless to attempt to obtain the amount in the diocese itself, he made an earnest appeal to the meeting to assist. A resolution pledging such assistance was passed, and about £l,OOO in donations and subscriptions was promised in the room. DEATH OF THE ARCHDEACON OF LIMERICK. The Rev. Price Peacock, Archdeacon of Limerick, died at his residence last evening after a lingering illness. THE PRINCE CONSORT'S MEMORIAL AT CAMBRIDGE. At a congregation of the Cambridge University Senate held yesterday afternoon, the grace presented by the Council, suggesting that the Prince Consort's Memoria should be placed ill the Senate House, was rejected by 31 to 22 votes. THE MURDER OF A SCHOOLMASTER AT LIVERPOOL. The inquest on the body of Mr. Flueck, schoolmaster, at Liverpool, was concluded last night, and the jury re turned a verdict of wilful murder against Mr. Howchin, the deceased's assistant. FATAL QUARREL AT YARMOUTH. As two men, named respectively William Neave and John Godfrey, were drinking together last night in the Bush Tavern, South Quay, Yarmouth, a quarrel ensued, and Neave struck Godfrey a violent blow with his fist, felling him to the ground, and causing immediate death. Neave is in custody. £7OO DAMAGES FOR RAILWAY ACCIDENT. At the Manchester Assizes yesterday, a clerk named Ashton obtained £7OO damages from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company for injuries sustained at a collision at Miles Platting Station in May last. The medical evidence sheaved that the plaintiff would not be able to resume work for a year or eighteen months to come. THE SUN, LONDON, .ARID . THE GERMANS BEFORE PARIS. The correspondent of the Daily News writes from Versailles on the sth December, as follows :—The - second capture of Orleans by the Germans has been a ruinous affair for the army of the Loire. If we make every allowance for the elastic energy of M. Gambetta, and for the zeal of the provinces, we have still an end for the time to all hope that Paris can be relieved. The Parisians must fight their own battle through the bitter winter weather, and must be quick in • fighting it, too, or the besiegers will be reinforced by some of the German troops now on the Loire. We have been watching daily for a sortie such as has not been yet attempted, for a coming out en masse of all who wish to leave the city, and for the decisive battle of the siege somewhere near Boisy St. Leger. We have seen the the weak point of the German line gradually strengthened until it has become_ the strongest point of all ; have seen Trochu waited for with astounding completeness of preparation. He had a chance on the night of the 30th ultimo of breaking through towards the south-east, and getting away from Paris with some of his army. On the Ist inst. there was still a possibility of bearing down the Wurtembergers and their supports, for I do not think that the French in escaping on that day would have had to deal with one half the number of Germans who now bar their pas sage. The delay may have arisen from internal causes, depending I mean on the state of Paris. But if it arose from a wish to hear the guns of D'Aurelle de Pala dine thundering in the distance before the blow was struck from the capital, it was a fatal delay. Events have supplied us with a whole battery of after wisdom on the subject, and a glance at the line of country to be passed over when the French shall finally come forth would discourage the stoutest of them. In the bright hard weather which we have had for some days, it is not disagreeable to ride and walk about at noon, or even to walk briskly after the sun has set ; but to bivouac on the frozen ground must be chilly work indeed. The ruined villages to the south east of Paris are full of armed men, the roads are blocked with waggon trains that supply food and forage, whilst long columns of cavalry may be seen winding towards the threatened spot. It is easy to go and easy to return on thie hard ringing horse-tracks through the fields, though the roads themselves are more like petrified furrows than anything else. It is easy to move over the ground now, but not easy to live on the probable scene of action. There is a scarcity of accom modation even for the wounded, and a difficulty about stabling which presses much more in winter time, as you may well suppose. Horses are brought into deserted parlours and window curtains torn down to form coverlets for the men. Furniture is obliged to be used as fuel where it is of combustible stuff, and, in a word, this concentration of troops makes the besiegers suffer a good deal. They are tough fellows, accustomed to cold weather at home, and they have no lack of food, or it would go hard with them. One of the defects of the system of campaigning without tents and trusting to village quarters is that when troops must crowd together there is, naturally, no place for the extra regiments, and they have to bivouac. What surprises me with the Prussians is not that so many sleep under the wintry sky, but that such a number of them are stowed away in every possible and impossible hole and corner of a village. They have a talent f quartering themselves which cannot be surpassed. And now that relief is hurled back beyond the Loire, if not rendered utterly hopeless, Paris stands once more alone, as she stood in September and October last. The great city and the great army round it are waiting for the end of the food on which the city lives. There is a probability of despe rate fighting, but very little probability that the garrison will cut its way through. If it did there would be then only a question of political consequences, not of military honour, to decide. Paris might surrender the next day with perfect satisfaction, and the war might become all the fiercer to the southward. This is what the Ger mans wish to prevent. They are so sure of victory that they desire to catch as many Frenchmen as pos sible. Things have been quiet to-day, save for stray cannon shots along the front. The French are said to have massed a large force on the oval within the great bend of the Marne, at and behind La Varenne, and they still hold Champigny, which was supposed to have been recovered on Friday morning. The fact is that, though driven in from some of the ground they had seized on the 30th ult., they yet maintain two or three important points. Champigny, for instance, is a species of tete de pont to the position on the oval of La Varenne' TOURS AFTER THE DISASTER. The special correspondent of the Telegraph, writing from Tours, December 5, says:—Matters are looking very black indeed for the cause of France to-day. I have mentioned before that the Government of Defence has, with strange tenacity, persisted in the suicidal policy of keep ing in the background anything like bad news that may arrive from the front, and exaggerating to the utmost even the most partial success. As with every other crooked path in life, a time inevi tably arrives when facts can no longer be concealed, and fiction will no longer be believed. In Tours the day of retribution in the cause of truth has come. We—that is some of us, for even at the hour when I write no offi cial proclamation has been published, and until that appears the great mass of the people will not believe that any real reverse has happened to the Army of the Loire—aro now convinced' that the authori ties have been concealing from us what they must have known, and telling us what they could not them selves have believed. The defeat which yesterday and the day before we were told was merely partial, proves to have been a crushing blow upon General D'Aurelles de Paladine's army. Orleans was evacuated last night ; the French are in full retreat upon Vierzon and Bourges ; and the cause is, for the present at any rate, almost hope less. Of course there are optimists as well as pessimists in the town, and some of them try hard to make out that only the left wing, consisting of the 17th and 18th Corps, has been defeated. But the context of the news which we have received gives a flat negative to this supposition. If the main Army of the Loire had not sustained a most severe blow, and if the Prussian Army had not really turned its left flank at Patay, is it likely that D'Aurelles would have abandoned not only the entrenched field works which took so much time to construct, but also the town of Orleans, one of the finest in France—one besides the occupation of which by the enemy must be a severe moral blow both to the army and people of this country ? But, snore than this, as I have gobd reason to know, a Prussian corps is now between Blois and Orleans, and is .preparing to cross the Loire somewhere near Beaugency, so as to cut off the rear of the French .army and separate it from Tours and well as from Vierzon. Fortunately D'Aurelles has been too quick for the enemy, and the fear that he was cut off from communication with Gien and Nevers is unfounded- The worst feature in the whole story has, however, yet to be told : it is that the Government has determined upon leaving Tours either to-night or to-morrow morning, without beat of drum, and betaking itself either to Bordeaux or, as some say, to Angers. The effect of this movement, when it becomes known, I need hardly tell you. There will no doubt be a regular panic in the town ; and how the twenty thousand people, in a greater or less degree connected with the Government, who are said to be here —to say nothing of the troops, the strangers, and others who would like to get. away before the Prussians arrive— are to make their escape, the railway people alone know. As yet the bad news is but partially known in Tours. The people do not like to believe, and will not credit what they do not wish to hear. AN "AUTHENTICATED" YANKEE STORY. A terrible affair is reported to have taken place near Lowell, Kansas. A party of four herdsmen, named Joe and Charley Bigger (brothers), Norton, and Jackson, were camping on a small stream on the Indian territory on their way home, each being possessed of a considerable amount of money, the proceeds of the sale of their cattle. They were joined by three notorious New Orleans gamblers named Watrons, Allison, and Bradfoid, who were on a " professional tour." A game of poker was proposed ' by the " legs," and accepted by the travellers, and soon after the commencement of the game Joe Bigger detected Watrons cheating. A row ensued, and was agreed that Bigger and Watrons should fight it out on horseback with bowie knives. The two men stipped to the waist, and their knives were bou nd to their right hands. Both were well mounted, and both were fine horsemen. • They were placed sixty yards apart, with orders to ride at each other at full speed. Several " jousts" were written, in the course of which both horses were horribly wounded. At last Bigger struck Watrons. with his left hand in the.face, at the same time inflicting fearful gash in the thigh, Watrons at the same time driving his knife into Bigger's shoulder. After the fight had lasted half an hour, both horses were exhausted from loss of blood, and fell. Bigger then threw himself upon Watrons and stabbed him to the hear t. Bradford, seeing the fate of his friend, fired and killed the other combatant, and a free fight then ensued, Bradford being killed in the llgiee, while each of the others received fearful wounds. The authenticity of this astounding narrative is vouched for by Dr. V. C. Lawrence, recently of Philadelphia, ' who arrived on the spot in time to witness the catas trophe, and dress the wounds of the survivors.—New York Herald. ABDUCTION. The daughter of a shopkeeper, named Fulman, residing at Enniskillen, who some weeks since was forcibly car ried away by two women, who placed her in a carriage and drove off with her, has been traced to a Roman Catholic convent in Dublin. Her father, who is an Orangeman, has removed and placed her under the care of the rector of Swanlindar. It is stated that a police constable and his daughter were concerned in the abduc tion, and that the matter will give rise to legal pro ceedings. The London School Board will meet at the Coun cil Chamber in the Guildhall, on Thursday next. DECEMBER 9, 1870. HAVRE IN. EXPECTATION. Havre is actively preparing for the enemy. Some papers we have received from the town give hopeful tures both of the means of defence and of the morale of the population. Le Havre calls upon the authorities to arm with weapons of precision all the citizens who are anxious to fight. The Democratic Committee of Sanvic has made a similar demand. "In all the town," says Le Havre, "as in the environs, the -same patriotic and natural anxiety reigns—the people wish to be armed." With regard to the military preparations, 7,000 guns of precision are about to be distributed to those of the National Guards who are still without them ; and two Gattling mitrailleuses have been sent from Tours. Meanwhile, troops are arriving in the town. General Briand, with those forces which have evacuated Rouen, has come in ; so have a number of Francs-tireurs and Moblots. The arrival of the last gave rise to a curious and at the same time a rather encouraging scene. Their number was great—.the hour of their entrance into the town late. There was not, in consequence, time sufficient to billet them on the inhabi tants. The result was thati many of them had to spend hours in the hopeless and wearisome search for a night's lodgings. At last the inhabitants came to the rescue. " Seeing," says Le Havre, " our brave Moblots sinking with fatigue and in want of everything, all hasten to bring them help and relief. Tradesmen and Ma rines are seen to take possession in triumph of one or several soldiers, and, joy in their faces, to bring theM in to share the modest family repast. Each man rivals his neighbour in patriotism and generosity. We ourselves have seen the porters who discharge the Honfleur vessels taking out the baggage of the troops and re fusing the payment which was offered to them by the officers." The inroad of the Mobiles has a curious effect, for in the next paragraph we are told : " This morning, for some time, bread was not to be had at the bakers.' The enormous demands which had been made upon them in the night had completely ex-. hausted their supply of flour. To-day the authorities take measures to secure to the troops regular distributions of food and lodgings." Meantime, Havre is already begin ning to display the characteristics, some painful, some ludicrous, of a town threatened by the invader. The public school is about to be closed, and the pupils, from students, will become members of an ambu lance corps. On Tuesday morning the inhabitants of Havre were without letters from Rouen, or Tours, or Belgium, or England. The spy panic has already set in, and the authorities are counselled to expel from the town several Germans, lest they should be molested by the population. On Tuesday six Prussian spies, we are in formed, were marched through the Rue de Paris. The narrative adds—perhaps unnecessarily " During the whole time they (the supposed spies) occupied in passing through the street, the crowd loaded them incessantly with insults, reproaching them with their infamous conduct. A picquet of soldiers who conducted them to the gendarmerie had the greatest possible trouble in clearing a passage for them through the crowds." Immediately following this first spy story comes a second, which will scarcely fail to amuse. " A lady," we are told, " rather tall, with a cavalier-like walk, an energetic look, and the marks of down upon her upper lip, passed about noon through the Rue de Paris." The inevitable consequence of such striking peculiarities of course follows ; for, goes on our chronicler, " a certain number of persons, having their attention excited by these appearance 4, so unusual in the female sex, began to suspect this woman of being a Prussian spy in disguise." The lady was accordingly arrested, brought to the Mairie, where she was recognised—as what ?As a person who had called on the previous evening for a passport to London, whither she is travelling. We have still Further proof of her nationality in the statement " calm, proud, as she had entered, she traversed anew the groups stationed before the door." Le Havre emphatically asserts that the town will be defended ener getically. Having stated that the Prussians at Rouen were estimated at 36,000 men, and that they had about fifty pieces, "we are," says this journal, "in a position to repulse them at this moment." The Ger mans are announced at Yvetot. On the 7th about 100 Uhlans approa;hed the town. Fifty-five of them, having detached themselves from the general body, en tered the place in a gallop. Having dismounted to get some coffee and cigars, they asked to be conducted to the Mairie, where they announced that next day 1,500 of their companions would arrive. Before departing they cut the telegraphic wires: They asked the nay to Havre, adding carelessly, "We will march there to , morrow." THE FIGHTING BEFORE ORLEANS. The Times correspondent at Tours, in a letter dated the sth December, writes :—Things look very black at Tours to-day. There will presently appear a Government bul letin announcing the evacuation of Orleans by the French Army of the Loire, to the left bank of which river it has retired. " General d'Aurelles deemed it expedient," says M. Gambetta, " although he still had 200,000 men and 500 guns at his disposal." The implied reproach is probably the forerunner of the General's dismissal, for under this Government failure condemns. General d'Aurelles' reasons for his retrogade movement have yet to be made knowe. It seems strange that the strongly fortified position in front of Orleans should have been so easily surrendered, with the heavy ship guns that had been brought up from the coast for its defence. The Government supplies no sort of account of what has passed, so we are greatly at the mercy of reports, which we are fain to eke out by conjectures. What we know is that there was severe fighting on the 2nd and 3rd, and that yesterday the whole army re treated, although it does not seem that more than a third of it was engaged. The fighting was on the French left. Among other rumours, the Prussians are said to be at Beaugency. The French wounded are stated at 15,000, of which 10,000 are believed to be at Orleans, and 600 were sent to Angers last night. No returns of the losses have been published, but they are undoubtedly very grievous, at least on this side. Of course we shall be told that the Prussians suffered still more severely, and from the Prussian side we shall hear "nos pertes sont relative ment peu considerables," a stereotyped phrase of uncer tain meaning. The fighting appears to have been very fierce. An officer who was there, under fire by no means for the first time, describes the fury of the firing as something quite unparalleled in his experience. At last, he says, one could neither see nor hear anything, so dense was the sm . oke, so infernal the din. The shells came in showers, cutting deep holes in the hard frozen earth. The butchery was terrific, the wounds ghastly. The Prussians were very strong in cavalry, and made great use of it. They first disordered the French infantry by their artillery fire, and then plunged down upon it with heavy masses of horse. Their charges are described as very numerous and formidable, and one is said to have been executed by no less than 3,000 cavalry. The Foreign Legion is said to have suffered heavily. The Pon tifical Zouaves are reported exterminated ; but as the same thing was said of them on a former occasion when their losses proved to have been very slight, their friends may wait till the news shall be confirmed. • Their Colonel, Charette, is wounded and a prisoner. The Duc de Luynes and one of the Chevreuse family are reported killed. Another death has been mentioned to me which I should be very sorry for, but as the accounts are contradictory I abstain from giving the name. The masses of the Prussians are described as prodigious and overwhelming, and some who were in the fight say that they came on yelling and howling, comme des sauvages, said an angry officer with his arm in a sling. You are aware that Frenchmen are apt to consider things savage and barbarous on no better grounds than that they differ from their own ways. " Vive la France !" is a civilised battle-cry, but the German huzza sounds hardly in their ears. It is outlandish, and therefore barbarous. One can imagine that the hoarse shout of the German warriors would have an appalling effect on the young soldiers of the Garde Mobile. So far as we know here, there is no reason to doubt that the French did their duty manufully. But the Prussians were too strong for them ; their artillery seems once more to have as serted its superiority ; the French were overmatched, and, according to their own account, greatly outnumbered. The friends and supporters of Mr. Hepworth Dixon, in the division of Marylebone, have invited him to a public dinner in celebration of his recent election to the London School Board. Mr. Hepworth Dixon stood on personal and independent grounds, and represents that educated public which is free from the control of clique and sect. The dinner will be held at the Laugh= Hotel. COLONEL FIRLDING.—A telegram from Tours contradicts the report of this officer's death. He is, we are glad to be able to state, at Tours, at the English Embassy. He dislocated his right shoulder by a fall during the retreat of the Frehch army. THE ATLANTIC CABLE. Intelligence T. ached Liverpool yesterday to - the effect that the last Atlantic Cable laid, and which became out of repair several days Lsince, had been grappled and buoyed, though, owing to the state of the weather, no repairs had so far been effected. UNITED GEAND LODGE OF FREEMASONS. At the quarterly communication held on Wednesday at Freemason's Ball, Great Queen Street, the Earl de Grey and"Ripon was nominated Grand Master for the ensuing year. The "re-election of his lordship will take place at the next quarterly. communication in March next. £lOO was voted to tne fund now being raised in aid of British and foreign refugees from France under the title of the Refugees' Benevolent Fund. CRIME IN IRELAND. From the criminal and judicial statistics of Ireland for the year it appears that of the persons committed to prison in that country in 1869, 15,899 or 52 . 9 per cent. had been previously imprisoned. In England and Wales the proportion in 1868 was 32.4 of the total number com mitted. The figures show that the proportion of the men and boys previously committed once, twice, thrice, or four times, is greater in England and Wales than in Ireland ; but of those who had been imprisoned still more frequently, the proportion in Ireland is larger than in England and Wales. While the proportion who had been already once imprisoned was only 38 . 6 in Ireland against 45.7 in Eng land and Wales the proportion of those who had been already imprisoned above ten times was 47 in the latter country as compared with 13.2 in the former. With regard to women and girls the Irish statistics given contrast most favourably with the English ; the only class in which the proportion of those already committed is larger in Ireland than in Eng land and Wales being in the case of women and girls previously committed above ten times, the proportion per cent. of which is 45.3 for Ireland, 1869, against 17.9 for England and Wales, 1868. The much larger propor tionate number of men and boys than women and girls com mitted once, twice, or three times verifies, in the opinion of Mr. W. Neilson Hancock, whose report accompanies the statistics, the well-known law of social science that women are, in general, less criminal than men ; whilst the fact that recommitments of women more than five times are more frequent than in the case of men is in strict accordance with another law of social science that when women once enter into the paths of crime they become more criminal than men. It is, of course, very presumptuous to question the laws of social science backed up by statistics, but some people hold that according to the laws of experience there is very little difference in the proportionate criminality of both sexes, it is six of one and half a dozen of the other, and if women " when once they enter into the paths of crime become more criminal than men," it is simply because the world in its wisdom denies to women the facilities it offers to men to leave the path of crime when once they have entered it. The laws of society thus react on the laws of social science, and both work in harmony together. NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE. It is stated at Chatham that it has been decided to aug. ment the corps of Royal Marine Light Infantry. It is rather strangely announced that so many young men have volunteered as drivers in the Royal Artillery, that orders have been received at Woolwich to suspend recruiting for that branch of the service. That portion of Woolwich Dockyard which at present remains unoccupied will, it is understood, be taken over by the War Department on the let of next month for their own use. The purposes to which it will be devoted are the stowage of the artillery waggons, timbers, and stores now at Weedon, also for the receipt of all articles sup plied by contract to the manufactory department in the Royal Arsenal, and also for the inspection branch o f con tract stores, which will be transferred from the Royal Arsenal, where the duties are at present carried out. No portion of the yard will, it would appear from this arangement, be bold, as expected when the yard was first closed. The Sultan, 12, iron armour-plated broadside ship, lying in the Medway, off Chatham Dockyard, is now taking on board the ballast which is considered necessary to give her a proper degree of stability, while it would be also useful in protecting her from the attacks of torpedoes, for the ballast is composed of a mixture of cement and scrap iron, which is packed in the compart ments forming the hull of the ship. About six tons a day are now being placed on board; but some 350 tons will be reouired in all. The Telegraph, in an article yesterday morning, speaking of Lord Lawrence, says : " As a soldier, he was a Bayard, sans peer et sans reproche." Lord Lawrence never was a soldier. Mr. W. H. Zillah, M.P., has accepted the presi dency of the Newsveudors' Benevolent and Provident Institution, a post which the late Mr. Charles Dickens Filled for many years. A marriage is arranged between Sir Norman Pringle, Bart., and his cousin, Miss Louisa Clementina Steuart, youngest daughter of thelate Mr. Robert Steuart, of Alderstp, formerly M.P. for Haddington, and a Lord of the Treasury, &c. -- • Mr. Edwin Pears, the general secretary of the Social Science Association, is a candidate for the secretaryship of the 'London School Board. Mr. Pears was formerly a Professor in the University of Mel- bourne. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland received on Wed nesday a deputation on the subject of the Irish railways, and in reply said that the Government were fully alive to the importance of the subject. He hoped they would be able to give their decision when Parliament met. Mr. Fortescue said that a Bill was in preparation on the subject. Lord Vernon presided on Wednesday evening at the Society of Arts over a lecture of Mr. Henry Jenkins on the American system of Associated Dairies, and its bearing on co-operative agriculture. The chief object of the author was to contrast the English system of private dairies with the American system of dairy factories, and to point out the mechanical, financial, and other advan tages of the latter. - The Cork Examiner publishes a long communica tion from " A Southern Catholic," who expresses a doubt whether Cardinal Cullen and the other prelates of his Church really entertain the sentiments which they have recently uttered on the subject of the temporal power of the Pope. He deprecates the authority assumed by ecclesiastics in matters not spiritual, such as parliamen tary elections. The letter extends to two and a half columns of close type, and is evidently the production of a Nationalist. The first of a series of public services on behalf of the Wesleyan Metropolitan Chapel-building Fund was held on Tuesday at Liverpool-road Wesleyan Chapel, London. During the evening it was stated by the secre tary, the Rev. Gervase Sniith, that since 1861 £200,000 had been raised, and twenty-five large chapels, capable of holding 1,000 or more persons, had been erected. Sites for fifteen new chapels have already been secured, and in order to carry out the proposal to build during . the next nine years fifty new chapels, they would require about £300,000. 'The usual monthly meeting of the Belfast Presby tery was held on Tuesday. The Rev. H. Henderson drew attention to the alterations recently made in the marriage law for Ireland, and pointed out especially how they would affect Presbyterians. He dwelt upon the altera tions which gave Roman Catholic priests the power to celebrate mixed marriages, and shewed the abuses likely to arise from these alterations, adding that the recent measure must be looked upon as merely temporary ; and, as a general measure was sure to be shortly brought for ward, urged the Presbytery to take steps to protect their rights and privileges. A committee was appointed for this purpose. ANOTHER RAILWAY COLLISION.—An accident occurred yesterday morning on the Great Eastern Rail way to the 7.10 passenger train from Ipswich to Yar mouth. The train had performed its journey in safety, and had arrived within a short distance of the ticket platform at the Southtown station, Yarmouth. The box" signal denoted that the line was clear. But a goods train was being shunted to a siding ; the rails being slippery, the breaks would not work, so that the trucks could not be got quickly out of the way. When, there fore, the passenger train came on it ran into the goods train. Two trucks were smashed, the engine of the pas senger train was much injured; but none of the passen gers seem to have been seriously hurt. The line was cleared in half an hour. The London correspondent of the Scotsman says : —" The Associated Chambers of Commerce have arranged to introduce into the next session of Parliament several bills of great interest to the mercantile community. I learn that a bill providing for the compulsory regis tration of partnerships will be introduced by Messrs. Norwood, Akroyd, and David Chadwick. Mr. Chadwick has a scheme for the improved assessment of the income-tax; which he will probably ventilate in the House of Commons. A bill for es tablishing in this cou ntry the French system of partner establishing en eommandite (the principle of which has been adopted by Mr. Lowe) is also in a forward state of prepa ration. The Associated Chambers are now in intimate and useful relation with both the American and the oc cupy a position analagous to that of our C ana di an Boards of Trade. Those bodies, you will re member, Chambers of Commerce. The commercial legislation of the next session promises to be fruitful and good, of only the necessary amount of time can be devoted to it.' THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BOAT RACES A_ numerously attended meeting of the Cambridge Univer sity Boat Club was held at Cambridge on Wednesday night, Mr. J. H. D. Goldie (St. John's), president, in the chair. The challenge sent from Oxford was re ceived with loud cheers, and on the motion of Mr. Goldie, seconded by Mr. W. H. Lowe (Christ's), it was enthusiastically resolved to accept the same. The day was not fixed, but it is understood that it will be about April 1. Mr. Goldie was reappointed president of the C.U.8.C., and Mr. Randolph secretary, the other members of the small committee being Messrs. Lowe (Christ's), Spencer (2nd Trinity), and Close (let Trinity). Mr. Goldie has had an eight out during the last few days, and he will take his crew over the old course, from Jesus Locks to Batesbite Looks—three and a half miles—without an easy, as the piles have all been removed from the railway bridge, The 2nd and 3rd division eight-oar races are fixed to take place on March 8 ,9, 10, and 11. OUR COTEMPORARIES---This Morning THE FRENCH OVERTHROW The Times alludes to the disasters which have befal en the new French armies, and says there is no matter for wonder in all this. The fault lies not in the poor recruits, but in the fanatics who, by dint of glaring misrepresenta tions, would persuade us that the science and art of war is merely a sham—that, in spite of the fearful progress made by modern discovery in the arts of destruction, drill and discipl ne are rather a hindrance than a help to the display of true fighting qualities. It is by delusions of 'this nature that France has been led on to destruction—France, that country of all countries in which the army was the object of the most profound poputar worship. The army being lost, it became a matter of honour for M. Gambetta that the nation should be thrown after it. It seemed never to strike him that there is no true honour in fighting for an absolutely untenable position, and that, at all events, the nation, and not a self-appointed Minister, should have been called upon to decide how far further resistance was desirable, or how far it should be attempted, whether it was desirable or not. France stepped into the ground like a swordsman relying , on his cunning of fence, bvt whose sword on the first en counter was shattered to the hilt. In such a case we question if there is much honour, and we know there is little sense, in his rushing upon his adversary with the mere stump of his broken weapon, and forcing him to deal his victim thrust upon thrust, while the blood ebbs from every vein. We would be the, last to tender " craven counsels "to the French nation. If, for a nation or for an individual, honour ever prescribes self-destruction, it should be very clearly ascertained that the sacrifice is spon-, taneous. A " Pact with Death" has hitherto been made only by M. Gambetta. It has never been sanctioned by the vote of a National Assembly. The cry for war to the last drop of blood has, indeed, been very loud, but we hardly know yet how deep. Throughout the provinces, especially in the north, and even in Paris, there is a peace party. It is greatly to be regretted that it should be fainthearted, but that is no reason why it should be brow-beaten and trampled upon. There was, we are told, such a party in July—a vast party, though latent, and the war was then said to be entirely and exclusively the Emperor's fault. How do we know now that the war is not wholly M. Gambetta's? PROPOSED ARMISTICE. The Daily News believes it may announce this morning that M. Gambetta has asked for an armistice, and for permission to M. Favre to leave Paris to conduct negotia tions. The object for which the armistice is asked is that a National Assembly may be elected to authorise the Government to treat for peace. M. Gambetta does not name any period over which the armistice should extend. He leaves that question for future consideration, and only asks that it shall be long enough to enable the Assembly to be elected, and to meet. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this demand. It comes from the very Minister who has so heroically refused to despair of the Republic, and who so vigorously protested against former attempts to negotiate with the enemy. M. Gambetta has up to the present moment embodied and represented the resolution of the Government to fight to the last. He is not likely to have changed his mind; and we take this application for an armistice to be expressive of his con• viction that the end has come. He makes it, probably, with the concurrence of the Paris Government, and as the result of a discretion which has been left in his hands. He makes it, too, as the distinct confession of defeat, and in full view of the obstacles which have proved fatal to all previous attempts to negotiate. We do not, says the Daily News, of course assume that M. Gambetta and M. Favre mean merely to throw them selves at the feet of the Prussian Chancellor and sue• for peace. In asking for an armistice they know that they must make military concessions equivalent to the benefits they get by delay, and we believe they will be prepared to do so. The Provisional Govern ment have merely undertaken the national de defence ; they have carried on that defence with an energy which has astonished Europe, and they are now ready to confess that it has failed. But they are not likely to grant any political terms as conditions of the armistice, and any military con cessions are mere matters of detail. AI. Gambetta's demand is, therefore, a step towards peace. We can hardly believe that it will not be granted. Count Bismarck will hardly accept the responsibility of refusing it ; and M. Favre, on his side, will scarcely insist on demanding terms which his Government are unable to impose. It may at least be earnestly hoped that we see the beginning of the end. THE POSITION OF ENGLAND. The Telegraph, in an article on the present position of England, refers to the dislike with which we are looked upon in Germany, France, and America. With reference to the latter country the writer says :—We hope and believe that the utterances of certain public journals, and of politicians of the Butler stamp, are not to be accepted as fair exponents of the opinions and feelings of our American friends. If it were so, it would be an . unhappy thing for us both. ..-- ..._ .... _ They, too, accuse us of want of sympathy with them in their great national struggle. The truth is that England was divided into two camps of opinion, as the States were into two camps for actual warfare. If they disagreed so far as to cut each other's throats, is it surprising that some Englishmen were of one way of thinking, some of another ? When the French Emperor pressed us to interfere with armed force on behalf of the South, we flatly refused. Had we lis tened to his overtures the result might have been very different. We make no merit of our friendly absti nence ; but the fact of our honest neutrality remains unshaken. We never recognised the South as a bellige rent till the President of the United States had done so himself ; yet we are blamed for our course of action. A ship, uufortunately, escaped the vigilance of our authorities, and did much injury to the commercial marine of the Northern States. We deeply regretted it ; we have offered to the parties injured arbitration on the justice of their claims, but it will not be accepted. The United States have been pre eminently the headquarters of filibustering ; yet we are not aware that they have ever offered compensation to the persons on whom they have, wittingly or unwittingly, inflicted damage. The most respectable and learned men in the States tell the Government they have no case against England, save in respect of compensation for the defined instances of alleged negligence ; but the Government will not listen to them. The undefined grievance which public man in America choose to dwell upon will not bear a moment's examination. If we displayed want of sympathy with them in their great struggle, what were the declarations and utterances of the United States towards England when she was at war with Russia, and when she was struggling to hold her own against a desperate rebellion in India ? All these things are forgotten in the passion of the moment; and France'which defeated Mexico, and would have broken up the Union by force of arms—Ger many which discounted the calamity of the States to a higher degree than any other nation—find favour with our Transatlantic cousins, who have nothing but abuse for us. In the opinion of the Standard, there is only one thing which could have justified the English Ministry, at least in the eyes of the people of England, in pursuing a policy of strict non-interference. We might have refused to mediate, in the belief it was better for us that the quarrel should be fought out, but this polioy of inaction ought to have been accompanied with a careful and energetic attention to our own military resources. A nation which did not believe that it was • its busi ness to interfere in such a war as this was bound for its own sake to keep its armaments in the very highest state of efficiency, in preparation for any result which might happen. It was hardly possible to believe that France and Germany would weaken each other precisely in the manner which was most advantageous to England, and no person except Mr. Bruce was capable of conceiv ing that the two would fight with such an exact balance of results as that they would be mutually so much damaged as to be no longer dangerous to the peace of the world. Even if France and Germany had been the only countries which we had to regard, the commonest pru dence should have taught us the good policy of keeping our arms burnished and our defences prepared while two of our neighbours were engaged in so tremendous a struggle. But the policy of non-mediation has not been accompanied with that of self• armament. We neither interfere on our neighbour's account nor our own. We are impotent whether for peace or for war. Our peace professions, being unaccompanied with any of the ordinarypowers of self-defence, are believed to arise out of cowardice and not out of virtue. We get no credit any where, and are, at the present moment, fallen lower than at any period since the close of the last great French war. Our total abstention from any kind of interference only brings down upon us threats and contumely from L every quarter. Neither mediating nor arming, we are every day coming nearer to very grave dangers—to dangers of which a few months ago the mention would only have provoked our laughter, but whioh to-day are mooted and discussed ;FL almost every newspaper of the European or American continent*.