The Sun. — London, England, 1870-08-27 00:00:00

THE WAR. THE TWO FRENCH ARMIES. NROM OUR OWN CORRESPONOENEI PARIS, THURSDAY. This has been a day of reports and rumours. We were assured that Marshal Bazaine had had a serious engage ment withthe combined troops under the orders of Prince Frederick Charles and General Steinmetz, and that he had driven a portion of the enemy across the Belgian frontier. It was also said that Marshal MacMahon had effected a junction with Marshal Bazaine. All that I am enabled to confirm is that Marshal Mac- Mahon, having received a dispatch at Rheims from the Minister of War, immediately quitted that city, his destination unknown. The Marshal was in high spirits when he left Rheims, and the army shouted "En avant ! en avant!" The army of Marshal MacMahon is composed of the Ist Corps, completely reorganised; the sth, com manded by General De Failly; the 7th, by General Fdlix Douay ; and the 12th, composed of an imposing division of marine infantry, a division of infantry of the line, and of several squadrons of cavalry. I have received the following paragraph of news as giving an authentic account of Bazaine's movements. I give it under all reserve :—" Marshal Bazaine on the 20th took up a strong • position between Mezieres and Montmedy. This certainly seems very strange, after the official Berlin dispatches, which announced that the Marshal, after the battle of the 1811, was compelled to seek refuge in the fortress of Metz. The Berlin dispatches inform us that, at this same battle of th 18th, the Prussian force, which attacked the 100,000 men commanded by Bazaine, was composed of the Guards, the 2nd, 7th, Bth, 9th, and 12th corps d'armde, and some small divisions of the 3rd and 10th corps, who were placed -as a reserve, and that nearly the whole of the artillery took part in the action. From information received here, it would appear that after having suc cessfully defendedhis positions on the 18th, the Marshal, in the course of the night, carried out the movement he had been preparing for some days prd viously. Trusting to the garrison of Metz to defend that fortress, he marched his troops on the road to Montmedy, and arrived without interruption in the neighbourhood of Audin-le-Rouman. This move ment is in some measure confirmed by a Prussian dispatch dated the 21st, stating that no French troops had been seen before Metz since the morning of the 19th." I cannot, however, guarantee this view of the position, though I give it as showing the confident opinions which prevail here. By some means or other the people have been persuaded that great triumphs await them ; indeed, they will not believe that they suffered any reverse at Metz. This statement about Bazaine's escape is not new. It has been already contradicted; nevertheless it is revived as freshly and vigorously as ever. A 14th corps is now being organised in Paris for the defence of the environs. It is stated that the head-quar rers of the commander will be in the fort of St. Denis. The Free Corps are beginning to shew themselves not only in the environs of Paris but on the line of Nancy and Toni, and they have already done some good service. A day or two back some Uhlans entered a small city near Nancy. They were allowed to advance as far as the townhall, where they demanded of the Mayor, a certain quantity of rations and a heavy contribution. Whilst dis puting with the Mayor a body of free corps surrounded the Uhlans. A desperate fight took place, and ultimately the Prussians were compelled to retreat into the fields, leaving a great number of their dead and wounded in the hands of their victors. Three hundred medical students left Paris yesterday and to-day for the army. They will be incorporated in the different ambulances. Four hundred Prussian prisoners arrived at Soissons yesterday. Others are expected to reach that city on Saturday. . GERMAN PEACE SENTIMENTS. COLOGNE, WEDNESDAY. The successes of the Germans have been so considerable that it seems scarcely too soon for them to estimate the price of victory. It is hardly belie] ed that the war will come to an immediate end; but people here are sanguine enough to think that the final issue cannot be far off, Der h an _ q yeax.-e, M war, although so successful, is most disastrous to German industry. Hence the terms of peace are a common topic of talk. Signs are not wanting that the Germans, if their success continues, are disposed to serve out very hard measure to France. The press is unanimous in writing in a very severe strain, and as the Prussian press especially is very careful to say nothing which might embarrass the Government, this attitude is worthy of note. The King, in the proclama tion which he issued when entering German territory, said that he came to make war, not upon the French people, but against the Government which embarked in an iniquitous enterprise. This style of moderation seems to be forgotten now. The Cologne Gazetts, for instance, has just appeared with an article in which it takes a very different tone. "It is neither against a person, nor a dynasty, nor a form of Government, that Germany makes war, but against France, whose people is filled with ideas of false grandeur —against France, who for three centuries, and under every imaginable constitution, has upheld pretensions to reign in Europe at the expense of other peoples." A durable peace, observes this journal, is what Germany must have, a peace on such terms that the States and the Exchanges of Europe will not be con strained to trouble themselves about the frame of mind in which the inhabitants of Paris and the residents at the Tuileries may find themselves. In short, France must be so crippled as to be incapable for some time to come of active exertion. Several peace schemes, which have been advocated in difierent parts of Europe as pretty favourable to Germany, are ridiculed here. It has been suggested, for instance, that the dethronement of Napoleon (with payment of costs) would be an adequate security for peace. But the French are quite able to manage a change of Government for themselves, and it is by no means improbable that they will do so. Moreover, what could the Germans gain by interfering in the internal affairs of France? If they banished Napoleon to the remotest corner of the earth there would be no security that France, under a succeeding form of Government, would be less aggressive, especially if that form were a Republic. No ; the papers express them selves indifferent respecting the Napoleonic dynasty. What they want (they indicate plainly enough) is terri tory. Some recommend the retention of Alsace and Lorraine ; others would be content with Alsace only ; others, and this seems an increasing party, urge the an nexation of Alsace and the disarming of the strong places in Lorraine. There can be little doubt that the Prussian diplomatists have found great difficulty in keeping Italy quiet during this contest. But it would now appear certain that the German representative at Florence has succeeded, and there can be equally little question as to the price. Italy wants Rome, and by helping France she would get it. It, therefore, became necessary for Prussia to assure Italy that she should gain the coveted territory without incur ring any danger or expense. An order of the King decides that the three battles on the 14th, 16th, and 18th, shall be called respectively Courcelles, Vionville, and Gravelotte. Different names are given to these great fights. The French generally call the first Borny, the second Mars-la-Tour, and the third Rezonville. In fact the theatr' of the combat was so extensive in all cases, and especially on the 16th and 18th, that half-a-dozen titles might be found for each conflict. The losses of the German forces in these encounters were enormous. No attempt is made to conceal the fearful price at which the Fatherland has bought its advantages. There is lamentatation and mourning everywhere. The battle of the 18th consisted of little more than a numerous series of attempts to seize a commanding position on a hill reached by only one road, so enflanked and defend e d that, as a letter in one of the papers said, it needed abso lute contempt of death on the part of the troops to induce them to face the position. Time after time did they try and fail. Heaps of dead strewed the hill. Regiment after regiment was decimated. The French artillery was well served, and the mitrailleuse did much execution. At length, after nine hours obstinate fighting, the French retired from their position, and one of the bloodiest days' work on record terminated. Nothing but the most impor tant strategical objects could justify such an outlay of life. The advantage, however, is believed to be sufficient to compensate the loss. The blockade has commenced on the Baltic coast, but the French vessels find no little difficulty in maintaining it. The mail steamer Holland got into Stettin on the 18th, and the Alexander, laden with corn, followed the next day. The equinoctial gales will make the surveil lance all but impossible. FROM MACMAHONS ARMY. The folla4ng letter is by M. Texier of the Slide. It is from Nlacigah9nif , Army, dated Wednesday, but the CIE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, A UGUT 27, 18 70. writer does not say from what place, from a desire to keep secrecy :—Yesterday at two o'clock the Prince Imperial was brought from Courcelles to the station, accompanied by a regiment of guides, to be directed to . . . while the Emperor pushed on to . . Immediately the service which, during three days, has been extraordinarily active along this line, was temporarily suspended. Orders were forwarded to the trains on before to look out and allow the Imperial train to pass at full speed. Whom did these trains which were thus delayed in their progress by superior order contain? Some of the sol diers told me that they had been on the rail= way for 36 hours, and had not eaten for 24. The additional delay which they suffered in consequence of the passage of the imperial train was three hours. That is a good deal. In the evening at the station'there were some serious disturbances. Towards evening the report spread in Rheims that the Uhlans had made their entry into Chalons in the after noon, and that they had been received there as at Nancy without even a show of resistance. This news struck terror to the people, and for two or three hours after scared individuals hurried to the station to take the first train to Paris. It was added that the Uhlans had pushed their reconnaissances as far as the camp at Chalons, which I doubt. In any case it is likely they did not find what they wanted. Before leaving the camp everything which could not be re moved was burned. The fire is said to be not yet extinct. It was resolved that the mistake of Nancy should not be repeated, for there immense stores were left and served for the supply of the Crown Prince's army. Will Rheims defend itself if the Prussians make their appearance? In 1815 twelve hundred inhabitants contended for two days against a body of 14,000 men, and displayed the greatest courage and patriotism. But at Rheims, as everywhere else, arms have been refused to the young men who eagerly demanded them. The municipal council declared that it had not guns to distribute, and it is even said that they advised the hot-headed applicants to calm themslves in the interest of the town, for if it defended• itself it would have more to fear from the anger of the conqueror. I know that these counsels, which were perhaps paternal, but certainly pusillanimous and unpatriotic, were ill received by the more vigorous part of the population, who are re solved on resistance even should they have no other weapons than the guns they use for the chase. I heard one woman, indignant at the attitude of the municipal magistrates, say to her husband and her two sons, "It would be a disgrace if the enemy entered Rheims without fighting." The Minister of the Interior thinks proper to recom mend journalists to be circumspect regarding the move ments of MacMahon's troops. I shall take good care not to mention anything which may serve to enlighten the enemy, but let me tell you that such recommen dations are absolutely puerile. It is not the journals, but the spies, that give information to the Prussian army, which is perfectly au fait in regard to all our movements. All the informa tion we could give would be worth nothing in comparison with the reports of the numberless employes of Bismarck. Let us not say too much ; well and good ; but do not let us persuade ourselves that our revelations can be a source of danger. As for myself, I carry the circumspection recommended by the Minister further than anyone, since, According to a suggestion made to me in the camp, I send you by express this letter, without saying where I write it. It is thought that a letter bearing the mark of this or that town or village might give rise to serious inconvenience. I yield without opposition, so you must be satisfied that I write to you no matter where, no matter how. It is fully believed that Friday will not pass over without a great battle. It is even thought that it may take- place to-morrow. It is time we emerged from uncertainty. We no longer live— we languish between hope and fear. The days seem to have more than four-and-twenty hours. As for me, bewildered by the -noise of arms, by the avalanche of cannons, of cases which upset the pavement of the roads, and by the coming and going of men and horses, I alternate ten times a day between the joyful certainty of victory and the terror of disaster. It seems to me that I am walking in the middle of a nightmare. In the marches of the army a good deal is said about General de Failly, the subject of the soldier's songs. It is stated that General Failly when he commanded the sth Corps lost half his cavalry not on the battle-field but on the roads. Giving no orders, troubling himself very little with the details of his pro fession, he did not see that he was daily losing his cavaliers, who diminished at every stage. The soldiers mock him in their songs, which are not always fit for ears polite. They make oirnilnr conga about othor per sonages. THE PRUSSIAN ENTRY INTO CHALONS, The . Progres de la Marne, of the 23rd, gives the following account of the popular feeling in Chalons. "At the moment of going to press the whole population of Chalons, composed and self-restrained as is fitting on the eve of a great misfortune, awaits with mournful anxiety the arrival of the enemy, who at the last accounts were at St. Mennvie, that is to say, two kilometres from the town, The Prussians number about a hundred cavaliers. In groups about the street men remark, with some anima tion, on the strategic necessity which comi,els our generals to surrender to the enemy a town like Chalons. The tardiness of the Goverment in organising and arming the National Guard, who might have 'assisted so usefully in the defence of the capital, is very generally blamed. HALF-PAST FOUR. Five Prussian cavaliers, pistol in hand, enter Chalons by the Porte Saint Jean, and take posses sion of the town. One of the five was an officer and one of the soldiers was gravely smoking his pipe without heeding the curious spectators. The riders went to the Hotel de Ville and asked for the Mayor. He was not there, but soon arrived, and presented himself to the head of the detachment. Some hours before the entry of the Prussians, several inhabi tants had given notice of the enemy's approach to the Brabant division, which was encamped in the cavalry quarter. The only reply of the general was to raise the camp immediately. We did not approve of this departure. At the moment the Prussians were leaving the Hotel de Ville the crowd assembled outside was very large, and shouts of rage and indignation against those who thus delivered them over to the enemy's mercy were heard. A Prussian soldier took offence at this, and without waiting for the orders of his officer he threatened the crowd with his weapon. In face of this great misfortune which has befallen us, we may be suffered to be silent with our sorrow. We will be silent until the day or the hour of justice arrives. The following notice has been affixed : "The Mayor of Chalons to his fellow-citizens. " The Prussian troops may at any moment be at our gates. We have not at Chalons any means of arresting or even delaying their march. We conjure our fellow citizens to restrain their sad and patriotic sentiments, and to avoid all kinds of hostile acts. Not only such acts would have no useful result, but they might bring disaster on the monuments of our town, on our hearths, and our families. " The Mayor of Chalons, EUG. PERIER." POSITION AND FORCE OF THE TWO ARMIES. When we consider the importance of the position of MacMahon, and the probable consequences of aban doning it, we can assign no other reason for the Marshal's resolution than the consciousness of his inability to make a stand against his adversary. It may be doubted whether the Crown Prince, when he first set out from Woerth after the battle, could have had more troops than MacMahon had assembled at Chalons. But, in the first place, it was by no means unlikely that, after the three great battles at Metz, he received large reinforce ments from the victorious armies of the King and of Prince Frederick Charles ; and, evenin a case of numerical equality, it was natural that MacMahon should consider his old troops not sufficiently recovered from their late disasters, and his new levies act suffi ciently welded together or disciplined to meet the Germans, flushed with victory, and full of confi dence in themselves and in their leader. At any rate, MacMahon did not feel strong eneugh to give battle outside the camp—not strong enough even to await the enemy within the camp ; not strong enough, even after forsaking the camp, to take up a position in the woods and hills to the north and west of Rheims. The avowed aim of MacMahon, if his words have been faithfully reported, was to effect a junction with Bazaine and re lease the army beleaguered at Metz. But Marshal Bazaine and his escape from Metz have become almost mythical. It will be a week this evening since his alleged disappearance from the battle-field of Gravelotte. Expectations were entertained at Chalons and at Rheims that he might appear at either place coming from Grand pre and Vouziers. He had, it was suggested, been hin dered in his retreat on the road to Verdun, but had turned off that road at Etain, and was marching round by Spincourt and Damvillers, without having passed through Montm€dy. All these ingenious theories broke down against the stubborn fact that he who was described as being everywhere seemed in reality to be nowhere. Mac- Mahon grew weary of waiting. He fell back from Chalons to Rheims, from Rheims to some other point further north ; but we deem it extremely unlikely that he will now move eastwards for the rescue of Bazaine and of the Army of Metz—if, indeed, he ever entertained such a purpose. So far as we can judge from appearances, MacMahon's sole immediate object was to shun all present encounter with the Prussians. He may, perhaps, contemplate hovering on their right and in their rear, with a view, if possible, either to retard their advance upon the capital, or to disturb their operations under its walls. Meanwhile, the day for a final trial of strength seems nearly to have come, and the Prussians cannot be said to have lost time in bringing it on. — Times. All the Prussian troops not needed to keep the rem , nants of Bazaine's corps within the walls of Metz have been moved up to the support of the Crown Prince, who had suspended his march until the " Army of the Rhine " had been disposed of. It is probable that these new arrivals on the Marne will be charged With the task of observing—and, if need be, fight ing —the army of MacMahon, while the Crown Prince pushes "resolutely" on to the capital. What does this all signify fur the French armies ? We have to-day no authentic tidings of MacMahon ; but on most trust worthy authority, we are assured that his whole 'army quitted Rheims on Monday night. It is perfectly clear that with whatever prospect or whatever plan the Second French Army is refusing the combat. If it had counter: marched from Rheims to Chalons on Monday night, it would have been ere now aux prises with the Prussian outposts about the Camp of Monrmelon ; but evidently its direction is westwards, not 'eastwards. MacMahon's plan, possibly, is to post his army somewhere to the north-east of the capital, in the quadrangle between Soissons, Compiegne, Senlis, and Villers Coterets, keep ing up a close communication with the city, and threat ening the flank of tne invaders coming from the eastward—while at the same time he is prepared to receive what troops Bazaine can bring to him by the railway through Mezieres. Or his retreat from Rheims may have been directed, not on the Aisne, but on the Lower Marne, with the design of occupying the passages at Chateau-Thierry, La Fertd, and Meaux, and thus retaining the power of passing the river at will, to fall on the Prussian flank. No doubt, for the second plan, no march on Rheims was requisite—as it would have been for the first—since it was sufficient to move from Chalons by the road along the north bank of the Marne; but the French s hemes seem strangely liable to change from hour to hour, and, wherever MacMahon has marched from Rheims, his present plan is said to have been " suddenly adopted." It is not abso lutely possible that the intention of the French com manders is, after all, to throw their army across the Marne by Epernay or Chateau-Thierry, and thus regain the advantageous central defensive position which they had wantonly sacrificed. It would certainly be much less dan gerous for them to fight, 150,000 or 200,000 strong, with the fortifications of the capital to fall back upon, than to hold a menacing position on the right of Paris, exposed to the attack of the First and Second German Armies advancing westward between the Marne and the Aisne— and unable, consequently, to prevent the Third Army from insulting, or bombarding, at least the outer defences of the capital.—Telegraph. THE LAST BATTLE BEFORE ➢IETZ. In the Is ew Prussian (Cross) Gazette is to be found a fuller German account of th e last great battle before Metz— that which goes under the diverse names of Rezonville and Gravelotte : " The Farm of Sainte Marie aux Barraques, Aug. 19. " Victory, and again victory ! A double victory —on the 16th, under the command of Prince Frederick Charles, and yesterday, on the 18th, under the command-in-chief of King William. Now, for the first time in this tenant forsaken and frightfully devastated homestead—whose owne, by the way, was shot by order of court-martial for betraying to the French by signals the positiOn of the Ger man troops—where all the wells have been choked, and where neither the wounded nor our mortally wearied troops can find the least nourishment, in this place I snatch a moment to send you a description of the glorious but yet painful results of the last two battles. General it must be, for amidst this huge concourse of troops, the transport of many wounded, tiltp bringing up of Prussians and munitions, and the hasten ing past of the sanitary corps and voluntary tenders of the wounded, it is impossible either to find a moment of rest or a place where one can write down his experiences. Let me begin with the result. The enemy has been thrown back from this point on the west into Metz, except a small force, respecting which intelligence is yet wanting because it seems to have made its escape to the north-west; and thus the enemy have been ent off from Paris by the whole three great German armies of the west, and in any case can now escape on:y into Belgium, unless, after six lost battles and combats, he finds himself capable of attacking the rear of the whole united army in a seventh battle, and then, according to all probability, to be completely crushed. As in the year 1814, the French army, which could have defended Paris as well in its various positions as before and in Paris itself, has been, through the skilful manoeuvres of the Prussian generals, cut off from the capital. Three German armies, with six teen army corps, have pushed themselves between, and it is utterly impossible for the French to re cover their disadvantage. On the afternoon of the 14th was Bazaine on the east of Metz, and then on the right bank of the Moselle, so thoroughly beaten that he was thrown back into the fortress itself, and our troops reached the very glacis of the works. After this combat, all the corps of the two armies of Steinmetz and Prince Frederick Charles crossed the Moselle to the south of Metz upon pontoon bridges, • and threw back the French corps which had been hurried up to repulse them. On the 18th ensued the decisive battle. The army of the Crown Prince from Nancy made an oblique march, and pressed forward westward to the highway from Metz to Verdun, by way of Vigneulles. Meanwhile, both the other armies, with the exception of the First Army Corps, which was left in position to the east of Metz upon the battle-field of the 14th, in order to prevent any possible diversion on the part of the enemy, threw themselves from south to north upon the enemy, who in the mean time had collected all his forces, and now stood upon the highway to Paris, thus facing westward. But by our iapidly-advancing troops he was cut off from the road, and thrown back into the fortress in such a way that a repeated attempt to make his way out of it may be re pelled with less difficulty than it took to drive him into it. His Majesty the King, after having ridden over the whole battle-field of the 16th, and informed him self of the positions already attained, left his quarters at four in the morning, and was on horseback the whole day. When the French in the course of the battle first observed the object for which we peculiarly strove, their resistance was truly desperate. The able manoeuvre of forcing them away from Paris seems not even remotely to have entered their minds, otherwise they would have taken stronger possession of the roads to the capital, or they would already have begun, or at least attempted, the retreat towards Verdun. The conviction at last forced upon them that they would be paralysed for the remainder of the war, seems to have produced upon them a terrible impression ; so that the last moments of the conflict bore on their side a character of desperation, and in ours of the most determined sacrifice and devotion. The firing continued till dark, so it was too late for the King to return to Pont-a-Mousson from the battle-field, a distance of four miles (16 English). A bivouac was, therefore, ordered. Moreover, the King apparently did not leave the field, tor the further reason that he was desirous to ascer tain by the break of day on the 19th whether the French had actually yielded to the terrific shock and withdrawn into the fortress. Everything was at once got ready for the King and his attendants to bivouac on the field. As, however, in the distance a solitary farm-house was dis covered standing, though terribly devasted, near Rezon vine, his Majesty yielded to the advice of his staff, who insisted on the necessity of his having a night's rest, in view of the possible renewal of the fight the next day, and withdrew for a few hours to a small room of the farmstead, while the generals put up with such accommodation as they could find in the stables, and the rest of the atten dants spent the night in the middle of the conquered, bloodstained battle-field. One can gather from the tes timony of the oldest and most experienced of our soldiers the extraordinary severity of the battle, in which the French, for the first time since the campaign began, seemed to have recovered their old energy, and the sight of the countless dead and the long train of wounded con firms their statement. The losses, alas ! are fully in proportion to the magnitude of the result ; but this heavy sacrifice has not been offered in vain to the Fatherland and to the peace of mil lions; it has not been lightly demanded by Germany, but has been wantonly forced upon her by the French. The names will arrive home but too soon. In the meantime, let the whole Fatherland rejoice in the brilliant result. The last attack of the third division (General von Hart mann's) of the Second Corps d'Armee, under the personal leadership of General von Fransecky, on the heights of Gravelotte, must have been the most terrible known in the war history of modern times since the improvement of firearms. On the slopes the French had entrenched themselves in three stages of rifle pits, dug one ab ove the other, and the road over the heights behind was occupied by heavy artillery. The attack was, however, victorious ; so that, at present, Metz, with its fortified camp, is fully surrounded. On the east, German, or right bank, of the Moselle are stationed the whole of the First Corps (Von Manteuffel); on the west, or left bank, of the Moselle, the Twelfth Corps (the Royal Saxon troops), whose cavalry has already destrOyed the line of rails between Metz and Thionville in two places, thus breaking off here means of flight. Towards the south are the Guards; next to them the 9th ; and, quite in the south, on the actual battle-field, the 18th, the Bth, and the 7th Corps. In reserve on the Paris roads are the 3rd and 10th Corps, and in special positions of honour next to the enemy on the heights taken from them are stationed the 2nd Corps. The 4th Corps appears to be ordered off for some special purpose, and most certainly it will be heard of shortly. The more plain the conquered position becomes, the greater appears the result of the bold manoeuvre. Again, on this occasion his Majesty the King was in personal danger, more especially during the attacks made by the 7th, Bth, and at last the 2nd Corps, on Gravelotte. The War Minister, Von Boon, can therefore not be sufficiently thanked for having implored the King to quit these dan gerous posts. On the 19th instant the King remained all the morning on the conquered battle-field, receiving de spatches from all directions. The troops are now closing up and hemming the French in, so that soon a line of earthworks will be drawn round the fortress. It was not until after midday, when his Majesty had ascertained the final result of the desperate battle, that he returned back to Pont-a-Mousson by way of Gorce and Pragny. Some days' rest have been ordered for the troops. In the course of a few days it is expected that the King will visit Nancy, or that the Crown Prince will arrive here. says :—' >y an officer on board the Magnanimie, which is anchored off Heligoland. On the 18th a Prussian vessel, bearing a white flag, and having on board a Vice-Admiral and the Prince of Hesse, accompanied by several officers approached the Magnanime, which is the flagship. Admiral Fourichon remained in his cabin and the party were received by Baron Roussin, the captain of the ship, and chief staff officer of the squadron. The following conversation then took place :—The Prince of Hesse : Monsieur, I am Prince of Hesse.—Baron Roussin : Mon sieur, lam delighted to receive you.—The Prince : You cannot be ignorant of the incontestable success of our arms on shore. For the rest it is not my place to tell you, but I only come to say that if you continue the blockade, your Government must prepare to pay his Majesty the King of Prussia a very heavy indemnity, for you are ruining our commerce.— Baron Roussin : France, M. le Prince, is not so much compromised as you represent and until fresh order:, are received I am certain the admiral will maintain the blockade with rigour," The Gaulois, after telling the story, observes that the visit was nothing but a disguised espionage with the object of ascertaining the state of the French naval forces and learning whether the Prussian fleet, which is daily augmenting, can venture to meet it. The Prussian fleet, however, remains in the bay of Jande. The French cruisers have made several good prizes, and are especially gratified at the capture of several vessels 'aden with coal, which are of great value to them. THE EMPRESS AND THE COLONEL.—The Empress visited the military hospital of Val de Grace on Tuesday afternoon, and passed by the bedsides of the wounded soldiers who were brought to Paris after the unhappy affairs of Weissenburg and Woerth. She stopped several minutes in conversation with Lieutenant-Colonel Colonieu, of the 2d Turcos, whose regiment was so dreadfully cut up. The brave old soldier forgot his suffering in the presence of her Majesty, expressed the hope that he would soon be on his legs again, and declared that the dearest wish of his heart was to collect the wreck of his former command, and, at their head, avenge the death of his comrades. As the august lady was leaving, the colonel asked the favour to be allowed to touch her hand. "It is you do me the favour," said the Empress, cordially grasping the brown hand of the old soldier, and pressing it long between her own. The colonel's eyes moistened, and as large tears glistened on his cheeks lie half rose from his pillow and cried, " Your Majesty, if I could take it on me to speak for the army, I could say to you they will never come to Paris ; they will never get here. I swear it." " Colonel, said the Empress calmly but firmly, " I am of your opinion ; but if it pleases God to send us that trial, and they do come, they will find me here." The word Prussians was never spoken. The soldier was not the only one who wept.—Paris Correspon dent of the Standard. ENGLISH RESIDENTS IN FARTS —I bave been re quested to bring under the notice of the public the critical position of the poorer classes of our countrymen in Paris, many of whom are utterly dependent for the means of re turning to England, and the bare necessaries of life until they can be forwarded, on the British Charitable Fund. This excellent institution has made the greatest exertions to meet the run upon it occasioned by the sudden outbreak of the war, but its resources have been well-nigh exhausted by the present emergency. In ordinary times the contributions of wealthy English residents and visitors afford a resource which is now cut off, and an application has been made through Lord Lyons to her Majesty's Government to come forward and give material aid to this most deserving charity. Applica tions of this kind to Governments are, however, but seldom attended with success; but an appeal to the public under such circumstances can hardly fail to be responded to. Bear in mind that, among the destitute British in Paris, there are a large number of governesses, female servants, nurses, &c., of a most respectable character, who, for want of means to get home, are exposed to All the awful tempta tions to which destitution exposes women in all large cities, especially Paris. I need hardly dwell upon this part of the subject, and will merely add that subscriptions, however modest, in postage stamps, &c., will be thank fully received by the Hon. Alan Percy Herbert, M.D., honorary secretary and treasurer, 235, Faubourg,, St. Honore, Paris.—Paris Correspondent of Standard. No THOROUGHFARE.—The refusal of the French to allow the wounded in the battles before Metz to be transmitted to the hospitals of Aix-la-Chapelle involves a difference of three days, as against three hours' transit ; that is to say, it signs the death-warrant of some thou sands of their own countrymen prisoners in Prussia, as well as of their wounded enemies. It is true that iome problematical advantage may be derived from the terrible aggravation of mortality and suffering involved in the re fusal to allow the combatant army to relieve themselves of this load; but it must be remembered that precisely similar advantages are accorded by the conditions of the Treaty of Geneva, which allow the combatants on either side to leave their wounded within the enemy's territory. under the protection of the red-cross flag, and which neu tralise alike the wounded, the ambulances, and the medical officers on either side, and relieve the retreating combatants of their encumbrances. In the rout of MacMahon's army 112 members of the French medical staff were cut off, comprising 75 surgeons and 37 assis tants. All have been sent back, via Cologne and Belgium, over this neutral territory. No objection has been made, nor is likely to be made, to their travelling by this route. The wounded are now expressed neutra lised, and we cannot help feeling deep regret that they are not allowed to be sent to hospital by the shortest route over neutral territory.—British, Medical Journal. THE FRENCH LOAN.—The new French loan is a curiosity, and the lenders a study. Not the moneyed people, or those with credit on the Bourse. They belong to a type you may see at home. It is the small lenders, the saving souls who have francs to invest, not Napoleons, who form the queue in the Rue de Rivoli outside the de partment of the Minister of Finance. Who are they ? What do they do ? How come they possessed of two pence ? Many of them are in rags, many more are on the border-line between abject and decent poverty, and many more again remind you of poor relations and make you button your pocket and assume a virtuous frown instinc- tively. The whole thing is farcical and puzzling. On the 23rd of August a loan for seven hundred and fifty millions is announced on great posters, exactly as if it were a new comic drama, and at once recals Mr. Buckstone in "Lend me Five Shillings." These posters cover the colonnade reaching from Rue St. Honore to the Rue de Rivoli, and divide attention with the soldiers on duty round the department's walls. It is only when you turn the corner, and are in the Rue de Rivoli itself, that you come upon the crowd. Such faces, such costumes, such playful badinage with the police men ! The lame, the halt, and the blind are here. Babies in arms are admitted: Youth and beauty find their re ward in the attentions of the police, and many a pretty flirtation is carried on, I promise you, between the men who guard and the damsels who wait. The older women look on vicariously skittish, and this branch of the busi ness of filling the national exchequer is broadly comic. The people wait to buy their small shares as patiently as they do to draw out their money from the Bank of France; there are wooden barriers between every fffty or so to prevent over-crowding ; and the sergents-de-ville arrange and sort the applicants with a businesslike, albeit martial gallantry, which reminds one of the gentlemen in uniform at Astley's who used to hold the hoops to, and chalk the feet of, the fair equestrians in the ring. —Paris Correspondent of Daily News. FRENCH ACCOUNT OF THE BUMANITY OF THE PRUSSIANS.—Count Melchior de Vogue, a delegate of the the Paris committee for help to the wounded, who was present at Strasburg, Haguenau, and Weissenburg, has written to the president of the committee a letter, wherein he speaks very highly of the treatment the French wounded experienced at the hand; of the Prussians. He and some of his companions were sur- rounded by Baden troops at Haguenau, but they imme diately obtained a pass for Strasburg. The French surgeons, busy in the hospitals at Haguenau, were left quite free and unmolested. The Prussians visited the wards to remove, as prisoners, the men who might feign wounds or disease, but did their duty with the utmost courtesy and consideration. Medical men, who had left Strasburg to tend the wounded after the battle of Weis- semborg, were granted passes by the Crown Prince, though they had no official mission. The Prince had them conducted to the French outposts, and observed to them that the French wounded were attended to in the Prussian ambulances.—Lancet. THE SIEGE OF STRASBURG.—A letter in the Carlsruhe Gazette, from Obersehaffolsheim, dated the 18th, " Between eight and nine o'clock we left Lampertheim, and, passing through Mundolsheim, Oberhausbergen, and Wolfisheim, we arrived here. We made a circuit at some little distance from Strasburg, aud as we approached the cathedral of that town we could ourselves plainly see that it . a 7; Schittigheim which was on fire ; in fact, even now smoke is rising from that place. We passed endless numbers of troops of all kinds from Baden and Prussia, some encamped along the roads, others marching, others in quarters, and others bivouacked. At some little dis . tance off we perceived a column of horse artillery advanc ing. We also remarked how, as an earnest of our inten tions, that each day had -added to the progress of our earthworks and batteries, and that each night . the trenches, extending in long oblique lines towards Strasburg, had increased in length. All the roads were barricaded, and preparations are made to barricade at a moment's notice even those necessarily open for the circulation and movement of the troops. Open spots were closed by dung carts, and the houses around the village market-place were loopholed so as to command these open spaces. It does not appear as if any fighting had yet taken place towards the south ; the firing that was heard yesterday and last night came from the citadel of Strasburg and from skirmishers. This day at 1.30 a heavy cannonading was openend on Strasburg. No cre dence is given to the rumoured approach of troops from the south to support the garrison. Yesterday was a somewhat eventful day, we having taken up advanced pasitions south and westwards, as also in the valley of Bruche, so as to protect the line of railway leading to Barr. Last evening four houses in Kehl were on fire, as also the citadel of Strasburg ; and it is stated that fourteen more have been burned to-day. The bombardment of Strasburg still continue,." FAVOURABLE FRENCH PROSPECTS. —Turning noW to Macllialion's army, I believe it will' be found that, in stead of a confused and heterogeneous rabble of firemen, police-sergeants, moblots, forestiers, and sailors, he is at the head of as fine and homogeneous a force as ever yet fought for France. The strength of MacMahon's army can not be less than 150,000 men; and by some, who have closely watched the number of soldiers forwarded to the front during the last fortnight, it is asserted that he will be followed into the field by close on 200,000 soldiers. Your readers who contemplate the map, and observe how close the army of Bazaine—if stationed, as I believe it to be, near Montmedy—is to the Prussian railroad base of St. Avoid, will have little difficulty in conjecturing what, if the rumours of to-night are entitled to credit, the next combined move of Bazaine and MacMahon is likely to be. We were told, after the Austro- Prussian war of 1866, that the present conditions of war, which presupposes enormous forces, rapid move ments, and armes le precision, would render fortified cities obsolete and useless. I conversed to-day with one of the ablest and most experienced soldiers in this town, and he said to me; " You will see that, before the next ten days have passed, Thionville and Metz will be pronounced to have saved France." But be the fortunes of the immediate movements of Bazaine and MacMahon what they may, it is difficult to watch the enormous activity and to be cognisant of the resources of France, without being convinced that every Frenchman may to night say with reason ; " Nous en sortons." Prussia has made a noble and gallant dash at victory ; but, if the reports which reach us are true, two nights of heavy rain during the week which followed Forbach and Woerth . have given more employment to the ferankentragen or stretcher-carriers, than even the two sanguinary battles of the 6th of August. I confine myself to speaking to-night of the military situation, which is, I am convinced, re garded here as being favourable to France. —Paris Corres pondent of the Telegraph. THE PRUSSIANS AT LUNEVILLE.—To-day at Luneville I saw shops with large quantities of valuable property in the windows. There was a jeweller's, with a stock of watches, pins, rings, brooches, &c., recklessly displayed ; silk merchants, drapers, booksellers, confec tioners—in fact, a large proportion of the usual trading establishments were open. But the requisitions are heavy, and there is a complaint that when they have been complied with unauthorised demands come in to supple ment them till nothing is left. The bakers cannot keep a loaf, all the tobacco has been cleared off, and the butchers and winesellers are obliged to surrender at discretion. There is no noise or tumult in the streets, no riot, not a drunken man, but the anger of the people is intense, and is kept np by stories, often apocryphal, of acts of severity elsewhere. To the Prussians this state of feeling is almost comical. They avow that they act on a system which has no exceptions, and that they live on the enemy who declared war against them, and whom the fortune of war has for the time delivered into their hands. The French reply that they are prepared for all this, but that they are exposed to three distinct exac tions and to the evils of an utter want of order and of discipline in the conduct of the troops. First, they are "frappes" by the direct demands of the Intendance for supplies for the troops in the town ; secondly, by the seizure of those supplies as they are being brought into the town, and by their appropriation to the uses of other corps further away ; thirdly, by the individual exactions of the soldiery, who take what they please, and seize on the bread, meat, and provisions which are got together to meet the Intendant-General's demands. As far as I can see, the work is methodically done. First, the military authorities make their wants known to the Maire, and that functionary sends round a requi sition (a printed form), with the order attached. Let us suppose it is for a carriage :—REQUISITION.—" The Maire of thetown of Luneville requires M. Quidam, proprietor, to furnish a two horse carriage. The vehicle must be before L'hotel des Vosges to - morrow morn ing (Wednesday), at half - past seven. —Le Maire Sancerotte. Nota.— The gravest consequences will attend a refusal to the present 'requisition." This comes on the top, so to speak, of a dragonnade made on the property to-day by a trooper, who carried off a carriage, two horses, and a driver for the service of the army in the case of the particular person on whom the above has just been served. This is, of course, anything but agreeable—above all to a Frenchman in his own country, where the rights of property are so very jealously guarded. They are almost dazed by it. " Stupefaction " was the word used by one whom I asked as to the effect produced by the Prussian occupation.—Times Corresponw dent in the Prussian Army. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. In a second letter the correspondent of the Daily News, who accompanies the Prussian army, continues his ac count of the battle at nravelotte or Rezonville. In his preceding letter he had reached the point (2.35 p.m.) when the Prussian left began to snake a steady advance. He continues :—At that time the Prussian batteries above Malmaison had almost silenced the French bat teries occupied in shelling the farm-house ; at 2.45 the Prussian right had pushed so far forward that the left, as I have said, also advancing, the troops on the right were compelled to retire a little in order that the cross fire from their own left might not reach them. One of their batteries was brought from the right flank to the centre and opened a sharp fire on the Verdun road. This hap at 2.50 ; at 3 o'clock the Prussian infantry opened a sharp fire both on the Verdun road and against the French sharpshooters in the woods beneath it. By a quarter past 3 the Prussian centre advanced in front of Gravelotte, and some of the sharpshooters crept up the hill and exchanged shots with the French behind their entrenchments. But this ad vance was premature, for the French returned to the attack on the burning farm-house at Malmaison, and so shelled it that the Prussian troops were compelled to leave it and wheel to the left. A Prussian battery, how ever, soon compelled the French to mind themselves and forced them to leave Malmaison alone. At 3.30 the Prussian cavalry was advanced both on the right and left in order to be ready to charge up the road from Gravelotte to the French hill. On the left flank, as they—two regiments of Cuirassiers, two of Uhlans (Lancers), and one of Hussars wheeled by fours in squadrons to the right (in parade order) I had a splendid sight of them, being some 100 yards behind on the Gravelotte road. As they wheeled to the right to gain the road, the batteries pf the Imperial Guard above Malmaison pitched half-a-dozen shells among them very neatly. I was so close to them that I could see with the naked eye the shells bursting in their ranks. One was too high and came clean over the cavalry, and burst about 80 yards in front of me. From the sharp angle at which it fell it did little damage except to the potatoes. The cavalry going at a gallop soon gained the shelter 'of the houses of Gravelotte. Now began the grand attack on the French position. A tremendous fire of artillery from 120 pieces was kept 'up all along the line on the French , works, bad Ifter half an hour's shelling the 33s'd Prussian Regimen* 4 ,thed up the bill. When they got lalf way up Le mitrailleuses opened on them dirld terrible execution at oloee quarters. The men, however, pressed on, though they fell literally by hundreds ; they actually got in the works, and a half-battery of 4-pounkrs, which had followed them, got more than half-way up the hill. But the French ran their mitrailleuses 400 yards farther back be- :ore they could be caught, and from them and their guns, which had been drawn back a couple of hours before, opened so deadly a fire that the 33rd was compelled to re tire down the hill. Then the French mitrailleuses were dragged forward again, and sent a terrible fire into the retreating infantry. The half-battery endeavoured to return their fire, but it was silenced, and all the horses being either killed or wounded, the guns had to be left on the hill side. Of course their breech-pieces were withdrawn, so that they were uselees to the French, who besides did not dare to take them, the Prussian tirailleur fire being far too severe. Then an attempt was made to charge the hill with cavalry, the Cuirassiers and Uhlani dashing up the roads at the batteries, but men and horses rolled over into the hollow road, and they were in turn compelled to retire. Then another infantry regiment, the 67th of the Line, tried the attack, but on a different principle —that is, in skirmishing order instead of in column, Their men crept from bush to bush, and from rock to rock, taking advantage of the slighest inequality of ground to shelter themselves. Another attack was then tried up the road, covered by a tremendous artillery fire, but though the men again got to the French works, they were again shot down in such numbers that they could not hold their ground. In fact, no living being could exist on the road. At 5.15 the King rode slowly a'ong the Gravelotte Road, looking very serious, and doubtless grieving over the terrible slaughter of " meine Kinder," as he loves to call them. At 5.30 there was a partial cessation in the firing. The Prussians brought up more ammunition and got a battery (the 3rd) in position just to the right of the Gravelotte road, and about 1,500 yards from the French post. They then commenced shelling the farm house of La Villette, which commands• the hollow road, and from inside which, and from its garden, a terribly destructive fire had come. At 6.35 the firing had greatly slackened, and was con= fined to the skirmishers on either side. The Prussians brought up reserve ammunition, nearly all their batteries being short of powder and shot, and at 6.50 another tremendous attack began. The 72nd regiment was brought up ready to charge, and again the artillery began, especially firing at the farm-house of La Vilette, which was by this times in flames, though its garden was still held by the French troops. At 7.20 the final attack began ; the 72nd charged up the slope, followed soon after by a regiment of Hussars. After more than an hour's fighting in the dark the French began to retire, the mitrailleuses protecting their retreat. At this time occurred a curious incident. The village of Malmaison, which had been slowly burning all day, burst out into a mass of 'flames visible far and wide in the summer night. The Prussian troops occupying it naturally came pouring out of the burning village, and some foolish bystander raised an alarm that they were retreating before a fresh French flank attack. Then there ensued a general sauve qui peut. The Kranken tragers galloped to the rear, followed by the reserve ammunition waggons, and even by some of the cavalry, who, however, only retired with a view to checking any pursuit on the part of the French. The troops around Malmaison behaved splendidly, for without stopping to ask whether the report was true or not they formed up in line, and stood ready to meet an attack, should there really be one. The King, who was at Gravelotte, instantly set spurs to his horse, and galloped off to Malmaison, not listening to the remonstrances of his staff. When he got to the first• regiment he began to remonstrate, but seeing the steady attitude of the troops, stopped while the officers explained to his Majesty how the alarm had arisen. The King then rode slowly along the line, the troops cheering him loudly. About 9 o'clock there was a lull in the firing. The French had retired be fore the moon rose to Fort St. Quentin and Fort Destas riers, and the hardly won hill was the Prussians ; and the French army, consisting of three corps, that of Mar shal Bazaine, of General Frossard, and of General Lad mirault, were cut off from Paris and the rest of the French army. But the Prussian loss has been frightful. An American paper says that a gentleman in Philadel phia has received a letter from a well known American in Berlin, on intimate terms with the Government of the North German Confederation, which states that a propo sition to place the Prince of Hohenzollern on the Spanish throne was purposely concealed by that Prince from King William for some time, but when that mo narch was consulted on the subject, the project received his prompt and unqualified disapprobation, the King arguing, that considering the peculiar tempera ment of the Spanish people, such a proceeding would be a second Maximillian affair, resulting in the loss of the Prince's head. The writer further says, the King held these views up to the time that the French Government, hearing of the invitation, made its-peremptory demand through Benedetti for an explanation. Nothing but the tone and manner in which the demand was made, after wards followed up by one for guarantees, prevented any further reference to the subject by the King.- The _Gait/pis gives an . account, of a visit paid by the Prince of to the French fleet. The story is told THE STATE OF PARIS. The most alarming rumours are current as to the pro bability of a coup d'etat which is everywhere expected. It was thought that the Government would have acted last night. The Radicals were very uneasy, and some slept out, but when morning broke no one was missing, and the members of the Left were in their places on Thursday. There is a report of the . Empress having demanded the dismissal of General Trochu, but I much doubt whether matters have reached such a point, although by many persons it is thought that the new Governor of Paris will be shortly arrested. On the other hand, it is considered possible that General Trochu, emboldened by the manner in which he was received yesterday at St. Maur, when he went to review the Paris battalions of the Garde Mobile, and by addresses of confidence from the National Guard, may himself try "to save society," as the phrase runs. Everywhere there is suspicion suspicion heightened on the part of the Radicals by the reappearance of MM. Rouher, Baroche, and Persigny in the Cabi ne t C ounc il s ,. an d the visit paid by the former to the Emperor. The Liberte of this evening con tains a very significant article on the Governor of Paris, which is evidently meant to turn the General from any ambitious designs which he may have conceived. Alto gether, our position here appears to be getting darker and darker ; in addition to aims seized, we are now told that important arrests were made last night on the Boulevard Montmartre and the neighbouring streets. Some hundreds of people with money on them which they could not account for were captured. It is said that the llobile battalions at St. Maur, which is just outside the ustells, will be sent farther away as soon as possible.— &iris Letter of Thursday in the Pall Mall Gazette. [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills.— Diseases and Casualties incid en t a l t o yout h may be safely treated by the use of these excellent medicaments accord ing to the printed directions folded round each box and pot. Nor is the Ointment alone applicable to external ailments. Conjointly with the Pills it exercises the most salutary influence in checking inflammations situated in the interior of the body ; when rubbed upon the back and chest it gives the most sensible relief in asthma, bronchitis, pleurisy and threatening consumption. Holloway's remedies are ' especially serviceable in liver and stomach complaints. For the cure of bad legs, all sorts of wounds, sores, and likewise scrofula and scorbutic affections, this Ointment produces a cooling and soothing feeling most acceptable to the sufferer. BIRTHS. On the 23d inst., at Manchester, the wife of Colonel Strange, C. 8., of a daughter. On the 25th inst., at 10, Lower Park Field, Putney, Mrs. Edward G. Rye, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. On the 23d inst., at Bridlington-quay, David Chambers MTall, Esq., 34th Regiment, to Fiances Elizabeth, the second daughter of the late Commander E. J. Benen den-Clarke, R.N. On the 24th inst., at Kentish-town, Richard D'Oyly, the eldest son of Richard Carte, Esq., of 2, Dartmouth park-read, to Blanche Julia, youngest daughter of Wm. Prowse, Esq., of Stroud-green, Hornsey. DiVaTHS On the 24th inst., atWaltham Abbey, Essex, Mr. Richard Bates, aged 79. On the 24th inst., at Great Yarmouth, Riehd. Cotgraye, Esq., Commander R.N., aged 70. London : Printed by GIDEON ACLAND BOYCE, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, and Published by him at THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Middlesex. Saturday, August 27, 1870. •-•;..- C up, Or( oft.o Las Os, cal t I' 1, 70 Illi( (Pat( !tali 4 _gii Darai th e v tiolb 1-1 th Bs. It ad Rolb Or fled' elf ee 84 , a Lad; 3 !. ~ Jiad Il tiirel Ilio n; Itoit -_____ a/iii -•-____. t han *llll f e ___l,j„ee, , Ce il - t gess and Nit/ Blip ( e cnit —_____ ,l, av II: Wli 0181