The Sun. — London, England, 1870-09-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDA_Y I SEPTEMBER 19, ;870. his regiment, which was nothing but a rag, as well as the eagJe, which ha4been knocked off by a bullet, Irhid them all,in a black cabinet. At one time the fountains were dry, and people went in all directions to procure water. In order to pa:ss theorltad to climb over the wounded and the dead, it was a hoijible spectacle. The demoralisation was complete. The French soldiers broke into the store houses to get at the barrels of beer, and broke open cases of powder, believing them to contain biscuits. Presently the accountants came up to pay the army before the arrival of the Prussians. We saw spread out before us some enormous pieces of gold.. During this time the rain fell in torrents, and increased the general disorder." BISMARCK ON THE FRENCTI ARMY. The Journal des Debuts publishes a letter from a corres pondent at Bouillon, Belgium, giving an account of an interview with Bismarck. He says :—During the horrid nightmare in which I have been living these nine days past it was impossible to write a line. The least note of this kind, if found in my pockets, would have brought me into serious trouble with the Prussian Prevost. But one does not forget horrors such as I have witnessed. This evening I must content myself with the only informa tion I am permitted to give at present. M. de Bismarck, I hasten to acknowledge, very willingly gave me, on leaving Rethel, a safe conduct, which I should not have ventured to ask from one of his supercilious sub( nates. purin g the twenty-four hours which he passed at Rethel Bismarck conversed frequently with his hosts and the friends of his hosts. Ho attributed the reverses of the French army exclusively to the incapacity of its leaders, which could, he said, only be compared to that of the French ambassadors. Here he put in a parenthesis. "Benedetti remained too long in Ger many. He did not even learn the German langttage. As for me, when I went to France and Russia I took professors of French and Russian, so as to be able to judge of things for myself. Your generals," he continued, " did not know how to keep themselves au courant of military progress. The soldier always fought well, and especially at Gravelotte. At Sedan the charge of two regiments of Chasseurs was admirable. Reduced to a hundred men, they traversed the Prussian army. The French army continally let itself be surprised, and had no discipline. For instance, at Saarbruok soldiers without arms and without officers were con stantly coming into the town and allowing themselves to be taken. At = Beaumont (on the 29th Aug.) your army was agaid surprised, and what isworse, by theartillery. Surprised again at Sedan, we drove it after three battles in which we commanded the interior of the town, to where it was accumulated and dominated by us t IVlacMahon. was wounded in mounting his horse. There was no longer a commander, no one to replace him. Capitu lation was spoken of. The commandant of the citadel opposed it, and we began bombarding the town. The Emperor then spoke of surrender, and asked me for an interview through General Failly. I did not understand it I thought that the Emperor had charged at the head of his troops to get killed." When the conversation turned upon the general opera tions, Bismarck expressed his astonishment at the undulating march from Rheims to Sedan performed by Marshal MacMahon. "I could understand," he said, " a direct and rapid march by Montmedy. The Prussian army would not have arrived, and could not have pene trated through the French army, which was from the first divided into two. As for the army. of Marshal Bazaine, that is blockaded in Metz by 150,000 , men, who have im prisoned the town in a second circle of entrenchments. There is no siege. Metz will be reduced by famine. The inhabitants have tried to correspond by means of bottles abandoned to the current of the Meuse, but we have already laid nets to defeat this scheme." A lady having asked him if the Prussians would burn Paris, he replied, " Matters will not go so far. But as for the war in the streets, that will only facilitate our entry into the town." " THE DUKE OF FITZJAMES ON PRUSSIAN SEVERITY. The Duke of Fitz-James says he has followed the heroic but unfortunate French army from Chalons, in dis charge of the duty allotted to him by the Societ6 Inter nationale de Secours, but that he does not wish to enter on the long and painful recital of what he has seen. He wishes only to utter a cry of indignation respecting what passed at Bazeilles. " Bazeilles is situated near the Meuse, eight kilometres from Sedan. On the morning of the 31st August the brave inhabitants of this village, seeing the enemy arrive, arrayed themselves in their uniforms as national guards, and assisted the army to defend itself against a Bavarian Corps and against the Sheeler d'Erfurt Division of the 4th Corps of the Prussian Reserves. The French army was repulsed. The enemy entered Bazeilles, and then commenced those scenes of horror and excess which will for ever disgrace those who committed them. The Bavarians and the Prussians, in order to punish the in habitants for defending themselves, fl red the village. The greater part of the National Guard were dead, the popu lation had taken refuge in the cellars, women, children, all were burned. Out of two thou sand inhabitants scarcely three hundred remain to tell that they saw the Bavarians drive back whole families into the flames, and shoot the women who tried to fly. I saw with my own eyes the smoking ruins of this unfortunate village. There was not a house left standing. A smell of burning hnman flesh overcame you. I saw the bodies of the inhabitants calcined at their doors. This, Mr. Editor, is the fact I wish to make known. War bas its rigours, but it has also its regulations, based on the laws of honour and of humanity. These laws, Bavarians and Prussians who were at Bazeilles., you have outraged. You have disgraced your victory. I appeal to the -world, to history, which will judge you, and I ask you whether you have the right to assert the principle that you have the right to kill women and children in a village, whose inhabitants, seeing you come, defended their hearths and "their country. In any case the National Guard is a regular -force, as regular as the 4th or sth Bon of your Landwehr. Even in the name of your unprincipled system, you had not the right to fire Bazeilles. You have killed for the sake of killing ; you have behaved like savages and not like soldiers. These are the facts which I think it my duty to submit to the judgment of all. —Dug DE FITZ JAMES. THE EMPEROR'S AIDES-DE-CAMP. A few days since the Patric published a full account cs the battle of Sedan, written by an officer who was at tached to the staff of General Wimpffen, in which the Emperor appeared in a very unfavourable light. The Inclependance Beige now publishes a reply to this narrative, written by the aides de-camp of the dethroned Emperor, who are with hint at Wilhelmshahe : THE SIEGE OF PARIS. The letter which appeared in the Petrie on the 11th A special correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, writ, September, which was attributed to an officer of General srom Paris on Wednesday, says the letters sent flea Wimpffen's staff, implicates the Emperor too seriously Paris to night will, in each case, borrow their hue am, and too unjustly in the catastrophe of Sedan, for the character from the temperament and disposition of the officers who have the honour to remain with writers froM whom they emanate. It would be easy for his Majesty not to feel called upon to state the correct the optimist to tell you that Paris is impregnable ; facts. When the se vera l comman d ants o f the corps d'armee came to inform the E m p eror th a t t h e i r troops it would be no less easy for the pessimist to sa y were repulsed, dispersed, and pa r tly driven back into the that within forty-eight h ours f rom the time w h en town, the Emperor sent them to the C omman d er -i n -Chi e f , the fortress—for such Paris has become—is summ one d , in order that he might be fully informed of th e s t a t e o f it will lower its colours to th e enem y. The c i rcum - affairs. A t the same time the Gene r al sen t t o th e E m - stances and "surroundin gs "—t o us e an Ameri peror two officers of his staff, bearin g a no t e , i n w hi c h h e canism -of the Paris o f t o - n i g ht aro w ith ou t a proposed to his Majesty not to save the a r my, b u t t o save parallel in history. Th e on ly c ity o f th e same ran k as the French ca pit a l w hi c h h as ever b e f ore himself, by placing himself in the middle of a strong co l umn , ' A LADY'S ACCOUNT OF SEDAN , b een i nves t e d b y an enemy is the semi - fabulous which should endeavour to reach Carignan. The Emperor An interesting letter has been sent from Madame Babylon. Within the eighteen and three-quarter cen refused to sacrifice a great number of soldiers to Ostermann, the wife of an artillery guard at Sedan, to a tulles which have elapsed since the dawn of Christianity save himself, and added that Carignan was occupied by friend at Havre. The writer says ;—" M. Ostermaam no such mighty camp of men as the Paris of 1870 ever the Prussians, but if the general thought he could save left Sedan on the 7th, accompanied by the Commandant," awoke to the consciousness that the enemy was at its any part of the army he might make the attempt ! At as prisoner of war, They were obliged to go on foot from gates. If it be argued that - Paris has already been the same time that tho Emperor's reply reached the corn- Sedan to Port-a-Mousson to join a convoy of officers who; besieged and taken, and that " none but itself mander-in-chief the latter had told General Lebrun, cons- were made prisoners." In giving some details with respect, can be its parallel," it would be easy to answer mandant of the 12th Corps, his scheme of mustering 2,000 to the days which preceded the battle, and regarding the - that s the city which Marmont, the Duke of Ragusa, em or 3,000 men, of putting himself at their head and cutting battle itself, she says that on the 31st of August the' ' rendered to the Allied Sovereigns in 1814, was but the through the Prussitin lines. General Lebrun replied Emperor arrived at Sedan with tho hundred Guards and ghost of the vast and populous capital which, within " You will cause 3,000 more men to be killed, and you his staff. On the morning of the same day sixty or seventy hours, will probably be startled by the will not succeed, but if you mean to try it I will go with Marshal MacMahon arrived with his army, and - thunder of Prussian guns. 'lt is impossible to walk along you." They started, but in less than half an hour at that time the French occupied a most these unconscious and heedless Boulevards without marvel- General Wimpffen was convinced that his de- magnificent position. They held all the heights ling how they will comport themselves when they hear sign was impracticable, and that he h is no choice but to while the Prussians were in a d ee p va ll e y, b u t d ur i ng th e f or th e fi rst t i me t h e " whirrr, whirr, " of a shell lay down his arms. He night the former encamped themselves while the latter hissing over their heads, and are staggered and returned to Sedan, and considering it hard for him, who • kept on marching. At five o'clock the Prussians crossed' shaken by its shattering report when it bursts, had only taken the command per interim, to attach his the Meuse, took possession of the French positions and` and scatters devastation among their windows and name to a capitulation, he sent his resignati on to the commenced the bombardment of Sedan. Marshal Mac- - buildings. I should be inclined to predict that Emperor in the following terms :—" Sire, --I shall never forget the marks of goodwill which y ou h ave bestowed Mahon came to spend an hou r a t th e ChAt eau , he was few towns are less adapted to take shelling quietly upon me, and I should have been happy, for your sake quite calm. During the whole tim e th e b a ttl e l as t e d, the" than the French metropolis. Many small t owns Emperor never stirred from the saloons of the sous-prefee: have heroically endured a feu d'enfer which has been and for that of France, to haw concluded the clay by a tore. At nine in the morning we had the upper hand; rained into their centre ; but although there are a thousand glorious success. I have been unable to attain this result, but soon afterwards the Prussians received reinforcements reasons why Paris ought, if she had a Spartan heart, to and I think Ido well in leaving to others the cleirge of and the rout dbmmenced. During the thickest of the fight - laugh at a bombardment, I dare not anticipate that she conducting our armies. I think it due, in these circum stances, to give in my resignation as commander-in chie Witmeem f, several generals were seated at di nner i n th e H o t e l d e l a w ill qu it h erse lf u n d er fi re lik e Antwerp, Saragossa, and to ask permission to retreat . —I am,c., Croix d'O r . Th e so ldi ers came i n from all parts to Sedan Londonderry, Jellalabad, Hamburg, or Charleston and an & e artillery officer ce to me crying, and a s ki ng f or The Parisians lack independence a n d i n di v id ua lit y of The Emperor refused. sa It was in fact necessary that a white sheet, ' What for?" said I. "To make a white character, and, into the bargain, are more unread and he wlio had had the honour of the command during the flag of," said he, "We are lost." Three times was this ignorant than the inhabitants of any other great capi battle-should secnie as 'much as possible the safety of flag hoisted, and three times did the enemy fire upon it' tal of civilisation, with the exception ofpl. At what remained of the a r my. Th e gen eral understood I:lowever, at last th e y granted us an armistice of the same time, it is perfectly possible th atParis, even this, and withd rew hi s res i gna ti on. It was th en n i ne twelve hours. The Times reporter, with w h om if s h e i s h eav il y s h e ll e d, may learn before king o'clock i n th e e ven i ng , an d th e fi r i ng h a d ceased at the M. Ostermannn had been conversing the day how powerless is her enemy to do her any very serious close of the day. It is completely false to say that the before, was killed by th e b urs ti ng o f an damage. In order to produce any startling effect it will General was thwarted by the Emperor in his plans, and a bres. All the army were p er i s hi ng w ith h unger an d be necessary for the Prussians to pour at least one hun- A letter to the Frankfort Gazette says that munitions in the orders whi c h h e gave, f or h i s M ajesty on l y met fatigue. The officers wept and tore their hair. At my Bred thousand shot and shell into our streets and houses of war are wanting in Strasburg. The other day a him for a moment on the battlefield between ni ne and house I had to lodge a whole staff of ar till er y, an d a during every twenty-four hours. But it will be found, . grenade, which did not burst, fell in ' a battery, which has ten o'clock. The General was coming from Balan, and the genera l o f engineers. General Felix Douay rushed with even if a bombardment of this kind is attempted, that the - . . . been erected towards the youth. On opening it it was Emperor asked him how the battle was going on i n me into the cellar to drink the remains , damage arising from it will be infinitesmally small. I found to contain,. not powder, but stria which had been that quarter. The General replied, " Sir e , thi ngs are of a cask, On leaving, he said, " Mada me o s t ermau need not stop to point out to Your readers what a gigantic , going as well a' Possible, and we are gaining ground.* On you have saved my life." In coming back from the cellar task will be imposed upon the Prussians if they under his Majesty observing that an officer had just told him that I h a d a jug o f b eer i n m y hand, which was; torn from me ' take to bring siege guns from a distaasee of more than 300 f A comical sight was to be seen a morning or two ago on a considerable force of the enemy was outflankin g our left, by of artillery. ln the same room the re were s mil es th roug h an enemy's country, and to supply them ' the Place VendOme, Paris. There were about five thou dozen a general the Genral replied, the much the better ! We must l e t d ozen w „ un d e d men stre t c h e d ou t. The Colonel of the with powder and projectiles sufficient to keep up a ' sand Mobiles, and they were being given new shoes and put in t o give it necessary ' weight. ' them go on; we shall throw them into the Meuse, and we 74th Regiment of th e line entrusted me with th e fl ag o f cons t an t and unintermitted fire upon SO tolossal a uniform troupers. With re p u bli can s i mplicity, they per - scale. But if Paris is true to herself, and-learns after a week of seige how little harm the Prussians. can doher,, depend upon it that, even now, there is hope for Alsace and Lorraine, and that the King of Prussia and Moltke may learn before long to regret that they ever lired a gun at the French capital. FEELING IN PARIS. The Paris correspondent of the Times says :—" The French Government and nation are both naturally so anxious to put a stop to a war which is inflicting incal culable material evil on the country, and may eVaittally lead to political and social evil still more disastrous, that there are hardly any 'conditions, short of territorial ' cession, which they would not, perhaps, ac cept. It is believed that they would pay the expenses of the war, raze to the ground the fortresses of Strasburg and Metz, abolish the conscription, and even consent to (0 limitation of the number of their standing army. There are those who think it possible that the French Govern ment would give up part of its fleet—though this would be indeed a bitter pill to swallow. But nobody, at least nobody I have met, believes that, under any pressure whatsover, they will cede territory. Even if Paris is taken, the Prussians will have to garrison and govern it, while from some other town of France, no matter how obscure and remote, a French Govern went of some kind still defies and nominally carries on war against them. The majority of the Parisians, however, believe that Paris cannot be taken, if a 'tout resistance is made, except by a blockade ; and they are prepared to make a stout resist ance (if present appearances are not strangely deceptive), trusting that long before they are starved out Europe will come to their rescue, moved partly by pity and admira tion at their gallant defence, partly by indignation and alarm at the territorial ambition of Prussia. The resist ance is likely to be all the stronger in consequence of the belief that the King of Prussia intends, if he can force his way into Paris, to endeavour to put Napoleon again , upon the throne. There is an intensely bitter feeling among a large portion of the Parisians against the Emperor. Nothing is too bad to be believed of him." THE PRENCH ARMY. The Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph writes : —" We had a striking demonstration yesterday of the strength of the garrison which Paris contains. It was, I presume, with a view to giving heart to our two millions of inhabitants that General Troehu conceived the idea of making some two or three hundred thousand men pass ostentatiously in review before him from the Arc de l'Etoile to the Bastille. No one could have looked on and watched the steady, sober, and brawny peasants, who marched in endless file before the Governor of Paris and the Provisional Government, without petceiving that they were made of very different material from the rank and file who trooped through Paris at the commence ment of the war and' marched' to the front amidst yells and choruses " A Berlin !" When this gigantic struggle is terminated there will, doubt less, he some startling revelations of the cor ruption and imbecility which have characterised the Imperialism of the Second Empire, and which have reduced that once mighty engine of war, the French army, to the wretched state of inefficiency in which Niel and Lebceuf left it. But although the dis closures which will hereafter leap to light cannot fail to shock and surprise us, I am told that few will be more astounding than those that will lay bare the manner in which the conscription has been worked. Your readers are doubtless aware that in each successive year it has been the custom in. France to take the names of all the young men who had arrived at a certain age, and to throw all those names into urns from which a specified number - were taken by lot to serve as conscripts in the regular army. Wherever the name of a young man thus selected who happened to be rich, or engaged in a lucrative trade, or about to be married, or, for any other rea son, was disinclined to join the army as a soldier, the State permitted him to pay a certain sum, which -varied in amount year after year, and which exempted him from the necessity of shouldering a musket and learning the goose-step. This " substitute fund" ought, strictly speaking, to have been devoted to the purpose of finding rernplacants, or men who, by reason of the bounty paid them, would consent to replace others who had been originally selected, but who had bought themselves off. Unless lam misinformed, this very fund was the rich prize upon which the Poachers have found that it was most easy to lay their encroaching hands, and thus to starve the army of the men who were absolutely required to make up its complement. It will thus be understood why the efficient sum total of the French army, which ought, according to law, to have been 400,000 men, amounted to but 250,000 when the Emperor and the Duc de Gramont took Prussia by the nose. There is something grotesque and ludicrous, if it were not humiliating and saddening to every French heart, in the thought that a Government which was either con sciously or from careless irresponsibility, robbing and weakening the army upon which it was supported, should have thrown itself into a war which required greater strength of armament and readiness of preparation than any other upon which France ever embarked. But in addition to the fact that a large number of conscripts annually bought themselves off, and were never replaced by substitutes, it was universally remarked in Paris that the regiments hurried to the front at the end of July were composed of small, weak, and unsoldierlike men. It has since transpired that the officers who had charge of the bureau de remplacement were in the habit of bribing the poorest and meanest specimens of French humanity to serve inthe army, Because they were willing to become soldiers upon cheaper terms than young active men who were able - to support themselves by their own industry and skill as workmen or agricultural labourers. If lam not mistaken, this war has sounded the knell of the conscription in France for all future time. It was against the conscription, and the First Napoleon's unsparing use of it, that, in hip famous pamphlet, pub- lished in 1814, Chateaubriand thundered with an elo quence and force which no French writer has ever sur passed. "By the conscription," he exclaimed, "trade, arts, and letters are remorselessly destroyed. Neigh bouring nations, forced, whether they like it or not, to arm in self-defence, abandon in their turn the blessings of civilisation, and, precipitated upon one another, bring the Goths and Vandals, and the concomitant calamities of their era, back upon,the stage. Children, doomed to pillage and slaughter, no longer care for their parents— fathers and mothers no longer bestow solicitude upon their children. The code of the conscription will remain an eternal protest against Napoleon Bonaparte's reign. It is truly the code of hell. The generations of France were arrayed in regular rows for the axe, like the trees of a I forest. Each year saw 80,000 young men cut down am inexorably Sacrifice l." INCAPACITY OF THE LATE GOVERN MENT. Countless stories are told of the incompetence and igno rance of the late Government by the French papers. The following is given as authentic :—When it became evident that the Prussian army was on the road to Paris, a foreign speculator, who said he had special opportunitie for provisioning the capital, obtained an interview with General Palikao. He undertook to place at the. Minister's disposal within eight days a large supply o potatoes which (thanks to his individual connections) he could obtain from the forts of Antwerp and Rotterdam. The Minister received this proposal with eagerness, and it was immediately arranged that the potatoes should be delivered at the store houses of Dunkirk at a price forty per cent. above market value for cost of shipment and other ex penses. The engagement was scrupulously fulfilled, and General Palikao then asked if the agent could not supply him with a large quantity of rice. The contractor, after some reflection, agreed, stipulating that this time Havre should be the place of delivery, which was agreed to. The speculator had the satisfaction of pocketing the sum of 230,000 f. as his clear profit in these two transactions, M. de Palikao being all the while happily unconscious that he could have bought the rice and potatoes at Havre and Dunkirk themselves, without troubling Antwerp and Rotterdam. The working men's meetings in London in fa,voar of peace without cession of ground by Prance, have produced an excellent impression in Paris. Mr. Beales is an especial favourite. At Newca4le the intelligence that the French blockad ing- squadron had left the mouth of the Elbe has caused a considerable amount of inquiry on the quay-side, in view of a prospect of the resumption of trade with Hamburg. The trains on the Northern Railway stop at Breteuil, sixty miles from Paris. The injury received by Duke William of Mecklenburg from the explosion of a magazine in the citadel of Laon, is not serious, but only a contusion of the foot, which does not prevent his following the troops in a carriage. Bennigsen and Lasker, Liberal leaders in the Prussian Parliament, are at Munich, with a view to confer with Ministers there on the expediency of Bavaria joining the North German Confederacy. The Prussian Minister, De Ebruck, is expected from Rheims on a similar mission. The Paris correspondent of the Telegraph says that Eng land has sent a second French note to the German head quarters. It contains four articles, and demands peace on the basis of the integrity of French soil. The King of Prussia, in reply, hesitates to deal with the Govern thent of National Defence. The number of • French prisoners in Germany is 140,000 privates, 62 Generals, 4,800 officers. Among them is Colonel Palikao, son of the late Minister, who is at Wesel. His mother is at Cologne. The London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, takes a somewhat remarkable view of the situation : There is a growing belief that the affair will end in a grand military spectacle. Count Bismarck is reported to have said a few days ago that it would be " easier to grant moderate terms to France prostrate and out of reach of help than while her head was still free and her right arm unpinioned." There is good common sense in this. The astute Chancellor of King William discerns clearly that the prestige of Prussia cannot be raised by the slow process of emaciation and extermination. He has already, it is said, dropped the mention of Lorraine as a province to be ceded ; and if the King of Prussia could return to Berlin having extorted a war indemnity, ten ships of war, and the demolition of the frontier fortresses as the con ditions of peace signed at Versailles, Alsace would not remain a sine qua non. THE AMERICAN CONSUL AT MARSEILLES. The Semaphore of Marseilles contains a full account of the popular demonstration made in that city before the American Consulate. The crowd was very great, and the enthusiasm was general. M. Esquiros, the Ministerial representative, and M. Lapadid, prefect of the town, headed the procession, which was pr e c e d e d by F renc h an d' American flags. M. Esquiros delivered an addres s t o th e . Consul, thanking him in the name of the people of Mar seilles for the sympathy shewn by the American Govern ment for the French Republic. In the last century it was the independence of America, which proved th e day break of the French Revolution. France, now temporarily vanquished, did not invoke the protection of any foreign nation. She knew how to save herself, but she wished to thank General Grant for his noble words. Hitherto France and the United States were only connected by telegraphic wires and commercial relations. Political institutions raised a barrier between them, but to-dayithe barrier was broken down, and the ti e o f a common liberty r united them. To this address Colonel Price, the Ameri can Consul, replied in the following terms : , " Citizens of Marseilles, I thank you three times over. I express myself badly in French ; but all languages are alike in affirming the rights of the people. Republican France has become the worthy sister of the American Republic. The United States have recognised the French Republic ; we welcome her into the great family of na tions. Frenchmen, you were our first friends. To-day, we Americans wished to be the first to give you our cor dial congratulations, and to wish you a happy result in your work of regeneration. Our sympathies have con quered space, and we have given you the hand with th e speed of lightning. We are Republicans and friends. Henceforth our flags shall float together. At the birth of our nation we were poor and weak, France is rich and powerful. We were three millions, you are forty millions. Our country was a vast blank ; your soil and yourheavens are so fertile and so charming that all the world calls you La belle France. You have free soil and free labour : guard well those conquests ; be strong against personal slavery, and respect individual responsibility; confer your offices on eminent citizens, and you will remain free. I have committed a great crime in murdering your fine language, but it will survive my ill-treatment ; whereas the Napoleonic dynasty, which you have exterminated, will never revive. Thanks, in the name of the Republic, and I wish triumph and perpetuity to the French Republic." LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. The Athenceum says :—lt was good news for those who Love Art that the treasures of the Louvre have been re moved from Paris to a place of safety, the whereabouts of which has been kept secret. There can be no impro priety in wishing that the English Government, or, say, the ever-energetic Mr. Henry Cole, had borrowed for the time as many of the most precious pictures in question as could be accommodated at South Kensington.—Herr C. Mayer, the engraver, has died at Vienna.—Mdlle. Nilsson, accompanied by Herr Maurice Strakosch (who, with his brother, Ma x St ra k osc h , are t h a speculators in the Transatlantic tour of the Swedish songstress), and by Mr. Jarrett, her agent (late acting man ager o f th e Drury lane Italian Opera), have by this time reached New York. —The farewell tour in the chief towns of the United Kingdom are of Signor Mario has commenced. He is accompanied by Signor Sivori, the violinist,—and the Chevalier de Kontski, the pianist,—and Fraulein Lieb hart and Mdlle Enriques, vocalists.—Sir Michael Costa's new German national hymn 4' All Honour to the Ki ng ," composed expressly for the King of Prussia and first per formed in Berlin in presence of the Royal Family in 1868, has been published simultaneously in Berlin, Leipzig, and London.—A new comedy is announced from the pen of Signor Achille Montignani, entitled "La Contessa di Camporeale," written expressly for Signora Pezzana, whose talented and powerful impersonation of Fernande, in M. Sardou's play, was lately a great success at the Rossini Theatre in Venice.— Considerable curiosity has been expressed regarding Pro fessor Jowett's "Plato." We are able to give the fol lowing particulars. The book, which will be in four thick octavo volumes, will contain a translation of all the works of Plato • and to each dialogue will be prefixed an intro duction of considerable length. The work has occupied the new Master of Balliol for many years, and has been submitted by him for revision to several scholars of emi nence : it may be expected before the end of 1870.—Mr. S. C. Hall is engaged on " A Book olilllemories of Great Men and Women of the Age," with whom he has been personally acquainted.—A translation of Mr. Disraeli's "Lothair," in parts, is passing through the press in Hol land. The translator is Mr. A. H. Verster. Among translations from the English which have recentlyap peared in that country, are—Thackeray's " Pendenms ;" Garibaldi's "Rule of the Monk," from the English edi tion ; "Catherine St. Quentin," translated by Mr. Van Westrheene ; Miss E. S. Phelps's "Light th roug h th e Gloom ;" Mr. Ward Beecher 's " Norwood ;" Mr. J. Gardner's " Religions of the World," adaptedto Holland; " Faith Gartney's Girlhood," by Mr. C. E. Busken Ilnet; a new translation of " Robinson Crusoe ;" Captain Marryat's " Midshipman Easy ;" and Mr. Whyte " M. or N." One of the King of Prussia's couriers is missing. Three weeks ago he left Berlin for head-quarters, arrived safely, and was sent back to the capital escorted by two soldiers. He has not since been heard of. Probably the French free-shooters could give some account of him. A gentleman who was rummaging the old book stalls on the Quai Voltaire the other day came across M. Thiers' estimate for the fortifications. The ex-President of the Council when proposing them to Parliament set down the expense at 113,000,000 francs. What they really cost was 240,000,000 francs ; but no one quarrels with the price now, and never was the member for the Seine so popular as to-day while invoking the interference of the great Powers, lest his bastions should be attacked by Krupp. CACAOINE.—Cacoa nibs on the removal of the oil fall into powder, and this powder is cacloine. Cac.loine contains neither sugar nor any other admixture whatever. Caeaoine makes one of the lightest, thinnest of warm drinks, and is the most de• sirable of all for use in the later hours of the day. Cactoine, by reason of the ingenious method by which the oil is removed, pre serves all the fine natural flavour of cacao nibs.—Prepared only by, James Epps and Co., Homoeopathic Chemists, 112, Great Rus sell-Street ; 170, Piccadilly ; and 48, Threadneedle-s treet ;at their Works for Dietetic Preparations, Euston-road.—ADVT. formed their toilettes corani popido, and put on thei e trousers over their old ones. M. Bombonnel, a noted panther hunter, and now leader of a small body of freesbooters, fifteen in number, reports that within a few days he and his men killed 20 Prussians, -of whom three were officers, took 26 prisoners, and cap tured some few horses and vehicles. They lost one man. One of the Prussian artillerymen before Strasburg, has been rewarded for a brave action. A shell dropped in the midst of a battery. The gunner seized it, and threw it as far as he could into the open field, where it exploded. A similar act was done during the Crimean War at least once by Englishmen. Madame Canrobert, who recently arrived at Windsor frcm i sf a h quitted Grove House, the residence of her mother, Mrs. ald, and left England, it is under stood, for the Continent, in search of her husband. The children remain with Mrs. Macdonald at Windsor. Madame Canrobert is naturally extremely anxious as to the position of the marshal. A French correspondent of the Times expresses his belief that if, on the fall of the Empire, instead of M. Jules Favre's circular, there had been a direct proposal of peace on the part of the new Republic, a firm repudiation of the Imperial policy of aggression both in the past and in the future, and a proposal to leave to the arbitration of neutrals the compensation due to Germany for the wrongs inflicted by Imperial France, we should have been in a better position now, King William's refusal—had he refused—would have done more to enlist neutral Europe on our side than any arguments M. Thiers can use. The Cross Gazelle has this anecdote to relate :—A volunteer in one of the infantry regiments found in the breast pocket of a Frenchman killed at Gravelotte a letter from a Frenchwoman, who, from the terms of the letter, was evidently his cousin, in which the writer, in a post cript, always the essence of a woman's letter, says, "Make haste to return, and bring with you the head of one of these infttmes Prussiens 1' I should rejoice in such a wedding gift 1" THE WAR. PARIS INVESTED. FRIDAY. The Germans, or as people here call them, the Prus sians, are now before the gates ; and the wished-for moment has arrived. I say " wished-for," because the suspense of waiting for the termination of the vic torious Teuton march from Sedan has become utterly intolerable to everybody here. People are anxious to terminate it, no matter at what price. For the peacefully disposed the horrors of an actual siege cannot be much worse than the miseries endured in this space of preparation ; whilst there are unquestionably thousands of good men who are firmly convinced that the heroism of Paris under its great trial will redeem all the disasters of the battle field, and that the coming siege will prove one of the most remarkable military events in his tory. Hence they are desirous of beginning. But to the Government the few days of unexpected delay, for it was thought that we should have had the Germans in sight at the beginning of the week, have proved most valuable. Much bad beendone by Mondpy, but much remained, and at least a part is accomplished. In the way of soldier drilling, of food providing, obstacle removing, and fortification finishing, it is wonderful how much a single day can bring about. The array of defence, in the shape of men, walls, and food, is really very respectable. I cannot say anything about ammunition, which is a sore and doubtful point, but in other respects great progress has been made. The total number of available rifles in the capital is variously given, but it cannot be under 300,000, and it may be nearer 400,000. Such a heterogeneous multitude as this is oould do little in the open field, but fighting behind walls is another affair. The raw recruit becomes the match of a first-rate soldier when the first is protected bya rampart, and the other is in the open field. The men assembled here make no discreditable show. They consist of about 10,000 free shooters, all active men who have taken to fighting through the love of the thing, and therefore ought to acquit themselves well ; 100,000 Gardes Mobiles who are capital stuff for the formation of an army—though they require more time ; an indefinite number of sedentary National Gardes, who also shew creditably ; a few thousand sailors and others ; and a large body of regular troops who, however, are, perhaps of less value than any of the other defenders, so demora , used are they with the late events in the field. Taking the army as a whole, however, it is not to be despised. The improvement within the last few days is really remarkable, and quite inspirits the public. Very good order is kept, though the troops are a motley crew. They obey their officers, which is more than can be said of the well-dressed levies who fought at Sedan. General Trochu has just held a review. A large por tion of the Paris army, probably equal to 150,000 men, was on the ground. They covered an immense space, 4retching all along the Boulevards, Quays, and Places iko the Champs Elysees. It was vain to attempt any manoeuvres with such a tremendous array. They had the utmost difficulty in finding a standing place. All that was done was to arrange them in the best order, and then pass by the ranks and inspect. The result was certainly not unfavourable. True, the men looked odd, for there are no uniforms for the vast majority, and their common clothes, with scarcely a sign of military appendage about them, have a very queer look. But the persons of these Gardes, espf , =-ially those from the provinces, are generally of the best kind, indeed much better than the men of the line, for the Mobiles are often sons of well-to-do people, who have bought them off, and who have now to face a necessity from which there is no escape. On the whole the Parisians were greatly impressed by the number and good behaviour of the force assembled. Of peace there is not a very great deal said, though Paris of course would prefer a fair settlement to the desperate risk of a siege. The Dant; reply ing to the argument that the people of France, equally with the Imperial Government, were responsible for the war, admits that beyond doubt a considerable portion was eagerfor the fray,but argues that another portion, far from inconsiderable, was fully alive to the iniquity and danger of an aggressive war upon Germany. To Include the whole of the French in the indictment is wrong; and it is unjust to refuse assistance in the shape of mediation because some people in Paris shewed delight when war was de _ dared. The Daces expresses disappointment at the atti tude of the Times. Other journals express indignation, as well its disappointment The Soir is the leading ex- ponent of peace hopes. Every day it cries aloud for the cessation of hostilities. It has just published one article, in which it says that the great need of the situation is a Sister Anne. Sister Anne, it will be remembered, plays an important part in the finale of " Bluebeard," by waving her handkerchief and calling up her brothers whilst Fatima is about to be immo- sated by the tyrant of many wives. France is compared by the Soir to Fatima ; Prussia is the ferocious _ _ Blue Beard, but where is the Sister Anne to call up the brothers? There is a variety of items relating to the advance of the Prussians, but they are not of very special interest in detail. The sum and substance of the whole is that the enemy is close to the city, so close that the investment may be expected to commence at once. It is wonderful how truth-telling the papers are becom ing under the Republic. The Figaro, which formerly told the most monstrous tales of French success, now prints a quietbulletin containing the melancholy assurance that things are not going on well with the fortresses of the East. Bazaine has tried a sortie, but without success, and at Strasbourg the Germans are employing such pro digious balls that no place of shelter can resist them. shall gain the victory." These are tlfe only communica tions which the Emperor had with General Wimptten during the action, and it is equally false to state that there was the least altercation between them. When they sepa. rated the Emperor embraced the General with warmth: THE GENERAL AIDES-DE-CAMP OF THE EMPEROR : PRINCE DE LA MOSSOIVA, GASTELNEAU, DE WAURERT, CTE. REILLY, VTE. PAJOL. THE FRENCH PRESS ON THE CHANCES OF MEDIATION. The Soir says that if its private information is correct England has taken a good many steps to bring about a peace, but she appears to care little for obtaining favour able conditions for France. The sacrifices of territory and of dignity will cost her little if it is we who are to make them. Count Bismarck has replied to the vague overtures which have been made by the Foreign-office by inquiring what guarantee he could have that the signature of M. Jules Favre and his colleagues would be ratified by future Governments. While England, and Prussia her fierce ally, are exchanging these feints of negotiations, an understanding of a much more active charaeter: kas been established between Russia ► gekiiirA, 'aid Italy. These three powers are anxious to prevent the humiliation of France, and the preponderance of Prussia. They only await the adhesion of England to act vigorously. But England ! The _mete reiterates its declaration that the opening of negotiations will depend on the attitude of Paris, and their satisfactory result upon the force of its resistance. It declares that if they look at the situation as it is they will see that the Prussians, in spite of their victories, are by no means sure of a final success, and that their requirements should be resolutely repulsed if they attack lthe honour of France. It is precisely because they desire peace, and because the Government of the National Defence desires it also, that they have the right to be firm, and refuse to agree to terms which will entail absolute ruin or relative humiliation. The Journal des Debats wishes to consider the situation in all its truth and severity, for a misconception of the state of affairs was the origin of their misfortunes. It is an illusion for the nation to suppose that because the Government which provoked the war has been over thrown it is not responsible for its acts, its follies, or its crimes. This is a mistake, because that same Govern ment, whatever might have been its faults, was for twenty years the Government of France, and appeared so to the rest of the world. It was not the French who overthrew it, but the King of Prussia. Another illusion is that of counting upon the disinterested support of Europe, and putting faith in negotiations which may themselves entail other dangers. Europe will only consult her own interest while she appears-to take care of ours. It is idle to appeal to a sentiment which has no place in the political positivism of our days. If France makes peace she must not do so on conditions which will render her position false and insecure. The Powers which act as mediators have to take into account the manner in which France can pay the cost of a war which has been so unfortunate for her, without offering conditions to her from which she must revolt, and which would be incompatible with a real peace by laying the foundation of a source of disorder in Europe. This is what they must bear in mind for France in the present and for themselves in the future. The Sieele asks if political spirit has vanished from the European world ? One would really suppose so, to judge by the attitude of some neutral Powers. Without speak ing of England, which displays an incarnate egotism ; Russia, who has directed all her policy to the attainment of a Northern empire, hangs back; but if she expects Prussia to yield her a place in her dominion she is mis taken. If England and Russia are mistaken in holding back, what can be said of Austria ? She will never find so good an occasion at the present for revenging Sadowa, for the road to Berlin is open to her, and she might send an army there in a few weeks' time. Where will Turkey find money for her loans, and fleets to cover the Bosphorus, if the great Mediterranean power of France should fall in the struggle with Germany ? The neutral Powers should bear in mind that most disastrous effects for them will follow from the defeat of France. The Unian joins the number of those journals who scorn the idea of a peace which follows upon reverses. "Alas ! it says, "we had enough of the capitulation of Sedan ;we do not want two of them. The only desirable peace is for those who preserve their honour, but a peace concluded under existing circumstances, would be lower ing to our dignity. Let us remember our fathers, who made France, and our children who will demand an account of the trust confided to our hands. Do not let us reckon on Europe. but upon ourselves, and we shall find that the ancient spirit of France has not deserted her." The Temps does not believe that the neutral Powers intend to take up the work of mediation in earnest. The Presse, on the other hand, has great faith in the result of M. Thiers's mission. It thinks that all wise statesmen must recognise the dangerous power which Prussia has gained during the last four years, and which has resulted from the fatal apathy which the Cabinets of Europe exhibited during the war with Austria. The Potpie Francais says that A ustria would be willing to take up the cause of France, but is partly deterred 1 from the influence of race and the national characteristics which are identical in Prussia and Austria. The Austrian people are at the same time proud of the success which has been obtained by those who speak their language, and alarmed at the consequences of the triumph of Prussia. The Etoile believes that the best intervention will be that of guns, and the Moniteur Universel holds the same opinion to a great extent. The Patrie declares that the idea of mediation is not irre concilable with that of a vigorous preparation for defence. In admitting that there is some chance of mediation it says that it can only be realised if the whole of Europe shall find Paris prepared to obtain at any sacrifice a revenge for Sedan. The departmental press passes some remarks on the condition of affairs at present. The Journal du Havre says that a large sum has been subscribed for the defence of the town. The Union de L'Ouest thinks that M. Thiers was the only political man who saw the dangers of the war, and he must, consequently, exercise a great influence on the Cabinets of Europe. The Phare de la Loire says that there is no chance of an armistice unless the neutral Powers impose it on Prussia, and threaten her, in the event of a refusal, that they will unite their forces to those of France. Unless the Foreign Cabinets should adopt this course without delay, the siege o f Paris will begin, an d di p l omacy must stay its efforts • until the gigantic drama has been played out. The Journal Indre et Loire observes that when Europe recognises that France will not agree to any con ditions which are hurtful to the pride of the people, then the generosity and courage of the different nations will combine to use their influence in a cause which concerns ' their own destinies as well as those of their ally. THE SICK AND WOUNDED. new Colonel Lindsay presents his compliments to the Editor of the Sun, and requests him to be so good as to insert the accompanying letter in -his paper. Sept. 17, 1870. Wednesday, 7th Sept., 1870, St. Barbe, N.E. of Metz. MI DEAR have been so very busy for the last few days that, although I have had plenty to fill a doze° letters, I have not written one. The truth is, that the Johanniters at Pont-h-Mousson were at first misinforme d as to the commencement of the bombardment of Metz, and seeing from a height some English miles o fi streaks of fire and smoke just over Metz, it was nattr' to suppose the Johanniters were right. On being sen t , post-haste to the scene o f ac ti on , we found it had been a sanguinary battle, commencing at four one afternoon, lasting through the night, to twelve or one tb ° next day. We arrived at the above named place last Friday the day after the battle. The danger of passing round Metz in this manner can scarce ly b e imagined. A" , one place one found oneself at the outposts of the Prussian lines, within gunshot of the balls of Metz. We slept soundly at a place -one English mile from one of the forts of Metz. However, we got at last torough Pang°, to this place. A Pc,nge we were hospitably received by the General Doctor Darrest, who shewed us over the Lazarettes, which were clean, but the sickly smell o f the gunshot wounds cannot be well imagined. Of course the first few days, the wounds being new, is not offensive, but at the end of the first week each bad wound is a lmost enough to breed a pestilence. I must mention that at this place my fellow-traveller, who has had some coramti" nication with the society to which I have the honou r to belong. I mean Major Leech, who generously contributed forty thalers to forty poor fellows who had lost through their wounds some part of their wearing apparel in order to help to set them up again. On or" riving at St. Barbe, the distress for medical assistance beggars description —men at the point of death lay In straw in sheds, others with badly broken limbs, men hopping about, leaning on carts, or sitting on the wet ground. One of the surgeons had- 180 poor fellows for his day's portion, gY i services were most gladly accepted, and the fi rs t day I had about 60 patients to make every arrangement as to room) &e.: for to set their legs or arms, of course in such dales the villagers have to put up with a great deal. Fret these poor families I was compelled to take all but one room each. It seems hard, but it is of course vastly harder for those who would otherwise have died on the wet ground• close to comfortable rooms. My duties begin at half-Pas: six in the morning, and often at twelve at night I go round - -.- for the last time to, every single patient. I dress (the wounds) twice a day with my own hands and as severe of these sixty have two and some three distinct wounds each with two openings, you may fancy it is pretty hard work. On Sunday last' I was sent to another village • also crowded to excess to assist at an amputation. A couple of Governmen t horses were supplied to us, and I was very well receive(' by the authorities, and none the less so as I had severe' instruments and silver wire, which the surgeons had not. lam thus, you see, compelled to blow my own trumPe t ' which I hope will be excused, as, otherwise, you would hs kept quite in the dark as to my movements; our fame hes spread since we came on this charitable mission. To -day am to have the honour of dining with General Manteuiel. the commander of one of the divisions of the first Armes Corps. Firing goes on pretty briskly, but the wounded go to swell the numbers of our surrounding villages, as we have quite enough. The number of bad cases under the care of an "Ober Stabts Arbzt " (Over Staff Surgeon) , who does nothing except at amputations, and two surgeons and myself • amounted to 195, all of which wer e wounded on the 31st of last or the Ist of this m onth Of my patients I fear seven will die within the nest few days their wounds are perfectly diabolical. One 1:0 0 the whole side of his head taken away; he remains logo' sible—the brain can be seen pulsating ; another has 9 compound comminuted fracture of the thigh-bone, but who refused to have his leg amputated ; now it is too late, and gangrene is rapidly setting in; another is shot through the abdomen, and on keep nothing down. Others are shot through the heart, and are slowly bleeding to death ; at every breath drop of blood oozes out, at every movement a gush, bu t I cannot write more as I must begin my morning's work. Accept my best thanks for your kindness and that of the Society, in enabling me to be placed where it is no bravado to say lam useful. The surgeons here have all promised me certificates, and one and all press on pie all the courtesies that one can possibly expect or get In war.—Believe me, dear sir, yours faithfully, " BURTON SMITS•„ THE LOSS OF THE CAPTAIN. Messrs. Laird, the builders of the Captain, have con tributed £5OO for the benefit of the families of the crew Mr, John Laird, M.P- also writes to the papers to state that a subscription for the same object has been coo; menced at Birkenhead. He suggests that all money raise" should be sent to the central committee at Portsmovth, it can be more abvantageo us ly an d j u di c i ous l y expe nded rby gentlemen of such high standing, who can make in quiries on the spot into the various cases. The Army and Noiy Gazette says we must be permitted to say a few words respecting one who was nearly to enthusiastic in carrying out Cowper Coles's views 38 was he himself. We allude to Hugh Burg*Y l ', ° —the only cherished son of one of England field-marshals, and who has met his fate in the flower of his manhood. He was a good sailor and . , officer, popular without c our ti ng popu l ar it y, and will be more missed, professionally and privately, than any one else probably in the service. Under his corn' mand everyone (eels that there could have been 11 ° neglect. He was on deck to the last giving his seams'!" like orders withh energy but with coolness, and his read' . ness and activity were exemplified by the circl stance that he was one of the few of the whole ship company who struck out for the launch. We h . av° arrived at the conclusion w ith ou t f ear o f con t ra di c t i on, that the fault which l e d t o th e t err ibl e event l ay w ith the ship, and not with him who so ably commanded her. The Times says the Captain was lost, beyond all doubt, because when the force o f th e ga l e caug ht h er masts a nd forced her to heel over, the lowness of her side afforded no protection against the sea. Her hurricane deck and the top weight of her turrets contributed to the disaster. The heavy masts and the low freeboard, practically speak; ing, caused the wreck, and neither would have been fats' without the other. Speaking of the perils of May and his seventeen coin panions after they set out in the pinnace for the shore, writer on board the Minotaur says :—" The sea running high, on nearing the land the party mistook some roclie for houses, and the boat was nearly swamped in bearing away round the rocks to seek a landing place south of Cape Finisterre. One man had been washed overboar d from the boat and lost. Finally they landed about noon 1 15 a small village, where they were kindly treated." A subscriber of the Broad Arrow suggests that efi another Captain will certainly replace the ill-fated ship designed by the lamented Cowper Coles, it would be graceful tribute to his memory, and only an act 0 ' national gratitude, to name the new turret ship the Cowper Coles instead of the Captain. Casualties in the combined fleet in the gale off Calr, Finisterre on the night of th e 6th an d morn i ng o f t h e n i l' September :—HAL 's ship Captain, f oun d ere d, 18 hands only saved; Minotaur, split fore and main tops a il s ; Agin court, split main and mizen topsails ; Northumberland , fore topsail and fore topmast staysail blown awa9; Monarch, main topsail blown away, life buoy blown away' Bellerophon, main topgallant mast, three topsails, fore' sail, and fore topmast staysail all went ; Warrior, fore sail and fore topsail blown away, and a boat stove ; Inconstant, main topsail and fore topmast staysail blown away. HOLLOWAY'S OINTMENT AND PILLS. —lndisputable Face' It cannot be too frequently impressed on tha sick that thi merits of these remedies have been, and are, acknowledge d in both hemispheres, and few would presume to impugg the experience of the whole world. Testimonials from e," parts vouch for their effi c i ency as curat i ves. The Oinv went soon displays its virtues, in overcoming abscesses, swelling of the joints, enlargement of the glands, entail° . ous eruptions, sores, ulcers, and in allaying inflammatio n and pain in rheumatism and gout. It heals by cleansing all it comes in contact with, and promotes a sound all permanent cure. It removes all obstructions to the free circulation through the minutest vessels, and repair s mischief by constantly securing pure blood. BIRTHS. On the 15th inst., at Hassobury, Essex, the wife of PO Gosling, Esq., of a daughter. On the 15th inst., at 36, Chester-terrace, Regent's-1 03 ' k ' the wife of Richard Hodgson, Esq., of a son. MARRIAGES. On the 15th inst. at -Taunton, James H. Pring, M.D., of Elnefield House, Taunton, to Lucy Harriett, younger daughter of the late John Thos. Deacon, Esq'' of Grymesdyke Lodge, Bucks. On the 14th inst., at South Hackney, Thomas North , Esq., of Maidstone, to Alice Mary, youngest dangbt e i t of William Rayment, Esq., of Providence Villa, Sou th Hackney. DEATHS. 11 On the 14th inst. Charles John Browne, Esq., of House, Esher, Surrey, aged 79. • On the 15th inst., suddenly) William Henry Sout hwe l : of the firm of Southwell, Bros., 22, Baker street, Par t: man square, aged 47. of London : Printed by GIDEON ACLAND BOYCE, t No. 112, Strand, Printer, and Publielled by hi m 1, 3 THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in th e P r ecinct of .Ae Savoy, n the County of Middlesex. Monday, September 19, 1870.