The Sun. — London, England, 1871-02-03 00:00:00

_-, 3N. on the street, could twelve arnt to eh she out on ioners, operty :tell of aew, in rne, on nesday. ngaged d, had lice at be the i being ) killed norning ;hat the prisoner field the .ed for as been hat she r to buy en from we been mill of sultedin ve lives. ell, and 7as built Length of whole of pun was the raw it about nu, on ark pro s. One fall and • give an V time to le flames the older estroyed, beneath. parts of lortion of opposite er on was the width mill were lissioners' ides ; and d buckets s soon as ags were orkpeople ) escape• recovered fearfully that they follows: , aged 20 , - cried, and mechanic, about 48, about 45. ,u £50,000 livered the instruction le garrison C'onsort's D non-cola -1- audience. it J. Hope or-General r Brigade; Artillery; able, C. 8., 'ood, V. C., Middleton, ion to the turer illus tactics and in the year was in the oined forces rears ago it ,ny that :t his closet. in Bohemia Lyres praa med a long uch shorter ay in those s, and was e war came he Germ Cassel, cue•' r and Hess ° the other heir forces idow of the t of ge ° r Y D. Wlieele into oPetruil; loters °f 0/ 0 ed w ith s vs aterial p r oteo t i irelau De said, to r, p e rbY 0 . 0 ,0 'cc., at yell"v rates on 0,0 that 11 es . o ther P a ' of fifteel' ;ounca chtiv-i ed e e :l an e% oei% e wa s e recl' Ily recov.iovi s left a sirol coO' AND 11 0 L tion re preParayetie•ell vice G 3 s WI" A mai la W fic i 14 6, tion, c oe - or -selectetooteri [tn a de doct ° , e cr heavy owe s L CO., -- a a oiti pa. 6 LATEST INTELLIGENCE. SUN OFFICE, 8 A.M. THE WAR. THE CAPITULATION AND THE ARMISTICE. VERSAILLES, February 2. M. Jules Favre refused to attend the Conference, to name any substitute, or to authorize M. Tissot to act in his place. General Garibaldi hag, it is said, asked to be ad-, mitted to the - Armistice. Several newspaper correspondents have come out of Paris, and others have gone in. Prince Frederick Charles has moved his quarters to Tours. Revictualling is going on. Great distress prevails. The authorities refuse passes.— Times. The following telegrams come through Reuter's agency : M. GAMBETTA AND THE ARMISTICE. A. despatch of M. Gambetta to M. Jules Favre, dated 31st ult., says :—" The unaccountable adjourn ment of which your message did not make any mention of the application of the Armistice as re gards Belfort and the departments of the Cote d'Or, Doubs, and Jura, causes the greatest inconvenience in the East. The Prussian Generals continue their operations, without paying any atten tion to the armistice, while the Minister of 'War, placing full reliance in the terms of your message, has ordered all the commanders of the French corps to carry out the armistice and stop all their move ments, which was strictly obeyed during 48 hours. Cause the armistice at once to be applied to the East, and bring about, as it is your duty, that final understanding of which mention is made in the Convention of the 28th January. In the meantime We shah authorise the Generals at once to conclude a suspension of hostilities, to last until you have communicated to us the line of demarcation which may have been agreed upon, or at least proposed by you. 1 request you to send me a speedy reply." The Gazette Francais° says :—" Gambetta is right and Jules Favre is wrong. It is, Indeed, unheard of that Favre, who has been shut up in Paris for four months and a half, and who consequently must have been unaware of the position of our armies, has thought fit to make any arrangements. Ile ought to have summoned one member of the Delegation." THE FRENCH ELECTIONS. • Crdmieux, the Minister of Justice, sent, on Tuesday, the following despatch to the Prefects:— " A decree is issued abrogating the electoral incom- Patibilities resulting from Article 82 up to Article 8 9, inclusively, of the Law of 1849•" The National Assembly will meet in the Grand Theatre at Bordeaux, where preparations are already being made. ADDRESS OF THE COUNCIL OF LYONS. LYONS, January 30. The following is the text of an address issued by' the Municipal Council of Lyons : " Inasmuch as peace would be for the Republic an act of suicide, and a disgrace so long as the enemy tramples upon the soil of our oountry, and as war to the uttermost is the only means of safety, the commune of Lyons is determined to take every measure required by the common danger, and urges the Government to prosecute the national defence with renewed zeal and energy. " The commune would cease to support the Go vernment t :e day that it consented to the dismem berment GI France. Convinced that the march of event; renders Lyons the true centre of resistance, tha commune urges the delegation to establish ft , elt in L 3 ons, in order to watch more efficiently o ver the supreme effort which is to save the et un try." THE REPORTED 7ERMS OF PEACE. A Lombard telegram from Bordeaux, dated Thureday morning at 3 a.m., says :—Up to this hour 11 ° representative of the Paris Government has reached Bordeaux. The conditions of peace as des cribed in the Berlin despatch of a London journal reached Bordeaux by telegraph. The members ° ,, f the Gover nmen t d o no t b e li eve that M. Jules 4ca vre could have impli e dly accep t e d th ese con ditions by promisi ng t o l a y th em b e f ore t h e National Assembly, on account of their extravagant nadirs. France would be prostrated financially by tll a Payment o f a war i n d emn i ty o f t en m il l i ards of f I.an c B . The announcement o f th ese t erms h as g i ven . " 11 lit pulse to, and increased the influence of, the .I,tp advocating war h outrance, at a moment when ei r influence was wa n i ng th roug h th e news receive d of th 3 collapse of the Eastern Army. INIE W PRENCII REPUBLICAN PROGRAMME. Progres de _Lyon publishes the prog ra mm e of 18 new Ultra-Republican Society f orme d i n P ar i s u nder a (he ausp i ces o f M essrs. L e d ru -R o l l i n, Delescluze, Peyrouton. This programme advocates the esta- E s hnient of an indivisible Republic, the constitution " B ° l e Assembly emp owere d t a e l ec t a revoca bl e ecutive power, the suppression of the permanent 1 .. 111 Y) the creation of a national militia . comprising eit izqns, a reduction in the bud ge t, th e s upp ress i on of all aristocratic titles and the annulment of privi th&eB. It also repudiates wars of conquest, and urges eli tit no neotiatins can be ented ino with e nlY as l g ong as o er t he shall remain in the country. the OPINION IN FRANCE. 4 T he &ch o d u N or d, a ll u di ng to the protest of the k 4llici Pal Council of B or d eaux , says th a t th e sum „ r -ris to re s i s t ance ma d e b y the Councillors is an en htic3techrnent upon the powers of the tutur.; Con thalleat Assembly, which a l one 5 h..11 d ec id e w h et h er 11,„ w ar is to be continued, or peace made. f a ; Echo states th a t it s sympat hi es are i n been of peace. Sev e ral mee ti ngs h ave a l ready t or - held in the north to draw u p a li s t o f can did ates Ththe elections. . e -P opagateur d e Lill e s ays th a t th e d espatch of britrilbetta to the Prefects was posted up at Douai, WllB taken down by order o f th e S ous P re f ect. The Gfronde of Bordeaux says :—" The Republi l'r, 13411 Y Will never consent to a dismemberment of TAE LATE PRUSSIAN SUCCESSES. Th e BERLIN, February 2. het following telegram has been received gg hri'ftlAL HEAD-QUARTERS, VERSAILLES, Fe 1 kl i : 7 e nerallllanteuffel reports that in the bruar en gage . e the Latthauffour and Sombacourt on the 29th t eitt a iii t h Division captured ten guns, seven 1 41 1. en eca, two generals, 4) officers, and 4,000 1116 41 44 e t re erle, on the 30th P., the 7th Brigade t ' with v ery s li ght l osses, a ) 2,000 prisoners, "oltstwo eagles. oar e d na le advance to Pontarlier the road was found E with weapons. th e e , r3T avenue of escape on French soil is closed Te nch Army it) that part of the country." AGE. THE FRENCH TROOPS .IN SWITZERLAND. BERNE, February 2. General Manteuffel pursued the French troops towards the Swiss frontier. Neunburg is overcrowded with fugitives, sick, and wounded. They have been lodged in the churches. The French troops which have entered Switzer land are being distributed over the city of Berne, and the cantons of Berne, Frieburg, and Geneva. Troops are still crossing the frontier at Les Verrieres and Jougne. Afternoon. Another attack was made by the Germans upon bodies of French troops yesterday afternoon near Chateau de Joux, south of Pontarlier. The following particulars are given in a Man chester Guardian telegram from La Barre, dated Wednesday : Eighty thousand of Bourbaki's army have been driven into Switzerland by Pon tarlier. Bourbaki has committed suicide in Besan con. Many thousands of the French have died of starvation in the Jura. The Germans have captured 15,000 prisoners, including about 100 officers, with two generals, ten cannon, seven mitrailleurs, and two eagles. Eight thousand men only escaped in the direction of Lyons. General Manteuffel is in pursuit. DIJON OCCUPIED BY GERMANS. CHALONS-SUR-SAONE, February 1 The Prussians have occupied Dijon. M. ROUHER AT VERSAILLES. BRUSSELS, Feb. 2 (3.45 p.m.) There has been a religious procession on a large scale to-day in Brussels, in which the clergy of the city and of the province of Brussels took part. After traversing the principal streets, the procession pro ceeded to the Cathedral. • 4 p.m. The Independance Beige of this evening publishes under re,erve a report that M. Rouher has arrived at Versailles. ROUMANIA. Roumanian affairs are apparently getting into great disorder. The Ultras carried all their candi dates at the elections. Bucharest advices of January 31 state that Prince Charles was secretly preparing for abdication and departure. The Ottoman am bassador has proceeled to Pesth to apprise Count Beust that the Porte intends forestalling all eventualities, if Prince Charles vacates his throne, by occupying the Principalities forthwith.—Standard Telegram. THE GREEK BRIGAND AFFAIR. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, having given Mr. Erskine explanations respecting the affair of the letters sent to the Delessi brigands, and of which the English barristers said they had been kept in ignorance, Mr. Erskine has reported himself satisfied, and has declared that the Greek law must take its course. This difficulty is, therefore settled. (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAMS.) MR. HENRY RICHARD, M.P., AT LIVERPOOL Mr. Henry Richard, M.P. for Merthyr Tydvil, was present last night at a meeting of the Liver pool Peace Society, where he moved a resolu tion commending the principle of non-intervention acted upon by her Majesty's Ministers, whereby several other countries had been able to keep out of the late lamentable war between France and Germany. Mr. Richard said he believed the best Foreign Minister Eng land ever had was his political opponent, the present Earl of Derby. ACCIDENT TO A STEAMER. The Anchor Line steamer Spartan, of Glasgow, from Gibraltar, arrived at Penzance at 5.30 yesterday afternoon, having in tow the steamer Leoring ton, of Wisbeach, six hundred tons and eighty register, with a cargo of corn bound from Odessa to Falmouth for orders. The main shaft of the engine of the Leorington broke on Tuesday, and on Wed nesday morning, at 10.30, the Spartan fell in with her, 140 miles W.S.W. of the Lizard. The Leorington is now anchored about a mile from Penzance Pier, and if possible she will be towed to Falmouth on Friday. GALE IN THE WEST. At midnight a heavy gale was blowing over the Land's End district, the wind being south-east. At half-past nine this evening the barometer stood at 29.48, at twelve o'clock it stood 29.49, and was still falling. No shipping casualties have yet been reported. THE ADMIRALTY FRAUDS, In the case of the steward of the Agincourt, the sen itence passed yesterday by the court-martial assembled on board the Wellington is, that Mr. Harkeden be sentenced to six months' imprisonment and then dismissed her Majesty's service. THE ATLANTIC STEAM PACKET SERVICE A telegram has been received in Plymouth from New York, announcing the re-establishment of the Hamburg- American Line of Mail Steamers, which ceased in con sequence of hostilities. The. Holsatia, the finest of the company's steamers, was to have left New York on Thursday with the United States mails, and is due at Plymouth on the 12th inst. REPORT OF THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE RAILWAY COMPANY. The directors of the North Staffordshire Railway Com pany, in their report, said that there is a steady increase in the receipts, they being for the half year £141,744, against £128,140 in 1869. The passenger depart ment has yielded £66,348 against £58,735; goods and cattle £62,175 against £60,471. The net revenue account leaves a balance of £97,128, which, after meeting dividend on preference stock, enables the directors to recommend a dividend on the ordinary stock at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum, carrying forward £1,301. The report closes with an expression of regret, at a recent movement for amalgamation with one of the large com panies, commanded by some Manchester shareholders. The directors disapprove of the movement, and declare their property to be improving, and more secure than ever it was. HEARTS OF OAK BENEFIT SOCIETY.—The official aud;tor'd report on the financial operations of this society for the year 1870 has just appeared, and it seems to indi cate that the past year has been most successful. The society began the year with 18,369 members, and finished it with 21,450. During the year no less than 4,307 wen members were admitted. The income for the year was .240,751 Bs. Od., against £34,764 7s. 3d. in 1869. The amount received was appropriated as follows :—£31,184 3s. 4d. was paid for sickness, funerals, and other benefits; £B5O 7s. 10d. was spent in postage, reports, &c. ; £1,957 13s. 11d. was the cost of management; and the remainder, or £6,759 2s. 11d. was added to the reserve fund, which now amounts to upwards of £67,000. The cost of manage ment was only £4 16s. per cent. upon the gross income, and it was entirely covered by the fines ; thus leaving the whole of the ordinary contributions available for the satis faction of claims and for the augmentation of the reserve fund. THE MURDER NEAR BURTON-ON-TRENT.—At the Burton-on-Trent Police-court, before Messrs. Lyon, Tom linson, Worthington, and Wood, Edward Beech, a black smith, was charged with the wilful murder of his son, Frederick Beech, a child 14 months old, on the 26th of January. The prisoner was a blacksmith at Barton under-Needwood, and had a wife and five children. On Thursday morning last, after shoeing some horses, he took a hatchet, went into the house, and split open the head of the deceased, who was in the care of an elder sister. He left the house immediately, but stated to a neighbour, who asked him what was the matter, that hc had killed his child, and he made a similar statement to Police-constable Wheaver when arrested, as he was on his way to Burton to give himself into custody. The deceased was taken by his mother to Mr. Webb's surgery, nearly opposite to the prisoner's hoase, but the child died immediately, the skull having been fractured by the blow. The brains protruded through the wound. The prisoner ap peared in a very dejected state during the hearing of the case, and since he has been in custody he has been kept under astrict watch, as there is reason to believe hel is not perfectly sane. He was fully committed for trial on the capital charge at the Stafford assizes. M R. OF THE SUPPLIES. Considerable difficulties and some delay have taken place in the transit of the supplies for the relief of Paris, sent out by the Mansion House committee. Colonel Stuart Wortley and Mr. Moore, who went out on Tuesday for the purpose of superintending the distribution of pro visions, telegraphed on Wednesday that all the packages had been siezed at Dieppe by the authorities there, who refused to allow them to proceed. The committee in London at once communicated with Earl Granville and the representatives of France and Prussia here, and a despatch was forwarded to Dieppe, requesting that the goods might be forwarded without delay. This appears to have had the desired effect, for on Thursday morning another telegram was received at the Mansion-house stating that the provisions were being rapidly sent on, but that the committee's representatives would not at pre sent be allowed to go beyond Rouen. Since the capitula tion, funds have come in rapidly, and the total has been raised to about £14,000, independent of the Telegraph fund. Among the sums received on Thursday was £l,OOO from the Bank of England. We are requested to state that in conkequenee of the meeting of the Conference, which is fixed for this day (Friday), at one o'clock, the reception rooms at the Foreign Office will be closed to the public during the day. CRYSTAL PALACE.—One Shilling Day.—Thurs day, February 2, 1871.—The admissions by season tickets were 1,688 ; ditto on payment, 1,475 ; total visitors, 3,163. The total number of messages forwarded from postal telegraph stations in the United Kingdom during the week ending January 28th was 183,583, shewing an increase on the previous week of 13,557. THE COLD IN CANADA.—The Toronto Globe states that the thermometer at Quebec marked 22 deg. below zero on the 10th of January, and 37 deg. below zero at Father Point on the 9th of January. Speaking at a meeting in Manchester on Wednes day night, Mr. Jacob Bright. M.P., said he intended to vote for the dowry to the Princess Louise. He could not agree with men who strained at gnats and swallowed camels. There is a rumour that Viscount Burke is about to resign the representation of the county of Galway. The Feeeman's Journal gives the names of various com petitors for the supposed vacancy—the Hon. Gerald Dillon, the Hon. F. French, C. Redington, George Morris, and Mr. Henry; all except the last Liberals of various shades. The authorities at Devonport late on Tuesday , night received instructions from head-quarters to commis sion the Tyrian gunboat for immediate service. Within twenty-four hours the order was complied with, and she is now lying at Plymouth, ready manned, provisioned, armed, and supplied with ammunition, and ready to sail. Had it been necessary she could have got away to Havre on Wednesday night. THE CANADIAN FISHERY QUESTION.--Mr. John Rose has been arranging the terms of an agreement on the fishery question at Washington, and returns to Eng land with thineral Schenck, who was to leave New York last Wednesday, February 1. The instructions for the new American Minister on he fishery question are said to embody a proposal for ceding- equal rights to American fishermen to fish in Ca, ,3 l•an waters, to land and cure fish on the soil of the l) ',in ion, and to refit in its ports. This would abrogate th e contested treaty stipulations on 'le subject, and at once repeal the Canadian fishery The United States are to pay a fair equivalent in money for a concession which will remove all cause of irritation between the Dominion and the itepulilic. Anglo-America n Times, laws. OUR HOSPITALITY.-MORE SHARP PRACTICE.- A correspondent writes to a contemporary :—" May I be allowed to appeal to you upon a question of equity ? I am a foreigner, living w ith my wife in lodgings by the week, until we can go back to our home in Paris. I have brought over a couple of horses that I saved from being eaten. Owning no property in England, not being a British subject, and merely passing through London, as it were, I was very much astonished to find myself summoned to pay taxes on my coachman, my two horses, and my wife's little dog for a whole twelvemonth. I think I should have been justified in taking no notice of the summons, but in an evil moment I laid my case before an acquain tance who occupies a high official position. He was immensely delighted at the sharp practice of the Inland Revenue officials, who had ferreted me out just three weeks after my arrival in town, and could not at all understand that I rather objected to be taxed in two places at a time. He added, that of course I could avoid paying, seeming to intimate, however, that such a thing was never done. So I paid, but felt, nevertheless, the meanness of the proceed ing. It is the first time that I have heard of foreigners passing through a country where they have sought tem porary protection being made to pay taxes, and that for a whole year." M. PINARD'S ARREST.—It will be remembered that M. Pinard, one of the Cabinet Ministers of the Empire, was arrested a short time since, in the south of France. He has now written a long letter to the Decen tralisation of Lyons, recounting the particulars of his arrest and imprisonment. He was accused of having distributed the new journal, the Drapeau, recently started in Belgium, to further the scheme of a Bonapartist restoration, and his sojourn at Autun (where he was arrested) was looked upon with great suspicion, M. Pinard denied that he had even seen any copies of the I)rapeau, while he accounted for his stay at Autun by saying the Paris Government object to the presence of too many ex-deputies in the capital after the dissolution of the Chamber, while it was too painful for him to leave France while invaded, and Autun was his native city. He was detained in prison for several days, and rigorously secluded, without knowing at whose instance he was arrested, or before what tribunal he was to be brought. He was set at liberty after eleven days, his statements having been verified ; but can obtain no redress for his imprisonment, anxiety, or for theslur thus cast upon him, and he complains bitterly that suchf'irresponsible arrests should be possible. THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION.—TIIO force sent to the Red River for the purpose of crushing out rebellion there had to advance from its point of disembarkation more than 600 miles through a wilderness of water, rocks, and forests, where no supplies were to be bad, and where every pound-weight of provi sions and stores had to be transported for miles on the backs of the soldiers. Happily its ob ject was accomplished. as in the expedition to Abyssinia, without any loss of life. By the careful administration of General Lindsay, and the officers he had selected to carry out his orders, the total expense of the whole expedition was under £lOO,OOO, one quarter of which only is to be paid by England. There was no reckless waste either in material or in money. Such a careful economy was exercised in its orga nisation, and in administering to its subsequent wants, that it maybe safely asserted that nosuch distance has ever been traversed bran efficient brigade numbering about 1,400 souls in any of our numerous little wars at such a trifling cost. The English flag had been pulled down, and the standard of rebellion bad been raised at Fort Garry. A man loyal to his Queen had been murdered, loyalty having been his crime. Men were imprisoned an d robbed without even the mockery of a trial. The perpetrators of these crimes believed that the wilder ness which separated them from civilisation would secure them from punishment ; but the manner in which our expedition performed its allotted task proved that no dis tance or intervening obstacles can afford protection to those who outrage our laws. The province of Manito bah, relieved from the oppression which Riel had established, has a great future before it. Notwithstand- ing the severity of long winter, nature has been so bountiful to it in the fertility of its soil, that it only wants a population and railway connection with the sea coast to make it at no distant . period the granary for our em pire. —Blackwood's Magazine. THE SUN LONDON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1871 THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY. (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.) The First Lord of the Admiralty arrived at Plymouth last night in the Black Eagle. He embarks to-day on board the Enchantress, and will proceed either to Algiers or Madeira. Mr. Childers appears to be in a very weak state of health. PROCLAMATION OF M. GAMBETTA BORDEAUX, February 1. The following proclamation of M. Gambetta, dated the 31st ult., has been pnblished : " Citizens,—The foreigner has inflicted upon France the most cruel injury which she has had to suffer in this accursed war, in the unmeasured chastisement of the errors and weaknesses of a great people. Paris the impregnable, forced and vanquished by famine, could no longer hold in check the German hordes. On the 28th January she succumbed. The city remains still intact, as a last homage which has been wrested by the power of moral grandeur from the barbarians. The forts alone have been surrendered to the enemy, Paris, however, in falling, has given to France by her heroic sacrifices during five months of privation and suffering, time S to appeal to her children to find arms, and to form armies, still young, but powerful and determined, and to whom, up to the present, steadiness has only been wanting, which can only be acquired by time. Thanks to Paris, if we are determined to act as resolute patriots, we hold in our hands all that is necessary to avenge her, and to deliver us. But, as if our ill-fortune had resolved to crush us, something more sinister and painful than the fall of Paris has come upon us. Unknown to us, without, informing us and without consulting us, an armistice has been signed, of which we have but ton late learned the guilty thoughtlessness, which sur renders to Prussian troops departments occupied by our soldiers, and imposes upon us the obligation to remain inactive for three weeks, in order to convoke a Na tional Assembly in the sad circumstances in which our country finds itself. We have demanded an explanation from Paris, and have kept silence while awaiting, before addressing you, the pro mised arrival of a member of the Government, to whom we had determined to remit our powers as mem bers of the Delegate Government. We were wishing thus to obey, in order to give a proof of moderation and good faith, and in order to fulfil our duty, which consists in not leaving our posts until we have been relieved of them ; and also to prove to all friends and adversaries, by our examples, that Democracy is at once the greatest of all political parties, and also the most scru pulous of Governments. Nobody, however, has come from Paris, and we must act, and at any price upset the perfidious calculations of the enemies of France. Prussia reckons on the armistice. Prussia hopes that the Na tional Assembly, convoked after successive defeats, and while the dreadful impression of the fall of Paris pre vails, will be necessarily trembling and ready tl accept a shameful peace. It rests with you that these calculations should fail ; that the means prepared to crush the spirit of resistance should lead to a contrary result. Let us establish a school of instruction for our young troops; let us employ these three weeks in preparing and pushing on with more ardour than ever the orga ideation of defence and of war. Instead of a re actionary and cowardly assembly of which the foreigner dreams, let us summon a really national and Re publican one, which desires peace if peace secures honour, rank, and integrity to our country, but which would also be determined to wage war and to be ready for anything rather than assist at the assassination of France. Frenchmen ! let us think of our fathers who bequeathed to us France compact and indivisible. Let us not alienate our inheritance into the hands of barbarians. Who would sign it? Not you, Legitimists, who have so boldly fought beneath the banners of the Republic 'to defend the territory of the ancient Kingdom of France. Nor you, descendants of the citizens of 1789, whose masterpiece it was to seal the old provinces into a: in dissolable union ; and it is not we, the wor: ing men of the towns, whose intelligence a NE WDEGATE kND HIS CONSTI TUENTS. (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.) Mr. Newdegate, M.P., and Mr. Bromley-Davenport, M.P., the two representatives of North Warwick. shire, addressed a meeting of their constituents last night, in the Royal Exchange Inn, Ashton New Town, near Birmingham. In speaking upon the question of education, Mr. Newdegate said the elections for the school boards throughout the country proved that those who were in favour of secular education per se were in a small minority. Adverting to the present war, he remarked he was firmly convinced that if the Emperor Napoleon could have avoided the war with safety to his dynasty he would never have attacked Germany, but he was driven to do so by his people. lie held that Germany was justified in con tinuing the war after the battle at Sedan, but hoped that she would be moderate in her demands for compensa tion. The hon. member spoke in favour of the re organisation of the English army, which was at once too costly and too small. Alluding to the conventual com mittee appointed last session, he stated that as it was in his opinion packed he should when Parliament met move for another. THE FRENCH RELIEF FUND-STOPPAGE generous patriotism have always . been the repre sentatives of France in her strength and unity, as a people initiating modem liberties ; nor you labouring men of the country, who have never withheld your blood in defence of the revolution to which you owe your property in land and the dignity of citizens. No ! not one Frenchman will be found to sign this infamous pact. The foreigner will be deceived. He will be compelled to re linquish the idea of mutilating France, because we are all inspired by the same love for our mother country .and we are unmoved by defeats. We shall again become strong, and we shall expel the foreigner. To achieve this sacred object we must devote our hearts, our wills, and our lives. We must all rally round the Republic, and above all prove our calmness and firmness of soul. Let us have neither passions nor weaknesses. Let us simply swear, as free men, to defend, before and against everybody, France and the Republic. To arms ! To arms ! Long live France ! Long live the Republic One and Indivisible ! "LEON GAMBETTA." The proclamation Is followed by a decree, dated the 31st January, convoking the electors for the Bth February. Another decree, dated the 31st January, is preceded by the following consideration :—" Whereas it is just that all the accomplices of the regime which commenced by the crime of the 2nd December, to terminate by the capitulation of Sedan, bequeathing to France ruin and invasion, should be momentarily struck by the same political downfall as the dynasty, which is for ever cursed, and of which they were the guilty instruments. Whereas it is the necessary con sequence of the responsibility which they have in curred in aiding and taking part with the ex-Em peror's connivance in the accomplishment of the various acts of his Government which have placed the country in danger." The decree then proceeds to enact that all who, from the 2nd December, 18M, until the 4th Sep tember, 1870, have accepted the functions of Minister, Senator, Councillor of State, and prefects, cannot any longer be representatives of the people in the National Assembly. The decree also declares ineligible for election to the National Assembly " all persons who, from the 2nd December, 1851, until the 4th of Septem ber, 1870, have accepted official candidatures, and whose names appear in the lists of candidates recommended by the Prefects to the suffrages of the electors, and who have been described in the Official Monitor either as candidates of the Government or Ad ministration, or as official candidates." A third decree prescribes the electoral arrangements. There will be but one day's voting, commencing at 7 a.m. and closing at 7 p.m.—Reuta'a Telegram. THE ARMISTICE AT DIEPPE. From Dieppe, February 1, the correspondent of the Daily News writes :—The news of the armistice was known here on the 30th ult. Early in the afternoon a score of French artillery arrived at the Mairie, bearing a flag of truce, and at the same moment the lieutenant of the war steamer Diamant put in an appearance with a marine guard, and at once took military command of the town, planting sentries at the Hotel de Ville. About half an hour later some eight Prussians arrived to take possession; but too late for their purpose, as the French were really in occupa tion. Later in the day the war steamer Diamant en tered the harbour, and during the night some infantry and Mobiles arrived from Abbeville. Yesterday morning, about 11 o'clock, several hundred Prussian infantry, cavalry, and artillery arrived from Rouen with the intention of occupying the town to the extent of 6,000 men. Some arguments were raised as to the right of the French to enter the town already virtually held by the Prussians ; but as they had left no Prussian officer in charge they were forced to act up to the old maxim—" First come first served." One of the first acts of the French Government was to raise the blockade, and, that there should be no mistake about it, an officer from the French Ambassador in Lon don arrived by the Newhaven steamer yesterday morning to make arrangements for allowing the free and immediate entry of ships into the port—several being expected by the next and following tides with food sup plies from England for Paris. Notices were posted up appealing to the patriotism of all carriers, carmen, farmers, and others to come en masse and aid at the revietualling of Paris ; and as the Prussians have agreed to allow the free passage of food supplies, it is to be hoped that this appeal will be complied with. This morn ing a " Parlementaire " of Prussian officers returned to the Hotel de Vile, stating they had referred the question to the General-in-Chief at Rouen, and had received orders to enter the town in virtue of the armistice between Count Bismarck and M. Jules Favre, whereby the Seine Infdrieure, with the exception of Havre, was to be occupied by the German Army. About 4,000 troops arrived in the course of the morning with bands playing, and were shortly after billetted on the inhabitants. As the Mobiles had been withdrawn by General Faidherbe's orders during the night, there was but feeble opposition, and that on the part of the lieutenant of the Diamant, who arrived at the Mairie with the Marines fully armed to exercise his right 'of possession ; but he had to retire immediately after, and received orders to put to sea by the next tide. We are as yet without any details of the intentions of the Government of National Defence. The elections should commence ,on the 9th instant, but at present no official notification has appeared. I think the feeling for continuing the war is fast dying out, and that the electors here have Orleanist sympathies. The estates of the late Philippe at Eu, &c., are not far distant from here. Of the 4,000 Prussians now in this town, some 3,000 will leave on Friday ; the remainder will continue here during the armistice, oruntil the conclusion of peace, if that should be happily decided. THE END OF THE SIEGE. was expected. I still think that the Germans will insist on some sort of entry into Paris for all or part of their army ; but there will be delay and negotiation. Angry feelings will have time to sober down, and something will be done to relieve the distress of the city. We have almost become accustomed to the silence along the front. Two days of quiet have so far demoralised us that we should start to attention and rush eagerly out to inquire what had happened if so much as a salvo of heavy guns were heard booming in the distance. Even when Mont Valerien fires its evening gun, as a matter of routine, we forget for the moment that this has no significance, and listen with anxious ears to catch the sound of another dis charge. Will they repudiate the negotiations after all ? Must there be further slaughter to convince the brave and obstinate losers of the fight that they have really lost it ? It is painful to think that there may be more blood shed in a hopeless cause, and we are relieved when 'the absence of any further sound shows us that Mont Valerien has not re-opened fire. This fort was looked on by the French inhabitants of Versailles and St. Germain as their chief comfort under foreign occupation. Its guns spoke to them of resistance to the last, and of the victory of France even at the eleventh hour. In ac cordance with the stipulations of the armistice, the forts around Paris were this morning occupied by the Germans. There was no great ceremony about it. The French withdrew behind their ramparts, and the besiegers marched in to take possession. At this moment the German flag waves over Issy and Montrouge, over Vanvres and Mont Valerien. It is vain to look across the valley from St. Germain, for the white smoke puns and bright flashes of the stronghold on the hill top. It is useless to stand ready in the siege batteries, as the Germans have stood for a couple of days. The batteries have done their work, and Paris has sur rendered. THE OCCUPATION OF THE FRENCH FORTS. Writing from Versailles, under date January 28, the special correspondent of the Standard says he forts round Paris were occupied by the Prussian troops early this morning. Later in the day the enceinte was given up also, and German gunners are now engaging in dismount ' ing the French cannon. Every facility will be given to summoning the Constituent Assembly, which is to discuss the conditions of peace, and it is generally understood that the cession of French Lorraine will not be pressed. Bismarck, however, will probably insist on the fortress of Metz being dismantled. Nominally the capital surrenders unconditionally, the garrison, however, though laying down their arms to-day, and remaining within the city, will not be considered prisoners of war, unless the negotiations for peace are broken off. The French guns remain the property of France, their carriages being, however, destroyed. The Prussian troops will not enter Paris until peace is concluded, and perhaps not then, unless the war is continued. The high roads leading into the capital are to be opened at once, as also the navigation on the Marne and Seine. Communication by the lines of rail is not yet conceded. The Germans agree to afford every assistance in supplying Paris with provisions-15,000 cows and 25,000 sheep now grazing between Lagny and Genesse being driven in at once. No one under the protection of the German authorities will be allowed to enter Paris except by special permis sion. It appears that the terms on which Jules Favre at first offered to surrender the capital were exactly those which I stated a few days ago I thought it not improbable that Trochu would suggest. These were that the city only should capitulate, the troops being allowed to march out With all the honours of war, and with leave to go where they pleased, binding themselves, however, not to resume fighting until a stated period had elapsed. This offer was, of course, refused, and Favre must be gifted ' with a wonderfully confiding nature to have made it. Bis marck then plainly told him that the Emperor would listen to nothing less than unconditional surrender, coupling his statement with the advice that these terms should be ac cepted, as by doing so Paris would derive much greater be benefit than by holding out in the hopes of obtaining better. Finding all his endeavours to overcome the decision of Bismarck useless, he agreed to surrender the city nominally unconditionally, but begged him, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, to forego the right of marching the troops into Paris. "We will give you the forts," he is reported to have said, " and everything you want ; but houses, even streets, are undermined, which I cannot say—but I know that such is the case. The rabble are in a state of frenzy, and how can I be responsible for the safety of your soldiers if you insist on taking them into Paris ?" Naturally enough this rather staggered the Chancellor, and it is said that both he and the Emperor would have acceded to Favre's appeal, had it not been for the counter danger urged by Moltke. The reply, at any rate, at length given was to this effect :—" Capitulate unconditionally, and put us at once in possession of the forts, and we will look after our own safety. Let the Parisians know, however, that for every Prussian soldier that is killed twenty Frenchmen will be shot." Events of course only will prove how the discussion ended. When a Swiss vase and an iron vessel, however, do come into collision, there is usually but one result. A very fine bust of the late Charles Dickens has just been executed by Mr. W. F. Woodington, jun., of Brixton. The sculptor is the son of the artist who designed the bus relief of the " Nile " on the Nelson Column in Trafalgar-square, and that to the memory of Wellington, in St. Paul's Cathedral. THE CULTIVATION OF FLAX IN IRELAND.—At the annual meeting of the Flax Extension Association, held in the Chamber of Com merce, B e lf ast, on Tuesday, a ' cheering view was taken of the prospects of the linen trade, and inducements were held out to Irish farmers to cultivate flax more extensively. It was stated by the chairman of the meeting, Mr. John Mulholland, that the Franco-Prussian war must prove beneficial to the linen trade of Ulster. THE NEW REGIUS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY. The Rev. James Bowling Mozley; 8.D., who has just been nominated by the Crown to the Regius Professorship of Divinity of Oxford, in succession to Dr. R. Payne Smith, now Dean of Canterbury, is a native of Lincolnshire, in which county he was born in or about the year 1813, and a younger brother of the Rev. Thomas Mozley, formerly Fellow of Oriel College, and rector of Plymptree, Devon shire. lie was himself educated at Oriel College where he took his B.A. decree in Michaelmas Term, 1834, obtain ing a third class in Literme Humaniores. In the following year ho obtained the Chancellor's University Prize for an English essay, his subject being " The Influence of the Oracles of Antiquity upon States and Individuals." He was afterwards elected to a Lincolnshire Fellow- ship at Magdalen College, where he resided for many years as a diligent student of theology, and held some College offices. In 1856, he published a learned "Treatise upon the Augustinian Doctrine of Predestination," and in the following year a companion volume upon " The Doctrine of the Primitive Church upon Baptismal Regene ration." These he has followed up more recently by smaller publications on " The Baptismal Controversy," " The Thirty-nine Articles," and " Observations on the Colonial Church Question." In 1865 he was chosen to preach "The Bampton Lectures " before the University of Oxford, taking • the much-debated question of " Miracles "as his subject. Mr. Mozley has held the College living of Old Shoreham, Sussex, during the last - He is perhaps as deeply rea d i n t fi h f e tee m n ,o o rk r s si o x f te t e h n e y } ea 'a rs th . ers of the Church as any living divine, not even excepting Dr. Pusey. KINAHAN'S LL WHISKY.— This celebrated and most delicious old mellow spirit is the very cream of Irish Whiskies, in quality unrivalled, perfectly pure, and more wholesome than the finest Cognac Brandy. Note the red seal, pink label, and cork branded " Kinahan's LL Whisky." New Wholesole Depot, 6A, Great Titchfieldstreet, Oxford-street, W. The special correspondent of the Daily .Arcws at the headquarters of the Crown Prince of Prussia thus writes from Versailles, January 29 : The end of the siege has come at last. By the armistice of three weeks, formally concluded yesterday evening, the French agreed to yield up their outlying' forts to the Germans in token of submission on the part of the beleaguered city, and the Germans agreed to allow provisions to enter Paris, and to let the garrison remain in a state of semi-captivity within the walls. Of course there is no chance of renewed hostilities hereabout, save in a fit of popular rrenzy, which should make the Parisians re nounce their bargain, and seek martyrdom behind barricades at the end of the armistice. Paris has sur rendered ; she has become the prize of the victors, in so far that that they can use her possession as a pawn to play for obtaining terms of peace. The arrangement between Count Bismarck and M. Favre goes no further than to open a way for an ultimate settle ment by giving time to call a Constituent Assembly; yet even this differs somewhat from the programme sketched out by popular rumour, and by the wishes of the army. Count Bismarck has seen that the recent disasters of the French troops in the provinces would make peace on any terms acceptable to the vanquished, and he has used his hold upon Paris in a less peremp tory fashion for the mere triumph of the moment than OUR COTEMPORARIES—This Morning THE DEMANDS OF COUNT BISMARCK. The Times thus refers to the extraordinary demands made on France by Count Bismarck :—We do not wonder that there is a general disposition to doubt the truth of the telegram from Berlin stating the terms of peace pro posed by Count Bismarck to M. Favre. Anything so exorbitant has never been heard of in the history of modern war. There is, therefore, a prevailing impression that the terms have been exaggerated in passing from the negotiators to the public, or that they represent some loose rhetorical language on the part of the Chancellor or some other, personage, which has been taken too literally by his auditors. We have no means of solving the difficulty, and can only reiterate our belief that they have been stated on good authority. It may be considered either a corroboration or a weakening of their credit that they coincide substantially, except in the enormous amount of the indemnity with the demands which for some time past have been attributed to Germany. The cession of fillips of war and of one of the transmarine possessions of France was indicated some time since. We can only hope that this monstrous pro gramme will prove not to represent any settled purpose of the German Government. If Count Bismarck wished to ruin the negotiations he has just commenced, to make the meeting of the Assembly futile, and to give reason to the most violent clamourers for war, he could hardly conduce more directly to that object than by announcing such terms as an ultimatum. Count Bismarck has always pro fessed to be anxious for peace. In accordance with this language Count Bismarck has stipulated as early as possible for the machinery of pacification. How can we conceive Count Bismarck to have any other design than to smooth the path of the new Assembly, and to aid it and the Government which summoned it in persuading France to submit? Yet an indemnity of 2400,000,000 and the ces sion of all the great ironclads of the French Navy form a strange encouragement to choose pacific candidates. The German Government must believe that all human nature has been crushed out of the French people if it really expects that such terms will fail to provoke new resist ance. Unless this programme be disavowed, we cannot but expect that the cry for continued opposition, which has begun to sound from Bordeaux and Lyons, will extend to every place which is not occupied by the Ger man armies. GAMBETTA AND HIS PROCLAMATION. The Telegraph says :—Another calr.mity has fallen upon France. As will be seen from the proclamation of M. Gambetta and the decree of the Bordeaux Government, the unfortunate country is now the victim not only of defeat, but of divided councils. M. Gambetta has virtually declared war against M. Jules Favre, and, in doing so, he has unequivocally and utterly placed himself in the wrong. lie protests against the ar• mistice, on the ground that it has stopped the operations of the French troops ; he calls upon the people to drill night and day ; and he summonses all Frenchmen, whether Legitimists or Democrats, to rally round the Republic, and repudiate the infamous pact into which the Government of Paris entered with the " barba barians." So far his words are only excited rhetoric. But the proclamation is followed by a formal decree, signed by all the members of the Bordeaux Go vernment, and stating the arrangements for the elections to the National Assembly. M. Gambetta and his col leagues roundly dec!:::::liat, as a punishment for the sins of the Empire, those persons who, from the date of the coup d'etat to that of Sedan, have accepted the office of Minister, Senator, or Councillor of State, or Prefect, shall not be eligible for election. In the same black list are placed all persons who, within the same period, were official candidates of the Government. The members of those families that have ruled over France since 1789 are also declared ineligible ; and thus the Orleanists and the Bonapartists are cut away by a stroke of the pen. Finally, the voting is to take place, for the most part, in the chief town of the canton, and therefore, in many cases, far away from the homes of the peasantry. Thus the voting power of that great class will be seriously lessened, and a proportionate amount of influence transferred to the hands of the Republicans. More wanton indiscretion and a more flagrant usurpation of power were never dis played by a responsible Government. The proclamation and the decree are alike so bad that the authors of both can be treated leniently only on the supposition that they do not expect to be obeyed by the country, and that they are merely indulging in the vanity of empty rhe toric. At the very moment when unity of council is all-important to France, and when she may be ruined by her divisions, M. Gambetta throws down the gauntlet to his colleagues in Paris, and denounces their pro ceedings in language which befits the acts of traitors alone. The Standard remarks :—The Bordeaux Government has accepted the armistice, and issued decrees for the election of the National Assembly contemplated in the Convention drafted by Count Bismarck and signed by M. Favre. But it has done so very much against its will, and under protest and reservations which practically amount to a bitter condemnation of its colleagues in Paris. M. Gambetta complains—and as between him and M. Favre the complaint is almost unanswerable—that, with out informing or consulting the Government of Bordeaux, an armistice had been signed which paralysed the action of France, and which, pretending to establish the mili tary status quo of that day, made an exception in the one instance in which an an exception could serve Prussian in terests. There can be no doubt about the fact. M. Favre accepted the terms Prussia prescribed, and made himself an agent for enforcing them upon France, without any inquiry or consultation with the colleagues who had for four months governed the rest of France. Probably enough M. Favre's conduct was honest. He belongs to the school which acts as if Paris were France, and he very likely believed sincerely that the provinces must as a matter of course dance to any tune Paris might pipe. But M. Gambetta had cer- tainly good grounds for complaint, and it will always remain a marvel how M. Favre could have consented to an armistice from the operation of which what must have appeared to him the last army of France was ex empted ! Porr France ! the Germans insist upon a dis memberment which is equivalent to death as a con diti on of peace. A section of the men who usurped the power in September has practically pledged itself to accept these terms, ; the other members of the Government reject them with horror and indignation. They hold that France should make no peace, whatever it may cost her to continue the struggle, upon terms so cruel and so impossible of per manent acceptance, and yet these very men, whilst calling upon France to fight and to suffer, treat as traitors and serfs, or at the best as mere food for powder, the great mass of the population of France. We are loth to believe that these decrees express M. Gambetta's views. We desire to regard them as the work of the wretched creatures, his colleagues in the delegation, whose one idea is their maintenance in the power they ursurped by the favour of a mob and the treason of General Trochu. But whosoever their inspirers, they come before the world as the decrees of a Government of France, and between such acts of folly, of the narrowest selfishness, of the grossest treason to France, and the extravagant demands of Count Bismarck there is, indeed, very little room to expect or to hope for peace. BOURBAKI'S DISASTER. The Daily News observes :—" The Army of General Bourbaki, 80,000 strong, has entered neutral Switzer land. This is the fourth French Army rendered in capable of further fighting." Thus runs the telegram front the German Emperor at Versailles to his Em press at Berlin. The usual pious postscript—the grace after meat—is lacking. Perhaps it has been sup pressed as a common form which may henc e f or th betaken supplies the place the meaning pl eo f o that f tlie " which i ehoccasionally distin guished consideration " which, by a h a pp y rec i procity every diplomatist entertains for every other. Perhaps the Emperor-King is becoming ungrateful for small mercies. Eighty thousand men— a t r ifl e, a mere hand ful ; and escaped, too, into neutral Switzerland, instead o f b e i n g slain or swallowed up alive in Germany ! What is there to be thankful for in that ? In the mean time, the practical destruction of :General Bourbaki's Army, though a small matter for the Emperor and for Germany, is a very serious thing for M. Gambetta, and for France. We are far from sharing the virtuous indignation which has been roused in the breasts of some eminent English men of letters by that " übiquitous criminal," whose crime it is not to have despaired of France or of the Re public. Probably in a country and at a time of broken communications, of uncertain intelligence, of flying and magnified rumours, he has shared the delusions he has communicated and fostered them in his own breast while he endeavoured to inspire others with them. If 111! Gambetta could have communicated some of his other qualities, the position of France would be more ,hopeful than it is now. His keen, eager, and indomitable spirit ; his fertility of resource, his unwearied energy, animating the arm-bearing population of France, would have hurled back the German invasion. The illu. sion is proverbial which leads men to see their own quali ties reflected in others ; and M. Gambetta has fancied that all the men of military age in France were of like mind and temper with himself. The awakening 'rom this dream must come ; it ought to have come before now, fans.