The Sun. — London, England, 1871-01-11 00:00:00

pATEST INTELLIGENCE. SUN OFFICE, 8 A.M . THE WAR. BATTLE IN THE EAST. The following telegrams come through Reuter's agency : BORDEAUX, January 10. The Moniteur of to-day publishes the following intelligence from the Army of the East,dated Rouge mont (Department Doubs) 9th, evening* : "The battle ended as late as 7 o'clock in the evening. Darkness only prevented us from fully estimating the importance of our victory. The Ge neral commanding bivouacked in the centre of the battle-field. All the positions assigned yesterday to the army for to-night by orders of the General are now occupied by it. Villersexel, the key of the position, was carried with a shout of L)ng live France ! "Long live the Republic !'" * A telegram giving the first announcement of this en gagement is apparently missing, telegraphic communica tion with Bordeaux being very irregular. STORMING OF VILLERSEXEL, VERSAILLES, January 10, (4.30 p.m.) The day before yesterday Colonel von Dannen berg fought a victorious engagement with Garibal diant near Montbard. Yesterday General von Werder advanced on Villersexel, storming the place and taking two field officers, 14 officers, 600 rank and file, and two eagles from the 20th French Corps. An attempt to retake the position between Villersexel, Moinay, and Marat, in which the 18th Corps of the enemy took part, resulted in the retreat of the French. West of Vendome our troops, in following the Army of General Chanzy, which is givin g way on all points, have advanced beyond the district of Ardenay. Up to the present time We have made about 1,100 prisoners. ENGAGEMENT NEAR LEONECY. OARLSIVUHE, January 10. A telegram from General Glumer, dated Vesoul, the 7th, has been published, which states that on the previous day reconnoitring engagements Occurred at Echenoy-le-Sec and Leonecy, when three officers and 207 men were captured. Our loss was 14 men killed and 27 wounded. CLOGNE, January 10 (Evening.) It is stat e d tha t General Manteuffel will assume the chief command of the troops in the East of Franc© and that General von Goeben will replace him in the command of the let Army. A GERMAN ATTACK. HAVRE, January (Eing.) This mor n i ng 600 German infan l try o and ven cavalry attacked the French advanced posts, and were re pulsed in the direction of St. Romain. Their iniantry effected their retreat in carriages. General Loybel has been appointed Cowman der-in- Chief o f th e army operat i ng in front of ctavre. PRUSSIA AND SAXONY. DRESDEN, January 10. The Wiener Frenzden Blatt of to-day gives an Recount of disagreements having occurred between the Crown Princ e o f S axony and the King of T• r russia, and states that the journey of the King of hony to Versaill e s i s connecte d w i th this affair. Dresden Gazette states that this report is a m ischievous and stupid invention, for which there is s ot the very slightest ground. WAR NEWS FROM BORDEAUX. BORDEAUX, January 10. A decree of the 7th orders the creation of a body of uvu horsemen, to be attached to the general t °l3l tnanding at L e M ans , t o act as scouts in Sarthe, 4 . 8 Loiret, the Orne, Eure-et-Loire, and Seine-et :le. One h u nd re d o f th ese are t o b e A ra b horse -mell from Constantine. The comm an d er o f t h ese t!1 33 has a right to requisiti on persons an d h angs. A circular of M. Gambetta requests the Prefects tli'olaediately to execut e a d ecree or d er i ng the orea, th and organisati on o f d epots f or the i nstruction o a rtillerynien of the National Guard. - inisterial despatches announos that the Prus -6'4118 violently a tt ac k e d t h e French positions at F aalt ',eau Renault on the Bth, on the line from to Authon. The French preserved all their b il n it ions except the village of Author. An en thigiinent took place at the same time near Thiel ed etails of which are wan ti ng. th k ep f lesPatch from Al encon o f th e 9 t h states that 14 russians attacked the French advanced guards, eel l'obay, on the Nogent road. The French re tri N Support, and after a violent ca nnona d e t h e k o ZY withdrew, was pursued two leagues by the A Il es, and lo s t e i g ht eeen pr i soners. t a civices from Dijon to the Bth announce that an Nill\l'entent has taken place at Sevigny, near u r on the 7th, a P russ i an reconnaissance of 500 ; ell being repulsed, an d re t rea ti ng on t h e Montbar d ; ell being With considerable loss. A despatch of the kfhti_esays that Ricciotti Garibaldi commanded in this k t t.'• $e had two comp an i es w ith w hi c h h e at "ed. the Prussians. A' A GEMENT WITH THE GARIBA.LDIANS 81,-'44Port from Borde aux says th a t t h e Frenc h k e ll eed posts were attacked on the road to Bel -1/41 near Nogent le Rotrou, about two p.m. on ratreal% After a vi o l en t artillery fire the enemy a) pursued for two hours by Mobiles, who t i h B Prisoners. e L e 7th i ns t. th e G ar ib ald i ans were attacked be 40pi gny-Millery, near Semur, and repulsed Ne t mY on the line of Montmard, with some 40 4 1 / 1 4 4 1 fie~tefai v Reynand, th e nava l pre f ect of Brest, has e(l a flattering dispatch from the Govern :i4p4vDraming the activity and untiring zeal he had in supplying war materials fro m th e nava l teatfiso* Two thousand seam en gunners h ave l eft t & L t General Ch anzy ' s army. It is reported it leteZie stock of arms o f prec i s i on are still in Nds of ' more continue to ar r i ve , as we ll as all 41unitions of war. WA be x., - -tt NEWS FROM BRUSSELLS. o () :',-he m ,"A° du Parlentent of yesterday says :—" In `ge t , " el le() of the military events on the frontier, 4t tve b een given for calling out again three h a ' 4 4 4 , 34 t he militi a . I t i s asserted that the y e air con tinue to besie ge Gi ver . Th e i r scouts eadY arrived at Vir eux ." 4 e °' Beige says :—" Eighty cannon and a sr ' 4 st aff have a rr i ve d at Longwy." I` T PRHITING ON THE LOIRE. , %r ah , O, ‘ " 4B from the Times correspondent at ' l la t i dated Sunday evening says :—Chateau (ioh 1 t, theLirai extreme right of the army of 4the I,reha.nzy, Was feebly attacked to-day 1 ,v11 ). rr, L llBs lane in advance of Chateaurenault at 4 4 : oe,;: i _ e ! took the village of Villeporcher, which tt i to th e v .`-'l, by a few hundred Mobiles, and set l'i e 641 ne v -viva ct.° o f Neuville, which was attacked-at 4 1 ) ci e4 ,, Ikte with artillery, without much result. :' 8 e 001.41 commanding the division has just sent 1) 1)o a , 1 4del'able force towards Chateaurenault, to Oli ot ZY,. sank movement in that direction, but I id tt . eueve there will be any serious attack. )' 111 g along tha line further to the west to & 4 1 _ Vaal from the Royal Bead-quarters at Ver sallies says :—" Our columns, which are marching from Vendome towards Le Mans, continued their advance on Swiday as far as St. Calais without meet ng with any serious resistance." BOMBARDMENT OF THE PARIS FORTS. A telegram from Royal headquarters at Versailles, dated Monday, midnight, says :—During last night an increased fire was kept up by our batteries to the south of Paris. The buildings at Montrouge con tinued burning until morning. To-day, in conse quence of the dense fog which prevailed, our fire was slower, while the enemy replied weakly, and only from certain points. Our loss on the Bth was 25 men. THE PRUSSIANS IN THE NORTH. Monday night's Echo du Nord says;—"Manteuffel is concentrating his forces on the south of the road communicating between Bapaume and Cambrai, and an engagement is expected in the direction of Amiens." General Faidherbe has sent the following dispatch to the Commissary at Lille, dated Boisleux, January 8, evening : " The army, whose advanced posts touch those of the Prussian army, daily kills or captures a c?rtain number of the enemy's cavalry. To day thirty volunteer sharpshooters of the North, commanded by Captain Delaporte, of Lille, assisted by five dragoons, under the command of the Quartermaster Plonvier, captured on a farm at Mouchy-aux-Bois 43 Uhlans, taking also 30 horses. The Uhlans, surprised, offered but a feeble resist ance. Three of their number were killed and one officer wounded. (Signed) " FAIDHERBE." —Lombard Telegram. THE LONDON CONFERENCE. VIENNA, January 10. It is semi-officially stated that, in order to render the assembly of the London Conference possible, the thorough discussion of the point has been intentionally avoided in ' how far the most important provisions of a solemn treaty can be legitimately set aside by only one of the parties concerned. The Conference will emphatically have to uphold the validity of the rights conveyed by treaties, and to insist upon the principle that the stipulations of a treaty can only be modified by con sent of all parties. Should, after this indispensable declaration, an amendment of the Treaty of 1856 be proposed which would increase the rights of a single Power, and thereby lessen the security and guarantees given to other Powers, it becomes an essential point for consideration what compensation should be made to these Powers, in order to reimburse them for the damage sustained. It is to be hoped that any changes in the Treaty , of Paris may be brought about without limiting them to concessions made to a single party. Letters from Berlin state that the London Con ference might possibly take into consideration the question of peace, should the bombardment bring about the capitulation of Paris whilst the Con ference is still sitting. The same letter states that Earl Granville himself proposed tadjournment of the Conference.—Reuters Telegram. BRUSSELS. January 10. The Berlin correspondent of the Echo du Parlenzent says it is believed that Lord Granville.inatigated the adjournment of the Conference, in order to intro duce the question of peace after the capitulation of Paris. A statement from Brussels is published by the new i Prussian Gazette that the French Government is willing to make a territorial concesson, and that compensation is to be furnished by Belgium. This news has caused a great sensation here.—Daily News. (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAMS.) FIRE AT CARLISLE. It is estimated that the damage done at Messrs. John Slater and Sons' cotton manufactory, Carlisle, which was burnt down yesterday morning, amounts to £20,000. Two hundred hands are thrown out of employment. TOE SUN, LON_DON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY . 1 1, .1871. SYMPATHY WITH FRANCE. THE SPANISH PRESS ON THE ELECTIVE MONARCHY. MADRID, January 5. At this crisis it is not without interest to learn what .e several journals of Madrid, most of them strong partisan papers, say of the new monarchy. The Iberia indulges in unqualified rejoicing, and exults in the public enthusiasm, which it declares was manifested on the entry of the king. It resents the comment of La Discusion that the Progressist party must feel overthrown and desolate. So far from that being the case, says La Iberia, the Progressist party regards the new Ministry as its own work. The Nacion is also inclined t) see matters in couleur de rose, and prophecies great things for the new reign. Liberty and monarchism united will ful fil the aspirations of the country. Amadeus ascends the throne amidst the blessings of a people who confide their destinies to his protection. Glory inspires him, virtue is his breath, courage his soul, and justice traces his course. Noble and magnanimous, he will befriend the unfortunate, just and severe, he will uphold the laws; loyal and chivalrous, he will offer an example to his subjects, will respect their Constitution and protect their liber ties. So much • for the enthusiasm of La Nacion. The Puente de Alcolea is less highflown, and more prac tical, and discusses chiefly the formation of the new Ministry, of which it is disposed to take a favourable view, especially of General Izquierdo. The Imparcial has very little in common with the hopes and the re joicings of its compeers. The fate of the country, it says, is in the hands of the citizens. The monarch must abstain completely from personal politics. The confidence, or the censure, of the Chambers in respect to a responsible Ministy, this must guide the course of the Government and the administration of the State. The Chamber, the Senate, the press, the political parties, the electoral bodies—it is all these and not the King who must decide the questions of political and finan cial regeneration, the liberty and prosperity of the country. The Eco del Progreso without naming the Duke de la Torre, protests against the proposed leadership of the ex- Regent, and recommends the formation of a new Ministry. The Progressist-Democratic party has many distinguished men. Let them reconstitute their party on a fresh basis, and since they haye had the misfortune to lose their military chief, they must accept a civil one, but of all things they must not exhibit to the world the spectacle of perpetual tutelage. The In dependencia Espanol also advises a reconstitution of the party. As for the Montpensierist papers, the Diario Espanol salutes the new reign, and declares the work of the September Revolution to be done. The Pais only relates the King's entrance, and indulges no comments. The Noveclades favours the elevation of Zorrilla, which constitutional precedent and practical convenience alike require. The Politica says that no vacillation is possible, and that if the Duke de la Torre forms a Conservative Cabinet he may succeed, but if he allows the Radicals to predominate, he will loss the last chance which fortune gives him. Only one man is really fit to take the lead at present, and that is Sagasta. The Republican organs are altogether opposed to the new regime. The Pueblo holds that the person of the King is sacred, and declares there is no conspiracy against him, but is hopeless of the future. The Republica Iberia is convinced that liberty is impossible under an hereditary King, and con siders that the Progressists and Democrats have worked for their ruin ; but it consoles itself by recalling that the nineteenth century is the era of revolutions. The Diseusion thinks an interval of Monarchy may purify the Republican party from the excesses of dema- gognes. The Igualdad thinks the Progrossists have com mitted moral suicide. The Carlist journals content them selves with declaring that liberty is dead, and that Spain must begin her work again. The Epoca, the most noticeable of the Alfonsist papers, is inclined to give a fair trial to the new King. The editor of El Combate, the frantic revolutionary paper, has been released. ROYAL POLYTECHNIC.—In our notice of the Christmas entertainments at this institution, we were in error in stating that the drawings for the " Yellow Dwarf " had been designed by the Messrs. Hills. They were, in reality, executed by Mr. F. Page. We understand that Mr. Robert W. Edis, F.S.A., is a candidate for the office of architect and surveyor to the Metropolitan School Board. Miss Alleyne, manager of the Globe Theatre, was yesterday convicted at Bow-street of having assaulted one of her assistants. The magistrate imposed a small fine. Last night's Gazette announces the appointment of Mr. Moiisell to the office of Postmaster-General. As this position is held directly from the Crown, which an Under-Secretaryship is nut, Mr. Molisell's seat for the county of Limerick becomes formally vacant. The clergyman in a certain town, as the custom is, having published the banns of matrimony between two persons, was followed by the clerk's reading the hymn beginning with these words—" Mistaken souls, who dream of Heaven." A. MYSTERY OF THE SEA.—The fishing smack Veto, of Grimsby, S. Cousins, master, arrived in port from the Dogger Bank on Saturday night. The master reports that on the previous Wednesday, when about 200 miles from Spurn, he sighted to tho leeward what at first ap peared to be a small schooner in distress, but on bearing down to her found her to be a full-sized lifeboat, upwards of 20 feet long, and full of water up to the corks. There was no name on the boat, which had evidently belonged to some large ship or steamer. It was painted white both inside and out, with a brown streak round the rim. When alongside, on closer examination, three dead sailors were perceived lying aft, huddled together, and a fourth athwart in the b ow , w ith hi s head hanging over the rollocks. They seemed from their dress and general ap pearance to be foreigners, but the bodies had been frightfully "washed about " and were in a state of de composition, and had evidently been dead some weeks. The water-logged waif drifted on with its ghastly cargo, and the horrible sight so shocked the crew of the Veto that afterwards they were almost too unnerved to attend to their trawling, and the smack, in consequence, returned to port with a comparatively small catch, and sooner than expected. Yesterday evening a public meeting was held at St. James's Hall, for the purpose of expressing sympathy with France, and calling on the Government to recognise the French Republic. The hall was crowded. Pro fessor Beesly was in the chair, and opened the proceedings by stating that he was not one who would cut down the discretion or remove the responsibility of a Government, so as to render it a mere instrument of the people. But still the people had a right to give its opi nion on questions of broad policy, and especially on foreign policy. Looking back to occasions when public opinion gave advice to Government, as in the case of Poland, it would have been better if it had been taken, for we should not now have been sneaking into a confe rence, in order to eat the leek of Prince Gortschakoff ; and if the advice of the people had been listened to in regard to our policy during the American civil war, we should not now be embarrassed by the Alabama question. As to the present war, meetings were constantly happen ing on behalf of France, while none had taken place on behalf of Germany ; for as soon as the policy of Germany was apparent, the working men of London made up their minds to resist it. He urged that the peace and pros perity of France were matters of utmost moment to working men, who were not yet on the eve of the establishment of that social democracy which *as looked forward to by that class.—Mr. Odger moved the following resolution :—" That this meeting warmly sympathises with France in her struggle against foreign invasion, welcomes the restora tion of the Republic, and applauds M. Gambetta and the French Government for their patriotic efforts to defend it against all enemies." Mr. Odger affirmed that the King of Prussia and his people had said they were not making war against the French people ; they had belied that assertion, and refused the reasonable overtures of the Republic for peace. M. Jules Favre, he said, was fully justified in the course which he took in the interview at Ferribres, and Count Bismarck clearly had no wish for peace. Mr. Odger drew a picture of the astonishing feats being accom plished by the French under that " wonder of the world," Gambetta (at whose name there was tremendous cheering), whom he eulogised in fervid terms, especially as a " gen tleman of the pavement." The resolution was carried by acclamation. Mr. Marriott moved : " That this meeting condemns and resents the conduct of Mr. Gladstone ; firstly, for his persistent refusal to accord full official' recognition to the existing Government of France ; and, secondly, for compromising the honour and safety of this country by the vacilla tion and feebleness of his foreign policy." Mr. Howell seconded the resolution, and begged that itimight be understood that it dealt with Mr. Gladstone and the Ministry only in reference to their foreign policy. The resolution was carried. Mr: Frederick Harrison briefly moved :—" Thpt this meeting urges upon the English Government the necessity of ascertaining officially from Germany the terms upon which she will con clude peace, and declares that, in the event of her insisting on the dismembermentof France, England should call upon the neutral Powers to unite with her in resisting it." An amendment was moved by Mr. Lucraft, but not pressed, and the resolution was carried by acclamation. The proceed ings, which were marked throughout by a considerable amount of enthusiasm, then concluded. ACCIDENT AT RUGBY STATION, Last evening as Mr. Mitchell, the manager of the re freshment-rooms at the railway station at Rugby, was about to cross from the up to the down side, the 8.3 up train, which was just coming alongside the platform, knocked him down and carried him with it some thirty yards. His body was found literally cut to pieces. THE, WRECK OF THE BLUE JACKET. Particulars have been received of the wreck of the barque Blue Jacket. On her voyage from Kobe to Falmouth lately, she struck on a reef off the Jaspar Island. The vessel soon filled. The crew took to their boats, and attempted to land, but a number of savage Malays, armed with knives, prevented them from doing so. Savages from a neighbouring island got to the wreck, and took possession of the Blue Jacket. Fortunately a Liverpool ship bore in sight, and rescued the unhappy sailors from their awkward dilemma. ACCIDENT TO THE SCREW-STEAMER AVON. The screw -steamer Avon, Young master, 1,230 tons, was brought into Guernsey Roads yesterday by a steam tug. Her machinery was damaged yesterday in a gale. She was laden with provisions and ammunition for the French army at Bordeaux from Liverpool. A GIANTESS AND HER HUSBAND CHARGED WITH BIGAMY. At Hanley (Staffordshire) yesterday, Thomas Stevens, the owner of a menagerie, was charged with intermarry ing with Ellen Reader, at Manchester, in May last, his wife, who is a travelling "giantess," being alive. The evidence shewed that after having lived together for a number of years, Stevens gave his wife her exhibition van £2OO, and left her. Subsequently he supplied her with a further sum of £5O, she undertaking not to niolest him in any way, and in May last he married Ellen Reader, she being acquainted with all the facts of the case. Stevens was committed for trial, and a warrant was granted against the " giantess " for bigamy, a witness stating that he was present when she was married to a person named - William Day. ASSAULT ON ORANGEMEN. Yesterday Patrick Lee and John Lee were found guilty, and John Flynn pleaded guilty, at the Newton Batler Sessions, to having maliciously waylaid and assaulted three men, named Robert Humphreys, Francis Humphreys, and Alexander Veitch, while returning from Ballyconnel Fair in October last. The persons assaulted were Orangemen, the prisoners being Catholics. The latter were sentenced to imprisonment for two months, one month, and a fortnight respectively. THE NEW POSTMASTER -GENERAL. Mr. Issac Butt, Q. C., is mentioned as the candidate whom the Home Government Association in Dublin will bring forward in opposition to Mr. Mousell, who through his appointment as Postmaster-General has to seek a re newal of the suffrages of the electors of the county of Limerick. MR. ELLICE, M.P., AND HIS CONSTITUENTS. Mr. Ellice, M.P., addressing a meeting of his consti tuents at Cupar, Fifeshire, last night, took a retrospect of the legislation of the past session, speaking in favour of undenominational and unsectarian educational measures, with compulsion in large towns. Mr. Ellice expressed a doubt as to the wisdom of the course the Government had taken in releasing the Fenian prisoners. THE GOVERNMENT LICENSING BILL. The Rev. Canon Payne Smith, D.D., Regius Professor, presided last night over a large meeting held in Oxford, at which resolutions were . passed in favour of the Permis sive Prohibitory Liquor Traffic Bill, and of urging the Government to insert such clauses in the licensing bill which it has promised to introduce as shall make it illegal to force the liquor traffic into any district in opposition to the will of the inhabitants. BISHOP WILBERFORCE ON EDUCATION. The Bishop of Winchester, speaking at Southampton yesterday, urged that if it were possible to avoid the ap. pointment of a school board it would be better to do so. The education of children, his ordship went on to say, must be a uniform progress of body, soul, and mind. If one of these were developed to the injury of the others, the result would be, not an elevation, but a depraving of the child. The education of the mind at the expense of the soul was as disastrous in its effects, though perhaps not so patent to the eye, as the development of the mind at the expense of the body. If the whole duty of educating the nation were observed, every person would be provided with a Christian education ; for how could the country flourish if the next generation were one of men who, mentally speaking, were distorted THE MINERS' CONFERENCE AT MAN. CHESTER. The conference in connection with the Miners' National Association was opened at Manchester yesterday after noon. The meeting was attended by delegates from nearly every important colliery in the United Kingdom, and, according to a statement by the secretary, directly represented a constituency of 112,000 grown miners, mem bers of the Union. The president of the meeting, Mr. Macdonald, criticised the provisions of the Home Secre tary's Mines Regulations Bill. He expressed great regret that, upon the untenable plea that the Education Act had made it necessary, Mr. Bruce had thought fit to de cline dealing specially in his measure with the education of miners' children. Mr. iMacdonald urged the conference to memorialise the Home Office upon this omission. Then the bill was defective in other respects. The limitation of the hours of labour for youths to fourteen per day was quite insufficient; eight hours work in a mine was quite enough for a youth in any one day. The miners, more. over, required every safeguard that the provisions of the bill shall be carried out after they become law. The ex tension of the system of inspection by the appointment of a large corps of sub-inspectors who would see every mine in the kingdom daily, was a benefit which should be be stowed. The managers should also be made more respon sible by the imposition of fines of £5O or £lOO for every defect in the ventilation of their mines. They should also be made liable for loss of life or personal injury traceable to the neglect of their servants. Resolu tions were adopted by the Conference to the effect that inspection should be extended to all mines in the United Kingdom; that the present system of mine inspection being wholly unsatisfactory, unsound in theory, and im perfect in practice, demands improvement ; that no effectual improvement can be made without a great in crease of the inspectors or sub-inspectors ; and that every working place in every mine should be thoroughly in spected every three months, I and a record kept of the date of each visit. NORWICH ELECTION PETITION. The hearing of the Norwich election petition was re sumed yesterday morning. Mr. Serjeant Ballantine con tinued to address the court on behalf of Mr. Tillett, the sitting member. The learned counsel contended that the conduct of his client had been perfectly pure ; and that in fact his conduct had been too pure for some of his nominal supporters, especially one of them, who now exhibited a vindictive feeling against him. The real fact was that Mr. Tillett's conduct was quite unsullied. Mr. Serjeant Ballantine closed his address on behalf of the sitting member by contending that Mr. Tillett was the object of persecution.—Mr. Malley, Q.C., replied upon the whole case, and contended that there were two agencies at work at the last election, one the recognised agency, and the other the unrecognised agency, which employed roughs, watchers, &c. At the conclusion of the learned counsel's address, the Court was adjourned without judgment being given. DURHAM ELECTION. There will be no opposition to Mr. Davison, Judge Advocate-General. Such is the unanimous feeling in his favour, that he has ceased to prosecute a personal can vass. The writ has been proclaimed. The election is fixed for Saturday next. FRAUDULENT BANKRUPTCY. At the Southampton Quarter Sessions, George Henry Henderson was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment for, within four months of his bankruptcy, converting to his own use goods entrusted to him as bailee. He was one of the principal jewellers in Southampton, in a large way of business. It was proved that his practice was to make large purchases of jewellery from wholesale houses, and then pawn them. There were several cases against him, but upon the prosecution of Messrs. Pyke and Alexander, of London (of whom he purchased £393 worth of jewellery in June last, and a few days afterwards pawned a portion of the goods at Atten borough's, in the Strand, for £250), prisoner was con victed at the Midsummer Sessions, but appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal, which confirmed the conviction. ROBBERY BY A BUTLER., At the Brentford Police Court, George Churchman late butler in the service of Lord Kilmorey, was charged with stealing £65 from his lordship. Prisoner, two years ago, was in the service of the prosecutor ; since he had left the house, he continued to visit the servants at Isleworth. He visited them on the 20th ult. He left the hall for a few minutes on that evening, and next morning Lord Kilmorey missed £65 in gold and notes, the change of a cheque for £lOO, which he had cashed on the previous day. The prisoner was suspected and arrested. He did not deny the theft from the first ; and now he admitted it, and asked forgiveness. He was remanded. ROBBERY BY A CONVICT. A convict named Wynne was liberated from Portland after seven years' penal servitude on the 4th of this month. On the night of the 7th and Bth he broke into the houses of two warders, the prison workshop and the Devonshire Arms Inn, near the prison, and stole a large quantity of clothes and eatables. He was apprehended leaving Portland on the 9th. He was committed to gaol under remand yesterday morning. NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE. The Japanese have instructed an English naval medical officer, with permission from the Admiralty, to organise sick hospitals in all the principal ports of Japan. The patients who are infected will be subject to a compulsory treatment and medical control. Captain Radulphus B. Oldfield will, in all probability, be appointed to the command of the Bellerophon. On Monday afternoon 12 68-pounder smoothbore guns were forwarded from the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, to Sir W. Armstrong's factory at Elswick for conversion into rifled ordance upon Major Palliser's principle. In consequence of the success which has attended the Prussian 16-pounder field guns in the present campaign, the authorities ordered several guns of that calibre to be made at the Royal gun factories, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. These guns are being manufactured upon the Fraser principle of steel and iron, they are to be rifled with three grooves, and their weight is 13 cwt. One of these guns has already been completed. and forwarded to Shoe buryness for trial. The new schools of instruction that are to be added to the present establishment at the School of Military En gineering at Chatham will shortly be begun. The Patagonia, from the West Indies, announces that two German vessels have been captured on the coast of Peru by French men-of-war. The Earl of Aylesford died yesterday morning at his town residence, in the 47th year of his age. His lord ship, who represented South Warwickshire in the House of Commons from 1849 to 1857, is succeeded by his eldest son. Lord Guernsey, who is in his 21st year. At the meeting of the City Commissioners of Sewers yesterday, it was stated that during the past quarter the officers of the Fishmongers' Company had seized and destroyed fifty-seven tons of fish unfit for human food. Dr. Letheby, the medical officer of health, stated that within three weeks 4,274 tons of diseased meat had been seized in the London markets. THE NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION. -MAN CHESTER, Tuesday Afternoon.—(By Telegraph). —A n im portant public meeting was held this afternoon in Manchester on behalf of the National Lifeboat Institu tion, his Worship the Mayor presiding on the occasion. Mr, Lewis, the barrister, and Secretary of the Institution, specially attended on its behalf, and pleaded in eloquent terms its claims to public support. He said that the Lifeboat Society sought neither Government aid nor Government control, but firmly and proudly rested on the sympathy and voluntary support of the British public to carry on its great and national work—a work which resulted every year in the saving of hundreds of ship wrecked persons from an inevitable death. No less than fourteen lifeboats have been presented to the institution through the instrumentality of the Manchester branch, and those boats have saved two hundred lives from diffe rent wrecks. AN EXTRAORDINARY Sum—During the recent severe weather one of the veteran Breydon gunners named Thacker, but better known by his cognomen of the " Old Stork," had the good luck to bring down at one shot five swans, thus making one of the most successful shots on record.— rgn Herald. THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE PARIS FORTS. From the head-quarters of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Versailles, the special correspondent of the Daily News sends the following under date January .8 :—There has been steady hammering at the French forts for three days past. The fire of the forts has slackened under the withering effect of the German shells. We have heard a low, constant growl all the morning beyond the west of the hill of Meudon, which shows that the cannonade still con tinues. I have not been out to-day far enough to learn for certain what is going fof v,-ord ; but when I saw Issy yesterdnv afternoon, the French fire was very little in proportioil with ea r li er e ff or t s. Report says they had a good many guns dismounted by the German batteries, and that their loss in men must have been enormous. Again and again the. French sailors cleared away the wreck of overturned pieces, and brought other guns to bear on the smoky hillside above, and carried their wounded comrades into the casements. Again and again the Germin shells caused confusion in the forts. Now Issy was silent for a while ; now Montrouge ceased to fire. It was hoped by. the besiegers more than once that this or that fort would not open again, but at present they have all resumed i operations after a certain amount of delay, and I cannot learn that up to this morning any fort has been com pletely silenced. It has been remarked in connection with the French fire that 400 shells have been thrown into open fields, where they fall harmless, whilst only a few go anywhere near the batteries. This is partly ac counted for by the difficulty of firing upwards at a vague line of smoke and spadework against the crest of hills, and partly by the fact that trained gunners are scarce . in Paris. The French forts, moreover, have been known to and studied by the German engineers for months past, whilst the German batteries burst upon the French engineers with the disadvantage of novelty. When 'the trees which masked them were felled on the night of the 4th and sth of January, and the batteries stood revealed to the foe, they were in places studiously chosen for the annoyance of the forts. From whatever cause arising, it seems clear that the superiority of the German fire has been soon established, and that this fire not only is more accurate, but more murderous than the fire of the French. The German shells being moulded into deep grooves to hold the leaden coating for the rifled barrel of the gun, burst into many fragments, each of which will kill, whilst the French , shells having knobs or buttons upon them to fit the rifling of tho gun, and not being grooved, burst into fewer pieces, and thus waste power. Again, the French guns work for the most part in embrasures or notches in the top of the rampart; and if a shell enters one of these embrasures it is pretty certain to silence the gun. The German guns, on the contrary, are mounted in barbette—that is, they peep over the top of the breastwork, and unless actually struck are not damaged. They are breechload ing, and can be charged in this position with the minimum of exposure to the artillerymen in the batteries. Unless the French can actually strike the steel and bronze muzzles which flash out at them so steadily, they get little by their expenditure of ammunition. We know nothing of the effect of the German fire in frightening Paris. It is said that the King will at length grant the request of the soldiers and pour destruction into the city. I have even heard that batteries have been appointed to shell the inhabited parts between the Invalides and the southern ramparts ; but I still doubt whether any such course will be adopted. The most likely spot to be heavily battered is the railway-bridge over the Seine previously mentioned. It has already suffered considerably, say those who have seen it this morning, and no more trains run across it. Next to the railway bridge in importance are the houses where the Frence outposts take shelter. These are said to have been all destroyed. Twelve - pounders, with which many of the batteries were armed, are being exchanged for heavier metal. Fa voured by the break up of the weather, the besiegers will boldly push forward approaches to the very glacis of more than one fort. German speculators are busy with plans for feeding Paris when it submits. The obstinate Parisian is to pay a handsome price for his first roast beef, and thus put a little money in the honest trader's pocket. It is noteworthy that when Paris falls there will be a German Governor ready at hand, whose head-quarters are for the moment in Versailles. THE GERMAN PRISONERS AND THE WAR. About 100 German prisoners, who had been taken in some of the late engagements, arrived at Le Mans on the 6th. They give a very sorry account of their own army in the field, and say that in Germany as in France the great mass of the people earnestly desire that peace should be concluded upon any terms, and that the present horrible carnage should cease. They declared, unasked, to my informant and, as they knew him to be an Englishman, what they said cannot fall under the suspicion of being flattering tales invented to conciliate their captors—that, day after -clay, the German troops, when out of the hear ing of their officers, curse the King of Prussia, the Crown Prince, Prince Frederick Charles, and every leader who has helped to bring them into the pre sent campaign —a campaign which, at starting, they were told would not last more than a few weeks, but which seems now as far as ever from its termination. They declared that, were it not for a popular idea in their army—namely, that the French poison the food of their prisoners —many hundreds would quietly allow themselves to be taken in every engagement. —Correspondent of the 7'degraph. THE RESOURCES OF THE FRENCH. In a communication from the seat of Government at Bordeaux, the special correspondent of the Daily News, writing on January sth, says :—I have just heard that the papers have been again warned to give no hints what ever as to the movements of Bourbaki and Chanzy, and also that Gambetta will probably start to-morrow for Le Mans. Taking these two circumstances together, I ima gine that the advance is at hand, and that ere another week has elapsed we shall again have taken the offensive in earnest. But in that case it is, unfortunately, also evident that Government has no intention of putting half their available forces in the field. There are no signs whatever of movements in the camps ; and, indeed, a decree of to-day announces that as the provincial artil lery cannot yet be delivered, the National Guard Artillery are to go to depots, where they will practise for at least twenty days with Government artillery. As probably a fortnight will elapse before this order is carried out, it is evident that Government do not reckon upon having their artillery ready for service for six weeks to come, as it is only after the com pletion of this preliminary instruction that the men are to be sent to the camps. I am therefore bound to believe that the Government have no idea of bringing up their forces from the camps to aid in the attempt to relieve Paris, but that that task will be committed to the present forces of Chanzy, Bourbaki, and Faidherbe alone. Faidherbe will probably be able to lend but little assist ance, and the operation will have to depend upon the army of Chanzy, 150,000 strong, and that of Bourbaki, perhaps 120,000. I question whether these forces are sufficient for the end in view. It may be asked what is the motive of the Government in thus assembling and drilling enormous forces in the camps, if they do not mean to use them? I believe that this enormous reserve will be brought into the field if Paris falls. In two months there will be 400,000 men, well drilled, and well supplied with artillery, and these will more than balance the German forces freed by the fall of Paris. At the outside these forces may be estimated at 300,000, and probably 250,000 would be nearer the truth. At least one hundred thousand men will be re quired to garrison Paris, and to guard the enormous army of prisoners, so that only from one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand would be available for field opera tions, and the French reinforcements would be fully double this strength. A desperate attempt will, no doubt be made to save Paris ; but if it fails, and Paris falls, France will have an enormous army with which to continue the war. I do not imagine that it is intended to use the troops at Cherbourg and the West for the advance upon Paris. They are not yet thoroughly drilled, and are short of their proper propor tion of artillery. I imagine that all that they will do at present will be to clear Normandy and re-occupy Rouen. As to the chances of success of Chanzy and Bourbaki, you are able to judge of them in England more dispas sionately tha n I can d o h ere ; b u t it is certainly in their favour that in all the recent conflicts the French have proved themselves to be, man for man, at least equal to the Prussians. The American papers record the sudden death of the Rev. Albert Barnes, D. 1)., the well-known com mentator, at the age of 72 years. On Saturday will be produced at the Lyceum a Comic Opera in Four Acts, composed expressly for the Italian Opera Buffa Company (Limited), by Signor Bot tesini, the eminent composer and orchestral conductor, whose writings for the lyric stage place him in a high rank for melody and dramatic expression. The Italian Libretto, by Signor Taddei, is a graceful and amusing adaptation of the world-famed story of the "Forty Thieves," the English version of which has been entrusted to the well known skill and experience of Mr. C. L. Kenny. OUR CO - TEMPORARIES—This Morning iIOW TO SECURE PEACE. The Times says :—lt is plain that, if peace is to be secured, the first departure from the present irreconcileable oppo sition of . the combatants must come from the German side. As long as the apparent stubbornness of the 6 German attitude remains unabated, all France is thrown ;nto the arms of the Government of Defence. Every feeling of honour and of patriotism combines to L make the defeated Frenchmen as inflexible in resistance as the victors appear determined in insisting upon L their demands. Our correspondent, who went last week from Havre to Le Mans, moved among Frenchmen who have seen enough of the penalties of war, yet he found no division of sentiment among them. They were united • in a resolution to resist the enemy. The first truth a mediator should insist upon, on addressing the German leaders, would be the necessity of appeasing some of this hostility. It might be easily done. Paris is to be taken ; that is to say, it will be brought to acknowledge • the impossibility of further resistance; but what if in the moment of triumph the King were to renounce the proud pretension of dictating peace in the Tuileries, and was to declare his resolution not to enter the city? A man who has disarmed his antagonist and then put up his sword has often converted a recent enemy into a friend ; and the King of Prussia might display a magnanimity in the supreme hour of his fortunes which would make negotiations for peace less impracticable. A public declaration that the cession of territory should be qualified by provisions securing to the inhabitants of any strip that might be transferred free powers of migration and of disposition of their property would go far to alle viate the sting, and would reconcile many Frenchmen to a sacrifice from which they now tura with repugnance. It may be said, indeed, that suggestions such as these, and others that might be indicated were it expedient to multiply them, are dreams, and it is true that they are, and must remain dreams—for dreamers ; but they are dreams of a kind that men of courage and energy could make realities. It may be accepted as certain that the restoration of Peace come when and how it may, will he characterised by many circumstances that would now appear strange and im possible of realisation ; and those who can rise to the level of their position as men endowed with some degree of power, and therefore subject to some burden of duty to restore peace to Europe, will not shrink back amazed before they begin their work because it seems to transcend the labours involved in the paltry issues of domestic politics. THE DISTURBANCES IN SPAIN. In the opinion of the Standard, the King of Spain has been sharply reminded of the speculative character of his enterprise. He was proclaimed on the 2nd, and on that day received, nominally at least, the executive power from the Regent Serrano. On the 6th the knowledge that a Republican insurrection had broken out in the province of Granada was so general in Madrid that the Government could not refuse to dispatch, although it seems to have contrived to delay, telegraphic messages informing foreign countries of the fact. It is probable, therefore, that the movement was already two or three days old on that day, and bad maintained itself, if it had not grown. Possibly enough it was contemporaneous in its birth with the loyal reception of Madrid and the cere mony of oath-taking and proclamation in the presence of the Cortes. The King, who, the production of revolution, was to close the revolutionary period, finds himself in the very first hours of his sovereignty in the face of revolution, and called upon at once to show that he can keep by force of arms the throne which the vote of the majority of the Cortes gave him. The Republicans are weaker than they were, but is the Sovereign of Spain as strong as the chiefs of the revolution who have just transferred their power into his hands? In a word, for this is the whole question, can King Amadeus count upon the devotion of an army which had shewn to the rebel leader Prim a loyalty and an attachment it has never in modern times given to its kinks? If he can, there is no room for any doubt as to the result of this " movement," whether it be part of a plan concerted by the whole Republican party or an isolated expression of the hatred with which a large number of Spaniards regard a sovereign they consider to have been tyranically imposed upon them. The question is one which we cannot pretend to answer decisively. We have expressed the opinion that if any Republican movement should appear to connect itself with the assassination of Prim, the army would remain faith ful to the King. We are disposed on the whole to believe that if this movement in Granada should spread, the army will still be loyal to him, and suppress the insurrection. But these opinions are, after all, little more than guesses. To judge what the Spanish army will do in the event of revolution, we must know what the army thinks of the new King, and what are the views of those who are heirs to the infltrence enjoyed by the Conde de Reuss. We do not pretend to know what the most careful and most privileged obeerver could hardly yet have discovered. And we must say, very frankly, that whilst we expect to hear this movement in Granada and corresponding movements, if there should be such, in the other provinces of Spain have been sup pressed, we should not be at all surprised if they should result in a change of Ministry—i.e., a change of tutelage for the King—or even in a change of dynasty. OUR ARMY AND NAVY ADMINISTRATION. From the sublime to the ludicrous, remarks the Daily News, is scarcely a shorter step than that which divides our two great central administrations of our army and navy, and to pass from the one to the other of these de partments is to emerge from a citadel of wasteful and in efficient jobbery into the clear and wholesome atmosphere of responsibility and economy. Yet it is only the other day that while administrative Reformers and Liberal Economists were abandoning in despair the task of bringing under national control and Parliament correc tion the Royal mysteries of the dual government of the army, the Admiralty, which even in its worst days was as light to darkness compared with its powerful and privileged neighbour, became the annual scapegoat of sins other and far greater than its own. There was, indeed, an interval during the absurdly over praised administrative regime of Sir John Pakington (whose principal performances consisted in building all of a sud den fifteen frigates, which became obsolete almost before they were completed, and in deluging the Channel Fleet, in a fit of panic, with worthless bounty-men), when the Admiralty was supposed to have silenced all the natural enemies of a Tory G overnment. The first principle of Tory administrators, whether of the Navy or of the Army, is that " numbers mean power." Numbers of ships —never mind if they are obsolete and useless ; numbers of officers and men —never mind if they are employed or unem ployed, effective or superfluous; numbers of clerks engaged in checking and counter-checking one another in different rooms, perhaps on the same staircase ; "acres of stores " lying idle, but absorb ing the interest of millions of public money—all these items on the Tory ledgers represented vigour, libe rality, readiness for emergencies, and substantial perma nent power. Well, it appears that Mr. Childers and his colleagues have actually had the courage to initiate an entirely different policy and system, and after two years of incessant attacks upon their reckless parsimony and monstrous injustice and meanness, they have now almost shamed the growlers and grumblers into silence, and compelled even the leaders of the Opposition to acknowledge that our naval administration is by no means the most eligible point of attack upon a Liberal Government in the coming Session. THE FALL OF PARIS. " What will France do, if the Germans pursue a policy of masterly inactivity ?" asks the Telegraph. We hear in many quarters that the French are determined to fight on, whether their capital yields or not ; but will the coun try act upon that courageous resolve ? The fall of Paris would by one and the same stroke set free the greater part of the beleaguering army, and relieve of their present task Prince Frederick Charles, Von der Tann, Mecklen burg, Werder, with all the detachments guarding the long lines of communication. At one and the same moment the object for which such vast forces have been raised in France will disappear, and the invaders will be enabled to use their great strength with renewed freedom. Meantime, with Paris in German hands, and bearing in mind the feeling of utter defeat which would spread through the land, as well as the dreadful losses already endured, and the heart-sick weariness of the war, the question arises, is it likely that the country generally would consent to fight on ? If it did consent, with what hope could the hasty levies of Gam betta hurl themselves against the line of strongholds, from Mezieres to Chalons and Rheims, which the Germans would occupy ? On the other hand, when the French paused to get breath and to prepare new efforts, then would arrive the sad calculation of losses, the smarting from " cold wounds, " the clamour for respite and a quiet life among the peasants, the sickness of the national heart, the reaction from all this terrible excitement. Having secured nearly every fortress in the east, the Germans could no doubt hold Champagne as easily as Alsace ; and, while soften ing their terms as much as possible to invite a settlement, they would most probably threaten further and pitiless demands, if they were forced to fight a fresh campaign. In these remarks we have left out the consideration of so highly improbable an issue as the raising of the siege, for events point all too plainly the other way. It would be rash to predict, and the heroism of the capital may yet accomplish an milooked for deliverance; but we can only interpret facts as fore shadowing the beginning of the end,