The Express.
London, England, 1860-10-08 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

THE "TIN NATIONAL"
(71011 OM OWN 0011ZIPOND1xT.)
PARIS, BUNDAT ETUIIC.

I have been to Vinoennes to-day to see the open.
ing of the national shooting match—Tir Nations!,
at it is:called—for rifles, fowling-pieces, ordinary
muskets, and bows and arrows. There was nothing
like excitement about the matter in Paris, and
scarcely any in Vinoennes. I went down in an
omnibus, in which my only travelling companions
were three old ladies—a pretty plain proof that the
general public takes but little interest in this
imitation of the Wimbledon meetings. At 10
o'clock,the hour appointed for the commencement of
the shooting, there were not more people in Vincennes
than may be seen on any ordinary fine Sunday.
The ground selected is a portion of the plain nearly
in front of and very close to the fortress. A tem-
porary wooden building of considerable length has
been erected for the accommodation of shooters and

spectators. The public pay lfr. for admission. Those
who desire to shoot must pay a minimum fee of Mr.
for five shota,and competitors for the grand prize of
10,000 fr., must invest 50fr. for their chance, and
for that sum they only get five shots. Rifles are
furnished, but people may bring their own if they
choose. There are upwards of SO targets placed at
a distance of 170 yards, and visible only through a
succession of square holes about two feet in
diameter, cut through a aeries of some dozen rows
of wooden palings. This arrangement is made, I
presume, in the interest of public safety, since
every wide ball must necessarily lodge in some one
of the rows of palings, unless it reaches the goal on
a level with the target, and then, in case of failing
to hit, it will be received by an earth embankment
just behind. During the two hours that I watched
the proceedings this morning, only a very small
proportion of the target holes were occupied. The
principal firing was kept up by national guards
and troops of the line shooting with their ordinary
weapon, which is the old musket riled. Some
amateurs, among whom was Jules Gerard, the
famous lion killer, fired shots, few and far be-
tween, from the compartments allotted to rifles, or
mesa de precision. Some of these weapons were
to the eye of an ordinary observer very com-
plicated and clumsy pieces of machinery, and the
immense time taken in cleaning, loading, sighting,
adjturting,and levelling themouggested the idea that
in the hurry and excitement of real warfare they
must often be of little use. I saw two or three
Britishers walking about with rifles slung on their
shoulders, and no doubt waiting for. their turn,
but the "many English officers in uniform,"
spoken of by the press entirely escaped my obeez-
vation, and I much doubt if any were present to-
day. The only uniform I saw besides those of
the troops and national guards engaged in shoot-
ing was that of Glen. Guiod, the president of the
shooting committee. Possibly the thin attendance
of Englishmen may be accounted for by the
fact of its being Sunday. There are, I know,
some " glorious volunteers" in Paris, who have
brought their uniforms with them, and I dare say
some of them will show at Vincennes in the course
of the week. The shooting is to go on till the 18th,
'from 10 till 5 every day. There is ample provi-
sion for eating and drinking in • restaurant fitted
up within the building. Ido not think that the
exhibition will become very popular among the
Parisians. They like spectacle, and it does not
suit their genius to wait quietly for hours to see
who beet hits a mark. Moreover, the position
allotted to the public is such :hat even those who
might take an interest in the matter can see
nothing worth looking at. They are too far re-
moved from the space to which alone those who
shoot are admitted to hear the names of the com-
petitors, or to know whether the mark is hit or
not. The exhibition may possibly become more
attractive when the newspapers come to speak of
it ; but to-day the general public was scarcely
represented by so many as a score of individuals at
• time.

trio* ova ous owl 0031

BEYROUT, Sam 24.

In my last letter, dated the Slat instant, I
announced that many, if not moat, of the prin•
cipal Druse sheiks who had been summoned by
Fuad Pacha to come to Bey rout had arrived. All
these are now under arrest, or, at least, are detained
in the large barrack-square, where each has a room
and his servant to wait on him, until the trial of
the whole can come off. The proceedings by
means of which Fuad Pacha arrested them were
altogether Oriental. They came down without any
guarantee, either implied or expressed, regarding the
future, many no doubt thinking that they would be
very lightly dealt with as regards the past. Fuad
Pacha would not speak to or see them until they
had all assembled in one of his large tents. The
Christian sheiks and others who had also assem-
bled at Fuad's call, were ordered into another tent.
Every ono—even those in the Pacha's confidence--
was under the idea that a grand couference between
the two sedlia Wad to take plasm ; but not so. When
all were assembled, the tent containing the Druse
sheiks was quietly surrounded by a battalion of
Turkish troops under Ismael Paella (Enmity, of
Kars), and the inmates were told by an official that
they must at once proceed under the guard into the
barrack square, about 30 yards off. It was a ticklish
moment, for the sheiks had all brought down
large bands of armed retainers with theca, so muck
so that there must have been some three hundred
fighting men standing with their horses close to
the barracks, between the latter arid the tents;
but not a hand was moved. Kmoty had under
him one of his tried battalions, and the very look
of his own long moustache shows be is not the sort
of man to be trifled with. Once that the retainers
had seen their chiefs marched into the square, they
were told to betake themselves off to the moun-
tains, one servant being allowed to remain with
each chief. The Christian sheiks and chiefs were
then told they might go, but that they must
remain in or near Beyrout, so as to be
within call when wanted. Altogether the
affair was admirably managed, and reflects the
greatest credit upouboth Fuad Pacha, who planned,
and K.mety, who carried out the scheme, without
the slightest disturbance or bloodshed. As a matter
of course, there are some who have a good deal of
pity for these arrested sheiks, but I cannot see how
brad Pacha could have acted other than he has.
The sheiks came down here without the slightest
guarantee of any sort ; they were merely
summoned to come. They stand accused,
many of them, of actually inciting the fear-
ful massacres of Deir-el-Kamer, Hsahbeya,
amid
Rasheya ; others--all--of being cognisant of these
horrors before they took place, and of doing nothing
whatever to prevent them ; of being, in short,
what lawyers call accessories before the fact.
There can be no doubt but that they came down—
er many did—under the impression that English
" protection" would see them through it. They
were very quietly undeceived, by our consul-general
very properly refusing to receive Syud Bey
Djoublat ou his arrival. Their trial cannot come
off for some little time yet. Would it have been
wise to leave these men at large to intrigue with the
Moslems of the town, or to betake themselves to
the mountain, where it would have been impossible
to lay hands ou them again !
Three thousand of the French troops move to.