The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1871.

THE SINKING OF BRITISH VESSELS BY

BLOCKADE OF DIEPPE.

THE PRUSSIANS.
MESSAGE FROM COUNT BISMARCK.

The blockade of the French ports occupied by the Ger-
mans appears to have commenced in earnest. A corres-
pondent at Newhaven writes on Sunday night as follows :
—"I left here in the Marseilles at 2.30 a.m. on Sunday
morning. When about twelve miles from Dieppe we
sighted a large French man-of-war steaming off the
port. Having proceeded some seven or eight miles
further we ran up our colours. She did the same;
and requested us to come as close alongside as we
could. A very heavy sea was running at the
time, but we went as near as we could, and in answer to
the questions addressed to him our captain replied that be
was bound from Newhaven to Dieppe, with passengers
and 150 tons of rice and rapeseed. He was then informed
that he must return to Newhaven. He answered that he
wished to see the company's agent at Dieppe,
to which a reply came, ' Captain, you must
not.' At the same time the bow port was
opened, shewing us a big gun, and two guns
aft were also run out. We could see, too, that all the guns
were manned. By this time we had drifted too far to
shout any more, and as it was very clear that if we tried
to proceed we should be fired upon, Captain Payne
ordered the boat's head to be turned round for Newhaven,
off which we arrived at 4.30 p.m., but had to wait for
the tide until half-past nine at night befoie we could
enter the harbour. I must mention that the frigate
had two men on the look-out at the masthead, and
that the man who shouted out to us was a black man, who
received his orders from an officer in uniform. She could
not have been more than five miles from Dieppe, as
we could see the people on the pier. This is the
first time that the boat has been stopped, and it is
supposed that the Prnssians must either be in
Dieppe or the neighbourhood, and that the French
captain thought they would take possession of our cargo of
rice if it was allowed to enter the port. There were twelve
passengers on board our steamer. The captain would have
sent off a small boat to communicate with the frigate,
but the sea was so heavy that no small boat could have
lived in it. As the objection to allowing us to proceed ap-
pears to have been the fact of our carrying cargo, we
shall probably make another attempt with passengers
alone on Monday evening. A telegram has been received
from Dieppe, stating that our boat had been seen to
return, but giving no information as to the state of affairs
in that town.—Correspondent of the Daily News.

(CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.)
•

The following message from Count Bismarck to the
North German Ambasiador in Londou respecting the
British vessels sunk in the Seine was communicated to
Lord Granville yesterday afternoon :

" VERSAILLES, January Bth, 1871.
" The report of the commander of that party of our
army by which the English collier ships were sunk in the
Seine has not yet arrived. But as far as our intelligence
goes, the general outline of the facts is 'known.
You are authorised in consequence to say to Lord
Granville that we sincerely regret that our troops,
in order to avert immediate danger, were obliged to, seize
ships which belonged to British subjects. We admit their
claim to indemnification, and shall pay to the owners the
value of the ships according to equitable estimation with-
out keeping them waiting for the decision of the question
who is finally to indemnify them. Should it be proved
that excesses have been committed which were not justi-
fied by the necessity of defence, we should regret it still
more, and call the guilty persons to account. The official
answer to Lord Augustus Loftus's note will follow after
the report from the Army has been received."

NARROW ESCAPE OF 11.31.5. VAL OROUS.

(CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.)

Last evening H.M.'s frigate Valorous drifted from her
moorings in Plymouth Sound on to a shingle bank, her
chains having given way during a sudden squall. ]?ortu.
nately the frigate, whose keel took the ground, was
brought up with an anchor just in time to prevent her
going broadside on to the bank. She has sustained little
injury.

THE GREENWICH MEMORIAL.
(CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.

Last night a public meeting, attended by about 1,500
persons, was held in the lecture hall, Greenwich, in sup-
port of a requisition to Mr. Gladstone, calling upon him
to resign his seat for that borough. The meeting, which
was presided over by Captain Dominy, was of a most up-
roarious character, a large body of roughs being present
especially to prevent those favourable to Mr. Gladstone
from being heard. The requisition, it was stated, had been
signed by over 4,000 persons, and the complaint made
was, that not only had Mr. Gladstone's Ministry closed
the dockyards in the borough, and thus driven the work-
ing man from his home, but that the Premier had alto
gether neglected his constituents, and had never con-
descended to appear among them. The following reso-
lution was proposed and seconded amidst the greatest
confusion :

" That having ceased to have any confidence in the
Right Hon. William Ewart Gladstone as a Minister of
the Crown, either in his home or foreign policy ; and,
moreover, taking into consideration the shameful neglect
he has shown towards the interests of this borough, which
returned him a stranger, when r ejected by two enlightened
constituencies, who knew him better, we now deem it
necessary, in pursuance of the object for which this im-
portant meeting was convened, to demand from him a
restoration of that Parliamentary trust which in an
unguarded and evil hour we committed to his charge."
The resolution was not put to the meeting, as a rush
was made to the platform over the reporters' table, and
the chairman and his immediate supporters had to beat a
hasty retreat. A kind of free fight, lasting upwards
of half an hour, then took place, after which
Mr. Baxter Langley, who was a candidate for the
borough, and gave way to Mr. Gladstone, obtained a
hearing, and complained of the Premier's neglect of the
borough, though disclaiming all connection with the pro-
moters of the requisition. Ultimately a vote of confidence
in Mr. Gladstone was moved and seconded, and declared
by a new chairman to be carried, and the meeting termi-
nated in the greatest disorder.