The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-12 00:00:00

probable that to-morrow a much larger number will be
employed, as the gun-park is by no means completed, and
the St. Cloud batteries did not fire at all. When the next
attack comes there is little doubt it will be on Issy, for if
that were to fall Paris could hardly hold out. But unless the
Prussians are more successful than they were yesterday,
it may be long before the defenders of Issy need fear.
There is, as far as I can judge, no doubt that the
Saxons had a severe check before Noisy. They
had fancied that the French guns there were
silenced, as they saw the embrasures filled with sand bags
and gabions. But when they attempted to storm the
fort they were met by so withering a fire from these em-
brasures which they thought were abandoned, that they
were compelled to beat a rapid retreat."

Fifteen young men of Rheims, who had plotted an
escape from the occupied city to volunteer with the
French army, were betrayed to the Prussian authorities,
and every one of them suffered corporal punishment by
the &Mag.
- -- •

The correspondent of the Times with the Crown Prince
of Saxony is certain that "we have neither damaged
Paris nor caused any fright to its population, however we
may have terrified the raw artillerymen with whom Trochu
has been obliged to man some of his batteries. If the
forts have to be taken before we can produce any effect
on the city, I think we shall see the close of the present
month before we see an end of the siege of Paris."

Those familiar with Giiethe's play of " Gotz with the
Iron Hand" will be interested in learning that the hero's
last lineal descendant, Joseph von Berlichingen, lately
met with his death before Paris. He had been a Zonave
in the Pontifical army, and on its dissolution returned to
Stuttgardt, joined the Wurtemberg forces, and fell
beside the two young Counts Taube at Champigny on its
recapture by the Germans on the
,3rd

The wound received by Prince William of Baden in the
sanguinary engagement at Nuits on the 18th ult. has
proved more serious than was originally supposed. The
bullet entered about an inch below the left eye and issued
from the neck, two inches behind the left ear. It pene-
trated into the cavity of the ear, without, however, in-
juring the drum, but severed many small nerves which at
times cause a good deal of pain.

In the Yorkshire Post there is a letter from a German
gentleman who has just been summoned from the neigh-
bourhood of Leeds to join the army. In the course of
it the writer says :—" We expect a general rising of the
French prisoners in Glogau, Posen, Schweidnitz, and
Silbrberg, and should this take place you will hear some-
thing in England which will startle you. Every third
man of these 78,000 prisoners is sure to be shot if they
attempt such a thing."

A German correspondent writes :—" The siege of Bel-
fort is for the German troops an enigma, the solution of
which is to be found in the configuration of the ground
and in the special communication between the town and
the citadel. These peculiarities of the soil hinder an in-
vestment as complete as that of Strasburg. There is
always a possibility of communicating between the sur-
rounding country and the besieged, who regularly receive
letters and information."
General de Loverdo before leaving office sent the fol-
lowing circular (which has not hitherto been published) to
generals commanding districts : " It is necessary to in-
form you that German officers, non-commissioned officers,
and privates have been found in possession of jewels, coin,
watches, and other manifest products of pillage ; you
will, therefore, in future take care to have all German
prisoners searched, and you will send to this office a list of
such fruits of rapine as may be taken upon them.—By
order, DE LOVERDO."
At Claye, a little village to the north of Paris, a sad
scene occurred on New Year's Day. Some of the villagers
had returned with their priest, and on the occasion of
delivering the sermon on the festival, the latter exclaimed,
" \Vhere is my flock?" and answered himself, "In flight."
The scene was a most painful one. The congregation
consisted of a German soldier, some peasants, and.a, few
women. The priest called upon those present to pray
with him for the return of the fathers, husbands, women,
and children, and for the restoration of peace between the
j two belligerent nations.
The correspondent of the Daily News before Paris, says :
—" I have a strong notion that the French have, in a
great measure, depleted their forts of big guns in order to
supply their advanced batteries, and that this fact ac-
counts for the comparative silence of the forts in reply to
the German fire. It is not in the nature of things that
such a fire could have the effect of utterly silencing for-.
tifications of suoh a character as the forts of Nogent and
Rosily, but my supposition is quite compatible with the
facts as they have occurred."
Napoleon the First used to ridicule the Empress
Josephhie for the importance she attached to the sayings
of Mdlle. Lenormaud, the soothsayer, but on the occasion
of entering on the Prussian campaign ho sent a trusty
agent to seek her counsels, Mdlle. Lenormaud at once
said, "You come from Napoleon : tell him he will hear
from me to-morrow." The next day the Emperor re-
ceived the Sybilline communications that in 1806 Prussia
would be defeated, but in 1870 Prussia would be
lestroyed. The French still cherish a hope that the
latter part of the prediction may be verified as the former

Several officers of foreign States that are on terms of I
amity with Prussia have appeared from time to time at
Versailles to witness the grand military spectacle of the
bombardment of Paris. Thus from eight to ten Russian
officers of different grades and several English officers are
staying at head-quarters, while Austrian, Italian, and
Belgian officers have not presented themselves there.
But the most remarkable guests are certain nine Japanese
officers, some of them of high rank, whom the Emperor
of Japan has sent specially to the Prussian armies to com-
plete their military studies, and who have been very well
receixed there. They were dressed in plain clothes, and
have just passed through Nancy on their return from
Versailles.
Speaking of the bombardment, the Times correspondent
says it is well known that the large pieces of the French
marine are short-lived. The order in the service is that
only forty rounds are to be fired with full charges, and
that when that number has been reached the charge must
be reduced one-third. The life of the gun with these
reduced charges is equal to from 250 to 300 rounds. But the
strain on the pieces during the tremendous outbursts in
which the French indulged early in the investment and
during the sorties has proved very damaging, and they
did not at all develop° the power they were expected to
exhibit.

Most of the balloon letters which have been recently
intercepted, speak of privations, &c., but not of the
'unitary situation. One writer makes merry over his
stomach becoming reconciled to rats and horses, and a
Dutchman promises never to forget the anxiety caused
him by separation from his family if he has a chance of
avenging himself on the enemy. Women complain of the
exhorbitant prices of provisions, and of having to stand
in the cold outside the shops waiting for a handful of rice
or a herring. The severe weather, the scarcity of fuel,
the absence of gas, the cessation of business. and the pre-
valence of smallpox, are also alluded to.

Tuesday morning, at the moment of their departure fro I . •
the town, accompanied, it is said, by a letter from Gener. .:
Werder, which acknowledged and praised highly the , • .
patriotism which the population of Dijon had not cease
to exhibit." ..
The Constitutionnel objects to France being represente
in the the Conference, and asks whether Jules Favre is quali
fled by the violent elevation to power of September to ac r :
for his country in one of, the most important questions o :',
European politics. Any participation in a Conferenc:
which has no reference to the present situation of Franc:
is only an insult to misfortune. The Siecle is delighted
Fa vre's being chosen for London, and attacks M. Thiers ". .
whose intrigues are played out. The Patrie regrets Thiel':
has not been selected. Should Favre go, it hopes ht:--,
will not indulge in useless declamation, but assum k ---
a sober and dignified tone, such as Thiers would hay.
done.
PitisoNEns As ACTORS.—A French sergeant-
major, imprisoned at Spandau writes to say. that he gets
In :.•
on very well in captivity :—" our forced idleness here
we have opened a theatre, under the sanction and patron
age of the general in command. It is very well organised,
and the performances are now tolerably perfect. Thi
4
company is drawn entirely from the French prisoners
of war ; we are 35 in number—actors, singers, and musi-
cians , and there is also a chorus of 25, under the direc-
tion of the ' sous chef de musique ' of our regiment.
Among the singers there are some who have very fine
voices, and who sing on the stage, ballads, opera airs, and
comic songs with orchestral accompaniments. The com- .
pany is particularly strong in comedies and vaudevilles as
there are several professional actors in our ranks. The
room assigned for our performances is a large one, andwilll
hold 450 to 500 persons. The General often attends, and
several ladies, as well as prisoner officers. The room is •
always crowded, and it furnishes an agreeable mode of ~'
passing our time." ,
TIIR PRISONERS OF THE RlllNE.—Writing fro&
Bale, January sth, the special correspondent of the
`i
Standard thus describes the condition of the French'
prisoners :—The attention of the English nation was •
called for the first time to the state of the French prisoners
in your columns. Until then the poor wretches incarce- ..
rated in the fortresees of the Rhine had borne their misery :
*9ll
silently, and without provoking comment. They were .?,,, ,
dead to the world ; they existed like so many unwilling •
monks in loathsome cloisters. lam sorry to say that my -- ,
investigations have led me to believe that the condition of ,
the prisor.ers of Cologne is infinitely better than that of
the unfortunate Frenchmen incarcerated in other parts of'.
Germany. To commence with the officers. Those who are ,
wealthy are not subjected to much inconvenience. They
are permitted to wear civilian attire, and are allowed to I
roam about within certain districts. They have to report
themselves on the average three times a day to the Prus-
sian officer commanding the district to which they be- .
long. Until very recently there was no restriction to
their movements by night or day. Since a number
of them broke their parole they have been required
to be within the doors of their various apartments
or hotels by six o'clock in the evening, and
are not permitted to leave their houses until the same
hour on the following morning. This regulation prevents
them from going Co the theatre, visiting their friends, •
&c. At Cologne most of the officers are members of the
Garde Imperiale, and are consequently wealthier than
their brothers of the line. While I was staying in the
town I did not meet a single officer in uniform, and 1
several were staying in the first-floor rooms of the best i
hotels. At Coblentz I found matters very different. Here ,c
nearly every officer wore his uniform, and some of the t
lieutenants looked as ragged and as poverty-stricken as i
the poor penniless privates. This tact will
cause you no surprise, when I inform you that scores of
French subalterns are receiving no more than forty-fivo
francs a month. Upon this pitiable sum they have to live,
dress, and board like gentlemen. I noticed that the
Prussian officers paid no sort of attention to
their unfortunate prisoners. A great deal has been
written about the gentlemanly behaviour of the
Pr assiau officers, of their extreme courtesy,
their perfect breeding. Perhaps I have been un-
lucky in my travels, but I must say that I have
found the Germans uncouth and disobliging. A.
few days ago I was at Strasburg, and there they were be-
having like savages. They swagger along the pavement,
pushing every one they meet out of the way ; and iii the
hotels they treat the proprietors like horses and the
waiters like dogs. Every gentlemanly feeling would dic-
tate a civil demeanour before the French officers.
But, no ; the Prussians are invariably cold to the
captives, who are their equals in rank, if not in
good fortune, and frequently rude. It is evi-
dently considered "'not the thing " to know a French
officer : and so the prisoners of Sedan and Metz are treated
with undisguised contempt by lieutenants of Landwehr
and other German warriors of equal distinction, equal
experience, and equal good taste. At the present moment
a large number of the French subalterns are nearly
starving.

LAW AND POLICE.

THE LATE GREAT BANK NOTE ROBBERY,- At the
Central Criminal Court, before the Common Serjeant,
Sarah Durrant, 63, widow, was charged with receiving;
two £l,OOO Bank of England notes, the property of John
Gurney Hoare, and others, well knowing
them to have been stolen. It will be re-
membered that early in last February an ingenious
robbery of notes was committed at the Brickbeck Bank,
in Chancery-lane, a large sum being extracted from the
bill case of Mr. Tomlin, collecting clerk to the prosecu-
tors, who are the well-known banking firm, while standing
at the counter. The notes in question form part
of the proceeds of the robbery. The police, from
private information which was given them, saw the
prisoner, who keeps a coffee-shop in the Borough-road,
on the 19th of December, and told her that they had
heard she bought two notes a few days before. She re-
plied " Good God," and became very excited. The de-
tective officer further said he had reason to believe she
had them about her, and should take her to the
station to be searched. Prisoner said, " know
I have done wrong, but don't take me there,
or I shall get ten years." She also asked
if the detective would' let her go on giving up the notes,
and then she pulled -them out from her bosom. She
refused, however, to state where she got them, but subhis
se-
quently told the officer she had picked them up. T
latter statement was the substance of the defence, and it
was urged that the prisoner had simply acted indiscreetly
after she found the notes. The jury found her guilty,
and she was sentenced to two years' hard labour.
A THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS' CHANCERY SUIT AND ITS
EFFECTS.-STRANGE CASE.-At the Old Bailey Sessions,
before Mr. Justice Brett, a respectable-looking elderlY
man, named Eldred Lewis Blyth Pearce, was charged
with' publishing defamatory libels on Thomas Donald-
' son and Thomas Smith. The parties all re-
side at Paddington, and Donaldson carries on
a wine .and spirit business at Leicester and Nottingham-
The prisoner has been plaintiff in a chancery suit, with
reference to considerable property, which suit has ex-
te eunt (01
re
sd
hoavveer af
rpoemr ot
time
aoef
ttoh
timei t y- s eavdevna
nyceeadr s
h.
iamn d
nthe
epyr o s e -
for
the purpose of carrying on the proceedings. Sore
few months ago they refused to make aro'
further advances, and prisoner taking advantage of the
post cards sent the libel in question to several of the
friends of the prosecutors in the neighbourhood of Pad-
dington, &c. The libels complained of were to the follow'
ing effect :—" Robbery of £50,000 by Thomas Donaldson
and Co., now figuring as wine merchants
Leicester and Nottingham. The bribe was taken 11
wines and as a sham to force Mr., Eldred
L. B. Pearce into a deed, now held by him, to rob him
of
millions collusively in his Chancery suit of thirty-seven
years a suitor. On an indictment, Smith and DonaldSll
would be transported for life. The case in Chancery b'
been decreed on by three Lord Chancellors in plaintifq
favour up to 29th July, 1868." The prisoner was fonn
guilty and recommended to mercy. He was liberated (/'",„
his own recognisances.
ri 41 4
THE CHARGE OF CHILD Mumw y
.—At the en-- a
Criminal Court, Mary Ann Clarke, 23, spinster, who 10r.
been committed for trial on the charge of wilfully morclebe
ing her infant child, was placed at the bar before
common sergeant. The grand jury having ignored n
bill for the capital offence, she was charged on the seen%
count of endea,vouring to conceal the birth. To this s't
pleaded guilty, and sentence was postponed till the to%
sessions.

Her Majesty the Queen will hold a Council
Osborne on Saturday next.
Her Majesty's Ship Grasshopper not havit
arrived at Nanchang on the 31st of October, the
Satanus went in search of her. She was found, 5101
towed to Nanchang, where she will winter. She uort
sustained some damage from heavy weather, and was s'
of coal. of
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