The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-17 00:00:00

TEL S LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 17, 1870.

MA DAME TUSS AUD'S EXHIBITION,
BAKER STREET.

On view Portrait Models of the Emperor Napoleon 111., the
Empress Eugenie, and Prince Imperial ; King William of
Frussia, and Count von Bismarck. Admission, Is.; Children
under 10 years of age, 6d. Napoleon Rooms 6d. extra. Open
from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m.

OPERAS, THEATRES, AND AMUSEMENTS.

PRINCE OF WlLEs's—A 7.30. Quite by Accident. M.P. Deares.
Mamma.

Qu'ziors—At Seven, Sly Wife's Dentist. 'Twist Axe and Crown,
VArnEvrLLE—Cupboard Love. Two Roses. Don Carlos.

CHRISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Hall, Every Night, at 8; Wed-
nesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and 8 all the year round.
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, Regent's-park. Open daily (except Sun-
days). Admission, Is. on Mondays, 6d. Children under
twelve, 6d.

MADAME TIISSAIJD'S EXHIBITION, Baker-street, from 11 a.m. till
3.0 p.m., and from 7 till 10 p.m. Admission, Is.; extra
6d.

lIIGII WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE THIS DAY.

Morning . 39 after 5 I Afternoon ........56 after 5

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EVENING EDITION.

with an open frontier, has not at this moment a
quarter of a millions soldiers in line to defend Paris.
For foreign service, too, 100,000 regular troops would
prove a most formidable array. It is true that the
continental Powers hold such a number very lightly.
But what proportion of their millions can they
muster at any one point ? The German army now
invading France is the largest that ever entered
foreign territory in modern times. The Grand Army
of 1812 was considerably less when it crossed the Rus-
sian frontier. Not more than 200,000 men fought on
each side at Sadowa. In all other battles of modern
times (exceptLeipsic) the total of combatants has been
below this last number. In fact when States are
not protected by the sea, these colossal national
forces soon melt away in the shape of garrisons, re-
serves, and armies of observation, until only a

certain fraction, never likely to be greatly ex-
ceeded, can be accumulated at the point where
the real trial by battle is to be made.
We do not contemplate fighting Prussia for the
sake of prestige. One hundred thousand men would
defend Belgium or Canada, with the help of the
native forces.

The required number has been enrolled. Is it
prepared for battle F There is reason to think that
an affirmative answer may be returned in the case
of the regular forces. Their number might
be augmented a little. The subsidiary
services commissariat, hospital, &c. leave
room for improvement; and the whole army is too
slow to seize and appropriate improvements in the
art of war. The deficiencies, however, are probably
not serious. The difficulty is that this regular army
cannot be held disposable for every purpose unless
the second line, the reserve, be thoroughly up
to the mark; and this, unfortunately is far from
the case. All the needful accessories to a powerful
army are wanting both to the Militia and the Volun-
teers. If these two services were called out to action
at the present time, nothing would be forthcomilig
beyond the quota of tolerably well drilled rank and
file. There is no staff; no commissariat, nor any of
the organisations by means of which a number of
regiments are welded into a single army with unity
of purpose and harmony of detail. Our reserves no
more resemble the elaborate machines of the Conti-
nent than the confused heap of wheels and springs
on a watchmaker's bench resembles the timepiece
with which he supplies his customers. Both Militia
and Volunteers are very badly officered. They are
not even properly armed. And, strange to say,
though these defects -have been acknowledged
on all hands again and again, nothing, or next
to nothing, is done to remove them. The
Militia jogs on in blessed obscurity; the Voltmteers
meet with more than indifference—something very
like studied neglect. These vast bodies of men,
300,000 in all, are thrown away. This great defen-
sive force is wasted. The present increase of the
regular army is in fact an acknowledgement that the
two reserves are practically useless : the War Depart-
ment has no hope of being able to organise them
in a reasonable space of time, and hence it flies to
the only resource—recruiting for the Line. The
Volunteers are likely, with the proper appliances, to
make excellent fighting men. They shoot much
better than the Line, and the present war shows
how much is gained by good firing like that
of the Prussians, against such careless chance
discharges as those of the Freneh. But this
and other good qualities can avail nothing under
present circumstances. The Volunteers need proper
weapons ; they require a system of officering which
will exclude every man from a post of command who
is not thoroughly equal to his duties. At present
the Volunteers are commanded by gentlemen who
very worthily contribute considerable sums to the
maintenance of the corps, and who are therefore
chosen for the posts of honour, which, indeed, they are
doubtless as well qualified to fill as their colleagues. But
such soldiering is nothing more than innocent amuse-
ment. More than this the Reserves ought to 1 e sup-
ported by those services without which no army can
take the field ; and they ought to be practised in large
bodies so, that when war comes, they may meet with
nothing to which they have not as far as possible be-
come accustomed in time of peace. Such are the
requirements of these fine reserves. The Government
does not and apparently will not supply them. The
country, then, ought to make its voice heard. The
dilemma is simple ; if we keep up these great bodies
of men they ought to be fit, for work, and if
they are not to be made so fit they should be
sent about their business. It is idle to maintain
expensive illusions. There cannot be a doubt that
if the Volunteers were properly cared for, their num-
bers would greatly increase ; the British forces would
be sufficient for all lawful purposes; and we should
be spared those panics which every now and then
befal us.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

insatiable. As a rule, it may be understood that the
" trained newsboy" is an excellent judge of the
nature and importance of news ; he has
learned from experience, when he may
extend his demands for a further supply
of his wares. A. single speculator in
this line has sometimes consumed, in a day, as many
as thirty quires, but this is exceptional, it need
scarcely be added. Tne most successful hit is made
by the newsvendor whb gets first to the Exchange,.
with a batch of second editions containing some im-
portant news. Under such circumstances a shilling
is often obtained by the sale of a penny paper.
Nothing can equal the employment of newsboys for
quick distribution through the City, and though they
sometimes come into collision with the police, the
result is not very disastrous to the progress of their
business.

descent homewards. Scarcely had the two
ladies and the guide gone a hundred
yards, when Mrs. Marke and the latter,
who were in front, slipped into a crevasse which
was covered with a thin crust of snow. No cry from
them was heard, and ulterior search for the bodies
was made in vain. No labour or pains were spared,
but owing to the situation and formation of the
crevasse all efforts proved unsuccessful. When Mrs.
Marke and the guide disappeared, the rope connect-
ing them with the young lady, happily for her, broke,
and she was left alone, close to the edge of the chasm.
It was here Mr. Marke found her when he re-
turned to hear the terrible news of his wife's loss.

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OUR COTEMPORARIES---This Morning.

THE FURTHER DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH.
The Times comes to the concluftion that this defeat
before Metz is a finishing stroke for the army of the
Rhine. The adverse fortune by which, in spite of the
most undaunted heroism, its various corps have
been so rapidly and so constantly overwhelme4
seems to leave absolutely no hope of a favourablq
turn. The soldiers of France have done all that
could be expected of men ; but, if the soldier pro-
poses, the General disposes : it is not always that
the valour of the troops can make up for the short-
comings of incompetent leaders. Since the Austrians
of the first Italian campaign against Bonaparte, there
hardly ever was so uninterrupted a succession of
disasters, uncheered by a single gleam of success, as
has befallen the soldiers of the Second Empire since
their first sham triumph at Saarbruck. Of 250,000
of the bravest troops in Europe only scattered and shat-
tered fragments are left. The battering in of the whole
defensive armour of France has been the work of one
short week. Far more than at Verdun or Chalons, the
future prospects of the war must now be studied at
Paris, for before the French can think of revenge on the
Germans, they are likely to look for those on whom they
may wreak their wrath at the German victories. The
disasters of Wissembourg, Forbach, and. `Werth deter-
mined the fall of. the 011ivier Ministry ; who is to pay
for the defeat before Metz, and for the disastrous retreat
to Verdun