The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-12 00:00:00

'THE LOSS OF H.M.S. CAPTAIN.

The officers and crew of the Captain when she sailed num-
bered 500. -One warrant officer and seventeen .seamen arri
at Corcubion on the night of the 7th inst., and the
following hands were discharged into the Prince
Consort some time before - the loss of the
Captain 4—W. Wingatt, W. Burd, T. Ho,arty, James
Moore, Alexander Smith, Thomas Wise, 'Henry Wil-
liams, able seamen ; and James Page,Corporal of Marines.
W. Taylov. midshipman, was discharg,ml to the Royal
Oak.

The Captain was built by Messrs. Laird, of Birken-
head, under the direction of Captain Cowper Coles. She
was a double-screwed ship of 4,272 tons, and 900 horse-
power, and carried iron armour of varying strength, being
in the most exposed portions as much as eight inches
thick, and elsewhere ranging fore and aft, and below
the water line, between seven, four, and even three
inches. In her two turrets she carried six guns of
the heaviest calibre. Vice-Admiral Symons said of her,
" She is a most formidable ship, and could, I believe, by
her superior armament, de.troy all the broadside ships of
the squadron in detail." The hull was only ten feet out
of the water when ready for action. The captain had
made two successful voyages to Vigo, after her prelimi-
nary trip from Liverpool to the Channel, before the pre-
sent fatal cruise. _ _

Captain Burgoyne, who commanded the Captain, the
ill-fated vessel, was born in Dublin in 1833, and entered
the navy in 1847. He wag made a commander in the
navy in 1856. At the taking of Kinburn he was in com-'
mand of the Wrangler gunboat ; and in 1857 he received
the Victoria Cross for personal bravery. He also re-
ceived from the Turkish Government the Order of the
Medjidie, and from the French Government the Cross of
the Legion of Honour.
Mr. .T. M. Carmichael, one of the secretaries to Mr.
Childers, the First Lord of the Admiralty, left town by
mail train on Thursday night for Brussels, to inform Mr.
Childers of the loss of the Captain • the right hon.
gentleman havlng a son, Mr. Leonard Childers, a midship-
man, on board. The illness of the First Lord had
compelled him to depute to his son the task of taking a
cruise in the Captain, and personally witnessing her quali-
ties or defects as a fighting ship.
Captain Cowper Coles was a son of the Rev. John
Coles, of Ditcham Park, Hants. He was born in 1819,
and entered the navy in 1831. He saw ',much service,
and shared in the attack on Sebastopol in October 1854,
on board the Agamemhon, and was highly praised in the
despatches of Admiral Lyons. • Soon after his return
home he brought forward his designs for shot-proof rafts,
guns, mortars, and turret-ships. After long perseverance,
he persuaded the Admiralty to build a ship from his
designs, and the commission was entrusted to Messrs.
Laird, the ill-fated Captain being the result. Captain
Coles had accompanied the ship in ber previous cruises,
and was exceedingly proud of her.
The Peninsular and Oriental steamer Tanjore arrived
at Southampton at 6.3.5 on Friday evening. She reports
that from midnight on the 6th inst. to four a.m. on the
7th, when off Vigo, she experienced a very severe gale
from S.W. which suddenly shifted to, N.W. At
daylight the British fleet, of ten ironclads, was
observed, having despatches for the Admiral, Sir
A. Milne, C.B. She stopped at seven a.m., and
communicated with H.M.S. Agincourt, by a lifeboat from
that ship, the sea running very high at the time, and
delivered all mails, &c. The officer of the boat reported
the loss of several sails on board the Agincourt during the
storm, and one of the other vessels with loss of top-gallant
yards. The other ships were not near enough to ascertain
if any other damage had been received. At 7.30
a.m. she proceeded on her course. It will be observed
that Sir A. Milnes's telegram announcing the loss of the
Captain, is dated 2 a.m. on the 7th.
The news of the loss of the Captain has • caused intense
excitement in Portsmouth, where the vessel was commis-
missioned. Mrs. Burgoyne, the wife of Captain Btirgoyne,
resides at Southsea, and most of the crew are connected
with that port.

Reporting on the behaviour of the Captain between the
10th and 23rd May last, Captain Burgoyne says :—The
three first days after leaving Spithead (on the 10th May),
we experienced strong south-westerly winds, with a heavy
confused sea ; the ship at the time steaming with four
boilers, at the rate of from four to eight knots, and she
proved herself buoyant, and remarkably easy in every
way. The main deck was constantly washed during this
time by the sea, but the water passed readily off again,
without apparently affecting the ship in any way. The
crew were exercised several times at general quarter*, the
gnus being trained on various points, and the lower half-
ports worked; no inconvenience was experienced in the
turrets from the sea entering the ports ; but occasionally
a wash came in over the half ports, when the guns were
in, but not sufficient to inconvenience the crew, or find its
way into the turret-rooms. I found from experience
that by training the guns aft, id; er delivering•
the fire; the chances of shippinc, water are very little.
Admiral Symonds; in a detailed' report of the cruise of
the Captain, remarked as follows ;—There was a moderate
swell (wind 5 to 6) at my visit on the 23rd of May.
Though washing freely over the main deck, but in a far
less degree than I anticipated, her forecastle was often
deluged; the Minotaur's main deck was wet throughout,
by the sea entering the weather ports, and a great spray
wet the poop. On this occasion I consider the Captain
chewed hertelf buoyant and successful in every way.
Vigo Bay, where the Captain is reported to have been
lost, is on the north-west coast of Spain, a short distance
above the extreme north-west point of the coast of
Portugal. The bay is of great extent, being 20 miles in
length by five miles across at its mouth. One report
received states that the ship was wrecked, not in Vigo
Bay, but that she was driven north as far as Cape Finis-
terre, and there lost. Cape Finisterre is about 50 miles
north of Vigo Bay.
Commenting on the calamity the Slo:pplag Gazette says
—We can safely say that we have never believed in these
ironclads as sea-going vessels. Their great weight and
rigidity of construction render buoyancy impossible, and
they are brought down so low in the water that they are
not calculated to rise out of a superincumbent sea..

A movement is on foot in lladdington to erect a
monument to John Knox.

Dr. James Salmon, Inspector-General of Hospitals
and Fleets, and in charge of Haslar Hospital, has been
appointed to the vacant office of Physician to the Queen.
The Lords of the Admiralty have awarded to Mr.
J. R. Rogers, the inventor of a life-saving apparatus, the
sum of £2OO towards defraying the expenses to which he
has been put in carrying out experiments shewiug the
merits of his invention.

By the giving way of a portion of the floor o' the
weaving mill of Messrs. Johnson, Portugal-street,
Oldham-road, Manchester, on Friday morning, a young
woman was killed and three other persons were severely
injured. The accident is supposed to have been caused
by the subsidence of one of the pillars, which rested upon
the covering of a drain.
- -

It is announced that in consequence of the uneasi-
ness and apprehension which appear to exist among the
British communities in China, consequent on the massacre
at Tientsin, it is proposed to hold a meeting of merchants,
bankers, and others interested in that country at the
London Tavern on Wednesday next, the 14th inst., at
two o'clock.

THE EMPEROR AT WiLnELmsHoliE.—A war
correspondent writes :—lt was exactly 9.35 p.
when the Imperial train . arrived at the Wil-
helmshohe station. Assembled there were the staff
officers of the troops garrisoned here, who had been left
behind for the organisation of the troops of reserve. Fore-
most of them ranks General von Plonski, formerly general
commanding the 11th Army Corps, but now, in conse-
quence of his ill-health, succeeded by General von Bose,
wounded at Woerth. There was also the Chief President
of the Province, Herr von Miller, all wearing their official
uniform, and doing all the honours to the Imperial pri-
soner whom they had to receive. It was a solemn moment
indeed when the drums struck up the " Zapfenstreich,"
when all hearts resounded to that tune, which indicates
the day's work done. When the train stopped
the Emperor alighted, and passed in the front
of the officers lining the station, while he un.
covered his bead and went to General Plonski's
carriage, which conveyed him to Wilhelmshohe, ten
minutes drive off. The Emperor looked earnest, but not
broken down, and as far as I may judge—l was standint,
five paces from his carriage—his countenance was quite
different from that given by Kladdcradatsch. There were
no signs of an extravagant embonpoint, nor of that illness
which he is said to be suffering from. lam glad to
confirm the opinion which I expressed beforehand about
my fellow countrymen ; when the imperial carriage
drove off there was rrn sound to be heard—dead silence
reigned about.

THE STA' OF PARIS.—We have troubles 'enough
before us, Men though the Prussians should not oome
after all. With a third of the police dismissed,
whilst eight or ten, thousand people of the
lower sort enter Paris unrestrained every day,
with fifteen thousand stragglers and fugitives from the
Rhine Army all hanging about the suburbs ; with
ten thousand Tnrcos, just captured in the wildest depths
of Kabylia, set clown in our streets ; with a prospect of
eight thousand savages of this sort yet to come; with the
flight of all respectable persons who can get away; and
with all the restless faubourgs armed to the teeth—l
think we can shew catalogue of awkward circumstances
to compare with those of any city that has stood in
deadly danger. Your readers will bear witness that lam
no alarmist. The crash of Prussian shells upon the
pavement of our streets I have long expected to hear.
For that we were prepared; but these ominous sounds
of trouble within the walls I had not counted on. No
one under the status of a prophet could have antici-
pated that the offensive but 'useful sergents-de-ville would
be suppre sed. It needed unusual prescience to foretell,
when reading of defeats and capitulations a hundred miles
away, thousands of the soldiers who fought there would
struggle lack, with arms complete, but resolutely
disorganisod, withing, the walls of Paris. And a man
of common seise could not be expected to be-
lieve that in a moment of such desperate peril eighteen
thousand savage Africans would be imported into the
most magnificent city of the world, and flattered and
caressed liiere until, they not unnaturally held themselves
as a snperior race. These things I did' not -foresee, and
they came upon me as a sinistil surprise.—Carrevondent
Teicyroph.

/A" 1
t 111 A, WAR.

THE NEUTRAL POWERS AND PEACL•
NEGOTIATIONS.
PARIS, FRIDAY.
•

The Peesse says it ifT3 certain that an intervention of the
European Powers in favour of peace is being carried on
with our new Government. We are in a position to affirm
that the Courts, of St. Petersburg and Vienna are very
favourable to this project. The obstacle, if there is one,
comes rather from England, whose Sovereign is, as is well
known, very favourable to Prussia. A conference is to
be held to arrange the terms of 'a
communication which
is to be made to the different Powers. Lord Lyons ex-
cused himself from being present on a trifling pretext. It
is evident that he does not wish to make engagetnents for
England before receiving exact instructions • from hiss
Government. A fresh meeting is appointed with the
same object, witch, it is hoped, will be more sutoessful•
The Patric says that the whole diplomatic body actually
assembled an -Friday, and intended if they can to a pre-
liminary understanding to start the same evening for the
headqueiters of the King of Prussia. The same paper
says that several journals have spelken of an armistice
between the belligerents: The conclusion of a convention
of this kind gill presents great difficulties, but it
is no longer regarded as it was some days ago,
as a matter d impossibility. The Independence Beige
in referring to the rumour of the intended visit of the
Ambassadors to the Prussian headquarters, says the gene-
ral opinion of the diplomatists is, that there is no hope
for a speedy and durable peace if Germany exacts the
cession of part of the French ironclad fleet, and of Alsace
and of part of Lorraine. Another question is that of the
demolition of the' French fortresses. The French Govern-
ment objects to this as much as to the cession of ter-
ritory, but it will not obtain the support of European
diplomacy in that opposition. The Journal de
St. Petersbourg has already expressed the senti-
ments of the Russian Government on the subject, and has
remarked reasonably enough that Metz and Strasburg
have not proved of much service to France, since they
have not prevented Paris from being threatened with a
siege. The Independence Beige has a long article on " A
Durable Peace," in which it declares that the dis-
memberment of France would be an injustice
and a great error. The Empire if it had con-
quered; -might not, it is true, have had any scruple about
making the Rhine its boundary, but tidte is no longer a
question of the Empire ; it is more than vanquished, it is
dead, and we may be certain that France, twice its
vicbtm, is km ever cured of that unconstitutional malady.
Instead of preserving her own peace and the peace of the
world, Germany would expose herself by the abuse of her
victory to perpetual uneasiness, while she would place on
the soil of Europe elements of war which would sooner or
later infallibly break out.
The Slide states on good authority that the representa-
tives of the neutral powers represented to Prussia the
inhumanity which there would he in submitting the pop-
ulation of Paris to a bomboardment, King William re-
plied that he did not require to have recourse to such an
extremity to effect the reduction of the capital. He
coukl gain his end by a blockade, which in a given time
would produce famine. The SiOele says that all the
strategists who have discussed the probable siege of Paris
have agreed that it would require nine hundred thousand
men fully to invest the city, the circle of whose forts ex-
tends for twenty-seven leagues, and it calls upon the
Government to pay especial' attention to the organisation
of companies of scouts, who shall keep us well informed
of the enemy's movements, as it is quite possible that even
in case of a siege, Paris may maintain communications
with the provinces. The French journalists have,
.it is
said, asked permission from the Government to dispense
with the signature at the end of every article. The
Avei#r National has already appeared without it.
Many papers have said that M. Cernuschi will be sent
to Florence as the representative of the French Republic,
but they appear to forget that M. Cernuschi, as an
Italian, cannot represent Frart either in Italy or else-
whera* A determined enemy of the house of Savoy
desiring for Italy a Republican Convention such as they
have in Switzerland. Cernuschi has never given his
adhesion to the Government of Victor Emmanuel. A
contradiction has also been given to the announcement
that M. Cernnschi was to be made Governor of the Bank
of France. The syndicate of the mechanical builders of
Paris and the Society of Civil Engineers, have proposed
to the Government that they should construct mitrailleuses.
It seems that these terrible engines of war can be
made very rapidly by means of private industry.
The Government has given the neoeskeary authorisation to
those establishments, and the na.odels and pieces will be
sent to them immediately. The Liberte calls attention to
the faot that the rain has continued to fall with unaccus%
customed violence for the present season, though after
such an exceptionally dry season it is not so surprising.
The chief point of importance in the matter is that such.
weather is most unfavourable to the march Qt an army in
campaign, and especially to those who like the Prussians
are in a hostile country. So many pieces of furniture have
been sent to the railways during the last few days that
at most of the stations the rooms are filled.
The railway managers finding themselves overwhelmed
with these articles, have been obliged to refuse them.
The Government are still urged by the Paris journals to
destroy the woods Between Fleury and. Meudon it is
said that there is a position which commands the valley
of the Seine ; this n.ust be destroyed, which it will be
easy to do. The authorities are also advised to place
petroleum in the forts, as it may be of great service to
skilful officers in case of necessity.
The Electeur Libre contradicts the report that the Go-
vernment intended to erect barricades in Paris, but adds
that they mean to avail themselves of every means of
defence which is known to the present day. The Prussians
will meet with obstacles which they do not expect to find
there. • But this is not a suitable time for the erection of
barricades. The Departmental Press appear to take a
favourable view of M. Jules Favre's Circular to the Diplo-
matists, and for the most part affirm that the French Re..
public could not speak a language which was mire worthy
of it, more honest, and more firm.

A Dresden journal states that the Germans will not
take the route to Paris in earnest until all the works of
organisation for the army shall have been completed, but
this does not seem to be very reliable information, at any
rate it has been said that the worki of the defence should
not be slackened. ,

The Frankfort Gazette thinks that Strasburg can hold
out for fifteen or eighteen days longer. The. Secretary
of the Bank of France has written to say that there was
no truth in the statement that the crown. diamonds have
been placed in the bank. The bank would not have
undertaken a charge which involved so much risk. The
diamonds have been pUt in a safe place beyond the
walls of Paris, through the instrumentality of the Go-
vernment.

VICTOR HUGO'S APPEAL TO THE
GERMANS.

Germans He who speaks to you is a friend. Three
years ago, at the time of the 'Exhibition, from my exile,
I welcomed you to your town.- What town ? Paris.
For Paris does not belong to 'us alone, it is for you as
much as for us. Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Munich, are
your capitals ; Paris is your centre. It is at Partt that
one feels the beating of the heart of Europe. Paris is
the town of towns; Paris is thp town of men. Thera
'has been Athens, and there has been Rome, but
there is now 1%1.6 Paris is, in • fact, the
steno of a great ho'spitality. You return to
A to-day, and haw? as brothers, like you (Id
Clive years ago. No ! as enemies. Why.? What has
occasioned this. unfortunate misunderstanding? Two
nations have made Europe. They are France and Ger-
many. Germany is for the West what India is for the
East—a sort of grand ancestress. We revere her. But
what has happened? To-day Germany wishes to destroy
this Europe, to whose constructien. Germany has contri-
buted by her expansion, and France by her alliance. Is
it possible that Germany will pull Europe to pieces by
mutilating France. Reflect why this invasion has taken
place, why this invasion of a friendly people. What
have we 'done .to you ? This war was de-
termhied oa by the Empire that is dead, and
we have nothing in common with its corpse. That
is the past we are the future. That represents hatred.
We ate sympathy, that is treason ; we are loyalty, that
is Capita and Gomorrah. We are France. We represent
the French Republic. We are the same people as you,
We have had Vercingetorix as you have had Arminius. The
same fraternal sentiment animates the German heart and
the Frenck soul. if you assail Paris we shall defend it
with all our might, but we shall still be your brothers,
and your wounded*wilf be placed in the palace of the.
Pi 4 what meaning is there in csontinning this,
war s-
mitv that the ino more. You come to take
Paris by fordo ; but wt have Always offered it to

you in love. Paris, if attacked, will fight you
in all the majesty of her glory and her mourning.
Jules Favre has told you in eloquent terms that you may
expect an indignant resistance. Should you take the
fortress you will find the enceinte, if you take the enceinte
you will find the barricade, if you take the barricade you
will find what patriots can do in distress, and whole
streets may perhaps be blown up. You will have to
answer for these terrible consequences if you take Paris
stone from stone and kill France in detail. Stop your
course, Germans ; Paris is to be feared. All transforma-
tions are possible to her, and this town which was yester-
day a Sybaris, to morrow may become a Saragossa. We
do not desire to intimidate you Germans. You
have had Galca,gues against Rome, and Kerner against
Napoleon. We are the people of the " IVlarseillaise."
You are the people of the " Song of the Sword." You
are a nation of thinkers, who can on emergency become
a legion of heroes. Your soldiers are worthy of ours.
Ours are impassably brave : yours are tranquilly intrepid.
Listen, howevez. You have skilful generals, while we
have incapable faders: • You have made an adroit war
rather than a striking one. You have come ten against
one, and takes us by surprise, and hitherto France has the
glory and Prussia the victory of the war. You think to
pot a finishing stroke to the work by rushing on Paris
and destroying it. Will this be a worthy part for you to
play ? Valiant men, great soldiers, illustrious army of
noble. Germany, oh ! reflect.
The nineteenth century will see the fearful spectacle
of a nation becoming savage by policy, abolishing the
city of nations ; Germany extinguishing Paris, Germany
lifting its hatchet on Gaul. You, the descendants of
Teutonic knights, you will wage this disloyal war, you
will exterminate a race of men of which the world has
need, you will renew the days of Attila and Alaric, you
will renew with Omar the burning of the human library,
you will bombard Notre Dame as the Turks bombarded
the Parthenon, you will shew the world the spectacle of
the Germans returned to Vandalism, and you will repre-
sent barbarity destroying civilisation. Do you know
what this victory will be for you ? It will
be dishonour. You cannot be seeking for
opprobrium, but you will find it nevertheless and I, as a
European, that is to say a lover of Paris, as a Parisian,
that is to say a lover of the people, I warn you of the peril
you are in my German brothers, I know if anything can
make you draw back it will not be fear, it will be shame.
When you return as the destroyers of Paris what will
your women say to you. The death of Paris what
calamity, the assassination of Paris, what a crime? The
world will have the calamity, you will have the crime.
Do not accept this serious responsibility, but pause. In
conclusion I would say to you Paris driven to extremity
may conquer, but at any rate efface the memory of
these hasty lines, destruction, abolition, and death.
No Paris cannot be destroyed, last Paris to the four winds
in each of her ashes will be the seed of the future. The
sepulchre will cry Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.
Burn our edifices they are only our bones, their smoke
will assume a shape and rise to heaven, and this grand
spectre of Paris, light and shade, will be seen for ever
in the horizon ok the nations above us, above you, above
us all, attesting our glory and your shame. If you persist,
Germans,you have been warned attack the walls of Paris.
As for me I shall remain unarmed. It suits me, to be
with the people, who die. I pity you for remaining with
the kings who kill.
VICTOR HUGO.
Paris, September 9th, 1870.

JULES FAVRE'S REPLY TO THE AMERICAN
MINISTER.

M. Jules Fevre, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. has
sent the following reply to Mr. Washburn's acknowledg-
ment of the French Republic :
" Monsieur,—l consider it a happy augury that the
French Republic should obtain its first diplomatic recog-
nition from the Government of the United States. No
one could be better qualified than the representative of
a people who have given the world the salutary example of
absolute liberty to express in just and high-minded words
the inestimable benefits of a Republican Government.
You have based your wise and powerful institutions on
independence and civic virtue, and in spite of the terrible
trials you have passed through, you have always preserved
unshaken your faith in that grand principle of freedom
from which flow naturally dignity, manners and prosperity
The nations who are mistresses of their destinies
should aspire to tread in your steps. They
can only be really free on condition of being
devoted, courageous, moderate, and of taking
for their emblems the love of peace and the respect of the
rights of all. This programme is that of the government
which has arisen in France out of the mournful crisis
produced by the follies of despotism, but at the time in
which it has been established it can have no other thought
than that of saving the country from the enemy. Here
again it meets the example of your courage,
your perseverance. You have sustained a gigantic struggle
and you have conquered. Strong in the justice
of our cause, rejecting all dreams of conquest, seeking
nothing but our independence and our freedom, we have
strong hopes of success. In the accomplishment of our
task we count on the support of all good men, and of all
Governments interested in the triumph of peace. The
adhesion of the Cabinet of Washington justifies this con-
fidence in their regard. The members of the Govern-
ment beg me to offer you their thanks, and to transmit
them to your Government. For my own part, lam
happy and proud that chance has permitted me to be the
means of union between two peoples linked together by
so many glorious memories, and now by so many noble
hopes, and I thank yon for having expressed so much
personal good feeling towards myself, which I warmly
reciprocate towards you, and I hope to consolidate more
and more the friendly relations which ought always to
unite us. _ _

JULES FAVRB.

GEN 14 RAL WIMPFFEN AND THE
CAPITULATION.

An officer who has been the constant companion of
General Wimpffen throughout the campaign, writes from
Belgium to the Patric giving a full and circumstantial ac-
count of what he calls " the awful misfortune of Sedan,"
from which it appears that the general was
strongly opp•sed to the capitulation. At the
time when the army arrived at Sedan, says
this narrator, ft was entirely without artil-
lery munitions, and food. Soon the hills were
cowered with the formidable Prussian artillery, which it
was impossible to oppose. The general hesitated for a
moment, being unwilling to attach his name to an act
which he knew well he would afterwards be bitterly
reproached with. But to avoid a capitulation it was
necessary to pass an army of 300,000 men,
well provided with everything, with an army
of from 40,000 to 45,000 discouraged soldiers,
without rations. or munitions of war. Formerly
it was possible by a daring attack with the
bayonet to cut through an enemy's ranks as a desperate
resource, but in these days with the new weapon and
their precision, rapidity, and long range, this can no longer
be done. You would be annihilated before reaching the
enemy. This consideration assisted the General
to decide against the useless sacrifice of the
lives of his soldiers. For an instant on the
Ist of September General Wimpffen thought the
victory was his own, not knowing that ho had before him
more than 250,000 enemies. In the evening he wished to
open a passage to take refuge with his troops on Belgian
territory, or to march on Carignan. He would no doubt
have succeeded in doing this while the enemy half dis-
organised by the fight, remained in position on the battle-
field, but the Emperor who always exercised the chief
command prevented him and paralysed his last efforts by
calling the Prussians to him under the flag of truce, and
by a letter addressed to the king. General Wimpffen
after an animated altercation on this subject with the
Emperor and his surroundings, came back to his own
quarters and sent in his resignation. The Emperor
reused to accept it, and sent the following letter :
"General,—You cannot give in your resignatidi when
there is still a question of saving the army by an honour-
able capitulation. I do not accept your resignation.
You have done your duty all through the day,
do it still. It is a service which you will render to the
country. The King of Prussia has accepted the armistice
and I am waiting his proposals. Believe in my friend-
ship.
(Signed) NAPOLEON.

The general then persuaded that there were no:other
means of saving the army that in withdrawing alone, as
he could still have done, he would avoid captivity for
himself, but would abandon the brave soldiers who had
followed him readily to death, thinking, too, that by acting
thus he would ill discharge the duties of commander-in-
chief which the chances of war had bestowed upon
him, decided to remain at the head of the army, and
share the fate of the ethers by affixing his name to the
capitulation wideli, by ail unforeseen digaSter, closes a

brilliant military career. Nominally commander-in-
chief without being so, thwarted in his ideas, in his orders
by a sovereign whom one dared not as yet disobey, ill
seconded by timorous and disheartened generals who
rested on the Emperor, and were speedily aware of big
negotiations with the enemy, the brave de Wimpffen
sacrificed himself for the sake of the army, for it was the
greatest possible sacrifice on his part.

It is rumoured that in the event of Paris being besieged,
the Prussians' first attack upon Paris will be on the gas-
works, all of which appear to be outside the walls.
The corps of the Cent-Gardes is suppressed. The offi-
cers, sub-officers, and privates will be incorporated in such
regiments as they may select. The privates are nearly all
old sub-officers of cavalry and reghnents of elite.
The committee for the propagation of the use of horse-
flesh as food for the public has written to the French
Government to point out the aavantages that may be
derived from such meat, especially by the establishment
of economical kitchens, where any one would be free to
get this article of food at a low price.
The Emperor Napoleon still takes an interest in passing
events. A Brussels paper states that he has ordered an
agency in that town to supply him with the Times and two
Paris papers, the Figaro and the Constitutionnel, to be ad-
dressed to M. Pi6tri, at Cassel.
A large white flag, with a red cross in the centre,
that of the Convention of Geneva, for the relief of the
wounded, is now floating over the Pavilion de l'Horloge
at the Tuileries, in token of the building being used as a
ambulance.

The Jaurnal de Path says immediately on arriving in
Paris the Orleans Princes went to Jules Favre and asked
for posts on the defences. M. Favre replied that he
thought their presence in France at this juncture might
be misinterpreted, and they therefore returned to
London.

The correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, at
Strasbourg says :—An armistice of two days has been
granted. General Uhrich has sent to have assurance of
the truth of the Emperor's capture and MacMahon's
capitulation, and it is probable he will surrender. The
report of an armistice has been since contradicted.
The former Prefet of La Meurthe has protested against
the statements which have been made to the effect that
he gave up the town to the enemy and destroyed what
powder was left in the magazine. He declares that the
Prussians took possession of Nancy because it was left
entirely without defence and without arms. He had
requested the Government to send arms, but never re-
ceived them, and he believes that they were sent in
wrong direction owing to the confusion which prevailed.

Galignani's Messenger of Friday appears reduced to half
its ordinary size, and prints the following notice.:—" Wes
have to claim the indulgence of our subscribers for the
diminished form in which the Messenger appears to-day;
but the departure of the greater number of our composi-
tors, in consequence, of the expected siege of Paris,
leaves us no alternative. The fact that the paper
has /IQW for upwards of fifty years held its course
uninterruptedly through all the difficulties atttendant on
the various changes of Government in France is a suffi-
cient proof of our deep anxiety to respond worthily to the
favour which has been always accorded us ; and it is the
same feeling which now induces us to make every effort
to continue, as long as we possibly can, the narrative of
passing events at the present most important conjunction.
We need scarcely say that the reduction in our size is only
a temporary incident.

. Among intending candidates for the Chair of
Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, shortly
to become vacant by the resignation of Professor Allman,
are mentioned the names of Professor Wyville Thomson,
Belfast, and Dr. Alleyne Nicolson, Edinburgh. The
patronage of the Chair is in the Crown.
THE CAMBRIA IN AMERICA.--A telegram from
Newport, dated September 8, says :—The New York
Yacht Club had a match to-day thirty miles to windward
and back, with no time allowance. There was a fine top-
sail breeze. Nine vessels started, and the Cambria led
over the windward course, making a fine race with the
Sappho and Palmer. Just before commencing the run
home the Sappho carried away her maintopmast. The
Palmer caught the Cambria while before the wind, and
came in four minutes ahead, winning the cup given by
Mr. Bennett. The Cambria won the club prize, and will
sail eight other matches.
THE PREMIER AT NOTTINGHAM.— ri Thursday
evening Mr. Gladstone arrived in Nottingham by the
Great Northern Railway from London. The right hon.
gentleman, in conjunction with Lord de TableY,
was appointed trustee of the Nottingham-park
Estate under the will of the late Duke of
Newcastle, and his visit was for the purpose of in-
specting the property. On Friday morning gr-
Gladstone visited the Nottingham Commercial Exchange
and News Rooms, where he stayed about a quarter of an
hour. He also paid a visit to the public offices of the
borough, and on leaving them was recognized and loudly
cheered. Mr. Gladstone met the lessees of the Park
Estate at four o'clock in the afternoon. He was to leave
Nottingham the same evening.

THE Ex-EmPREss.--There appears to be soul°
doubt as to the whereabouts of the ex-Empress Eug4nie•
From Ryde comes a very circumstantial account of her
arrival there, and her departure for Hastings on learning
that the Prince Imperial was at the seaside. On
the other hand, a telegram states that Major
Berry passed through Dover on Friday, en route
for Brussels, charged with messages from the Prince
penal to the Empress. The Ryde News says :—" " e
have it on good authority that the Empress of the French
landed in Ryde from a yacht, at four o'clock on There"
day morning. Her Majesty was bscorted to the York
Yotel, where, we are informed, she remained until about
noon, when she left the town, we believe for the purpose
of visiting her son at Hastings."
D knING FEAT.—One feat of the Prussian horse
was told me, which is worth recording. A patrol came te,
a station on the road to Rheims, and saw a train justleaving. There was an engine steaming away, and
about to start after it. An officer and a couple 0,
troopers dismounted, and, quick as thought, dashed
at the platform, stopped the driver with pistols, trigger
fingered, mounted on it, and made him drive full speed to,
the train, which they overtook. followed by the mountea,
men, stopped it, and captured a mail full of letters and
papers with important information. That was quick and
smart, anyhow.— Times Correspondent.

A KING IN WANT OF A BED.—After the fight
of the 16th around Metz, which lasted until evening, the
whole neighbourhood was so crowdod with wounded, tha
there was barely a room left for the king. At last a roota
was hurriedly prepared, with a bed, table, and chair for
him. His baggage had been left at Pont h Moussou-
" Where are Moltke and Bismarck?" said the king, as hg
came into the room. " They have not got any place yet,
was the reply. " Ask them in here, and as you will Want
that bed for the wounded, give us some straw and some
blankets, and we shall do very well," said King Willia.lo:.
Although it was a rainy night, the three great leaders 01
the Prussian army slept on straw side by side. Prinef
Frederick Charles also is an example of simplicity. 44'
little room and a kitchen were the only dining room for
himself and staff. A plank was put upon chairs to make
for six people. Candlesticks were made of 011111
bottles, and the wine was mulled to kill its sourness.
RUMOURS IN PARIS.—A rumour which I heel
some time ago, but scarcely credited, has now acquire
such consistence that I ought to mention it. Accord'
ing to this report, the delay in the Prussian advance
,
is caused by a vastly important division towards
the coast. Havre, it is whispered, is the point o_t
attack. With such warning, a decree that apPeall
to-nighebecomes quite intelligible. The arondissement 4:1
Harve is placed in a state of siege, and the Ministers 0!
War and Interior are charged, each in his own depart-
ment, with the execution of the order. The Prussians
are credited with a scheme of holding the great
northern port as a material guarantee for carrying ~.,011t
the terms on which they are willing to grant peace. 'lf;
disappointment of all Europe, if it finally apPO
r
that this new movement, and not negotiations 11_11
peace,. be the reason of Prussia's tardiness, ut
take in France a turn of savage despair. But
Moltke knows—as probably he does—with wha,,
enthusiasm Francs-Tireurs from the north are
crowding into Paris, the measure might not see'.;
so incredible. But we will persist in believing—for the
night at least—that M. de Bismarck has now got the 1101_
of affairs, that the reign of arms is past, and the tog,'
takes its proper place. Bad news flies fast, and we hag
anxieties enough within these threatened walls.—Cory
pondent of Telegraph.

BIRTHS.
On the 9th inst., at Harrow Weald Park, Mrs. Alexander

Sim, of a son.
On the Bth inst., at Halliford, the wife of R. S. Cumming'
of a daughter.

MARRIAGES.

On the Bth inst., at Stamford Church, Worcestershire'
the Hon. Frederick Archibald Hanbury Tracy to lieleo*
Caroline, daughter of Sir Thomas E. Winnington, 13ext.'
of Stamford Court.
On the Bth inst., at St. James's, Dover, John Gould,
~.°C
Bampfylde Lodge, near Exeter, Devonshire, to Paul''
i;
only daughter of James Green, of 13, Cambridge-terne'c
Dover

DEATEM.

On the 7th inst., at his residence, Elm Lodge, Eg133311
hill, Surrey, Matthias Gilbertson, Esq., aged 93. ,„
On the Bth inst., at Morbattle, Tofts, Kelso, RoxburP
shire, Alexander Cunningham, Esq.

of
London : Printed by GIDEON ACLAND BOYCE, t
No. 112, Strand, Printer, and Published by bit
THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of
Savoy, n the County of Middlesex.
Monday, September 12, 1870.

...
1
1