The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-10 00:00:00

AN UNPLEASANT APPARITION.

The Paris correspondent of the Telegraph, writing from
Paris on Wednesday, says :—" We have just had a
' demonstration after the old sort. Some hundreds of
men and fearful women, in rags and tricolour ribbons,
came clown the Boulevard at an early hour,
singing and shouting. They then disappeared
from sight awhile, to return about three o'clock
in greater force, more ragged, and,, naturally, more hoarse
than on the first visit. They raved and sang around for
some time ; and at length, towards five o'clock, marched
across the Place de la Concorde and explored the barren
halls of the Corps Le<gislatif. From thence they wandered
into the Faubourg St. Germain, and fri,i, ten LA all the old
dowagers remaining there with dreadful reminiscences of
their youth. And then they melted into space, without
doing any harm that I am aware of. But such idle
demonstrations are a warning. I saw the crowd at
the corner of the Rue Royale, and it was not a pleasant one.
The great number of faces were quiet, and commonplace
enough, but there were those dreadful hangers-on. And
when women begin to mob, taking part in the uproar and
menace, they always bring mischief. It is true that
these poor people do not seem to have had any object,
in particular. They represented themselves to be arti-
sans turned out of the closed manufactories. They
did not ask alms, and they did not do any mischief.
If they had, it would have been an unpleasant sort
of reason for their behaviour. As it was, they
made simply an incomprehensible and unpleasant appa-
rition.'

1111: VLOTORY AT SEDAN.

KING WILLIAM'S DESPATCH TO QUEEN
AUGUSTA.

FROM WsB CORRESPONDENT OF THE "MANCHESTER

" GUARDIAN.")
BERLIN, .THURSDAY.
The following despatch has been received by Queen
Augusta:—

" To Queen. Augusta, in Berlin.
VENDRESSE, SOUTH OF SEDAN, Sept. 3.
"You will have learnt through my three telegrams
the whole extent of the great historical event which
has just taken place. It is like a dream, even when
. one has seen it unroll itself hour by hour ; but when
I consider that after one great successful war I
could not expect anything more glorious during my reign,
and that I now see this act follow, destined to be famous
in the history of the world, I bow before God, Who alone
has chosen my army and allies to carry it into execution,
and has chosen us as the instruments of His will. It is
only in this sense that I can conceive this work, and in all
humility praise God's guidance and grace. I will
now give you a picture of the battle and its results
in a compressed form. On the evening of the 31st
and the morning of the Ist the army had reached its
appointed positions round Sedan. The Bavarians held
the left wing, near Bazeilles, on the Meuse; next them
the Saxons, towards Moncelle and Daigny ; the Guards
still marching towards Gironne, the fifth and eleventh
corps towards St. Menges and Fleigneux. As the Meuse
here makes a sharp bend, no corps had been posted from
St. Menges to Donchery, but at the latter place there
were Wurtemburgers who covered the rear against sallies
from Mdzieres. Count Stolberg's cavalry division was in
the plain of Donchery as right wing ; the rest of the Bava-
rians were in the front towards Sedan. Notwithstanding
a thick fog, the battle, began at Bazeilles early in the
morning, and a sharp action developed itself by degrees,
in which it was necessary to take house by house. It
lasted nearly all day, and Scholer's Erfurt division (re-
serve fourth corps) was obliged to assist. It was at eight
o'clock, when I reached the front before Sedan, that the
great battle commenced. A hot artillery action now
began at all points. It lasted for hours, and
during it we gradually gained ground. . As the
above-named villages were taken, very deep
and wooded ravines made the advance of the
infantry more difficult, and favoured the defence.
The villages of Selg and Floing were taken, and the fiery
circle drew gradually closer round Sedan. It was a grand

sight from our position on a commanding height behind
the above-mentioned battery, when we looked to the front
beyond St. Torcy. The violent resistance of the enemy
begsa to slacken by degrees, which we could see by the
broken battalions that were hurriedly retreating from the
woods and villages. The cavalry endeavoured to attack
several, battalions of our fifth corps, and the latter
behaved admirably. Tho cavalry galloped through
the interval between the battalions, and then re-
turned the same way. This was repeated three
times, so thab the ground was covered with corpses and
horses, all of,which we could see very well from our posi-
tion. I have not been able., to learn the number of this
brave regiment, as the retreat of the enemy was in many
places a fliqht. The infantry, cavalry, and artillery,
rushed in a crowd into the town and its Immediate
environs, but no sign was given that the enemy contem-
plated extricating himself from his desperate situation by
capitulation. No other course was left than to bombard
tho town with the heavy battery. In twenty minutes the
town was burning in several places, which, with the
numerous burning villages over the whole field, produced a
terrible impression. I accordingly ordered the firing to
cease, and sent Lieutenant-Colonel Von Broussart, of
the General Staff, with a flag of truce, to demand the
capitulation of the army and the fortress. He was met
by a Bavarian officer, who reported to me that a. French
parlementaire had announced himself at the gate. Colonel
Von Broussart was admitted, and on-his asking for the
'Commander-in-Chief; he was unexpectedly introduced into
the presence of the Emperor, who wished to give him a
letter for myself. When the Emperor asked what his
message was, and received the answer ' to demand the
surrender of the army and fortress,' he replied that on
this subject he must apply, to General De Wimpffen,
who had undertaken the command, in the place of the
wounded General MaeMahon, and that he would now send
his adjutant-general, Reille, with the letter to myself.
It was seven o'clock
,when Reille and Broussart came to
me, the latter a little in advance ; and it was first
through him that I learned with certainty the pre-
sence of the Emperor. You may imagine the impression
which this made upon all of us, but particularly on
myself. Reille sprang from his horse and gave me
the letter of the Emperor, adding that he had no other
orders.. Before I opened the letter I said to him, But
I demand, as the first condition, that the army lay down
its arms.' The letter begins thus :—'N'ayant pas pu
mourir a la tilte de mcs troupes, je depose mon epee aux
p ieds de votre MajestO,' leaving all the rest
to me. My answer was that I deplored
the manner of our meeting, and begged that
a plenipotentiary might be sent with whom we
might conclude the capitulation. After I had given the
letter to General Reille, I spoke a few words with him
as an old acquaintance, and so this act ended.
I gave Moltke powers to negotiate, and directed
Bismarck to remain behind in case political questions
should arise. I then rode to my carriage and drove here,
greeted everywhere along the road with the loud hurrahs
of the trains that were marching up and singing the

National Hymn. It was deeply touching. Candles were
lighted everywhere, so that we were driven through an
improvised illumination. I arrived here at eleven
o'clock, and drank with those about me to the pro-
' sperity of an army which had accomplished such feats.
As on the morning of the 2nd I had received no news
from Moltke respecting negotiations for the capitulation
which were to take place in Donchery, I drove to the
battle-field, according to agreement, at eight o'clock, and
met Moltke, who was coming to obtain my consent to the
proposed capitulation. He told me at the same time
that the Emperor had left Sedan at five o'clock in the
morning, and had come to Donchery, as he wished to speak
with me. There was a chateau and park in the neighbour-
hood, and I chose that place for our meeting. Atlo o'clock
I reached the height before Sedan, Moltke and Bismarck
appeared at twelve o'clock, with the capitulation duly
signed. At one o'clock I started again with Fritz, the
Crown Prince, and, escorted by the cavalry and the staff,
I alighted before the chateau, where the Emperor came
to meet me. The visit lasted a quarter of an hour.
We were both much moved at seeing each other
again under such circumstances. What my feelings
were—l had seen Napoleon only three. years before at
the summit of his power—is more than I can describe.
After this meeting, from half-past two to half-past seven
o'clock, I rode past the whole army before Sedan. The
reception given me by the troops, the meeting with the
Guards, now decimated—all these are things which I can-
not describe to-day. I was much touched by so many
proofs of love and devotion. Now, farewell.—A heart
deeply moved at the conclusion of such a letter,

" WILIIELM.

According to a private telegram received at Berlin
from Florence, the Italian Government has recognised
the French Republic.
In the provinces of Alsace, Bas-Rhin, and parts of the
Vosges, the destitution is frightful. Horses, cattle, carts,
and provisions of all sorts have been taken by the
Prussians. In some villages there is not a grain of salt.
There is not food for one month in the country occupied
by the Prussians.
General Trochu is about to pass a review of all the
troops and all the citizen soldiers in Paris. Their united
numbers are said to amount to four hundred thousand

men,

The Soir remarks that it was a General Wimpffen who
delivered up the town-of Verdun to the Prussians in 1792,
and now another General Wimpffen has capitulated at
Sedan in 1870.
M. Erdan, the correspondent of the Temps at Florence,
mentions a report that the Italian Government has sent
an ultimatum to the Pope demanding the immediate dis-
bandment of the foreign troops in his army. No answer
being returned, the Italian army will cross the Roman
frontier.

Generals Wimpffen and Besson passed Verviers on
Thursday on their way to Stuttgart to surrender them-
selves, that being the place of imprisonment of superior
officers. The Empress is said to have gone to England.
The Gaulois has a vehement article declaring that they
must burn Paris without delay. The world must see that
the capital of pleasure can become the bier of heroism.
The Paris correspondent of the Independance Beige says
that Lord Lyons has assured Jules Favre, that if Prussia
should insist upon too onerous terms, a serious coolness
would arise between the Courts of London and Berlin.
It is stated in Paris that the diplomatic establishments
are preparing for sudden flight, and that the domestic
paraphanalia of the English Embassy has already left.
Prince Napoleon is gone to his Swiss chateau at
Prangins, and has adopted the name of Count of Mon-
caliere.

The Tagblatt of Vienna has received the following
despatch from Stuttgai dt, dated the 7th :—" The German
States have already agreed about their deinands when
peace shall be negotiated. Bavaria, Wurtemburg, and
Baden renounce any accession of territory, grounding
' their abstention on the fact that no one of them would
feel itself strong enough to defend tha acquired district
against a foreign aggression; but Alsace and Lorraine
ought to be placed, as territory of the German Empire,
under the protection of Germany.
There is said to be quite a famine at Boulogne among
the English residents, who are leaving in great numbers.
Three hundred passengers came over in one trip by one of
the Folkestone steamers.
The Brussels, correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette
sends, without guaranteeing it, the following piece of news;
—lt is said that the retiring army of General de Vinoy
received the news of the proclamation of the Republic
very badly. All discipline was at once at an end, and the
soldiers took the roads to their homes, refusing any further
obedience to their officers.
The correspondent of the Telegraph, just arrived at
Carlsruhe from Strasburg, says the reduction of the fort-
ress is now a mere question of time. General Ulrich, the
commandant, has already proposed terms of peace, which
have been rejected, and negotiations have been thrice
opened and broken off. The Times despatch says Stras-
burg is now invested, by 60,000 men. Only women and
children will be allowed by the Germans to leave the town
in future. The Botanical Gardens are converted into a
cemetery.

GARIBALDI AND THE FRENCH
GO VENMENT.

The Government of the National Defence has received
the following telegram from Garibaldi :—" That what re-
mains of me is at your service. Make use of it."