The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-13 00:00:00

THE DEFENSIVE ARMIES OF FRANCE.

The Siecle has an article on the defensive armies of the
nation at the close of the last century. In 1789 the army,
it says, was newly organised, and though the regiments of
the line were numerically very weak their spirit was
favourable to the Republic. All Europe was marching
_.. _ _

against France, and the President of the National
Assembly on July 11th, 1792, declared the country to be
in danger. The crisis was announced to the people by
cannon fired at intervals during several days. All France
flow to arms, and the enlistments in Paris alone numbered
15,000 a day. Battalions of volunteers were formed on all

sides, and more than 200 were reckoned beforethe end ;it;
year. So rapidly aid the national forces augment, that in
December, 1793, there were, according to authentic state-
ments, 690,000 men under arms, and an effective of
861,000. The Convention adopted a vast system of
national defence. The forces were distributed along the
frontiers. There was the army of the north from Dun-
kerque to • Mauberge ; the army of the Ardennes, from
Mauberge to Longwy; the army of the Moselle to
Bitche ; the army of the Rhine to Porentruy ; the army
of the Alps, from the department of the Ain to
the department of the Var ; the army of Italy, from the
Maritime Alps 'to the Mouth of the Rhone ;
the army of the Eastern Pyrenees, from the mouth of the
Rhone to the right bank of the Garonne ; the army of the
Western Pyrenees, on the left bank of the Garonne ; the
army of the shores of La Rochelle, from the mouth of
Girande to the mouth of the Loire ; the army of the
shores of Brest, from the mouth of the Loire to St. Malo ;
and the army of the shores of Cherbourg, from St. Male
to Anthie. Besides these, 150,000 men occupied Belgium,
and crossed the frontier from Dunkerque to the Meuse,
50,000 protected the space between the Meuse and Saar,
and 150,000 stretched along the Rhine and the Vosges.
A reserve force was kept at Chalons with supplies ready
to assist wherever help was wanted. Two armies of
60,000 men guarded Savoy and Nice. Besides the 676,000
men already raised there were 50,000 cavalry and 20,000
artillery, but the Convention considered that
300,000 more men were wanted, and the re-
cruiting must not stop short of that. They therefore
despatched commissioners into the departments with
full powers to enrol more men, and they met with rapid
success. Nevertheless, on the motion of Barrbre, the
convention adopted a resolution declaring that
so long as the enemies of the Republic occupied
its territory all Frenchmen were in permanent
requisition for the armies. The result was that in 1794
the effective of the army reached 1,026,950 then. The
fourteen armies of the Republic were not, therefore,
as is supposed, the result of a spontaneo.us move-
ment but the product of persevering efforts.
At first there was great disorder everywhere.
no discipline, and hardly any arms. The foreigner
obtained the gold, and the people were given over to dis-
couragement, to fanaticism, to fear, or to secret con-
spiracies. Disorganisation was general, and• Europe
threatened or invaded France in all directions simul-
taneously. The Siècle holds up the example to the France
of the present day.

E GERMAN ARMY AND THE WINTER.

. The Cologne Gazette contemplates the wintering of the
German host in France. "As no signs exist that would
justify us in supposing the French will soon form a Go-
vernment with which a peace might be concluded, with a
certain prospect of its remaining in force for the
future ; as chaos reigns in France, and to all appear.
ance will continue to do so for some time to come, the
German general staff, as we hear, seriously con-
templates the plan of wintering in the conquered
parts of France, even in case- Parii should be taken. The
irregular square, one side of which is formed by the Ober-
Rhein from Bale onwards, and the other by a line from
Paris to the Belgian frontiers, will, we are told, be occu-
pied by a force of from three to four hundred thousand
men, while the remaining troops would - for the time re-
turn home. This plan is. based .on the supposition that
Metz will surrender during October. It may be considered
certain that the discord which -already rules in Paris will
not meanwhile be changed into harmony, but that it will
increase from day to day."

ENGLISH STEAMERS ATTACKED BY
FRENCH MOBS.

According to intelligence brought to Jersey on Monday
morning by the steamer Despatch, Captain Le Menu,
from Granville, serious disturbances have taken place at
the French port. The Despatch reached Granville from
Jersey on Saturday evening, and as soon as she got to the
head of the harbour an immense mob assembled,
an gave vent to such feelings of hostility
that the captain was obliged to place the
vessel in the middle of the harbour. The pm-
sengers were got out and the steamer laid alongside the
quay on Sunday, during the whole of which day
the populace, most of the men being armed, hovered
about the vessel with the intention of preventing

the shipment of any of the goods ready for em
barkation. The goods consisted of butter, eggs, poultry,
and other provisions, large quantities of which are sent
over by each packet. The steam packet officials sought
the assistance of the authorities to enable them to
ship the goods, but the authorities were quite unable
to lend the required aid. The mob remained round the
vessel during the whole of Sunday and Sunday night, and
effectually prevented anything but passengers and their
luggage going on board, and the Despatch was compelled
to leave without a single package of cargo of any kind.
On her leaving the harbour she was greeted with
cheers by tho immense mob who followed her
down the piers. A vessel laden with grain, from
Penzance, was on Sunday the object of attack by the
mob. A cry was raised against her carrying corn out
of the country when it was so much needed. A number
of the men went on board, and despite the efforts of the
captain and crew, who, however, made but a feeble re-
sistance, did not desist till they had removed all the cargo
out of her, the authorities not being able to prevent the
outrage. The captain of the Despatch also reports that
the populace have deposed the mayor of the town and
appointed another in his place.

The plate of the Tuileries, which has no artistic
value, has been melted by order of the Minister of
Finance.

The Morimento, of Genoa, says it is in 'response to the
invitation of the French Republic that Garibaldi has gone
to France.
The Strasburgers aro French to the last. Tho last
number of the Impartial du _Rhin, which appeared in
Strasburg with the date of the 27th ult., protests most
energetically against any cession of territory.
The advantages which the Germans have derived from
spies has been greatly exaggerated in the minds of the
French. It is a fact, for instance, that the German
leaders did not know of Napoleon's presence in Sedan until
the flag of truce arrived.

Accounts from Mayence state that typhus fever
and dysentery are making great ravages in the ranks of
the German army before Metz. Trains of sick soldiers
are daily despatched to Germany. In two days the
hospitals and lazzarettos of Mayence received eight thou-
sand patients.
The Paris shops are really selling off "at alarming
sacrifices." Splendid dresses are to be had for less than
half price. It is a fine opportunity for the ladies, and
yet they do riot seem anxious to avail themselves of it.

The brigandage which rages in the neighbourhood of
Paris is on the increase. Bands of marauders—free-
shooters, mobiles, &c,—pillage the abandoned house.
The Liberle is aware of a case where a wrecked piano and
several clocks were found in the road—it was said " to
make a barricade." The next barricade in the district
will probably be made of a set of china.
The Republican Ministry are consistent in their ectono-
mixing measures. They have cat, down expenses in all
directions—salaries and everything, except war disburse-
ments. Amongst other retrenchments, the salaries of
Ministers are to be reduced to £2,000, and the members of
the Government of National Defence will receive no
pay.

General Burnside, who has been in Paris and back again
to the German lines, says the streets swarm with armed
men, the environs axe alive with gangs of labourers, the
people who pulled down and built up under M. Hams-
man are now engaged on fortifications. But business
goes on along the Boulevards as usual, the cafés and re-
staurants are filled with very much the same kind of
crowds as before, save that the stranger and pleasure-
seeking element is absent.

The German victories are raising hopes of deliverance
amongst the Arabs of Algeria. The Vienna Presse says
that information from Tunis has been received of a ferment
among the native population of Algeria. This agitation
has been most serious. in the south-eastern portion of the
province of Constantine among the tribe of Aled Yakoub,
with whom are associated the tribes of Aled Torri and
Beth Amer, instigated by Sidi Mohammed el Aid. The
capture of Marshal MacMahon, who was the Governor•
General of the colony, has especially contributed to this
disaffection.

The village of L'Orme, in the environs of Metz, has
wonderfully escaped the ravages of war. A correspondent
says :—" Both parties seem to have agreed to respect it,
probably on account of the number of villagers who still
continue to reside in it. I was told that not a single
slell had been fired into the village. But while we were
there, the shells were flying over our heads towards Vany
and Charly, and it seemed strange to' see the children
playing in the street, the girls driving home the cows, and
the old women placidly spinning in front of their doors,
when the missiles were whistling through the air above
their heads.
Marshal Bazaine has issued a proclamation at Metz. It
says :—" The first thing which must be done is to annoy
the enemy without intermission—to be to him what those
people are in the circus who excite and weary the bull,
attacking him in the most unexpected manner in all direc-
tions, This can be done with light columns, which need
never encounter a defeat, as they have always a sure
refuge behind the walls of our fortifications. This
kind of offensive reconnaissance will, according to
Vauban, have the advantage of procuring a knowledge of
the enemy's strength and positions, they will supply the
means of taking from him provisions and even guns."
At Vienna Bismarck's last memorial is interpreted as
an indication of the Prussians' present desire for interven-
tion. The latest declaration of the Journal de St. nters-
bourp, that peace is possible only before the bombardment
of Paris, and other indications, warrant the belief that
Russia, the only Power that can successfully attempt
mediation, assured of the other neutrals' support, will
forthwith take the initiative.
The Pall Mall Gazette learns from its Roman correspon-
dent that the transfer of the Italian capital will not be
accomplished at present. The engineer Castellazzo, who
has been sent to Rome by the municipality of Florence
expressly to provide the necessary edifices for the Govern-
ment offices, has reported that two years will not be suffi-
cient for the work to be clone. Even the Palace of the
Quirinal will not be fit for the royal residence.
A correspondent of the Daily News had a conversation

with the Maire of Ars-sur-Moselle. The worthy gentle-
man seemed terribly alive to the gravity of the crisis
through which the nation was passing. He said : " The
events of this war are no accidental result of the co-
existence of two such strong men as Bismarck and
von Moltke on the one hand, and such a
wicked and weak man as Napoleon 111. on the
other. They are the expression of German national
greatness and of our littleness. France has
ruled the destinies of the Old World till she
became senile. She is undergoing a new birth, I hope.
I hope that we shall cease to worship a little grey cape
and a pair of big boots ; that this Napoleonic idol is to
cease dazzling our eyes with savage and unjust dreams of

gloira to our own and our neighbours deep injury and
constant unrest. I only fear that now success will
demoralise Prussia, as it has demoralised France before."
A letter from Fontainebleau says that the town has
been invaded by Bavarian and Prussian troops, and that

the inhabitants were compelled to provide them witl

board and lodging. They were overwhelmed with the
demands made upon them for bread, meat, hay, and oats.
The Bavarians were discouraged, and if they were not
under the direction of Prussian officers of great severity
and firmness would speedily have disbanded themselves.

They hate the Prussians, and constant disputes take
place between them. They were unwilling to go to Paris,

and believed that they would come to grief there.
The freeshooters and peasants who make a guerilla war
upon the Germans have done a good deal of mischief.

Field Jagers and postillions have been shot, provision

waggons captured, and small detachments surprised anC

taken. Sometimes troops on the march have been fired
at with great success from ambush. The Grenzboten, of
Berlin, says :—" The authorities have therefore directed

our soldiers to inflict punishments on the offenders.
Besides 250 bottles of champagne, for the shot fired on our
entry into Rheims, about £120,000 have been levied as
fines, 20 or 30 houses have been pulled down, 20 or 30
villages have been burnt down, 150 to 200 peasants have
been shot or burnt, including women and children, who
had taken part in these murderous deeds."

A correspondent of the Telegraph, who with a companion
escaped from Paris, after incurring divers adventures, had
an interview with General Blumenthal. This officer asked
them how many troops there were in Paris. "We answered
About 400,000 to 500,000.' He looked surprised. Do
you mean soldiers ?' he said. No,' we replied, ' armed
men.' How,' he went on, can you account for the
fact that the French refuse to fight? This is something
quite new. The French are considered fighting soldiers
par excellence ; now they Are running away.' We re-
plied that the army was, doubtless, much demoralised ;
but that the young men from the provinces, particularly
the Gardes Mobiles, who were all fine, enthusiastic young
men, would make a good fight, and were only longing for
the opportunity. `I only wish,' he replied, they would
come out and give us a chance.' He then went on to
ask us about the supplies of the city. Did they begin
to feel the want of water yet ?" Ceitainly not,' said I :
' for the morning I left I had my usual bath in the Grand
Hotel.' Again the General appeared somewhat amazed."

•
COUNT BISMARCK AND MR. MALET.—The follow-
ing has been forwarded to us from the Foreign Office :
" With reference to Count Bismarck's telegram to Reuter,
dated Versailles, 6th October, we are authorised to state
that Mr. Malet did not say a syllable at Meaux as to
what passed between. Count Bismarck and himself, and
consequently is not responsible for the statements con-
tained in the letter dated Meaux, 17th September, pub-
lished in the Telegraph, which differ materially from•the
reports made by him to his official superiors. Mr. Malet
affirms positively that Count Bismarck did not say one
word on the effect upon Germany of the Republican in-
stitutions in France."

GENERAL BURNSIDE'S MISSION.—We understand
that the American General Burnside left the Kin, of
Prussia's headquarters on Saturday last for Paris, under
the safeguard of a pass through the German lines. • lie,
went to obtain an interview with M. Jules Favre, and
to convey the assurance of Count Bismarck's perfect wil-
lingness to permit the holding of the elections for
the Constituent Assembly in the Department of the
Seine. Whether these elections be held soon or late, the
fact of the North German Chancellor's readiness to
further the appeal to the French people is not with-
out significance, though it would be premature to asso-
ciate the incident with any design of renewed negotiations.
—Telegraph.

FRENCH SOLDIERS IN BELGILTAL—WO have re-
ceived from an authoritative source an explanation of the
causes which led to the transfer of the French soldiers in
Belgium from Beverloo, and their confinement in different
fortresses. It was not mere • disorderly conduct on the
part of the French which determined the action of the
Belgian authorities. The fact was that a conspiracy Was
discovered the object of which was to set fire to the camp,
disarm the Belgian Guards, and kill them with their own
rifles. This scheme was to be executed during the night,
and in the general confusion which was expected to
result, the Frenchmen were to make their escape. AS
soon as this was known, the resolution was taken to distri-
bute them in parties of 500 each, strongly guarded, among
the several forts. Every attention continues to be paid to
them ; they are treated exactly like the Belgian soldiers ;
securities are taken, however, against their attempting
again to break out.—Pall Mall Gazette.

THE RUSSIAN ARMAMENTS.—The Austrifin jour-
nals are of opinion that one of the fatal consequences of
the present war will be the revival of the Eastern question
to the profit of Russia. The Neue Freie Presse of Vienna
declares that surprising activity pervades the manufac-
tories of arms in the Russian Empire. By night and day
they are making mitrailleuses and preparing cartridges.
In a short time they have made 756 pontoons and orga-
nised a military telegraph on the model of that of the
Prussian army. Since the 28th of September the Moscow
Railway has sent fourteen military trains per day. The
trains for ordinary passengers have been suspended.
The manufacture of arms at Kiew has for some time past
turned out 500 guns per day. Two hundred finished
mitrailleuses have been sent to the south. The Neue
Freie Presse thinks it a significant sign of the warlike
intentions of the Russian overnment that a levee es
masse of the Cossacks has been ordered.

NEWSPAPERS AT TOURS.—The AFiecle notices that
not one of the papers printed. at Tours, the seat of the
Republican Government, is Republican in principle.
"The Union Liberate co-operates moderately, but sin-
cerely, with the Government. The lifoniteur, benefitted
.by the official bulletin which the Delegation gives it for
publication, makes but feeble opposition. The France Is
less favourable, but there is some judiciousness in its cri-
ticisms. It is evident that it has lost its leverage and seeks
a• new one. The Constitutionnet, in the absence of Bona-
parte, seems inclined to take to the Orleans familY-
It trims in consequence, and when it has the chance treats
the Republic to a few kicks. The Francais oscillates be'
tween the Count de Chambord and the Count de Paris.
While waiting for one or the other, it finds fault with
everything that is done. The Gazette and Union are
at one in their desire to expel the Italians from Rome; and
the Republic from. France ; they call Heaven-sent Cham-
bord the Saviour of France. The Indre et Loire no longer
dares to speak of Napoleon 111. as the father of the
people, but M. Laddveze-Cassagna,c has not yet abandoned
all hope of a restoration."
DISCIPLINE IN THE FRENCH ARMY.—A military
writer gives in the Presse of Vienna a very unfavourable
account of the discipline maintained amongst the French
troops. On one occasion, whilst travelling, he entered a
coupe in which some officers were seated. What happened
was ,strange indeed :—" A colonel was standing at the
window, and seemed to be defending the first-class
carriages against the almost inevitable attack of
some common soldiers, who shewed decided pro-
clivities for easy and comfortable travelling. He
spoke to the men and told them they could surely
return and get places here if there was no room
in the carriages assigned them, but words seemed of no
avail. A young soldier of the line, although perfectly
sober, desired to enter by force, and strove to push the
colonel back into the interior of the compartment ; but
finding he could not succeed, this man covered his
colonel with the foulest abuse, and, in the presence
.of
his comrades, who stood quietly by, threatened himwith such unmistakable gestures that I could hardly credit
my own eyes. In the adjoining coupe a lieutenant
colonel and a captain were seated. I entered, and WO
followed by four elderly soldiers with arms and baggage.
The captain told them to go into the carriages assigned to
them, but with a simple refusal they kept their seats-
The previous scene was again enacted. The men made,
the most energetic resistance, and the captain was forced
to call the station-mastex and request him to assist him to
enforce obedience amongst his men by making them leave
the coupe. Unfortunately, the result of this success
was not of much avail for us, for the station-master
himself brought us, some few minutes afterwards,' four
wounded Zouaves, who turned out to be no better than
our previous compagnons de voyage. But, to my great
astonishment, I heard the captain enter into conversation
with these Zouaves, and inveigh in suchimmoderate terms
against the Emperor, the staff, and general officers, that
the reason of the mon being so demoralised under similar
conditions soon became quite clear to me."

COMIC PAPERS.
(From Punch.)

- -
Q. AND A.—" What mania has seized on France ?
asks an indignant contemporary. Punch replies, " AllO-
-

AN OPEN QUESTION.—On a Post Card.
CONVENIENT MEMORIES.—" No Frenchman," says the
Times correspondent, " will allow that in the Plebiscite he
voted Oui." Alas, the ex-Emperor must be reminded of
the famous song,
" 0 where and 0 where is my little oui vote ?"

WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY APPROPRIATE.—The
name of the Postmaster-General, under whose administra-
tion we have all within the last few days been accomna.
dated with a new, cheap, and convenient mode of postal
communication, happens to be Hartington, and not, as
might naturally be supposed—CAuDwELL.

( From Judy).

A very One-sided Affair—The Prussians outside Paris !

ONE TO TIIE POKTlll7.—Some time since, there was a
Roman question. Now there isn't any—Victor Emanuel
has answered it. In his letter to the Pope, he requests the
Holy Father will "consider Rome," and tells him the
Royal troops are necessary to protect him from the
Romans. The Pope does, no doubt, "consider Rome,
but, as regards the King's last assertion, ho doubtless also
considers It-a-ly 1

(Front Fun.)
FRENCH AND PRUSSIAN.—It has been clearly proved
in this war that the German "Uhlan " is more than
equivalent to the French " Elan."

EX-STRAW-DINARY.—Owing to the dry season and the
shortness of thr crops this year, many a well-to-do-farmer
will wish he was a man of straw."

I'VE BEEN ROME-IN.—Every road, says the proverb,
leads to Rome. At any rate the road "it Berlin" 1111''
certainly brought the Italians to the Holy City.

An inquiry is being held as to alleged malpractiscs
at the election of a guardian for West Ward, Leeds. Mr•
Longley, the poor law inspector, presides.
The Kirkstall, a fine screw steamer of 300 tons
burden, which has been built and engined, with boilers
and outfit complete, to the order of the Yorkshire brewing
firm, Messrs. B. Dawson and Co., of Kirkstall AbbeY
Brewery, near Leeds, was launched on Monday from the
Rosherville Iron Works. The horse power of the engines
is 500 hotses. She is intended to trade between Goole and
London.

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