The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-16 00:00:00

THE SECRET FUNDS.

The Government of the National Defence has ordered
, full reports to be made of the lists and accounts relating
to the employ of the secret funds granted to the budget
of the Interior under the Imperial regime. This order
was given the day after the proclamation of the Republic,
as the Minister of the Interior desired to prove by his
acts that he denounced before public opinion the system
of corruption which prevailed under the old regime, and
to separate those services which are of public utility from
the mysterious subsidies with which they are confounded.
This special account, which forms a chapter in the
General Budget of the Interior, has been made the object
of a scrupulous examination most actively pursued.
It must suffice to say at present that, far-seeing only in
what related to matters of corruption, the late Govern-
ment had taken the precaution to give a blank order, under
the signature of the Minister, for the payments which
were to be made from the secret funds, so that it is
impossible to make out in a precise form who has bene•
fited by these payments, the account, with the exception
of the Minister's signature, being in most instances an
anonymous one.

COUNT BISMARCK'S REPORT TO THE

KING.

• Count Bismarck's report to the King of Prussia of the
capitulation of Sedan has been published at length. It
recapitulates the facts with which we are already familiar,
and says that Bismarck met the Emperor in an open car-
riage, and together they went into a labourer's house in a
lohely situation at Donchery. " There, in a very
small room, which contained one table and two
chairs, I had about an hour's conversatio4 with the
Emperor. His Majesty principally expressed a wish to
obtain more favourable terms of capitulation for the army.
I completely declined to negotiate on this matter with
his Majesty whilst the purely military questions were to
be settled between Generals von Moltke and Wimpffen.
On the other hand, I asked his Majesty whether he was
inclined to enter into negotiations for peace. The
Emperor replied that, as prisoner, he was not
now in a position to do so ; and when I further
, asked through whom his views in relation to the
government of France were now to be learned, his
Majesty referred me to the Government then established
in Paris. The Emperor went out into the open air, and
invited me to sit beside him before the door of the house.
His Majesty asked me if it was not practicable to let the
French army cross the Belgian frontier, that it might
be there disarmed and interned. I had already discussed
this contingency also with General von Moltke on
the previous evening, and, for reasons already alluded to,
I could not enter into a promise of this compromise. In
reference to the political situation, I, on my part, took
no initiative, nor the Emperor either—only in so far as he
lamented the misfortunes 6f the war, and declared that
he himself had not wished for the war, but
that ho had been compelled to make it by the
pressure of French patio Aftey some
further conversation, Count Bismarck suggested
that the Emperor should remove to the Chateau at
Frenois to await the King, as more suitable than a
labourer's house. He agreed, and proceeded there, but
the King, as we know, declined to see him until the
capitulation was completed. Count Bismarck, in his report,
pays a high tribute to General Wimpffen, who declared
he had been compelled to surrender by the want of pro-
visions and ammunition.

A FRENCH ACCOUNT OF THE .BATTLE OF

SEDAN.

The Patric publishes a full account of the battle o
Sedan, which it give 3 as authentic :

" During the night of August 31st and on the morning
of September Ist, the Ist, sth, 7th, and 12th corps
d'arnide returned from. Beaumont, established themselves
on the north of Sedan, and occupied the following posi-
tions facing the Meuse and on the right bank of that

river :
" 1. On the left wing : The 12th corps (General Le
Brun) at Moncelle In Platinere and la Petite
Moncelle, watching the route from Mezieres to
Montmedy past Carignan, and covering the railway and the
passage of Bazeilles. This corps was three kilometres from
Sedan. 2. On the centre ; the Ist corps (General Ducrot),
on the heights of Dagny, between La Petite Moncelle and
Givonne ; the sth corps (General de Wimpffen, who
arrived during the battle of the preceding evening and
assumed the command), in position on the heights which
command the grounds of Givands, and in the former
camp to the right of the Ist corps, and uniting it with the
7th. 3. On the right wing the 7th corps (General Felix
Douay), stretching from Floing to Illy.
" These positions describing a curve'. round Sedan in the
direction of south-west and north-west, covered a
space of five kilometres at a distance of about
four kilometres from the place. During the
same night the Prussian army began to establish itself
facing Sedan, on the left bank of the Meuse, covering the