The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-22 00:00:00

THE STATE OF PARIS.

An Englishman who left Paris on the Bth, and arrived
at Brussels on the 17th, addresses a letter to the I !de-
pendance Beige on the state of Paris. He says
that life there is still more than endurable.
Each inhabitant receives fifty grammes of meat a
day ;beef at If. 20c. and horseflesh at if. a pound. Beef
and mutton will last till the end of the month ; there will
still remain 45,000 horses and immense quantities of salt
meat stored at the New Opera, so that there will be
enough meat for at least three months. Bread is secured
till the end of April, and •wine and spirits for two years.
The writer was member of a dining club of eight. The
dinner was usually composed of soup, meat, vegetables,
cheese, wine, coffee, and his bill for the last week
amounted to only 14f. 50c. In the municipal kitchens a
litre of soup with vegetables can be had for 35c. The
poor receive food gratis. Each National Guard receives
if. 50c. daily. Those who do not stand in need of it hand
it back to the Government. They have been completely
equipped to the number of 400,000.

THE BISLIOP OF ORLEANS ON THE WAR.
In a letter to the curds of the town, the Bishop of
Orleans says : "After having suffered for some time from
the effects of foreign occupation, we have now the joy of
being rescued by a happy movement of our army. History
will record it was under the walls of our town that
long-absent victory returned to the French standard,
the battle which delivered us from the enemy
was admirably fought, and shews that we still possess a
general and an army even after Sedan and Metz. This army
is now the chief hope of France, and Paris reckons upon
its support ; but men of faith know that we must rely
upon a stronger force than our arms. The prophet has
said that some put their trust in chariots and horses, but
we will trust in the name of the Lord. If France
shared the conviction that nothing is impossible with
God we should turn to Him from the depths to which we
have deicended, and He might yet perform prodigies to
save us. Some hope may be entertained, for on all sides
there are exhibited consoling signs of a religious spirit.
It has penetrated into our army ; our soldiers pray in the
temple, and go forth to die as Christian heroes. Can the
time have come when we shall receive the help of
God ? Can I, placed on your ramparts, whete can-
non shots resound, look in the distance, and
exclaim with confidence that such assistance has arrived ?
We are now celebrating the fête of St. Aignan, and
shall we not renew the history of our fathers fourteen cen-
turies ago, when Attila at the head of his barbarian hordes
assailed Orleans, and was forced to retire? St. Aignan
then announced to the terrified people that the succour of
heaven had arrived ; may not this army, whose efforts have
rescued our town, be also. the succour of heaven to us?
France looks with anxiety in our direction, and we
must set her the example of confidence in celestial help."

The late engagement around Orleans was first called
the Battle of Bacon or Baccon. General Aurellea de
Paladine calls it Coulmiers.
M. Gambetta has issued a decree respecting the pro-
tection of the Rhone valley. He has appointed a superior
committee for the defence of nine departments in that
district.

A German letter from Versailles notes that almost all
the letters found in the balloon recently captured at
Chartres state that the city is well provisioned for four or
six weeks longer. " We. shall, therefore, be fortunate if
we celebrate Christmas in Paris."
The Journal du Havre states that on Thursday evening
a number of English refugees from Paris arrived in that
town, after a troublesonie and toilsome journey. Between
Paris and Mantes they experienced great difficulty in pro-
curing provisions, the resources of the country being ex-
hausted by the Prussian requisitions.
On Saturday another North German Lloyd's steamer,
Rhein, arrived at Great Grimsby from New York, en route
for Bremen, with 140 passengers, all well, although she
encountered heavy weather in the Atlantic. A French
corvette has been seen near the Newark Lightship, steer-
ing north ; a French war steamer using an electric light at
night, has also been seen.

The able diarist of the Standard, who, however, appears
now to let his French sympathies influence himmore in his
judgment of facts than formerly, says :—" We know from
the best authority that three weeks ago Bourbaki had
75,000 men under his orders, but they were badly
provided with arms. Since then a vast number
of rifles and cannon have been imported and
discovered in the arsenals. We may, therefore
consider that he can bring into the field at least 60,000
good troops perfectly armed and equipped. A large
portion of his army consists of troops who escaped horn
Sedan and Metz, and the rest is made up of Mobiles from
the northern departments, the very flower of the manhood
of France."

A letter from Southern France, in the Independance
Beige, says that there is great activity at the foundries
of La Seyne, near Toulon, and the first batch of mit-
railleuses has been completed and delivered, but the
work is still going on. These instruments of destruc-
tion are upon a new model, very light and portable, having
a range of 1,200 metres, and only coating about 500 francs
each.

Several French officers interned at Cologne gave a
supper a few days ago, to which a townsman was invited.
One of the officers, a native of Nice, proposed the first
toast in these terms : --" I give the health of the most
revered monarch of this country—King William I. This
Prince has freed France from a man who had enslaved the
people for twenty. years ; he has united Germany, and by
overthrowing the Emperor Napoleon he has indirectly
effected the unity of Italy and freed the world from the
Romish hierarchy." This toast was cordially received by
his fellow officers.

It is observed that the percussion shells used by the
Germans, which explode on striking any hard object, do
not answer well in wet weather and soft ground. Num-
bers were found after the action of the 9th which had not
burst.

A contradiction has been given to the report that the
statue of Jeanne d'Arc had been removed from Orleans
to be sent to Berlin or Munich. The only outrage said to
have been done to the monument was that a Prussian
took off one of its crowns with his sword, for which
wanton act he was called to account by General Tann.
In a conversation between M. Gambetta and a political
correspondent at Tours, the Minister was reported to have
said that he would do as he liked, and act independently
of his colleagues at Paris. He came in a balloon to Tours
to act on behalf of France, and they could follow him if
they liked. After the victory of the Army of the Loire
he was more than ever opposed to the elections taking
place.

The Cologne Gazette says it was generally recognised by
the Germans that the Army of tho Loire at Orleans was
directed much more skilfully than any of the French
Corps d'Arm6e had been since the commencement of the
war. General Paladines followed with advantage the
German tactics of assuring himself against all surprises by
sending out scouts in every direction.

A letter has been received from Lady Pigot, who is now
at Metz for the purpose of attending to the wounded, in
which she states that there are no other English ladies at
Metz. She adds that she has had to " rough it," but is
well and happy. The Prussians she describes as " loud
and consequential," the French "pale and haggard."
The Prussians seem to her ladyship, however, to be weary
of the war.

An officer of the free-shooters of Bonbonnel states
that when he arrived with some of his men at the village
of Haute-Saone, they were wet to the skin and quite worn
out with fatigue. He went to a distinguished man of
the place, who said to him in the most amicable manner,
"Ah ! we have been waiting for you, sir, and everyone
here will give you a good reception." " Well done," said
the lieutenant, in surprise, "You are true patriots and
good Frenchmen." " How," exclaimed the other, " You
are not Prussians then ?"

The spy system has always been in favour with the
Prussians, and the greatest captain they ever had,
Frederick the Great, in his Principles of War, devoted a
chapter to the consideration of the subject. He said that
spies should be well paid, for a man who serves you at

the risk of being hung should be amply recompensed.
When he had defeated Soubise, Frederic exclaimed, " It
is quite plain how it was done—Soubise employed twenty
cooks and one spy, while I have twenty spies and one
cook." He also said that if one knew one's enemies'
designs beforehand, with an inferior force one could be
superior to him.

The carrier pigeons whom M. Steenackers has organised
for the new post between Tours and Paris have carried
to the beleaguered *capital the first correspondence
which it has received for seven weeks from the pro-
vinces.

Karl Blind advocates in the German press an energetic
resistance to. Russia, in the in the interest of European
security.

The announcement that a Russian ironclad squadron
may soon be expected in the Dardanelles is not at all new.
The statement that Russia had bought s fleet from
America has been made in several quarters, and is in all
probability quite new.
According to the Elberfeld Gazette, General von der
Tann, shortly after his entry into Orleans, made known
at headquarters at Versailles that it would be impossible
for him to occupy that town long, as he had not sufficient
force to hold it, and he would prefer to take up his
position at Artenay, where the nature of the ground
gave him more hope of defeating the army of
the Loire should its forces be superior to his own. But he
received from Versailles orders to remain at Orleans until
the last moment, and only to withdraw fighting. It was
intended to send him reinforthaents, so as to surround
the Army of the Loire completely ; but a movement on
the part of that army, which fcresaw the danger, pre-
vented the success of this manoeuvre. This version of the
affair differs from that given by most German paper.

IMPORTATION OF HORSES FOR THE WAR.—On
Saturday and the previous day reinforcements of English
horses were despatched to France by the South-Western
Railway. They were fine, young, and strong horses, and
in an excellent state. Often during the week our English
horses are sent by this railway not only for France, but
Prussia also.

A FRENCH CAPTURE OF DESPATCHES.—A small
body of Mobiles a' few days ago captured twenty-seven
sacks of despatches, double Fredericks, and German
paper money. Some of the documents are despatches
from Munich, Stuttgardt, and Berlin to the King of
Prussia, the Crown Prince, and Prince Frederick Charles.
There is in the collection a letter from the Queen of
Prussia, which is said to throw a curious light on the
political situation in Germany. The Mobiles who won the
prize were crossing the'country near a cutting from which
a Prussian mail train emerged. They at once tore up a rail
and shot the stokers, who were Germans. After a hard fight
with the guards, who were not hurt by the derailkment of
the train, they carried the mail bags to a neighbouring
chateau, where a waggon was at once placed at their dis-
posal to send the trophy to the nearest sous-Prefecture.
Among the valuables in the bags which have been opened
are comforters adapted for the season, which the wifely
tenderness of Queen Augusta prompted her to send to her
Royal husband.

MILITARY EXECUTIONS.—A Tours correspondent
of the Daily News writes :—" It is appalling to read now
almost every day in the Moniteur concise records of
military executions which I am far from saying are
not necessary. At Gournay, a few days ago, a soldier
named Etienne Bert was shot for `exciting to revolt.'
On the 6th November, an artillery driver of the 13th
Regiment was executed for threatening and insulting his
' superiors ;' there may have been, and probably were,
not officers, but sergeants or corporals. On November
15, a civilian named Justin Triau, residing at Baigneaux
(Eure-et-Loire), was shot for having acted as a Prussian
spy. At Villefranche, near Lyons, twenty-five Mobiles
were tried a few days ago for violence and pillage
in houses where they were lodged, more parti-
cularly in the Jesuits' College of Monigre, and for
striking and insulting a colonel and other officers.
The court-martial assembled at the unusual hour of
three in the morning, and gave its verdict before daylight,
at six o'clock. Twenty-three of the prisoners were
acquitted. The remaining three, found guilty, were shot
at eight o'clock, in the presence of a very large military
force."

A DIFFERENCE.—The Duke of Mecklenburg's
soldiers, on their march southward, encountered a fall of
snow. This leads Herr Wachenhusen of the Cologne
Gazette, to contrast the summer weather and the capital
fare andi lodging which the soldiers experienced at the be•
ginning of the war with their present less cheerful prospects.
Our men, indeed, are still the same ; they have the same
invincible spirit, but the sky is gray and concealed by a
snowy covering, the wind shakes the last sere leaves over
the white-mantled roads, and the moments of rest after a
toilsome march necessarily become moments of melancholy
reflections, thoughts of home and loved ones who are
yearning for our return. In the evening there is
stillness in the villages and cantonments; the streets are
deserted, snow covers the roofs, the fire casts light through
the windows, and around it sit, quiet, serious men, who
hum a melancholy tune. They are the same who, as long
as the sky was blue, marched with merry songs through
France, and planted Germany's banner before the gates
of Paris. They are the same, and yet not the same; but
humour on the march is like the flower which peeps out
of the snow-covered village gardens, and many a mouth,
therefore, which formerly sang so joyfully the \Yacht am
Rhein,' now draws forth his pipe or buries himself in his
woollen shawl, through which no more songs penetrate.
. . . To-day it was worse than yesterday; to-morrow
it may be worse than to-day."

ENTHUSIASM IN THE NORTH OF FRANCE.—
The special correspondent of the Telegraph, in com-
municating the incidents of a journey from Picardy,
dates his letter from Tours, November 16. He says :
As I came through the southern part of Nor-
mandy and the northern part of Anjou—l felt that
before many days are over we shall hear of a
very great movement somewhere not far from Paris, as
well as at or near Orleans. Nothing could exceed
the enthusiasm of all classes, without any excep-
tion, at Argentan, Alencon, and Le Mans, in
favour of the war. They believe most implicitly that the
tide has turned, and that the victory of the French near
Orleans the other day was but the forerunner to a series
of triumphs for the nation. At all the railway stations
ladies, some of the highest rank, wait upon the
different trains as they arrive, with wine, bread, and
cigars for soldiers passing to the front. On every
railway platform there is a small room, attended by
Sisters of Charity, in which bouillon is always ready,
and beds are prepared upon which the wounded who have
to wait for a change of trains are able to lie down.
Train after train, coming nobody knows whence and
going nobody knows whither, all laden with ammunition,
artillery, small arms, military clothing, cattle, flour,
or other stores, is followed by equally long
trains conveying men, or horses, or both, to that
undefined locality known as " the front." I confess
that the amount of military life and movement through-
out this part of the country fairly astonished me. Some-
how or other I had, in the North of France, arrived at
the conviction that the Army of the Loire was a mere
myth —or was, at the utmost, composed of a few
thousand half-disciplined Moblots. But I now find,
from an English field officer who has visited and seen
the camps, that it numbers no fewer than 200,000 men,
of whom at least one-half are men who have previously
served in the regular ranks, and are now, in the very
prime of life, recalled to the service. And if the regular
troops I have seen in Tours to-day, more especially the
cavalry, are fair samples of the rest of their comrades, I
am quite certain that France has now under her banners
a far finer and better-disciplined army than she had when
the war began. If Paris could hold out for
other six weeks, and Bourbaki could do for the
Army of the North what has been done for that of the
Loire, the people of Normandy, Anjou, and Touraine
might find their hopes not unfounded, and there might
yet be a real turn of the tide in favour of France. My
own sojourn here has been far too short to enable me to
form an opinion upon men and things ; but it is only fair
to say, that the English and other foreign residents here
seem to look upon M. Gambetta, with all his faults, as the
right man in the right place.
A PERSIAN DIPLOMATIST'S OPINION. The
Levant Times publishes a curious letter from Ferouk-Khan,
who was in 1857 charged by the Shah of Persia with a
mission in Europe. The interests of the East, says the
Persian diplomatist, are closely bound up in the issue
of the war between France and Germany. " I have
always been persuaded," he continues, "that
the great danger for the East will not arrive
until the mument when France requires the alliance of
Russia, which has now actually come to pass. If at St.
Petersburg the offers of France are accepted, then the
great Oriental crisis will begin. In-the opposite case, our
position will be no better, for the refusal of Russia will
only signify that Prussia has guaranteed her better condi-
tions. It may be said that France has nothing to do with
Russia, but this is a mistake. France may be invaded by
a million of soldiers, and yet dispose of all the East with
Russia. An alliance between the two Powers would
paralyse all Germany, and would completely isolate
England. Only one thing can save us
from such direful eventualities, and that is
the triumph of France. The preponderance of Germany
in Europe would not affect us if it did not entail the
abasement of France. French diplomacy has sometimes
troubled the East, but that is nothing to the immense
advantages we have derived from it. In the same way
England has had difficulties with nearly all the Govern-
ments of Asia ; but can this make us forget
the incaculable benefits we owe to her powerful civili-
sation ? It may be said the preponderance of Germany
would secure us peace from the pacific character of the
people ; but experience proves that the most civilised
peoples only recognise frontiers where their chance of sue.
cessful conquest terminates. Germany, it may be said,
has never attempted to extend her influence in the East by
force ; but that was because she had no fleet; whereas, once
united and triumphant, she will be at the head of one
of the most powerful fleets in the world. What, then,
will become of Holland, Denmark, the Baltic provinces,
and even that fortunate England whose indifference drives
even our Oriental fatalism to despair? We should see the
tide of German emigration resume its natural course,
descend the valleys of the Danube, and inundate the
finest.parts of our country."

BREAKFAST.—EPFS'S COCOA.- -GRATEFUL AND COM-
FORTING.—The very agreeable character of this preparation ha■
rendered it a general favourite. The Civil Service Gazette re-
marks :—" By a thorough knowledge of the natural laws which
govern the operations of digestion and nutrition, and by a
careful application of the flue praperties of well-selected cocoa.
Mr. Epps has provided our breakfast tables with a delicately,
flavoured beverage which may save us many heavy doctors'
bills." Made simply with boiling water Or milk. Sold only in
tin-lined packets labelled—JAMES EPPS 4; Co., Homoeopathic
Chemists, London.—Advt.