The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER • 28, 1870.

THE TRUE _STATE OF PARIS:

The special correspondent of the Telegraph, , writing
from Bordeaux, December 22, says :--Within the last two
hours I have ascertained a fact which will surprise many
persons in England and throughout Europe. The source
from which I obtained the news I am not at liberty to
mention, bUt you may regard it as perfectly
authentic; although it is not known to more than
two or three persons beyond the highest official
circles. It is, that after due inquiry, made by those
appointed for the purpose in Paris, that capital is
now proved to be able to hold out, so far as food is con-
cerned, for three months from Sunday next, the 25th inst.,
which will be Christmas Day. The report has be en offi-
cially made by the Government of National Defence in
Paris to the Delegation of that Government at Bordeaux ;
and the document is supported by tables, calculations,
and statistics, which confirm the truth of what is
set down. In a word, the Government in Paris
say to its members who are here, that any future
movement of the French armies in the field towards
the capital must • not be risked by any unnecessary
hurry, for the capital has wherewith to eat and drink
until the 25th of March next. This, no doubt, accounts
for the much more leisurely manner in which M.
Gambetta and the French generals have recently set
about, at Le Mans and Bourges, the reorganisation of the
army—which has been reinforced during the last
five days by no fewer than 60,000 men from
three Departments alone, those of the Gironde, the
Rhone, and the Cote d'Or ; while the contingent,
or conscription, of 1871, which is to be called out
immediately, has been left, so to speak, untouched.
It is needless to point out what a difference this intel-
ligence about Paris may make in the fortunes of the cam-
paign. Unless the Prussians "can reduce the capital by
bombardment—an event which all the military men to
whom I have spoken on the subject seem to think highly
improbable—the German army will have to pass the
winter befOre Paris, always excepting such corps as
must be detached hither and thither to watch and hold
in check the French armies in the field. At Lyons,
Toulouse, and Toulon, and in Brittany, new armies
are being rapidly formed and drilled. Yesterday I hap-
pened to remark to a staff officer here that the Garde
Nationale Mobilisee, of which 10,000 left Bordeaux for
the front last week, could hardly be expected to quit
their various employments for the camp in this wet and
disagreeable weather. In reply, he assured me that
he had seen the " rapport "—w hat in the English
army we should call the " m arching-out state "—of
the several legions that left this place lately, and
that the number of absentees did not amount to
one per cent. When, in addition to this, lam
able to state, upon the trustworthy and perfectly inde-
pendent authority of an eye-witness, who has himself been
a soldier for thirty years, that General Chanzy has man-
aged, despite the close pursuit of the enemy, and the ne-
cessity of his fighting daily for twelve days in order to
cover his retreat—to get his army in excellent order to
Le Mans, you will perceive that the hopes of France
are not so black as ciroumstances led us all to
believe last week. But, black or otherwise, I am
to-day more than ever convinced that the French will
fight to the last ; and that, Paris or no Paris, they will
fight in the provinces for another year, or longer, if they
possibly can. As regards arms, a steamer arrived here
yesterday with 100,000 Remington rifles from New York.
Another vessel, with a similar cargo, is expected next
week ; and during the early days of January thirty field
batteries complete, contracted for in the United States,
will be landed in France.

THE BATTLES AT PONT-NOYELLES.

General Vaidherhe has sent the tollowirig report.to the
Commissary-General of the National Defence :
" The army had two days previons gone into canton-
ments at Corbie and in the villages situated along the
left bank of a little brook called Da Hallue, which falls
into the Somme at Daours.

" They had selected as the battle-fields the heights which
skirt the left bank, thus compelling the enemy to cross

he valley when, coming from Amiens, he debouched by
he left bank.

" General Faidherbe had ordered the troops only to
offer a slight resistance in the villages with a few skir-
mishers, and to at once retire to the commanding heights
in the rear. That order was punctually executed, and
about 11 a.m. the two armies were in sight of each other,
separated by a valley, narrow bud swampy. They com-
menced cannonading each other over the houses, each side
opening fire from 70 or 80 galls, and at the same time
the enemy's sliiiiiiishers having penetrated into the
houses of the villages, dommienced exchanging shdts With
ours.

" Towards 3.30 p.m., finding the cannonading had be•
gun to slacken on both sides, the order was given along
the whole line to our infantry to charge down upon the
enemy and drive him out of the villages to the positions
in the rear. That order was vigorously and brilliantly
executed. At the extreme left the Moulac division
cleared Daours and Vecquemont, the Du Bessol division
captured Pont Noyelles and Querrieux. The Robin divi-
sion (Mobilised Guards of the Nord) entered the village
of B.e.hancourt ; and finally the Derroja division, at the
right, charged the villages of Bavelincourt and Prethen-
court, pursuing the enemy for some distance. At five
p.m. the success was everywhere complete, but night had
come on, when it was no longer possible to distinguish
friends from foes, and the Prussians took advantage of
this circumstance to effect a re-entry into Daours, Quer-
rieux, and Behancourt, without encountering any resist-
ance. Our troops, having retaken all the positions of
the previous day, passed the night in them, and remained
the following day until two p.m. to see if the enemy
would attempt to renew the engagement—which, how-
ever, he did not do. A few rifle-shots were exchanged at
long ranges. After thus having confirmed its victory, the
army proceeded to its cantonments between Onbie and
Albert.

" Our young troops have suffered much from the seve-
rity of the weather and the privations inevitable under
the circumstances.

"The bread which was served out to the men on the
battle-field was frozen, and consequently uneatable. The
losses may be estimated approximately at 200 men killed
and 1,000 or 1,200 wounded, the latter for the most part
slightly. We do not know what losses the enemy has
suffered, but the fire of our artillery, which was excel-
lently served, must have sorely tried him. Some prisoners
and wounded men were left in our hands. A few days'
rest in the excellent cantonments has been granted to the
Army of the North.
" FAIDRERBE, General of Division Commanding
the. Army of the Norl.h."

.' well, and how it was possible for anythin;r, to live in the
place passes my comprehension. Bat cerLaill it is ',lv,'
there was in 'it Von Altroch's battalion of the Queen
Elizabeth's, hi the dellat's it may be, or behind
the thick walls, but there sure enough? as the French
infantry would have found out had they Ventured
on the attack. Several times it seemed as if this
was coming. Once three battalions threw themselves
into as many columns—just to the right of Courneuve,
and made a start. I could see the officers out in the
front. There was one man on a white horse, it might
have been Ducrot himself—now cantering right out
beyond everything, now wheeling and halting, as if
making a speech to encourage to advance. They came on
very steadily for about a quarter of a mile, then they
slowed, and finally halted. The officer on the white horse
seemed to go frantic; he dashed hither and thither with
desperate energy. Once or twice he rode right into one
battalion, then came scouring round the rear, no doubt to
stay the tailing off. But all was of no use. He could
not get his fellows' steam up. A few shells came
flying over Ile Bourget and burst limier their
noses. Therli cvas one sharp bicker of musketry
out from behind a barridade by lie Bourget rail-
way station. That was Von Altrocli giVing tongne„ and
when the Queen Eliza.bethe bark they: also bite. The
battalions went about, the white horseman bringing 11P
I the rear at a slow walk, as if marching to the funeral of
his honour, and they blended again with the long fixed
line. At a later hour • I saw less distinctly another
threatened assault from•Drancy, but it made no head, and
I could not distinguish its strength or character. How

brisk the French were everywhere behind this long line
of theirs. Reinforcements kept being drafted up
till the very close—a circumstance auguring ill for peace
to-morrow. At the improvised railway terminus stood
fast a locomotive, with a couple of carriages in front of
it—no doubt those famous pieces of workmanship of Call's,
the cuirassed mitrailleuse waggons. They were, how-
ever, never called into action to•day.. By four o'clock
the fire was burning out, only the withers still smoul-
dering in the shape of a sullen gun from de L'Est
or Aubervilliers. The smoke from our artillery away at
Sevran was still banking up in large clouds, and we
could just hear the sharp cracks df the field-pieces.
By five the forts had left off, and although the field
batteries in front df Courneuve brightened up again,
it was but a momentary spurt the usual " last
word." You may remember that in describing
the manner in which the Germans had thrown up
works across the naturally weak tract which lies on
either side the Canal d'Ourcq, and north Ward to G onesse, I
expressed a conviction that they had made this section
strong enough to turn any, French force that might asia
it. Events so far have fully proved the correctness of the
first anticipation, and the second is certainly not up till
now to be impugned: I have the fullest confidence that
any future effort—and such effort I believe to be immi-
nent—will share the issue of those of the day before yes-
terday and to-day. Why, so far from carrying the
"entrenched camp," the French have not been able to
take and hold Le Bourget, its mere incidental advance
post.

THE PRUSSIAN OUTRAGE ON THE
BRITISH FLAG.

The Paris correspondent of the Standard thus writes
from Havre, December 26 :—The Prussians, who as I
informed you in a previous letter, have occupied
in force the little town of Duclair, have
perpetrated an outrage on the English flag which will put
our equanimity to the test. The time has gone by when
the Union Jack was an effectual protection, and when
British subjects could not be molested with impunity.
The Prussians, in utter defiance of international
law, in utter contempt of the British flag, have seized on
and sunk not less than six English vessels in the Seine,
between Duclair and La Mailleraye. These vessels, as I
am informed, were brigantines or schooners. Five of
the:n (as I am informed), the Sylph, the Juno, the
Paragon, the Jane Kendal, and the Maclaren, had
landed their cargoe.; of coal at Rouen, and had applied
for a sauf conduit to return. This was neither granted
them nor refused them, and, at length, tired of waiting,
the five vessels, in ballast, took advantage of the
easterly wind and dropped down the river. No opposi-
tion was offered to their departure, and it was only when
they reached Duclair that, as I am assured by orders of
General Von Goeben, they were fired into and made to
bring, up. The crews were ordered off, many of them
without being allowed to take their clothes or money, and
the Prussians, having boarded the ships, though they
were fully aware of their nationality, proceeded
to scuttle and sink them across the river so
as to block up the passage. The Pr us
sians added insult to injury ; they put fancy
prices on the British vessels thus destroyed, awl paid the
skippers their (assumed) value by means of `` requisition
bonds." The masters and their crew.; went back to
Rouen, where they laid their complaint before the Bri-
tish vice-consul, and have (I understand) been sent
home via Dieppe. The vice-consul at Rouen has sent a
report to the consul-general hero, but ho replied that lie
must first communicate with the Foreign Office. The
French authorities, however, with a courtesy to which I
am happy to be able to pay a public tribute, exerted them-
selves to facilitate my investigations, and on their infor-
mation, and that picked up at shipbrokers' offices, and
from river pilots, the above narrative is founded. The
story is a plain one, and speaks for itself. If Prussian
insolence has even now gone the lengths of requisi-
tioning English vessels and sinking them, in utter
defiance of the stipulation entered into at the beginning
of the war, what are we to expect next? If Prussia
is to be at liberty thus to treat our merchant navy,
surely it is a mistake to expend such vast sums on our
naval establishments. I venture to assert that had these
six colliers been Yankees the Prussians would not have
dared to touch them, but being English, the case was
far otherwise. Only the other day some scores of our
countrymen had to leave Paris under the protection of
the Stars and Stripes. Perhaps you will kindly inter-
fere in behalf of English merchantmen now in
French harbour; exposed to Prussian attack, and ob-
tain from our Foreign Office that it will intercede with
the United States to protect them from capture and
insult—the British flag seems unable to do it now. lam
assured that the vice-consul at Rouen has entered a
formal protest against the high-handed proceedings of
Baron Manteuffel's lieutenant. I am not aware of what
answer was made to his remonstrance; but coming, as it
did, after the scuttling of our vessels, it partook very
much of the character of la moutar de apres diner. The
idea of General Von Goeben is ingenious in itself.
Nothing that the Prussians could possibly do could show
up the utter insignificance to which the Manchester school
have reduced us more thoroughly than confiscating
English vessels and scuttling them across the Seine to bar
the passage to the French. Herr Von Goeben, who is
not deficient of esprit, is said to have described the opera-
tion as " turning neutrals to account."

CRYSTAL PALACE.—One Shilling Day, Tuesday,
December 27, 1870.—Admission by season tickets, 2,945 ;
ditto on payment, 10,741; total visitors, 13,686.
THE IRISH "MIXED MARRIAGE " CASE.—The
case of Meade's minors has terminated, but the Lord
Chancellor has reserved judgment, directing that the
children should be brought to his residence in the mean-
time to be examined as to their religious impressions.
OUR FOREIGN TRADE IN 80010.-1110 printed
books exported from the United Kingdom in 1869 weighed
59,291 cwt., and were of the value of £676,459. The books
imported weighed 11,463 cwt., and were of the value of
£134,963, so that we send forth five times as much
as we receive. Ten years before—in 1859—our
exports of books reached only. 33,915 cwt., of
the value of £483,399 • and our imports 6,520 cwt.,
of the value of 291:241. In 1869 we exported
to the United States 19,675 cwt. of books, of the value of
£205,885 ; to Australia, 17,056 cwt., of the value of
£148,329 ; to British India, 2,802 cwt., of the value of
£44,146; and to Egypt, 4,427 cwt., of the value of £79,127 ;
to British North America, 5,992 cwt., value £62,713 ; to
British possessions in Smth Africa, 1,467 cwt., value
£21,230 ; to the British West Indies, 845 cwt., value
£9,676 ; to France, 3,345 cwt., value £27,065 ; o Ham-
buig, £1,073 cwt., value '216,814 ; to Holland, 793 cwt.,
value £12,377. Our imports of books in 1869 included
3,629 cwt. from France, of the value of £48,509 ; 2,985
cwt. from Hamburg, value £41,180 ; 363 cwt. from
Bremen, value £4,126 • 1,442 cwt. from Holland, value
£13,477; 1,298 cwt. from the United States, value
£10,277.

TIM MOTHER. OF JOHN WESLEY.—r'I white
marble monument in memory of Mrs. Susannah Wesley,
the mother of the founder of Wesleyan Methodism, has
just been erected by subscription in the yard adjoining the
chapel belonging to that community in the City-road. It
was solemnly uncovered a few days ago by Mr. William
M'Arthur, M.P., who delivered a suitable address on the
occasion, as did also Mr. Charles Reed, M.P. for Hackney,
and Vice-Chairman of the Metropolitan Education Board.
Previous to the ceremony of uncovering, a service, which
was numerously attended, was held in the chapel, when
Dr. Jobson delivered an oration, in which he dwelt in
terms of high commendation on the virtues of Mrs.
Wesley, and her happiness in being the mother of two
such great sons as John and Charles Wesley. It may
be added that Mrs. Wesley or Westley—for the name
has been spelt both ways—was Susannah, daughter
of the Rev. Dr. Annesley, one of the ministers
ejected after the Restoration ; she, however,
conformed to the Established Church. and, indeed, was in
her day, so high a Churchwoman that she refused to ac-
knowledge the Prince of Orange as Sovereign of England.
She is represented in Southey's "Life of Wesley" as a
woman of great good sense, a high order of intelligence,
and of fervent piety ; and it was by the help of these
qualities that she was able to influence her sons so strongly
in the cause of religion. She died in 1742.

OUR, (70 2E.PIII)OII,AR Morning.