The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-19 00:00:00

TEM SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EN ENING, AUGUST 19, 1870.

effect, has taken place. Each side, admitting great
losses, claims the victory; each declares that its
triumph is thorough. The King of PRUSSIA says
the field of battle was "victoriously maintained,"
the French Marshal that " we have passed the night
in the positions we have conquered." It would be
insulting one party to prefer the account of the other
until one of them has found out that it is
really beaten; all that can be done now, therefore, is
to collate the facts. On Sunday the French
fought a battle on the side of Metz remote
from Paris, and then retreated across the
Moselle. In this case, too, both sides declared
themselves triumphant. The French commenced
their retreat towards Verdun with the intention of
thence falling back to Chalons; the Prussians
followed them up. On Monday and Tuesday various
engagements took place—it is impossible to say
how many or with what result ; but the
great battle of the week came off at
Doncourt and Vionville, two places about eight miles
east of Metz. Heavy masses of troops were brought
tip on each hand, and the fight lasted twelve hours. The
destruction on both sides was tremendous. One
French general was wounded; two Prussian generals
were killed, and two wounded. Again and again,
say the French, the enemy came up and was repulsed.
Notwithstanding the great superiority of the French,
say the Germans, they were driven back into Metz.
It is in vain that we try to discern any glimmer of
light by which these conflicting accounts may be
read. If the French have won, thoy must in

carried unanimously, representatives of the various
trades affected by the delay were appointed to wait
upon Mr. Gladstone, so that the Premier, in the
recess, must atone as he best can for the deficiencies
of the Home Secretary in the session.

great measure retrieve the former disasters
of the campaign. If the Germans are victorious,
the consequences must be decisively serious, for in the
Prussian despatch it is affirmed that the French
retreating from Metz were cut off by the hostile
army, beaten, and driven back into Metz—that is,
their army cut in two, and one-half of it shut up in
a fortress. The last gleam of hope for the French
cause must disappear, if this be the case.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

also a serious injury.

METROPOLITAN GOSSIP.-TETIRSDAY,

If it be true that a man is where his mind is, all
London is in France. Since Parliament was prorogued
there has been absolutely no English news to engage our
attention ; and yet the sale of papers is something extra-
ordinary. There never has been anything like it.
True, the Russian war interested us more deeply, but
at that time there were no cheap papers, there

was no street sale. The German War- of 1866 saw
the penny press firmly established. But that war was so
soon over that there was no time to get up the excitement
about it which the present campaign has caused. More-
over, there were not in 1866 the same elements of interest.
The conflict between Prussia and Austria was scarcely
intelligible to the great bulk of Englishmen. The present
conflict is well understood to be a contest for pre-eminence
between the two greatest military Powers in the
world. Moreover, it is seen well enough that something
more is at issue than the victory of this side
and the defeat of that. Not only is the territorial in-
tegrity of France at stake, but the throne of Napoleon,
and not only the imperial dynasty, but monarchy itself.
I have more than once warned your readers that the re-
volutionary party have been preparing great events for
this year. I need hardly add that the present condition
of the continent, especially of Paris and Rome,
offers them peculiar facilities for bringing their
designs to effect: The arrest of Mazzini is a
serious blow for them, and it is remarkable that this
arch-conspirator, after having passed through France and
Italy again and again unrecognised by the most astute
detective police, should, just at this juncture, have been
arrested in Sicily. But though, no doubt, he was plan-
ning a rising in the Papal Provinces, it is not likely
that his arrest will put an end to it. The Italian
Government clearly apprehends serious events, and
it is rapidly increasing its army. This,
.we may
be sure, is not for the help of France, for that
would be Quixotic now, and was, indeed, always
impracticable unless Austria departed from her neutrality
and allowed the Italian troops to crosit the Brenner Pass
and attack the Bavarians. The calling out of troops by
the Lanza Ministry is rather for the purpose of dealing
with the army of revolution that may shortly be expected
to spring up on all sides of the Peninsula. Mean-
while the (Ecumenical Council is scarcely likely to meet
again.

It seems to be generally supposed that in the event
of a decisive defeat the Bing of Prussia will not
treat with Napoleon, and will insist upon the an-
nexation of Alsace to Prussia. In that event
France, which now boasts the highest cathedral,
and (since the annexation of Savoy) the highest mountain
in Europe, will have to surrender the first distinction.
It is th ought by some that Napoleon and his family will take
refuge in England. Before the war it was currently
reported that he had made very large investments in the
English funds, and it is now positively stated that about
six weeks ago an eminent London firm of }Rinse agents
purchased for the Emperor a very beautiful residential
estate near Tunbridge Wells. The Pall Mall Gazette
asserted a few days ago that the Emperor's confidential
agent, Mr. Smith, had brought over to London the Prince
Imperial and the Duke of Brunswick's diamonds. The
statement does not seem to have been well founded so far
as the Prince was concerned. Mr. G. T. Smith is rather a
notable man. He was the confidential agent of the late Duke
of Brunswick, and of the Emperor Napoleon at the
time that he was living in exile in London.
When the Emperor was a prisoner at Ham after his un-
successful attack upon that very Strasbourg which he
has now just lost for the French nation, a treaty, it
is said, was drawn up in 1845 between him and the Duke,
containing five articles. The object of the treaty was to
guarantee to each of the dispossessed sovereigns (as they
considered themselves) the help of the other in recovering
his dominions. This was set forth by the Ist article.
By the 2nd article, whichever of the two recovered
his throne first was to supply the other with men,
money, and arms. The third article sets forth that each
was to aid the other while they remained in exile. The
4th bound each to consent to no abdication without the
consent of the other. The sth provided that if either of
them entered into treaties the other was to have the
right of revising them. The witnesses to this convention
were Count Orsi, and the aforesaid G. T. Smith. One of
these two high contracting parties died, the other became
Emperor of France. I suppose the latter will scarcely
consider himself bound to consult the successor of the
former before he abdicates.
Letters from Paris tell me that the Fete Napoleon was
a very gloomy day. Archbishop Darboy gave orders that
instead of the usual Te Deum, the psalm Exaudiat (" Hear
my cry, oh God, Psalm lxi) should be sung, and that the
prayer in time of war should be said. The previous day (Sun-
day) was to have witnessed the unveiling of the new
statue of Voltaire in the Place de Rennes, but
the committee (composed chiefly of Free-,hinkers)
thought the time unpropitious, and postponed the cere-
mony to a more happy period. A more significant and
ominous event has taken place. For some time past a
mouument has b een erecting in the Place de Clichy to
commemorate the defence of Paris in 1814 On Sunday
there would have been a grand "inauguration," but in con-
sequence of the critical state of France, nothing was done
except to remove the hoarding which surrounded the
monument, and passers by noted with disgust the maimed
rites, and read with ironical remarks the first words
of the inscription " under the reign of Napoleon III."
The letters state further, that it is impossible to describe
the disgrace into which the late Ministry has fallen. It
is now asserted that on the day before the famous 15th
July, when war was announced in the Chambers two
councils of Ministers were held, the first at the Tuileries,
when it was decided to maintain peace, and a message to
that effect was drawn up and was to have been read on
the following day by 011ivier. But at 11 p.m., 011ivier
went to Saint Cloud (whither the Emperor had
returned) and in half-an-hour was followed by his
colleagues. After consulting with the Emperor for an
hour and a half, it was decided to declare for war. It is
noticed that neither 011ivier nor any of his colleagues
has made the least attempt at a defence, and perhaps
this was the wisest course. As for Marshal Le Bceuf
there are no words too bitter for him. People remind
each other how this imposing militaire—for with his mag-
nificent moustaches and prompt abrupt speech he seemed
the very ideal of a soldier—used to say, "I am not a poli-
tician ; lam a trooper. I know only military matters,
but I know thern well. Don't ask me this or that, nor
any thing which is outside my duties. Ask me only if we
are ready ; and I will answer, ' Yes. We are ready."
We know how far the handsome trooper spoke the truth.
We know now, say my correspondents, what it is to be
commanded by a General who allows us to be surprised
by the enemy, not once only, but over and over again

Only in fairness to the Marshal and his comrades

should be remembered that to be surprised is quite in ac-
cordance with French military precedents. In all the great
battles of Italy—at Montebello, Magenta, Marignano,
and Solferino, the French were surprised by the Aus-
trians ; but being numerically equal, and the Austrians
being even worse led than the French, Marshal Mac
Mahon was enabled to save himself by the skin of his
teeth. But neither he nor any of his fellow-generals seem
to have profited by experience; and it would actually
seem as if, in Sunday's battle before Metz, the French
army, though it knew it was retreating in the face of a
victorious enemy, allowed itself to be surprised when
crossing the Moselle. Prince Frederick Charles, in a
work which he published some time ago, entitled " How
to fight the French," pointed out that they would always
be liable to disasters by their want of accurate information
about the movements of the enemy.

While Ministers are remaining in town or in the neigh-
bourhood, and are holding frequent conferences between
themselves, and with the foreign ambassadors of the vari-

ous Powers, in the hope of bringing about the restoration

of peace, the Queen has started for her Highland seat, and
has placed 600 miles between her and her advisers. The

comments upon this proceeding are very severe.
It is feared that serious obstacles may interpose
in the work of pacification by the delay which must occur
in bringing the representations to bear, so far as
England is concerned. To travel 1,200 miles
in order to consult with a Sovereign who has

one of the noblest residences in the world within

,wenty miles of London, to say nothing of her residence

n the capital itself, is a work of supererogation that no

Sovereign ought to impose upon Ministers so hard-

worked as the present Cabinet is. If the Sovereign
were content to be merely the ornamental decoration of

the State building, her absence just now would not
matter. But inasmuch as she expects to be consulted on

all important points of foreign policy, her departure to

Scotland at such a crisis gives a handle to those persons

who say that royalty is not merely a costly luxury, but

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