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

THE CORPS LEGISLATIF.

At Wednesday's sitting of the Corps Legislatif, M.
Gambetta asked that coercive measures should be taken
against foreigners residing in Paris, on account of the
disturbances which have taken place at La Villette.
General Palikao stated that the guilty parties have
been sent before a court-martial. As regarded the
news from the army, he'added : "We have had a slight
success over the enemy, who attacked Phalsbourg, and
who lost on that occasion 1,300 men." He concluded
thus : "I request the Chamber to adjourn any further
question until the receipt of more important news, which
is expected."

M. Thiers expressed a hope that Paris will, in case of
necessity, oppose an invincible resistance to the enemy.
For that purpose it would be necessary to make a waste
round Paris for the enemy, and cause abundance in the
capital by allowing the inhabitants of the surrounding
country to take refuge in it with all their produce.
(General applause.)

M. Duvernois said : "The question of provisions
constantly occupies the attention of the Government.
We are in a position to guarantee provisions for the
city, especially by the means proposed by M. Thiers."
In yesterday's sitting urgency was. declared for M.
Cremieux's bill, relative to the reduction of the octroi
duties. A petition demanding the expulsion of Prussian
subjects was referred to the Government.
MM. Pelletan and Ernest Picard asked that all the
National Guard should be immediately equipped and
armed. The Government Commissioner replied that he
must refer the honourable members to the Minister of the
Interior's declaration on the subject, and that, with re-
gard to the arming of the inhabitants, the Government
was actively engaged in satisfying all these wishes of the
Chamber.

General de Palikao notified the appointment of Gene-
ral Trochu to the Governorship of Paris, and explained
that it was necessary to select an active an energetic man
for the defence of the capital. Such was the motive for
this appointment ; none other existed. As regards the
seat of war, General de Palikao added that the news was
good. The Prussians had sustained such losses that they
had been compelled to ask for an armistice to bury
their dead. Since then the Prussians had been arrested
in their advance on Bar-le-Duc. The Minister of War
declared that it was certain that the whole regiment of
Cuirassiers commanded by Colonel Bismarck had been
cute° pieces. (Cheers.) General de Palikao also men-
tioned that a small engagement had taken place near
Schlestadt, and he drew attention to the wording of some
Prussian despatches, coming through Belgium, from
which he inferred that the Prussians had sustained a real
check.

The Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs is not yet
possession of any notification of a blockade of the German
ports in the Baltic.

Prince Napoleon, contrary to the desire of the Empress,
has sent his children to Prangius. He has also, it is said,
sent away all his valuables from the Palais RoyaL

De Choiseul, deputy, on Wednesday arrested On
the Place Beauvais with his own hand a person wearing
French uniform whom he suspects of being a Prussian
spy.

It is related that at the battle of Woerth an officer of
Curassiers had his head carried off by a ball. Notwith•
standing, the body remained upright for a short time, and
for about 100 metres the decapitated horseman appeared
as if he was charging the enemy.

The Figaro has opened a subscription for the purpose of
presenting a sword of honour to Marshal M`Mahon,whose
recent defeat it regards as one of the most brilliant
achievements in the history of France. The same journal
also says that *the French Ambassador in Brussels has
refused M. Francois Victor Hugo a passport for France.
The Echo mentions a report to the effect that Prince
Frederick %Arles has been severely wounded in the late
battle,

THE SITUATION IN PARIS.

WEDNESDAY.

The Journal Officiel furnishes a remarkable specimen of
the style in which the public are treated by the Govern-
ment in this campaign. That paper just publishes a
decree signed August 12th, appointing Marshal Bazaine
to the command-in-chief of the army of the Rhine. This
change was made, it will be seen, last Friday ; the
Minister of War, Count Palikao, has already alluded to it
in the Corps TAgislatif ; and yet it is only just now that
the decree itself appears. Great public anxiety and irri-
tation would have been saved had it been known at once
that a single mind was to control the army.
Nothing in connection with the war has given rise
to greater excitement than this doubt about the leader-
ship. Even now the decree is far from sufficiently ex-
plicit. It says only that Bazaine is to command the army
of the Rhine. It does not state that the whole of the
French forces are to be entrusted to him.
The "news" of the great events which have been trans-
piring since Saturday is as unsatisfactory as ever. We sus-
pect that a tremendous battle was fought somewhere
between Metz and Verdun yesterday (Tuesday), but we
are kept equally in the dark as to the nature, locality, or
result of the fight. Yesterday we were entertained with
an obviously untrustworthy message from a sub-prefect,
who announced that great fighting was progressing some-
where on the road to Verdun, and that the Germans
had been defeated, leaving about 40,000 killed
and wounded behind them ! In the Corps Ldgis-
latif, the Minister of War had nothing additional
to tell. All that his bulletin amounted to
was that the French had maintained their line intact, and
that the decisive conflict would be fought before Chalons.
Here is the sum total of the Government news at a time
when constant fighting is going on. It is certain that
an important battle took place on Sunday ; it is probable
that there was more fighting the next day; and it is all
but indisputable that grave events happened yesterday;
yet by the middle of the week we know nothing worth
mentioning of the engagements since Sunday, and very
little of what happened then.

It may be as well to recapitulate such intelligence as we
have hitherto received—it being borne in mind, however.
that this information is from French sources and must
be compared with the accounts from German bulletins. On
Sunday a severe battle was fought on the east side of
Metz—that is, towards the Prussian frontier. The scene
of the locality was near Pange. The corps of
Ladmirault and Decaen bore the chief shock of the battle
on the French side, and on the part of the Prussians there
were engaged, the first and seventh corps, each composed
of about 25,000 infantry, with 3,000 cavalry, and 96 pieces
of cannon. The French rearguard had, therefore, to con-
tend with about 60,000 Germans. The battle lasted four
hours, and, according to the French account, the Germans
were repulsed with considerable loss. According to the
German account, the French were driven into Metz,
King William's battalions remaining master of the field.
What has happened siince ? The answer simply is that
we do not know. The French retreated after this Sun-
day's battle; but that does not prove the Prussians to be
the victors. If the design of Marshal Bazaine was to
retire, a partial victory would not induce him to alter his
determination ; and if he were beaten, he would retreat
all the faster. His forces retired on Metz and
beyond it. The Germans followed them. Yesterday we
had this vague news of heavy fighting going on, and, in-
deed., there can be no doubt that some serious engagement
has taken place. What it is we must wait for the appear-
ance of the official account before we can say, or, more
likely still, wait for the arrival of English papers contain-
ing adequate bulletins from the Prussian side.

Terrible has been the excitement and anxiety of these two
days at the Corps ligislatif. This afternoon the feeling
of sadness which has prevailed has in no way diminished.
The message from the sub-prefect, announcing the fate
of the unfortunate 40,000 Prussians has done little or
nothing to calm the fears of the deputies; for, say they,
if such splendid success had been obtained would not the
Government have speedily informed the country? Would
a sub-prefect be given the honour of announcing to the
nation such intelligence? The members wander
moodily about, they talk gloomily to each other
in the Pas Perdus ; they attend very little
to business—the only work done being invariably
a smart row between the Left and the Right.
Every day has its disturbance ; on some occa-
sions there is a most fearful uproar. This afternoon a
general assault was made upon the Minister of War, in
the hope of squeezing some substantial fact out of that
mute personage. He had nothing worth hearing to
say. We had obtained, he said, a slight triumph
at Phalsbourg, in which affair the Germans
had lost some 1,500 men. With regard to the
main army, he excused himself from giving details. " A
concentration was being brought about." What is meant by
this " concentration ?" Why, if the army has beenfighting
these three days, is a concentration needed? Such a
movement ought to have taken place before the fighting
commenced, unless it was required after the dispersion
which follows a defeat.

THE BATTLE BEFORE METZ.
PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING.

I have just been put in possession of facts relative to

recent movements, after Woerth and Forbach, which
go far to explain the present position of affairs. I give
these facts, adding nothing more than that I can rely upon