The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-02 00:00:00

BATH ABBEY RESTORATION.

A. meeting of the friends of this undertaking was held
on Wednesday afternoon, at the Guildhall, Lord Hervey,
Bishop of the diocese in the chair. The report read stated
that Mr. Scott's estimate of the cost was £20,000. The
work had been divided into three portions, two of which
had been completed, the first being at a cost of £5,800,
and the second at £5,500. The sum of £5,000 had also
been expended by private persons, and £l,OOO was re-
quired to finish the work. Several contributions were
announced.

ItOOLAMATIONS BY GENERALS TROCHU'
AND DUCROT.
La Situation announces the arrival in London oi
PARIS, November 30 (Evening).
the French Minister of Commerce, M. Clement Duver-
Proclamations were issued yesterday by General „is.

Mk; SUN, LONDON,. FRII

THF, GRAN I) DUKE OF MECKLENBURG'S
ARMY. '

AY, DECEMBER 2, 1870.

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

• PRINT CE GORTSCHAKOFF'S REPLY TO
LORD GRAN VILLE.
ST. PETERSBURG, Dec. 1, (11.15 a.m.)
The following is the full text•of Prince Gortschakoff's
reply to Lord Granville, being a despatch addressed to
Baron Trunnow, dated Tsarskoe Selo, Bth (20th) Novem-
ber, 1870 : •

The correspondent of the Daily News at the Read-
quarters of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, at La
Loupe, in a letter dated November 21, writes :
Head-quarters were yesterday moved to Digny, but
the French having fled rapidly before the advancing
columns of the Germans, head-quarters were broken up
at that place quite early this morning, and we commenced
the march for this place, which is situated on the Huisne,'
about two miles south-west of Digny. At ten o'clock
in the morning we heard a heavy cannonading, and
going .in the direction found the 22nd Infantry
division, which had during the night rested in the
about La Loupe, and marched early this morning to-
wards Nogent on the Huisne, had encountered and
French in the mountains at the village of Coulonges.
A heavy fire was the result, and the Seventeenth Divi-
sion, which had marched from Senonches and its
vicinity for six hours, having moved to the right
along the road towards Bellesme, met the French
at the village of La Madelaine, and the engagement
became general in the mountains between the two
roads. I use the word engagement, for the affair can
hardly be termed a battle. The French troops were of
the most irregular kind, chiefly boys from 14 to 16 years
of age, or old men. The uniform generally consisted
of a red strap sewed on the shoulder, be it a
coat or the common peasant's blouse, and a red stripe
sewed on the pantaloons. Different military caps
appeared to have been sparingly distributed among
them, but most of them wore their own common
hats. They were all armed with Chassepots, but un-
skilled in the use of them. One boy who was taken
prisoner told me he did not know how to discharge his gun.
This band had torn up the road and otherwise obstructed
it by cutting down trees. As the Germans approached,
they discharged a volley from behind these works and
scattered pell-mell to a safe distance, when they re-dis-
charged their pieces, and broke as before. I
believe they had no artillery. At La Madelaine
about five hundred of them, after having run from their
breastworks, took shelter in the houses, and fired upon
the advancing Germans from the windows. About
seventy of them were taken prisoners, the rest of them
I saw throw away their guns and run as fast as possible ;
many of the guns that were thrown away gave evidence
of never having been discharged at all. The in-
habitants of the town took a pleasure in searching
out these men and delivering them over to the Germans.
The Germans themselves appear to have become ferocious
from this kind of warfare. At one time I saw three
wretched boys and an old man who had been
found with arms in their hands, and the soldiers
at whose head they marched, testified their
pleasure in the fate that awaited the captives,
for they were all to be shot. A moment after-
wards I heard platoon firing, and the screams of the
victims, and I confess that to me the occurrence was sick-
ening, although I have become tolerably hardened by
many battles. An officer of the Lancers told me that he
had heard a heavy musketry fire from a clump of trees,
and was astonished to find that it came from a single old
man. I asked him what they did with him. " I
sent a lieutenant with four men to him, and then
—," and he made a significant sign of the
Lancers jobbing the man with their lances. I afterwards
learned more of this incident. It appears that when the
Lancers came up with the man he was lying on his back
on the ground, and although one of them had bored him
through with his lance in such a way that it took two
men to withdraw it, he had strength enough to discharge
his piece and kill one of the Lancers, and after
the lieutenant had shot him through the breast
with his pistol, he once more discharged his gun,
and it required three more shots to kill him. The Ger-
mans, as I said before, are rapidly becoming brutalised
from this kind of work. At Dreux, on the 17th, no
quarter was shewn, and even the wounded
Frenchmen were stabbed with the bayonet.
On the right the French were driven to a
distance of about five miles, the cannonading having
ceased, however, at about two o'clock. The 17th
Division is composed of two Hanseatic regiments,
two Mecklenburg regiments, a battalion of Mecklenburg
Jager, and Mecklenburg artillery and dragoons, all of
which were on the field at the time, but the real fighting
was by the 90th Mecklenburg and 76th Hanseatic regi-
ments and the Jager. On the left the firing had not
ceased until after four o'clock, at which time the French
had been driven out of sight, and the Germans had
advanced to near Nogent. On this side the whole
division, composed of four infantry regiments, with
artillery and cavalry, was active in the fight, at one time
they had sent to the Seventeenth Division for support.
The loss of the Germans is inconsiderable—l presume
not over two hundred killed and wounded ; but that
of the French must be much more, including a great
number of prisoners. The Bavarians were in
reserve the whole day. To those unacquainted with
the character of the Bavarian troops it will be a matter
of surprise that they were so badly beaten by these
irregular troops at Orleans ou the 9th instant,
for they were badly beaten. There is a great deal
of the brute in the common Bavarian soldiers. In
every town that they enter they pillage, plunder, and
ruthlessly destroy. Their last act of this character was at
Digny. So long as they know that there are Prussians to
support them they fight with brutal force, but where they
are left to themselves they have not sufficient moral
courage to carry them through, and to this fact is to be
ascribed their defeat at Orleans.

A. marriage is arranged to take place between Sir
Alexander Muir Mackenzie, Bart., of Delvine, and Miss
Frances Moncreiffe, sixth daughter of Sir Thomas and
Lady Louisa Moncreiffe.
THE STRENGTH OF THE FRENCH ARm.Y.--The
correspondent of the Daily ews at the Headquarters of
the 12th Royal Saxon Army Corps, Le Vert Gullaut,
writes :—La Liberte states that the troops available for the
defence of France number 759,000. It makes
up this total by the following figures :—Armee du
Midi, 60,000 ; Armee d'Orleans, 100,000 ; Armee
de l'Ouest, 60,000 ; Armte du Nord, 100,000 ;
Armee de Normandie, 40,000 ; Armee des Vosges,
60,000 ; Armee de Garibaldi, 15,000 ; Armee de
Paris, 225,000 ; Corps Francs d'Alsace, 25,000 ;
les Compagnies de Guerre de la Garde Nationale,
70,000. In a pigeon post despatch of the 16th instant
M. Gambetta informed M. Jules Favre that there
were 200,000 men in the Loire Army, and that by the Ist
of December there would be 100,000 more, and 200,000
Gardes Mobiles. In such reports, such orders, and such
figures one cannot perceive much indication of that
surrender which "the enemy" believes to be so near.
Can it be that the men of the Republic, even
on this 27th day of November, hold to the prediction of
the private despatch written by the Empress Eugenie
to the Emperor on the 7th of August ?—" I am per-
suaded that we shall lead back the Prussians to the frontier,
the sword in their loins." Courage, then ! With energy
we command the situation. "The sword in their loins,"

(rep& dans les riens), may be objected to by certain
French patriots as a foreign metaphor. Evidently it
was suggested by the illustrious lady's reminiscences of
Spanish bullfights ; but it is expressive, and faithfully
interprets, if not the belief, certainly the fond desire of
every French heart.

THE GARIBALDIANS.—The special correspondent
of the Daily News, writing from La Brussiere, the head-
quarters of Garibaldi, on the 24th ultimo, says :
I left Bligny - sur - Ouche yesterday afternoon
with the Etat Major, and reached hero at about six
p.m., and found the General and his staff es-
tablished in a beautiful château, standing in its
own grounds as the advertisements say. As a
matter of course, eating was out of the question, but
there was fortunately plenty of fodder for our horses. It
was quite a tour de force to find lodging for all the
men. Church, stables, school, mairie, and cot-
tages were crammed, and even then a great
many had to camp out round great fires which
were lighted in the grounds of the château and along the
roads. We have Menotti and his men either with us or
in the immediate vicinity, as well as General -Bosak.
Ricciotti is expected every hour. We have two batteries
of artillery, and about fifty Chasseurs l Cheval. La
Brussibre is a village of only 300 inhabitants, on the Canal
de Bourgogne, twelve kilometres distant from Bligny, and
only 28 from Dijon—that is to say, about a day's march
It is rumoured by some that there are 14,000 Germans
at Dijon, but others say that the town has been evacuated.
Everyone, however, seems so think that we shall either
sleep at Dijon to-morrow night or be dispersed about the
country in full flight. I am glad to be able to say that
I believe all our men are game, and I am sure that if
we should have the misfortune to be beaten, it will not
have been because our soldiers were wanting in
courage. The country people about here behave ad-
mirably. Last night some of the cottagers had five or
six soldiers billeted up3n them, but they all appeared
to go to work to prepare the evening supper as
cheerfully as possible. The Garibaldians are very
I popular indeed. We were received with cries of
" Vive Garibaldi ! Vivent les Garibaldiens !" at every
village on the road. Last night a Chasseur h Cheval was
shot by mistake by a Mobile Guard at one of the outposts.
The General is very angry at this.

THE LONDON SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION.
. Subjoired are the official returns of the candidates
elected :
CITY of LONDON.—W. Rogers, Clerk in Holy Orders,
6,847 ; S. Morley, Member of Parliament, 5,242 ; Cotton,
Alderman, 4,826; W. Sutton Gover, 4,753.
WESTMINSTER. —W. H. Smith, Member of Parliament,
13,602; Viscount Sandon, Member of Parliament, 7,119 ;
Rev. Alfred Barry, Clerk in Holy Orders, 6,057 ; Rev.
J. H. Rigg, D.D., Principal •of the Wesleyan Training
College, 5,722 ; C. E. Mudie, Librarian, 4,874.
FINSBURY.—E. J. Tabrum, Civil Servant, 27,822 ; W.
McCullagh Torrens, M.P., 10,766 ; Rev. J. Rodgers,
Vicar of St. Thomas, 8,690 ; T. C. Clarke, Architect,
7,847 ; Sir F. Lycett, Magistrate, 6,127 : B. Lucraft,
Cabinetmaker, 5,962.
lilettvLEnoNE.—Miss E. Garrett, Doctor of Medicine,
47,858; T. H. Huxley, Professor of Natural History,
13,494 ; A. W. Thorold, Clerk in Holy Orders, 12,186 ;
Joseph Angus, D.D., President of Regent's Park College,
11,472; E. J. Hutchins, 9,253; W. Hepworth Dixon,
Author, 9,031; J. Watson, 8,355.
CHELSEA.—Rev. Canon Cromwell, 9,783 ; Lord Law-
rence, 8,254; G. M. Kiell, 7,763; R.Freeman, 7,133.
SOUTHWARK.—Rev. J. Mee, 5,835; Lafone, 5,711;
Wallace, 5,033 ; Ingle, 4,920.
LAMBETH.—Stiff, 22,101; Tresidder, 16,676 ; Tilson,
14,574 ; M'Arthur, 11,963 ; Few, 10,509.
HACKNEY.—C. Reed, M.P., 12,477; W. Green, 8,472;
T. B. Smithies, 7,883 ; J. H. Crossman, 7,441; Rev. J.
A. Picton, 5,78 L
TOWER HAMLETS.—Edmund Hay Currie, distiller,
26,308 ; William Pearce, chemical manufacturer, 20,867 ;
Thomas Scrutton, ship-owner, 19,414 ; Edward North
Buxton, brewer, 17,863; Arthur Langdale, solicitor,
11,666.

" Monsieur le Baron. The Ambassador
England has read and left with me a
copy of Lord Granville's despatch in reply
to our communication of October 19. I hastened to
submit it to his Majesty the Emperor. Our august
Master was pleased to point out that it contained, in the
first place, an expression of the earnest desire of the
Cabinet of London to preserve cordial relations between
England and Eussia; and secondly, an assurance that the
Cabinet would not have refused to enter into an exami-
nation of the results of the Treaty of 1856, so far as they
had been modified by circumstances. As for the question
of strict right stated by Lord Granville, we have no wish
to enter into any discussion, recall any precedent,
cite any example. Such a controversy would in no way
promote the good understanding which we desire. Our
august Master had to discharge an imperious duty to his
own country, without wishing to injure in any
way the Governments who were signatories of
the Treaty of 1856.- On the contrary, his Im-
perial Majesty appeals to their sense of justice,
and to their regard for their own dignity. We regret
to see that Lord Granville addresses himself princi-
pally to the form of our communications. The form
was not our choice. We could have asked nothing better,
surely, than to attain our end by an agreement with the
signatories of the Treaty of 1856. But the principal
Secretary of State of her Britannic Majesty well knows
that the attempts made at different times to assemble the
Powers in a general Conference with a view to remove
the causes of difficulty which disturbed the general
peace have invariably failed. The prolongation
of the present crisis, and the absence of a regular
Government in France, postpone still further the possi-
bility of such an agreement. Meanwhile, the position in
which the Treaty left Russia has become more and more
intolerable. Lord Granville will agree that the Europe
of to-day is very far from being the Europe which signed
the Treaty of 1856. It was impossible that
Russia should agree to remain the only Power
bound indefinitely by an arrangement which,
onerous as it was at the time when it was concluded,
became daily weaker in its guarantees. Our august
. Master has too deep a sense of what he owes to his
country to force it to submit any longer to an obligation
against which the national sentiment protests. We can-
not admit that the abrogation of a purely theoretical
principle to which no immediate effect is given, and which
simply restores to Russia a right of which no great
Power could consent to be deprived, should be considered
as a menace to peace ; or that in annulling one point of
the Treaty of 1856, there is any implication that all are
annulled. The Imperial Cabinet never had any such
intention. On the contrary, our communication of
October 19, declares, in the most explicit terms, that his
Majesty the Emperor fully maintains his adhesion to
the general principles of the Treaty of 1856, and that
be is ready to come to an agreement with the signatory
Powers of that treaty, either to confirm its general stipu-
tions, or to renew them, or to substitute for them any
other equitable arrangement which may be thought
suitable to secure the repose of the East and
the equilibrium of Europe. There seems, then, to be no
reason why the Cabinet of London should not, if it
please, enter into an explanation with the signatories
of the Treaty of 1856. For our part, we are ready to
join in any deliberation having for its object the settle-
ment of guarantees for the consolidation of peace in the
East. We are persuaded that fresh guarantees would be
found in the removal of a permanent cause of irritation
between the two Powers the most directly interested.
Their mutual relations would be more firmly
established on the basis of a good and sold under-
standing. You are desired, M. le Baron, to read this
despatch to Lord Granville, and to leave a copy of it
with him. The Principal Secretary of State of her
Britannic Majesty has expressed to us the regret that
he would feel if this discussion should disturb the
harmony which the Government of her Majesty
the Queen has striven to maintain between the
two countries. Be good enough to express to his
Excellency how entirely his regret would be shared
by the imperial Cabinet. We believe that a good
understanding between the two Governments is exceed-
ingly advantageous to the two countries as well as to the
peace of the world. It is with lively satisfaction that we
have seen our relations during late years grow more and
more close and cordial. The grave circumstances in which
we find ourselves at this moment seem to us to make this
more desirable than ever.
(Signed) " GORTSCHAKOFF.”
—Special Correspondent of the Daily News.

THE GREAT SORTIE FROM PARIS.
At this moment, says the Telegraph, it is difficult to de-
termine whether, in this crisis of the war, the French or
the Germans have wou the day. Two things are quite
apparent. In the first place, the Army of the Loire has
pushed northward, and has been defeated ; in the second
place, the French Army of Paris has made a great sortie,
has thrust aside the investing forces of the Germans,
and cut open a communication with the country
beyond. The sortie was led by General Ducrot. We
are told from Tours, under date of yesterday afternoon,
that Ducrot led out from Paris not fewer than
100,000 men. We are told also that he crossed
the Marne—a statement which signifies that he
pushed neither northward by St. Denis or Le
Bourget, nor southward by Villejuif and L'Hay,
but due eastward towards either Lagny or Ozouer-la-
Ferriere. Details of the combat, however, are wanting.
We are told, indeed, by the French delegate Govern-
ment that " the movement was a complete suc-
cess." If it be really the case that 100,000
men, more or fewer, have broken out of Paris,
and thrown themselves fearlessly—we should rather
say recklessly—upon the communications of the Ger-
man army with the Rhine, then we can understand the
reports which reached us yesterday to the effect that the
German troops had in all haste evacuated Amiens, with-
drawn from Beaune-la-Rolande, and massed themselves in
the neighbourhood of Paris. It would be simply fool-
hardiness to predict the immediate future of the campaign
from the slender and partial information afforded by the
telegrams. One thing, however, is clear, on a fair
balance of the statements that have yet reached
us—the French have made a great effort; on the
Loire they have been baffled; on the Seine, on the
Marne, they have won an advantage—possibly a great
advantage ; and from all that we know about the
events of the earlier part of the week, we are bound to
confess that the French, by their offensive movements of
the last few days, have won a position of moral supe-
riority, and perhaps even of military preponderance,
which they have never enjoyed since the opening of the
campaign.

A. man has been arrested at Waterford who is
supposed to be implicated in the Cahir murder. He was
taken before the magistrates on Wednesday and re-
manded.

THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS LOUISE.—The pre-
parations in anticipation of the approaching marriage of
her Royal Highness Princess Louise with the Marquis of
Lorne have already been cemmenced at Windsor Castle.
It is understood that the wedding ceremony is to be per.
formed in the Chapel Royal of St. George, Windsor
Castle, where the nuptials of the Prince and Princess of
Wales were celebrated. Yesterday the employes of the
Board of Works were engaged in measuring the interior
of the Chapel, in order to ascertain the number of guests
that the building will accommodate upon the day of the
marriage. It is understood that a large and distinguished
company will be gathered within thy walls of the chapel
to witness the ceremony.
THE SILVER AND THE STEEL AGE.—The annual din-
ner at the Agricultural Hall, preliminary to the Grand Chest-
nts Cattle Show is a cheering sign of " the good time coming."
But fat oxen, to be serviceable to the community, must be well
cooked ; and, when served up, efficiently carved, with a view
to the good digestion which should always "wait on appetite."
Steel knives, hitherto the sole "medium" as cutting instru-
ments for the table, are obviously objectionable on many
grounds. Silver, on the other hand, is only available at dessert.
That noble patron of the arts, the late Prince Consort, believed
that all things were possible to the ingenious and industrious
manufacturer, and the problem of dinner knives has been
solved most satisfactorily by a new invention of Mr. J. Neal, of
the Edgware-road. He has patented a new " pyro-silver "
knife, with a sharp incisive blade, which requires no cleaning,
and may be simply " set "on a steel. This knife has been lite-
rally tried in the fire (whence its classical name), and stood the
proof. The metal is not corrodible by vinegar, lemon-juice, or
any other vegetable acid. Mr. Neal's patent is also applicable
to table forks, dessert services, fish slices, scissors, &c. Orna-
ment has not been sacrificed to utility. Mr. Neal's stock is
really a fine art exhibition of its kind, and amongst many other
specimens that attract the admiration of visitors should be
mentioned the dessert knife handles Steel knives have had
of rock coralite—a
"leading article" of the manufactory.
their day, and pyro-silver will henceforth command all such
customers as are desirous not to look or to use " daggers," but
to cut their flesh food to mincemeat as a first step to
, nutrition.