The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-25 00:00:00

WAR ITEMS.

AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA.—The Government hero
has decided, in order to preserve the strictest neutrality
during the war, not to make any military preparations
whatever. The troops are to remain at their present
stations all that will he done will be to complete the
prescribed number of artillery waggons, 80 as to provide
for unforseen contingencies. This, however, will cause no
excess in the peace establishment of the army. The
Fprincipal Russian papers publish articles favourable to
rance. The Exchange Gazette is opposed to any increase
of the influence of Prussia in the east and among the
Slavonic rat. The Goloss expresses a hope that Europe
will be spared the spectacle of Prussian dynastic war."
Themost influential °rod . of the Prussian press, the
Moscow Gazette, urges that France cannot permit herself
to be summ.ded and accuses Prince Gortchakoff of
having neglected Russian interests in taking the part of
Pruetia,---Eastern Budget.
ENGLAND PROTECTS BELGIC:U.—The attitude of
England, says the Spectator, is noteworthy. The leading
statesmen on both sides are clearly of opinion that Ger-
many is in the right, and silently anxious about Belgium,
which we believe the Cabinet has deckled to protect. The
Government, however, though it has ordered important
preparations, maintains a determined neutrality, has
issued a proclamation warning all British subjects to
abstain from assisting either power, has refused Captain
Hozier permission to visit the Prussian camp as corre-
spondent. of the Times newspaper, has deprecated debate
in the Commons on the War, has purposely delayed the
production of papers, and has hinted moderation to the
Press. All that is well, more especially as Indemity Acts
for measures of precaution are known . to the British Con-
stitution, and one great squadron at all events can be
recalled by telegraph ; but if the Commons think they
will get away in a mouth, they have sanguine views of
the situation. There must be, at all events, some authori-
tative expression of Parliamentary opinion on our relations
with Belgium. If the " policy of reticence" now in the
ascendant is persisted in too long the country will be
taken unprepared.
WmuY NAPOLEON HESITATES.—The limes corre-
spondent says :—" Exactly a week has elapsed since M.
Benedetti stopped the King of Prussia in the Kurgartems
at Ems • still, contrary to common expectation, not a shot
has yet been fired by the French. One would have
imagined that a Sovereign resorting to such extraordinary
means for bringing on war would have completed his
preparations beforehand, and would have been ready to
follow up the bark by the bite. Such, in fact, were the
intentions of Napoleon, and if he desisted from them, his
hesitatation is due less to a fault in his original plan than
to a sudden fit of caution. From information received
here there can he no doubt that the Emperor immediately
after the rupture meant to hurl the troops of Chalons into
Central Germany, thus separating the North from the
South, and rendering it more easy for the disaffected
elements in the latter to side with him. But the marvel-

lous rapidity with which a Prussia;forCT;;; concen-
trated on the Rhine, and the cry of indignation which
resounded from one end of Germany to the other when
the news of his latest coup d'etat in telegraphic terseness
spread from city to city, from district to district, pre-
vented him from carrying out his design.
THE POLICY OF DENMAILK.—A military corms-

pondent of the Tdegraph, has the following :—Denmark has
cause to hate Prussia, and is believed to be only waiting
her chance of revenge ; while rumours are already
abroad as to an alliance with France. Let anyone look
at the map, and study the position of Denmark as re-
gards Kiel, Hamburg, and Berlin, and he will understand
how high France should bid for her alliance. While the
attention of Prussia is fixed upon the Rhine, and her
main strength is collected about Mayence and Frankfort,
or even further south, let a French army be thrown into
Denmark—and, joined by the Danes, Hamburg and
Kiel, and with them much of Prussia's sea forces, must
fall. Hanover would probably sympathise with the in-
vaders ; and based on Denmark and the sea the allied
army would be in a position to march direct on Berlin. It
is true, some such manoeuvre might be attempted without
the co-operation of Denmark ; but in that case it could
be only a diversion. In the other event it would be the
decisive stroke ; and so little chances are there of de-
livering such a blow elsewhere, that it is difficult to
believe the French Emperor would have hurried
on the war, unless he had reason to count on being able
to make a movement either through Denmark on the
north, or through Austria on the south. It may appear
that the operations on the Upper Rhine have been ignored
altogether. Of course, France will make demonstrations
about Strasbourg, Thisach, &c. ; and, on the other side,
attempts will be made, with more or less vigour, to pass
the Rhine and distract attention by a real or pretende
invasion of France. But, considering the strength of the
line presented by the Rhine, the fortresses of Strasbourg,
&c., and behind them the Vosges, the French can afford to
disregard such movements while they are playing for
higher stakes elsewhere.

THE MISERIES OF CORRESPONDENTS.—The corres-
pondent of the Standard, writing from Metz on Thurs-
day, has the following on the correspondent question :
After having posted my letter yesterday morning I re-
ceived a despatch from Paris to the effect that no journalist
home or foreign (here I am amongst the foreign, would
be allowed to go to the front. Further, that no foreign
officer even would be permitted to follow the operations ;
and that any one forcing sentry or found in camp would
be shot. " The latter clause, doubtless," added the
friend who had failed to obtain me a safe
conduct, "is something of an exaggeration." Very much
of an exaggeration I should say; for, as I have told you
already, one of my first adventures here was to forcer la
consigne, and instead of lying dead like the Emperor
Maximilian, lam alive, cheery, and unharmed. Still, this
news of the impossibility of obtaining a pass is not
encouraging. There is a perfect colony of French
journalists here ; M. d'Aunay, of the Figaro, elbows M.
elaretie, of the Rappel, and the representative of the free '
and easy little Belgian Etoile treads on the corns of the
military reporter of that punctiliously but most ferociously
pacific journal the Univers, of Paris and Rome. Some of
our London contemporaries have also sent out gentlemen
to record the interesting events on the cards. I have
had the unhappy privilege tc tell them they
could not accompany head-quarters, and. they
are now walking about with their fingers in
their mouths, gazing up at the statue of General
Fabert in his coat of mail in the Place Napoleon, or con-
templating the innocent fishes from the parapets of one
or other of the many bridges that span the blue Moselle.
For the present, correspondents at Metz know absolutely
nothing of what is going to happen, and far less of what
is taking place around them than people in Paris do ; and
if they pretend to an intimacy with the intended move-
ments they simply "eat dirt," to borrow a polite Orien-
talism. From private sources of information, and not
from anything 1 have seen here, I think I am safe in
asserting that there will be nothing serious till on or about
the 98th instant—that is to say, about Thursday next.
There may be affairs of outposts and the kind, but no
engagement on a grand scale. In the meantime lam not
without hopes that the rigour of the order shutting out
correspondents may be relaxed. Indeed, 1 have been
almost told it would by a r•i-iitleman on the staff of Mar-
shal Bazaine, but, as he said sensibly, "we must be very
cautious—not that we distrust the correspondents' ho-
nour, but we do decidedly their judgment."

THE KING OF BELGIUM AND HIS PLATE. —Pro-
vidint: against any contingency, the King of the Belgians
has forwarded all the more valuable of his plate to
England. It was brought over to Dover in the Belgian
mail-picket, and was at once forwarded to London,
where it will be deposited in a place of safety. —Dover
Chronicle.