The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-12 00:00:00

WARLIKE WOMEN AT MARSEILLES.

The woman of Marseilles are just now playing an
important rule in the affairs of their town, and as
their meetings are held in the Grand Theatre, so
that all who take an interest in the new function
of the gentler sex may attend as often as they
like, I have made it my duty to be present
at one of these debates. Gentlemen's tickets
are sold at a high price; but I raised no objection to
it, for the amusement was certainly in proportion.
was glad to see that there was a full house. At the ap-
pointed time the curtain was drawn up, and revealed
Madame Louise Collet seated in a pensive attitude, and
dressed in her uniform of commander in chief of the
Amazons—a tunic of black velvet striped with gold,
loose trousers of the same material, enclosed in black
leather gaiters reaching to the knee, and a scarlet cap
with a long black tassel ; and she made, I can assure you a
ruost picturesquegeneral. Her appearance was greeted with
great applause and cries of admiration from both sexes. For
a moment the Amazon remained in profound meditation ;
then, in a deep low dramatic voice, uttered the one word,
" Bazaine." The effect was instantaneous. Like a clap
of thunder after a flash of lightning, shrieks and groans
followed the mention of the Marshal's name. " Oh, if I
had the traitor here" (and as the "general" spoke
these words she held out her hand as if to seize the
Mrrshal by the hair), " I would ask you to erect a guillo-
tine on this very spot, that he might be executed this
very hour !" Intense applause on the part of the audience
and cries of " Yes, yes," "We would do it." " Let
me give you that creature's history in all its revolting im-
morality, that you may understand why he was a favourite
with Louis Napoleon," said the fair Amazon ; but here I
must stop, for to continue a report of Madame Collet's
speech might shock your less advanced opinions. Suffice
it to say that the audience were greatly moved by this
overture to the business of the night. After this opening
speech, ladies were invited to- mount on the stage and
speak from the tribune. A general rush was imme-
diately made from the body of the theatre, and the
gentlemen were requested by the " general " to help the
ladies over the stalls and orchestra. When some twenty
Amazons had been seated in the tribune, a most animated
discussion arose as to who had got there first, and had
thus obtained the right of speaking. This point being
at last settled by " General " Collet, a genuine
Marseillaise rattled off an address in the dialect
of the country a kind of mixture between
Greek and Latin ; most sonorous, but quite incom-
prehensible to one half the house, who, nevertheless,
cheered the action which accompanied the words. She
was followed by a married woman, who comp.ained bit-
terly that her husband would not let her join the corps,
upoh which Madame Collet declared that such a husband
must be either a Prussian .or a traitor, and the observa-
tion received loud cries of assent from the Amazons. But
this little interlude brought out a lithe active little man
from one of the side boxes, who declared that he was the
husband in question, and was prepared to justify
his conduct. His appearance caused much uproar
among the ladies, who told him he had no right to speak
in a woman's club. He insists, however, on defending
himself, and begins a discourse on the family duties of
woman. He is immediately pounced upon by th. 3
" general " for using bad grammar, and for meddling about
matters of which he knows nothing ; and, amidst shouts
of " Hold your tongue " and derisive cheers, he is com-
pelled to sit down and to retire within himself for the
rest of the evening. Very Red declamations are made
against the priests and bishops who ornament their
churches with precious metals and paintings, which might
be turned to account in buying guns and uniforms for the
"phalanx of Marseilles." At the end it is announced
that a collection of money and jewels will be made
amongst the spectators, whose names will be graven in
letters of gold in the records of the club. A panic then
seizes the spectators, who chew a shameful want of
patriotism by leaving the house and the Amazon collectors
who fail to obtain the smallest jewel.—Correspondent of the
Manchester Guardian.

A well-known merchant of Catalonia has given a
million of francs for equipping and arming a battalion
of volunteers in the French Basque provinces.
The London correspondent of a German paper says it
is positively ascertained that Mr. Gladstone wrote the
article on " France, Germany, and England " in the Edin-
burgh Review.
The German Allgemeine Zeiturtg declares Mr. Gladstone's
article in the Edinburgh Review to prove that " Germany
cannot expect any furtherance of its national claims from
the present Government of England." The French
Progres of Lyons says, " our felon ally dares to dash
her bucket of water upon the brasier of our patriotism."
Unfortunate England I

It is said that the Prussian staff at Versailles were aware
that disturbances would take place at Paris the next day.
They expected a regular skirmish in the streets of the
capital, and looked out for the news of the disturbance in
hopes of profiting by it. The scouts from Sevres and
other environs of Paris did not bring the desired intelli-
gence however. In consequence the Nouvelliste de Versailles
did not appear with the news of a Revolution in Paris.
Mr. George Francis Train was waited upon at Marseilles
by a ladies' deputation. One of them was unmarried, one
married, the third a mother, and the fourth a widow, so
chat they may be taken fairly to represent the various
categories of female kind. They presented him with a
bouquet, and asked him to use his influence to procure a
female levee en masse in France. The " Citizen Train "
replied thus to the address of the maid, the wife, the
mother, and the widow :—" A thousand thanks ! To
arms I Forward ! March ! Vive les filles de Sarragossa
and Jean d'Arc ! To Berlin ! War to the knife ! Vive
la R4publique ! Down with Prussia ! Yours sincerely
till death, George Francis Train."
It is said that the Germans in capturing Verdun have
got possession of nothing better than the dust of a town.
The place was completely destroyed, the ramparts alone
standing. Food supplies had disappeared.
Among the latest offerings for the relief of the sick and
wounded soldiers are included :-1,000 thalers from Prince
Charles of Roumania, 15,000 thalers from New York, 675
thalers from Virginia and Nevada, 10,500 thalers from
Port Elizabeth (Cape of Good Hcpe), and 1,687 thalers
from Calcutta (third contribution).
The Francais thus sums up the Emperor's pamphlet on
the Sedan campaign :—" It is a very wretched attempt,
on the part of the principal author of the war, to justify
himself at the expense of the Army, the Liberal party, and
the Council of Regency. What we gather frbm it princi-
pally is, that after the first disasters Napoleon 111. lost
his head, and not daring to return to Paris, became for the
Army, for his own Ministers, and for France a most com-
brous inutility."
How LIEUTENANT DE VALCOUItT ESCAPED PROM
METZ.—An " English Surgeon" gives an interesting
account of the disguise in which Lieutenant de Valcourt
escaped from Metz. He met the lieutenant in the rail-
way train at Frouard, the junction between the Chalons
and the Metz-Strasburg railways. He said he was an.
American journalist, and had escaped from Metz. After-
wards he begged the surgeon, whose papers were all right,
to accompany him to Switzerland, as his life was in danger
on account of his having no papers of his own. At Basle
the " American " jumped out of the carriage, saying, "I
am free, I am free ; thanks, thanks a thousand times.
Will you take a turn with me on the platform?" He then
said, Allow me to present myself to you in my true
colours ; I am the Count de Valcourt an officer in the
French army, and on the staff of Marshal Bazaine."
Could this be a Frenchman, with his flaxen hair, beard,
and whiskers ; his mild, light brown eyes ; his soft,
almost girlish, complexion ; his perfect command of
the English language?" He saw the look. "You don't
believe me ?" forthwith he brought out two false teeth,
made in Metz for the occasion, a little rolled-up piece of
tissue-paper, which, when opened, was as large as the
palm of one's hand : " A despatch from Marshal Bazaine
to the Army, of Tours." I said, "Is this your word of
honour ? " It is," was his retort ; " and to prove it is
not against Prussian interests here are its contents I
must give up Metz in a day or two ; make peace as soon
as you can.—BAZAINE, Mar6chal,' &c."

A. DARING Spy. —That Prussian spies, however,
and daring ones too, do penetrate into Paris is quite cer-
tain ; for the other day I myself saw one under somewhat
peculiar circumstances. It was at Courcelles, where I
had gone, intending to leave Paris by the porte
of that name, on my way to Asnibres. Hearing
several shots fired, on turning round I saw
half-a-dozen Gardes Mobiles peppering away apparently
at a stick of chimneys on the top of a very tall house
facing the railway. A more
i attentive inspection, how-
ever, discovered to me a man n military uniform holding
a blue flag in one hand and a red flag in the other, and
wearing in front of him a long apron painted dull red,
with the narrow white markings to resemble the brick-
work of the neighbouring chimneys, between which he
was crouched. lie had, it seems, been observed waving
the flags in question, and had thus become the target of

the Gardes Mobiles, all of whom, however, fired
of their mark. in an instant from the time wild
I had first observed him he had slid down the long slat t°
roof, and, clinging to the stone cornice, had dropped
the iron balcony of the floor beneath and disapPear't
through one of the windows. The Gardes Mobil
with,
once obtained admission to the house--a large one, ~,
apparently, all its apartments occupied—which they
searched from top to bottom for upwards of an hour, Wit?:
out, however, encountering the smallest trace of the
daring Prussian officer—for so he was pronounced to be--
who had signalled to his comrades in a populous quarter
of Paris in broad daylight.—Times Correspondent.
ADVENTURE OF A GERMAN OFFICER.--
Wickede, a Prussian officer, who acts as correspondent tel
the Cologne Gazette, relates an adventure he met withit
the village of Agrigoncourt, near Espinal. He was w.'
three other officers and two privates, and halted at this
village for food. Their appearance created some stir'
The women and children collected, and several Wel
hastened up from the fields. The landlady..., ()..:
the inn curtly refused to entertain them, but
Wickede followed her into the kitchen, and by a few ad
compliments induced her to prepare them a substantt
meal. Meanwhile 30 or 40 m'-n in blouses' armed writ'
pikes, dung-forks, and partially with guns, laid siege toithall
house, He went out, the hostess by his side, and O.9°A
what they wanted, but was assailed with abuse an
threats, one of the crowd, appirently the village tailq,
pointing .his gun at him, and swearing that tie whole
six should be shot. Herr Wickede told them that in
and his companions were in their power, but reminded
them that their captivity or death would certainly
be avenged on the village. Thereupon different
of opinion arose, there was a lively discussion, an
eventually the tailor: was outvoted, it being deterniines
that the priest should decide on their fate. r-rhe
priest was sent for. He proved an intelligent 111„'
foresaw the certain destiny of the village in case 111
Germans were illtreated, ordered the peasants to disperse'
and even mounted the waggon to protect the strangers'
Herr Wickede took a friendly leave of the landlady, whei
though she had a brother in the French army who 11,3"
been captured at Metz, had been resolutely on his Si
The priest accompanied them to the next village, where
he handed them over to the protection of another car 1
and he in turn transferred the charge to a third. The/
consequently escaped molestation, though encountering
many black looks, and safely reached Besoul. " NO°.
ever," he remarks, " has the p"riests and women for him
in the French villages is sure to come off well, for both 0'
them wield an unlimited power."
DETERMINATION OF THE FRENCH TO FIGHT.
—The Tours correspondent of the Standard, in a letter
dnted the 7th inst., declares : If possible, France is more
than ever opposed to peace—that• is a peace involving a
cession of territory. With her increasing strength,
and the gradual utilisation of her resources, she
recoils from the thought of any peace whic
would be an admission of her inferiority. After
Sedan, when she was literally without an aria,'
except that shut up in Metz, France might, without 3Cii
mission of inferiority of courage and resources, have signet`
a peace on the ground of surprise. Now she can 11°
longer do so. She has many more men in arms through'
out her territory than have her German invaders. 611°
has had timeto recover from her first surprise, and, eO3
sequently, she would feel even more degraded hi her
own eyes, and in those of Europe, if she were t.,1
submit to terms which she indignantly refused then.
the Germans have absolutely and finally made up their
minds to take Alsace and Lorraine with the consent 0f
France, they may may make up their minds to an owl'
pation of France which will be counted by years rather
than by months. For once the Latin is as obstinate as,.
the Saxon. I question whether, in the end, he will 0,1:
prove himself to be more so. I believe that imports,"
movements are taking place in the Army of the Loire, but
what they may be is more than I can tell. My authority
is only the vaguest of rumours, but they gain a certain
consistency from a notice in the Moniteur of last night'
M. Gambetta complains that certain newspapers have,
in spite of orders, been publishing notices of the
movements of the Army 'of the Loire, and that if this
is repeated, he shall declare. the place in a state
of siege and suppress the newspapers. All I can say 15
.that unfortunately, in spite of a most diligent search, I
have not been able to discover any of thse notices of
which M. Gambetta complains; upon the oontrarY,
for the last fortnight I have not seen a single
which, were I a stranger here, would lead 1310
to suppose that such an army existed. M. Gambetta 's
edict, therefore, shews how extremely anxious the Gcr
vernment are that no whisper shall go forth of what is
going on in front, and certainly gives a consistency to
and
report that the movements are both extensive anu
important. word

ENGLAND AND GERMANY,
LETTER FROM TIM, CROWN PRINCE,

Colonel Loyd Lindsay, M.P., has received a letter from
the Crown Prince of Prussia, of which the following is 14
copy :--
" Head-Quarters, Versailles, Nov. 2.
" The noble contribution brought by Colonel Loyd-
Lindsay for the use of the sick and wounded from the
English Society of which he is the director deserves
semewhat more than a simple acknowledgment.
On this, as on other occasions of distress, the hell)
of the English public has beeen poured out
with a liberal and impartial hand. The gifts, which have
been offered in a truly Christian spirit, have excited a
feeling of heartfelt gratitude among those in whose names
I speak. In doing so lam repeating the feelings of the
whole of my country people, in this instance representefl
by those for whose special benefit these gifts are destinea•
" FREDERICK WILLIAM, Crown Prince.
"To Colonel Loyd-Lindsay, V.C., &c."

The death is announced of Sir William Curtis, 10
his 70thayear. He was the third baronet, and was eat'
cated at Eton and at St. John's College, Cambridge,
where he took his B.A. degree in 1825. He was married
in 1831 to a daughter of Mr. John Shatton; of Farthing'
hoe Lodge, Northamptonshire, and is succeeded by his
son Philipp Julian, who was a captain in the 60th Bef,"1"
ment. The first baronet was an alderman of London,
Lord Mayor in 1798, and M.P. fox the City of London
from 1790 to 1826.

POLICE ESPIONAGE. —On Thursday four publicans
from various villages in Cheshire were brought before the
county magistrates at Birkenhead, charged with offencf°
contravening their licences. A peculiar circumstance 111
connection with the proceedings was that the information
was laid by a constable named Wharmby, who, acting se
he stated under the instructions of the chief eon"
stable, pla- ed the spy at the houses of the
defendants, representing himself as an agent for
agricultural implements. This character he supported hi
displaying the circulars and advertisements of certain
manufacturers, while he lulled suspicion by drinking with
the persons he found in the inns. The charges were met
by the genial of many witnesses ; but, perhaps, it is not
too much to say that the decisions of the magistrates con'
veyed a marked disapproval of the system of espionage
employed by the informer. All the cases were dismissed,
and in one instance Wharmby was directly censured for
tempting a number of people to drink.—Liverpool
Courier.

NEW STEAM LINE TO THE WEST INDIES.—The
screw steamship Konig Wilhelm L, built and engined by
Messrs, Caird and Co., of Greenock, for the North Ger-
man Lloyd, had her official trial trip on Saturday last,
when she ran the measured mile at Skelmorlie at the rate
of 12 knots per hopr, at a low steam pressure, with 1,200
tons dead weight on board. She measures 2,450 tons
(registers 1,690 tons), is 330 feet in length, 39 feet beam,
and 314 feet depth from spar deck, and is fitted with
engines of 350 horse power. Accommodation is provided
for 103 first class passengers, 50 second, and 500 third,
and she will carry from 1,800 to 2,000 tons of dead weight
(fuel and cargo), her draught of water being about 20
feet when so loaded. The Konig Wilhelm I. is the first
of a new line of steamers on the eve of being
started by the North German Lloyd to the
West Indies, commencing at Bremen, calling at
Southampton, and proceeding thence direct to Colon,
Savanilla, Porto Cabello, La Guayra, and then back
to Savanilla and Colon. At the last-named place the
return voyage begins, only interrupted by calling at St-
Thomas, the next ports being Cherbourg, Southampton,
and Bremen. The second vessel for this line, the Kohn,
was to have her trial during the present week, :Ind another,
the Graf Bismarck, is just launched. These steamers are
built and fitted with special adaptation for the passenger
and cargo traffic of the station on which they are to be
placed. The Konig Wilhelm I. leaves Greenock for
Bremen on an early day.

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