The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-23 00:00:00

WESTWARD WITH MANTEUFFEL.

The special correspondent of the Telegraph dates his
letter from the head-quarters of the Eighth Army Corps,
Vienne-le-Chateau, Nov. 13. He says:—Thus far has the '
army of General Manteuffel advanced, his head-quarters
being at Suippes, while we camp to his right. Varennes
lies on the edge of the Forest of Argome—said to be the
resort of a numerous and determined band of
Francs-tireurs, who had made use of its large extent
and leafy shelter as a sort of head-quarters whence
to despatch small bodies to cut off any German stragglers,
or stop the field-post as it lumbered along the heavy cross-
roads by which the forest is intersected. Through this
wood we marched to-day; and as the long line of troops
entered the unwelcome-looking defile through which the
artillery horses were struggling, with mud up to the axles
of the gun-carriages, I must confess that nobody at all
liked the aspect of affairs. The snow, which had fallen during
the night, lay to some depth in the woods ; while the
slush it occasioned in the road reminded me of the route
to Balaklava in 1854. The 33rd Regiment had been sent
on some two marches before, with a cavalry regiment, to
clear the defiles, and, if possible, to rout out the band of
miscreants whose name of Francs-tireurs is only a pretext
for committing outrages upon helpless women and chil-
dren, robbing wherever they have a chance, and
murdering any unfortunate sick soldier uho may
fall in their way. That our little advanced corps
effected the purpose for which it had been sent, was
proved by the fact the march of the 15th Division was
uninterrupted, and that, in a heavy shower of snow, we
marched into Vienne-le-Chateau. Here the intelligence
of the defeat before Orleans reached us; but on so
large a field of operations it is needless to say that the
German Generals do not expect to get off without a
misadventure here and there. On getting clear of the
broken country, we approached the villages of
Mourmelon, and the works of instruction belonging to
the Camp of Chalons. As we rode through the Camp
I was amused by the various inscriptions which ap-
peared on the houses of the permanent barracks. " Vivo
la Famille Imp6riale !" " L'ArinSe do Reconnaissance ! "
" L'Honneur, La Gloire, et la Patrie !" and such like
mottoes, stood out in bold relief upon the walls ; but, as
if in mockery of the sentiments, the flowers of which they
were composed hung dead and mournful-looking from the
strings. The whole camp was a miserable dreary waste.
The whole of the First Army arrived at Rheims on the
15th. Wa march to-morrow in the direction of Soissons
and Compiegne.

AN ALLEGED GARIBALDIAN OUTRAGE.
The correspondent of the Daily News, writing from
Autun on the 15th November, remarks :—The plunder of
the Bishop's palace must as yet be reported with the
Scotch verdict " not proven." Thb story was told to me
in so hostile a manner by four individuals that I
determined to sift the affair to the bottom. Their
version of it was that " a band of Garibaldians,
headed by a captain—name, regiment, oven brigade
unknown—entered the private apartments of the bishop's
palace, entered even his bed-room, and, under pretence of
searching for a Prussian spy, ransacked the palace from
turret to foundation-stone, stealing the gold cross
worn on special occasions, and gold watches, forcing
the gardener to reveal where the silver was hidden, then
declaring that the cellar was full of arms, carrying
off the choicest wines and stores of provisions, and so mal-
treating one of the female domestics, that, in order to es-
cape from the ruffians she jumped out of one of the top
windows and broke her leg." On the 16th the same cor-
respondent says : —" What has yet been ascertained
concerning the affair is, that it was and is public
opinion in Autun that 3,000 muskets are hidden in
the bishop's palace. A captain of the guerillas
of Marseilles, with ten of his men, entered and
made a perquisition. lie is well known, and
answers for all his soldiers ; he swears that not a pin was
touched; that the fright and fall of the servant is an
invention, and that he is ready to answer for his conduct.
While the question was under debate as to whether it
was a case for court-martial, M. Venturini, President of
the Court—composed of four judges, Cavo and
Caniver (Italians), Paris and Colonne (Frenchmen)
receives a telegram from M. Gambetta, requesting him to
transmit all ecclesiastical questions direct to Tours, so
that the matter is taken entirely out of the hands of the
Garibaldian authorities, for which they are heartily grate-
ful, as the feelings between the clergy and the military
are so hostile that it is extremely difficult to judge justly.
Never, even in Italy, have I seen the priests so insolent,
so anti-patriotic."

PRINCE GORTSCHAKOFF'S REPLY TO
EARL GRANVILLE.
The Russian reply to Lord Granville's note has been
despatched from St. Petersburg, and is expected to
arrive in London to-morrow. From circumstances which
have reached our knowledge we believe that its tenour is
by no means unfriendly.—Telegraph..

A large quantity of gunpowder has been despatched to
the ships of the Channel Squadron at Portland during the
past few days.
The Serapis, 3, Indian service relief troop ship, em-
barkel on Monday at the Dockyard, Portsmouth, about
50 officers and 1,100 men of various corps for Alexandria.
THE TRUCK SYSTEM.--The London correspondent
of the Scutsnum says :—" I have reason to believe that the
report of the Truck Commissioners will not be ready
much before the opening, of Parliament. Of course,
' nothing is known of the contents of the report, but it is
not unfair to assume that it will give a death-blow to the
existing system,"