The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-20 00:00:00

AU RHIN !

More preparations. The troops are leaving Paris
, rapidly, and all through the country the leading naval
and military stations resound with the labours of war.
The Camp of Chalons was broken up on Saturday, and
the troops there have gone to their respective posts. At
Cherbourg there is grande activite in the port and its sur-
roundings ; the latest report stated that the ironclads had
their steam up, and that everything was getting ready for a
start. We are assured that the squadron will set off for
the Baltic at a very early date. At Paris volunteers are
enrolling themselves with great rapidity—according to the
official journals, 10,000 have already joined the standard.
Those who have served before will, of course, immediately
take their place in their respective arms, and the rank
they may have occupied in the army will be taken into
account. The marshals and officers are rapidly going to
the front. Bazaine, with his surrounding of officers, has
already started. M`Mahon is to follow ; and soon the
Emperor himself will leave. It has been said that General
Changarnier had so far forgotten the coup d'etat as to ask
for a command in the army of the Rhine.
This statement, it appears, was true. A letter from the
veteran general, in the Slick, says that he begged General
Le Bceuf to give him a command, and his request was
greeted with the most demonstrative expressions of sym-
pathy, but definitely declined. All the troops of the line
have left Paris. The Zouaves have yet to follow, but
they will go off, it is said, this evening. The
Imperial Guard awaits orders. More inte-
resting than these details would be information
respecting the general plan of the campaign, but of this
very little is disclosed, and that little is scarcely certain.
If, for example, the neat programme, which appears in
the Liberte be officially agreed upon, it is in truth not at
all certain that it will be carried out. The lively
paper late in the possession of M. Emile de
Girardin, gives the following as the correct card of the
campaign :—" Make a rapid advance in Hesse, in order to
neutralise the South German States, occupy and fortify
Frankfort, sweep the Prussian territory on the left bank
of the Rhine, then enter Westphalia, and, being supported
by Hanover and Denmark, drive the Prussians beyond
the Elbe, and subsequently, as after the battle of Fried-
land, reconstruct the German Confederation, to the exclu-
sion of Austria and Prussia." To strike at Hesse
with the view of dividing Prussia from South
Germany seems decidedly the preferable course,
and the one which is most likely to be adopted, but it has
hazards of its own, and it is by no means sure that it will
lead to all the fine results which the First Napoleon se-
cured to himself. The arrangements of the corps d'armec
are pretty much as were given yesterday. The number of
corps d'armee will be eight—the commanders as already
named. Of these seven will form the line of battle, and
the eighth, under General Bourbaki, will form the re-
serve, composed of the Imperial Guard. The Corps of
Marshal Canrobert will take the position on the extreme left
nearest to Belgium. The Emperor will have his head.
quarters at Nancy, whither, as it seems definitely deter-
mined, the Prince Imperial will accompany him as a
member of the staff.

METZ, SUNDAY.

Great confusion has prevailed here yesterday and to-
day. It was feared that the Prussians would make an
attack, as they were reported to be already at Sierck, dis-
tant twelve miles from this place. It was afterwards stated
that such was not the case, though they occupied the line
from Tr?ves to Saarbruck, and might at any moment cross
the frontier. Those of the regiment which belonged to
the garrison here have departed, but all hold themselves
in readiness to receive orders. The troops from
the camp at Chalons are momentarily expected,
together with three divisions from Paris. The town is
admirably provided with every species of stores and am-
munition. It contains the largest powder magazine in
Europe, and its warlike appointments are most complete.
Metz is the Woolwich of France, and contains military
appurtenances for an army of three hundred thousand
men.

CHALONS, SUNDAY.

All communication with the camp at Chalons by means
of the railway has been stopped for ordinary travellers,
and the trains are filled up with troops. The soldiers con-
duct themselves with great steadiness, and take their
places with regularity without waiting for orders. Their
baggage is made as light as possible, and its contents are
confined to strict necessities. Both officers and men
seem to feel the greatest confidence in the chassepOt.
Some of the officers express their belief that it is the best
of all the breechloikling arms now in gene's,' use except
the Snider, which is not a widely spread weapon. The
Chassepot, say they, is very easily worked, and does not
get out of order. There is only one part of the weapon which
is liable to rapid deterioration, and the soldiers have
the means of remedying this themselves. As to the heat
produced by the fire it is not a serious danger. About
fifty charges are required to produce any ill effect in that
direction ; and the Prussians, at all events, are no better
off themselves. There is no news of military operations
but the period of panic has already set in. There was
some talk to-day of an incursion into French territory
near Sierck ;no such thing ever happened—at all events,
if it did, it was confined to a raid of some half-dozen re-
connoitering soldiers.

TOULON, SUNDAY.

Here all re-echoes with the sound of war. Several
vessels have been detained for the purpose of fetching
troops from Algeria. A considerable number of vessels
are fitting out for active service ; and a vast number of
sailors raised in all the maritime ports are flocking into
this town. The come in trainfuls, and swarm all
over the place, dressed, equipped, ready for
to tread the deck and man their guns. One detachment
of transports has just left for Algiers, not for the purpose
of bringing troops, but in order to get horses. Thousands
are collected on the opposite shore of the Medierranean,
and will
.be brought rapidly over in order to complete the
equipment of the cavalry.

THE -RISING- Of GERMANY.
BERLIN, SUNDAY.

If the French are disposed to doubt the unanimity of
the German nation in resisting their attack, the perusal
of the public journals all over the country, and the
manifestations of national enthusiasm everywhere
to be seen, will sufficiently undeceive them.
It is obvious enough from all the outward and visible
signs by which the public opinion of a country is to be
judged, that the South Germans will recognise the neces-
sity of fulfilling the treaty concluded in 1866. It is
equally obvious that the anti-Prussian feeling in Austria
has much diminished, and that at least very little moral
support of France will be given. A few extracts will
suffice to show the way the current runs. Of the leading
German paper, the Cologne Gazette, it is needless to say
anything. It is thoroughly Prussian, and is published on
Prussian territory. But the most vehement appeals it
makes day after day to the German people to combat for