The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-14 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY.

BALMORAL, SEPT. 11..
The Queen, Princess Louise, and Princess Beatrice,
attended Divine service in the parish church, Crathie.
Lady Churchill and Colonel Ponsonby were in atten-
dance.

The Rev. Principal Tulloch, one of her Majesty's chap'
sins, officiated.

Principal Tulloch and the Rev. Dr. Taylor had the
honour of dining with the Queen and the Royal family.

THE BESIEGED FORTRESSES.

On the 11th the Prussians summoned the town of Soils'
sons. The commandant replied that he would rather
blow up the place, which spirited answer was
—we are told—approved of by the inhabitants.
Soissons is a regularly fortified town, and occupies an im-
portant strategic position as closing the main road from
Paris to Laon, the passage of the Aisne, and as being
situated at the junction of the Amiens and Rheims,
and the Paris and Laon Railways. It is also im-
portant with a view to ultimate operations front
the north on the Prussian communications. With
regard to Laon, it would appear that it was
the commandant of the citadel, and not the general in
command, who blew up the magazine after capitulation.
The King of Prussia attributes it distinctly to treachery,
and it is much to the credit of the Prussians that the city
was not immediately subjected to military executioxa
Fifty Prussians and three hundred of the Garde Mobile'
were killed, and many wounded ; among the latter
Duke Frederick of Mecklenburg Schwerin. Toul, so says
the Minister of the Interior, was assaulted by the Prus-
sians from five a.m. till nine p.m. All the assaults were
repulsed, and all the besiegers' batteries dismounted.
The loss of the Prussians was, according to the French,
10,000 men. We are inclined to doubt this
statement, for, besides our distrust of round.
numbers, we consider it unlikely that the besiegers
would have persevered long enough to lose so many men.
It is no doubt most important to the Prussians to gain
possession of the place, and we have seen that for great
objects they are willing to make great sacrifices;
but we suspect that the casualties did not amount
to more than a tenth of the numbers stated,
the rest being men in buckram. As to actual
sssaults being continued during sixteen hours we are
again inc redulous. We imagine that* the Prussians,
probably not exceedlng 20,000 men, opened a vigorous
artillery fire for some hours, and towards
the end of the afternoon endeavoured to can/.
the place by main force and failed, but that;
they left on the ground half their whole armr
is rather more than we are prepared to accept as a fact..
This much is, however, certain, that Toul holds out, andi
is not likely to be soon taken. Verdun also, we are in-
formed by the Minister of the Interior, though twice sum-
moned, still refuses to capitulate. On the Bth MontmedY
was again attacked, but without success. When will the
Prussians learn, that at sieges, as in travelling, a short
cut is often the longest road? A regular fortified
town, defended by staunch soldiers, commanded V' y
rasolute governor, cannot be taken like a fieldwork. The
fact is, the Prussians at first thought that an i,avest-
ment or the news of French reverses in th, e field
would induce the, governors of the fortry saes t°
surrender without any great delay, and thus sav e effusion
of blood. They have found that they were mis' taken, and
now, wanting both to secure their coramunicat Aons and to
strengthen the army marching on Paris, ;they try the
hazardous and wasteful expedient of an att ,ack by force.
The truth is that they have neither time to wait,
nor, in spite of all that has beer , said, troops
to spare. Vionville is imitating the os ther beleaguered
garrisons and still holds out, harassing f.,he besiegers with
frequent sorties. The statements aborit Metz are contra-
dictory. We have understood hitherto that Marshal
Bazaine was in great distress for provisions, but advices
from Vionville state that he is -mall provided with both
provisions and ammunition. We doubt there being any'
thing known at Vionville concerning Bazaine. —Stan-
dard.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—One shilling day, Tuesday,
September 13,1870.—Admissions by season tickets, 1,286;
ditto on payment, 3,200. Total visitors, 4,486.

THE HORSE GUARDS.—There is, we believe, no'
doubt that General Gambier will quit his post at the'
Horse Guards at the end of the present month. He wall
be succeeded by Colonel Middleton, R.A., whose place
will be filled by Colonel Shaw, R.A. It is not yet knowv
whether the new Deputy Adjutant-General will bear t/ je
title suggested byLord Northbrook's committee of "C' oief
of the Artillery Staff," or whether the old &stir ,atioa
will be retained. —Pall Mall Gazette,
LARGE BEQUESTS,—An advertisement s' ppears
in
an Irish paper announcing the bequests of IV crick Hard-
man, of Dunleer, county Louth, to the RAY
man Catholic
Church. He has left a reversion in 21,Ar
JOO to a Roman
Catholic orphanage ; £5OO for a meter
window in the
Catholic Chapel of Logher ; £BO5 flw a Free Burse
in
Maynooth College; £5O for th,k,iitcr
agation of the Faith
Society; £l,OOO to the C4el-`'e °.:lBt. Hallow's; £5O t 0
the Vincent de Paul Society
' for the Catholic Pea,
and Dumb ; £lOO fer the. p
roman Catholic Cathedral
for the soul, and various
of Armagh; £l2 for.
smaller donations klitty„ .riecloiti'als
,

CRYSTAL 'IAEA,
fireworks a uew CR.—For to-morrow's display °I
great l3ridge r' set-piece will be added to that of thea
very large r ~f Kehl. It will be a representation on
and wii) .scale of the tower of Strasbourg Cathedral,
Row. exceed in extent all former pyrotechnic devices.
-ni's opera " The Barber of Seville " will be plaYecl
. the afternoon, and afterwards the military band N 0".,,
play a selection of the French and German national song°
Inow so popular in the contending armies.

CACAOINE.—Cacoa nibs, on the removal of the oil, fag
into powder, and this powder is cacaoine. Cacioine contains
neither sugar nor any other admixture whatever. Cscloine makes
one of the lightest, thinnest of ,warm drinks, and is the most de
sirable of all for use in the later hours of the day. Cacaout" 1-1
reason of the ingeulous method by which the oil is removed, pre'
serves all the fine natural flavour of cacao nibf.—Prepared on
by James Epps and Co., Homcepathic Chemists, 112, Great RI
sell-street ; 170, Piccadilly ; and 48, Threadneedle-street ; at theme
Works for Dietetic Preparations, Eatston•roacl.—ADYT.