The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-24 00:00:00

THE SORTIE ON FRIDAY,

At Paris, says the Telegraph, no great activity has
been for several days shewn by either side, and the sortie
made on Friday last from Fort Mont Valerien was on a
comparatively small numerical scale, and conducted with
much inferior vigour. Twelve battalions sallied
in the direction of Versailles, a little to
their own right, on the side of Malmaison
and Bougival, near the southern end of the great
loop made by the Seine west of Paris. The attack was
covered by forty guns, principally of considerable calibre;
but after three hours' fighting, the French were repulsed
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The three hours' fighting are mentioned in the
King's telegram to the Queen ; but the ordinary
official account speaks about a " hasty retreat"
of the enemy, who gave the Germans time only to gather
up 100 prisoners and two guns—trophies for which they
paid very lightly. The two principal inferences from
the reports of this sortie ate : that General Trochu wished
to try in the field that artillery of which, a late
telegram informed us, the organisation by the
besieged had just been completed; and that the
arrival of the Mecklenburgers and other troops at first
engaged upon the sieges of the Northern fortresses has
enabled the Fourth Corps to be moved to its right, to the
south bank of the Seine, and so permitted a new,
distribution of troops on the south side to
be made, which fills up the places left vacant
by the First Bavarians and the portion of the
Eleventh Corps sent southward under Von der
Tann. According to letters from Paris received at
Tours, General Trochu lately demanded from each
battalion of National Guards a volunteer force of 150
men, for sorties and active service ; but this demand,
about ten per cent, of their total strength, has been
so much exceeded, that the willing offers for ser-
vice will number 100,000—or about thirty per
cent. The fact evidently shows that the spirit of at least
the armed population is good; but it must not be for-
gotten that as yet the besieged have had everything their
own way as to choosing the time, place, and plan of
actual fighting, and that even the martial temper
of the Guards may suffer if they have to
watch on the bastions under a pitiless storm of ball
and shell. It is reported on fair authority that Bismarck
and Von Moltke are not absolutely agreed as to the course
that should be pursued at Paris, the Chancellor being
opposed to a bombardment, the strategist insisting that in
many points of view it is the true policy. If the English
proposals for the armistice are accepted, however, it may
be that the cruel test which the Parisians are now
anxiously awaiting may after all be averted.

THE DEFENCE OF THE COUNTRY.—Mr. Charles
Forster, M.P., presided at a public dinner in Walsall, on
Thursday evening, and in proposing one of the toasts
referred to the subject of the defence of this country :
In his opinion, the policy to pursue was to treat the
nation in a spirit of confidence ; to put arms in the hands
of the people, and rely upon them for the defence of the
country in times of emergency. He thought that there
was at the present time less ground for panic in this
country than at any other time, inasmuch as the two
great military Powers of the Continent would, at the
close of the present war, be in such a state of exhaustion
that, even if they were inclined, they would be unable to
carry out any schemes of aggression that could affect this
country.