The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-06 00:00:00

PARIS:

Mons. D. Fonvielle, editor of La Liberty, and brother
of Ulric de Fonvielle, whose name was prominent in the
Pierre Bonaparte affair, lectured on Saturday night in
London on the present condition of Paris. He escaped
from the beleaguered city in a balloon, and proposes .to
risk a return journey by the same means. His
verbal descriptions of the condition of the inhabi-
tants were assisted by a number of sketches. To
accommodate the French and English elements of
the meeting, the lecturer spoke in both languages.
M. de Fonvielle, in the course of his observations, said :
Paris was the first town of its magnitude which in our
times had been invested by a hostile force. To find a com-
parison, we must go back to the beginning of the
mediaeval period, when Mahomet 11. invaded Con-
stantinople. 'There was a singular relation between the
two events, inasmuch as both Mahomet 11. and King
William of Prussia placed great reliance upon a big
gun; but as in the first instance the gun burst, so
in that . respect did he believe that William
would not be more formidable than his barbaric prede-
cessor. Speaking of Paris more particularly, he remarked
—When the Republic was proclaimed, the followers of
the Empire fled away like the owl when the sun
rises. They took their money in their pockets, and
some of it found its way into the Bank of England.
Paris had no arms, no soldiers—nothing. She had
no generals, no powder, no guns. What had they to do?
They had to create everything out of nothing. While
England, a brave nation, had Aldershot and sham fights,
the French in Paris were obliged to take untrained men
and teach them warfare by real fights. These men came
fresh from their homes to disperse the German hordes.
The fall of Metz occasioned the victory of Paris.
Though there was a wide difference between those two
towns, there was a wider difference between their
rulers. Who was Marshal Bazaine? He was the
butcher of the Republic ; he had been the butcher of
Mexicc. 'Who was Trochu ? An honest and straightforward
man. "Vive Trochu !" He hoped he should be
able to convey to the General the fact that an audience in
England had cried " Vive Trochu 1" King William was
called a friend of humanity, and on that account would
not shell Paris ; but he could not. His big guns could
not reach the city because of the resistance of the brave
gunners at the forts. But if ho could not shell them he
said he would famish them. His humanity wanted to
starve them to death. Upon his word of honour he (M. de
Fonvielle) would like better to be shelled than to be re-
duced to starvation. The common cry at Paris was stilt
"No surrender." They did not want an armistice ; they
did not want anything but to sweep the enemy from their
land as with a broom.

r`TEW STEAMSIHP LINE FROM CANADA.—A corres-
pondent at Ottawa says :—A scheme is on foot for the
establishment of a second Canadian Ocean Steamship
Line, to traverse the Atlantic, which, if carried out, will
materially aid Canadian commelce. The 'proprietors of
the present Ocean Steamship Line propose to equip a
fleet of seven steamers, of 2,000 tons each, which
are to run each way weekly between St. John's
Newfoundland, the British West Indies, and Liver-
pool, pursuing some such route as the following:—
Leave Liverpool for Newfoundland, thence to Hali-
fax, where the steamer would coal, thence to a
United States port to receive Canada mails for the
West Indies, then to • Bermuda, St. Thomas, and Deme-
rara ; from Demerara the return voyage would begin,
calling, as before, at St. Thomas, Bermuda, at the United
States port to land mails and passengers, at Halifax to
coal, and thence via Newfoundland to Liverpool. The
value of such a service to the commerce of the West
Indies with Canada and Great Britain it is difficult to
overestimate. The Canadian trade with the Antilles is
as yet limited, and there is no reason why Canadian goods
should not be used there quite as' well as those from
Britain, we in return receiving direct, cocoa, coffee. arrow-
root, hides, &e., in addition to the sugar and molasses
—which two latter articles alone we as yet import from
them.

THE LATE LIEUTENANT COLONEL PE3IBERTON.—
The obsequies of this gentleman and soldier, who, in the
discharge of active duty in connection with the press, was
killed at the battle of Sedan, took place on Saturday, at
Harston, about eight miles from Cambridge, on the Lon-
don- road. At Newton, the immediately adjoining parish
to Harston, Major Pemberton, the father of deceased, has
a seat, and the church of Harston is only just without the
demesne. The melancholy cortege issued from the hall in
its progress to the church on foot. It comprised Major
and Mrs. Pemberton, Mr. Arthur Pemberton, Mrs.
Hughes, Major F. Campbell, Mr. R. Campbell, Mr. H.
W. Pemberton, General Malcolm, Captain Stracey,
Captain Hartopp, Colonel White, Lieutenant-Colonel
Wale, Mr. Day (Caius College, Cambridge), Mr.
William Hurrell (Harston), Mr. Clement Francis, the'
Rev. Thomas Percy Hudson, the Hon. Spencer Dudley
Montague, and the Rev. J. W. Clarke, of Trinity College,
Cambridge. In close proximity to the precincts of the
church the procession was met by the Venerable Canon
Selwyn and the Rev. F. J. Durbin. On entrance into the
church, the funeral service was read by the Rev. Canon
Selwyn, and the body was then deposited in a new vault
on the south side of the tower. The following is the in-
scription on the coffin :—" Christopher Peach Pemberton,
captain and lieutenant-colonel in the Scots Fusilier Guards,
killed at the battle of Sedan in France, on the Ist S
tember, 1870, whilst advancing with the -Prussian army as
military correspondent, aged 32." The greatest respect
was displayed in the neighbourhood towards the memory
of the deceased gentleman.