The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-19 00:00:00

TO M. PIETRL

You dare, Monsieur, to state that your sire has not so
much as a centime invested in foreign funds. Now, I shall
demonstrate to you, by figures, that either you speak in
ignorance, or you conceal the truth. The position I filled
in Paris enables me to speak with certainty of the finances
of L. N. Bonaparte, and I am very sure that his treasurer,
M. Thelin—a very honest man, by the way—will not
contradict me. Here is a list of investments abroad (in
francs) which I know to have been made by the ex-
Emperor :

In 1854.—With Baring Brothers, of London... 4,000,000
„ 1855.—Victoria Bank
„ 1856.—With Kindlet and Co., of Vienna 3,000,000
„ 1860.—With J. B. Jecker, of Mexico
„ 1863.—1 n the Tunis Loan 3,000,000
„ 1864.—1 n the Ottoman Loan
„ 1866.—At New York, on mortgage by
Brown Brothers
„ 1867. —ln the Russian Loan, by Funder
and Co., and Paz, banker at St
Petersbutr 3,000,000
„ 1869.—The Empress purchased an estate
in her own name, at Santander, through
Don Trupita
„ 1870.—The Empress purc„ha,sed another
estate, at Alcoy, near Alicant 2,000,000
~ „ Placed with Berg von Dressen, at
Amsterdam, for investment

3,000,000

Total 63,000,000

It is for you, Monsieur, to say how much your master
ever placed in the French funds. For my own part, I
only know of one investment in the Rente made by him,
and that was for the benefit of a " little lady" whose
name I shall not mention.—Receive, &c.,
Oct. 1, 1870.

MAX POL.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SIEGE OF

AMIENS.

According to the correspondent of the Daily News, the
Prussians will meet with a determined resistance when
they attack Amiens. Writing from the city on the 16th
October, he says :—" This city is destined from day to
day, almost from hour to hour, to become the theatre of a
severe struggle. Not only the department, but those
adjoining, are coalescing to make a strong pull, a long
pull, and a pull altogether, to shew how far an "open
town" can resist the victorious march of the Germans.
Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, Arras, and even Lille, hold re-
inforcements ready to succour the capital of Picardy. The
vast majority is in favour of a vigorous resistance. The
National Guard drills double time, and is in an excellent

fighting mood. The men are serious and resolved, and
fully cognisant of the superior advantages possessed by
the invader, in arms, discipline, and the 41an resulting
from uncheckered success. The Mobiles are the beat
I have yet seen—are rapidly passing from conscripts
into soldiers—display the effects of assiduous train-

ing and, the power derived from organisation
and mechanical obedience. There are also plenty
3 of regulars, who are strangers to the events from Woerth
to Sedan, who
_are aware the army has to regain the con-
fidence of the nation. As to the plan of defence, it is
known only at head-quarters. If I may hazard an opinion
a battle will be accepted some miles outside the city,
disputing the advance up to the redoubts and
barricades, where tobacco-box rifles can await till
the foe comes within range, and a struggle ensues,
corps ck corps, with pikes and revolvers. More
terrible engines of destruction are not wanting, and the
fate of Amiens will have a powerful influence on defences
' elsewhere. No four Uhlans ' will be allowed to gallop
in, ddjeuner, and gallop away. The attacking force must
be more than respectable. Every member of the National
Guard has a revolver, and, I believe, knows how to
handle it. The unenrolled citizens will do barricade
duty also ; the members of the principal club in
the town have requested the Corporation to be
placed in a post of danger, and their position has been
assigned. I find no boasting among the inhabitants.
They appear to be fully impressed with the defeats the
country has suffered, and the calamity now at their
doors. But they are nevertheless determined to do
their best to shake the great affliction off.' It will
not do, they say, to allow Prussia to ride rough-shod
over the country. If our country is worth living
in, it is worth dying for.' Of course, when a piece
of good news arrives, the Sursuns corda is pronounced,
faces become bright, and wavering (if it exists) vanishes.
A sortie from Paris, if obstinately fought, though unsuc-
cessful in its aim, points to a good time coming. It indi-
cates that the Gaul is beginning to remember his historic
smashing blows.' There are a groat many inhabi-
tants from the surrounding country coming into Amiens
for shelter. Some bring a large selection from their
penates, but the majority display the evidence of a mug-

turn in parvo of valuables. It is only the poor who remain
in all cases to represent the.timid and the cautious. There
is no lack of conscripts, and volunteers are numerous,
from all classes and conditions of men. They brush rapidlY
.s• I through the streets, without noise ; there is no patriotic,
• singing ; indeed, a bar from the Marseillaise
would strike the ear now as a surprise. After receiving
their way bill, the loaf of military bread, some insigai'l
of their order, they depart as quietly as they came--
where to, is best known at the Ministry of War. Bet
that strong contributions have been steadily going south-
wards for some time is beyond doubt."

Two or three Marseilles papers are calling for a dictator
ship to save and establish the Republic.
One body of Freeshooters, nearly 1,000 strong, ventured
as far as Corbel. There they had a skirmish with a
Landwahr battalion and fell back.
Late intelligence from Paris states that through the
efforts of M. Rochefort, the affair of M. Flourens appear
to be at an end. A letter of M. Flourens says that be
never had the intention of marching on the Hotel de
Ville. The prosecution against • him has been abark
Boned.
The Liberte says that, by way of reprisal on account of
the publication of the secret papers of the Emperor found
at Paris, the Bonapartists threaten on their side to publish
documents which will comprise members of the old 0913°'
sition parties. Quite right, too, if there are any document°
of the kind.
The Germans before Paris treat the Freeshooters w th
great respect. All sorts of great feats are attributed to
them. When King William rode down a day or two
since to inspect the ground before Mont-Valerien, hi°
escort had a man wounded in the leg by a random 1;1114
from the French outposts. Rumour would have it that
Freeshooter in ambush had done the deed.
The German system of punishing the innocent for the
offences of the guilty goes on triumphantly. A village
near Rainbouillet, where a squadron of Prussian Hussara
was recently surprised at night, was burnt on the 9th by
order of the Duke of Mecklenburg.
The stories of the doings of the Papal Zouaves at the
battle of Orleans are diverse. One writer says that feit
were killed. Another declares that only sixteen out of
three hundred returned alive. All agree that they fought
with the utmost bravery.
A correspondent of the Cologne Gazette says " The pea
Bantry even, to say nothing of the towns, wash their
hands of Bonapartism. Napoleon and his family have
nothing more to expect from the present generation in
France. The troubled sea of public opinion insists on
having its victim, and this victim is at present Napoleon
111. and the Empire."
The German official paper at Nancy states that, in eon'
sequence of an attack by Francs-Tireurs at Flavigny and
Vezelize, on gendarmes, two of whom were wounded and
six captured, the populations, whose complicity was nu'
equivocal, have been fined £1,200 and £4,000. The
mayors and municipal councillors have been seized as
hostages. The houses whence the attack proceeded have
been burnt.
The Gardes Mobiles of the Basses-Pyr6n6es, the extreme
southerly department of France, are being organised.
They are fine men, and displayed remarkable enthusiasm'
They came down from their mountains with flags flying.
and uttering the ear-piercing cries which none but Basque,
chests can send out, singing their favourite songs and
dancing.
On the 11th the garrison of Montmedy, as reported
by telegraph, surprised the German force occupying
Stenay. The latter was very small, but the enterprise
was well conducted on the part of the French. Favoured
by a thick fog, 500 men left Montmedy at one in the
morning, surprised the German outposts, got into the
town, and seized the garrison before it had time to make
any resistance.
A military correspondent of the Vienna Presse gives a
very unfavourable report respecting the health of the
German army. " I can assure you that the sanitary con•
dition of the G erman army is very bad, and is becoming
daily more and more deplorable, and I have had ample
proofs of this at the different places where I was obliged
to halt on account of the passage of the military convols.
There is a tremendous amount of dysentery and typhus
amongst the men, and an enormous number of them have
succumbed to fatigue, and are suffering most acutely fr 0122
rheumatism."

New excesses are reported from Lyons, where " the
revolutionary party have robbed the pupils of the great
seminary, broken the statues, and are hindering the men
from working on the fortifications." This " working on
the fortifications " is a phrase which needs qualification.
About three thousand men have been employed on the
task ; but they belong to the party which is master of the
town, and they work or smoke their pipes just as they
please. Whoever may have prevented them from work-
ing, if anybody did so, has not inflicted any great injury
upon the town.
At the battle of Chevilly a soldier of the 42nd Regi-
ment distinguished himself by the correctness of hi,: aim.
Each of his shots took effect and killed an enemy. All
at once a shell exploded near him, and injured his hands
in a frightful manner. His right hand was taken off, and
three fingers torn from the left one. Though mutilated he
stepped from the ranks, and with the utmost sangfroid
asked permission from his captain to retire, as if he were
making the request in the ordinary manner. This soldier
was made corporal the day before the battle, and had pre-
viously furnished proofs of his courage and self-denial.
He was on board the Abbattucci when the vessel was
shipwrecked, and was able to save the lives of a great
many passengers.
The Times correspondent at Lyons writes :—" The
French nation is profoundly penetrated with tho con-
viction that it is only by a new form of Government,

_ .
either Republican or under a new dynasty, that it call
realise those political aspirations which it has so long
and so vainly cherished. It is determined not
_

again to be duped by the man who betrayed its liberties
eighteen years ago, and it prefers rather to risk
the possibility of outrages on the part of Socialists than of
another coup d'etat. If it must choose between
demagogue like our Lyonese agitator Saigne, of horribly
suggestive name, and the Emperor, it will choose Saigne.
Many years have elapsed since it tried Saigne, and he may
have got tolerably tame since then; besides, it may hope
somehow or other to muzzle him, but it knows exactly
what the dynasty is."
IMPERIAL PREPARATIONS FOR A CAMPAIGN.--
Prior to his departure for the campaign the Emperor
Napoleon manifested the greatest anxiety to give direc-
tions for his private establishment and his table. Some
notes have been published with respect to the duties of
the aides-de-camp and the officers of the ordnance,
which will figure strangely in the history of the
time. Among other rules, it was said that every day
there must be two tables spread, whether in the bivouac
or at the halting places, in order that the Emperor might
make as many invitations as he pleased. Most elaborate
details were entered into respecting the various arrangements
and the different degrees of service suitable for the Emperor
and the Adjutant-General, who was to preside at the second
table. Each service was to consist of a maitre d'hotel, cooks,
and other assistants. The service of the valets-de-chambre of

the Emperor was to be carried in the waggons belonging
to his Majesty, but a different service was instituted for

the valets-de-chambre of the aides-de-camp and officers.
Tho baggage of the Emperor was to be escorted by a
brigadier and six gendarmes of the squadron of the guard.
The baggage-waggons were to be always under the direc-

tion of the courier of the Emperor.
[ ADVERTISEMENT. I—Holloway's Ointment and Pills.—
Pimples, carbuncles, &c., are always vexatious complaints,
sometimes even attended with danger. These maladies
arise from some obstruction to the free circulation of the
blood through the blood vessels or capillaries ; and the
only mode of rational cure consists in removing the local
impediment at the same time that any impurity engen-
dered by the stoppage should be filtered from the blood.
Holloway's Ointment applied to the part effect the former,
his Pills accomplish the latter object. The inflamed skin
derives softness, coolness, and ease from the application
of this unguent which gradually penetrates to the affected

tissues, soon restores the circulation and its channels to
a healthy condition, and saves the sufferer from most
serious diseases.