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

NEWS FROM THE DIAMOND FIELDS.

The diamond discoveries on the Orange Vaal River
(according to news by the last mail) con'inued progress-
ing and large numbers of persons were flocking to the
diamond fields. About 7,000 diggers were at work
there, and there was a prospect of a town springing
up on the river. Some more very large gems
had been found. The Colonial Gcvernment had
interfered in the dispute about the ownership of the
diamond fields. The Freestate and Transvaal Republics
were cautioned against encroaching on the terri-
tories of the native allies of the colony. British magis-
trates were to be appointed pending other arrangements.
The native chiefs of Waterboer, to whom the
whole country originally belonged, had denied having
sold the part in dispute, and there was every probability
of the whole of the diamond-fields becoming British. The
chiefs were desirous of giving up their claim on the ground
as they were quite unable to maintain a suitable govern-
ment. Some of the colonial towns were being depopu-
lated to an inconvenient extent by the exodus to the
diamond fields.
The Graaf Reinet Herald publishes some statements
made by Mr. T. E. Colling, who has been at the diamond-
fields for two months. In about eight days Mr. Hond
had paid nearly £30,000 for diamonds. The original
kopje had so far proved to be the richest • and it was
stated by the diggers that at least £lOO,OOO worth had
been taken from it. Mr. Hond, however, believes the
value to be much more. Mr. Coiling believes that a
majority of the diamonds found at the Pniel station are
registered. He himself had seen 60 diamonds registered in
one day.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mrs. Lowe
have left town on a visit to the Right Hon. G. J. and
Mrs. Goschen, at Seacox-heath, Hurst-green.

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales and family are expected to leave town on or
about the Sth of the ensuing month for Sandringham.
A. statement is current that an eminent London
publisher has offered £lO,OOO for the exclusive right, for
ten years, of publishing . the revised version of the Bible
now in progress.

It is stated that the Bishop of Winchester has
consented to become patron of all those branches of the
British and Foreign Bible Society in his diocese where
Bishop Sumner occupied the same office.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Hon.
Mary Emma Pitt to be one of her Majesty's Maids of
Honour in Ordinary, in the room of Lady Florence
Catherine Seymour, resigned.—Gazette.

Au Elinburgh correspondent states that there has
been an increase of fever lately in that city. Scarlet
fever lingers in the crowded parts of the city; but fever
of the relapsing type has been more frequently met with.

The decrease of barometrical pressure on Satur-
day has extended to all our coasts, and readings are
now rather lirwer than they were, except at the south-east
stations, where they have recovered. Temperature has
risen except at Valencia from 11 degrees to 13
degrees in the North of Scotland. It is now very uniform
between 50 degrees and 53 degrees. The wind has freshened
somewhat in the west, but light to moderate breezes from
between south and west are now prevalent throughout
the British Isles. Rain has fallen except in the south and
south-east, rather heavily at Pembroke and Greencastle.
The sky is very cloudy. The sea is moderate in the
south and west, and nearly calm elsewhere. Lrums
lowered in Ireland.
A FANCY COSTUME.—An Adelaide paper gives
the following description of a dress worn by the mayoress
of that city at a fancy ball given in the town-hall of Mel-
bourne :---` The costume was composed of all the golden
hues of a southern clime in cashmeres, from an original
design by Mr. Tolley, of Palmer and Tolley. The under-
skirt of white cashmere was enriched with a broad
band of scarlet and gold. The tunic of sapphire
blue cashmere, denticulated at the bottom trimmed
at spaces with amber velvet and bordered with black, on
which were embroidered in gold the names of the princi-
pal mines of South Australia—Barossa across the front,
its chief gold field ; Moonta on the next compartment,
and Almanda towards the back, ,
representingsilver.
Oii tchoepprlgrlit side was a broad plait of black
velvet, enriched at the foot with a gold embroidery,
above which was emblazoned the arms of the city
of Adelaide. The corsage was composed of
amber velvet, finished round the top with a band
of the same material in black, on which were embroidered
in gold at the back, ' Commerce,' and on the front, ' Ad-
vance, Australia,' fastened with a filagree copper brooch
encircled with pearls, the ear-drops corresponding. On
the left breast was the Southern Cross in blue velvet,
embossed with silver stars, the waist being encircled
in a black velvet belt, richly embroidered in gold,
and fastened on the left side with the royal arms.
On the neck was worn a costly neglig4e of gold, with
pendants of malachite, alternating with Adelaide tokens.
Around this charming toilette was a graceful drapery of
scarlet cashmere, falling in rich folds under the left arm,
and fastened on the right shoulder with golden olives,
the drapery surrounded by wool of the colony, above
which was a band of gold lace, and on the left shoulder a
sheaf of Siberian wheat tied with red, white, and
blue. The headdress was composed of a mag-
nificent wreath of grapes, oranges, and blossoms,
pomegranates, myrtle, olive, and sprays of copper, and
bees representing honey, all emblematic of the products
of the country. The centre was surmounted by the city
arms, and from the back depended a flowing veil of golden
tulle. To complete this costume a golden staff was carried
in the hand, with a sheaf of natural wheat to crown it,
tied with the red, white, and blue ; below which was a
collection of fruit and flowers corresponding with the
- head-dress, finishing about half-way down with prize
wheat of the province."

was signed, Lord Derby -explitined the guarantee to
Luxembourg, and made out that it meant very little if
anything. But no man of business would commit for-
tune to difficult and dubious engagements like this, and
no nation should commit its honour. There is an ugly
dilemma as to them, Either they mean much, and then
they are impel-twit contracts, which may bring us
into trouble hereafter; or they mean nothing, and then
no one will ask for them, and they won't be given.
The fact of our being asked for a guarantee, and of a
great European peace being made upon it, would prove
that the guarantee so given was most important, and that
it would impose on us serious duties, if not involv a us in
grave duties hereafter. It io said that no evils have
arisen now, but, on the contrary, great blessings—that
we have not been involved in war by our guarantees of
Belgium and Luxembourg, and that in consequence of it
those countries, which must otherwise have shared this
war, have all through it been as happy and
calm as England. Why, it is said, should a
guarantee given to Alsace and Lorraine be more
hurtful? and why is it not equally beneficial? But
you might as well argue that the safety•valve of an
engine might be closed up, because the rest of the engine
had no holes. The reason why Belgium and Luxemburg
have not now been disturbed is that the combatant nations
had Alsace and Lorraine to fight in. If you guarantee
them too, a slip of "guaranteed" territory will run
between France and Germany all the way from the sea
to Switzerland, which is itself guaranteed, or " neutra-
lised." Between the two nations now fighting there will
be a belt of charmed land for the future ; and they cannot
fight without crossing it. But who can doubt that one or

the other would cross it some time, and then one of OP r
guarantees—no matter which—must be performed by thk
guarantor?

THE FRENCH PLAN OF DEFBNCE.

The Spectator believes the Government of France,
shortly after the Revolution, devised a distinct plan of
operations. Swayed mainly by Trochu, who is a regular
soldier, by Gambetta, who appreciates military facts,
and, as we suspect, by Rochefort, who, it seems clear, in
spite of his history, has that cool sense which sometimes
belongs to the aristocratic Reds, and some military skill,
they decided on a definite plan of operations from which
they have not yet swerved. This plan was to provision
and defend Paris, which General Trochu, with Todle-
ben's opinion before him, knew to be very strong, and
drill its population into an army fit to take the field.
Meanwhile, an outside Government, to be formed out of
the Committee of Defence, was to organise armies in the
North, in the Loire. valley, and in the South, with
Lyons for centre. To make these armies of
any use, however, it was necessary to equip them? and
this was and is the difficulty of the Republicans.
To ask men to face modern artillery with rifles only is
like asking them to face thunderbolts with brickbats; no
private persons possess any, and the manufacture of guns,
shells, and gun carriages in a hurry and without the
regular appliances, is an enormous undertaking. A
fighting army wants thousands of shells a day.
It was, however, necessary to manufacture them,
and to teach gunners ; and for all these purposes it
was indispensable to gain time, and to abstain whenever
possible from fighting. This plan, which seems to us stri-
kingly reasonable, has been carried out in Paris with „,e-reat
M
determination, General Trochu, as he writes to the ayor
of Paris on the 15th inst., refusing to waste strength in
sorties—which without artillery must be fruitless—and
devoting himself to the multiplication of field-pieces.
How he is doing this we cannot tell, but we entertain a
shrewd suspicion that as Paris is a depot of bronze, and
has a whole population of bronze-founders, besides several
iron foundries like that of Cail and Co., at La Villette,
the General is restlessly casting the " Indian "
bronze nine-pounder, with a shell which bursts
on impact, instead of a shell with a fuse, and
that he begins to see land in his manufacture.
He has two things against him—the possible exhaustion
of his supplies of food, about which he knows everything
and nobody else anything ; and the extreme difficulty of
improvising gunners. However, there must be a great
many old artillerymen in Paris; be has 15,000 sailors who
can work the fort guns, he has all the omnibus horses,
and his plan is, on the whole like all he does,—sensible,
I
definite, and business-like. le may be totally defeated ;
but he may also fight a battle which would raise the siege
and secure a moderately just peace. The external Govern-
ment has been pressed by the same or even greater diffi-
culties, the incessant retreats depressing the spirits of the
men ; but it is . clear that Gambetta adheres to the
plan, and that it has been accepted by the Generals.
The conscription, which fell due this week, has produced
in all unoccupied departments a full draft of strong lads,
and time being granted, and some reasonable amount of
luck—whatever luck may be—it is by no means impos-
sible that Baron von Moltke, who has formally warned
Germany of the " excessive difficulty" of the problem of
taking Paris, though he despises the irregular levies now
being collected, may have very severe work to do, work
which will incline him to moderation.

The Premier and Earl Granville still remain in
town.

The Speaker will issue his writ for the Colchester
election on Thursday next.

The Dublin police have seized a Snider rifle, two
revolvers, a bayonet, a battle-axe, two bullet moulds, and
a quantity of Fenian literature in the house of a labourer,
named Monson, residing in Wood-street. Monson and his
son were arrested.

Mr. Henry Jeffreys Bushby, barrister-at-law, of
the Home Circuit, and Recorder of Colchester, has been
appointed a police magistrate for the metropolitln dis-
trict, and will fill the vacant seat at the Worship-street
Police Court.
The Archdeacon of Taunton, writing on the 20th
from East Brent, says :—" I am recovering from my late
very heavy relapse, but am absolutely interdicted from
doing anything or thinking about any manner of business
for the six months to come."

Three hundred mule spinners have struck work at
Heywood because the masters refused to give an advance
of five per cent., which was promised twelve months ago
if trade revived, a reduction to that amount being then
made. Five mills are thus stopped, and eleven are
affected by the strike.

A member of the Dublin [rish Ambulance Corps
has sent home from Havre an account of the doings of
that body. The man himself was presented with the
badge of honour on the first day, and on the second was
made sergeant-major, having charge of the. whole division.
His pay is five francs a day.
The Broad Arrow demands a plain answer to the
following question :—ls it or is it not true that the stores
at Portsmouth are insufficient for the fitting out for
active service of even the smallest squadron, and that a
ruinous delay would be the consequences of any imme-
diate necessity arising for such a supply?"

Master W. F. Pollock, who has succeeded to the
baronetcy on the death of the late Chief Baron Sir F.
Pollock, attended on Friday, at the Judges' Chambers as
Vacation Master of the Court of Exchequer, and disposed
of a number of summonses. The learned gentlemen has
adopted the title of " Sir F. Pollock."
The death is announced of the Countess of Eg-
mont at the age of seventy-five. She was the daughter of
Mr. John Hornby, of Hook House, Hampshire, and was
married to the Earl of Egmont (who was formerly M.P.
for West Surrey from 1837 to 1840) in 1819.
THE MARRIAGE OF THE DIKE OF CAMRRIDGE.—
A contemporary says-- Parallel with the marriage of
Princess Louise with a subject, is the question of recog-
nising the marriage of the Duke of Cambridge. A
correspondent has already suggested that, after the
precedent about to be set in the case of the approaching
royal marriage, there can be no reasonable objection
to urge against the retrospective acknowledgment
of this union. If legal hindrances exist, there is a fine
opportunity for the country to 'shew its good taste and its
goodwill towards an estimable lady, by as speedily as
possible removing them. Thus the marriage of our Prin-
cess and the Marquis of Lorne will really appear the
inauguration of a principle rather than a mere solitary
exception to an established rule.

VAUDEVILLE THEATRE, STRAND.-
Lessees—Messrs. H. J. Montague, D. James, and T. Thorne.
THIS EVENING, at 7, CHISELLING. Mr. David James.
After which, at 8, the Comedy, in Three Acts, entitled TWO
ROSES, by James Albery. To conclude with the successful
Burlesque, DON CARLOS ; or, The Infante in Arms. Supported
by Messrs. H. J. Montague, H. Irving, G. Honey, W. H.
Stephens, C. Garthorne, and T. Thorne ; Mesdames' Nelly Power,
Amy Fawsitt, T. Lavis, and A. Newton.

MA DAME TUSS WYS EXHIBITION,
BAKER STREET.

Oil view Portrait Models of the Emperor Napoleon 111., the
Empress Eugenie, and Prince Imperial ; King William of
Frussia, and Count von Bismarck. Admission, Is.; Children
.rider 10 years of age, 6d. Napoleon Rooms 641. extra. Open
um 10 a.m. till 10 p.m.