The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-17 00:00:00

MITRAILLEUSES FOR VOLUNTEERS,

A letter, of which the following is a copy, has been ad
dressed to her liktriestes Secretarrof State for War :

" Nazing, Waltham Abbey, August 11.
"Right Hon. Sir,—As the French and Prussian armies
are Well supplied with the new formidable engine of war
—the mitrailluur—whieh mows down whole companies
at a range of a mile arid half, is it prudent that there
should not be one at the present time in possession of the
British army ? As a volunteer and yeoman who has served
four Sovereigns of this realm for a continuation of up-
wards of 50 years (since January 1, 1819), but now retired
from active service, I beg to say that if you, as her
Majesty's Secretary of State for War, will supply me with
a battery or demi-battery of these engiaes I will, with
thd aid of a young relative of the late Lord'Combermere
and Sir Willoughby Cotton—both general officers who
have served their eotintry fully and faithfully—now resi-
dent in this neighbourhood, engage to raise a body of
volunteers able and willing to work them in the service
of her Majesty and the country.—l have the honour to
be, &c., " GEORGE PALMER, Lieut.-Colonel."

Mr. Serjeant Peter Burke has been compelled to
retire from practice in consequence of ill health.

Galignani says that a part of the French fleet has
entered the port of Kiel, but this wants confirmation.
A. telegram from Tarifa says that an English
squadron, composed of six ironclads and one transport
vessel, has entered the Mediterranean Sea,
The Christian Times has changed hands. There
will be foland apong its new contributors the Rev. New-
man Hall, the Bishop of :Derry, the Rev. George Gilfillan,
Mrs. Newton Crosland, Sid.
FRENCH FINANCE AND THE WAIL—The new
system tried by the French Treasury of raising funds for
war purposes by Treasury Bonds does not appear to have
beett tneegssful. Not half the amount required has been
subscribed.

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THE BELGIANS, THE IRON TRADE, AND THE WAR.
—The Belgian iron trade being expected to prove some-
what depressed, in consequence of the war, the Belgian
Minister of Public Works has consented to give out an
order for fifteen thousand tons of rails for the Belgian
State railways. The order may possibly be increased to
fifty thousand tons.
The taste for street demonstrations in Dublin
in increasing daily. Bands parade the streets every night,
followed by large crowds, generally carrying green boughs.
These scenes are prolonged to a late hour. On Monday
night bands played till near ons o'clock. The " Marseil-
laise " and " O'Donnell Aboo" tunes are those most in
favour. _ _

The volunteer demonstration on Saturday, which
was intended to be on an extensive scale, has, at the in-
stance of the War Office, been reduced in its proportions
to the muster of volunteers connected with the City of
London, who will parade and escort the Elcho Challenge
Shield, and the International Enfield Trophy, from West-
minster Hall, and hand them over to the custody of the
Lord Mayor for the year.
THE VOLUNTEERS AS MARKSMEN. After
inspecting the volunteers at Rochdale, Colonel Maydwell
addressed theta oil the future drill of volunteers, which
he said would be that of the light infantry. He added
that the volunteers were far superior to the line in firing,
and that in any engagement into which they might be
called they would be looked upon as the marksmen of
England. He hoped to .see the volunteers armed with the
Snider rifle before long, and then the drill would be con-
ducted in simgle ranks, and not in double ranks, as at
present.
A HUNDRED roLD.—Mr. James Lye, the gar-
dener of the lion, Mrs. Hay, Gliffe Hall, Market
I Lavington, Devizes, obtained from the Messrs. Sutton
and Sons 31bs. of the American " Early Rose " potatoes,
r 17 in number, which he divided into 93 sets, planting
them 2ft. apart each way. Last week (the first in August)
the potatoes were quite ripe, the haulm having gone off a
nice colour. He dug them, and had the extraordinary
produce of 3cwt. (3361 b.) of potatoes, nearly the whole of
them being good marketable potatoes, and some of them
of great size, and as a table potato not to be surpassed in
quality.
THE MURDER OF A BROKER IN AMERICA.—The recent
murder of Mr. Nathan, the stockbroker, continues to
exciet the greatest interest in New York. When the last
mail left there was no clue to the murderer, but suspicion
had begun to be excited that the murderer was one of the
inmates of the house. On the night of the murder, the
street-door was found opened from the inside after being
closed by one of the sons, the iron `• dog " a ship car-
penter's tool, with which the murder had been committed
had been brought in from the stable, where it was lying,
as if the criminal had observed it before and had it ready
for use. Other circumstances tend to. confirm this sus-
picion, and it has even been suggested that the murderer
will be found on Change or in Wall-street.
A young gentleman, who is said to be wanted in
London, Chard, and elsewhere, has been largely swindling
people in North Devon. He took a house of the clergy-
man of a parish near Barnstaple, and made himself so
attractive that the tradesmen of the neighbourhood vied
with each other in supplying him with goods. Under
these circumstances he soon got his house handsomely
furnished, and lived in great style with his mother until
the rent day, when his inability to pay excited suspicion.
A sudden check being put to his credit, the gentleman
had a sale of the goods, but the creditors, for the most
part, only heard of it after the bulk of the goods was dis-
posed of, and many of them had to repurchase their own
property, the proceeds of the sale being claimed by the
mother under a bill of sale.

THE DUBLIN ELECTION.—Mr. Butt, Q.C., attended
a meeting of the supporters of Captain King Harman on.
Saturday night. and made a speech in support of that can-
didate. The burthen of his harangue was that they should
not return Sir Dominic Corrigan, because he sneered at
Irish nationality, sneered at the amnesty for the poli-
tical prisoners, and above all, because he was a
" Whig nominee." There were symptoms of an intention
to disturb the proceedings, but early in the course of his
speech Mr. Butt said if any one dared to disturb the
meeting by physical force, let them take him by the neck
and fling him into the street, and if they were prosecuted
for it he (Mr. Butt) would hold them safe. This appeared
to have the desired effect, and Mr. Butt was allowed to
proceed without interruption.
RECRIIITING.—At the opening of the Chatham
police-court on Monday, Mr. Guise, the sitting magistrate,
was occupied some time in swearing in a number of
recruits, who had enlisted during the previous two days,
while numbers are daily sworn in before the magis-
trates at their private residences. The 39th Regi-
mental depot has alone received upwards of
100 recruits since recruiting was open for that
corps, while the Royal Engineers and the battalion of
Royal Marines Light Infantry at Chatham have each
received an unusually large number of recruits, many of
whom are non-commissioned officers and men who were
discharged from the Royal Marines on the reductions
which were made in that corps during the past year. A
Norwich correspondent telegraphs :—Recruiting has been
actively resumed in the eastern district since the war
began.

AN ENGLISH CLERGYMAN ARRESTED AS A SPY.
—A Birmingham clergyman gives an account of an ad-
venture which befel him a day or two ago in the neigh-
bourhood of Fontainebleau. He says : " I was tempted
to visit Monterau, a small town about eleven miles
distant, where the ' last and not the least' of
Napoleon's victories was obtained over the allied
armies on the 18th of February, 1814. While reconnoi-
tring the place with my son, who had with him a small
net for catching butterflies, we were accosted by a
rough-looking fellow, who, most abruptly, inquired
what our business was at Montereau, saying to him-
self, sotto voce, that it looked rather suspicious. We
turned from him, but were immediately followed by
others, equally as ill-looldng, and then the thought
at once entered my mind that they took us for
Prussian spies, which, alas, proved to be true, for we
had not proceeded many steps when we were gently
tapped on the shoulder by a gendarme, and requested to
follow him. We did so, and soon found ourselves prisoners
in a miserable and antiquated conciergerie. My son was
taken from me by one of the guards, and I was ordered by
the commissionaire to undress in the presence of several
gendarmes. My pockets were searched, and every article
most minutely scrutinised. I was then requested to write
my name, address, and what other particulars concerning
myself I might think necessary. This I did, and told the
august functionary, if he doubted the truth of the state-
ment made, to telegraph to Fontainbleau that it might be
verified. Instead of this, I was kept for an hour and a
half, being questioned and cross-questioned in the most ridi-
culous manner. In the meantime the people assembled by
hundreds, yelling and shouting in the most fiendish man-
no-. However, 'spite of protestations, and complaint
of the indignity to which I had been subject, a voiture
was announced as having arrived, and, under an escort
we were ordered to proceed to Fontainbleau, and appear
before the Commissioner of Police, who, if satisfied of
our identity, would give the order for release. Thus
were we prisoners for full five hours, and then were told
it was fortunate we had escaped so well, as the police had
that day received orders to imprison, without making any
inquiry, any foreigner found without a passport, no matter
who or what he might be.

PRICE
STAMPED 2d

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE_

STOCIIOI4 MEETING.—THis DAY.
HORSES ARRIVED.

Agility, Annie Stuart, Aurora, Alhambra, Badinage,
Blucher, Cateress, Caradoe, Canon, Dtinhoe, East Coast,
Enterprise, Falkland, Frou Frou, Good Hope, Hesperus,
Kinglike, Lord John, Lady Langden, Leoville, Lord
Hawthorndale, Lady Di, La Risle, Lady Temple, Mans-
field, Madlle. de Mailloc, Maraquita, Morphia Prior,
Ruffian, Star and Garter, Saratoga, Snowflake, Simplon,
Scottish Rose_j Sauntering Alma, Sister to the Wizard.
Expected : King of the Forest, Symmetry c, and several
of Lord Zetland's and Mr, Vaughan's.
ADDITIONAL ARRlVALS.—Symmetry colt, King of .the
Forest, The Sea, Produce, and Promptress.

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