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

THE LUXEMBURG DIFFICULTY.

The Telegraph says : As if the war were not enough to
absorb all his energies, Count Bismarck appears to be
preparing another complicated problem for the considera-
tion of Europe. The list of troubles which 1870 has
brought would not have been complete if the year had
expired without A revival of the Luxemburg diffi-
culty. The very name of the Grand Duchy is so
associated with the idea of international complications
that we cannot be surprised if general uneasiness should
have been created by the report that Prussia had re-
opened the vexed question. For our own part, we
cannot credit the rumour of Count Bismarck's
having declared to the Government of the Netherlands
that Germany no longer holds herself bound by
the treaty of 1867. The Chancellor of the North
German Confederation is far too astute a states,.
man to place himself wilfully in the wrong ; and the
outcry occasioned throughout Europe by the Russian
attempt to repudiate Treaty obligations has afforded a
warning of which Count Bismarck is certain to take
heed. Yet, if the Germans should carry out
their purpose, and annex Alsace and Lorraine,
the Grand Duchy will be surrounded south 'as
well as east by the territory of the Fatherland.
The acquisition of Luxemburg would thus be of advan-
tage to Prussia, with the view of strengthening her hold
upon the annexed provinces ; and we should not be sur-
prised to be told, that Metz cannot be
held with safety unless the fortress of Luxemburg
forms one of the new chain of German strongholds.
By the Treaty of 1867, however, Prussia has pledged
herself to respect the neutrality of the Duchy ;
and, as she can no longer plead that there is any danger
of its being suddenly annexed by France, it is not easy
to see on what grounds any argument can be based for its
cession to Germany. No such demand has yet, we be-
lieve, been put forward ; but, judging by, our past ex-
perience, those querulous Prussian complaints of alleged
breaches of neutrality suggest difficulties which it may
require some tact to remove.

BABY FARMING IN THE METROPOLIS.-At the Ham-
mersmith Police•court, Charlotte Buchanan, a widow,
living in Blythe-lane, was charged before Mr. Dayman
with causing the death of an infant named Edith Reynolds.
The mother of the child gave evidence at the inquest.
She stated that she was the wife of a builder, residing at
York. Her husband was not the father of the child. It
had been out of her care since October. She had known
Mrs. Buchanan for many years, and paid her 55. a week
for nursing it. Another child belonging to her, two years
and three months old, had also been placed with the pri-
soner.—The accused said that the deceased had not good
health, and suffered from fits. She fed it on milk and Bath
cakes, but had great difficulty in getting it to take the
food. She was not accustomed to take in nurse-children.
—A surgeon stated that the cause of death was inanition,
arising, in his opinion, from deficiency of food. The con-
tents of the bowels contained only one tablespoonful of
fluid. Charlotte Buchanan, the daughter, said the child
was fed with milk from a bottle. She heard her mother
warming it in the night. They had three children to
take care of. The magistrate ordered the prisoner to be
conveyed to Newgate under the warrant of the coroner,
the jury having returned a verdict of "Manslaughter "
against her.