The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-03 00:00:00

THE sUS, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVEANING, AUGUST 3, 1870

OPERAS, THEATRES, AND AMUSEMENTS,

PRINCE OF WALES'S—A 7.30. Quite by Accident. M.P. Dearest
Mamma.

QUEEN'S—At Seven, Dify Wife's Dentist. "rwixt Axe and Crown.
VAUDEVILLE—Cupboard Love. Two RoSes. Don Carlos.

CHRISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Hall, Every. N ight, at 8 ; Wed-

nesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and 8 all the year round.
ZO LOGICAL GARDENS, Regent's-park. Open daily (except Sun-
days). Admission, Is. ; on Mondays, 6d. Children under
twelve, 6d.

MADAME TUSSAUD'S EXHIBITION, Baker-street, from 11 a.m. till
3 0 p m and from 7 till 10 p.m. Admission, Is.; extra

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE THIS DAY.
Morning.. ...... .. .. ..52 after 5 I Afternoon ...........24 after 6

Mr& 7 )
gl.:1311w1

EVENING EDITION.

Great Powers, deeming that England is
mainly interested in the independence of Belgium,
may say that with England must rest. the responpf-
bility of maintaining it. In that case we shall have
the grievously painful duty of deciding if we shall
abandon a brave little State to the devourer, or
undertake alone a duty which we had never contem-
plated performing except in concert with others.
The one course would be a bitter humiliation; the other
would involve heroic exertions and terrible sacrifices
such as England has not been called upon to make
since she faced a world in arms. We trust that we
should be found willing to accept the latter alterna-
tive. But we do not quarrel with the Ministers who
refrain from an announcement of their intentions
which may be premature, and possibly also injurious.
, While diplomacy is doing its work, while as we do
' not doubt, and as indeed, is positively stated, Lord
GRANVILLE is endeavouring to bring about an
alliance with Austria, Russiad and Italy, which shall
not only restore peace, but relieve Europe from the
serious dangers which threaten her, and which the
Secret Treaty has revealed, there should be no time
lost in preparing for the stern task that may be
before us. The supplementary estimate of
£2,000,000 is we fear but a small portion of the
total which this scandalous BISMARCK-BENEDETTI
intrigue will cost us. At first sight it appears a
wholly insufficient amount in the face of so grave a
crisis as the present. Mr. GLADSTONE partly
explained this by alleging that though
our existing force was costly in proportion to its
numbers it could be largely augmented at a compara-
tively small expense. We devoutly hope that this
representation will turn out well founded. But it
must be remembered that military matters are not
the PREMIER'S strong point, and that it is possible
he may be deceived. Mr. CARD WELL would seem to
be equally sanguine with his chief, but then he too
is a civilian, and has had less than two years' expe-
rience at the Foreign Office. On some points the
Government gave very satisfactory information, and.
disproved by figures the rather wild and alarming
statements that had been made with regard to our
inefficiency. .But we cannot get rid of the
fear that our Ministers take an altogether too
sanguine view of our military position. It is
one thing to have regiments on paper, it is
another to have them on parade, and we suspect that
some of those which Mr. CARDWELL now counts
upon would cut a sorry figure if called out for active
service to-morrow. There is another point on which
there ought to be no delay, the arming of our
forces with the most efficient weapons. Ac-
cording to the general belief of military
men we have in the MARTINI-HENRY rifle a weapon
superior to any other in the world. It cannot be
denied that the number of these in existence is
lamentably few. One other point. We have
hitherto supported the Government, in the main,
with regard to their reductions, though some
items have seemed to us unwise. We have espe-
cially approved the policy which has recalled our
troops and ships from the four quarters of the globe,
where they were not only useless for purposes of
defence, but often involved us in serious quarrels.
The good result of this policy is conspicuous now.
But the times are not what they were. Europe
is in flames. It is only too likely that the
conflagration may reach us. For this contingency
we ought to be prepared. These are not the piping
times of peace we thought them. A shameful and
dangerous conspiracy has been on foot threatening
our honour and the integrity of an ally we aro bound to
protect. This altered state of things must be recog-
nised; for it we must be prepared, even though
in doing so we should add millions to the burdens
which the people of this country have to bear.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

has had distinction thrust upon him in spite of him-
self. His position is an unfortunate one, but at the
i4ame time so ludicrous that he is sure to be laughed
fat instql,',of being pitied. Monsieur, Wittersheim,
the printer and publisher of the ofilcial Journal of
Paris, is a Prussian by birth, and has returned to his
'native country in consequence of the war,
but . there he has • met with a most
clhirlish welcome. His adopted land re-
fuse's to keep him, and the land of his birth will
not allow him to remain within its confines., Unfor-
tunate Monsieur Wittersheim ! what with German
suspicion and French ingratitude, he has enough to
put up with, and is made to pay dearly for the
war. The best thing for him to do will be to
betake himself to some neutral country, and await
the termination of the strife in the results of which
he can take but little interest, for he must be inclined
to say to the rulers at Paris and Berlin, in the words
of Mercutio,—" A plague on both your houses."

" the last combination." "I had a, portmanteau on
Sunday, but I left it at Chftlons-sur-Mune. .I had
shirts on Thursday, bait I have qongig,ned them to
the care of Nancy: ' Alas! he .hath' nothing ! '
quoth Dame Quickly 4 BardOlp.h. lam Bardolph.
I have nothing, save those trifles I told you of, and
a comb in my waistcoat pocket, and the key of all the
streets of all the cities of Lorraine." The worst of
all this is that the same thing appears day after day,
with most dreadful iteration. Because a corres-
pondent is in the neighbourhood of Nancy, why
should the nation be treated to an unlimited supply of
a worn-out comic song. One might as well spend
the next six months in admiring the Nevski
Perspekt.