The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 13, 1870

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EVENING EDITION.

precincts of the Divorce Court had heard (from a
brother of the craft) who, in addition to the person-
age mentioned in the Echo, were likely to figure in
, the forthcoming sensational suit. The matter is not
traced further to its source; we are not informed who
told this news to the brother reporter, nor who told
the person who told the brother reporter, who told the
Sheffield 7elegraph reporter, who told the Sheffield
Telegraph sub-editor, who made use of the
intelligence. However, the Sheffield Telegraph
reporter departed from London and arrived
in Sheffield in the nick of time to catch the
telegram containing the Echo paragraph, and the
embellishment brought from the Divorce Court was
straightway added, and appeared in print.
Nothing could be worse. If this species
of publication could be practised with impunity,
all security for private character would be at an end.
Nevertheless it is hard to punish the editor of the
Sheffield Telegraph for an offence in which he
had no share. He was absent when the unlucky in-
discretion was committed ; and he afterwards exerted
himself to repair the mischief. The mere fact that
he is the editor and proprietor of a journal in which
the fruits of some other person's' recklessness happen
to appear without his knowledge, ought not to com-
promise him. The law by which all the faults of a
serial were heaped upon one person is obsolete
and unworthy of this age. As sentence has been post-
poned until Monday, it will be well if the high
personages concerned take care that Mr. LENG suffers
no serious infliction. Such a pushing of matters to
extremes would certainly appear malevolent. It is
impossible to stigmatise these calumnies too strongly;
but quite enough has been done to ensure great
future care on the part of the press, and this is all
that can be needed.

TOPICS OF TEE DAY.

THE BELGIAN CONVENTION.

Lord Shaftesbury does not share in the opinion
expressed by certain members of the House of Lords
with regard to the convention entered into between
this country and Prussia and France for securing the
preservation of the Treaty of 1839, by which the
autonomy of Belgium was guaranteed. Lord Shaftes-
bury thinks that the Treaty has re-affirmed the
covenants of 1839, and has thus. placed them in a
new aspect. In the next place the Treaty of 1839
was signed by the hand of an Orleanist Sovereign;
the present convention has received the assent of the
de facto ruler of France. Therefore the expressed
and written concurrence of two dynasties is a further
guarantee for the preservation of the agreement.
But beyond this, the mere momentary assurance
that the monstrous and wicked scheme expressed in

the project of the secret treaty will be deferred is
sufficient to make him thank her Majesty's Govern-
ment for the policy they have pursued.

RECRUITS FOR THE ARMY.

The number of men who are offering themselves
for enlistment is increasing daily. The places in
London in which the recruiting sergeants have taken
up their quarters are besieged by candidates, and
the streets in the neighbourhood are crowded by
men and youths anxious to don the red coat. The
majority of the recruits are composed of what may
be called town people, but there is also a fair sprink-
ling of agricultural labourers, fresh from a purer
atmosphere than has been enjoyed by the pale-faced
city denizen. While a respectable looking and well
dressed fellow is to be seen here and there, the
majority of the recruits seem to have been in the
last stage of do-nothingness, and not a few would
have been worthy of a place in Falstaftls regiment
when it marched through the country. The better
educated men are attracted to the Royal Engineers
owing to the inducements held out by that portion
of the service. In this corps the proportion of non-
commissioned officers• is greater than in the infantry
or cavalry, and these officers have also a chance of
obtaining clerkships in the War-Office, while trades-
men have additional pay. Altogether the army will
be easily augmented, and if this will lead to in-
creased imperial taxation, a decrease may be looked
for in the poor-rates.

m•dern artillery and the military engineering of our
fonfathers.

SANITARY STATE OF ARMIES.

The Lancet says that the world in general knows
Title about the sanitary condition of the belligerents
inthe Continental warfare. The various accounts
wlich reach us concerning the_ progress and events
of the war make it more than ever clear that
" physical energy in the soldier, lightness of field
equipment, and efficiency of. transport. are elements
essential to success." The physical training of the
so:dier and the preservation of the highest
state of physical energy of an army are
foremost points in military economy. The
world is full of the Prussian successes, and
it may be interesting to notice the report of Majpr
Bostock, published after the Bohemian campaign of
1866. In this he states that the Prussian army is
generally healthy. The soldiers' constitutions are not
undermined by colonial duty in tropical climates as
with us, and there is scarcely any drunkenness. The
Prussian infantry soldier uses an easy, well-adjusted
knapsack, and his limbs are not overburdened with
martial clothing. In the opinion of Prussian medical
officers and other competent judges, the Prussian
system of medical administration is good and
effective. In the French army, on the other hand,
the operations of the medical officers
are interfered with to an injurious extent,
and the existence of a system of intendance
has a prejudicial effect. The Lancet regrets the delay
which has taken place in sending out some of our
military surgeons to the belligerent armies because
we cannot afford to lose that experience which a
campaign alone can give. It is desirable to know the
working of the newly-organised military system of
Prussia. Then there is the question of the new arms and
projectiles in relation to the gravity of wounds to be
considered. It is also desirable to ascertain the
influence which railroad travelling may have on the
wounded in modifying treatment or deferring surgi-
cal operations; and besides these, there are many
questions of surgical or pathological interest.

and the post is held next in esteem to the Secretary-
ship of State. The names ofßancroft, Everett, Dallas,
and Adams, all stand high in their own country. Mr.
Motley, like Mr. Bancroft, is a distinguished historian,
and he has proved that the gifted man of letters can
also be the enlightened diplomatist and the dignified
and courtly representative of a great nation.