The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-16 00:00:00

THE MILITARY POSITION IN FRANCE.

Serious news may be expected hour by hour from the
armies concentrated just north of the Loire, and from
Paris too. D'Aurelles de Paladino's force is within easy
reach of Von der Tann's, which it has already beaten,
and General Trochu is known to be contemplating a
sortie on a grand scale. He probably never
have so good a chance again. The .German army round
Paris has lately been weakened by the withdrawal of a
large number of men to support the Bavarian. The
whole investing fOrce cannot muster two hundred thou-
sand. If Trochu cannot defeat some portion of this army
stretched along a line I hirty-five miles in extent, his hope
of defending the capital must be slight. Equally strong are the
reasons why D'Aurelles de Paladine should advance. He is
supposed to be in great force, much superior to the 60,000
or 70,000 Germans now opposed to him, and his troops
are encouraged by a successful engagement. If he does
not fight at once, it will be because he is less strong than
has always been represented. He has at present a clear
field. He need be in no fear for the moment of Prince
Frederick Charles coming up, for the latter cannot arrive
on the scene within a few days.

A despatch from Heligoland of the 7th instant says
that the French fleet had captured six German vessels.
The censorship at St. Petersburg has forbidden the sale
of caricatures and ;writings which are personally offensive
to Napoleon 111.
M. Ducasse, colonel commandant of the first class of
the town of Strasburg, has been appointed, by a decree
dated the 7th instant, to the rank of general of brigade,
exeptionally and for his excellent conduct during the siege
of Strasburg.
General Bourbaki has published the following order of
the day :—" The General of Division and Superior Com.
mandant of the region of the North is happy to make
known to the troops that the Franc-tireurs have stopped a
Prussian train on the railway from Mdzibres to Bethel.
This hold act has cost the enemy 466 men."
A military execution took place at Gournay the other
day. Some ladies applied for mercy to M. Gambetta,
but ho did not think it advisable to acoede to their re•
quest. The man had been sentenced to death for mutinous
conduct ; when drunk he had shouted " Vivo la Prune!"

A German correspondent notices the fresh and pros-
perous appearance of the region round Dijon and Belfort,
which has not yet been visited by large bodies of troops.
Provisions arc plentiful, especially wino. The inhabitants
aro civil and obliging, but complain of the war, yearn for
peace, and denounce the Emperor who began and the
Parisians who are continuing the struggle.
Much has been said about the wretched condition of the
French prisoners when captured. Beaten men, however,
never look well, no matter of what nation they may be.
The Bavarians captured near Orleans were in a deplorable
plight, many of them without knapsacks and with but shreds
of uniforms. Some were mere lads, and excited the pity
of the Tours women.

The Emperor Napoleon has lately written to the King
of Prussia, thanking him for complying with his wish that
the captured Marshals from Metz should be interned near
him at Cassel. lie likewise requested that the Imperial
Guard might be located in his immediate neighbourhood.
NVhether (says a correspondent of tho Cologne Gazelle) ho
reckons, like Napoleon 1., on returning to Paris at the
head of his groguard. , I will not decide.

A monster French gun 'is lying at the Vaise railway
station. It is above twenty-one feet long, and the
internal diameter of the breach is eleven inches. In size
and range it far transcends the famous Josephine of St.
Ouentin and the celebrated Krupp gun at Jande, and it had
been intended to have it mounted in Fort Val4rien, but
the rapid investment of Paris prevented that design from
being carried out.

Tho Preeurseur d' A avers says :—" According to an offi-
cial despatch received at Bremen, the French fleet hay

arrived in the North Sea with troops for disembarkation.
However, there is no agreement as to their number. If it
be true that there are land troops on board, there ebonies
be a number of transports with the fleet. An attack
upon the coasts would be possible, notwithstanding the
difficulties that exist. To-day at noon a smart cannonade
was heard at Neuwerk, and a portion of our fleet put to
sea. All the signals of the Lower Weser have been re'
moved."
The manufacture of cartridges for rifled guns is Pre'
ceeding with animation at Havre, where 20,000 are Pre'
duced daily. The work will not be slackened until *
million are ready for use.
It rarely happens now-a-days that an army chaplain i 4
either killed or wounded. Pastor Schwabe, of the 22nd
Prussian division, is an exception to this rule. He waaf
struck through the head with a bullet in the streets
Chateaudun, whilst tending the soldiers wounded in tbst
desperate fight.
At Strasburg tbere has been some commotion hl
consequence of the discovery of a factory in the city or
ployed in fitting out Francs-tireurs. A German come"
spondent declares that it is proved that 280 have been
sent out of the place fully equipped. Several citizens had
been sent before a court-martial in consequence, and it Wee
fully expected they would be shot.
All the inhabitants of St. Cloud have been brought to
Versailles on account of the discovery being made that
they made signs to the fort at Val6rien by mean* °)
blinds, shutters, and curtains. So successfully did they
contrive these signals that no sooner did a German officer
enter a particular house than the building became the
centre of attraction for obuses and other projectiles of the
large cannons of the fort.
The Siecle states that a woman.of suspicious appears'le:
was arrested at Couches by the National Guard.
Prussian passport for London was found upon her, whf'"
gave her special permission to go and to return. She
taarehande de toilette at Paris, and was carrying to the
Times an account of the interview between Thiers and the
Prussian authorities. She acknowledges having received
200 francs for the voyage.
At Havre the news of the successful arrival of the
Silesia at Hamburg, on the 7th inst., caused a good deal
of surprise. The Journal du Havre says --" We canlot
too strongly call the vigilance of our cruisers in the Chan'
nel, and particularly those of the Pas de Calais, to such
rich prizes as such vessels present. It is important
that the exploits of our marine shall not be confined,
to the capture of some unfortunate sailing -reagent
secondary importance."

A wounded soldier recently passed through Berlin who
excited general attention, being a woman. She Is 24 yell°
of age, was carefully educated, but always shewed a Pre'
ference for masculine dress and activity. She passed the
ensign's examination, and, with good recommendation*
entered the army under the name of Weiss. She distill;
guished herself by the recovery of a Prussian stander°
taken by the enemy, and was presented with the iron
cross. She has received four shot wounds, and for recover,
has gone home to Tilsit.
Gambetta is aggrieved that because the local antis,'
rities in various districts do not sufficiently proclaim the
Bulletin de la Republique. He therefore issues an order to
the effect that on every Sunday, and, if possible, severe'
times in the course of the week, it will be the compulsorY
duty of the teachers of each commune to read to the in-
habitants assembled in the school-houses the principle
articles in the Bulletin. The teachers are to instruct the
people as to their political and social rights, and to demon-
strate that the Republic alone can ensure the future great-
ness of France. The badness of the Empire must be
similarly exposed.
A private correspondent of the Manchester Examinert
writing from Tours Nov. 7th, says :—Worse than the
continuance of war is, I fear, to be dreaded here--that
is, civil.war and frightful excesses. People are driven to
madness by the disgrace of their aims, the extortions
and brutalities of the Germans, and the baseness
of their Government ; and they are without
capable military leaders or anything like Govern'
ment. Should, however, a capable man appear
to lead their armies, Prussia will, before many month*
be driven to the wall, and England will be fortunate
if she escapes all consequences. I may be mistaken in
my opinions, but they are dispassionately and disin-
terestedly formed. This nation, believe me, is at this
moment a dangerous constituent of European systems.
The cattle plague has not been so fatal of late in
Germany, bnt the typhus is threatening in the east, and
the least imprudence can extend it to the centre and the
west. Prussia has closed her frontiers on the Polish and
Russian sides, but those of Silesia and Bohemia have
equally interdicted the cattle of Gallacia. At the end Of
October there was no good news from that country. Since
the new governor of Alsace has introduced the
German customs, the disease has moderated in in-
tensity on the left bank of the Rhine. In the
one department of Bas Rhin, 24 communes have been
infected with this plague. The horses at Saarbruck have
been afflicted with glanders, and the Prussian Govern-
ment have taken precautions against this disease, which
is dangerous alike for men and horses. An inspection
takes place, after which the infected animals are ,
destroyed, and those persons who have been near them
are subjected to quarantine and disinfecting processes.
BONAPARTIST CONFERENCES AT WILIIELMSIIOLIK.
—Writing from Cassel on the 12th November, the cones'
pondent of the Daily News says :—During the last fort-
night Wilhelmshohe has probably been the scene of more
than one Bonapartist Council. The fall of Metz, having
been brought about before that of Paris, against Louie
Napoleon's expectation, has necessarily altered
the Bonapartist projects. The Empress Eugenie
in consequence was summoned first, and arrived
before Bazaine and the other generals taken pri-
soners at Metz. Some came and went with great privaeh
even avoiding the station at Wilhelmshohe, bt't pro-
bably alighting here at Cassel, sheltered from observo-
tion by a veil. I happened to meet her on her return
at Hanover last Wednesday, while entering the
Union Hotel. Bazaine, Lebceuf, Canrobert, Murat
the elder, Fourton, Frossard, &c., are still here,
and it appears that Bazaine will soon leave for Ai%
la Chapelle, to meet his wife there, who cannot bear
much travelling, whilst somewhat later Lebceuf will go to
Bonn, and Canrobert to Stuttgardt. Hitherto they were
all staying at the Hotel du Nord here, at which I
am writing, but some of them have already taken
lodgings nearer Wilhelmshohe, and it is said that a
still greater number of French generals will soon
arrive, in fact successively all that are now prisoners 10
Germany. As they must have the consent of the Prue-
Sian Government to all their movements, it is evident
that Count Bismarck has nothing to say against the ea-
Emperor being surrounded with a regular staff. The
French Republicans ought to reflect about this, and
not quite forget that besides this staff, there is a
French army in Germany, now numbering not less than
350,000 men. I can tell them that the French officer*
without exception, with whom we converse here, are not
their friends. As for the private soldiers, they are
politically mere children, whose opinion is:of no import'
ance whatsoever. Those who know how to treat then)
will have them. They are now worked upon here and
there, as the report goes in Germany, by agents of
the Orleans family, which is, however, only possible whsle
they are separated from their officers ; for among these
latter the Orleans family has no sympathisers. At pre-
sent they confine themselves to stating it as their convic-
tion that order must be restored in France with a strong
hand. The insults on the part of the people to
which the prisoners from Metz were exposed, particularly
on their passage through Nancy, have infuriated them,
and they now almost wish further success to the Gerinals
arms. It is a very sad impression we.get concerning the
'
near future of France, when we contrast the behaviour
of the French army here and of the French people
there.

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