The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-29 00:00:00

IEIE.. LQNDQIN;; ,

24th, at one o'clock, the displaced rails on
the Luxemburg-Thionville line,. French side, were
replaced, and the accumulated provisions-410u; rice,
coffee, and sugar—loaded in sixty waggons of ten
tons eaoh, and drawn by two locomotives,. were
sent from Bettembourg into Thionville sta-.
tion, where the French garrison received them
on Sunday morning. The German troops,
lying south and west of Thionville, obtained
knowledge of the matter, and made an attack on
the station, endeavourin; to destroy the goods, or
at least prevent their unloading, by cannonade. In
this attempt they were unsuccessful, as the station,
lying on the west side of Thionville, was protected
by the guns of the battery at Malgrange. The
whole affair was managed by the French Eastern
Rail Way Company, who own the line in
question. They had induced the Luxem-
burg douaniers to discontinue the night-
guard at Bettembourg, the frontier station, by re-
presenting that the broken condition of the
railroad made the precaution superfluous. The
Customs authorities are making a report on the
matter, which may cause the expulsion of the French
railway officials. On Sunday the Germans re-ex-
tended their lines, which had been contracted, thus
again blockading Thionville.
Yesterday the Belgian Chamber of Deputies re-
solved that the entire frontier be absolutely
closed against all quadrupeds and vehicles, and
all merchandise, which can possibly introduce
the cattle plague infection. Troops ale to be quar-
tered in all frontier villages, with instructions to
cause all rural travellers to be disinfected by
fumigation before passing inward; not even am-
bulance trains to be allowed to return. The recent
rumours about Bazaine's offer to capitulate are
entirely without foundation. Bazaine had informed
the Government in Paris that the Emperor had
placed him at his post, and that he should hold it to
the last.—Daily News Telegram.

THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON AT
WILHELMSHOHE.
WILHELMSHOHE, WEDNESDAY EVENING.
The rumour of Count Palikao being or baying
been here is unfounded.
Napoleon rode on horseback this afternoon.—
Times Telegram.

MARSHAL AP-MAHON.
WIESBADEN, SEPT. 28.
Marshal MacMahon, accompanied by his wife,
arrived here to-day at noon.

Government that -as the-4new constitution of Ger-
many may not. -be in perfect harmony ,with the
treaty•of Prague, it would be well in arranging this
matter with Austrfa,
_after the war is over, to make
it Austria..' i ;nte'leit to give the German Bund her
full sympathy.
The Breslauer Zeitung, and other journals, speak
strongly in favour of an alliance between the Ger-
man Bund and Austria as the best security for peace.

• It is positively hirdentsble ,to see men -of the highest
position and intelligence, men influenced by the mostin-
terise feelings of patriotism, who 'have "sacrificed their'
properties and are prepared to 'sacrifice their lives for the
good or supposed good of their country, kept even still
in utter ignorance of facts which were known and
published by you weeks agc in England. It will be
considered hardly credible, but it is nevertheless positively
true, that this very day I have seen such men eagerly de-
vouring the text of General de Winapffen's final address
to the army concerning the capitulation. The address
is, of course, in French ; but it certainly
bears the impress of having been re-translated
from English, and the probability is that it has finallly
reached the inhabitants of those regions through
your columns or those of some of your contem-
poraries. Indeed, the better classes all over these
districts complain most bitterly that they receive
their first news through the English newspapers,
and, with a feeling most unaccountable, on the
part of persons of penetration and general intelli-
gence, they seem to look on this rather as a cause of
offence than as a reason for gratitude. If it be true that
nations are immortal—though we have known some in-
stances of their being annihilated—it follows that this
nation will continue to exist in some form or otter after
the war, and it may be assumed that the next quarter of
a century will be occupied mainly in the reorganisation.
Let us at least hope that, after the reconstruction of the
army, the navy, and the hundred thousand minor de-
partments which constitute France, some one will think
of reorganising the press, which more than any other
has shewn itself to be below the mark. It is hardly
too much to say that had there been no press at all in
these provinces, and nothing but thd Government de-1
ptchts to spread intelligence, the people could not have
.been more imperfectly informed. A press which lags
behind so far as _to allow all kinds of vague
rumours to precede it when grave events are
passing is almost utterly useless ; but what shall be said
of a press which has shown itself to be wanting in fair-
ness, firmness, and all the qualities which in England
are justly considered the special attributes of journalism ?
The educated portion of the community here say that
their press has been carried away by every idle rumour,
and more especially by every worthless evidence
of so-called popular feeling, "misjudging everything
which has passed before their very eyes, and mistaking
even the feeblest and most fleeting passions of the crowd
for the strong, enduring opinion of all classes.
My informants, who are, and always have been,
firm Republicans at heart, and who do not hesitate
to state that the downfall of the Empire is a matter
for congratulation, say openly that they deplore
the tone of their press concerning the Emperor
and Empress. According to these local papers,
all that the Emperor has done for France is
forgotten, and in his hour of trial there is no pity,
no word of sympathy for him. The mob of Paris are
made to say that, if they could only get hold of the Em-
press they would drag her through the streets until she
was dead—the poor Empress, who, when her people wcre
snffering from cholera, thought nothing of imperilling her
life to give them consolation.—Correspondent of the Tele-
graph at Havre.