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

CONQUERORS AND CONQUERED.

The correspondent of the Manchester Examiner tell a
pleasant story of Prussian and French. He say—' I
have seer much of the conquerors, and I consider that on
the whole they behave wonderfully well to the conquered.
They pay for all they get, though it is true they would
get nothing, and would simply starve,, did they
not force the inhabitants to bring out their
goods, and part with them under compulsion ;
but this is often done at a profit to the owner.
Thus one landlord told me, very seriously, that he' had
been ecorche of 7,000 francs worth of wine ; but by degrees
I learned that he had been forced' to sell it for 2,000
thalers. On the morning of the 3rd a man begged me to
grant him my escort out of Sedan to his house in Balan. I
took him under my wing, and explained to him that he had
nothing to fear. On our way out of the town we met one
Prussian soldier, calmly smoking his pipe and leading a dog
which he had found on the road, and named Sedan. He
had put his arms aside, and purposed walking into the
town by himself to buy tobacco, for he had only very
little left. I pointed out to him that what he was doing
was rather foolhardy, as the place had not ac-
tually surrendered, and was full of excited French
soldiers ; that there were none of his comrades )within
a quarter of a mile of him ; and that were I
in his shoes I would not go in just yet, but wait until the
Germans had occupied the fortress. Why,' he replied,
' you do not mean to say they would hurt me without any
arms in my hand ? But I'll try it anyhow, as I want to
be the first man inside. I was nearly there yesterday, but
they pulled up the bridge too quickly.' While we were
thus talking some French soldiers came out of the gate,
and eyed him suspiciously; but, nothing daunted, he
went up and asked them for some tabac. They
failed to understand him, so I Acted as interpreter,
and we were then told that the French had
not 6,(1 had a smoke for three weeks, and that there
was not a bit of tobacko in the lace. ' Oh, then,' says
my German friend, I'm better off than you,' and pull-
ing out his pouch he divided the conte Its among his
enemies. This little incident led to much esticulation
and hand shaking, and in the height of his delight one
tall Frenchman took the little German's helmet and re-
placed it with his own casquette. After this merry
change of head-gear, Teuton and Gaul marched arm in
arm into the doomed fortress, the little dog Sddan meekly
following in their wake."

THE ATTACK ON MONDIEDY.
The correspondent of the Standcod, writing from Grand
Verneuil on the sth instant, says :—" The attack on
Montmedy took place this morning. I have followed for
several hours the movements of the besiegers, and after
the great battles I have witnessed during the last few
days this very secondary action looks to me as a play-
thing, or as a sham fight in ordinary volunteer exercise,
not that the Prussian batteries storming the northern
walls of the little fortress are to be despised—on the con-
trary, they are powerful, and seven in number, and I can
perceiVe six more in the rear, with a body of about 6,000
men close by. The fire is well directed, but cautiously,
the batteries being kept under cover by undu-
lating grounds, while the cannon of the fortress are
answered gamely, and have at different intervals com-
pelled the enemy to alter their plan of attack. The
Prussian shells are principally directed to the tops of the
houses, with evident intention to set fire to the place.
That object has already been partially obtained, but the
Montmedians, commanced by an old captain and their
sous-prefect, an ex-lieutenant of the Imperial navy, will
not surrender. Baron Larry is also within the walls. It
is now two o'clock ; the fire has ceased for the last half-
hour. The Prussian batteries having retreated out of
reach of the fortress, the soldiers are taking comfortably
some food and refreshments. To see the horses grazing A Belgian-journal states that the ex-Emperor himself
quietly around the encampment, the officers going about chose the Belgian route to Cassel, and himself addressed
amongst the crowd of soldiers, is a picture just as at the following telegram to King Leopold Obliged to
Wimbledon during the encampments. For me, with my traverse the Belgian territory,- ni going' as a prisoiier to
mind full yet of the horrible carnage of the last week's Cassel, I beg your Majest3i to authorise me' to 'pass,
battles, of the heroic struggles, of the Titanic efforts companied by a Prussian General officer.

The Rappel states that M. Tachard, deputy of the
Department of Bas-Rhin, has left Paris for London 0113
special mission.

A semi-official Berlin paper expresses the opinion that
the change of Government in France has removed all
ground for foreign intervention.
It is expected that the mail train which left Paris on
Thursday morning is the last which will be permitted to
leave the city.

The Figaro mentions a report that the Emperor in order
to save his crown offered to surrender Alsace and Lorraine,
half the fleet and four milliards.

The Patrie estimates at between 80,000 and 90,000 the
nuniber of killed, wounded, prisoners, and missing in the
French army since the beginning of the war, not includ-
ing the number who capitulated at Sedan.
The departure of the Princess Clotilda, (wife of Prince
Napoleon, and daughter of Victor Emanuel) gave rise to
a touching scene. Bet attendants were greatly moved.
The princess was always verypopular. She went to Lyons
en route for Italy.

Vice-Admiral Fourichon, the new Minister of Marine,
is the commander of the French squadron in the North
Sea. The dispatch announcing his appointment to, the
Provisional Government has been sent to him at Wil"
helmshhfen (Jande), which he has been blockading.
In the Prince Imperial's room at the Tuileries were a
number of little mimic soldiers cast in lead, which could
be manoeuvred by means of a winch or crank on a large
flat surface, while General Frossard, the military tutor of
the Child of France, taught him how fields were won—er
lost. The story is that Frossard was trying one day to
explain Waterho to his pupil, and, necessarily, towards
the end of the lesson he had to make the Old Guard
retreat. " Oh, no, no no !" cried the Prince, covering the
little leaden soldiers with his hands. " You must not do
that. French soldiers never retreat."
The Constitutionnel says that no one must mistake the
issue of the struggle that lies before the French ; its is net
only the national honour which is at stake, nor tile,
grandeur of the country which will suffer from the
definitive triumphs of the Pr ussians ; all private interests are
concerned in that of the public. The Prussians have
openly proclaimed that they will not be satisfied with
exacting a war contribution, however heavy ; they desire
to destroy the greatness of France, they wish to weaken
her to such a degree, by the dismemberment of her terri-
tory, that she may from henceforth remain at the mercY
of their exigencies. Shame and disgrace on those who
refuse to exert themselves to rescue their country from
such a ruin.