The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-06 00:00:00

'GRAPHICAL L,TAGT 4 7

G 5.

shops are closed, and even the cafes have everything pre•
pared for a sudden closing. The National Guards, as
they walk, carry their muskets with the butts in the air,
as a sign that they are in harmony with the
people. The hopeless fall of the Napoleonic dynasty
from its high estate is a very evident fact. The busts of
the Emperor were pulled down In all directions, and the
Portraits of the Emperor and Empress in the Hotel de
Ville ball rooms were thrown out of the window and
trampled upon. Many persons, however, express mutt
sympathy with the Empress. As might be supposed
one of the first consequences of the new order of
things has been the release of Rochefort from
St. Pelagie. He 'is no longer the hero of the hour, but
was nevertheless escorted by an immense crowd and
carried on a triumphal car. " The Rochfort cried
many, but the cry of the hour is " Vive la Republique

c but G W 3 .54,

actuated by a spirit of mutual.forheafaliet they will make
the country incur great risks. In the sincere desire to
serve the interests of France the Chamber has given its
support to men whom at other times it would have
denounced and dismissed. The Ministry should respect
tht) wishes of the Chamber, and by this means it will
increase its own power and authority.

the army, broken, dispersed, and demoralised, capitulated
to the Prussians.
A.- special
,correspondent, writing from Bouillon on
Saturday night, says on Tuesday a contest took place
at Beaumont with two regiments of the sth corps of De
Failly, just as the latter were about to take dinner.
The French troops were exterminated. This success
allowed the Prussians to advance in the direction of Ba-
zeille and Carignan, where M`Mahon was to meet them on
Wednesday, fighting the whole of the day, with a result
which has been interpreted as a victory on both sides. It
is certain, at all events, that there was no defeat of the
French on that day, that the Prussians suffered much
more heavy losses, and that MacMahon retired in the
most perfect order, and with 'lle other view than to bring
himself under 'the protection of Sedan and M67,l6res,
both of_Which Offered to him shelter and protection. It
was. -undoubtedly •an enorinons. -mistake to allow
himself 'to be placed so near neutral territdry;
but it remains to be seen how .far he was forced
to . do so both by the cwerwhelming, forces of the
enemy, and by the wish of securing the nearest possible
way of communication with Metz and the army of
Bazaine. The troops of the two German Princes—the
Saxon Corps and that of the Crown Prince—numbered
over 200,000 men, against Bazaine's 120,000. Of the latter,
30,000 belonging to Failly had already been demoralised
by the defeat of the previous day. Early in the
morning of the Ist the signal for a general attack
on the part of the • Germans was given by gun shots,
which were distinctly heard here. From that time can-
nonading never ceased till late at night ; and op the next
morning Napoleon sent to King William his sword from
within the walls of the little town, which was surrounded
on all sides by the Prussian troops. We had
:here late at night, on the 31st, great num-
bers of peasants from the neighbouring vil-
lages coming to Belgium with all they could
scrape together ; but of what was going on the next day
no idea can be given. In less than half a day the popula•
tion of Bouillon had increased by some 8,000 souls, in
addition to which the afternoon brought up some 200 or
300 French soldiers, exhausted, defeated, hungry,
and many of them wounded. The number of offi-
cers amounts to 18, there being a cavalry general
'among them ; and their unanimous verdict was
that everything was lost, that MacMaliOn was wounded,
that De Failly was shot by his own soldiers, and that the
Emperor had been seen entering Sedan, but that there
was no chance of his ever getting out of it. All the
surrounding villages were on fire, and heavy black
columns of smoke were not only to be seen from here,
but their smell is still plainly distinguished in the air,
which is full qf the screams of the poor peasant families
who here took their refuge, and who see now their homes

burning.
A correspondent of the Siecle writes, in the field near

Virton, on the knapsack of a soldier who was driven, in
company with 150 of his comrades, on the Belgian terri-
tory. He declares that his news is very serious, and the
day of the Ist of September must mark from, henceforth,
as one of the most inauspicious days of France. After a
furidus combat, where the French fought one to three,
the left wing of MacMahon was beaten and driven back
on Sedan. From another source it was reported that'
Bazaine, who had combined his movement with that of
MacMahon, had been sent back on Metz_ Writing from
Florenville. on the Belgian frontier, he says that Paris
remains to save France, for since the day before
MacMahon had no army. The battle lasted
for three days on both sides of the Meuse,
from Beaumont to Sedan, and in the valley of Chiers from
Carignan to Baseilks. MacMahon's army supported
during three days the combined attack of three Pyussian
armies, that of the King, that of Prince Frederic, and of
the Prince of Saxony, and at last the army of the Crown
Prince came up to give the coup de grace. The streets of
Florenville were crowded with carriages and around them
were stationed whole families in distress, without bread,
and without rlielter. They were French emigrants who
asked shelter fromßelgium, the Prussians havingburned
all their effects. They have destroyed the villages through
which they passed. On the thirtieth of August
General- Failly bivouacked with 18,000 or- 2Y,000
men near the village of Beaumont-Sur-Meuse.
It was midday,- the arms were put aside, the artillery in
its parks, and the soldiers employed in making soup,
when they were suddenly attacked by a Prussian Corps
of 80,000 men. They had neither scouts nor advanced
guards. The enemy opened fire at a distance of 600
metres with all his artillery. The French had not time to
draw up theirs ; but the soldiers did not fail in courage, and
sustained until evening the terrific charge of the enemy.
When night came those who were not dead, which means
the least in numbers, were compelled to retreat and
abandoned their' encampments. It was reported that
Gentral Failly was killed. On the Ist .of September
the great battle took place; The whole army of Mac-
Mann war drawn up in line on the right bank of the
Mense, and the Prussians were an tim opposite bank.
The cannonade commenced at three o'clock in the morn-
ing, and until two o'clock the French had the advantage.
From the heights on the Belgian frontier they were seen
to be advancing on the Prussians, and drowning them in
the river. But after that time a new force of the enemy,
believed to be that of the Crown Prince, entered in the
line, and compelled them to retire on Sedan. At nine in
the evening the cannon still sounded. It is be-
lieved that there were engaged in this battle as
many as
.4.00,000 men, 250,000 Prussians and
150,000 French. If these figures are correct the battle of
the first of September will have been one of the most
sanguinary of the century. The account states that it

was raining in torrents, and the wounded had not been
moved. The Prussians remained in possession, and from
afar could be seen the red light of the burning villages.
Bazaine was• reported before Metz with 27,000 wounded,
and the typhus fever in their midst.

THE STATE OF FEELING IN PARIS.
The correspondent of the AWandard, writing from
Paris on Saturday evening; says :--The Government has
tardily made up its its mind to divulge the double disaster
which the arms of France have suffered, and the absurd

untruths hitherto published respecting the three days'
battle having prepared the public for news of a victory,
the unexpected disclosure of •the truth in all its fearful
reality has caused a general feeling of stupor. Paris, as I
write, is fairly stunned by the unexpected blow, and a pall
of mourning has settled down on the city on the official in-
timation that instead of the Jena confidently announced
by the semi-official organs, France has experienced
another Leipsic, and two of her finest armies, commanded
by the elite of her generals, have been utterly disabled. It
was- not until the afternoon that the terrible news
brought by the London and Brussels papers began
to ooze out, and anxious crowds commenced assem-
bling round the Chamber; but it was not until half-past
three-that M. Schneider took the chair, and almost imme-
diately M. de Palikao ascended the tribund and made the
following statement
The Government has received no official information,
but though not official, the news that had come to hand
was probably true. The first item concerned Marshal
Bazaine. After a vigorous sally and a combat which

had lasted' eight or nine hours, the Marshal had been

compelled to retreat to Metz. That news was not
good. It implied that the attempt to effect the junction
of the two armies had failed ; but there was no
reason to hope that another attempt might prove sue-
' cessful. The second item concerned the battles which
had taken place betweeri Metz and Sedan. There had
been a series of successes and reverses, but overwhelmed
by numbers, our troops had been compelled to retreat to
Sedan and Mezieres—a small number of our soldiers had
even been compelled to seek a refuge on Belgian territory,
but he repeated they were but a small number. The
situation was serious ; the Government had determined to
summon the National Garde Mobile to Paris, and with
the forces already concentrated in the capital, everything
was ready for its defence."

This declaration produced tremendous sensation. The
further report of the sitting I shall forward by tomorrow
morning's mail. The significance of M. de Palikao's
declaration cannot be over-stated. It means the two armies
of Bazaine and MacMahon are utterly disorganised, and
that there is now no army between the Prussians and
the capital. Under circumstances of such fearful
Import it alight be expected that the semi-official prints
and the papers which go in for flattering the mob would,
at all events, tell the truth at the eleventh hour. Nothing
of the kind. The Liberia this evening has the incredible
audacity to gull the public with the following " news " :
r " The following information is supplied to one of our
contributors by the Foreign Office Details derived
from the most authentic sources enable us to affirm that
MacMahon, after having on the 31st gloriously retrieved
the check sustained on the 30th by the corps of General de
Failly, won, on the Ist of September, a brilliant victory
tine victoire adatante). He only fell back under the guns
of Sedan lest the enemy, rendered furious by these
two defeats, should unite his forces and surround him.
Entrenched in that formidable position, ha has nothing to
fear from mere numbers, and may do the Prussians a great
deal of harm: Bazaine has fought two days and two nights
without intermission, and when he withdrew under the guns
of Metz, the enemy, exhausted by enormous losses, was not
in a condition to molest his retreat. The news we receive from
Luxemburg does not permit us to doubt that the neutral-
ity of the Duchy was violated by the Prussians.'"
The same veracious print informs us that the French
free corps, which is said to have invaded the Duchy of
Baden, have been prouided with two bottles of petroleum
per man, for the purpose of firing the Black Forest.

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