The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-12 00:00:00

THE BATTLE BEFORE SEDAN.

The Spectator says that the spectacle of a hun-
dred thousand French soldiers, by various circum-
stances that they were forced to submit to be
captured was an event unparalleled in the history of
the world. The battle of Sedan seemed to shew in
the most fearfully vivid of tableaux vivants the
physical impotence of the Empire. General
MacMahon's plan for the relief of Bazaine would
probably have succeeded if his army had been in the
same condition as that of the Prussians. The Em-
peror, however, virtually declared not only hid own
but his Imperial system's failure, as the Emperor
was caught in the fatal Sedan trap, so the Imperial
regime has shewn its impotence in the very depart-
ment in which it was supposed to display most bril-
liancy. It was caught in a state of conspicuous
inability, which was due to a system of bad govern-
ment. The Prussian general, Von. Moltke is said to have
furnished de Wimpffen, with moral evidence that
if he did not surrender he would be annihilated. A.
Bonaparte has surrendered the greatest army which
ever surrendered, on the evidence that it could
not defend itself. The charm of the
name of Bonaparte can hardly be expected to
survive such a catastrophe even among the peasantry
of France. The Spectator (!) believes that the mili-
tary associations of the name are cancelled.—Q. E. D.

THE SHIPMENT OF RIFLES TO FRANCE.

As yet the statement of Mr. Pollaky, that he had
discovered the shipment of some four thousand
Sniders to France, remains uncontradicted. It is
true the accuracy of his letter is questioned, but that
in the absence of an official and positive denial is of
little account. It may be that he has been misin-
formed ; but still the confident and circumstantial
manner in which he wrote gives an appearance of
truth to his statement. Mr. Pollaky, however, in
h's communication, failed to give the names of the
persons concerned in the transaction, and a demand
is now made that they should be made known, in
order that the public may know the men who, for a
mere money consideration, would compromise the
neutrality of their country. If, as Mr. Muntz avers,
there is no truth whatever in the statement so
unhesitatingly made in the French Parliament by
Count Palikao as to receiving forty thousand rifles
from England, such astounding mendacity should be.
exposed as much as possible. Considering the con-
sequences of a breach of neutrality, and the conflict-
ing statements made in reference to the matter, it is

the manifest duty of the Government to institute
such rigorous inquiries as will reveal the real circum-
stances of the case. Three writers in the Pa ly
News call attention to the subject, and agree in
insisting upon strict investigation.

DR. CUMMING ON THE WAR,

Dr. Cumming commenced a series of sermons last
evening at the Scottish National Church on the subject of
the present war. Ile took his text from the sixth chapter
of Revelations, Bth verse, and contended that this portion
of the New Testament prophesied the conflict. It
was occasioned by three unclean spirits, one
of which came from the mouth of the dragon,
which was the Papacy ; the other from the
mouth of the "beast " which was Satan, and the third
which came from the mouths of false prophets, who even
those that subscribe towards and taught the doctrines of
the Romish Church. The present crisis was foretold in
the chapter to which he referred. The limit of the ex-
istence of the Papacy was 1868, and it had only been pro-
longed by the occupation of Rome by the troops
of Napoleon 111. The spread of Romiah system
had been such as to cause every nation to live for itself
alone, and no man now trusted his brother. This indi-
cated a dissolution of the forces of society, and hence
those black clouds that hung over Paris, and which had
left their dismal traces on the field of war, leaving the
vineyards of Europe so covered with slain that there
were not sufficient hands to bury them. Yet, out of all
this storm and battle, the light of peace would arise, and
the whole world should be filled with its splendouT,

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