The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-25 00:00:00

RUMOURS OF BAZAINE.

The correspondent
,of the Daily News, writing from
.Rheims on Monday, says :—The Chalons camp is so
completely deserted that not a straggler is to be seen.
We found plenty again on the road to Rheims, which was
crowded with troops of every arm. As we approached
the city we saw the French army encamped parallel
to the road from St. Menehould, and separated from
it by the river Vesle. They are camped on
the right bank of the Vesle, looking down stream.
I will not pretend to say what this unexpected
movement means, but it looks as if part at least of
Bazaine's forces had escaped from Metz and are
expected to join the Chalons army at or near
Rheims. There is a rumour that Bazaine is passing
through Grandprd and Vouziers. Whtt makes it
look probable is -the strong force of Light Cavalry here
—two brigades of Chasseurs and Hussars. They are
probably the advance guard. Since I began this letter
news has been received at the Prefecture that Bazaine or
part of his army is in fact retreating by Vouziers, very
hard pressed by the Prussians. He was obliged to
abandon his retreat on Verdun, the road to which was
completely in possession of the enemy, and that is why all
the provisions and munitions were sent back from Verdun
to Rheims. If any force has succeeded in reaching
Vouziers, or is on the road thither, it must have escaped
from Metz on the north-west, or it is, perhaps, that
column which, it is believed, had passed Gravelotte
before the Prussians seized that road on the 18th.
But no word has come direct from Bazaine for two
days, and my belief is he is cut off. At any rate,
his nearest line of retreat was closed, and if he has
been driven off into the Ardennes there is no telling when
the expected junction of lfis forces with those of
MacMahon can be accomplished. And if they join who
is to command ? For neither will serve under the other.
Discontent is spreading fast among the troops, and
even among the officers, who are discouraged by the
failure of Bazaine thus far to unite with MacMahon.

GSNERAL DOUAY.—A. private letter from Haguenau
says that the body of General Abel Douay has been found
on the battle-field of Weissenburg, and has been interred
in the cemetery of Haguenau with the honours due to his
rank.

A. SIGN OF THE TIMES.—The nuns in the dif-
ferent convents of Paris, with a view to possible distur-
bances (of which they are in greater dread than of the
entrance of the Prussian army), have, we hear, been pro-
vided with secular dresses, which they would adopt at the
first signal of a revolution.

PROHIBITION OF FOOD EXPORTS.—An Imperial
decree prohibits along the land frontier, from Dunkirk to
Lans-le-Bourg, and on the coast from St. Valery to Dun-
kirk, the re-exportation and transit of cattle of all sorts,
meat, breadstuffs, bran, and forage. Exceptions may
be accorded by the Minister of Finance in certain
conditions.

THE YOUGHAL ELECTION PETITION.-All ap-
plication was made to Mr. Justice Fitzgerald, in Dublin,
on Tuesday, for an order to compel Sir Joseph Neale
M`lienna to pay into court 2871 Bs. 2d., the amount of
the certified cost of the petition against the return of Mr.
Weguelin. Sir Joseph M`Kenna had guaranteed to pay
the costs on taxation. Judge Fitzgerald made the order
for payment within a fortnight.
The directors of the Sheffield Waterworks Com-
pany announce that, in consequence of the present un.
usual drought, water will, on and after Saturday next,
be supplied to the town during six hours of each day
only, and urge the avoidance of all waste and undue con-
sumption.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills.- -
Useful Sympathy.—Let all who sympathise with the
afflicted whom by. their kind attention bestowed in a mild
and gentle manner they seek to soothe, and if possible to
save, remember that Professor Holloway has enabled
their good deeds to prevail beyond their hopeful words.
Wth his remedies many have restored vigour to the fad-
ing memory, cheerfulness to the exhausted mind, and
health to the wan cheek. Every visitor to the sick may
without fear safely and effectively use Holloway's world
renowned Ointment and Pills. Appropriate instructions;
envelope every pot and box. Under Holloway's benign,
treatment condolence is not long desirahle for convales-.
cence comes apace and soon gives place to joyous health.

THE WAR.

THE SITUATION IN PARIS.

TUESDAY.

The papers here have given up Bazaine as hopeless—that
is, they are quite alive to the fact that he is shut up in
Metz, and not likely to get away. This conviction has pro-
duced a certain sort of resignation amongst them. They
are facing a siege of Paris with more earnestness than they
have yet shewn. Hitherto they have discussed the question
of defending the capital with some shyness. " Defend
it—of course nothing can be more proper, but all is not
quite over in the field yet ! " Such has been the prevail-
ing sentiment until the last day or two ; but now people
are agreed that with every confidence in the exertions of
the defenders who still face the advancing Prussians
the defence of the capital is a question which
must be seriously faced. The Committee of
Defence project, which nobody cared much
about a few days ago, is now regarded with much interest.
You will be aware that the committee was nominated,
and consisted entirely of generals, admirals, engineers,
and the like. M. de Kdratry proposed that nine
members of the Legislative Body should be added
to the list. " Left Man " though he is, the
Chamber supported him, and sPalikao has found it neces-
sary t 3 give way, so far as to consent to the addition of
three deputies to the committee.
The papers here, on the whole, keep up a good heart in
face of the news from the front. What intelligence comes
is not altogether pleasant; but the press makes the most
of it, and does not grumble at the lack of more complete
information. On the whole, the tone of the press is excel-
lent.

Nocturnal attacks seem to have become of late very
frequent in Paris, and the Liberty calls attention to the
great number of criminals, whose term of sentence has
expired, who are now in the capital. They number, it is said,
from 20,000 to 25,000 men, and would very readily lend a
helping hand to the Prussians, if the Prussians by any
chance could get into Paris. The Liberty is confident
that the Prussians will not get there, but it asks with
some anxiety what these gentry will be doing
in the interior of the city while the National
Guards and the other able-bodied citizens are on
the fortifications. The question is one which
deserves attention, and as these offenders must be well
known to the police agents, would it not be possible to
rid Paris of them ?

The following extract from a letter written by the Count
of Paris on August 20, at Twickenham, to one of his
friends in Paris, is published in the Paris papers :
" What events have occurred during the last thirteen
days ! What wounds for all French hearts ! You understand
what we suffer in presence of this national disaster, of
which we are forced, in aggravation of our sufferings, to
remain passive spectators. The refusal of the demand
made by my uncles and my brother is from this point of
view a cruel blow. It was that refusal which prevented
me from transmitting a similar letter to Paris,
And we are told that the Prussians will probably besiege
Paris, while on those fortifications which were the last
bulwark of France, erected thirty years ago by the King
Louis Philippe and the Duke of OrMans,
there will not be an Orl6ans to mingle
with the defenders of his country ! What is
perhaps still harder is that, in our disinterested persist-
ence, men will only see the calculations of an uneasy am-
bition. But let us not think of ourselves, let us think
only of that admirable army' which sustains the honour of
France, and of those fresh combatants who, before Paris,
will save our country from the last humiliation. -- Ever
yours, " Louis PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS."

The Figaro declares that the war with Prussia has
brought strange things to light, and the saddest of these
discoveries is to find that traitors are met where they were
least expected. They have been found in town and
country, in the cottage and the palace. The last news is
that a lady, who by her rank and birth might well be
sheltered from suspicion, has become greatly com-
promised, and has been called upon to furnish
an account of her conduct, and her relations with Prussia.
Received at the Tuileries on the most intimate terms, she
is supposed to have availed herself of the opportunities to
carry on a correspondence with the Prussian Ministers,
which has had the most disastrous consequenc,l3
for France. The Figaro calls upon the authorities to
give up the name of the person thus implicated.