The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-17 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE PROM PARIS.

(FRO3I OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Monday Evening,
The news received to-day includes accounts

three military operations of importance—the defeat
of the Federal army at Aschaffenbourg, the entry
of the Prussians into Brunn, the capital of Moravia,
and the arrival of Cialdini at Vicenza.
The following account of the first step taken to
procure the armistice is to be relied on. When
General Gablenz went for the first time to the
head-quarters at Horitz consent was given to the
following conditions—the line of the Elbe and
the surrender by the Austrians of the strong
places of Josephstadt and Koniggratz. Aus-
tria would not agree to these conditions. Now
that the Prussians have passed the Elbe, that they
are masters of that line which could not maintain a
defence upon anypoint, and that they have taken the
necessary measures to disarm the garrisons of the
two fortresses, General de Gablenz has thought it
right to make another claim of an armistice for
three days to be concluded on the same basis.
Austria, however, made the demand that the garri-
sons of Josephstadt and Koniggratz should be al-
lowed to pass through the whole Prussian army
with arms and baggage to join the Austrian army.
Prussia, in her turn, categorically and firmly refused
to agree to this proposal. Thus it will be seen from
this account, and other circumstances show, that
there is much to be achieved before an armistice
can be arranged.
Prince Frederick of Augustenburg and his bride
(the Princess Helena) have arrived in Paris. They
landed from England in the Royal yacht at Cher-
bourg, where great preparations had been made,
and their reception was very enthusiastic. Their
Royal Highnesses, I believe, have their temporary
residence at the English Embassy in the Faubourg
St. Honore.
The Mbniteur says :—" According to our infor-
mation from Munich the Bavarian army has not
made any fresh attack, and has turned upon
Wurtzbourg. M. de Pfordten has left Vienna. An
engagement took place near Aschaffenbourg be-
tween the troops of Hesse Darmstadt and the army
of General de Falkenstein. The Hessians were
compelled to surrender, and the Prussians advance
upon Darmstadt, which the Government had left.
The Grand Duke proceeds to Munich. The head-
quarters of the King of Prussia have been
established at Brunn since the 13th. A portion of
his troops had arrived at Iglau. The army has arrived
at Znain. There are accounts of an engagement
there. Austrian troops, under the command of
General de Gablenz, are concentrated at Florisdorff,
near Vienna, where an entrenched camp has been
formed. The Emperor declared to the burgo-
master of the capital that the city would remain
open, and that the defence would only take place at
the passage of the Danube.
The reception given to the Empress and the
Prince Imperial at every town on their progress to
Nancy was affectionate and cordial in the extreme.
At Chalons her Majesty went to the cathedral. The
keys of the town were presented to her Majesty at
the entrance, and the bishop, at the head of his
clergy, made a speech, in the course of which he
said that the cathedral was now a:ruined temple,
although it was formerly so magnificent. "In
1864 the foreigner, irritated by the energetic and
patriotic defence made by the inhabitants of Chalons,
encamped in this church, mutilated its ornaments,
profaned its sanctuaries, and pushed sacrilege so
far as to feed their horses at our altars, and to
break the windows of the church to allow the escape
of the smoke from their bivouacks in it." The
Bishop then complimented the young Prince—" the
heir of so much glory and so many virtues."
The Senate closed its session on Saturday, after
agreeing to the Senatus Consulte. The Marquis
de Boissy made one of his usual demonstrations,
attacking everybody and everything, but he was
mildly rebuked by the President, and it is not
worth while to repeat the orator's senseless
puerilities and absurdities. The Session separated
after reiterated cries of " Vive l'Empereur."
One of the letters from Vienna says that " Austria,
reduced to her own strength and tenacity, has de-
termined not to shrink from making the most power-
ful efforts to maintain her position as a great Power
in Europe."
The Ost Deutsch Post says —" Since we have
known the conditions which the Ring of Prussia has
had the courage to propose totheEmpoferaorrmosf.
Austria, we have lost all hope of the prompt con-
sclnueshioneoonf
daintioangsreeamreenotnly proposed fortheto an enemy
suspension
whom it is desired to destroy completely, and who
is supposed to be already overwhelmed. But as this
lastwill
itakebel ie belief i s
place fa ru fromnder being
anotherr commandereallseci realised,
in order
a grand battle
to try to save the Empire."

l M. Arnaud, who represented the department of
the Var at the Constituent Assembly, has just died
produced great and the rights of the people.
at Brignolles, in that department, aged 70. M.
Arnaud was well known in France as the constant
In defenderformer o democracyf
days
his
speeches
sensa-
tion. He never changed or abandoned his principles.
The thunderstorm which has been threatening
sinc since Saturday came
early as six in the morning the heat upon us to-day in good ear-
nest.was very oppressive, and it was almost insupport-
able till mid-day. About that time the rain came
down like a deluge. The thunder and lightning
were frequent and violent. There were several claps
public establish-
ments the ga sharp, loud, and sudden, exactly like the report of
a cannon. It became almost as dark as a winter's
night,and is was
nths ecafes and
lighted.
The thunder really
seemed to shake the houses. As to the rain, I heard
an old gentleman remark that he had not seen such
rain in Paris for six-and-thirty years. Some of the
peals of thunder, as I have said, were quick, like a
cannon report. Then came others, violent, ram-
bling, and crushing, for the duration of a second.
Indeed the thunder was so peculiar that it excited
unusual alarm, and there is every reason to fear that
it has led to danger and damage. The storm lasted
for several hours.
An old officer writes to a .Paris paper in reference
to the needle-gun, and says it has been in use by the
Prussians for at least 18 or 20 years. He says that
in 1849 and 1850, when the corps francs committed
such excesses in the Grand Duchy of Baden as to
necessitate the intervention of Prussian troops, the
fortress of Rasladt, which was occupied by the corps
francs, was taken by the Prussians after a few days
siege, and that this assault was mainly attained by
means of the needle gun.