The New York herald., 1870-09-26

the case had been reversed ana they had been our
prisoners instead OF we being, as we are THEIRS"
| MaeMahon Is mere, very badly but not mortally
wounded, aud prisoner. ne n one oi taose VINO
wouid not give their parole not TO serve
Sssi WIFE the sru1s Duchess of Msgenta arrived mere
swo rso, qs 9m pyis ag and we known sister OF Char
ity TO help 20 nurse her husband. She was al the
Marshals tale, near Nsmes, and would have come
| 10 her husband in tweniy-toar hours bat The Prus-
wonld not allow her 10 pass their lines, and SO
France reach farls, then go by the Northern Rail-
way Bruss .ls, ana so come through B0Giilon to
| Sedan, over the Belgian frontier
From all | hear MacMahon would be likely 10 re-
cover quickly from his wound were IL not tnat he
res and fumes AZ the past and worries hiin ,e very
much about the future He Diames the Emperor
very much indeed ior having surrendered tis place,
and declares that General de Wimpnen ought 10
have tried 10 his way through the enemy, even II
OUT OF S0,o0 mea lie mad lost 40 0oj IN attempting to
do So
I mentioned In recent letter that such French
officers as had given their parole not 10 serve
against Prussia during The present war were re.
leased and allowed 10 90 where they liked. To-day
| learn that u worry curious arrangement has been
entered into by the French army, and one whit.
question very much whether Prussia VIII eiti.r
approve OF consider as maatani"' the
spirit OF the promise given. IL seehh '@.r
all Inc oncers VINO nave mus given tnsir pa. ..s
are TO he sent 10 Algeria, and there to exchange WIN
other officers, who are 10 come 10 France and JON
the army ia Paris or IN the ned. Thus some iour or
five thousand WORKOUT officers Will bc taken away
from the army thar Is lighting the Prnssians ana VIII
be suppanted by as many resh men, win ten times
their energy ana without the cOwed leeing when IS
always produced III beaten army. Ihis may GER
talny be the setter OF the law o parole but IL nardy
seems TO me that IL is tue spirit
INSIDE sEDAN--EXrRAoRDlNARY SCENES
The town OF Sedan Is III the most fearful state OF
confusion, dirt and ruin. Even the few shells the
amount or damage. l can hardly recognize 1t, the
place as II DOW enlsts-the neat, Trim little town
passed through little more than week ago. For It's
size Sedan Il one of the most productive places Ill
France, its specially being the making OF cloth
and sn tweed the oos latter nm IN a mutation oI 9he
wealthy town, too, town with its little
commercial clques its club, its manufacturing aris-
tocracy and It's pretty public works, 1t has seldom
been my fate TO eat better hotel dinner than did
asC Friday week NJ the Hotel de pEurope Ia Sedan,
or 10 drink better bottle OF Burgundy or to play a
better contested Rubber at Whist wnlch did at he
| club, toswnlch was introduced by gentleman
| met on the frontier who insisted al the evening
| upon introducing me to every one as "a most uis'
| linguistic d J0llndliSG."
! Alas what a change for the worse does war make
In town. There Is now no business OF any Kind
going on in Sedan. The factories nave ali ceased
working Their owners have fed TO get out oil the
way OF the Prussians The few that remain and dd
not take the precaution OF sending their horses and
carriages over the border INTO Belgium nave had
every vehicle they possessed and every animal IN
their stables taken by the conquerors The streets
are full OF broken Chassepots swords that have
been thrown aside, knapsacks shat nave been cast
away and horses that are wandering aoout without
an owner.
Tbe stencil IN the town Is something awful; it
seems i0rm part OF the very f0od You eat. Every
factory, school, hall court OF law, pubic build
ing OF any kind, and every private building that -
large enough Is turned INTO hospital the dread.
fu smell which have always noticed seems to Ill
the very air sitter great battle seems prevalent
here noweit Ia the smell of human blood. Go where
you viii ghasty nsures-lnen suffering 9ulte as
much from hunger AZ from w0unds-WeeJ the eye.
Unlike the Ango-SaXon race, whether IN America
or England, foreigners seem TO have no more idea OF
cleanliness than Hlndoo has OF skating. 10 would
be dtcUlt to decide whether the Frencn or the Ger
mans were the most positively dirty in tAeir habits
in an English or American hospital the first thing
done 10 q wounded man would be 60 let him have a
| thorough good oath then to put nn on
wounds. believe nall OF those now IN
tie hospitals would DE cured II course Of that KIND
were adopJed. But it is the very lasU thing Thought
OF here As q rule there Is no surgical operation
which Frenchman or q German would not rather
go through than submit 20 g good washing. Hands
stand but beyon1 that no. TDey seem really to
revel IN art: It is a great pity that the Inter.
attempt to improve the occasion and try 10 incu-
cate notions OF personal cleanliness among poor
fellows oroaGhy under their care:
GAPS IN HUMANITY.
What fearful gaps III humanity this war must have
made. prussian ollicer OF rank to-day assured me-
that the losses IN Killed and wounded In their army
amount at the present moment to something very
little short oi 100000 men, aad nave reason to
Fancy 500, 900 men less than here were monin ago
In the ranks, and or whom 1UD 900 may be fairly sup
! posed 60 have been Killed since the commencement
! OF August.
! TheIe IS something both very touching aud ex-
remeiy touching IN a practice Which exists In the
German army, Gnd which, / am told by PrGssian
officers, only commenced with the present war
Every ol1cer Don-cominssioned ohlcer aud soldier
mas caro- stitched outside his tunlc or Jacket upon
winch Is written his name the number OF his reg-
ment the letter OF his COMPANY and the designation
OF Ills native village rs wei as OF the province IN
whicn the village Is situated. Whenever dead sol
dier Is found the first thing done IS TO cut OF this
card and deliver 1t TO an olcer Of the brigade whose
particular daty IL Is to collect the names OF the dead
There no sooner IL an engagement over Than the
name ana native place OF every dead soldier is
known, and relatives have at least the consolation
OF knowing soon as they lose relative.
This is just one OF those little matters which dis
tinguish practical nom an impractical people A
trencnman would rather undergo i've years penal
sergitude than submit 10 what he would call "a mat
TER OF detaiLh IL is true that owing to want Of
time for details they nave lost army, Inundated
their nation, ana brought about revolution But II
the war were to begin again to morrow the very
same utter neglect OF small matters would be seen
among tne french. Frenchman not only negiects
precautionary measures, he hates and utterly de-
sDlses them. And the consequences thai when
the time OF Trial comes If he has to do with prac
cal people ike the Germans, ne Is beaten. There
are now thousands, ah, hundreds Of thousands OF
Frencnen VINO have been Killed la This fearful war
and or whose fate their relatives are and must re-
main 10 the most positive uncertainty Tor years to
come.
saw case OF that kind here yesterday which
had happy ending for those concerned. An Old
lady arrived from the far of south OF France after
q weeks hard travelling 10 try and tind out where
her son was buried, believing him TO be dead. The
whole OF the French army is In such state OF IN
conceivable muddie that she could get no 1nteli-
Ecnce OF not only her offspring, but Of the
regiment TO which he belonged. Some told her that
Tue corps was smut up WIN Bd2alne at Metz; others
that 1t had been cut up at the light at Sedan last
week, and many declared that 1t was with Vlnoy,
VINO has fallen back upon Paris with fresh dlvi-
sion OF Is, 600 men. The Old lady, utterly unable to
get anything like reliable information, was pre-
parng TO leave sedan, when at the corner OF street
she came suddenly upon her son, chef d'escadTon
OF Hussars who was badly wounded In the arm but
by no means mortay so. Her son told her he had
written letters to his home since the campaign
began, but not one oil them seems TO have reached
ns destination
When anything goes wrong French civil en-
n In nnf 4p ~
postmaster would, If the enemy were in possession
VI town, do his best TO send of the mails some
how. Nob with the French. Unless the regular
could come at the regular hour with the regu,a-
ton paper take the letter bags In the regular
manner and give the regular receipt for them, o
action in the matter He wOuld-as indeed he has
IN thousands OF instances-pack up his mails, put
them at the bottom Of his largest portmanteau, lock
up the portmanteau IN his spare room ana then
make or himself. 1t Is said that at the present
moment there something like g. 600 900 Of letters
70 takn car Of