EYEI
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VOL. XIV NO. 50.
PHILADELPIIIA, MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1870.
DOUBLE SHEET THREE CENTS.
JUL U , L J o
FIRST EDITION
THE WAR IN EUROPE.
The Latest Situation.
Deputy Jules Favre.
The Great French Radical.
A Sketch of his Career.
The Latest Advices by Mail.
The Campaign Against Paris.
A French View of ihe Danger.
E? is marc k on the SocrctTreaty
Scenes After the Battles.
"Win 3JtiHoollmiy.
Kc, . uc, ihc. Etc., i;tc.
THE SITUATION.
.More Hvniorn ol Flatties, but Piotlitnjt Melinite
The Position ol the Dnille Aruilon-The
tirand March on Parle The Consternation
f the Capital.
The despatches of Saturday night and Sunday
are lull of reported battles, bat there is nothing
definite enough to show that they were actually
fought or to give a clue to their results. On
the authority of-the Opinion Nationals of Paris,
it is stated that there was a wholesale slaughter
cf the Prussians on the 23d and 24th (Tuesday
and "Wednesday of last week); the French
Ministry are responsible for the statement that
a Prussian force of 10,000 men, under the Crown
Prince of Saxony, made au assault on Verdun
at 9 o'clock on the morning of Thursday, the
25th, and were repulsed after a three hours'
fight, with heavy los; and a battle in the neigh
borhood of llheims is reported to have occurred
futjfrufayn th 3i'ilhi oi Jviiich, no particulars
have been received.
As to the whereabouts of the hostile armies,
there is nothing definite. On Thursday, the
20th, MacMahon's headquarters were reported
to be at Rethel, a town of 0000 inhabitants, on
the right bank of the Alsne, 23 miles southwest
of Meziercs, a ad 24 miles northeast of Rheinis,
and on the railroad between these two cities.
The Emperor and Prince Imperial were with
him at that time. On the following day Mac
Mahon's army was to move on towards Me
zieres, and that is the latest definite and reliable
intelligence at hand.
The movement of the Crown Prince on the
capital still continues, apparently, the army
moving leisurely and encountering no opposi
tion. The Crown Prince, himself, is reported
to have slept at the prefecture in Chalons on'
the night of Friday, the 2oth, a strong column
of Prussian artillery having taken possession of
that city. The garrison of Vitry-le-Francais
surrendered to the Prussians on Thursday, the
25th, the Prussians "annihilating" two battalions
of the Garde Mobile and capturing 16 guns, 17
officers, and 850 soldiers. Detachments of
Prussians are acknowledged in des
patches from Paris to have appeared
at Arcis-sur-Aube, 30 miles S. S. E. of Chalons
and 85 miles from Paris; at Epernay, 70 miles
from Paris; and at Meauz, only 25 miles from
Paris. The consternation of the capital itself
is on the increase, and the preparations for
defense are progressing with the greatest vigor,
under the full belief that a siege is inevitable,
Fifteen hundred guns are said to be in position
on the defenses, and the accumulation of pro
visions has beeu reduced by report to a supply
for three months, instead of six, as was recently
claimed. The city, however, is reported quiet;
but there are rumors of the possibility of a rup
ture between the Government and General
Trochu, and it is said that the Empress has
demanded the removal of the latter from his
position as Governor. Meanwhile, the veteran
Orleanist leader, Thiers, has accepted a position
on the Committee of Defense, to the apparent
satisfaction of all classes of the people.
DEPUTY JULES FAVRE.
The Mao lor Preddt ol the French Kenubllc
yh. okctrb ol Ilia Career A Life Devoted to
the Cause of liberty and Untainted with
Fanaticism-Ills Brilliant Political Kecord,
and Earnest Antagonism to Houauartlaiu la
Kverj fehnpe.
As a firm, consistent, and constant advocate
for more than twenty years of Republican
principles, M. Jules Favre occupies a leading
position in the Corps Leglslatif of I ranee. In
deed, there is but one man who has pretended
to dispute with him the leadership of the true
Republican party since J" mile Ollivier went over
to the Empire for the sake of making his futile
experiment at constitutional government under
a Bonaparte regime, and that man is M. Gain-
betta, of whose career we gave a sketch a few
days ago.
Gabriel Claude Jules Favre is almost twice as
old as bis rival, Gambetla, haviug been born at
Lyons on March 31, 1809. In the revolution of
July, 1830, which found him a student at law in
Paris, he took an active part, and from that day
to this, through the press, at the bar, and in the
different National Assemblies, be has remained a
bold, undaunted, outspoken champion of the
better type of French republicanism. The in
dependence of his character, the bitter ironv of
bis addre-a, and the consistent radicalism of bis
opinions, soon achieved or Lim a reputation
which has never been sullied by anycompromise
with Bonapartism other than the taking of the
oath of allegiance to the Empire, when he
finally entered the Corps Leglslatif. He was
admitted to the bar soon after arriving
at age, and daring the reign of Louis Philippe
devoted himself mainly to the practice of his
profession. It was not until after the Revolu
tion of February, 1848, that he entered olllce
for the first time. He then became Secretary
General to the Minister of the Interior, and in
that capacity was called on to write the circular
to the Commissioners of the Provisional Govern
ment and the famous "Bulletins" of 1848. He
was soon transferred to the Under-Sccretaryship
for Foreltrn Affairs, and, being elected a mem
ber of the Assembly, voted for the prosecution
of Louis Blanc and Caussldiere, for their
complicity in the insurrection of June,
1848; refused to join in the vote of
thanks to General Cavaignac; and resolutely
opposed the expedition to Rome in December,
1848, by which Louis Napoleon Incurred the
hostility of the leading republicans with whom
be had theretofore adulated. He opposed the
elevation of the Bonaparte adventurer to the
Presidency, and after that event became his
strenuous antagonist in the National Assembly.
The implication of Ledru-Rollin in the plot to
overthrow the Prince President rendered It ne
cessary for the leader of the "Mountain" party
to seek safety in England, after which Jules
Favre succeeded to the leadership.
By the coup d'etat he was driven into retire
ment, as he refused to take the oath of allegi
ance to the new Constitution on being clectod a
member of the Consell-General of Lolre-ct-
Rhone. He then devoted himself for some years
to his profession, and as one of the counsel of
Orsinl, in October, 1858, created an immense
sensation by the boldness and eloquence of his
defense of the reckless enthusiast who had
attempted the life of the Emperor. But. he
entered the Corps Lcgislatif the same year,
taking the oath of allegiance to the empire
which he detested; and since that time, by suc
cessive re-elections in 1803 and 1809, has signa
lized himself by an unswerving antagonism of
the Imperial policy. He was one of the original
"five" opposition members, has advocated the
complete liberty of the press, opposed
the "law of deportation," fought against
French interference in the Italian war
of independence against Austria in 1859, and in
1804 severely assailed the ill-starred Mexican
venture of the Emperor. In 1837 he published a
work entitled "Contemporaneous Biography,"
and since that time many of his famous speeches
and several pamphlets have been given to the
public in a permanent form. In August, 1800,
and again in 1801, he was elected ba'.onnler or
president of the order of advocates at Paris, a
fitting recognition of his high standing in the
profession; and in May, 1807, he became a mem
ber of the French Academy.
When Napoleon showed signs of yielding
something to the pressure of public opinion
after the general elections of May, 180!), M.
Favro'snanie came to be mentioned prominently
in connection with Ollivier's as the head of the
responsible ministry which was about to be
installed. But he xoon disnUeA4l.p4UiUly
of the scheme by declaring his dissatisfaction
with the proposed "constitutional regime." "So
long," he wrote in September last, "as the press
is amenable to judges only, and not to a jury;
eo long as there Is no guarantee for individual
liberty; so long as elections are not tree,
and the mayors are not elected by the
populations; so long as an enormous
standing army weighs upon our budget, we
should be the most contemptible people on
earth if we were satisfied." So he succeeded to
the position vacated by Ollivier, on the lattcr'a
accession to power.
On the 25th of June last, just before the war-
cloud gathered over Europe, M. Favre delivered
a famous speech in the Chamber, in which he
was as unmerciful to the first empire as to the
second. While supporting a proposal of the
Left that the municipalities should be allowed
to elect their mayors, he asserted that the inhe
rent rights of the municipalities, recognized as
early as the thirteenth century, had been
stamped out by the first Napoleon. Dazzled
by the glitter of his military glory, France
was still under the influence of his
tyrannical Ideas, under the false impres
sion that a genius had saved her from
ruin, while in reality he had ruined her and an
nibilatcd her liberties. This plain speaking
created a great uproar, and when Granier de
Cassaignac, one of the most servile tools of the
third Napoleon, interrupted him with the decla
ration that the first Napoleon "covered France
with institutions; you and your friends with
ruins," M. Favre referred to the humiliation of
France through foreign invasions, which would
have been averted if liberty had held command
of the army instead of despotism, declared that
there was not a single'man in the Chamber who
would venture to assert that liberty existed
under the first empire, and continued:" am
vindicating the glory of the country against the
unconscious votaries of despotism, mho are
anxious to revive traditions which would owe
more bring about our degradation!'''
These stirring words, uttered scarcely three
weeks before the declaration of war against
Prussia, and before there was a sign of the ap
proacniDg conflict, were unconsciously pro
phetic.
The rise of the Hohenzollern diillculty found
M. Favre fully prepared to lead the assault upon
the Ollivier Government. On the 8th of July,
when the ministry attempted to secure a post
poncment of the discussion of the question, and
refused to lay before the Chamber the docu
roents relating to it, he declared that the object
of delay was to afford an opportunity
for stock-jobbing on the Bourse, and when
the final declaration of war came, took
his stand by the side of Thiers and Gam
betta, and insisted upon the production
of all the correspondence with Prussia, declaring
that France could not make war on the autho
rity of mere telegrams. But after the French
defeat at Welssenburg, he at once urged an uu
flinching resistance to the invader, joining with
sixteen other deputies on the 8th of August in
signing a demand that all France should be
armed to repel the enemy. On the 9th the
Corps Leglslatif was reassembled by order of
the Empress, and in the exciting scene which
ensued, ending In Ollivier's downfall, M. Favre
played an Important part. Ollivier opened the
session by stating that the deputies bad been
called together before the situation of the
country bad been compromised, to which M.
! Favre answered ,that it had already been
compromised by the incapacity of ID
ch!ef. "Descend from the tribune," he cried out
to Ollivier; "this is shameful! In spite of its
government, the country is patriotic, but it is
vilely ruled." ne then offered resolutions for
arming every able-bodied citizen of t arls on the
electoral lists, and for investing in an executive
committee of fifteen members the full powers of
the Government for repelling foreign invasion.
In his speech in support of these propositions,
M. Favre insisted that the Emperor should be
recalled from the army, and that the only hope
of saving the country was by wresting power
from the Incapable hands that then held it. His
proposition for the assumption of .supreme au
thority by the Corps Leglslatif was declared by
the Preeldent, the obsequious Schneider, to be
revolutionary, and that functionary refused to
submit it to a vote.
The Ollivier ministry were driven from power,
and on the accession of the Count de Palikao,
M. Favre gave the new government his cordial
support in all measures for the resistance of the
invaders, continually and repeatedly urging
upon it, however, the necessity for prompt and
decisive action. He also continued to maintain
that all the misfortunes of the country came
from that fatal mismanagement to which the
Chamber bad been compelled to submit; and,
after the disastrous battles near MeU and the
approach of the Crown Prince at the head of his
army towards the capital, endeavored to inspire
his countrymen with patriotic zeal, denouncing
as thrice accursed the citizen of France who
founded his hopes for the future upon defeat
and ruin.
Such has been the career of Jules Favre a
career which is happily as free from fanaticism
as it is from treachery to the cause of liberty
and justice. He has never displayed any tend
encies towards the "irreconcilable" school of
which Raspail and Rochefort are the types, and
thus retains the confidence and respect of those
who preferred stability under a Bonaparte to
anarchy under a modern Jacobin. In patriotism,
in experience, in discretion, In ability, and in
devotion to the cause of true republicanism,
Jules Favre is the foremost man in France.
He combines perhaps in a greater degree than
any of his contemporaries the elements of sta
bility and radicalism; and, if a republic is to rise
from the ruins of the empire, his claims upon
the chief magistracy of the nation are superior
to those of any who may antagonize them.
Whether, in the tumult of the great upheaval, his
rare worth will receive Its fitting recognition Is
a question which time alone can decide.
THE PERIL OP PARIS.
The. Fn-dilon of the Capital from n French
Standpoint Its Defenses -The Vulnerable
Point-How the Hlege Must Be Conducted.
The Opinion Nationals of August 15 says:
Paris is not an ordinary fortress. It is a vast In
trenched camp, defended by more than half a million
of men, and protected by a wall of clrcnmvallatlin
eighteen nines in circumierence, uerenuea by nmety
tbree bastions, and fortified In accordance with tho
most perfect rules of the art Nor Is this alU These
strong defenses are themselves defended, at dis
tances varying from one and a quarter miles to four
and a half miles, by a girdle of II f teen detached
lorts, provided wun seven great outw .xa, flanking
each other, and forming a second lnclosure of thirty
miles' circumference, whoso powerful artillery can
sweep everything before it at a distance of six miles.
Paris, finally, la defended by the Seine, by the Marne,
and uy a circular rauroau wun which an tne lines In
France are connected, and which renders it possible
to convey troops with great rapidity to the points
menaced In the outer or inner lino of fortifications.
A place of this extent can be subjected neither to a
proper siege nor to an in vestment complete enough
to sunt out reinforcements and supplies, it can, then,
only be attacked at a given point, and the question
remains what is the most vulnerable point of this
immense circuit-.
The forts of the East, uomalnvllle. Noesv. Rosnv.
Nogent,'and Vincennes ate very advantageously
situated on the summit of a plateau, partly covered
by the Marne. 'i ney loru a lormiuabie line or de
fense, and it would be Imprudent so the Prussian
oflicer formally dec'ares to attempt an attack at
this point. Nor must an attack be thought or on
the Fort Charenton, situated to the south of the
preceding, because, alter us capture, it would be
necessary to cross the Marne, under the triple fire
of the forts of V incennes, Ivry, and Inner works of
Paris. To the south of Paris and to the west of
Charenton are situated the forts of Ivry and Blcetre,
but the siege works could only be executed under
the Are or the adjoining forts. The other forts on the
south Montrouge, Vanues, and Issy rising on
the steep helghu which extend from Sceaux to Ver
sailles, are ditllcult of attack, and the same may be
said of the citadel of Mont Valerien, the only fort
which defends Paris on the west. Mont Valerien Is
situated at a distance of five miles from the fort of
Issv. bnt counting from the latter, Paris Is doubly
covered by the Seine, which first flows to the north
east, forms a bend, joins the forts of St. Denis, and
tnen directs us course 10 me souui west, parallel to
and slightly d'Btant from the first curve. Exactly In
the middle of these bendings of the river is situated
Mont Valerien.. The French could launch vessels
upon the Seine, armed with guns of heavy calibre,
which would Indict cruel havoc on the besiegers.
The river Seine, from Issy to St. Cloud, and beyond
Mont Valerien, is besides protected by obstacles in
the shape of wooded heights and country villas,
which could easily be adapted for purposes of
defense.
1 he efforts of the besiegers must therefore be di
rected upon St. Denis, and here we borrow the
exact words-of the Prussian Lieutenant-Colonel:
"For a Herman besieging army, the points of attack
of the fortiiicatious of Paris are naturally the uorth
and northeast. In the first place they are the
weakest, for the east front is partly covered by the
Marne, and those of the south and west are the
strongest, and their attack might compromise the
line of retreat of the besiegers, upon which, the
French army of reserve would not fail to operate.
So as not to expose themselves to have this cut,
the besiegers must choose the north as the point of
attack, for their army of observation ought to cover
the lines of retreat which will follow tne course of
the Meuse und the Seine, as they could also be able
to restore the railroads from Strusburg and Muhl
house which run along these valleys.
These roads would also serve for the
transport of siege material from the Rhine for
tresses, if the French positions captured had not
already furnished it. In any case the material must
be of the very heaviest calibre. Admitting that the
German army of observation should be stronger
than the French army of reserve, ami that the
latter held at a distance from Paris was unable to
interrupt the siege, St. Denis should be the first
point of attack. Its capture would, in fact, permit
of an advanee towards Monttnurtre on the wall of
circumvallation without being exposed to the rtank
and rear lire or the outer lorts. Oaly those who
start from the Seine need be regarded with any ap
prehension. The three forts of St. Denis and that or Auber
vllliers will be simultaneously besieged, and a less
serious attack w'Jl ie made ou tlieother forts facing
east. The siege will then assume the same charac
ter as that or Sebastopol, and the siege works will
have to be undertaken at the same time against a
line of fortifications extending over several leagues.
St. Denis is situated on the right bank of the Seine,
which, at this point, doubles back on its course, and
forms a tongue or land whence the siege works
might be taken in nauk ana rear its occupation oy
the besiegers beeouies thus a necessity. It Is diili
eult, but not impossible, If the Seine is crossed In
the neighborhood or Argenteuil. The besiegers will
then be able to commaud the citadel or Mont Vale
rien, situated upon the second tongue of land, to
destroy the railroad communication of the left b&nk
of the Seine with Paris, and to cover the attack
upon St. Denis. A bridge thrown over the Seine
would place them in comiuunlcat'on with the troop
operating on the right bauk.
in order to execute this daring plan, the Prussian
strategist assigns to each corps of the invading
army the place it ought to occupy, aud the part it
will I) called upon to plav in the general plan of
operations, lie places 6O.00O men before the three
lorts or st. ueuis, ana on tse tongue 01 lana loroteu
by the Seine between St. Denis and Mount Valerien.
Ife masses XO.ooo n en on the north at St. Denis In
order to cover the siege of tots point, and to rein
force the corps isolated on both banks of the Seine,
These Jii.ooo men are to find their material of prepa-
railon to the north of St. Denis, or In the roreBt of
Bondy. We might concentrate, he adds, 30,000 men
in this forest, 20,000 at Bourget, behind La Molette,
and 80,000 at Nntlly-sur-Marne, In orJer to occupy
the rontes from Metz and from Coulommlers, and
sustain the besieging corps at St. Denis. The
40,000 men at Bourget would menace the fort of
Aubcrvllliers, and might be able to besiege
If. They would be scarcely two and a half
miles distant from St, Denis, ami would form,
along with the troops posted at thin point,
a mass of 90,000 men. These, united with the
30,000 established In the forest of Bondy, at two and
a half miles from Bourget, would be able to oti'er In
this forest a very energetic resistance In the event
of being compelled to retreat, or If they wished to
act apamst the sallies In force of the besiege 1, to
which they would necessarily be exposed. On the
other hand, the 30,ooo men posted at Neuilly, on the
right bank of the Marne, will be able to occupy the
hill to the east of the fort or Bosny, and to under
take a series of attacks, not very formidable, it Is
true, against the forts facing east, as well as to form,
with the 30,000 men, in the forest of Bondy, an army
of 60,000, w hi jh could secure the path of re'reat.
Other 30,000 men should be placed between
Neuilly-ear-Marne and Villeneuve-sur-Seiae, in
order to observe the roads which start from
the confluence of the Seine and the Marne
towards the east. Bridges established on the
Marne would place these 3),000 men In communi
cation with the troops established on the right bank
at Ncullly. The besieging army would then num
ber 160,010 men, but to besiege Paris this is not suf
ficient. To protect adequately the besiegers, a great
army of observation is required. This role Is as
signed by the l'russian lieutenant-colonel to the 3d
Army, whom he supposes to number 120,000 men,
and to whom he wishes to join a 4th army, penetrat
ing into France by way of Switzerland. On this
hypothesis, the invading army would arrive before
Paris with an effective strength of 400,000 men. The
task of the latter divisions would be to hold the
French army of relief as far from Paris as possible,
to Intercept supplies, and to destroy the railroad
which place Paris in communication with the south
and west of France.
AFTER A CHARGE.
Dr. K 11 sue 1 1, of the London "Tlinea," on the
Field of l$ntile-The Burying of Annihilated
Regiments.
Writing from Maxwiller, where the headquar
ters of the Crown Prince were loc.ited on
August 8, Dr. W. H. Russell says:
"We, after a time, reached the village of uunstett,
the environs of which were tho scene of a desperate
action between the French right and the Prussian
left during the memorable battle of Woerth. Like
several others of the villages, it was crowded with
wounded, and pale faces looked out of the windows
of the cottages, with heads bound up; but there
were soon more terrible evidences of the struggle.
The debris of knapsacks, pouches, muskets,
shoes, fragments of clothing, shakos, thickened as
we went on; dead horses swollen to an enormous
size, with their legs stuck up in the air, lay about In
the fields; and now we came on a dead Prussian
who had fallen still' as if in the act of charging, aud
then came Zouaves and Tnrcos, mostly the latter,
in all the fantastic rigidity of ueath In battle, the
faces in most cases covered by the decent care
of the country people with little pieces of linen,
which the rain had beaten In on the lineaments
in relief. The burial parties were busy
close at hand and all over the country,
but the harvest was too heavy for the reapers. I
have seen now many fields and the more I see of
them the . less 1 like them bat never have I be
held a sight so extraordinary as I came on by the
little streamlet, the Sauer, which flows by Ounstett.
At an angle of the road, by a vine plantation, there
had been evidently a sanguinary combat between
the infantry ; but a little beyond It lay the scene of
a cavalry charge, the relics of whfch formed the
strange spectacle I am writing of. There were
heaps of cuirasses still bright, and brass
helmets with plumes which had
been taken from the dead, ; wounded,
and prisoner and piled at Intervals along the road.
Between these lay saddles, swords stuck in the
ground, horse trappings, valises with '8' and 'o' on
them, here and there single cuirisses, dead horses,
helmets, swords, muskets the ground trampled,
the vines beaten down pools of blood a foul, sour
smell everywhere; this literally for two miles on
each stdof the road. In the villageTtsetf was" a pile
of thirty or forty cuirasses and helmets, then an
other pile of the same. Further on, mixed up with
these 'trophies' of the hapless cuirassiers, we
eame on the signs ol disaster to a regiment or
lancets staves with red and white streamers
in all directions, lancer shakos, saddles, valises,
and tunics, blue laced with white. One would
think lancers and cuirassiers had all fallen together;
nut to wnarever regiments lance ana cuiaass be
longed, It was plain they had been routed and de
stroyed. One remarkable circumstance is this not
a cuirass was pierced by a bullet. J looked most
narrowly others did the same. And yet what had
been the rate or the wearers? That is a problem I
cannot solve, nor could any one else ; but it is plain
that the cuirassiers were annihilated. It is said that
one regiment charged a battery and got in among
the guns, but was smttten by the infantry on the
flanks with a leaden shower that beat them to the
earth never to rise again unhorsed, or dead and
wounaeu, tne unnurt an taken in a rew seconds.
As I said, this sort or work was visible ror quite two
miles along the road. The rain cleared np before
noon, and that must have been some little relief
from suffering to the wounded, who were still met
in carts. There were some with faces upturned,
cold and stiff, who cared no more for what the ele
ments mignt do. I snail dwell no longer on such
pcenes. There will, I fear, be many more of them,
and worse."
WAR'S BURIAL GROUND.
The Field of Forbach after the Klcht-IIow the
veaa were uuricu.
Another correspondent of the London Tinws,
writing from Saarbruck under date of August
8, says:
"When the troops had fairly left the place I fol
lowed them to the hills and watched them joined by
other troops from the neighboring encampments,
as, in an unbroken line, the main body made its
way towards Forbach. Parties or cavalry kept the
heights on the left and patrolled the forest on the
right; the Krankmt'agcr went across the hills,
where numbers of the dead were still lying, and
w hence the last or the wounded had only that morn
ing been removed ; but the army, as a whole, leav
ing eLcaiupments and masses or baggage
wagons on each side, marched on steadily
towards Forbach and St. Avoid, not, as the soldiers
believed, to stop ou its triumphant progress until it
came within sight or Metz. The heights command
ing the town, which the French had occupied for
some days after the atl'alr of the 2d, looked new
like the scene of a recent picnic Here a bottle,
there a piece or paper which might have enve
loped sandwiches or the butter-brod of the
country; there the remains of a wood-lire;
there the lid of a tin pot. Then more remains of
wood tires, more lids of tin pots, and broken bottles
innumerable. The sort of debrU that one sees
on a race-course the day after the race an idea
which is again suggested by a number of sticks still
remaining m the ground at a distance of fifty or
sixty yards ahead on the way to the Spicheren
heights. These are not sticks, however, they are
netdle-guos: and, approaching them, 1 pass from
false indications of peace to true Indications of war.
Where these needle-guns are planted in the earth
(with bayonets for roots) five Prussian soldiers have
fallen. 1 he men are burled ; but their arms, for this
day at least, are to be left here. A few yards ahead
there are three more of these needle-plants; then
nine, then a dozen : then close to a ridge where the
Prussian assailants thought they would ti nd cover.but
failed to do so, 27. Passing this ridge, and climbing,
not without diillculty, up the steep ascent, 1 find
knapsacks lying torn open on the ground, broken
accoutrements, battered helmets, blood-stained
clothes, and bodies rigid In the convulsions or death,
Prussians alone are to be seen here, and looking
down npon the plain I observe three different paths
of ascent marked, as if to show how dlillcult they
were, with needle-guns stuck in the turf. Every
man whoowued one of these muskets either died
cloBe to where his weapon stands as a sign, or, at
least, fell unable any longer to use it. The military
geology of the Spicheren heights can be clearly un
derstood. Alter the first needle-gun region, the
region of Prussian knapsacks and accoutrements;
then the region of the Prussian dead whom the
'dead burlers,' under the direstiun of the 'sick tend
ers,' have not yet been aide to remove; then the
first line of French dead, lying thick behind the
natural anil artillelal intreuchiueuts which, to the
last motpeut, protected them as they shot down, or
drove back, regiment after regiment of the advanc
ing, surprising Prusslaus; then Prussians and French
lyig mingled together on the summit of the mount;
then more French than Prussians, the French alone
lying across a lidge In the wood crowning the
heights, whose shelter a portion at least must
have sought, and of urn sought in vain; then,
on tie leit aide or the battle-field, looking
from Saarbrucken, nothing but grave, 'llier
rulcn in U,' says one Inscription, -iS
Preussen, C9 Kranzosen, Oral) No. 4.' 'Here rest
liicnds and foes together,' say another lns-irpuon,
6 Prussians, 11 Frenchmen.' I observed that the
words 'and foes' had by some charitable or philo
sophical person been marked out. The French,
even on their own Spicheren heights, were as if in
a foreign lan J; and the ground where they lay was
strewed with letters addressed to such a one, Camp
or Chalons, or such another at Metz, 'to be for
warded a la suite de ion regiment? I read several of
these letters, which were natural, and therefore,
under the circumstances, touching. All reproached
the French soldier, who apparently thinks less of
his relations than his relations think of him, with
not answering letters; and all are full of
assurances of affection. Some notified the
lnclosure of money, and there was
net one In which a sister or a mother expressed the
least satisfaction at the prospect of her brother or
her son dying for his country. 'Your friend, Louis
Batban,' says a letter from a mother or a private
soldier to her son, 'has proposed ror Modoste, Let
us know as soon as possible whether you accept him
ror your brother-in-law.' A certain number or
Frem h soldiers, whose knapsacks had been emptied,
seemed to have carried religions books with them,
generally or the simplest kind, from L Alphabet
Chretien upward. 1 saw an Atla du Theatre la,
Guerre lying by the side of one poor fellow, and by
the side of another a manuscript copy of the 'Air
des Djlnus' (andante con vioto), from Auber's 'Pre
mier Jour de Bonheur.' "
SECRET NEGOTIATIONS.
Count BlsmarcU on the "Project'' Relating to
Beldam.
Not content with divulging the projet which
appeared in the London Tim". of August 15 in
the Ojfflvial laz ite, Count Bismarck has com
municated it to the Powers. The note contain
ing it is as follows:
Berlin, Aug. 10. My telegraphic despatch to
the ambassador of the North German Confederacy
in London respecting the draft treaty published In
the I'imcaof the 2M.h ult. has Induced Count Bene
dettl to give his version or the origin or that draft
in the Journal Oflcicl de V Empire of the 30th ult. In
my despatch of the !M)th nit. 1 have given a more de
tailed account respecting the said draft and its bear
ing upon French politics generally; since which the
circular despatch of the Due de Gramcnt, dated
the 3d or August, has been communicated
to the world at large. In adverting to these
French utterances 1 have no intention to give
any reply to them ; the abundant matter they af
ford for criticism has been fully ventilated by
the press of all countries, France not excepted. The
only object of the present communication is to trans
mil you a fresh piece of evidence, and to request
yon to bring It to the cognizance of tho Government
to which you are accredited. If I have not made
nse of it before, this was owing to my reluctance,
even in a state of war, to drag the person or a mo
narch into the discussion or the acts or his ministers
and representatives, and also because, considering
the form or government which avowedly existed
in France np to the 2d ol January last, I was not pre
pared to hear that the draft treaty and the other pro
posals and arrogant demands alluded to In my des
patch or the 29th should have been submitted to mo
without the knowledge of the Emperor Napoleon.
But certain statements which appear in the latest
French utterances necessitate my having recourse
to a different line of conduct. On the other hand,
the French Minister or Foreign Ail airs assures us
that the Emperor Napoleon has never proposed to
Prussia a treaty having the acquisition of Belgium
for its object (que jamais I' timpereur Xapolenn n'a
propose a la 1'rutie un traite pour pretulre ponvnion
de la Ih Iniijue) ; on the other, Connt Benedettl gives
out that the draft treaty in question emanates from
roe; that all he bad to do with It was to put It on
paper writing, so to say, rrom my dictation (ci
tjur-lipte norte. .ion via diche), which he only did the
better to apprehend my views, and that the Emperor
Napoleon was made cognizant or tho draft only after
Its completion at Berlin. Statements such as tlieso
render It lndispensab'c ror me to make uso of a
means at my disposal calculated to support my ac
count or French politics and to strengthen the sup
position I have previously expressed respecting tho
nature or the connection between the Emperor and
his ministers, envoys, and agents. In the archives
of the Foreign Olllce at Berlin Is preserved a letter
rrom 'onnt Benedettl to me, dated August 5, 180",
and a draft treaty inclosed In that letter. ( !oplcs of
both are appended to the present communication.
The.oxUjfiiMaa.in i.'onaiiBensrttiia toandwritipg, I
shall submit to tho Inspection of the representatives
of the neutral powers, anil I will also send you a
photographic oc (iK'fc or the same. I beg to observe
thar, according to the Moniteur, the Emperor Napo
leon did pdss the tle from the 2sth
or July to the 7th or August, lStfil, at
Viehv. In the oilleial interview which
I had with I'ount Bpnedetti ln"consenueuce or this
letter, he supported his demands by threatening war
in cae of refusal. When I declinod, nevertheless,
the Luxemburg affair was brought upon the carpet,
and, after the failure of this little business, cime the
more comprehensive proposal relative to Belgium
embodied in Count Benedctti's draft treaty published
in the Tihiea. I request you to read this despatch to
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, aud to transmit to
blm a copy or a translation of the same, as also a
copy of the documents Inclosed. You will also be
good enough to lay before him a photographic fna
tiimile directly it comes to hand. On behalf or the
Chancellor of the Confederacy. Von Thii.k.
RAZAINE.
A Speech by the Freach Leader to bis "Chil
dren." A Paris journal publishes the followiug
speech, addressed by Marshal Bazainc to about
one hundred troopers when he went to inspect
the cantonments:
"My Children : 1 have but one fault to reproach
you with you tire too fast. At Welsseuburg, whero
your ammunition failed, you had what would have
lasted the Prussians three days. Let us reason to
gether a little. Where are we? Fall on our line of
detente. From Thiouville to Metz, and rrom Mctz
to Nancy we hold the ground. Behind this line
what have we? Another line, that or the Mouse.
Behind the Meuse what have we ? The Champagne,
a battle-Held that we know, do we not 7 After the
Champagne what have we still ? The Argonne. Do
you reiuemiier the Argonne? Do you remember
Valmy? The Prussians remember It, and that is all
I need tell you. And after the Argonne what do
we find? The network of rivers rendered illustrious
by the campaign or 1814, all the country intersected
by the Aisue, the Marne, the Aube, the Seine, and
even the Youne and the Armencou. Well, this Is
not all, ror behind Met,, behind the Meuse, behind
the Argonne, behind the Champagne, behind our
valleys or the Marne there is Paris, and behind Paris
France. France, that is to say, four million armed
citizens, a patriot heart in every breast, and a thou
sand millions in the treasury. Natubleu! it seems
hardly necessary to put on so many thicknesses of
st 11 if. Let us advanee gaily, without hurrying our
selves ; we have plenty of time."
It is needless to say that this harangue was
received with enthusiasm. All tried to take the
Marebal's hand. He took that of tho colonel,
shook it vigorously, aud continued the inspec
tion.
PRUSSIAN GENERALS.
Sketches of Those Who Were Wounded at
weerin ana rornuen.
In the desperate fighting at Woerth and For
bach, live German general oflicers were
wounded. Some account of these brave men,
who received wounds more or less severe, will
be interesting:
General Julius von Bose, commander of the lltli
Army Corps, was born in 18U9, and, in his youth,
was page at the Court of Weimar. In I8211 he be
came lieutenant, he was major in ISM, and in lSdO
was made full colunel of the 40th Fusilier Ucgtment.
Prussian regiments, it may be noted, consist or three
battalions, each having a commander whose rank
corresponds with that of lieutenant-colonel in our
army. The regiment, of course, is commanded by
one colonel. In the yearlSiil the subject of our brief
notice was major-general; and In the war with
Austria, in ImW, he was engaged in the battles of
Liebenao, Podo), Munchen;ratz, Konlggratz, Coil
ing, Holies, and Presburg. In the same year he was
raised to the rank of lieutenant-general, and re
ceived the Order of Merit which baa been, almost
as a matter of course, bestowed on each of the
generals whose names follow :
General August von Uoben, commander of the bth
Army Corps, which was warmly engaged at Sav
bruek, was born in IMS, and made lieutenant la
is '6. He took his discharge In the following year,
and for lour years next eusulng he served in the
Spanish army, rising; to the rank of lieutenant
colonel, and gaming several Spanish orders. In
l4i be re-entered the Prussian army as captain,
and iu 1849 he took psrt in the engagements in tiie
pfalz and Baden. In lso he became iuajur, and In
lswi colonel. Tlieo, in IsoO, he entered as a volun
teer the ranks of the Spanish army fighting against
Morocco, in; IhOl he was raised to the rank of gene
ral in the Prussian army, and in 1S64 be commanded
tnetth Ju'itrj rgie in the Danish war. In
ISM he fought at Dernitmch, Klsslngen, Ltnffaih,
Aschatienburg, Wcrbach, Tauberblschofsheim, and
Gcrshelm.
General Baron Albert von Itarnekow was bom - In
1809, and entered as lieutenant In 1829. In 1831 he
had attained the rank of major, and ho beoatne
General in 1864. He rought, in ism, at Trautenau,
Koniggratz, and Tobitachau, with mwsh distinc
tion. General Ferdinand Woir I.ndwlg Anton von
Stulpnagel was born in 1813, and became lieutenant
tu 13.11. lie was major In 1X64, colonel in imi, and
general In lsft, taking part lu the Austrian cam
paign or ISM as Head Quartermaster of the -id
army. He fought at Nachod and Konlggratz, aud
In 167 was made lieutenant-general.
General George Arnold Curl von Kamecko was
born lu 1SI7, was lieutenant of the 1st Kn;lneer
In ls!6, and a major in 16S. In the following yar
he was employed as Military Secretary wltn the
Prussian Ambassador nt Vienna, in iscd, as Chief
of the General Statf or the '2d Army Corps, he
fought at Podol, Gltschln, and Konlggratz, and ho
whs rals'd to the rank of lieutenant general lu
lSli.
NOTES OF THE WAR.
Incidents nt Woerth and Welenbnr.
M. Claretie, in the Cloche of August 13, men
tions some acts of heroism daring tho combats
of Wcisscnburg and Woerth. He says:
I think of those two gendarmes, who at Freusen
burp, with a root chasseur, when abandoned by the
army, rescued alone four cartloads of provisions
from a squadron of Uhlans. Poor simple heroes,
whose names will notbe known, and who returned
calmly to the soldiers, sayiug, "There is biscuit for
you !" I think also of those men of the 7U!t of the
line who In the wood of firs and birches at Slyrlng,
after driving tho Prussians from tree to tree, ft r
having killed heaps of the eueiny under the thick
shade, having at last used their cartridges, and being
without powder or ball, remained there to be slaugh
tered In their turn while marching with their bayo
dets only against the mitrailleuses. I think of that
regiment which, taken in Mank, imagined they saw
assistance in the mounted chasseurs coming to their
aid, and waved their caps in the air. They only dis
covered their error when they foand thotnselves
falliDg before the carbines and sabres of the Uhlans.
I think of that prophetic remark of a Sister of
Charity at Forbach, who said to me, pointing to the
wood, "I fear for the wounded under the
trees, which may take Cre. The Prussians
are there. I repeated these words to the
General, who said to her, "Go and look after your
wounded and do not concern yourself with my busi
ness." 1 can again see the skirmishers posted be
hind trees cut down to protect the retreat, firm, and
saying, "Hero we will die." I think I can Biill hear
the incessant aud fearful noise, always tho same
dull sound, like a heavy body ploughing Into a heap
of human flesti, that cUnif,vhnf, ol the mitrailleuses;
and those wounded calling for their mother; and
that little musician, who, dying, was asKlng, amid
his sobs, or all around, "Where Is the 77th, my poor
77th ?"
The Objects of the Prussians.
The J.ibtrtc is extremely Indignant at finding
that several journals at Berlin publish, as if by
common arrangement, au article which contains
the following passage: ,
The object of the war Is to break down French
pride and Indemnify Germany by aunextng Lorraine
to Bavaiia and Alsace to tin Grand Duchy or U vlen
erected into a kingdom, with strasburg for the
capital.
On this the Liberie remarks:
They avow It, then ! They are bent on humiliating
us still more; they are resolved to reduce our
territoiy. Alsace must become the pasture land of
the Grand Duke of Roulette, and Strasbjrg,- the
honest city, must be the capital of the gamblers,
having linden for its branch, nut let us reckon wltn
hmg William, and let no one any more be ignorant
of bis designs. To annex Lorraine to the kingdom
or uavana is to tear irot: rrance tneso iour
departments: tho Moso le, with Mctz, Thlonvllle,
and Sarregnemincs; the Metirthe, with Nancy,
Lnnevillc, aud Tout; the Meuse, with Bar-le-Due,
(Jonimercy, Montmedy, and Verdun: tho Vos
ges, with Epinal, Mirecourt, St. Die. To annex
Alsace to the Grand Duchy of Baden is to deprive
Franco of these two other departments the tias
lthln, with Strasburg, Saverue, tjchelestadt, Wis
semburg, Hiiguenau, tho Ilaut-Uhln, with Colmar,
Mtihlhansen.'Belfort, aud Altklrch. But In order thus
to pay the fiddling king who reigns at Munich and
the gambling one at Baden th price of their com
plicity, the armies of King William must first crush
thoi-e of Fiance. Let no one, therefore, feel any
Illusion. The struggle Is gigantic, de-slrilvo. The
downfall of France or that of Prussia will be the
result.
How the Urcat Parties of Russia Svmiuthlte.
A correspondent from St. Petersburg, in a
Prague journal, and reproduced after transla
tion in Paris, has the subjoined:
A war between France and Pmssia has been
looked for here ever since tho peace of Prague, bur,
no one thought that the conilict would burst out
just now. The most Influential party in Russia, that
is the slave or national, at the head of which is the
Cesarewitch, has declared for a - Franco-Russian
alliance, which, according to it, Is the sole one capa
ble of leading toa satisfactory solution of the Eastern
question. This great body, which includes among
its members General Fedejetr, sees In France a
powerful State, which has already solved the
Italian question in a sense favorable to Euro pa
and which would Und in Kussla an ally capsule
of helping her In preventing the equilibrium of
Europe from being destroyed. These opinions are
shared by the most Intelligent sections of the army,
of the aristocracy and the middle classes, so that we
have a right to hope that they will prevail in the end,
especially when it Is remembered that thfcy are ea
rrgetlcally represented by the future sovereign.
But, for the moment, the Grand Duke has a p Jtent
adversary in Prince Gortschakoir, who Is particu
larly desirous that linssia shall maintain the strict
est neutrality. The latter 's patty diners besides
from the national in that it has a great leaning to
wards Prussia. There is, then, every reason t be
lieve that if the Chancellor deems ll advisable to
mix up Russia in the Franco-Prussian conrtiet thm
party will do all in its power to conclude an alliance
between Russia aud Prus&la.
A .llllltary Parallel, 18H-ISJ0.
The London Daily 'Tilt graph thus contrasts
the present military situation with the close of
the campaign of 1614:
In the campaign of 1S14, the headquarters of
Napoleon 1 were lirst fixed at Chalons; there, acting
upon his interior lines, with a verve and a courage
searly, we fear, to be expected of his nephew, he
struck his blows light aud left at Schwarlzenberg
and st Blucher, In the glorious retreat ihroogu
Champagne. It must be borne in mind, however,
that in 1M4 the French armies were totally ex
hausted; Marshals who had commanded corps of
iou,owj men found themselves at the head or one
tenth of thslr former force; aod the youths
who pressed into the old cadre aril died
bravely at Brlenue und La K-jthlere,
were very much what the present Uim en luamo
might furnish, ir it could be carried out in time to
stop the resolute Invader. But in W l the enemy
had already turned the Freuch position, and ad
vanced deep into the country, before he could he
checked : the lines or the Vosgcs, or the M jsel'e,
and or the Meuse had been abaudoned without a
blow ; 200,000 Prussians, Austrians, and lijssians,
converging from Cobleutz on tho north and from.
Geneva on the south, hud made it simoly inip Hsiole
that the 80,000 men whom at the utmost Napoleon
could command, should do more than t'g'it a good
retreating battle towards Paris.
TbeCrand Duke of f lease.DarmsiHdi to Ilia
Trootis.
The Grand Duke of Hessc-DarmsUdt issued
the following proclamation to bis troops:
Soldiers: The rapidity of events has not permit
ted me to see you all before the struggle wXoU is
commencing to thank you for your joyous ardor In
delense of our just cause. Mymostarduutwisr.es
accompany you. Kemember tho glory which the
HesMau flag has always acquired. Show yourselves
woithyof the great duties you have to a j .oHip'lsii
under the celebrated (Jtmerul in Chief of the Con
federation. Victory is yours :
Baxalue to be Depended On.
A correspondent, writing from Metz ta the
Jh buts, before the terrific battles of wck before
last, says:
Ma.-slial ltazulne Is a man to be depended upon;
he knows the Prusslau tactics; he is aware that they
do not show themselves in the plains, that they scout
perfectly, that they place themselves in ambush as)
sharpshooters In the woods of France, tne smallest
paths of which are as familiar to them as to the
goatherds and woodmen of the department, for they
have been studying the map of the country for
twenty years; he understands that tiiei proceed by
enormous concentration ; iud he HI act lu cousiv
quence. He is capable of repairing at a single blow
all the fanlta coaiumted ; the army is eouvin.iod i)jt
he will eo so, and 1 share ttut opinion.