LONDON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2802, 30 January 1871, Page 3

LONDON.

(fkom our own correspondent. ) 1 . . December 2nd. ' ; "Iffy Hast letter left M. Thiers on his ■ ■way to! Versailles to negotiate an armis- . tice. _ That cleverest and: most engaging Hpf.political.Frenchmen was sanguine that, notwithstanding his failures at London, ; St. Petersburg, and Vienna during the !' month, to grow peacercucumbers out of moonbeams of .the salon, he would i '■'be able^tp -wheedle or taunt 'M. Bismarck : into., allowing Paris to be victualled for i three weekß, ior the purpose of allowing time for a.. National Assembly throughout France, hi the hope that when it met it .»mightbe brought to listen to practical terms for the ending of the war. The 'German Chancellor received the little man with the utmost affability, and even "empressement, and elated with the consciousness that l;all Europe was listening = at thfi*key-hole-te catch the least whisper of tho /important; colloquy carrying on within, the excitable and intensely self--conscious, historian of "The Consulate.' «hd!theEmp^'exertedhimself, of course, tp^the.utmost!; aridhe wrote to M. Jules ?Fav|ce things looked well. M. •-Bismstr'ck'" talked Up and down the whole question of the war ; its provocations ;i: and : its results ; the diffi--«jilties_;o'C ending it; and the need -of ..guarantees against .its !speedy re•aeww.; But-when all had been said and repeatedhalf a -dozen times over in the <varipus forms-that could be said on either •aide, the simple question was put'by the inexorable Prussian Minister^-What are we offered as aninducement or consideration for the; three weeks' revictuallirig of 1 Paris? And to this question BL Thiers, beneath a cloud of sparkling phrases, <-could only reply-^Nothin^, save the pos--sibiUty that a,National Assembly sitting would be more likely to agree to *the <!oriditions of peace than a Council of -Ministers, locked up in Paris with a population the most suspicious, impulsive, and pitiless in the world./. Whereupon the sardonic Chancellor bowed his visitor ■out;, and poor M. Thiers, having exJuusteidthe whole of his budget of diplomatic eloquence, withdrew to report his final failure to the Republican Executive, and then to" depart for Italy in search of -much needed repose. 3fc isa^curious fact that throughout the •^hole of;the.disastrous period which has elapsed sipceihe surrehderof Sedan, not a single^ Frenchmen of any, note, from 4he captive- of Wilhelmshohe to the ihumblest -scribbler in a local print, has "ventured to 'suggest seriously that'his •countrymen should consent to the surrender of Paris or of Alsace and jlJoraaine._...During .the first week vof'.November- the onward tide of invasion continued without check. At length the clouds opened: the army pf the; Loire, under Aurelles de Paladines, of 'whom nobody in this country had ever l&eard before, surprised and overpowered •<m the 9th November the German corps raider G-erieral Yon der Tann, and effected "the deliverance of Orleans, which had :%een; occupied by the Germans for the 'fortnight preceding. The youthful general wasf proclaimed by some a hero, by others a heaven-sent deliverer, and by the .gossips' pf Brussels to be no other than "the Comte de Parisserving under a norn -de guerre. Orleans being Uttle more than '60 miles from Paris, prognostics of an immediate advance of the victorious Army -of the Loire to raise the siege, occupied the public mind for some days. Yon der Tann fell back a dozen leagues to await and when th'esfe arrived, ;ander the Grand Duke.of Mecklenburg, •everybody anticipated what was called the burning of the tables, the resumption of the offensive by the Germans, and the second capture of Orleans. But for strategic reasons, hitherto unexplained, these •movements have not yet taken place. On ' the other hand, Aurelles de Paladines has aiot moved northward. Yesterday we had sews, the details of which are still doubtful, of a partial encounter between the two armies, of which the advantage is reported to have been with the Germans ; but public attention has been too much 'engrossed with more important events -during the last forty-eight hours to pay much heed to the matter. At an early 3iour the day before yesterday, the longpromised sortie in force from the beleaguered capital took place. A hundred thousand men under General Ducrot suddenly emerged from the south-weßtern forts, and crossed the river Marne. Every arrangement had been made with -consummate skill and care to render the movement effective ; small steamers on the river and ironclad railway carriages -containing picked riflemen having been brought into requisition to aid the raking fire from Mont ValSrien and Fort d'lssy, the beleaguerers, taken unawares, were ■driven from their entrenchments with «evere loss. The elan of the old army of 1793 seemed to bave at length revived, and it was not until immense reinforcements could be concentrated upon each side of the Fontainebleau road that

. the onslaught of Ducrot was checked. . Night fell before the contest terminated ; and what happened precisely afterwards is not uj> to this hour explained. We have conflicting accounts by telegram from Versailles and Tours, each expressive of exultation at "a great success." In general the Prussians have had the credit ■of speaking the truth in.all their official i and military announcements; while the lesa fortunate 'French have had lamentable temptation to palliate and falsify the dismal details of the war. But of late there would seem to be a departure * from this line of distinction. The Ger- , mans perhaps have caught the infection ) during their prolonged residence in the land of pleasant lies, and we read i;o-day with incredulity of marvellous feats of 1 valour, causing frightful " destruction of ' the enemy;" and the capture of multi- • tudes of prisoners in the neighbourhood .of Paris yesterday, with a wholly insignificant los 3on the part of the victors. The fact is that one begins; to suspect that I the Prussian telegram-makers are tired of their moral self -denial; and that they think with Talleyrand that there would be no use in earning at prodigious sacrifice a character for truthfulness, if you are never to indulge in the luxury of lying at discretion when it Buited you. Be this as it may, it is certain that the exploits of Aurelles de Paladines and : Ducrot will have an incalculable effect in I reviving despondent France; and in :. quickening the impatience,pf King Wil- ; Ham and his Ministers to get home to ; Berlin before Christmas. The Crown! ! Prince and Count Bismark/ who agree; jin nothirig else, are alone upon this > point, that the sooner the sanguinary \ reckoning of 1870 is wound up the better. | The weather has at last become a serious: I element_in the calculation. The bulk of ; the besieging army have indeed been ; placed, under cover at night; but a. very •j large proportion are necessarily compelled to keep watch at outposts, or in the trenches; and no gallantry, or discipline ; enable riieri unacclimatised to hardship of this kind, to .endure it without great loss of bodily health and vigour. The Prussian troops ; are deserving of the highest praise, not only for their courage .and \constancy in danger, but for their amiability; temperance, and general good conduct^ iri carhp arid'ori the march. But they have never before lain all night in the open in November; and rip amount of royal flourishes of King William to his beloved Queen (whom he detests),: and no amiability of tone in-the ; general orders from headquarters, or • votes, pf gratitude from municipalities oh • the Elbe and Spree, will keep off ague; dysentery, and typhus.;: " It's time tobe ! ganging hame,^-as ; the ; Highlander,said at Derby in 1745: The recent triumphs •of the French in the field how constitute ; the greatest difficulty ih the way of accoinjmodatipni? The Gaul has once more his •heMJn the air. He thinks of Valmy and i Jemappes^ and believes that his destiny is jtohurlback'theinvader, and achieve immortal renown^ /.. / ;The three per cents underatahdthe!matteraccufateiy,andgbhomev to a gloomy dinner whenever there is news of a Frerich:success---h6t that! they.care politically ;who rwins, but because ! they want peace somehow or ariyho^j.arid their notion, has long been that the only road to that divine consummation of profitarid, advantage without work, is that the heart of French resistance should be thoroughly broken,- and the sooner''the better;- A number of minor encounters have occurred the week, at various points, and with the usual checkered results; but the; upshot bf all: at the present - momenta-is! -that renewed' pluck and; spmethirig^of •';the/;old-Beltrestraint apj-! pears to have gradually been infused into the provincial levies, while unabated:; confidence _in Trochu prevails ih Paris. The inhabitants of the beleaguered city have, up to the present time, felt nothing of the real horrors of a siegel They have plenty of. bread and. wine, coffee, sugar, salt, and medicine, to carry them through another couple bi months blTemhargd. Fish, fruit, and yegetables are no longer thought of. Eggs and milk are scarce and dear, but salted meat is still obtainable at a moderate price, and prime horse and donkey by those who can pay for them. ; All the rest is rhetoric. .;, : The Germans have now been encamped round the walls of Paris more than two months,, and for their part show theriiselves ready to remain in the same position for another two months. In August the men were as sanguine of being quickly ih Paris as the French were of marching straight to Berlin, and taking up their quarters in the town. Then the triumphant entry was to take place in "ten: days," in a month, and finally it has been deferred from day to day, until it begins to be very: doubtful whether! they will get in at all. We do not know what the! men's individual feelingsare; we can only surmise that their hearts yearn towards home> from which they have -been kept away so! much longer than they anticipated. "But wei do know that sickness has been rife airiongst them, and that! the discontent is very general at the protraction of the siege, and the fear that dysentery and lengthened exposure to the weather, more than the enemy, may prevent many of them ever returning. Notwithstanding, they still stubbornly cling to the hope of crowning the sum of French humiliation by taking possessionof their capital; and there is not a man. in the army -now encamping outside on the wet ground who would not consider all his past sufferings recompensed thereby. Within the city itself there is an equally determined spirit of resistance., Come what may they swear they will rather endure martyrdom than submit to the profanation of their, holy! city by the barbarous Germans. As if we had not enough of foreign com^ motion to distract us just how, an em- i broglio has arisen most unexpectedly with i Russia. On the 19th October, without a previous word indicative of discontent or ! hostility, Prince Gortschakoff addressed a circular despatch to the representatives of the Czar at foreign ports, announcing his resolution to hold himself no longer bound by the provisions of the treaty of 1856, which forbid the renewal of the fortifications of Sebastopol, or the appearance of i a Russian fleet in the Black Sea. The trivial pretexts bf infraction on the side ;of the Turks, who permitted the Prince .of Wales and two or three other royal i personages to.make a cruise of pleasure - beyond the Bosphorus during their visit to the East, can hardly be treated of ■ seriously. Nor is there much more semblance of justification in the plea that six . years ago England, Frauce, Italy, and: Austria acquiesced in the elevation of i Prince Charles of Hohenzollern to the hereditary Bospodorate of Moldavia and i Wallachia, contrary to the murmured » disapproval of Russia -and the formal l protest of the Porte. It would have been i easy for the Czar to have prevented the t elevation of a cadet of the House of Bran- ; denburg to the Danubian Principality by the exercise of his simple veto, which no t one would have cared to dispute. But in truth the matter was allowed to pass over in silence by the Western Powers, because they believed Russia and Prussia to be in accord about the matter. To . make this the excuse therefore for tearing it up a fundamental European treaty is a

reckless tampering with public faith not to be disguised. What is felt to be still worse is the doing so without consultai tion, conference, or concert; and the asserting therefore the absolute right of one :of the great Powers to fling its engagements to the winds whenever it may , feel itself strong enough to do so. This is in fact to. set up once more i the naked lawlessness of barbarism instead of any modification of international comity. Lord Granville's : reply of the 10th November has been uni- ; versally approved in this country and abroad, meeting the case with firmness and point, _ though sheathed in the language of diplomatic courtesy. To submit passively to such a notice of an intention to'-violate • the standing law of Europe, would indeed be incompatible with any sense of self-respect on the part of a great country. The Cabinets of Vienna and Constantinople have subsequently addressed notes identical in substance to that of St. Petersburg. Prince Gortschakoff's rejoinder was received in. London a week ago. In it there is no retractation of the open threat to break the treaty; but amid many protestations of a desire for the maintenance of general peace, there is an empty profession.of willingness to agree to a Conference of the great Powers, to be assembled as soon as convenient, to overhaul and recast existing engagements. .To this, Lord Granville haa despatched an answer agreed > io at a meeting of Ministers on Monday; last, but which will hot be given to thepublic until there shall have been timefor it to reach its destination. The story' is- that Count Bismarck was taken by sur- ■ prise, not at the substance of the Russian • manifesto, but at its appearance while his j : hands were too; full to meddle with "it. The." belief is that .during. the: visit of Prince Gortschakoff to the German baths early in the summer, the intentions of the Muscovite. Government; were confidentially disclosed ; but ho time for their realisation being named, the Chancellor had made up his mind that nothing would be at tempted, for ; some time to come. He is known to be greatly disconcerted at the Russians haying giyen him the Blip. He; counted upon being a necessary party to the 1 coup whenever it should ibe made, and: upon thereby being "enabled; to 7 make: his own terms of {furtherance orfrustrations Desirous of recovering / somewhat^this power, he; has interposed with anCoffer"of. a European Gongress, toiwhich Alexander 11. agrees,"because he is riot yet ready to carry his menace of,brute-force r .into operation!;buthe altogether declines to withdraw, theinehace;: •: The consequence : is, that we', shall be; obliged to augment : our military.; and.naval-: estimates for'thecoming yeair,; andl practically to put tip with the affront. ..!The Turks themselves prepared for the fight, and want to begin. They have undoubtedly a strong navy with which they could in a fortnight sweep the Euxine bf'the iin^ J armoured marine, of. their;, dangerous neighbour Btit of course it is not ithe policy of England., or Austria that Smope' should.; be; , avenged in this fashion," leading "aa it Would probably do to the of a general war. Among our 'own Ministers there is known to be a difference of opinion on the course that ought to be pursued; when: all meahs: :of "expostulation shall have been exhausted, and Russia persists, asshe seems : bent upon doing,-in asserting her right "to break' treaties at will. Mr Lowe, who iSjthottght to meditate going in for the leadership of the Manchester partyi now that OlMx Bright is laid aside and Messrs Yilliers and Gibson no longer take any active political part, advocates entire and non-intervenr tion; while Mr Gladstone! and the majority of the Cabinet, sustain Dord Grainville.;'/-. ;.-/'■ : 7-- a- ■■' }We have been much occupied these last few days in London by the first elections to the new Schoolßoard.^ .tThder the provisions of the statute of last session, forty-nine personsare to be chosen every three years t6! constitute an Education Council for the .Metropolis. : The Council is to have a power of -taxing the whole of the rateable property of liohdohV which amounts to eighteen millions sterling/ for the creation and support of Primary Schools. It was decided by Parliament that the elections should be taken by way of ballot,: and the further experiment was to be tried of enabling each /elector to ;. cumulate his votes in favour of any one candidate' he might prefer, or to distrl-. \ bute theioa, in any proportions he pleased. The last-named proposition was made by ;;Mr J. S. Mill, when the last Reform Act waspassing, but itwas fejectedon the vehement opposition^of Mr Bright. WhenprpposMlast sessiph by Lord SVed. Cavendish it was'likewise resisted by many Liberals, but Mr Bright, being .absent the rest of his colleagues agreed to it, and to-day we have its first fruitsi It has enabled two ladies, four Roman; Catholic gentlemen, seven clergymen, three dissenting ministers, and a Catholic priest to obtain seats in the new Municipsd Council of Education, whereas under thel old system of voting it iB not probable that any of these would have been;retumed. For the rest, the members elected are fair representative specimens of the different classes,; ; creeds, and callings that make up the ■ metropolitan community. The secularists ; make but a poor show, having only been able to secure seats, for Professor Huxley and four or five partisans of minor note. Anglican churchmen are the strongest element in the Board. But these comprise men of the widest diversity of political and social views. In Liverpool and Bradford Education Boards were elected last week by mutual compromise without resort to .poll. At Manchester, there was a stiff fight, resulting in the two Roman Catholic candidates being returned by the: highest numbers, through the instrumentality of : the cumulative vote.; In London, Miss Garrett, who is by professibn a. physician, ■ has b,een returned for ! the division :of . : Maryleboneby 47,000 votes, each of her [ supporters there being able to record i Beven suffrages in her favour.. This,, to I the common sense <of the community, , Beems Bomewhat ridiculous. But the -" lady is an amiable, learned, humane, and i useful person, who has long employed.her--3 self profitably and philanthrppically in . curing the diseases of women and children, b and popular feeling is decidedly in favour 1 of her being chosen as a member ofthe c Board. The other lady, Miss Emily t Davies, resides at Blackbeath, an dis known £ to be an intimate friend of Mr J. S.; Mill, - to whose advocacy she is much indebted." x: for her return. Miss Davies is a woman lb of long-standing in the literary and eduif cational world, and is highly respected by i- all who know her. d Ireland remains quiet in the strait d waistcoat made for her by Parliament.last il session. Cardinal Cullen alone ventures n to indulge in the luxury of a popular dee monstration. He has had a numerous 1- gathering held in the Metropolitan y Church in DuMin, to denounce the King 10 of Italy and his Ministry and army for n taking possession of Rome. The Pope's js Encyclical is everywhere translated and s, circulated, in which he solemnly excomia municates Victor Emmanuel, and all his 'o aiders and abettors. For Borne unassigned ig reason His Majesty, does not seem to __ relish tha nation ni taking uoSHeaaion of

the long-coveted national capital; and it is not clear when the Parliament of Italy will be summoned to meet in theQuirinal. The Republican party in all the great towns grumble audibly; and the ferment is deemed so formidable that six clerical newspapers have been suppressed for publishing the provoking Encyclical. Spain: has at last got a king, in the person of Prince Amadeus, Duke of Aosta, second son of the King of Italy. He was elected by 193 votes in a full assembly of the Cortes, and forthwith proclaimed lawful successor to the Grown of Ferdinand the Catholic, and Charles the Fifth. The populace of Madrid heard the announcement in moody silence, and fierce threats of resistance and rebellion are reported as frequent among both Carlist and Republican sections. Meanwhile the Regent has sent a brilliant deputation to Florence to offer the young Prince the diadem, and a squadron is waiting at Genoa to convoy him to his new dominions. ' Treaties have been signed during the past month between Prussia on , the one hand, Wurtemberg, Hesse, Darmstadt, Baden, and Bavaria on the other, whereby the command "of their military forces in time of war.' or external danger is vested in the executive head of the North German Confederation. In other words, these hitherto independent States have been annexed to the Prussian Empire, their Princes being still allowed: to play their accustomed parts in the! eoinedy^ of kingcraft, arid! to levy such internal taxes as they may thirik fit. But, to all European intents and purposes, they have become absorbed in the unity of Germany, against which nothing now holds brit but the Austrian Empire. The belief gains ground that at the close of the war with France, King William will assume the style and title bf Emperor of the Germans!; 'v!.?! The rumour is again revived that the policy of Prussia strongly leans to a Napoleonic restoration. Three hundred thousand French visitors are rather more than enough of a good thing now that the eclat of their- capture has /gone by ; and for^ purposes of pc ace and quiet on the Rhine, Count Bismarck thinks that nothing would suit so well as a damaged Bonapartist dynasty: mi France. I have myself believed for many weeks that the permission granted to Napoleon 111. to keepabout him a great! staff of civil and iriilitary/; functionaries at 1 Wilhelmshohe had the: execution! of this design for his object. _ The Empress Eugenic continues to reside at Chiselhurat, where the Queen recently paid her a visit. Her Majesty had not long returned from Balmoral, and the .public are greatly pleased at this proof of continued sympathy for her old friend of happier days. Theyoung prince has also found a friend in Princei Arthur, who is now quartered with his regiment at Woolwich, and they of ten exchange visits. The Prince Imperial.is said to take great interest in the narratives of travel and adventure which his royal compeer relates to him; a-ndthe pikes and other trophies taken; from the Fenians in {Cahadaarela epristant source of admiration to /him. Since her return from,-, Wilhelmshoh^,. where she' only/.remained/one!day^ the Empress has. maintained more strictly than ever the quiet privacy which adds so much dignity to the misfortunes of her family; ; The seclusion of Chiselhurst is r greatly favourable to-this desire for privacy, and the noble exiles are spared the awkward but, well-meant expressions of sympathy with which they;were continually assailed at Hastings.