The Aberdare Times

FIRIM MERRINESS AT BERLIN. led to be up and out when the declaration of war Berlin (writes a correspondent), and thus could o first impression of this startling announcement ople. At the corner of Unter den Linden and street, ft popular meeting-place in times of political t, like'the Boulevard Montmartre, in Paris, mere ,housand people, in spite of the lateuess of the gathered iu an instant, who formed groups listen- ions who read the news aloud. The news was, that msieur Benedetti had informed Kirig William that ipold's renunciation was not enough, and that he vite the King to authorise him to state to the that the King was ready to bind himself down rwards to Wrinit a Prince of the House of Hohen- ascend the Spanish throne. The first impression traorainary communication, with a crowd that was composed of all classes of society and ilitieal parties, was one of utter amazement. the peculiar local turn of mind broke out ldless merriment. It was so noisy and so it the King's reply was hardly hoard. Everybody know what it was instinctively. Some indulged al witticisms One man took another by the throat My neighbour's daughter loves your nephew. ve nothing to do with her but if you do not de- he never shall marry her, I will knock you down." > ued the public from a form—" Ladies and gentle- Ba.id, you are quite in the dark about what l wa»f. Are you not ? I can tell it you in con- have sown my wild oats in Paris. They them- it a Hrihpczollern. Tney gru' ge the Spaniards good ltick. And why should they not get a ?m ? If tiiat favour has been bestowed Roumains to bring them peacefully to why not bestow it upon the French 1" QUiiother from the cro^,i, it Is not that. Ic is it all. It la the eclipse ot the moon which took irdry evening. They thought pismarck had kid- that was too Wild." "But noseriously," i a third, let us deliberate upon what we are to do. l wish to impose a Jting upon Spain. That this is ) they know from experience. They know thai fide Spain they will have itt Je&st one of their and then we mightinteifere with the other and m Thus they think it safer to get over affairs with Even if the King had consented to bind bjmselt would have insisted perhaps upon two sureties. hess u!l been found they would have declared aUcient" In this style the public conversation f a conside*aiil0 time. ,Ate of this (futb».r^t of grim merrinesa, there can t that the Prussian paople, as a whole, the Govern- cceptod, lock with sadbass upon the prospect of at war The country is not rich, and hasnardly ed from the efforts made in 1880. Nature ever lot been so propitious to the conquorpr of Köuig- thevacq uiahedL Industrial enterprie. has m^ mriu i>t reverses. Besides, the Isortn Crejtiijau lon ir ^ter ^l ronly in it* infancy. Just now s. •"construction of political parties, which is going d to give good hopes of a consolidation of constitu- FsneciaUy the Conservatives and t fee landed ans- nea? to be in the way of becoming a sincerely nal party. Everybody feels that a great war must ill this again in jeopardy, and throw bs^k the pro- jional wealth. This is what to-day is heard on all « an apprehension of defeat, however, it does not xlsfc anywhere. If the French Government are upon Southern Germany separating ipon Austria availing herself of the opportunity for hey are, people think, reckoning without their re is a German proverb which says, A French- >eing who wears laioustache, and does not know The meaning is, tfaat the ways of thought of ,115 are and remain an ineers table mjstery to the

•ARTURE OF PRUSSIANS FROM LONDON. rdinary and exciting scene occurred on Saturday Charlng-cios8 station on the departure of the mail ie Continent. About 30 Germans left for Berlin army, and were accompanied to the station by of their countrymen. Their leave-taking had to d at the gate which Jeads to the departure plat- n. e of the young men's friends left the small e th gate, where they presented a compact mass, ned to remain till the train actually departed. The iors seathemselves quietly In the carriages, acarce.'v a word exchanged between any one of icpmpd Oidn/ly resolute, like men prepared to per- dntv Amongst them were some men of 'B^sr^sfft £ tjsstst £ st er was raised by the mass before the gate. srthea train left the friends at tfate rang»:Die Rhein and the young men cj-i«id Hurrah, hadnot bean recalled by tiwur Goverru^nt but r own accord. The enthusiast which an^iUed itcers is a significant sign, aiid a strong proof that ssian side devotion and ear^estnesn Will not be

EFFECT OF THE WAR AT SOUTHAMPTON. SOUTHAMPTON, July 17. ice has been received here tnat a ^nnh trigate between St Alban's Head and the Needles, lie lamer Leitmc, carrying the Prussian flag, which ,ckn here yesterday with passengers and cargo, Baltimore., biLS been detained in Southampton is expected that the passengers and cargo will be and forwarded to the United States via Liverpool lence of the declaration of war between France tL The Union Company's steamer Dane has been nd secretly chartered, and she ieft this port yester- ualed orders. Large quantities of preserved provi- ships' stores are passing over the Western n their wav from thfa port to Chertioarg, Pre- are beine made for the reception of a larga a»?.- of the passenger and cargo frafflc to aiid from the -it, China, West Indies and Brazil by the South- all packets, in consequence of tlw war, and the travelling and shipment in tha French mail > and from those ports No Prussian or French e attacked or captured within three leagues 6f this '< Prussian and French ships of war enter boutt,- xr. the ships of one nation can only leave after of hours has elapsed from the departure of the oth, V nation,

B UH?TYIN(J HOME rnincement ot" a declaration of war was received reat.est COil cern and .istonishment on Friday even- orfnrt Cardiff, and the? Other South Wales ports, ro wprn a large number of French and German the former more particularly. The Garman Con- Vice-Consuls at the ports received telegrams ilTrVrmaiis to return home immediately, and, ill iu ueiuiB■ d. the masters and crews of many of th's c gojn roe need tli»ir journey to Father- ?ir'Yvessels aro^Teft fceMnd, will no doubt ere Ihey are until the war is over.

READY FOR THE FIGHT The Germans will meet them in a spirit becoming the magnitude of the stake, (writes The Times' Berlin Correspon- dent) Thanks to the incessant provocations of the French Government, they have been thoroughly warmed to the work in hand. Since 1840, when M. Thiers asked for the Rhine frontiers, they have by all the successive Governments of France been trtated as a people whose political insignificance must be prolonged at any cost, if France was to be happy. They have long patiently endured the taunts and wrongs inflicted by their neighbours. As is their habit, they did not much complain, while unable to secure redress Of late they had hoped that ia their steady progress towards unity they had already become too formid- able to be wantonly attacked. They were also too confi- dent in the civilised spirit of the age to suppose a nation like the French would resort to bloodshed to prevent Its neigh- bours from arranging their own concerns. Seeing that they have been mistaken in both these assumptions, they feel that a day of reckoning has come, and will do their duty with a will. As proud and patriotic men they are resolved to avenge the past and make the future secure as peaceful, industrial, and cultivated citizens they cannot help looking upon the legions assembling on their frontiers as upon barbarians pre- paring for arazzia Oue determination to ward off and punish this crying tin prevails in all parts of Germany. In the North it is a stern desire for action in the excitable South the feeling is a more fiery one, and if not universal, it per- vades such a vast majority of the people as to impose all but absolute silence up)n the Ultramontanes, the Republicans, and other fractions of the Antt-Union party. Whatever re- membrances of 1866 may have been lingering in men's minds, they are now submerged in a common hatred of the insulting foreigner. Carried away by the current, the Bavarian, Wtirtemberg, and Baden Governments have already an- nounced their formal resolution to stand with Prussia, and join the Northern Confederacy for better for worse.

PROBABLE CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. The probable consequences of the war are too serious for us to fold our arms and watch the contest as if it were no more than a great military spectacle. The French invasion of Germany is hardly likely to be a mere promenade. We must expt-ct some tremendous fighting, and possibly the defeated party may only gather fury from its calamity, and return to the campaign more obstinate than ever. The combatants are not unequally matched. We tal:e it for granted that the Soath German States will join Prussia, since whatever bitterness they may cherish on account of the policy of Berlin in 1866 will be removed when that Power stands forth as the cham- pion of the national independence. Bavariahas already cast in her lot with Prussia, though the Bavarian Rhine Province will probably have to bearthe first shock of the war. >\ Urtem- berg has mobilized her army and convoked her Estates. The first shot fired on the Rhine may unite Germany, possibly for ever; and should thi* be accomplished the French would have to face a great nation of forty millions, united by a spirit of the strongest patriotism, stung.by a sense of insult and injury, and knowing that what they may lose in this war can never be recovered. On the other hand, the French are nearly forty millions also, and they have the advantage of more concentrated national power. Although the leadership of Prussia is now established, a large portion of the German army will enter on the campaign in the character of allies rather than of soldiers of King William. This gives a certain superiority to France which the Germans will have to com- pensate by the energy and devotion of their service. So far for the two main combatants but we cannor, hide from ourselves that there is a real danger that the war may overpass the limits of the now hostile Empires. Holland and Switzerland are taking measures to preserve their neu- trality. The latter need not be much troubled but Hol- land lie;! unpleasantly near the chief field of operations the Rhine, the object of this aggression, meets the sea within her limits, and the House of Bonaparte has not ceased to remember that the Netherlands were once de- partments of the Empire. The position of Belgium is even more a cause for anxiety; but we will not ent-.er on a dis- cussion the bare reference to which has something ominous. We will rather call attention to the great Continental Power which can throw such a prodigious weight into the scale on either side. Austria has eight millions of German subjects; and tllough they are now politically separated from tb" Fatherland they cannot forget their real identity with the nation which France is attacking. Then the Hungarian Liberals though no admirers of Berlin, are likely to sympathise with the German people in a war of national defence. Considering these two Important facts, it would seem im- possible for the Viennese Court to follow its anti-Prussian instincts so far as to join France; indeed, there may be a strong pressure exerted in the contrary direction. If the war lasts, Austria may move; but for the present Germany must bear the shock alone. Behind all these is the vast and disi figure of Russia, which may at any time emerge with a clearaF I'{;ht, and show an unsuspected strength. But this name brings us to speculations which are at least premature In the flrtt days of the war it is enough to hint at con- tingencies, and any of our readers who have followed the course of Continental affairs will recognize how important are the temper and designs of the Powers we have mentioned at a time when their alliances are so valuable, and are likely to be purchased at the very highest price.-The Times.

THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CONTEST. When the memory of Jena is invoked so loudly at Paris, we (Daily News), are tempted to observe that if the armies of France are no longer commanded by generals like Soult, Davoust, Ney, and the great Napoleon, neither are those of Prussia now left to such captains as the Duke of Brunswick and Prince Hohenlohe. The heroes of Mexico and China, with the illustrious Duke of Magenta, are doubtless com- manders of rare skill aud merit; but the Prussian comman- ders and the strategist who directed the Bohemian campaign four ago are thought to have exhibited great military aDtitude.. We shall see numerous demonstrations, both real and feipued, ?Pade along a very extended line then & rapid concentration of troops by railway, as at Magenta, Oil the very eve øf an attack; then a battle. in this ffame however, all the advantage will not be with the in- vaders. The Prussians will know all their movements as fast as they are made. Their intelligence service was excellent in Bohemia, and every important fact will reach their head Quarters by tlxe telegraph wires. The French would be the last to deny that, invade Prussia wherever they may, ihey will find a brave army a Patriotic nation. We may treat as idle and superficial the talk of short and brilliant campaigns. Many things which no one suspects will happen as the war proceeds but of this we may be assured, that we are about to witness a contest the like of which has not been seen since the glare of the first French Empire was quenched in blood.

THE FRENCH FLEET, The French authorities always profess to make a great mystery about their ironclads, their number, tonnage, guns, iiiiskness of armour-plating, <Ss. ButIt is only outsIders who are mystified. Everything which the French are doing and have done is & £ well known not only at Whitehall, but also at Vienna, Berlin, Si- Petersburg, as it is at Brest or L'Orient, Cherbourg, or l'oulon. t'W l rench have now on their list of ironclads fifty-one vessels, forty-five of these are finished and atsea or could be at sea within a mouth, si* are build- ?" j ljtely to be finished within the nest two years, nfgtwe vessels no fewer than thirty-six are wooden vessels Of these vessels no aJ>mour only eleven are built ra/;ee^nnroS only one. the Marengo, is composite, with a entirely of iron y^ o( wood coated with armour. The frame o f ir°.. i. b ilt vessei is the Courronne, which cost most costly trem-a 000 The most costly in the whole for hull and flttttigs £ 1. Donderberg), which the fleet is tho Mochambeavs (lite tne ^^e French bought from thi0 £ 440.000 is to this day re- £ 480,000 for her, of which amount* the Donderberg gretted in French nautical Circles. n80 Ooo. The came also the Onondaga, which w.a.8 whe Freneh have ever three most formidable vessels which wtjch were Swwdttelh eColben Trident, Bister- begun Isisfc December at Toulon. The first armour, ships of £ .314 tynji. 320 feet long, coated with 8 and intended a £ p,st6i)t to carry thirty ^ut of The Richelieu it. to to of fchp came length and armou dg 7,180 tons. These vessels vitl ha larger than any uo oyer yet projected. The Victorieuip, another great ^?thi8 ofmor, tiian 4,003 tons, figures in the French lls^butth's has only bcoii ordered, and not yet begun. La, Qalusomm, too, is yery backv^r^ jn its progress, and will take more than another year to finish. Of tha French fleet, eleven are under 1,200 tons, fourteen under 3,000, and fourteen oyer 3,000, but under 6,000. Taking the mean average of the speed of all on trial trips, it given IIcarcely 10 knots, the highest, the Marengo, giving onlv 14ft, fijld some as low as 7 knots. The average armour plating of the French vessels Is 6 £ inches, ranging from 4 inphes to 8! inches. The thickest armour, however, is a mere belt above and beloy the water line, and none of the French vessels have the powerful armoured bulkhead across the stem and stern to save them from a raking fire, under which they would fall easy victims to an active enemy The greatest weight of armour which the largest class of French vessels carry is 1,800 tons, and the smallest 279 tons, and their greatest number of guns is 14

THE PRUSSIAN AND FRENCH MEN-OF-WAR. The Prima .'an squadron of four ironclads, including the King William (oj-Mnally built for the Turks at the Thames Iron Works, but sute»muently purchased by the Prussians), under the command of fmoe Adalbert, instead of proceed- ing to Madeira from Plypio^'4; returned to that port, and Left on Wednesday for the eaítwarf1. The squadron arrived off Dover on Thursday, in last week, and hove to for pilots, and, having taken Messrs, foreman, Finnis, and Fuller on beard> the ships proceeded to the Downs, where they anchored tor tjie night. The next morn- ing a messenger arrived at Dover from London, and proceeded in a carriage to Deal, and thence on boani tlw Admiral's ship after which the squadron immediately unmoored and nroe'eeded with all speed to kiel The Dover trinity pilot left the Prussian squadron off Orfordness. The Prussian ships had evidently beep watched by a French man-of-war and tracked up Channel, for the Imperial screw rfooimtr-h vessel Jj'Birondelle came into Dover-bay on ISd during the day the Commander Jade Friday morn ng, and au K ro0Vements of the Prussian himself acquainted wiw MW hjg fmiron squadron, and sen P tlj Sunday at noon, when havinS reeelve4 WIPe fpom 46 boat from Calais, she got up steam aud proceeded, lolloping up the Prussians'track. The French fleet will rendezvous at Dunkirk, which port last year the French ironclads visited, and preparations were then made for the embarcation of 50,000 men in the shortest possible time.

THE PRUSSIAN LINE OF DEFENCE. Prussia, as the reprtsentative of the North German Con- federation, possesses nine fortresses of the first rank. Upon the Rhine she has Mayence, Coblenz, and Cologne; on the Elbe, Konigstein and Magdeburg also Stettin, on the Oder Posen, on the Wartha; Dantsic, at the month of the Vistula and Konigsberg, on the Pregel. All these fortresses are uron Prussian territory, except Mayence in Hesse, and Konigstein in Saxony. The fortresses of the second order are Sarrelouis, Wesel, Minden, Erfurt, Torgau, Spandau, Gloyau, Glatz, Neisse, Duppel, Kiel, Stralsund, and Colberg. The fortififd places of the third rank are Wittenlmrg, Korel, Kustrin. Grandenz, Swinemtinde, and Pillau There are also other fortified points, such as the earthworks round Dresden, the bridges of Dusseldorf, Marieuburg, and Dirschau, the mouths of the Weser and the Elbe, and the port cf Memel.

KINGS AT THEIR OLD WORK AGAIN! But those who are looking on the political facts wander from the theme, fascinated by the sudden horror of the thing -dazed by the gleaming out of this ghastly warefire in Europe. By-atid-by, there is too little room to deubt, when the armies have settled to their dreadful task, and attention ia held fast by fierce battles upon the sceae, the fact of the war will be realised. As yet little things, rather than great, are explaining to the reluctant senses of Christendom that the old sanguinary business of all human history is to be renewed, and that KingE are at their traditional work again. For example, here is a slight, but suggestive, piece of news: Two hundred and thirty-four cases of surgical instruments were sent by express of the Eastern Railway yesterday after- noon to the frontier." What a comment lies here upon glory and the soldiers of Jena"! Yet we all grieve, in ludicrous inconsistency, at the casualties of a railway acci- dent in Yorkshire or Provence. Some are finding out the "state of war" by the sudden interruption of plea- sant travelling plans for the summer. The Rhine had be- come within three days a fosse, with furious armies mar- shalled on either bank. The railways will soon be reserved for the purposes of war; the ancient towns and lovely scenes which thousands of visitors were preparing will be centres of deadly danger; and while the first regular battle is de- layed, there is a rush of timid people homeward, meeting another rush of young Prussians and Germans, who are summoned to the defence of Fatherland. We shall all, then, for one more generation say farewell to the dreams of bro- therhood, the gentle and lofty hopes of science, and the promise of the angels, "Peace on earth, goodwill towards men How hollow and far-off the music of those words sound in this rattle of arms and rumble of artillery Man, well described as the only carnivorousanimalwhichisalso gre- garious, nas at present larger armies and better inventions of bloodshed than he ever had before and the world, linked together by electric wires to enjoy the news all at once gathers round the two great military nations of Europe to watch a death-struggle which will be cheaply finished for a hundred thousand human lives.-Daily Telegraph.

INCITING WAR FEELINGS. Some of the French papers are doing all they can to excite suspicion and hatred of Belgium. A writer in the Figaro calls attention to the fact that while the Count of Fianders is in command of the troops at Beverloo, his wife sister of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, is now at Sigmaringen with her son, the heir presumptive of the Belgian Crown. "Such facts," he adds, "ought to be orought under public notice in Paris and throughout France, for it must Dot be forgotten that under the guarantee of this so-called neutrality all our northern frontier, from Lille to Metz, is exposed." In another part of the same journal M. Alexandre Duvernois, secretaire de la redaction, mentions two facts in order to give an idea of the degree Elf confidence to be reposed in our friends the Belgians." rhese facts are that General Brialmont, who has just been placed in command of the corps d'armea of Antwerp, three Pu^'lsne<l an abusive pamphlet against France, and tnat General Chaz»l, commander of another corps d'armSe, is i 6 T1?0' yhen Minister of war, in open Parliament de- clared that he had adopted the Wahrendorf cannon—a can- lon of Prussian manufacture—in order that on the field oi jattle the Belgian and Prussian artillery, having guns of the lame calibre, might fraternise.

THE CHASSEPOT. A correspondent writes to The ITimes Now that war is declared, a small contribution to the stock )f knowledge your readers may possess on the subject of the Military preparations of one of the belligerents will, perhaps, 3e acceptable. In the early part of the present year a con- tract made with a London house in the neighbourhood of Finsbury for 50,000 Chassepot rifles was completed and the weapons delivered. A sample of this formidable instrument was exhibited to me by a French officer of Engineers, and its capabilities explained. Ten shots per minute can be dis- charged from the piece, time being allowed for raising it to ;he shoulder twelve, if that movement is dispensed with. [ know not how many more thousands of reasons France may lave for attacking Prussia, but can vouch for the 60,000 •eferred to. Well may Horace say, "Belli matribw ie teitata."

ENROLMENT OF STUDENTS AT BONN. A correspondent, writing from Bonn on the 16th instant, ays: Last night more than 1,000 students, being the intire number in the town belonging to the University here, )resented themselves before the authorities, and asked that hey might be instantly enrolled in the defence of the country. Public feeling is serious, but firm. Men, women, and :hildren are devoted to the defence of the Fatherland."

WHICH WAS RIGHT? The papers refer te a great peace manifestation which I lid not see (says the correspondent of The Times). They 'elate that a band of men came down from the Faubourg ,t. Antoine, shouting, Vive la Paix and singing a well- mown ditty, the tune of which is very dne Les peuples sont pour nous des fibres Et les tyraus des eunemis The Republican organs say that this band was 7,000 strong -the war organs say it was under 500; but it appears to have )een attacked by the war party about the Porte St. Denis, md to have had the worst of it.

TACTICS OF DIPLOMATISTS. On Sunday the Gaulois gave the following piece of news: For the last week Bismarck has been expecting war. As loon as he learned the declaration of the Due de Gramont. ie sent express to M. de Werther a letter containing these vords: 'No concession-War. Do not let them impose on IOU. We are ready. Nevertheless, try not to some to con- tusions before the 20th. If this is true, France has antici- )ated the policy of Prussia by five days, and so disappointed ,Ount Bismarck.

RAISING THE WAR-CRY. Whilst this scandalous intrigue was being carried on, and rresponsible personal Government was being re-established, io means were lost sight of to create an artificial cry for war. Ltie newspapers with very few exceptions contained inflam- natory articles, and published telegrams distorting every- hlog that was passing at Ems. Everyone who ventured to or even to ask for precise Information he,d UP as a coward and a false Frenchman. held by the Pays and other journals, »luch are supposed to be inspired, directly or indirectly, by ,he up, bankers who were iu tl mS n largely upon the Bourse, and thus idded to the P lnic. On the Boulevards the scum of the population paraded with shouts of 'Vive l'Empereur!' 'A Berto These heroes it; is well Lown were paid the next morning 40 centltnes by the Government for thtt patriotism On T lursdsy e'vening I was dining at a caffi on the Boulveyard des ItaUens and one of these crowds was velliig outside. Suddenly they attacked an inoffensive Qermla. A who witnessed the aggres- sion, and was JuaJy ind'8naut at it called the German to his side and, mounting on one of th" tables before the caffi, told the patriots thatthey «ang of cowards, and that, as for their Paid 'or by the police Not one of them ven ed to deny the charge, but they all sneaked away to bawl and cheer elsewhere."—Cor- respondent of Dily.News.

OUT OF EVIL COMETH GOOD." "It may be that this war fever may eventually do the Parisians eood. It may prove a counter-irritant. It may cure them of that other fever of and nroflieacv in which they have been indulging for so long a period, and which oulminated in thei ^e^t orgiei of lser. Alreadv I fancy that M. de Cocodls no longer treads the pavement of the Boulevard de Gaud or ^ounges over the balcony of the Jockey Club *ith h,U a iOIiK dav o? ?t of fatuous supremacy. He has had a g y or it, and it is time for him to revert tothe status he enjoyed under the First tn« °i the Pekln tumbling before the fierce dragoon gered by, clinking his spurs, and threatening to ut fl the Pekin's ears with his long sword. Already l iancy e reign of the Cocottes threatens to lose something o s potlsrn. I passed a good many of the betting shops which the police have lately suffered to be P»,.upJ,^S.S frequented parts of Paris, and some of which are conducted on the very grandest scale. I rejoiced greatly to observe thst those gambling dens were all but entirely aesertea, save by the' bonnets and barkers attached to them, w ar is a butchery business at best; but it has its good side in a waken- ing some feelings akin to seriousness, resolution, maguauimity, manhood in fine, in the human breast. Too long have a gallant and chivalrous people been the slaves of barbers, cookshop-keepers, and dancing girls, of tailors, fiddlers, and buffoons. That the sword and the spear and the hooked chariot should be brought out again is, no doubt, deplorable; but the use of those implements may prove a salutary change after a surfeit of chicken-skin fans, and long-tailed petticoats, and Grand Stand tickets, and curling-tongs. And, at all events, the war should put an end to the detestable eustom of duelling among the French journalists. Are there not the Prussians to fight with? If the gentlemen of the press fall out, let them enrol themselves at the Volunteer bureau in the Rue Dominique St. Germain, and, hastening to the front, blaze away at the common enemy."—Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph.

AT LAST —WAR TO THE DEATH "The sword has been drawn, and the sword must decide' There have been wars, even in our time, in which the contending forces have been as great, and the populations from which they were drawn as numerous; but here we have the two greatest, most civilized, and most powerful nations of the Continent meeting with feelings of mutual exaspera- tion, such as few wars have excited at the beginning, and with a knowledge on either side that to flinch wilt be fatal. The Emperor stakes his dynasty on success. No one knows better than he that in such an enterprise, begun in despite of European opinion and agaitst the remonstrances of his nearest ally, the only safety-lies in a series of brilliant vic- tories, followed by a triumphant peace. To extort such a peace from a first-class State b a work which may test the highest qualities of General and army but when it can only be won by trampling on the neck of a nation of forty millions, the enterprise is hazardous indeed. The Ger- mans, on thtir side, well know that to yield would be political ruin. What they lose they can never recover the position they accept at the close of such a war they can never escape from. The war is for the Rhine, which has for centuries been the avowed object of French ambition. If the French succeed in conquering it and holding it under a treaty of peace, there is not the smallest hope that it could ever be won again by Germany. The left bank would become as indissolubly incorporated with France as Alsace, and the territory of the defeated and once more divided Fatherland would be permanently curtailed. Can it be supposed that a nation which sees in the future the pos- sibility of a loss so overwhelming will not strain every nerve in defence of its safety, we might almost say its exist- ence ? Every German has passed his life in pondering on this very struggle, which has come at last. At last! after being threatened by France as long as each man can recollect, in speeches and essays, in plays and rhymes, in the conversation of high and low. The Germans on tneir parii have been sing- ing about the Rhine as long as they can remember with a display of patriotism which would make any section of the people ludicrous and despicable in their country- men's eyes and their own if they held aloof from the present conflict. What is passing is only what might have been ex- pected. The South German States stand by the national hag which is held aloft by Prussia, and tfie feeling at Vienna and in the German provinces of Francis Joseph is already such that a Court with Freuch sympathies will have to con- ceal them carefully, if not abandon them altogether."—The Times, Tuesday. such that a Court with Freuch sympathies will have to con- ceal them carefully, if not abandon them altogether.The Times, Tuesday.

HOLDERS OF SECURITIES SHOULD NOT BE ALARMED. "The vast majority of investors in America, in England, and even on the Continent-the savings' banks in the States -the national banks, which are compelled by law to hold so much of Government bonds against their authorised note circulation-retaiu over their stocks a hold which is no more affected by last week's event than it was by the rtcentectipse of the moon. They look unmoved on the ebb, because they know that they shall soon witness the reflux. The same re- mark applies with even greater furce to English railway stocks. To say that the London and North-Western capital is depreciated to the extent of three-quarters of a million sterling, merely because a figure in the share list has been changed, is utterly misleading. The property is in its essence untouched, and the proprietary, too, remains almost unaltered. The great body of shareholders knows, that the ups and downs on the Stock Exchange are simply so many betting transactions, which no more affect the inherent value of the thing treated, than the fluctuations In the odds modify the blood or breeding of a particular horse. The speculation which is so much talked about, and which creates or cures a panic, touches only a fringe, as it were, of the broad interests concerned, and represents nothing more than the transfer of various sums from the pockets of one gambler to those of another.Daily Telegraph.

GREAT EXCITEMENT IN AMERICA The rumour which caused so much agitation in London on Monday, that Russia had determined to join in the war was at once telegraphed to America, and produced great excite- ment in the gold market. Gold is said to have reached 123. The closing price was 121. Numerous meetings have been held throughout the United States by Frenchmen and Ger- mans to express sympathy with their respective nationalities. It is stated that the Russian rumour emanated from the Baltic Coffee House, and was put in circulation exactly at the right moment to exert a powerful influence on the corn market. The first effect was to raise the pretensions of holders of wheat to an extravagant degree, and an advance of Ss. to 10s. a quarter was asked trom purchasers Transactions were, in consequence, brought almost to a standstill, but ulti- mately factors abated their demands, and business was done at a rise of about 6s. to 7s. a quarter; barley and oats were 2s. to 3s. per quarter dearer; beans, peas, and maize, 2s.; foreign and country flour, 4s. a barrel and 6s. a sack dearer. The rates of premium against war risk on vessels at sea, or about to sail, also rose, and an enormous business is reported to have been transacted at Lloyd's and with the various marine insurance companies. The rates actually paid on vessels of different nationalities from the Mediterranean or Black Sea to England were as follows: Under the Italian flag, 153. per cent.; the English, 7s. 6d. per cent.; the North German, L3 per cent and the Austrian, 20s. percent., "ship sailed." From the Baltic or from South America to the United Kingdom, 5 guineas per cert, was charged on German vessels. For ships not sailed, the most widely-varying rates were asked, but the general range was between 5 and 10 guineas per cent.

RECKONING HIM UP The Exchange Gazette of Berlin, which is said to be inspired by the Prussian Government, in an article published on the day of the renunciation by Prince Leopold's father of the Prince's candidature says The Hohenzollern candidature was evidently used by the Emperor as a pretext for picking a quarrel with Germany. The empire, which is daily falling in the public opinion of France and the world, b now striving to save the dynasty by a great war. Among other motives which influenced the French policy one was the dominion exercised over the sickly and helplesl Emperor" by "his bigoted wife," who is a supporter of Queen Isabella, and that Napoleon would certainly not have allowed himself to be persuaded into taking such a course it he were still in pos- session of his former clear-headedness and independent spirit." The present crisis, proceeds the Gazette shows how shortsighted were the statesmen who permitted to ascend the French throne in 1853. Since then he has not only shown "a talent for suppressing liberty," and a disgraceful contempt for all human rights," but has also continually defied the neighbouring nations, and shed their blood after the manner ot his uncle." And now this "sickly despot" asks for new victims. "Too weak to remedy old evils, he is yet strong enough to add new evils to the old. If his shameful designs should be carried out we hope that Louis Bonaparte will, when the war is over, meet his deserts; that he will be deprived of his throne and his honour, banished, and left in solitude, with his physical sufferings and his stained conscience to torture him. Germany will use every effort to achieve this result, rejoicing that the catastrophe will at length put an end to the constant dangers and anxieties under which she has been long suffering.

ITEMS OF THE WAR. RECEPTION OF THE FRENCH SENATORS BY THE EMPEROR. At the reception of the members of the Senate by the Emperor at St. Cloud, M. Rouher, addressing His Majesty, said:— "The guarantees demanded from Prussia have been refused, and the dignity of France has been disregarded. Your Majesty draws the sword, and the country is with you, trembling with indignation at the excesses that an ambition over excited by one day's good fortune was sure, sooner or later, to produce. Your Majesty was able to wait, but has occupied the last four years in perfecting the armament ana the organisation of the army." M. Rouher added he ventured to hope that the Em- press would again act as Regent, and that the Emperor would take the command of the army. The Emperor replied Messieurs les Sfinateurs,—I was gratified to learn with wnat great enthusiasm the Senate received the declaration which the Minister of Foreign Affairs bad been instructed to make. Whenever great interests and the honour of France are at stake I am sure to receive energetic support from the Senate. We are beginning a serious struggle, and France lvf*B co-operation of all her children. I am very glad that the first patriotic utterance has come from the Senate. It will be loudly re-echoed throughout the country."

WILL THE FRENCH TROOPS LEAVE ROME. FLORENCE, July 16, Afternoon. It is rumoured that a modification of the Ministry will shortly be made. It ts asserted that the French intend with- drawing their troops from the Roman territory. The French Cabinet has requested the Italian Government to state what attitude Italy intends to assume in the pending events. An Anti-French demonstration has just been made here, which was originated by the National Democratic Socie ty. Crowds of people, shouting Down with France Cheers for Neutrality Long live Prussia proceeded first to the hotel of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and afterwards to the house of the Ambassador of the North German Con- federation.

HAVRE, July 16, Evening. The declaration of war has been received here with great enthusiasm, and the soldiers in the town were much cheered by the inhabitants. A hostile manlfestion has been made before the Prussian Consulate, amid cries of A has Bis- mark I" "Vive I'Emptreur 1"

SWEDEN AND NORWAY. STOCKHOLM, July 17. It is stated that Sweden and Norway will observe neutral- ity in the coming struggle. All the journals are in favour of the maintenance of this attitude.

BAVARIA. MUNICH, July 17 (Evening). An immense crowd went this afternoon to the King's palace, notwithstanding the rain, and expressed their grati- tude for his m*st recent patriotic resolutions and his fidelity to his confederate duties, a.d gave numberless cheers for his Majesty. The multitude, uncovering Aheir heads, sang popular hymns, and Arndt's song, it Was ft des Deutschen Vaterland ?" The King with visible emotion, bowed fre- quently from the open window.

DIVINE AID INVOKED FOR PRVSSIA. HAMBURG, JULY 16, Evening. The following is the King of Prussia's reply to an address received from the Commercial Chamber at Hamburg:— "With heartfelt emotion I receive at this moment the telegram of the Commercial Chamber of to-day's date. No one knows better than I, who had to speak the decisive word, what sacrifices will shortly be requited from the whole Fatherland but the self-devotion expressed by the Commercial Chambers the cement the honour of Germany is at stake fills me with pride and tranquility. On God's blessing all things depend. WILHELM REX." The utmest enthusiasm prevails here, as throughout Ger- many, against France The whole of Germany is as one people in arms to repel the insult offered to the national honour.

DIVINE AID INVOKED FOR FRANCE. It must be a very mean mind, or a heart with no feeling of patriotism, which would write the word "War" without deep emotion, says a writer in La France. We have not demanded war, although we have thought it inevitable from the commencement of the complications which came to a crisis on Friday. We accept war as France accepts it -as a last appeal, always sad, and to be dreaded, but be- fore which no nation which respects its rank and its position before the world can ever retreat once its dignity is attacked. Intoxicated by success, encouraged by the passive attitude of France and of Europe before the most exorbitant ideas which she has been pleased to carry out, Prussia thought that the time was come when she could easily prepare a secret and terrible attack against our honour and our position. Prussia flattered herself that this recent threat, even if it failed, would be looked over like so many others, and that, if it ended in no political re- sult, it would give her the satisfaction of saying that she had agaia triumphed with impunity over France. France could not either submit to such aegradation nor remain quiet under such an insult. Both for the present and the future, a complete explanation and satisfaction were indispensable. France could not obtain them. Europe, witness of these facts, appreciates the justness of our cause. The G."d of Hosts, we firmly hope, will bless those arms to which we have been forced to appeal

THE COMMAND OF THE FRENCH ARMY. The Times, in its stcond edition of Tuesday, prints the following information from its Paris Correspon- dent :— Some of the papers announce the Emperor's departure for Tuesday or Wednesday, but this is probably a mere surmise, for the day is kept secret for obvious reasons, and will pro- bably be known only a few hours before he leaves Paris. It is certain that his Majesty will take command, and equally so that the Prince Imperial will accompany him Tile Km press is well pleased at the cecidon, and replies cheer- fully to those who condole with her upon the coming separa- tion from her only child. It is right, she is reported to have sdd, that the Prince should thus early begin his apprentice- ship to the no'ile profession of arms, and prove himself worthy of France, of the name of Napoleon, and of that of the vaiiaut raca of Guzman, from which, on her side, he springs. Those who are acquainted with the Empress's cHaracter-with her high spirit aim almost virile courage— veill not be surprised at the fortitude she displays in en- countering a double separation, which, however bravely met, cannot but, be v,ry painful to her as a wife and a mother. Marshall Bazaine has left for the army with his staff. He is to command a corps of 80,000 men, hereafter to be increased to 120,000, consisting of seven or eight divisions, including the army of Paris and the troops now at Metz. Marshal MacMahon, by this time in Paris, is to have another great command.

LUXEMBOURG, July 18, Evening. In consequence of the Government having announced that both France and Prussia had given assurances that they in- tend to respect the neutrality of the Duchy, the Chamber unanimously vottd the following order of the day The Chamber cf the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, expressing the leelings of the country, has received with joy the as- surance that the neutrality guaranteed by the Great Powers will in no way be violated, and finds In the declaration of I the Government a contlrmation of the treaty which con- secrates the independence of our country, to which all Luxembourges are sincerely attached."

BRUSSELS, Tuesday morning. The head-quarters of the Belgian army are established at the King's Palace, Brussels. The King is commanding-in- chief. Lieutenant-General Renard is at the head of the general staff. General Baron Chazal commands the army of observation. General Evans commands the army of Antwerp. Half ef the cash of the National Bank has been sent to Antwerp. The communications with the eastern line of France are interrupted through Orion, Athus, Longwy, and the town of Luxembourg. The army is receiving the field pay. The Countess of Flanders, with her young son, is stopping at Sigmaringen.

MADRID, July 18, Evening. The lmparcial of to-day announces that the question of convoking the Cortes is again being discussed with a view to invest tile Regent with the attributes of Royalty.

ARMAMENTS IN RUSSIA. It is no secret now that the whole Continent is arming and has been arming for the last four years, night and day. The whole of the Russian field artillery has been rearmed with bronze rifted guns, 12 pounders and 24 puunders. These weapons are now being furnished with wrought-iron carriages as fatt as they can be turned out of the workshops.

A special telegram states thatM. Ollivier is much hurt by the attitude which the English press has taken up in the dis- pute between France and Prussia, and that he declares that the war has been caused by the insult which the latter Power has offered to the former. Marshall Bazaine set out on Saturday night to take the command of his corps, and Marshal Canrobert left Paris on Sunday evening. According to the Patrif. the French army is to be divided into seven corps, with the Imperial Guard as a reserve. According to the Constitutionnel the number of volunteers already enlisted in Paris amounts to 10,000 men. The Pre- fect of Police has published a notice requesting that patriotic demonstrations should cease in the street. The Paris journals say that the Prussians have destroyed the German end of the bridge on the Rhine at Kehl, but the news has not been confirmed. The same papers state that French gunboats are to co-operate on the Rhine with the laud forces. Public feeling in Germany is stated to be excited to the highest point. The North German Correspondent says that the whole people with one accord are enraged at the dicta- torial demands of France, and from every part of Germany alike are heard the cries of the German nation—" Let us be led against the ruthless destroyers of national liberty, of peaceful industry and civilisation." In Munich there has been a demonstration of popular gratitude to the King for the patriotic course he has adopted in supporting Prussia. A special telegram from Paris brought the information that General Lebceuf refuses to allow any newspaper correspon- dents to follow the French army. Additional statements have been published by the Prussian Government in explanation and justification of the course adopted by the King towards tne French Ambassador, M Benedetti, with regard to the candidature of the Prince of Hohenzollern. These explanations have, it is said, been drawn up under the direct superintendence of his Majesty. A notice has been issued by the North German Govern- ment, announcing that on the northern coast of Germany orders have been given to take up the sea marks, withdraw the light-ships, and extinguish the fixed lights. General Changarnier's application for a command in the French army has been refused. He writes to Le Steele, say- ing that this has been done, though his application was most gladly received by the Minister of War. M. Thiers wishes to contradict the statement which has appeared in Le Figaro, to the effect that he had received a letter of congratulation from the private secretary of the King of Prussia with reference to his recent speech in the Corps Legislatiff. At Munich a popular demonstration has been made before the office of the Vaterland, an Ultramontane journal, and the editor was compelled to claim the protection of the police. A correspondent of Le Goulois, writing from Thionville, says that at the end of this week no passenger nor goods trains will be dispatched upon the lines of Metz, Sedan, Strasbourg, Verdun, and in fact, upon all the frontier lines. The Independance Belge says that the removal of the rails from the railway bridge between Lille and Tournai was made by mistake of orders, and that they have all been replaced again. It is stated that an order was received in Birmingham on Saturday for 80,000 rifles. and that their destination is pre- sumed to be France, as they are to be conveyed to the coast iu waggons of the South-Eastern Railway Company. An order has been received at the English postal telegraph offices that no messages are to be received in cipher f,)r transmission to France. It was asserted at Frankfort, on Monday, that an offensive and defensive alliance has been concluded between France and Denmark, and that General Rasloef, lately Minister of War, has left Paris with General Bourbaki, to prepare for the landing of a French corps d'artmie on the Danish coast; Jutland is to be occupied by that corps. It is said that several hundreds of young Austrian officers have applied to serve in the French army. Le Gaulois of Tuesday says that the news from Russia is eood. Prussia can only count upon the most strict neutra- lity of Russia." Prince Adalbert of Prussia is to take the command of the North German fleet. In Denmark the perspective of a war with Prussia has pro- duced great excitement, and awakened hopes of revenge. The army, assembled in Jutland for the great mar ceuvres of the year, illuminated at its quarters-general of Hald and Wiborg on the news of the declaration made to the French Legisla- tive Body. At Copenhagen frequent interviews have taken place between the French representative and M. de Rusellorn. the new Minister for Foreign Affairs. A telegram from Washington says it is reported that Ad- miral Porter has recommended further enlistments of sea- men and (ether naval preparation in view of the possibility of the United States becoming Involved in complications arising out of the pending war in Europe. The Carlists are again giving trouble in Spain. The French authorities have seized on board a sailing barque 700 muskets intended for the use of that faction, and it is expected, we are told that other attempts will be made by the Carlrsts to oonvey arms into Spain. The prefect of Perpignan has sent all Carlist partisans into the interior. A telegram from Bayonne says the Prefect has received rigorons orders to watch the frontier, and to confine suspected Carlists when- ever necessary. The despatch adds that relations between the French and Spanish authorities are extremely cordial. The effervescence of the last few days has somewhat calmed though the troops leaving for the frontier are still clamorously accompanied to the railway station. Madame Laurent, vivandiSre of the 29th, obtained an ovation yesterday evening she wore on her breast the Pope's cross. About 10,000 young men have volunteered already, and enthusiasts who parade the streets are recommended to follow their example People of sound mind on most subjects declared, some that, the sacred soil of the country having been invaded by Prussian troops, a handful of women had gone out to meet them and had driven them back across the Rhine others that an invading force had been met by a body of gallant miners, who had repulsed it with pick and shovel "—Paris Correspondent of Pall Mall Gazette (writing on Monday) The North German Correspondent says :—" At this moment fourteen heavy ironclads are being fitted out in the harbours of Cherbourg, Brest, and L'Orient. It is not, therefore, sur- prising that measures have been adopted for the protection of the North German ports."

WHAT KING WILLIAM SAYS. BERLIN, July 18, Evening. The Town Councillors presented to-day at noon to the King an address thanking His Majesty for having repelled the unheard-of attempt made upon the dignity and independence of the nation, and asserting that, France having declared war against Prussia, every man will do his duty. The address says that, however desirous Germany might be to carry out the work of peace, no sacrifice will be considered too heavy to oppose the present rapacious attack upon the inde- pendence of the Fatherland. Prussia enters, in unison with Germany, upon a war to which she has been provoked by foreign arrogance. The address concludes by stating that it is presented as evidence of the entire devotion to duty and of the spirited feeling pervading the nation. The King, in reply, expressed his gratitude for the sentiments contained in the address, and said God knows I am not answerable for this war. The de- mand sent me I could not do otherwise than rfject. My reply gained the approval of all the towns and provinces, the ex- pression of which I have received from all parts of Germany and even from Germans hCYODd the seas. The greet- ing w liich was given me Ílere on Friday last animated me with pride and confidence. Heavy sacrifices will be demanded of my people. We have been rendered unaccustomed to them by the quickly gained victories which we achieved III the last two wars. We shall not get off so cheaply this time; but I know what I may expect from my army, and from those now hastening to join the ranks. The instrument is sharp and cutting; the result is in the hands of God. I know, also, what I may expect from those who are calied upon to alle- viate the wounds, the pains, and sufferings which war entails. In conclusion, I beg you to express my sincere thanks to the citizens for the reception they have given me." At the termination of the King's address the assembly, with great enthusiasm, shouted unanimously, Long live the King J'

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE WAR. The Times stagtnatUes the war upon which France has entered as the greatest national crime since the dajs of the first French Empire. The war is an unjust but a premedi- tated war, and it is now too clear that it is the act of one man. The Standard will not believe that Prussia provoked the war because she deemed it necessary. The Telegraph regards the war of 1870 as the direct in- heritance from the war of 1866. The Daily A ews is of opinion that the declaration of war is utterly intxcusable on the part of France. She has put herself iu the wrong before the public opinion of Europe. In the court of history her action will be treated as a crime- a crime against civilization, against humanity, as we as against the peace and good order of the world. The Post, alone of the morning London papers, admits that the Government of France do not make out a bad case for themselves, and thinks that an immediate proclamation of neutrality on the part of the English Crown is necessary, and adds, that neutrality, it need hardly be said, we shall most scrupulously maintain. The Economist holds that nothing that can be said is ade- quate to the meaning of this most awful and painful event, and it is most melancholy that with all our boasts of civiliza- tion, and after so many years of Christianity, so great a crime (for it is no less) should be possible in the world To account for the Emperor's conduct, one must recur to the times fol- lowing the coup d'etat, when Louis Napoleon was regarded as a gambler and desperado capable of planning any misdeed, and of committing any crime. The most desperate act of a midnight conspirator is not morally worse than a breach of the peace 01 Europe in this manner on a sudden, and with no object which any one CAn state. The Saturday R*vieto deciares that Napoleon 1. never attacked a i-eighbour wi'hou' more plausible pretexts than any which em be allsgecl by the Duke of Gramont. A war will be an act of deliberate wickedness. A great army is raised and equipped because there is a supposed risk of war, and then i; is thought that so admirably organised a force (lu-ht to bo used before it declines in efficiency. If France succeeds, u'l the ordinary evih of war will be as nothing to the evils of the war spirit of France having burst forth triumphantly, and of its effervescence and successs having corrupted, as they must do, the mind of the nation. In order to satisfy her own cravings for excitement, France will have to keen perpttually dictating to Italy, to Spain, or to conquered Germany. Eternal politics wil1 once more .absorb all the thoughts of Frenchmen, and anything like domestic re'orm and free government in France will be made impoa ilYe for at least a generation As to the rest of the world, the success of France would be an incontesiible loss. It would deteriorate the mioe's of men by exhibiting the spectacle of a nation making a ground- less war to its profit. Ii would crush the rising liberties and nascent prosperity of Italy and Spain. It would leave Europe disheartened, poor, and alarmed. On the other hand, as France tithts merely to show that she is the mistress of Western Continental Europe, it is difficult to see how she can retire from the c iritast easily aud with honour, if Germany makes a successful defence. The war must, therefore, eitlier be a long one, or, if it io a short one, owing to the rapid suc- cess of France, it must do infinite harm to France and to Europe. In whatever way we look at it, the prospect is most disheartening, and it cannot be wondered at that, on the eve of such a war, all Europe has been stricken with a panic. The real origin of the war, says the Spectator, is the vote of 50,000 French soldiers against the Empire at the last plebis- cite. The war has no cause, no motive, no justification, Eave the fear of Napoleon Bonaparte that without it his boy's succession would not be clear. It is childish to speak of such a war as a "duel" between France and Prussia. Will Denmark remain quiet while Frenchmen are on the EiLe, or Russia sit patient while Denmark becomes a German province? Will armies counted by quarter-milliolis respect that neutrality of Belgium, which will embarrass every military design ? France has no ally, for Austria dare not claim to re-enter Germany by the side of the Germans' foe; she has no advantage of situation, for Prussia can invade her more easily than she can invade Prussia and she has no advantage of numbers, for Prussia can collect all the soldiers any generals can handle with effect. She enters on war in her own strength only, amid the disapprobation of Europe, under the leadership of a man of sixty-two, who has never shown any capacity for generalship, and who sets before him as an end to do what has never yet been done—to turn a nation's history back.

REV. T. BINNEY ON THE WAR. In London, on Sunday morning, the Rev. T. Binnev, at the King's Weigh-house Chapel, Fish-street-hill, delivered an impressive discourse upon the declaration of war against Prussia by France. In justilication of a proceeding which some might think unusual, he said he found his morning's newspaper as in- Rtructive as the Chapters in the Books of the Kings. The latter gave us the history of God's doings among the nations ages ago; the former, if we had the wise and understanding heart, revealed to us the working of the Divine Being in the present. Alluding to the surprise with which the declaration of war had filled the minds of English people when they thought, a few days ago, that the peace of Europe was no longer threatened, he said there were some philosophers who thought that war was a grand educator of the people, and that by it they be- came stronger and more vigorous in character. It was a terrible price, however, and a very dear education even if it were true, which he doubted. He h.*d seen » record in which a writer went over the history of England for fifty and a hundred year*, and it was his object to show how European nations Wtre never at peo.ee, except when they were poor and exhausted. When they had had a little breathing time the blood that was in them came out, and war was the result. Mr. Binney said he should be sorry to think that there should be such an inevitable necessity for war con- stantly recurring. But whatever might be the ten- dencies of nations, whatever the ambitions and philo- fophies of individuals, the Christian Church had to pray for the things which madu for peace, and even now to im- plore the God of peace to avert the war between two professedly Christian nations. It was sad to reflect upon that even Christian nations did not attempt nationally to realise and embody in the national con- duct the true principles of Christianity which they professed. Having given a narrative of the quarrel between France ana Prussia, and baving denounced the haste in which, without reference to friendly Powers, both countries were about to plunge into a war which would involve the desolation of families, the destruction of human life, and the waste of property, Mr. Binney said that Englishmen might well be proud of their Parliament, and of the noble words which had been uttered both by Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone. He regarded tbeoe utterances as a very significant sign of the times. The result of the war between France and Prussia no one could foretell, perhaps humiliation, and degradation with humiliation, and humiliation well deserved.

A WARNING IN DUE SEASON! A Practical Soldier" writes to the Times:— It is not too soon to ask the following questions Has any method been determined upon for supplying our troops with ammunitiou uader fire, anli, it so, is it practised? Are our infantry taught to advance in line firing? Are they taught to provide cover for themselves, or to construct the simplest field works? To put together or repair rude bridges. Have they any tools for these purposes, or are the proper tools even decided upon? Are our officers dressed so us to be a special mark for an enemy? This is the right season and urgent moment to provide and practice these things. If we go to war they will be required and the following will not:—Marching past in slow or quick time, the manual and platoou exercise, review practice, the bayonet exercise. If I am not greatly deceived, war will find us as unpre- pared as in 1854. Let me urge that we should learn our lesson in our camps auring peace, and not under fire in time of war.

IlBsa iJnto.us Jrrfd i igmcej ç HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLQNIAL PASSPORTS FOR THE COKTISENT.—The follow- ing notice has been issued from the Foreign Office, dated July 16 1870 War having been announced between France and Prussia, British subjects proceed- ing to any part of th'j continent are recommended to provide themselves with passports before setting out on their journey, and tJ have them duly visi tor the coun- tries they propose to visit. [Then follow the regula- tions under which passports are issued by the Foreign Office. ] T,iti; CKNSUS of 1871.—The bill to provide for taking the Census of 1871 has been published. After providing that every registrar's subdistiict shall be formed into enumerators' divisions according to in- structions to be furnished to the local registrars aud for the appointment of fit and proper persons as euutne- raters in each district, it goes on to provide that papers shall be left at evrry dwelling-house to be filled up by the occupier, "with particulars of tbe name, sex, age, rank, profession or occupation, condition, relation to the head of the family, and birthplace of every person who abode in the house on the night of Sunday, the who abode in the house on the night of Sunday, the 1st of April, 1871. stating whether any were deaf, dumb, or blind." The papers will be collected during the week. The Secretary of State is to obtain, "by such ways and means as shail appear to him best adapted for the purpose," returns of persons travelling, )r on shipboard, or not in houses. Those who refuse mformation or make false returns will be subjected to penalties varying from one to five pounds. THE FENIAN CONVICT THOMPSON.—The exhu- mation, on Thursday in last week, of the body of Thomp- son, the Fenian convict who died at Portland Prison, jreated a considerable stir among the islanders of Portland. At the disinterment Captain Salter, the ieputy governor of the prison Dr. Blaker, medical )fficer and Mr. Hogan a friend of the deceased, were present. The identification was conducted in private, some sailcloths being fastened to the entrance of the stores, so as to exclude the gaze of the public. The sody was transferred from its prison cerements to a wooden shell coffin with a piece of glass let into the :over, so as to render the face of the corpse visible. rhe shell was enclosed in a leaden coffin, which wa, placed in an oaken coffin covered with black cloth, bearing this inscription on a black shield William P. Thompson, died June 28, 1870 aged 32 tears." rhe lid was adorned with a black cross and an urn. rhe coffin was placed in a strong deal case and con. reyed by the last train from Portland en route for Belfast. THE ALLIGATOR HORSE.-The Augs.sta Chro- nicle and Swtinellearns that a planter near Midway, n South Carolina, about seventy miles from Augusta, ias cultivated his entire farm this year, so far at least is ploughing is concerned, with an alligator. The wimal is an unusually large one—weighs 350 pounds- ind is perfectly docile and domesticated. He is said to work splendidly in plough harness, and is far luperior to mules or horses. He is also very service- able on rice plantations, but has a penchant for eating 'or his dinner usually a little nigger, and consequently ;he introdaction of the alligator for farming purposes s not general where the social element is of the joloured persuasion. PRISCE LEOPOLD.—The Presse of Vienna eives iome information from a" well-informed and impar- .ial source about Prince Leopold. He is, it says, an kin table, unassuming man, without the slightest pride )f race. He and his brothers, Charles and Anthony, vere brought^ up very strictly by their father. They :hose the military career; Leopold has risen to the rank )f colonel in the Prussian regiment of guards, but he iever showed much lilting for the army. His great aobby is science, and his philosophical and historical studies at Düstleldorf, Berlin, and Potsdam so absorbed his attention that he abstained almost entirely from the diversions and pleasures of his comrades. He has always been very popular with hi3 subordinates on account of his considerate and unassuming disposition; and though extremely gallant to ladies, be has never been so attached to any one as to his mother. The great wealth of their father enabled the princes to satisfy every wish, notwithstanding which they live in the simplest manner. Prince Leopold, like his father, is a liberal in politics. THE CHELSEA MURDERER.—On Friday after- noon Alderman Sir J. Causton and Mr. Paterson, the sheriffs of London, went to the cell of the prisoner Miller, who was sentenced to death for the murder of the Rev. Mr. Heulin, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. scoc Jones, the ordinary, and Mr. Jonas, the governor of Newgate, and notified to him that the sentence passed upon him would be carried into effect on Monday morning, the 1st August, at eight o clock. He did not appear to be at all affected by the information, and went into a rambling statement, the effect of which was that he was perfectly innocent of the murder of Mr. Henlin or his housekeeper, and he declared that he had be^n convioud uuoij vn: A-c <u<ù ^cijartd testimony. He appeared to be desirous o! acting in the same way as Tropmann, the murderer of the Kinck family at Pan tin, and to lead it to be inferred that some other person had committed the crime, and that he had acted under the instructions of that person. The sheriffs of course did not put any questions to the prisoner, or do anything to induce him to make a statement, and they merely explained to him that it was their duty to inform him when the execution would take place. The prisoner again asserted his innocence, and said that Jesus Christ was convicted upon perjured testimony, and so was he. He went so far as to name the person whom he accused of employ- ing him, and coolly aserted that he employed him to get the man Piper to carry away the box, and that he was ignorant of what it contained. The prisoner has not been visited by any one since his conviction. He is. of course, never left alone, a warder of the prison be:ng with him both day and night. A HARE-HUNT AT WIMBLEDON.—Between two and three o'clock last S'tnciay afternoon, the camp at Wimbledon, was treated to a veritable game of hare and hounds. A real hare had found its way from the Duke of Cambridge's preserves at Combe Wood, and was observed not far from the Windmill and in the open. To chase the startled creature pell mell past tents and through brushwood was the work of a few seconds, and furnished employment for more able- bodied men in and out of uniform than could be counted easily. The whole of the portion cf the camp nearest to where poor puss was seen was in a hurly burly on the instant. The chase WHS fruitless, however, and the hare succeeded in making its way to the Com- mander-in-Chief's groves, doubtless with the conviction that it preferred the treatment it had bitheito received from the regular army to the hot welcome accorded it by Volunteers. SOON UP ASID DOWN !-The fall in Consols last week was by no means so great as the depression which has taken place on some previous occasions when ex- traordinary intelligence has come to hand. When the news of the French Revolution arrived on February 23,1848, the funds, which had opened at 89, fell to 88g, and at the intelligence of the King's flight to 851. On the following Monday they opened at 81j to 8] 1, but 4 afterwards fell to 79$, the lowest point reached during the excitement. At the news of the coup d'etat, 2nd December, 1851, Consols fell from 98f to 96A after- 2 wards rising to 97|. During the month of 1S54, the declaration of war with Russia caused the funds to fluctuate between 9Ig to 8521. In the first week in November, 1857, in the height of the monetary crisis. Consols fell from 89^ to 8ïi. On the resignation of the Palmerstou Ministry, in February, 1858, the funds dropped from 97.1 to 96, but speedily recovered. On April 28, 1859, on the intelligence that war was in- evitable between France and Austria, the funds fell from 93f to 881, and within twenty-four hours the 4 depreciation in the value of stocks and shares was estimated at £ 50.000,000 sterling. RESPECTFULLY, BUJ FIRMLY DECLINED -Some American entrepeneurs wrote the other day to Mr. Spurgeon to ask him to go to Ameiica and lecture. His reply was characteristic :— '•Gentlemen,—I am much obliged bjr your very courteous letter, but you are under a mistake. I am not a lecturer. I now and then give a lecture for some good object, but I do not do it well, and, moreover, have no ambition in that line. I am very glad to preach, bat not if there is any charge at the door. Moreover, I have no kind of idea of visiting the States. THE DICKENS FAMILY.—With respect to Mr. Dickens' family it may be news to many (says the Court Journal) to hear that he had ten children, (eight of whom are living,) namely, two daughters and eight son". Of the SOLS one is in tLe Royal Navy, and now f-tafcioned at Valparaiso one in India, and two sheep- f irudng in Australia, near Melbourne. The youngest of the sons is at college, and the eldest is now the con- ductor of All the Year Round. Of the daughters, one is married to Charles Collins, brother of Wilkie Collins. iShe is the heroine of Millais' famous painting of the "Black Brunswicker." The unmarried daughter, like Miss Thackeray, is a novelist of more than average talent, her best known works being "Aunt Margaret's Trouble," Mabel's Progress," and "Veronica." The I est and largest photographs of Dickens were taken in America, and a large supply of them is daily expected la England. CHEAP THRONES !—A Paris upholster, anxious to get the custom of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, b as sent him the following list of prices A Common Throne Ditto, richly ornamentel, and fit for a family soirC Ditto, extra, adapted for the Cortes. Ditto, poitable and removable at a moment's notici N, B.-All my thrones are made without rol r. t lerefore their stability defines all competition. SUICIDE IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.—On Satur- day night, a man, dressed in entirely new clothes, h aving in his possession a ticket from Stroud, cut his t irost in a third-class carriage as the train was enter- ing the Worcester railwav station. There were five v. omen in the carriage. When the train stopped two porters seized him, and after a severe struggle threw him on the platform. He had lost a quantity of blood but being a muscular man, the fight was terrible. A s irgeon was in the train, but his aid was of no avail and the man died in about twenty minutes. Upwards of 240 was found on his person, and a gold watch, en- graved" .John Pearse, 1870," but no papers by which be can be identified. His hat bears the maker'a name, Gardner and Son, Stroud." BOY CLERKSHIPS, &C., IN THE POST-OFFICIL- The conditions are published on which applications for b)y clerkships in the savings bank and circulation de- l. Ai-tments, and for situations as boy newspaper sorters and boy telegraph messengers in the General Post- o fice, may be made. They must be by candidates I-ersonally at the offico of the Civil Service Commis- s'oners, Cannon-row, on any week-day except Satur- day. between eleven and four o'clock. The limits of age for the situations are from thirteen to sixteen, Candidates at the time of their application will be re- quired to give certain proofs of their qualifications., and if these should be satisfactory to tne Civil Service Commissioners, and the candidate appears to b« within the limits of age, he will have to attend at the General Post-office to be examined a3 to hia physical qualifications. Upon general approval his name will be sent to th« Commissioners to be put upon the list for the next competitive examination. The latter examinations will he held about every two months. In the case of the Savings Bank Depart- ment the salary is £ 30 a year, rising £ 5 annually to LoQ m the Circulation Department £ 45, rising to £ 80 • i-ewsuaper sorters 6s. to 12a. a week, and telegraph messengers 5s. a week. One of the conditions of all the appointments is that the employment will not give any claim to superannuation, gratuity, or other allow- ance under the Superannuation Acts. TilE NEW LAW ON FELONY.—The Act of Par- liament passed on the 4th inst. to abolish forfeitures fyr treason felony makes Bome important alterations. From and after the passing of the Act no confession, \erdiet, inquest, conviction, or judgment of or for any treason, or felony, or fdo dese, shall cause any attainder, o--corruption of blood, or any forfeiture or escheat, but nothing in the Act is to effect the law of forfeiture con- sequentupon outlawry. Conviction fur treason or felony is to be a disqualification for holding offices. Persons ondemnedof treason for felony may be condemned in costs, and for loss of property a Court may award any sum of money not exceding BlOO by way of satisfaction or compensation. When a convict has completed his term of imprisonment, or been made a bankrupt, &c., he is exempted from the operation of the Act. The Crown may appoint an administrator of a convict's property, who may pay debts and sums awarded by law or equity to persons defrauded by criminal acts of the convict, and allowances may be made for the support of the family of the convict. The property is to be preserved for the convict, and to re- vert to him on the completion of his sentence, death, &c. In default of an administrator being appointed by the Crown, an interim curator maybe appointed by magistrates. Further executions on judgments may be issued against the property of convict?. There are o'.her provisions amending the law as to the property of persons convicted of treason or felony. SLIGHTLY RISKY !-A gentleman visiting the Ukraine writes home to a friend the following interest- ing fact suggestive of a new method of popping the, question Sometimes the lord of a village in the Ukraine gives the pea- sants a dance before his door, and he and his family Join In it. Although the peasants are serfs, they have possessed from very early times the right of carrying off any young woman they like from the dances not even exceptii'g daughters of their lord, and if they do th's with sufticisnfc dexterity, and are able to conceal themselves for four aud, twenty hours in the thick woods around the village, they are at liberty to marry the young woman but 11 wichiii that period they are discovered, the young man is beheaded without much ceremony. This is rather a dangerous tame but my informant tells me that many run the risk." THE SUNDAY TRADING BiLL. 11 Sunday Tyranny and Foul Bigotry was the heading of a placard, posted all over .London, inviting working men to attend an open-air meeting in Hyde Park last Sun- day, and protest against Lord Chelmsford's Sundav Trading Bill, but whatever that class may feel UIKH, the subject their feeling was very little manifested on Sunday, for the working men, whose cause the speakers advocated, were rendered "conspicuous by their absence." The demonstration took the form of three meetings, which collectively commanded an audience of some 200 persons, who lustily cheered each apeaker and agreed with everything submitted with an en- thusiasm peculiar to such gatherkigs. That which to all appearance was the principal meeting was addressed by several speakers, from the trunk of what was known amongst the reform leaguers as the "Reformer's Tree." a. he Sunday l'rading Bill was characterised by them as an interference with the privileges of the working people generally, and especially of those who had as it were to exist by accident, many of whom, it was urged, worked up to the latest hour on Saturday night, and could only make their purchases on Sundays; and if legislators who knew little or nothing of the habits and necessities of the class for whom they were legislating were to pass such a bill, it would inflict a cruel hardship. The resolutions adopted by each of the meetings were. as follow That this meeting indignantly protests against lord Chelmsford's Sunday Trading Bill,' nof before Parliament as subversive of all the social liberty of the subject, tyran- nical in the extreme, and opposed to morality, justice, and the personal rights of a free people; and authoring the chairman to sign a petition to that effect. "That in the opinion of this meeting the obsolete and tyrannical act ot Charles II. relating to Sunday trading ought to be expunued from the statute book; and authorises the chairman toston a petition to that effect. Mgn CASE OF DOUBLE POISONING.—-A shocking affair has occurred at Cradley Heath (Staffordshire) through a mistake made by a servant girl. A little W r3 Willi— Smith, talej, the servant herself has hadav«»w m? boy's mother was from E Th« well the servant resolved S 'crff 6 noit very n«sifl Kh« roonV j 8lve h™ » dose of mag- she thought a pa?ket °* white powder which arsenic Tf magnesia, but which was in reality aonear WM kbeHed but it would dSse of rea^ Bhe Save little Smith a wJf the deadly ingredient, and also took some of if nerself. Mrs. Smith returned some little time after- wards, and found the packet on the table. She saw the boy's altered looks, and at once guessed whr.t had occurred. Dr. Hodgson was immediately called in, and be administered an emetic. Smith rallied for a time, but again relapsed, and expired in a few hours, Antidotes were given to the servant and she became better. She says she had a larger quantity of thir contents of the packet than the deceased.

ENGLISH MEDIATION. rmingham Post publishes the following special Cabinet Council on Satunlay, one last gleam of lined. No official declaration^ot war ha^oeen re im the French Government, and n t could be issued by her MajestysGovej'nmein, aph was therefore set to work In th P dread ar- esentations to Paris and Berlin the la»tdreaaar ;of war might be averted. The question put by Ign Office to Lord Lyons was, Will the F snt suspend hostilities for a few hoursi uDtU[the abinet can communicate with Berlin? g. nswer would be in the affirmative the English am was instructed to intimate that a satUfacto y OB of the supposed insult to M. Benedetti m'g be received from Berlin. The telegraph was simul nut iln motion with Berlin. The question here asked lerthc King would object to give assurance that ne lire to w/^iud the susceptibility of the French • an insujt V)the Emperor in his interview with u Oar relations with the Prussian Royal Family ,tmato, that teprMjentations, both official an-i NOII- at not the less influential, could be employed, In t no efforts might be Wt untried, it was also de- at Mr, I)IWUW.O suggestion should be acted upon. Our amb-issadcrs at Paris and Berlin have therefore been in- structed to point out to the Courts to which they are accredited that, as they ought and were satisfied with Lord Stanley's arbitration in the matter of Luxembourg, her Majesty's Government have a right to expect that their frtendly mediation will be accepted in the present difficulty. The argument may not be worth much, but it at least enahles Lord Granville to remind the French Government that Eng- lish Conservatives and Liberals are absolutely as one in con- demning the precipitation of France. The French newspapers have been desired by their Government not to publish any information in regard to the movement of troops, as an indiscretion in that respect might afford an advantage to the enemy.

BLESSED ARE THE PEACE-MAKERS. The Memorial Diplomatique, says :—" There would even yet appear to be some h )pe of averting war, England having made a formal offer of mediation between France and Prussia.—The Sievle publishes a similar declaration to that contained in the Journal des Dtbats, and says, war being de- clared, it must be energetically conducted, and the country must make all sacrifices requued by the present circumstanes. The Temps deplores the impatience and intolerance of the majority in the Legislative Body, which approved the policy of the Government, wishout even wishing for proper infor- mation.

EXCITEMENT IN MANCHESTER. There was a good deal of excitement on the Exchange on Monday on the subject of the war, and it was stated that some German houses had availed themselves of excuses to repudiate contracts. Iu one case, where a first delivery of a large order for cloths was a few days behind time, the order had been cancelled. To a great extent business has been suspended, and the offers making are few and at low prices. Makers of cloth quote last week's rates, and nominally there is but little change in values.

DETERMINED TO HAVE WAR! The Times' Berlin correspondent says "It did not require Napoleon's unscrupulous conduct in suddenly jumping out of the midst of peace into the midst of war to prove to the Germans that, though he might challenge their King, it was in reality themselves, their country, their property, and their independence that he aimed at. If any- thing had been wanting to inc ilculate this conviction, the insults heaped upon the King must have opened the eyes of the blindest. The scandalous scene at Ems will be long remembered in the world's annals. When Benedetti stopped His Majesty in the public promenade he committed an offence which he knew to be unpardonable and which he foresaw must bring matters to ahead. War was his object, and he adopted the means at once most frivolous and certain to bring it on. He coveted immediate conflict, having secretly armed beforehand, and he perpe- trated an outrage sure to be instantly resented by the King, no matter whether his people were ready for the fight. But even this was not enough. To make assurance doubly lure, and render an adjustment utterly impossible, another, and equally insolent, act was devised by the French Government. Otl the 12th, the day before Benedetti's assault, the Due de Gramont told Baron Werther the German Ambassador at Paris, that France would not be satisfied unless the King of Prussia wrote an autograph letter to Napoleon asking his pardon for what had happened. This letter, it was added, would be published forthwith, and must contain no allusion to the near blood relationship be- tween the Hohenzollern-sigmaringen family and the Bona- partes, because anv such allusion would at the present junc- ture give great offence at Paris. Of course Baron Werther declined to deliver the message. I leave you to imagine the impression produced here by these exploits of French diplomacy."

NO LOVE LOST! A correspondent writes I am afraid that the French do hate the Prussians cor- dially. I remember to have been in France at the height of the Crimean war but rarely, either in society or among the common people, were any expressions of direct or personal animosity against Russia to be heard The French feught with the Russians, but seemed to like them nevertheless; and they were fond of remembering that the Cossacks in 1815 never did much more harm than to drink up all the oil in the street-lamps at Chaillot, and eat up up all the tallow candles in the department of Indre-et-Loire. But very dif- ferent was the case with the Prussians. There is no doubt that their behaviour in Paris after Waterloo was abominable. They sacked the Palace of St. Cloud; they wantonly destroyed the powder manufactory at Essonne; and, but for the inter- ference of the Duke of Wellington, and that hero's judiciously making Field-Marshal Biticher exceedingly drunk at a dinner at Verey's, the Prussians would certainly have blown up the bridge of Jena. Wherever they were quartered in the country districts of France, they stole everything they could lay their hands upon, and what they could not carry away they burnt. The sons and grandsons of the people thus maltreated by Blticher's soldiery are not very likely to hold the actual Prussian nation or army in very great favour: nor, without some bitterness aad gnash- ing of teeth, do they recall the fact that William I., the reigning Hohenzollern, actually, as a stripling Prince formed part of that haughty, scornful cortige of allied Sovereigns and Generals, who rode into Paris and in triumph along the Boulevards after the fall of Napoleon. The long smoulder- ing hatred between Frenchmen and Prussians was very nearly leaping up into fierce flame in the Exhibition year 1867, and in the Champ de Mars itself, when the North German workmen, on the occasion of some national anni- versary, had the insolent bad taste to dress up Krupp's gun and a bronze equestrian statue of some Hohenzollern with branches of laurel. The French workmen were so enraged at this that they were with difficulty prevented from pitch- ing Krupp's gun and the bronze Hohenzollern into the Seine, with acontiugent of Prussian workmen to keep those relics company. these are among the reasons why, in Paris, the very idea of war with Prussia is all but universally popu- lar.

IS THIS OUR BOASTED CIVILIZATION ? To what end are education, philosophy, and religion ipread abroad in a nation, it at the first blush of national ivalry all vanish into the smoke of the cannon ? Is this the ruit of the boasted civilization of the nineteenth century, if increased trade and culture, of the discoveries of science) hat large numbers ef men shall be forced into the field to ight and kill one another in the shortest Possible space of ime? So far as the happiness of mankind is concerned setter were it that we had remained ignerant of many of the towers of nature which science has brought forth rom their hiding place, if the supreme effort of ilectricity is to result in engines of warfare which laughter five hundred men and horses at a single )low. Happier is the savage of Central Asia or the red man of the prairies than the civilized savage who has to use and ace the weapons which fire shots at the rate of thirty in a ninute. One almost wonders how any man of flesh and bloed with only nerves of ordinary formation, can be induced to ace the horrible modes of death presented on a modern >attle-fleld. No one but a lunatic would face a mitrailleuse n cold blood, or allow another man to fire at him for hours with a Chasaepo; or a needle gun but put a hundred thou- tand, Into a field against another hundred thousand ,he one side shouting "Vorwarts" and the other "En ivant," and all thought, all reason vanish. Men who never aw each other before ruah together in deadly hate, and give heir blood, their limbs, their lives, for a cause which they lever heard of until a week before.

THE GERMAN ELEMENT IN LONDON. The alacrity with which the young Prussians employed In London have hurried to the rescue of the Fatherland is vorthy of notice. Without even waiting for orders from lome, many young men holding excellent positions in the ^ity left London on Saturday and Sunday, leaving others to bllow as quickly as possible. The Londoner Deutsche Zeitung, although anti-Prussian in its tendencies, frankly hrows all internal questions overboard, and fervently en- treats all Germans to unite for the common cause, in order hat the disasters at the commencement of the present :entury, caused by disunion, should not be repeated.

SWITZERLAND TO REMAIN NEUTRAL." BERNE, July 16, Evening. The Federal Council has ordered five divisions of the Federal army to be placed on a war footing, and all other divisions de piquet. The Council has asked the Chambers for full powers. Both Chambers have unanimously approved the military measures of the Federal Council tor the defence of Swiss neutrality, and full powers have been granted to it to take further nieasures. An unlimited credit is opened. The Chambers will appoint General Maud6 General-in-Chief.

PLAN OF THE FRENCH OPERATIONS. PARIS, July 18, Evening. The Liberti; says that the plan of the campaign is to make a rapid advance in Hesse, in order to neutralize the South German states; occupy and fortify Frankfort: sweep the Prussian territory on the left bank of the Rhine then enter Westphalia; and, being supported by Hanover and Den- mark, drive the Prussians beyond tne Elbe and subse- quently, as after the battle of Friedland, reconstruct the German Confederation, to the exclusion of Austria and Prussia.