Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 September 1870 — Weekly News Summary. [ARTICLE]

Weekly News Summary.

FOBEIBK. Tne officers of the Garde Mobile gave a grand feast to the United States Minister, Mr. Washburne, on the night of the Bth, in honor of his services in obtaining the early recognition by his government of the French Republic. In reply to a serenade, Mr. Washburne delivered the following address: “ I thank yon on tho part of my government tor thle demonstration. 1 shall havo groat pleasure In transmitting the thanks you express with so much eloquence tor tho Vccognttlon of the new Uepubllc of Franco. In my communication, to which you make such kind greeting, I have bnt made known the sentiments t f the President and people of the United States of America, who take profound Interest in the great movement Just inaugurated in France, and will desire, most profoundly, its success, and the happiness and prosperity of the French people. Existing themselves under a republican form of government, they know how to appreciate Its bfiieSts. With warm hearts and language they feTfcltate their former allies on the accomplishment of a pacific revolution, free from all stains of blood, and Calming the sympathy of all lovers of truo liberty.” Victor Hugo has written fin address to tho Germans, in which he says: "Germans, hold back I Paris is formidable. Think a while before her walls. All transformations aro possible for her. Her indolence gives you the measure of her energy. She seems to sleep., She will awake. Her thought will leap from its scabbard like a sword, and tho city which yesterday was Sybaris to-morrow may be Saragossa.” An official decree has been issued at Paris, convoking the Electoral Colleges on the 16th of October, to choose a National Constituent Assembly,agreeably to the provisions of the law of March 18, 1849. ' . , , The reported death of Marshal Mac* Mahon was contradiojed pp the 9th. He was severely wounded in the leg, aqd a prisoner, at Boult, near Sedan. ' -»«.-> A Berlin dispatch states that the Emperor Napoleon arrived at the chateau of Wilhelmßhohe on the sth. He was re* ceived graciously, and, with his suite, was conducted to his appointed residence. Ue appeared composed and cheerful. The Empress Eugenie was with the Prince Imperial at Hastings, England, on the 9th. A great manifestation of sympathy with the French Republic was made at Madrid on the Bth.

The English ironclad Captain has been lost off Cape Finisterre. All on board, numbering five hundred, are said to have perished. The official account of the loss at Vionville, August 16, shows on the Prussian side, 625 officers, 15,925 men, and 1,832 horses. This account docs not include the returns from several cavalry regiments. Eighteen of the crew of the lost ironclad Captain had reached Corrobedo on the 11th. The official report of the battles of Sedan show that 400 cannon were taken. The losses of the French in killed, wounded and prisoners was 140,000. Paris dispatches of the 11th state that the Prussians entered Laon on the 10th. Shortly after their entrance the magazine exploded, blowing up a portion of tho citadel. The Prussian staff and several hundred soldiers were killed. The fortress of Thionville still held out The garrison made frequent sorties. The defense of Metz still continued. Marshal Bazaine was well provided with provisions and ammunition. A Faria dispatch states that the Prussians attacked Toul on the 10th, and were repulsed, 10,000 of them being placed hors de combat. It further says that the Prussians had also been repulsed at Montmedy. A dispatch from Brussels at 4 p. m. on the 12th says Italy, Austria and Russia were agreed in principle, and had authorized Russia to ask Prussia for an armistice. A dispatch to that effect was sent by telegraph to Berlin, to which no answer had yet been received. The official report of the capitulation of Sedan states that the total number of prisoners taken was 122,000. An Oatcnd dispatch of the 12th says that King William had declared that he would listen to no proposition except in the Tuilleries, and from the Imperial government of France. Dispatches of the 12th announce that Rome was to be immediately occupied by Italian national troops. Another massacre of missionaries in China is reported. The French blockade of the Baltic ports is pronounced Ineffectual. A London letter, received in New York on the 13th, contains a statement of the German losses, on authority of & medical man connected with the Prussian army. In tho battles, Including Gravelotte, 7!),605 were killed, prisoners and missing, and tho wounded numbered 97,050. A Brussels dispatch on the 13th gives currency to the report that Bismark had assured Louis Napoleon that King William would aid him in regaining his forfeited throno.

A great number of bridges around Faria were blown up* on the 14th. The woods had been set on fire, and houses likely to offer refuge to the enemy destroyed- - An immense demonstration was made before the American Minister’s residence in Paris on the 14th, andMr.Waahburne, on his appearance to respond, was greeted with roars of cheers, music and the Marseillaise. According to a London dispatch of the 14th Bazalne had refused all terms, and It was expected that he would attempt to cut his way out. Paris journals of the 11th say they had little hope of mediation. The Prussian government has demanded reprisal for the sacrifice of life by the alleged treathcry of the French In exploding the fit lAOtt. 4

Reports of a popular rising at Nice and Mentona, Italy, were oonflrmed on the 14th. At both places the French authorities wero deposed, prisoners released, and the Italian Republic proclaimed. The Italian army was marching on Rome. A Brussels dispatch of the l4th says it was almost certain that Prussia would refuse to entertain a proposition looking for an armistice, because it would delay army operations, in case negotiations were unsuccessful, until the unfavorable season set in, and render the situation of her army much less favorable. At the French Embassy in London on the 14th, Earl Granville had a conference with M. Thiers as the representative of the tfe/<«!to government of France. During tho interview Thiers stated that France earnestly desired peace, and asked England “upon whose aotion all the powers of Europe are now waiting, to jojn them In securing for her such terms of peace as, she can honorably accept She will accept no terms that aro not honorable.’’ Earl Granville did not see how England could interfere, but thought that, while preserving strict, neutrality, England would present to Prussia any propositions . offered by Franco, act the part of a sincere friend. It could not, however, be exi pected that England would join any power in uttering a threat to Prussia, nor ootxld England even positively promise jo urge upon Prussia the acceptance of any offer which France might be disposed to make to her.. Upon tho making public, late in the afternoon, of this interview, an impromptu meeting of people was called, and a great crowd assembled in Trafalgar Square. There were many speakers, and the government was denounced in the bitterest and most unmeasured terms, for its courso toward the French Republic. The Cabinet was declared to be a Cabinet of treason to human rights and to ths peace of Fur ope. On the 15th the Prussians camped at Croix an* Bois, Gastons, Glas and Fontaine, near Paris. Ths number of Prussians advancing on the city was stated, at 400,000. Communication between Paris and Lyons had been destroyed, the Prussians having cut the wires and railroad at Montreau, sixteen miles southeast of Me* lun. Firing was heard at Paris from the direction of Melun. , . A dispatch from Bouillon, Sept 15, says a part of Bazaine’s army had cut its way through the Prussians at Metz, and was marching on Paris, Canrobert in command. . • '

Defensive preparations were still going on at Paris on the 15th. Gen. Trochu had issued an order in which he stated that 70,000 men on the ramparts might, by persevering efforts, save the city. 3A Paris telegram of the 15th says large sums of money were being subscribed in all parts of France for national defen'sd, and large forces were being raised and equipped in all the departments. A London special of the 15 th to the New York limes says: “Prussia will only treat with the old Senate, Corps Legislatif, and the Empress. This means war to the death for the Provisional Government, which, sooner than abdicate the Republic, will make Paris a heap of ruins.” It was stated, semi officially, in London on the evening of the 15th that Prussia had definitely refused to grant the armistice so energetically proposed by the governments of Russia and Austria. It was, however, anticipated that’.when Prussian troops were well before Paris King William would consent to negotiate with this view. A Berlin dispatch of the 15th says the Provisional Government at Paris would have been accepted by the Prussian Government if the exactions proposed by Prussia had been assented to. These embraced the cession of Alsaoe and Lorain* and the dismantling of the French fortifications on the German frontier.