17 DECEMBER 1870, Page 3

The German occupation of Dieppe seems to have been dictated

'mainly by a sentimental desire to reach the sea, and thus be able 'to say that Prussians had crossed France from the Rhine to the British Channel. The invaders stopped but one night, levied no -contributions, shot no one, and burned no buildings, but most of the men on reaching the Plage led their horses forward to the sea, -and washed their feet in the water, a scene which will yet be cele- brated in verse. They then raised three cheers for the King and Vaterland, and retired to their billets, which included the house of 'the British Consul. All other consuls were exempted from the billeting.