6 AUGUST 1870, Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

ON the 15th July the Emperor of the French declared war on Germany. On the 3rd August, nineteen days afterwards, Germany commenced on French soil her march on Paris. That single fact reveals better than any essay the bewildering extent of the change achieved by Sadowa, and, we must in justice add, is a better defence for Napoleon than any his diplomatists have in- vented. According to an official Prussian account, the Crown Prince, who had concealed his great army behind Landau, on Wednesday marched certain "regiments of the 5th and 11th Prussian Army Corps and 2nd Bavarian Corps on Weissenburg." This place, a second-class French town, partly fortified, is com- manded by the Geis Hill, which was held by General Douay and a division of General MacMahon's corps. Details have not arrived, but it would appear that the division, which ought to have num- bered 8,000 men, was attacked by a superior force, and in spite of its position and of a resistance which inflicted severe losses upon the Germans, was routed, and fled, leaving its encampment and surrendering the fortress. General Douay was killed, some 500 unwounded soldiers were taken prisoners, and one piece of artillery was captured. Nothing is said of the German loss, ex- cept that it was great. The victory was "brilliant but bloody."