ught to have done, on discovering
that the beak of the vulture was no longer gnawing at his vitals,
"scarcely daring to believe in such good fortune." Orpheus is the
Commune; Eurydice, Liberty; "the infernal regions," the Government of
the 4th September; "the harmonious strains," the decrees of the Commune;
Prometheus, the tenant; and the vulture, the landlord!

In plain terms, however--forgive me for joking on such a subject--the
decree which annuls the payment of the rents for the quarters ending
October 1870, January 1871, and April 1871, does not appear to me at all
extravagant, and really I do not see what there is to object to in the
following lines which accompany it:--

"In consideration of the expenses of the war having been chiefly
sustained by the industrial, commercial, and working portion of the
population, it is but just that the proprietors of houses and land
should also bear their part of the burthen...."

Let us talk it over together, Mr. Landlord. You have a house and I live
in it. It is true that the chimneys smoke, and that you most
energetically refuse to have them repaired. However, the house is yours,
and you possess most decidedly the right of making a profit by it.
Understand, once for all, that I never contest your right. As for me, I
depend upon my wit, I do not possess much, but I have a tool--it may be
either a pen, or a pencil, or a hammer--which enables me, in the
ordinary course of things, to live and to pay with more or less
regularity my quarter's rent. If I had not possessed this tool, you
would have taken good care not to let me inhabit your house or any part
or portion thereof, because you would have considered me in no position
to pay you your rent. Now, during the war my tool has unquestionably
rendered me but poor service. It has remained ignobly idle in the
inkstand, in the folio, or on the bench. Not only have I been unable to
use it, but I have also in some sort lost the knack of handling it; I
must have some time to get myself into working order again. While I was
working but little, and eating less, what were you doing? Oh! I do not
mean to say that you were as flourishing as in the triumphant days of
the Empire, but still I have not heard of any considerable number of
landlords being found begging at the corners of the streets, and I do
not fancy you made yourselves conspicuous by your assiduous attendance
at the Municipal Cantines. I have even heard that y