nd as Blanchard had been
in Paris the day before, he took this general stricture to himself.
Personalities of a very strong nature were exchanged between the two
warriors, and it was thought well that henceforward they should, as much
as possible, be kept apart. General Fave also, who commanded the redoubt
near Joinville, which arrested the advance of the Prussians on the
second battle of Villiers, has "had words." It appears that he declined
to obey an order which was forwarded to him, on the ground of its
absurdity, saying that he was responsible to his conscience.
Indiscipline has been the curse of the French army since the
commencement of the war, and it will continue to be so to the end.
During the siege there have been many individual traits of heroism, but
the armed force has been little better than a mob, and Trochu has not
had the moral courage to enforce his will on his generals. Ducrot says
that he is determined to take the war battalions of the National Guards
under fire at the next sortie, but whether he will succeed remains to be
seen. In these marching battalions there are undoubtedly many brave men,
but both officers and soldiers are inexperienced, and when they see men
falling before them, struck down by an invisible enemy, they lose all
presence of mind.

I do not think, as far as regards the Parisians, Count Bismarck is right
in his opinion that the French will for many years to come attempt to
reverse the verdict of the present war. The Parisian bourgeois is fond
of saving money. As long as war meant a military promenade of the army
across the Rhine, followed by a triumphal entry into Paris, he was by no
means averse to it, for he considered that a French victory reflected
itself on him, and made him a hero in the eyes of the world. Now,
however, that he has discovered that there is a reverse to this picture,
and that it may very possibly mean ruin to himself, he will be very
cautious before he again risks the hazard of the die. Should the
disasters of France result in the emancipation of the provinces from the
rule of Paris, they will be a positive benefit to the nation. If the
thirty-eight million Frenchmen outside Paris are such fools as to allow
themselves to be ruled by the two million amiable, ignorant, bragging
humbugs who are within it, France will most deservedly cease to be a
power of Europe. If this country is to recover from the ruin in which it
is overwhelmed it is absolutely essential t