is a clear
evidence that Prince Frederick Charles has been beaten by General
Chanzy. On Monday, Admiral La Ronciere received a letter from a general
whose name could not be deciphered about an exchange of prisoners. In
this letter there was an allusion to a defeat which our troops in the
North had sustained. But this we consider a mere wile of our insidious
foe.

The _Gaulois_ continues its crusade against the English Correspondents
in Paris. They are all, it says, animated by a hostile feeling towards
France. "We give them warning, and we hope that they will profit by it."
Now, we know pretty well what French journalists term a hostile feeling
towards their country. We were told at the commencement of the war that
the English press was sold to Prussia, because it declined to believe in
the Imperial bulletins of victories. That a correspondent should simply
tell the truth, without fear or favour, never enters into the mind of a
Gaul. For my part, I confess that my sympathies are with France; and I
am glad to hear, on so good authority, that these sympathies have not
biassed my recital of events. Notwithstanding the denunciations of the
_Gaulois_, I have not the remotest intention to describe the National
Guards as a force of any real value for offensive operations. If, as the
_Gaulois_ insists, they are more numerous and better armed than the
Prussians, and if the French artillery is superior to the Prussians,
they will be able to raise the siege; and then I will acknowledge that I
have been wrong in my estimate of them. As yet they have only blown
their own trumpets, as though this would cause the Prussian redoubts,
like the walls of Jericho, to fall down. I make no imputation on their
individual courage; but I say that this siege proves once more the truth
of the fact, that unless citizen soldiers consent to merge for a time
the citizen in the soldier, and to submit to discipline, as troops they
are worthless. The _Gaulois_ wishes to anticipate the historical romance
which will, perhaps, be handed down to future generations. Posterity
may, if it pleases, believe that the Parisians were Spartans, and that
they fought with desperate valour outside their walls. I, who happen to
see myself what goes on, know that all the fighting is done by the Line
and the Mobiles, and that the Parisians are not Spartans. They are
showing great tenacity, and suffering for the sake of the cause of their
country many hardships. That Gener