al Trochu should pander to their
vanity, by telling them that they are able to cope outside with the
Prussians, is his affair. I do not blame him. He best knows how to deal
with his fellow-countrymen. I am not, however, under the necessity of
following his example.

The usual stalls which appear at this season of the year have been
erected on the Boulevards. They are filled with toys and New Year's
gifts. But a woolly sheep is a bitter mockery, and a "complete farmyard"
in green and blue wood only reminds one painfully of what one would
prefer to see in the flesh. The customers are few and far between. I was
looking to-day at a fine church in chalk, with real windows, price 6fr.,
and was thinking that one must be a Mark Tapley to buy it, and walk home
with it under one's arm under present circumstances. Many of the
stallkeepers have in despair deserted the toy business, and gone in for
comforters, kepis, and list soles.

Until the weather set in so bitterly cold, elderly sportsmen, who did
not care to stalk the human game outside, were to be seen from morning
to night pursuing the exciting sport of gudgeon-fishing along the banks
of the Seine. Each one was always surrounded by a crowd deeply
interested in the chase. Whenever a fish was hooked, there was as much
excitement as when a whale is harpooned in more northern latitudes. The
fisherman would play it for some five minutes, and then, in the midst of
the solemn silence of the lookers-on, the precious capture would be
landed. Once safe on the bank, the happy possessor would be patted on
the back, and there would be cries of "Bravo!" The times being out of
joint for fishing in the Seine, the disciples of Isaac Walton have
fallen back on the sewers. The _Paris Journal_ gives them the following
directions how to pursue their new game:--"Take a long, strong line, and
a large hook, bait with tallow, and gently agitate the rod. In a few
minutes a rat will come and smell the savoury morsel. It will be some
time before he decides to swallow it, for his nature is cunning. When
he does, leave him five minutes to meditate over it; then pull strongly
and steadily. He will make convulsive jumps; but be calm, and do not let
his excitement gain on you, draw him up, _et voila votre diner_."

_December 29th._

So we have withdrawn from the plateau of Avron. Our artillery, says the
_Journal Officiel_, could not cope with the Krupp cannons, and,
therefore, it was thought wise to w