t which Trochu was requested to resign, is perfectly true. Picard and
Jules Favre said that if he did resign they should do so also, and the
discussion was closed by the General himself saying, "I feel myself
equal to the situation, and I shall remain." Yesterday evening there
were groups everywhere, discussing the withdrawal of the troops from
Avron. It was so bitterly cold, however, that they soon broke up. This
morning the newspapers, one and all, abuse Trochu. Somehow or other,
they say, he always fails in everything he undertakes. I hear from
military men that the feeling in the army is very strong against him.
While the bombardment was going on at Avron he exposed himself freely to
the fire, but instead of superintending the operations he attitudinized
and made speeches. General Ducrot, who was there, and between whom and
Trochu a certain coldness has sprung up, declared that he had always
been opposed to any attempt to retain this position. The behaviour of
Vinoy was that of a soldier. He was everywhere encouraging his men. What
I cannot understand is why, if Avron was to be held, it was not
fortified. It must have been known that the Prussians could, if they
pleased, bring a heavy concentric fire from large siege guns to bear
upon it. Casemates and strong earthworks might have been made--but
nothing was done. I was up there the other day, and I then asked an
engineer officer why due precautions were not being taken; but he only
shrugged his shoulders in reply. General Vinoy, who was in the Crimea,
says that all that the French, English, and Russians did there was
child's play in comparison with the Prussian artillery. From the size of
the unburst shells which have been picked up, their cannon must be
enormous. The question now is, whether the forts will be able to hold
out against them. The following account of what has taken place from the
_Verite_ is by far the best which has been published:--

"Notwithstanding that the fire of the enemy slackened on the 26th, the
Prussians were not losing their time. Thanks to the hardness of the
soil, and to the fog, they had got their guns into position in all their
batteries from Villenomble to Montfermeil. The injury done to the park
of Drancy by the precision of the aim of our artillery at Fort Nogent
was repaired; cannon were brought to the trenches which the day before
we had occupied at Ville Evrart; and, as well as it was possible, twelve
new batteries, armed with can