ves on the plateau of Hautes-Bruyeres. The division
of General Maud'huy re-took these positions. At five o'clock in the
morning the Prussians tried to occupy them a second time, but failed,
and at half-past seven o'clock they fell back. At nine they attacked
again, when a column of our troops, issuing from the Porte d'Italie,
arrived. The fray went on until ten o'clock, when the Prussians
retreated towards Sceaux. This tallies to a great extent with what I was
told by an officer this morning who had taken part in the engagement.

The _Gazette Officielle_ contains a decree cashiering M. Devienne,
President of the Cour de Cassation, and sending him to be judged by his
own court, for having been the intermediary between Badinguet and his
mistress, Marguerite Bellanger. Two letters are published which seem to
leave no doubt that this worthy judge acted as the go-between of the two
lovers.

Mr. George Sanders, whilom United States Consul in London, and one of
the leaders of the ex-Confederacy, is here; he is preparing plans for a
system of rifle pits and zigzags outside the fortifications, at the
request of General Trochu. Mr. Sanders, who took an active part in the
defence of Richmond, declares that Paris is impregnable, if it be only
well defended. He complains, however, that the French will not use the
spade.

4 _o'clock_ P.M.

We have been in a state of wild enthusiasm all this afternoon. At about
1 o'clock it was rumoured that 20,000 Prussians and 40 cannon had been
taken. There had been a heavy firing, it was said, this morning, and a
Prussian force had approached near the forts of Ivry and Bicetre.
General Vinoy had issued forth from Vincennes, and, getting behind them,
had forced them under the guns of the forts, where they were taken
prisoners. The Boulevards immediately were crowded; here a person
announcing that he had a despatch from the front, here another vowing he
had been there himself. Wherever a drum was heard there was a cry of
"Here come the prisoners!" Tired of this, at about 4 o'clock I drove to
Montrouge. It is a sort of Parisian Southwark. I found all the
inhabitants lining the streets, waiting, too, for news. A regiment
marched in, and there was a cry that it had come from the front; then
artillery filed by out of the city gate. I tried myself to pass, and had
got half-way through before I was stopped, then I was turned back. The
prisoners here, close by the scene of action, had dwindled down t