t will be supported by the faubourgs; if, however, it
attempts to capitulate upon humiliating terms, it will be ejected from
the Hotel de Ville. A sharp bombardment may, perhaps, make a change in
public opinion, but I can only speak of the opinion of to-day. The
Government declares that it can never run short of ammunition; but it
seems to me that we cannot fire off powder and projectiles eternally,
and that one of these mornings we shall be told that we must capitulate,
as there is no more ammunition. Americans who are here, complain very
much of the Parisians for not using the spade more than they do.
Earthworks, which played so large a part in the defence both of
Sebastopol and Richmond, are unknown at Paris. Barricades made of paving
stones in the streets, and forts of solid masonry outside, are
considered the _ne plus ultra_ of defensive works. For one man who will
go to work to shovel earth, you may find a thousand who will shoulder a
musket. "Paris may be able to defend itself," the Americans say, "but it
is not defending itself after what our generals would consider the most
approved method." We have no intelligence of what is passing in France
beyond our lines. We presume that a great army is forming beyond the
Loire; but yesterday a friend of mine, who received this assurance from
M. Gambetta, could not discover that he had any reason to believe it,
except the hope that it was true.

It is a somewhat singular thing that Rochefort, who was regarded even by
his friends as a vain, mad-brained demagogue, has proved himself one of
the most sensible and practical members of the Government. He has
entirely subordinated his own particular views to the exigencies of the
defence of the capital; and it is owing to his good sense that the
ultras have not indulged in any revolutionary excesses.

I have already endeavoured to forward to you, by land, water, and air,
copies of the Tuileries papers which have been published. That poor old
pantaloon, Villemessant, the proprietor and editor of the _Figaro_, who
is somewhat roughly handled by them, attempts to defend himself in his
paper this morning, but utterly fails to do so. His interested
connection with the Imperial Government is proved without the shadow of
a doubt, and I trust that it will also prove the death of his newspaper,
which has long been a disgrace to the press of France. I went to look
after the proprietor of another paper yesterday, as he had promised me
tha