es would
call a Constituent Assembly as soon as possible, and resign power into
its hands. They are moderate Republicans, but between a Red Republic and
a Constitutional Monarchy they would prefer the latter. As practical
men, from what I know of them, I am inclined to think that they would be
in favour of the Orleanist family--either the Comte de Paris or the Duc
d'Aumale." "And would the majority of the Constituent Assembly go with
them?" I asked. "I think it would" he replied. "The Orleanist family
would mean peace. Of late years Frenchmen have cared very little for
military glory; their dream has been to save money. One advantage of our
disasters is that it has limited the number of pretenders to the Throne,
for after the capitulation of Sedan, neither the army nor the peasants
will support a Bonaparte. There will be two parties--the
ultra-Republicans, and the advocates of a Constitutional Monarchy under
a Prince of the House of Orleans. Unless the friends of the Orleans
Princes commit some great fault, they are masters of the situation."

I went down this morning to the Halles Centrales. There was very little
going on. _Bonnes_ were coming to market, but most of the booths were
untenanted, and the price of vegetables, eggs, and butter was
exorbitant. "Why do you complain of me?" said a dealer to a
customer--"is it my fault? Curse Badinguet and that wretch of a
Bismarck; they choose to fight, so you must pay double for these
carrots" The butchers yesterday published an appeal against the maximum;
they said that the cost of animals is so great that they positively are
losing upon every joint which they sell. A new proclamation of the Mayor
has just been issued, announcing that 500 oxen and 4,000 sheep will
daily be slaughtered and sold to the butchers at a price to enable them
to gain 20 per cent, by retailing meat at the official tariff. I find
that, come what may, we have coffee and sugar enough to last many
months, so that provided the bread does not fail, we shall take some
time to starve out.

This afternoon a dense column of smoke was seen rising in the air in the
direction of La Villette, and it gradually covered the town with a dark
cloud. The pessimists among the Boulevard quidnuncs insisted that the
town had been set on fire by the Prussians; the optimists were convinced
that the 10,000, who for some reason or other are supposed to be in a
wood, patiently waiting to be roasted, were being burnt. It turns o