If he could not break through the Prussian lines a month ago, _a fortiori_, he will not be able to do so now.

They are stronger, and he is weaker; for the inaction of the last few weeks, and the surrender of Avron, would have been enough to damp the ardour of far more veteran troops than those which he has under his command.

The outcry against this excellent but vain man grows stronger every day, and sorry, indeed, must he be that he "rushed in where others feared to tread." "Action, speedy action," shout the newspapers, much as the Americans did before Bull's Run, or as M.Felix Pyat always calls it, Run Bull.

The generals well know that if they yield to the cry, there will most assuredly be a French edition of that battle.

In fact, the situation may be summed up in a very few words.