Give him a sword, and let him prance about on a horse like a circus rider, and, provided there are a sufficient number of spectators, he will do wonders, but he will not consent to perish obscurely for the sake of anything or anyone.

Trochu has utterly failed in exciting enthusiasm in those under his command; he issues many proclamations, but they fail to strike the right chord.
Instead of keeping up discipline by judicious severity, he endeavours to do so by lecturing like a schoolmaster.

And then, since the commencement of the siege he has been unsuccessful in all his offensive movements.

I am not a military man, but although I can understand the reasons against a sortie _en masse_, it does appear to me strange that the Prussians are not more frequently disquieted by attacks which at least would oblige them to make many a weary march round the outer circle, and would prevent them from detaching troops for service elsewhere.
Not an hour passes without some new rumour respecting the armies of the Provinces being put in circulation.

A letter in which General Chanzy is said to be playing with Frederick Charles as a cat plays with a mouse, and which is attributed to Mr.Odo Russell, English Under-Secretary of State, and Correspondent of the _Times_, has been read by some one, and this morning all the newspapers are jubilant over it.