CHAPTER I.
PARIS, _September 18th._ No one walking on the Champs Elysees or on the Boulevards to-day would suppose that 300,000 Prussians are within a few miles of the city, and intend to besiege it.

Happy, said Laurence Sterne, in his "Sentimental Journey," the nation which can once a week forget its cares.

The French have not changed since then.

To-day is a fete day, and as a fete day it must be kept.

Every one seems to have forgotten the existence of the Prussians.