I have no doubt there are many in Paris ready to die for their country.

I can, however, only deal with facts, and I find that the Parisians appear to rely for safety upon everything except their own valour.

One day it is the Army of the Loire; another day it is some mechanical machine; another day dissensions among the Prussian generals; another day the intervention of Russia or Austria.

In the meantime, clubs denounce the Government; club orators make absurd and impracticable speeches, the Mayor changes the names of streets, and inscribes Liberte, Egalite, and Fraternite on the public buildings.

The journals of all colours, with only one or two exceptions, are filled with lies and bombast, and the people believe the one and admire the other.