They do neither harm nor good.

Of General Trochu, into whose hands, by the mere force of circumstances, all civil and military authority is concentrating, _Bonum virum, facile dixeris, magnum libenter_.

He is, I believe, a good general and a good administrator.

Although he awakens no enthusiasm, confidence is felt by the majority in his good sense.

It is thought, however, that he is wanting in that energy and audacity which are requisite in a leader, if victory is to be wrested from the Germans.
He forgets that time is not his ally, and that merely to hold Paris until that surely inevitable hour arrives when the provisions are exhausted will neither save France nor her capital.