d that in laying siege to
Paris they are committing a mistake for which a schoolboy would be
deservedly whipped. If you eliminate the working-class element, which
has not been corrupted by the Imperial system, the population of this
town is much what I imagine that of Constantinople to have been when it
was taken by the Turks. They are Greeks of the lower empire. Monsieur
sticks his kepi on one side of his head, and struts and swaggers along
the Boulevard as though he were a bantam cock. We have lost the _petits
creves_ who formed so agreeable an element in society, but they have
been replaced by the military dandy, a being, if possible, still more
offensive. This creature mounts some sorry screw and parades the
Boulevard and the Champs Elysees, frowning dismally upon the world in
general, and twirling his moustache with the one hand, whilst he holds
on to the saddle with the other. His sword is of the longest, his waist
is of the tightest, and his boots are of the brightest. His like is only
to be seen in England when the _Battle of Waterloo_ is played at
Astley's, but his seat is not as good as that of the equestrian warriors
of that establishment. As he slowly paces along he gazes slyly to see
how many people are looking at him, and it must be owned that those who
do see him, vastly admire him. What manner of beings these admirers are
may be imagined from their idol. No contrast can be greater than that
which exists between the Parisian Bobadils and the Provincial Mobiles.
The latter are quiet and orderly, eager to drill and without a vestige
of bluster--these poor peasants are of a very different stuff from the
emasculated, conceited scum which has palmed itself off on Europe as
representative Frenchmen. The families with whom they lodge speak with
wonder of their sobriety, their decency, and their simple ways, and in
their hearts almost despise them because they do not ravish their
daughters or pillage their cellars; and neither swear every half-hour to
die for their country, nor yell the "Marseillaise." If Paris be saved,
it will be thanks to them and to the working men of the capital. But it
will be the old _sic vos non vobis_ story; their brave deeds and
undemonstrative heroism will be forgotten, and Jules and Alphonse, the
dandies and braggarts of the Boulevard, will swear to their own heroism.
I trust that the Prussians will fail to take Paris, because I think that
the French are right to fight on rather than su