nce." "But
this success we do not seem likely to have," says another. The attempt
to burn down the forests seems only partially to have succeeded. The
Prussians appear to be using them, and the French to the last carrying
on war without scouts.

6 P.M.

Evening papers just out. Not a word about Clamart. The _Liberte_ says
the Minister of the Interior refers journalists to General Trochu, who
claims the right to suppress what he pleases. When will French
Governments understand that it is far more productive of demoralisation
to allow no official news to be published than to publish the worst?
Rochefort has been appointed President of a Committee of Barricades, to
organise a second line of defence within the ramparts.

7 P.M.

The cannon can be distinctly heard. The reports come from different
quarters. Jules Favre, I hear from a sure source, is at the Prussian
headquarters.

7.30 P.M.

I live _au quatrieme_ with a balcony before my room. I can see the
flashes of cannon in the direction of Vincennes. There appears to be a
great fire somewhere.

12 P.M.

Have driven to the Barriere de l'Enfer. Nothing there. On the Champ de
Mars I found troops returned from Clamart. They complain that they never
saw their officers during the engagement, that there were no scouts in
the Bois de Clamart, and that the Prussians succeeded by their old game
of sticking to the cover. At first they fell back--the French troops
pressed on, when they were exposed to a concentric fire. From the Champs
Elysees I drove to the Buttes de Montmartre. Thousands of people
clustered everywhere except where they were kept off by the Nationaux,
who were guarding the batteries. The northern sky was bright from the
reflection of a conflagration--as the forest of St. Germain was burning.
It was almost light. We could see every shot and shell fired from the
forts round St. Denis. At ten o'clock I got back to the Boulevard des
Italiens. Every cafe was closed. It appears that at about nine o'clock
the Cafe Riche was full of Gardes Mobiles, officers, and _lorettes_.
They made so much noise that the public outside became indignant, and
insisted on their giving up their orgie. The National Guard joined in
this protest, and an order was sent at once to close every cafe. Before
the Maison Doree I saw a few _viveurs_, gazing at its closed windows as
though the end of the world had come. This cafe has been opened day and
night for the last twenty years