se men of war, and who, although
exercising no official rank in the battalion, insisted upon their
accepting him as their chief, is to be brought before a Council of War.

My next-door neighbour, Franchetti, died yesterday, and was buried
to-day. He was a fine, handsome young man, well off, happily married,
and, as the commander of the Eclaireurs of the Seine, has done good
service during the siege. As he was an Israelite, he was followed to the
grave by the Rothschilds and many other of his co-religionists.

_December 8th._

M. de Sarcey, in the _Temps_ of to-day, enters into a lengthy argument
to prove that the Parisians are heroic. "Heroism is positive and
negative," he says, "and we have, for the sake of our country, deprived
ourselves during several months of the power to make money, and during
this time we have existed without many of the comforts to which we are
accustomed." Now, I by no means wish to undervalue the sacrifices of the
Parisians, but heroism is not the word for them. So long as there are
enough provisions in the town to enable every one to live without
feeling the pangs of hunger, they have no opportunity to show negative
heroism. So long as the town is not assaulted, and they do not take part
in sorties, they cannot be said to be actively heroic. A blockade such
as the Prussians have instituted round Paris, is no doubt most
disagreeable to its inhabitants. In submitting to it, undoubtedly they
show their patriotism and their power of passive endurance. Heroism is,
however, something more than either patriotism or endurance--it is an
exceptional quality which is rarely found in this world. If the
Parisians possessed it, I should admire them; because they do not, no
one has a right to blame them.

The newspapers have now proved to their own complete satisfaction that
Count Moltke's assertion respecting the defeat of the Army of the Loire
can only refer to its rearguard, and although no news from without has
been received for several days, they insist that the greater portion of
this army has effected its junction with that of Bourbaki. A French
journalist, even when he is not obliged to do so, generally invents his
facts, and then reasons upon them with wonderful ingenuity. I do not
know whether the Paris journals get to you through the Prussian lines;
if they do not, you have little idea how much excellent advice you lose.
One would think that just at present a Parisian would do well to keep