M. Thiers daily assures the Prefects that all is going
on well, but he is waiting, as is believed, for more troops before he attempts any final coup. According to the best authorities we can find, one of them the German General in command at St. Denis, he has fewer trustworthy men than is supposed—about 50,000—but more are arriving every day. General Ducrot is coming from Rheims with 32,000 men, comprising 18,000 of the Guard, the men who fought so well at Mars-lc-Tour; and 20,000 marines are to be collected. It is believed that when all is ready M. Thiers will pay the 120,000,000 to the Germans, who will then retire to Rheims, while the Government, occupying St. Denis, will from thence make a desperate assault upon the city. All this, however, is rather rumour than authentic information, as is the story that M. Thiers intends regularly to besiege Paris. His daily expenses must be perfectly frightful, as he is maintaining an army, French and German, of at least 800,000 on a war footing, is paying, or liable to pay, interest on the indemnity, and is paying the Red Battalions also, to prevent them from destroying the Great Book of the Debt, and so throwing all France into inextricable financial confusion.
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