A remarkable proclamation was recently posted in Brussels by che Germans. It stated that, as Paris was infected with cholera, the German Emperor had withdrawn troops and permitted them to winter elsewhere, where they would enjoy the repose which they had 30 nobly earned. This was such good news that none of the Allies, least of all the French, could grudge the reason assigned.' A cholera epidemic is a very dreadful visitation; but without doubt the Parisians are able to endure with cheerfulness the scourge which the Germans have invented for them. Even if it were a reality, they would probably prefer it to the arrival of the Germans themselves. But such fictions indicate that their inventors either cannot, or dare not, tell the truth, This particular fiction may be more useful than many we have been treated to in Shanghai inasmuch as it may also be used to explain why the German troops do not return to Paris in the spring when, usually, cholera is most virulent.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.