diplomatic agent who, giving himself up entirely to the negotiations and to the charge of the arrangements to be concerted with the authorities and the people of Rome, may attend to them with all the care and anxiety which a matter of such serious importance requires. Your zeal, sir, and your experience, your firmness, and the conciliatory temper of which you have given proof during the course of your career, have caused you to be selected by the Government for the conduct of this delicate affair. I have explained to you the nature of the question with which you will have to do. The object which we propose to ourselves is that of saving the States of the Church from the anarchy by which they are afflicted, and of preventing a blind reaction from bringing present injury and future peril on the restoration of a regular Government. Everything which prevents other Powers, animated by less. moderate sentiments, from prosecuting an intended intervention, will leave larger scope for our direct and peculiar influence, and tend, as a natural result, to the further carrying out of the object I have mentioned. You will, then, whilst using all diligence to attain this termination as quickly as possible, endeavour to steer clear of two difficulties which will lie in your path. It is necessary, in the first place, that you should abstain from everything which may justify the persons, who now hold the reins of Government in the Roman States, in believing, or causing to be believed, that we consider theirs a regular Government, which would give them a moral power that they do not at present possess. Secondly, in the arrangements which you may have to make with them you will avoid every stipulation, every expression, calculated to arouse the susceptibilities of the Holy See, and of those now assembled at Gaeta, who are but too much inclined to think that we are disposed to hold very cheap the authority and the interests of the Roman Court. In the country to which you are going, and with the persons with whom you will have to deal, the manner is not less important than the matter. These are the only instructions I can give you at present. To render them more precise and particular, it would be necessary to have VOL. IV. G information which we do not yet possess as to what has taken place in the Roman States within the last few days. Your correct and enlightened judgment will guide you according to circumstances. You will also communicate with Messrs. d'Harcourt and de Rayneval respecting everything of importance, or which does not require an immediate decision. It is unnecessary for me to recommend you to be on terms of intimacy and confidence with General Oudinot, this being absolutely essential to the success of the enterprise which both of you must have at heart." M. Barrot, President of the Council, exhorted the Envoy to use all the means in his power to bring about the object aimed at by the Assembly and the Government, which, whilst they were far from wishing to restore impossible abuses, desired to have solid and real guarantees for the liberty of the Roman States. And the President of the Republic declared he had, beyond everything, at heart, that the French troops should, at all costs, avoid common action with the Austrians and Neapolitans. Lesseps having taken his departure, and accusations against the Government still continuing in Parliament, Barrot replied to them as follows: In "I assure you, that as long as I shall hold in my hands any portion of power in, this country, the arms of France shall never be employed in restoring impossible abuses. order to ascertain the true state of the case from the testimony of impartial witnesses, and in order to convey to the French camp a faithful and exact expression of the feelings of the Assembly and of the Government, with respect to the object which the French expedition ought to pursue, in spite of all obstacles, until it succeeds, we have sent thither an Envoy who possesses all our confidence, whom you have seen tried in several serious conjunctures, who has always served the cause of liberty and humanity. If you wish to know his name, it is M. Lesseps. He has taken his departure with the express recommendation to put himself immediately into communication with the Government, to keep us informed from day to day of all the events which may happen, and with strict orders to use every possible exertion so that real and solid guarantees for the liberty of the Roman States may result from our intervention." When it was reported soon afterwards at Paris that the Court of Gaeta had sent Monsignor Valentini as Pontifical Commissioner to Cività Vecchia, and that General Oudinot had prevented him from assuming authority, the Minister for Foreign Affairs requested M. Lesseps, on the 10th of May, to act in the same way in all similar conjunctures, and having commended the General, sent him the following dispatch "Let it be made known to the Romans that we will not unite ourselves with the Neapolitans against them; continue. the negotiations in the sense of your declarations. Reinforcements are being sent to you. Wait. Endeavour to enter Rome on good terms with the inhabitants; if ever you should be forced to attack, do it only with the most certain probability of success." The General had secretly communicated to the officers under his command the order he had received to prevent the Neapolitans and Austrians from entering on the territory occupied by the French, but at the same time, having transferred his quarters to Villa Santucci, he moved the troops with the heavy artillery towards Rome, and made an incursion towards the Villa Panfili. The President of the Republic, having written to him to say that he would not suffer a blow to be aimed at the military honour of France, that he would restore the reputation and reinforce the strength of the camp, and that he wished the soldiers to be cheered with the assurance of his gratitude, General thus replied: "M. President, the "I have just received the letter which you have done me the honour to write, and I will take care to make its contents known to the army, which will find in it a just and precious recompense for its fidelity, its discipline, and its courage. "The French army is at the gates of Rome, and, great as is the circuit of the city, it is entirely invested. Our guns will soon be ready to commence the attack. Masters of the Higher and Lower Tiber; commanding the road to Florence, we have intercepted all communication, and have secured complete liberty of action. From this day the absolute submission of the party which governs Rome will be infallibly secured if the Moniteur of the 8th does not contain anything to revive sinister hopes. But, come what may, France will soon be the arbiter of the destinies of Central Italy, and your Government will very soon reap the fruits of the vigorous and generous policy it has endeavoured to pursue, and which you advocate." Thus the French General continued to feed himself and his Government with false hopes, assuming that he had forces and preparations sufficient for forcing an entry into Rome. But at this juncture M. Lesseps arrived at the camp, and delivering his commission to the General, persuaded him to give orders to the troops to abstain from the attack which he had intended to commence. CHAPTER V. THE NEAPOLITAN ARMY.-GARIBALDI AND HIS FOLLOWERS.-SKIRMISH AT PALESTRINA.-HOPES OF ROME.-OBSERVATIONS.-FIRST COMBETWEEN M. LESSEPS AND THE TRIUMVIRS. -TEXT MUNICATIONS OF A LETTER FROM HIM TO GENERAL OUDINOT.-TEXT OF A NOTE FROM MAZZINI TO M. LESSEPS.-NOMINATION OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE ASSEMBLY TO NEGOTIATE TERMS.- -TRUCE.-MARCH OF THE ROMAN ARMY AGAINST THE NEAPOLITANS.-THE ROYAL CAMP.-RETREAT OF THE KING OF NAPLES IN THE DIRECTION OF HIS KINGDOM.-ARBITRARY CONDUCT OF GARIBALDI.-SKIRMISH AT VELLETRI.-OPINIONS OF ROSELLI AND GARIBALDI.-INVASION OF OF GARIBALDI UPON ROME. THE KINGDOM.-ARCE.-RETREAT GAETA. OBSERVATIONS.PROJECTS OF THE COURT.-ADVICE OF THE Neapolitan army, consisting of 16,000 men, was posted between Albano and Frascati, and was commanded by the King, who had his head-quarters at Albano, with two Swiss regiments, three regiments of Cavalry, and a good deal of Artillery. His entry into the Roman States was not signalised by a battle, or by any noble deeds, but by numerous arrests of republican magistrates, of peaceful travellers, and of honest citizens, whom he threw into filthy prisons, where they were associated with thieves and vagabonds. The uncertain projects of France, who, disdaining his alliance, promised liberty to the people, disturbed him greatly, and Garibaldi, who was roaming all over the country, would not allow the courtiers and prelates that swarmed |