THE MISSION TO ROME. 25 



" France doubtless does not question our right to 

 govern ourselves in our own way, the right to draw, 

 so to speak, from the entrails of the country the idea 

 which regulates its existence, and to make of it the 

 basis of our institutions. All that France can say to 

 us is, ' In recognising your independence, it is the free 

 and spontaneous wish of the majority which I desire to 

 recognise. United to the European Powers, and being 

 anxious for peace, if it were true that a minority among 

 you sought to oppose the national tendencies, if it were 

 true that the present form of your government was only 

 the capricious fancy of a faction, substituting itself for 

 the common aspirations, I could not look on with in- 

 difference while the peace of Europe was being con- 

 stantly endangered by the turbulent scenes of anarchy 

 which necessarily characterise the reign of a faction.' 

 We recognise that France has this right, for we believe 

 in the solidarity of nations for good. But we main- 

 tain that if ever there was a Government springing 

 from the wishes of the majority of the nation, and 

 maintained in power by it, that Government is our 

 own. 



" The Eepublic has been implanted in our midst by 

 the will of an Assembly elected by universal suffrage. 

 It has everywhere been accepted with enthusiasm; 

 nowhere has it encountered the least opposition. 



" And you must remember that never was opposi- 

 tion so easy, so devoid of danger, I may even add so 

 provoked, not by its acts, but by the exceptionally 



