THE MISSION TO ROME. 



59 



inactive under the walls of 

 Rome the Austrians advance, 

 and the Pope might very pos- 

 sibly go and re-establish at 

 Bologna, under their segis, the 

 seat of authority. 



Beneath the walls of Rome, 

 and even if we were to agree 

 to share the few posts in the 

 city which the authorities might 

 condescend to offer us, should 

 we be in a position to hold, 

 either to the Austrians or to 

 the Pope, the language which 

 it is fitting that France should 

 employ ? Our only resource in 

 dealing with the former would 

 be force, which would be utterly 

 useless in regard to the latter. 



13. Primary assemblies in 

 countries such as this have 

 not the moral force which they 

 generally have with us, be- 

 cause every one knows that in 

 Italy the populations are inca- 

 pable of expressing their 

 wishes in this way. In leav- 

 ing them to decide the future 

 fate of the Roman States, we 

 implicitly declare that we no 

 longer concern ourselves with 

 the sovereignty of the Pope, 



ments of our army being estab- 

 lished at Frascati, Albano, and 

 in the neighbourhood known 

 as the Camp of Hannibal, we 

 should maintain our free com- 

 munications with Civita Vec- 

 chia, the routes to Florence, 

 Bologna, and Fiumicino by the 

 Tiber ferry, or the post which 

 General Oudinot has already 

 prepared, and we should have a 

 new and better communication 

 with the sea by the Porto d'Anzio 

 (Portus Neronis). In such a 

 situation, which is being thought 

 out at the present time by Gene- 

 ral Vaillant, we could not be 

 regarded as having wasted 

 our time or remained inactive. 

 The march of the Austrians 

 need not cause us any uneasi- 

 ness. As to the fear of seeing 

 the Pope establish his see 

 under the cogis of Austria at 

 Bologna, an open and defence- 

 less city, I do not think that 

 there is any foundation for it. 



13. In declaring to the peo- 

 ple of Rome that we do not 

 dispute their right to choose 

 freely their form of govern- 

 ment, we do not indicate how 

 this free choice is to be used ; 

 and if we do not just at this 

 moment raise the questions re- 

 lating to the interests of the 

 Holy Father, it is because we 

 should regard it as very impru- 

 dent to do so prematurely, being 

 convinced that time alone can 



