64 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



Subsequently it was agreed that a further delay of 

 twenty -four hours, expiring at midnight on the 30th, 

 should be granted. 



After the departure of M. Leduc, in the night of 

 the 29th to the 30th, I remarked that there was a 

 great stir among the staff of the general in command, 

 and that preparations were being made for some move- 

 ment the next day. I at once handed to the General, 

 in whose house I still resided, a note in which I said, 

 " In the event of your deeming it your duty to seize, 

 by surprise or otherwise, positions inside Borne, or 

 even just outside its walls, without previously con- 

 sulting me, I think it only right to disclaim all 

 responsibilities for the political consequences which 

 may result from it. Until orders arrive from the 

 Government, either blaming or approving of my con- 

 duct, it is not in keeping with my mission that you 

 should alone determine upon any measures, military or 

 otherwise, which might compromise our Government 

 or implicate our country in a cause which I deem to 

 be ill-advised and dangerous." 



It should be added that I had not, up to this 

 date, heard a word from the Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, nor had General Oudinot. The embarrass- 

 ment which this silence might cause had been pointed 

 out by me in all my despatches, notably in those sent 

 through M. de la Tour d'Auvergne and one or two 

 other messengers. 



I knew that the General had sent for several 



