THE MISSION TO ROME. 75 



vention, declared, directly I came to the question of 

 cantonments, that he would not sign it. He refused 

 to listen to any explanation, and as he spoke in a 

 tone which I did not at all like, I was obliged to reply 

 to him in a way which cut short the whole discussion. 

 Being convinced that this project met all the neces- 

 sities of the case quite as well as the previous one 

 which he had approved of, and that in some par- 

 ticulars it was preferable to the other, it was impossi- 

 ble for me to give way, especially as I knew that it 

 was General Oudinot's intention to take advantage of 

 the rupture of negotiations and not wait for official 

 orders from Paris ; for I had no doubt whatever as to 

 his being secretly in harmony with those members of 

 our Government who belonged to the reactionary 

 party. I bore in mind the vote of the 7th of May, 

 which had led to my mission ; I had just read over 

 again the speech delivered by the President of the 

 Council at the sitting of May 9th, according to which 

 I was to be "the faithful and exact expression of 

 the ideas of the Assembly and of those of the Govern- 

 ment, with respect to the aim and character which the 

 French expedition was to maintain to the very end 

 and in spite of all eventualities whatsoever." I was 

 acquainted with all the means of defence in the city, 

 and I was certain that until we had received rein- 

 forcements and fresh material of war we could not 

 carry it by assault ; that the resistance would be pro- 

 longed and general. The further time I had spent in 



