THE MISSION TO ROME. 105 



and which I was following as the document com- 

 municated by the Minister was being read. The 

 members of the Council, to all of whom it was passed, 

 were able to see for themselves that this phrase was 

 not embodied in them. Thereupon I myself caused 

 the sitting to be adjourned, and wrote the next day 

 the following letter to the President of the Council 

 of State, M. Boulay de la Meurthe : 



" PABIS, July 81, 1849. 



" Monsieur le President, On leaving the Council 

 of State yesterday, I went to the Ministry of Foreign 

 Affairs and ascertained from M. Yiel-Castel, the di- 

 rector of the political department, that the minute of 

 the ministerial despatch of the 8th of May, containing 

 the instructions relative to my mission to Eome, 

 agreed in every detail with the copy which was 

 handed to me before my departure from Paris and 

 which I showed to the members of the legislative 

 section. I shall be obliged if you will communicate 

 this fact to the Councillors, who will form their 

 opinion as to the circumstances under which an im- 

 portant phrase was inserted in the copy certified and 

 communicated by the Ministry. This phrase was, to 

 my mind, very conclusive, as it might of itself alone 

 have served as a base to the system which was de- 

 signed to prove that my conduct was inconsistent 

 with my instructions. 



(Signed) " F. DE LESSEPS." 



