French, Austrian, Spanish, and Neapolitan invasion, our finances are recovering, our credit is repaired, our notes are discounted at twelve per cent., our army augments every day, and the people are ready to rise in its aid. You behold Rome, Sir, and you are acquainted with the heroic struggle which Bologna is sustaining. I write these things to you at night, in the midst of the most profound calm. The garrison left the city yesterday; and, previous to the arrival of fresh troops, our gates, our walls, and our barricades, by orders passed from mouth to mouth, were guarded, in the middle of the night, without noise, without boasting, by the armed people.

"At the bottom of the hearts of this people there rests a firm determination-the end of the temporal dominion of the Pope, and hatred to the government of the clergy, under however reformed or disguised a shape it may present itself. I say hatred, not of the men, but of the government. Towards individuals our people, thanks to God, since the foundation of the Republic, have always shown themselves generous; but the bare idea of the clerical government of the Sovereign Pontiff puts them in a rage. They will fight resolutely against every attempt at restoration; they will throw themselves into heresy sooner than submit to it.

"When these two questions were discussed before the Assembly, some timid Deputies were of opinion that the Republican form was immature, and perilous in the present political state of Europe, but nevertheless not one voted against the separation. Both sides of the House were unanimous. With one voice they cried out, the temporal power of the Pope is for ever destroyed.

"What is to be done with such a people as this? Is there a free Government which can arrogate to itself without crime and contradiction, the right of imposing on it a return to the past?

"A return to the past, let us remember well, Sir, is a return to organised disorder; it is the recommencement of the strifes of secret societies; it is anarchy thrown into the bosom of

Italy; reaction, vengeance, inoculated into the hearts of a people which asks nothing else but that it may be able to forget; it is a germ of permanent war in the heart of Europe; it is the programme of extreme parties, in place of the government of Republican order, of which we are the ministers.

"This cannot be desired by France, by its Government, by a nephew of Napoleon. No! Not, above all, in presence of the double invasion of the Austrians and Neapolitans. Such a project would resemble the opprobrious league of 1772 against Poland. Moreover, it would be impossible to reduce it to practice, for, only upon heaps of corpses, and on the ruins of our city, could the banner be raised which has fallen by the will of the people.

"I shall have the honour, Sir, to offer you to-morrow, or the day after, some further observations on this subject."

On his return to Rome, M. Lesseps sent a copy of this document to his Government, and spoke so as to imply that he had hopes of bringing to a favourable conclusion the mission with which he had been entrusted. A gleam of hope had also entered into the breasts of the Triumvirs, for on the 16th of May they wrote to the Assembly that they considered it would be judicious to keep secret the primary negotiations, and that they would give an account of the final results, which were becoming more and more probable. The day after they proposed, in accordance with the wish of the French Envoy, that three Commissioners should be selected; and the motion having passed, Sturbinetti and Audinot were nominated, together with Agostini, instead of Cernuschi, who would not accept the office. The commission was then given them to go to Lesseps; to endeavour to bring him round to an opinion favourable to the Republic; to hear his proposals, and

to inform the Assembly accordingly. In the meantime the truce being agreed upon, the Triumvirs, on the 17th of May, published this manifesto:

"In the name of God and the People.

"Hostilities are suspended between the Roman Republic and France."

Roselli, who had arrived at Rome about this time, and had been raised to the rank of Commander-inChief, thought he ought to profit by the truce with the French to go out against the Neapolitans and force the King to give battle. The Government willingly granted him permission, and on the evening of the 16-17th May, the Roman army, about 10,000 to 12,000 strong, marched out of the Porta San Giovanni in Laterano, amidst the rejoicings of the people. The same day news arrived at Albano of the negotiations with Lesseps, of the truce, and of the fresh instructions of the French Government, which produced great disquiet in the royal camp. The prelates assembled there began to cry out against the treachery of France, and to counsel the King to consult his own safety, setting the example themselves in all haste. The Pope also wrote from Gaeta, exhorting him to return to his kingdom; therefore, abandoning Albano, he led the army to Ariccia on the evening of the 17th, and the day after to Velletri. The same day the Romans were at Val Montone with the main body of their troops, and the advanced guard was six miles further on at Monte Fortino, nine miles from Velletri. Roselli had planned the order of battle, when Garibaldi, who had command of the centre, left his post, and

Ro

taking upon himself the command of the advanced guard, led it against Velletri, proceeding with only 2000 men to within a mile of the city, though Roselli had ordered him not to advance. The Neapolitans attacked him with such a superior force that Garibaldi ran great risk of his life, and his troops were exposed to extreme peril; but audacity and valour made up for numbers, and the Romans having repulsed the enemy's cavalry, drove back the infantry into the town. selli having hastened thither with the main body of his troops, ordered the assault for the following morning, but the King abandoned the place in the night, withdrawing his forces in such haste that great confusion and excitement ensued. The skirmish hardly cost both sides a hundred men; but as Velletri remained in possession of the Romans, and as the King, taking counsel from the clergy and from fear, rather than from military honour, turned his back upon the place, the Republicans proclaimed it as a signal victory, and lauded the name of Garibaldi to the stars, though in fact he was worthy of reprehension for taking on himself the command, thereby rendering the Commander-in-Chief liable to blame for the peril he had incurred, and the safe retreat of the enemy, and lessening at the same time the already impaired discipline of the army.

Things being in this state, Roselli was inclined to return immediately to Rome to make such preparations for the defence as would be requisite, if the negotiations, at present pending with the French, did not terminate favourably; and if on that side the Republic

should find it had nothing to fear, then to make preparations for marching against the Austrians, who, to the number of 7000 men, were advancing from Tuscany upon Umbria. He thought he should be able to beat them by taking 13,000 or 14,000 men towards Cortona, and then turning himself against the body which was invading the marches of Ancona. But Garibaldi was of opinion that instead of this he ought to invade the kingdom of Naples, and as of all who fought for the Republic he had the highest reputation amongst the volunteers in the army, and the insurgents in the city, he managed entirely to overset the plans of the Commander-in-Chief, who, although he had written to the Triumvirs that he could not acquiesce in the project of invading the kingdom of Naples, received orders to entrust the command of 6000 men to Garibaldi, who would undertake the expedition, whilst he returned with the rest of his troops to Rome-a resolution void of all judgment, because it left neither the one commander nor the other sufficient forces to attempt battles of any consequence.

Having overrun the province of Frosinone and dispersed the few troops which, hastily drawn together, had advanced under the Pontifical banner from Benevento, Garibaldi entered the kingdom of Naples, and on the 26th of the month reached Arce, which the Neapolitan garrison had abandoned after a short resistance, retreating to San Germano, where General Nunziante was stationed with two Swiss regiments. The inhabitants, who, at first, had retreated to the mountains, fearful of the violence of the Republican chief,

VOL. IV.

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