The French envoy could not help being struck by the tender care taken of his wounded fellow-countrymen by the Princess Belgiojoso and other noble ladies who attended the hospitals.  Of prisoners who were not wounded there were none, as they had been sent back scot-free to their general a few days after the 30th of April.  He was struck also by the firm resolve of all classes not to restore the Pope.  Some liked the existing government, some did not, but all prayed heaven to be henceforth delivered from the rule of an infallible sovereign.

Whatever was the measure of confidence which Mazzini felt in Lesseps, he was firm as iron on the main point—­the non-admittance of the ‘friendly’ French troops into Rome.  Lesseps dragged on the negotiations till his government had finished the preparations for sending to Rome a force which should not be much less than twice in number the whole military resources of the republic.  Then they recalled him, and, in order not to be bound by anything that he might have said, they set about the rumour that he was mad.  Indignant at such treatment, Lesseps left the diplomatic service, and turned his attention to engineering.  This was the origin of the Suez Canal.

While all these things were going on, the Austrians moved from Ferrara and Modena towards Bologna, the Spaniards landed at Fiumicino, and 16,000 Neapolitans, commanded by Ferdinand II., encamped near Albano.  Garibaldi was attacked on the 9th of May by the Neapolitan vanguard, which he obliged to fall back.  On the 18th, he completely defeated King Ferdinand’s army near Velletri, and the King ordered a general retreat into his own dominions, which was accomplished in haste and confusion.

By the end of May, Oudinot’s forces were increased to over 35,000 men.  The defenders of Rome, under the chief command of General Rosselli, were about 20,000, of whom half were volunteers.  Colonel Marnara’s Lombard Legion of Bersaglieri was, in smartness of appearance and perfect discipline, equal to any regular troops; in its ranks were the sons of the best and richest Lombard families, such as Dandolo, Morosini and many others.  Medici’s legion was also composed of educated and well-to-do young men.  The Bolognese, under the Marquis Melara, had the impetuous daring of their race, and Count Angelo Masina did wonders with his forty lancers.  Wherever Garibaldi was—­it was always in the hottest places—­there were to be seen, at no great distance, the patriot monk, Ugo Bassi, riding upon a fiery horse, and the young poet of Free Italy, Goffredo Mameli, with his slight, boyish figure, and his fair hair floating in the breeze.  Nor must we omit from the list of Garibaldi’s bodyguard Forbes, the Englishman, and Anghiar, the devoted negro, who followed his master like a dog.