upon an iron bedstead, Mazzini slept. Lesseps watched him
sleeping, fascinated by the beauty of his magnificent head as it lay
in repose. He still looked very young, though there was hardly a state
in Europe where he was not proscribed. When Lesseps had gazed his
full, he called 'Mazzini, Mazzini!' The Triumvir awoke, sat up and
asked if he had come to assassinate him? Lesseps told him his name,
and a long conversation followed. One thing, at least, that Lesseps
said in this interview was strictly true, namely, that Mazzini must
not count on the French republican soldiers objecting to fire on
republicans: 'The French soldier would burn down the cottage of his
mother if ordered by his superiors to do so.' The discipline of a
great army is proof against politics.

Lesseps was himself in much fear of being assassinated. He believed
that his footsteps were dogged by three individuals, one of whom was
an ex-French convict. He complained to Mazzini, who said that he could
do nothing, which probably shows that he gave no credence to the
story. Then Lesseps had recourse to Ciceruacchio, 'a man of the people
who had great influence on the population, and who had organised the
revolution.' The tribune seems to have quieted his fears and
guaranteed his safety.

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