Their sympathy those foreigners have shown for thee, O Italy! when thy aged and venerable head was raised for a moment in Rome, from the lethargy of opprobrium in which thy oppressors had conspired to hold thee, thou Mother, Instructress and Mistress of Nations! When thou once more shalt rouse thyself, they will tremble at the defeat of their united powers, combined in the league of Hell, to oppress and degrade thee. Be great, then, once more, O Italy! and then the powerful voice of the Almighty will be heard by all thy sons; and the hungry and cowardly vultures which destroy thee, will be stunned by its thundering sound. On the night of the 16th all my men were occupied in preparing cartridges, which were almost entirely exhausted, and in cutting up chains to supply the want of balls, and in the incessant pumping of the leaky vessels. Manuel Rodriguez, the same Catalonian officer who had been saved with me from shipwreck on the coast of Santa Caterina, was occupied, with a few of the best, in fitting up several merchant vessels as fireships, with the greatest possible quantity of combustibles, and directing them towards the enemy. That expedient incommoded them during the night, but did not produce the effect desired; the chief defect of the Republicans being the extreme scarcity of men. Between the various mishaps of that dreadful night, that which most afflicted me was the defection of the little squadron of Corrientes. Villegas, the commandant, like many others whom I have seen bold in a calm, became so much terrified by approaching danger, that it was impossible to make him useful in any way to the allied vessels, although they were manned with good sailors, and fitted for any kind of service on the river, by their swiftness. Seeing Villegas not quite self-possessed, I ordered him to take his place behind the line of battle, where I had placed the hospital—a small vessel destined to that use. Towards evening he sent me word that he had changed his position to a short distance, for what motive I could not imagine. Needing his coöperation in the work of the fireships, I sent for Villegas in the night, and received the alarming news that he was nowhere to be found. Not being willing to think him capable of so much treachery, I went myself in a light palischermo, to satisfy myself of the truth. Not finding him, I proceeded several miles towards Corrientes, but in vain; and I returned, in bitterness of soul. My fears were unhappily too well founded, for most of the little vessels were destroyed in the service before the engagement began. I had counted on the Correntine vessels to receive the wounded and to contain the provisions necessary for all, as we were still far distant from the inhabited frontier of Corrientes. My last hope was now lost, by a cowardly retreat, which is the greatest of crimes when committed in the moment of danger.