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196 sacrifice of life, and the council over which he thereupon presided voted unanimously to capitulate, for Baudin would accord no delay beyond the morning. And so fell the Gibraltar, after a few hours bombardment. The French took possession at 2 o'clock in the after noon of November 28th, after allowing the garrison to retire with honors of war, and promising to restore the fortress as soon as all differences were adjusted. Vera Cruz being now at the mercy of the new holders of Ulúa, Rincon was compelled to enter into a special agreement to reduce the garrison of the port to 1,000 men, and receive back and indemnify expelled Frenchmen, Baudin offering in return to suspend the blockade for eight months.

At Mexico the news evoked the cry of treason, with a violent denunciation of Bustamante's lack of promptness in consonance with the inspiring sound of war-hymns along the streets. The government found it necessary to follow the current by ignoring the capitulation, and supplementing the act with a declaration of war. An attendant feature was the expulsion of French residents, proposed already in the spring, but now enforced with a certain harshness. The president further stilled the outcry