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40 signed on the 19th of the same month, at the town of La Soledad, as a preliminary of the negotiations about to be entered into. Under its third article the allied forces were to occupy Córdoba, Orizaba, Tehuacan, and adjacent country, with the express condition, stipulated in the fourth, that in the event of a rupture of the negotiations the allied troops were to retreat forthwith to the lines in front of the Mexican defences toward Vera Cruz, designating that of Paso Ancho on the Córdoba road, and Paso de Ovejas on the Jalapa route. Article sixth prescribed that on the allied troops beginning their march pursuant to article third, the Mexican flag was to be hoisted over Vera Cruz and San Juan de Ulúa. That convention was ratified by Prim's British and French colleagues on the same day, and by Juarez on the 23d.

Doblado's diplomacy on that occasion has been justly considered a masterpiece. Under the preliminary convention Juarez was fully recognized, together with the independence and sovereignty of Mexico, as well as her ability to manage her own internal affairs; the London treaty was to some extent nullified, at least in spirit. The French, in order to carry out their schemes, had to ignore every principle of honor and decency, failing to comply with the stipulation that bound them, should the negotiations be interrupted, to recross the river Chiquihuite. Saligny accused the Mexicans of repeated violations of the convention, but he was not overscrupulous when needing a pretext to carry out the purposes of his crafty master. Jurien was simply his satellite.

The Spanish troops occupied Córdoba and Orizaba, the French Tehuacan, and the English remained in Vera Cruz, where the American frigate Potomac saluted the Mexican flag on its being hoisted. Doblado obtained other advantages, but it was soon noticed