"We have resisted, we shall resist, and we shall beat them."
"In what state are your fortresses?"
"One half of them in the hands of the French, and the other half, without garrisons, provisions, or even guns; still, we shall beat them."
"Are not the French troops in possession of all the provinces?"
"Yes."
"Are they not in fact masters of the country?"
"No."
"How am I to reconcile those statements?"
"The French are masters by day; the Spaniards are masters by night."
"But you have none of the elements of national government. You have lost your king."