Mexico under Maximilian

GIFT OF
MICHAEL REESE

MEXICO

TJ^TDER

MAXIMILIAN",

BY

I1ENKY M. FLINT. ESQ.,

AUTHOR OF "DRUID'S LETTERS," "LIFE OF SENATOR DOUGLAS," ETC.

.. X

•*"-%>. ^.^.-ij.-—.^ "

NATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY,

PHILADELPHIA. PA.; BOSTON, MASS.; RI< 'II M<>.\ I>, V A . ; CINOI.N.N ATT,

oino; cincAr.o. II^L. ; ST. I.OUTS. MO.;

ATLANTA, GA. ; NEW ORLEANS. LA.

REESE

flu 6

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year ISO", by

J. 11. JONES,

111 the Clerk's Office of the District Court of thi United States, in and for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

DEDICATION.

— *•»» —
TO

THE KM1M1KSS CARLOTTA,

THE recollection of whose unwearied labors and
affectionate solicitude for llieir prosperity and happi
ness, will be forever cherished in the: hearts of the
Mexican people,
This volume is

Respectfully dedicated by

THE AUTHOR.

Ft E F A. C E.

THE object of the author, in writing this
book, is to remove if possible, to some extent,
the prejudice which exists against the present
government of Mexico. This prejudice is based
upon a misapprehension of the character of that
government ; and upon the fact that very little
is known, in the United States, of what Maxi
milian has done for Mexico. If any intelligent
citizen of the United States should go to that
country, remain there for six months, make
himself somewhat acquainted with the Mexican
people, and see with his own eyes how much
Maximilian has done for their happiness and
prosperity, and, above all, compare Mexico
under a monarchy with what it always has
been under a republic, he would candidly admit
that at last Mexico has found the government

that is suited to her, and that will eventually

(5)

6 'PREFACE.

raise her to a respectable rank among the
nations of the earth. The government of
Maximilian is a limited constitutional monar
chy; it is founded upon the choice of the Mexi
can people ; and, in spite of the difficulties which

it has had to contend with, and which environ

9

it now, it has done more for the prosperity of ,
Mexico ; more for the enlightenment and happi- )
ness of the Mexican people, during the three
years of its existence, than any republican i
government in Mexico ever did, in thirty, forty,
or fifty, years.

It is possible that this book may be unpopu
lar. I do not write for popularity, however, but
to set forth the truth. From the foundation of
the republic up to the year 1861, independence
of thought was considered creditable, and free
dom of speech and of the press were regarded
as the most precious birth-rights of an American
citizen. From the foundation of the republic
up to the year 1861, the man who had not
manliness of soul enough to think for himself,
and courage enough to express his thoughts

frankly, was despised. No character was more
contemptible than one who slavishly copied the
opinions of others, and had no opinions of his
own.

This is all changed now. We live under a
new and "loyal" dispensation. In 1861 and
1802, the edict went forth that men must stop
thinking for themselves, and must stop express
ing their thoughts. All men must think alike ;
and they must think in a " loyal" manner. To
believe that the war against the south was im-
* necessary, and might have been avoided ; to
believe that it would end in the destruction of
the Union, and to express that belief, was " dis
loyal." To believe that the withholding of
medicines from the sick in the south was cruel,
and to express that belief, was " disloyal." To
believe that the object of the war on the part
of the north, was the subjugation and conquest
of the Southern States and the permanent dis
solution of the Union, and to express that
belief, was "treason." To believe that Abra-
/ ham Lincoln was neither a saint nor a statesman,

8 PREFACE.

and to express that belief, was to be a " traitor."
In a word, every one was required to believe as
the leaders of the radical Republican party be
lieved, and to speak as they spoke. Whoever
did not do so, was a marked man.

It was thus that the ideas about the Mexican
empire sprang up. Napoleon is helping the
south. Napoleon is going to recognize the South
ern Confederacy. Napoleon has established a
monarchy in Mexico, to which he will annex
Texas, and to this will be annexed, in time, all
the Southern States. This was the first song ;
and nobody was allowed to sing in a different
tune. Then, again, Napoleon is helping the
south. Napoleon is going to recognize the
south. The throne of Maximilian is upheld by
the presence of French troops, and a French
army is to be permanently maintained in
Mexico. This was the next song. Every
body's violin, flute, harp, sackbut, and dulcimer,
must play the same notes, and smashed be the
fiddle that will not. Then, again, well, at
any rate, Napoleon desired to help the south,

PREFACE. 9

and wished to recognize the Southern Confeder
acy. The establishment of a monarchy in
Mexico was a part of the rebellion. We
crushed the one ; now we must crush the other.
This is the present radical song, which they
have been singing ever since the close of the
war. It is founded upon the same wise princi
ples of statesmanship as the bill of Mr. Thad-
deus Stevens for changing the ten Southern
States into five Military Departments.

That this book has many imperfections, I am
well aware. The materials, accessible for the
work, have not been abundant ; nor have I en
joyed the opportunity of devoting to it that
continuous and uninterrupted labor without
which no literary work can be free from faults.
I commend it, however, to an indulgent public,
with the sincere hope that it may dispel many
of the delusions that have prevailed in relation
to the Mexican empire.

II. M. F.

WASHINGTON-, FEB. 22, 18G7.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Mexico before the conquest — Mexico at the time of Cortez — Historical
sketch of Mexico during the last forty years — A constant scene
of anarchy and confusion — Deplorable condition of the country,
and of the people, at the time of the French Intervention — Self-
government in Mexico impossible, and why — Geographical sketch
of modern Mexico — Vast extent of the country — How the French
intervention might have been prevented by the United States —
Mr. McLane's treaty — Why it was not ratified 17

CHAPTER II.

How the Mexican Empire came to be Established — Origin of the
French Intervention — The United States had " Conquered and
Divided" Mexico, and then Left it to its Fate— Touching Appeal
of the Gentlemen of Mexico to the United States Government —
Its Rejection — They Appeal, as a Last Resort, to the Emperor
Napoleon — Landing of the French Army at Yera Cruz — Military
Operations — Capture of Pucbla — The French Army Enters the
City of Mexico — The Emperor's Instructions to General Forey
— Contrast between our Treatment of Mexico in 1847, and the
Treatment of Mexico by Napoleon — Convocation of the Assem
bly of Notables — Their Address to the Mexican Nation — General
Forey Returns to France — He is Succeeded by General Bazaine... 33

(11)

12 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

The Emperor's Instructions to General Bazaine — Proceedings of the
Assembly of Notables — They Determine upon a Limited Mon
archy, and Offer the Crown of Mexico to Prince Maximilian — A
Deputation of the Notables Proceeds to Europe — Offer of the Crown
to Maximilian — Remarkable Reply of Prince Maximilian to the
Offer of the Crown — The Conditions upon which he Eases his
Consent — Approval of these Conditions by the Emperor Na
poleon .............................................................................. 49

CHAPTER IV.

The Mexican People Vote upon a Change in the Government —
Popular Ratification of the Action of the Notables— The Mexican
People Pronounce in Favor of Maximilian for Emperor — Manner
in which this Election was Conducted — Its Perfect Freedom —
Every Mexican Voted — This Election in Mexico Compared with
the Elections in Maryland for Three Years past — Two-thirds of
the Voters of Maryland Disfranchised — Superior Freedom of the
Mexican Election ................................................................ 66

CHAPTER V.

Maximilian's Second Condition also Complied with — The Stability of
the Mexican Empire Guaranteed by France, Austria, and Belgium
—A Deputation of Mexicans Arrive at Miramar — Maximilian
Accepts the Mexican Crown — Embarkation of Maximilian for
Mexico — The Voyage across the Atlantic — Arrival at Vera Cruz
—Reception there — Proclamation of Maximilian on Landing —
Arrival at the City of Mexico — Reception there — Rejoicings of
the People — Festivities and Illuminations — Immensity of the Task
which Maximilian found before him — Measures which he Adopted
to Secure the Prosperity and Happiness of the People— Good
Effect of these Measures — Revival of Commerce, and of all
Branches of Business — Effect of the Encouragement of Industry
- — Gradual Increase in the Revenues of Mexico.... . 87

CONTEXTS. -13'

CHAPTER VI.

Causes of the Success of Maximilian's Government — Severe Measures
Adopted against the Guerillas — Good Effect of these Measures—
The Authority of the Empire Gradually Extended over the Whole
of Mexico — Republican Mexican Soldiers join the Army of Max
imilian — Their Reasons for doing so — Construction of Railroads,
and Other Works of Internal Improvement — The New Coinage —
The Finances — Encouragement Afforded to Education by Maxi
milian — Encouragement Extended to Literature — Freedom of
Religion in Mexico — The Administration of Justice — Publication
of the Mexican Laws — Admirable Features of the Mexican Code
—The Empress Carlotta— Her Visit to Yucatan 104

CHAPTER VII.

Arms and Ammunition Shipped to the Mexican Liberals from New
York — The Steamer Everman — Attempts of the Radicals in Con
gress to Loan Thirty Millions of Government Funds to Juarez —
Measures Taken by Maximilian to Supply the Place of the
French Troops — The Emperor Anticipates Intervention by the
United States in Favor of Juarez — Mission of the Empress
Carlotta to Europe — Sickness of the Empress — Embarrassing
Situation of Affairs in Mexico — Outrages of the Mexican
Liberals — Sickness of the Emperor — He Retires to Orizaba —
The Sherman and Campbell Mission to Mexico — Mr. Campbell's
Instructions — Utter Failure of the Mission — Results of the Mis
sion — It Demonstrated the Attachment of the Mexican People to
Maximilian — The Question of Abdication Presented to Maxi
milian — He Refuses to Abdicate — Generous Conduct of the Clergy
and Merchants — Encouraging Prospects of the Empire 128

CHAPTER VIII.

Policy of the United States toward Mexico — Question before the
"Lincoln Administration": "Shall we Save the Mexican Repub
lic ?"— Consequences to the North of Interference in Opposition

14 CONTENTS.

to Napoleon — Object of the American Civil War — Interference
•with the Emperor Napoleon would Defeat that Object — Critical
Condition of the North in 1862 — Consequences to the North
if the Emperor Napoleon should Recognize the South — The
United States Determine to Maintain a Neutral Policy — The
United States Government Acknowledges the Right of France
to make War on the Mexican Republic, and to Secure the
Fruits of Victory 154

CHAPTER IX.

Policy of President Johnson's Administration toward Mexico — His
Message in December, 1865 — Our Policy to be Based upon the
Principle of Non-intervention — We must Finally Recognize the
Government de Facto — Why Mr. Logan was Appointed Minis
ter to Mexico — Why he Refused the Appointment — Why Mr.
Campbell was Appointed — Why Mr. Campbell is Not Permitted
to go to Mexico — No Constitutional Republican Government in
Mexico in Existence — Juarez a Usurper 163

CHAPTER X.

What is the Monroe Doctrine? — Is it a Constitutional Enactment?
— Is it an Irrepealable Law? — Absurdity of the Doctrine — It
has no Binding Force — Why it ought to be Repudiated 183

CHAPTER XL

Policy of the Emperor Napoleon toward Mexico — Objects of the
French Expedition — The Emperor Never Intended the French
Troops to Remain Long in Mexico — The Arrangements for the
Withdrawal of the French Troops were not made until the
Stability of the Empire was Secured — Detailed Exposition, by
the French Government, of the Objects and Purposes of the
Emperor Napoleon — Principles upon which the Mexican Em
pire was Established — Why it is Supported by Napoleon — The
Negotiations between France and the United States for the
Withdrawal of the French Troops — France Desires a Guarantee
of Neutrality on the Part of the United States— Mr. Seward
Gives the Guarantee of Neutrality 197

CONTENTS. 15

APPENDIX.
I.

Treaty between the Emperor of France and the Emperor of Mexico,
April 10th, 1864, regulating the conditions of the stay of the
French troops in Mexico 219

II.

The French Government to the French Minister at Washington,

August 17th, 1865 223

III.

Mr. Seward to the French Minister at Washington, February 12th,
1866, in reply to the dispatch of the French Government of Janu
ary 9th, 1866. See ante, page 210 228

IV.

The French Government to the French Minister at Washington, April
5th, 1866, accepting as satisfactory Mr. Seward's assurance of
absolute neutrality on the part of the United States, made in his
dispatch of February 12th, 1866, and fixing the time for the
departure of the French troops from Mexico 252

V:

The celebrated Cable Dispatch of Mr. Seward, November 23d, 1866,

which the French Government refused to receive.... 255

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

CHAPTER I.

Mexico before the conquest — Mexico at the time of Cortez — Historical
sketch of Mexico during the last forty years — A constant scene of
anarchy and confusion — Deplorable condition of the country, and of the
people, at the time of the French Intervention — Self-government in
Mexico impossible, and why — Geographical sketch of modern Mexico —
Vast extent of the country — How the French intervention might have
been prevented by the United States — Mr. McLane's treaty — "Why it
was not ratified.

WHEN Cortez landed in Mexico, a hundred years
before the Puritans jumped ashore at Plymouth Kock,
he found a people with an established government,
skilled in useful arts, contented, hospitable, and cour
teous. They had no written literature, and conse
quently no written history. But in their sculpture,
their mounds, their monuments, and their vast pyra
mids, were found recorded the annals of a former
empire of barbaric and extravagant splendor. Even
at this time, the Spaniards found around them in
abundance, gold, silver, precious stones, woollen and
cotton cloth, dyes of the most gorgeous purple
2 (17)

18 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

and scarlet hues ; and their avarice soon tempted
them to deeds of treachery, rapacity, and blood. The
system of merciless oppression, extortion, and fraud,
which then commenced, continued for three hundred
years.

Cortez, however, transplanted to Mexico a Spanish
civilization, which, gradually spreading over the
whole land, has endured to the present time. " Under
this Spanish regime, princely cities grew with amaz
ing rapidity, with royal mansions, and richly sub
stantial abodes. Cathedrals and convents — vast,
massive, everlasting — endowed and adorned with
unmeasured wealth, impressed and awed every
neighborhood. 'Haciendas,'' the homes of country
gentlemen, controlling the labor of thousands of
'peons,1 at a mere nominal expense, dotted the land
at wide distances from each other, with castle piles
to defy attacks of robbers, of armies, or of time.
Eoads and bridges, arches, culverts, aqueducts and
viaducts were built, master-pieces of skill and strength
which still exist to attract the admiration and amaze
ment of future ages. Argosies of silver, gold, orna
mental woods, dyes, and drugs, floated oft' to old
Spain. All the surface of the country was parcelled
i out, by royal grant, to favorites of fortune and the
Crown. While one class surrendered themselves to
aggrandizement, to high living, culture, politeness,
elegance, and vice; the other was degraded into

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAX. 19

uncared-for pieces of machinery, of muscle, and
bone. The whole country regarded but as 'the
mine and mint' of Spain, its agriculture was not only
neglected, but positively repressed by declaring
titheable its natural luxuriant productions ; treated
as a colony of vassals, these were not allowed to be
devoted to any of those branches of industry that
foster the independent and manly growth of a people,
but solely to those that would crush out whatever
there might be of native aspiration ; all ground down
into one intense work of digging, separating, and
coining silver and gold; and with the colonization of
other peoples prevented, the exclusive Spaniards
grafted themselves upon the conquered and debased
aborigines, and the mongrel blood, with the haughti
ness of the one side, and the indifference of the other
glided into the life of the robber-guerilla, with the
effect of perpetuating the exclusion of other races and
the non-production of the country.

" Such is a brief history and outlined picture of
Mexico from ' the conquest' down to the ' Indepen
dence' of 1821 ; such the unpromising elements for
the foundation of an independent political society I"*

It would weary the reader without profit, to
recount the incessant revolutions since 1821. In
the space of forty-two years, down to 1863, Mexico

* Dr. Massey's lecture on Mexico.

20 MEXICO JXDER MAXIMILIAN.

was blessed, (or cursed) with thirty different forms of
government, and with seventy-five different Presi
dents, Dictators, and other rulers.

First, however, Iturbide was proclaimed and
crowned Emperor : and the empire of Mexico was
formally recognized by President Monroe. Victoria
the first President, was succeeded by Pedraza, " who
was declared successful by a majority of only two
votes over his competitor, Guerrero. Before Pedraza
had taken his seat, he was 'pronounced' against by
the defeated candidate, who in the course of the year,
was successful, and Guerrero was 'declared' legally
elected, with Bustamente for Vice-President. Guerrero
had scarcely been installed when the Vice-President
'pronounced;' and Guerrero was overthrown, fled,
caught, and executed for treason, and Bustamente
installed as President! But very brief tranquillity
followed, and Santa Anna 'pronounced' against
Bustamente and in favor of Pedraza, whom he had
been instrumental in driving out only two years
before! Bustamente abdicated, and Pedraza was
brought back to serve out the remaining three
months of the term for which he had been declared
first elected, in order that, upon the expiration of
that brief period, Santa Anna might thus, dexterously,
become his successor. This accomplished, in order
to pay back a very natural grudge, when Santa Anna

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 21

had gone up after the Texans, Bustamente took the
opportunity again to usurp power.

"But it would be a waste of time to even sketch any
more of these usurpations and overthrows, distin
guished from each other scarcely by the respective
pretences or plans of execution. At one time the
'Leperos,' the extreme of the degraded of that
population, after sacking the capital and perpetrating
every enormity and outrage, became 'the ruling
class ;' and Alvarez, with five thousand ' Pintos'
— the Indians of the State of Guerrero, whose skins
are spotted and eyes white with an hereditary
leprosy peculiar to their mountains — in rags and filth,
captured the city of Mexico, and 'declared' their
chief President. Alvarez served less than three
months, when, wearied of so much civilization, he
voluntarily and arbitrarily turned over the govern
ment to Comonfort, and betook himself to his own
kind, in their own mountain passes, where he still
reigns !

" The ease with which the supreme authority could
be destroyed or overthrown ; the absurd facility with
which constitutions and so-called constitutional elec
tions could be created or set aside by any bold and
daring chieftain, had been established in the first
months of ' independent' existence ; and experience
has shown how many there were to take advantage
of the example.

22 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

" The part played by the condition of ' the Public
Treasury' can have no stronger illustration than in
the fact that Herrera, fortifying his exchequer with
the United States gold which bought the ' peace' of
1848, held on to the Presidency for the whole term
for wliich he had been selected — the only example in
history since the first Presidency."*

Up to the year 1836, the territorial extent of
Mexico was twice as great as at present. It included
Texas and California, New Mexico, Utah, and
Arizona. At the end of the Texan revolution, in
1836, and when Texas became Anally separated from
Mexico in 1837, the limits of that state were not
accurately ascertained, and the question remained in
dispute until the annexation of Texas to the United
States in 1845. The annexation was followed by the
war with Mexico in 1846 and 1847. In 1848, when
peace was made, we had "acquired" a generous slice
of Mexico, including what is now California, Utah,
Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Shorn of these States and of Texas, Mexico still re
mained, however, a country of vast extent. It
stretches now through sixteen degrees of latitude,
from the sixteenth to the thirty-second, "or as far
as from Portland in Maine, to New Orleans ; and
without counting Yucatan at all, through twenty-live
degrees of longitude, from the fourteenth to the

Dr. Massey's lecture on Mexico.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 23

fortieth, degree of west longitude, or many miles
further than from Boston to St. Louis. From
the north-west corner of Mexico to the city of
Chiapas, south of the Gulf of Campeacliy, the distance
is one thousand nine hundred miles, while from Port
land in Maine to Galveston in Texas, it is only one
thousand -seven hundred. From El Paso to the city
of Mexico the distance is one thousand miles ; as far
as from St. Louis to Hartford in Connecticut, or from.
Baltimore to New Orleans.

The territory of Mexico contains seven hundred
and ninety three thousand square miles, or more than
the following twenty-four states in our own country,
namely :

Virginia contains 61,300 sq. miles.

Florida " 59,200 "

Georgia " 58,000" "

Michigan " 56,200" "

Alabama " 50,700 "

Mississippi " 47,100 "

Wisconsin " 53,900 "

New York ,,, " 46,000 "

Pennsylvania " 46,000"

Tennessee " 45,600"

North Carolina " 45,000"

Ohio " 39,900 "

Kentucky " 37,700 "

Indiana " 33,700 "

24 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

Maine contains 30,000 sq. miles

South Carolina " 24,500" "

Maryland " 9,300 " "

New Jersey " 8,300" "

New Hampshire and Vermont . " 18,200" "

Massachusetts and Connecticut " 12,400 " "

Delaware and Rhode Island ... " 3,30Q " "

Total 786,400 sq. miles.

The above States all lie together, and it will be well
to give a look at them on the map. They comprise
the whole of that part of the territory of the United
States which lies east of the Mississippi river. Let
us glance now, at the extent of the twenty-eight
Mexican States, as follows : —

STATES, CAPITALS, AND POPULATION OF MEXICO.

Mexico is divided into twenty- two States, six Terri
tories, and a Federal District.*

*-The Constitution of 1857, made in this political division of
Mexico the following alterations :

TITLE II. — SECTION 2. ART. 43. The Mexican confedera
tion is composed of twenty-four States and one Territory, the
names of which are as follows : Aguascalientes, Colima, Chiapa,
Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico,
Michoacan, Nuevo Leon and Cohahuila, Oajaca, Puebla, Quer-
etaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas,
Tlaxcala, the Valley of Mexico, Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas,
and the Territory of Lower California.

ART. 44. The States of Aguascalientes, Chiapa, Chihuahua,

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

25

Superficial or
square miles.

Population
in 1858.

States.

Aguascalientes.... 2,739 88,329

Chiapa 18,679 167,472

Chihuahua 83,512 164,073

Cohahuila 36,572 67,590

Durango. 48,489 144,331

Guanajuato 11,396 729,103

Guerrero 32,003 279,109

Jalisco 48,591 804,058

Mexico 19,539 1,129,629

Michoacan 22,993 554,585

Nuevo Leon 16,688 145,779

Oajaca 23;642 525,938

Puebla 8,879 658,609

Queretaro 1,884 165,155

San Luis Potosi ... 28,142 397,189

Sinaloa 33,722 163,714

Sonora 100,228 139,374

Capitals. Inhabitants.

Aguascalieutes 39,693

San Cristobal 7,649

Chihuahua 12,069

Saltillo 19,898

Durango 22,000

Guanajuato 48,954

Tixtla 6,501

Guadalajara 68,000

Toluca 12,000

Morelia 25,000

Monterey 17,309

Oajaca 25,000

Puebla 71,631

Queretaro 29,702

San Luis Bbtosi 19,678

Caliacan 9,647

Ures 6,009

Durango, Guerrero, Mexico, Puebla, Queretaro, Sinaloa, Sonora,
Tamaulipas, and the Territory of Lower California, retain the
boundaries which they have had hitherto (1857.)

ART. 45. The States of Colima and of Tlaxcala retain, being
erected into States, boundaries which they had when they
wrere only Territories of the confederacy.

ART. 46. The State of the Valley of Mexico comprises the
territory which has, until now, (1857,) formed the federal dis
trict ; but it will only take rank as a State when the federal
government shall have been removed to some other place.

ART. 47. The State of Nuevo Leon and Cohahuila, com
prises the former Territory of Nuevo Leon and Cohahuila,
unless the hacienda of Bonanza shall be re-incorporated into
the State of Zacatecas.

The other States, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Vera Cruz, and San
Luis Potosi, make some exchanges of towns to rectify their
frontier lines.

26

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

Superficial or Population
Statea. Square miles, in 1858.

Tabasco 12,359 70,628

Tamaulipas 30,344 109,673

VeraCruz 27,415 349,125

Yucatan 48,869 668,623

Zacatecas 27,768 296,789

Territories.

Lower California.. 60,662 12,000

Colima 3,019 62,109

Isla de Carman.... 7,298 11,807

Sierra Gorda 3,127 55,358

Tehuantepec 12,526 82,395

Tlaxcala 1,984 90,158

District.
Federal District... 90 260,534 City of Mexico 205,000

Total 793,179 8,400,236

The population has increased since 1793 at the
following rate :

Capitals. Inhabitants.

San Juan Bautista. 5,300

Victoria 4,621

VeraCruz 9,647

Merida 23,575

Zacatecas 15,427

LaPaz 1,254

Colima 31,774

V. del Carmen 3,068

San Luis de la Paz. 4,411

Minatitlan 339

Tlaxcala 3,463

Years. Population.

1793 5,273,029

1803 5,873,100

1808 6,500,000

1824 6,500,000

1830 7,996,000

Years. Population.

1839 7,065,000

1842 7,015,509

1851 7,867,520

1854 7,853,395

185*8 8,287,413

The population is composed of about one million
white, descendants of Europeans, four million Indians,
six thousand blacks, and three million four hundred
thousand metis (part white and part Indian) or mulat-
toes (part white and part black.) The foreigners, to the
number of nine thousand two hundred and thirty-four
in 1838, are classed as follows : Spaniards, five thous
and one hundred and forty-one ; French, two thousand

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 27

and forty-eight ; English, six hundred and fifteen ;
Germans, six hundard and eighty-one ; Americans,
four hundred and forty-four ; miscellaneous, four hun
dred and five.

In 1856, the Mexican people rose against Santa
Anna, and made M. Comonfort President. Quarrels
between the "republican" chiefs, however, immedi
ately ensued. Sixteen days after he had been in
augurated, Comonfort felt it necessary to arrest Benito
Juarez, in order to prevent the latter from seizing the
supreme power. On the llth of January, 1858, how
ever, the latter was released. He immediately set up
the standard of revolt, and on the 22d of the same
month, he overthrew the administration of Comonfort,
and proclaimed himself President of Mexico.

In 1860, the Governments of England, France, and
Spain made a simultaneous demand upon Mexico, for
the settlement of certain claims of long standing due
to the citizens of those countries. The Mexican
treasury, of course, was empty as usual. Juarez could
not pay these claims, which amounted to forty mil
lion dollars. The throe nations had anticipated this
inability. They sent a combined fleet and an allied
army, and this allied force appeared off Yera Cruz in
December, 1861. This was the commencement of the
French intervention in Mexico.

Before this, however, certain American statesmen
had endeavored to make two treaties with Mexico,

28 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

The first was negotiated by Mr. McLane, in Mr.
Buchanan's administration, in 1860.

That treaty would have been vastly advantageous
to us in a commercial point of view, and would, in all
probability, have prevented the subsequent interven
tion by England and France, and the present estab
lishment of the Mexican Empire.

By this treaty the Mexican Government granted
the right of way for railroad purposes, through the
States of Sonora and Chihuahua, with a protectorate
over the same ; in consideration of which the United
States agreed to loan Juarez four millions of dollars.
What would have been the result of the ratification
of this treaty ? In the first place, it would have
firmly established the constitutional republican gov
ernment of Mexico, under President Juarez. It would
have enabled the latter to have paid off the foreign
debts of Mexico, thus taking away all pretence for
subsequent French interference ; and, finally, it would
have enabled the Mexican people to demonstrate
whether or not they were capable of living under a
Republican Government. Besides that, it would have
given us an opportunity, and the means of building a
Southern Pacific Railroad, running through Texas,
with its western terminus at the seaport of Guaymas.
Suppose the four million dollars had never been re
paid, what then ? We would have a protectorate over
the whole of the two northern States of Mexico.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 29

They would already be in our possession, and they
would, ultimately, have been ceded to the United States.

WHY WAS THE TREATY NOT RATIFIED.

That treaty, however, failed to receive the ratifica
tion of the Senate. It is true that this treaty pledged
the United States to uphold the Monroe doctrine (as
it was then understood, and as it has been until now
understood) in Mexico. AYas that the reason why it
was not ratified ? Whatever the reason was, the re
fusal of the Senate to ratify this treaty, prepared
the way for the downfall of the Mexican Eepublic,
and opened the way for the establishment of the
empire.

Mr. Buchanan, under whose administration this
treaty was negotiated, thus speaks of it :—

" The President having failed in obtaining authority
from Congress to employ a military force in Mexico, as
a last resort adopted the policy of concluding a treaty
with the Constitutional Government. By this means he
thought something might be accomplished, both to
satisfy the long-deferred claims .of American citizens,
and to prevent foreign interference with the internal Gov
ernment of Mexico. Accordingly, Mr. McLaue, on the
14th day of December, 1859, signed a 'treaty of transit
and commerce' with the Mexican Republic, and also a
1 convention to enforce treat3r stipulations, and to main
tain order and security in the territory of the republics

30 MEXICO UNDER .MAXIMILIAN.

of Mexico and the United States.' These treaties se
cured peculiar and highly valuable advantages to our
trade and commerce, especially in articles the produc
tion of our agriculture and manufactures. They also
guaranteed to us the secure possession of the Tehuante-
pec route, and of several other transit routes for our
commerce, free from duty, across the territories of the
republic, on its way to California and our other posses
sions on the northwest coast, as well as to the inde
pendent republics on the Pacific coast and in eastern
Asia.

"In consideration of these advantages, 'and in com
pensation for the revenue surrendered by Mexico on the
goods and merchandize transported free of duty through
the territory of that republic, the Government of the
United States agreed to pay the Government of Mexico
the sum of four millions of dollars.' Of this sum two
millions were to be paid immediately to Mexico, and the
remaining two millions were to be retained by our Gov
ernment ' for the payment of the claims of citizens of
the United States against the Government of the Re
public of Mexico for injuries already inflicted, and
which may be proven to be just, according to the law
and usages of nations and the principles of equity.' It
was believed that these, stipulations, whilst providing two
millions toward the payment of the claims of our citi
zens, would enable President Juarez, with the remain
ing two millions, to expel the usurping Government of
jMiramon from the capital, and place the Constitutional
Government in possession of the whole territory of the

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIA:>?. 31

Republic. This, we need not say, would greatly pro
mote the interests of the United States. Besides, what
was vastly important, these treaties, by vesting in the
United States territorial and commercial rights which
we would be bound to defend, might for this reason
have prevented any European Government from at
tempting to acquire dominion over the territories of
Mexico, and thus the Monroe doctrine would probably
have remained inviolate. With this view Mr. McLane
was seriously impressed. In his dispatch of September
14, 1859, to the Secretary of State, communicating the
treaties, he expressed the apprehension that, should
they not be ratified, further anarchy would prevail in
Mexico, until it should be terminated by direct interfer
ence from some other quarter.

On the 4th of January, 18GO, the President submitted
to the Senate the treaty and the convention, with a
view to their ratification, together with the dispatch of
Mr. McLane. These, on the same day, were referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations. Whether any or
what other proceedings were had in relation to them we
are unable to state, the injunction of secresy never
having been removed by the Senate. Mr. McLane, who
was then in Washington, had a conference with the
committee, and received the impression that a compara
tive unanimity existed in favor of the principal provi
sions of the treaty ; but in regard to the convention, the
contingency of its possible abuse was referred to as
constituting an objection to its ratification. Certain it
is that neither the one nor the other was ever approved

32 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

by the Senate, and consequently "both became a dead
letter. The Republic of Mexico was thus left to its
fate, and has since become an empire under the domin
ion of a scion of the House of Hapsburg, protected by-
the Emperor of the French. The righteous claims
of American citizens have therefore been indefinitely
postponed.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN". 33

CHAPTER II.

How the Mexican Empire came to be Established — Origin of the French
Intervention — The United States had " Conquered and Divided" Mexico,
and then Left it to its Fate — Touching Appeal of the Gentlemen of
Mexico to the United States Government — Its Rejection — They Appeal,
as a Last Resort, to the Emperor Napoleon — Landing of the French
Army at Yera Cruz — Military Operations — Capture of Puebla — The
French Army Enters the City of Mexico — The Emperor's Instructions
to General Forey — Contrast between our Treatment of Mexico in 1847,
and the Treatment of Mexico by Napoleon — Convocation of the Assem
bly of Notables — Their Address to the Mexican Nation — General Forey
Returns to France — He is Succeeded by General Bazaine.

SUCH was the deplorable condition of Mexico, when
the Emperor Napoleon determined to deliver that un
happy country from anarchy, and give her a permanent
government. France Lad had claims of long standing
against Mexico, of which it had been impossible to
obtain a settlement, owing to the absence of any per
manent government with which to treat, When
France made war against Mexico, in 1861, what she
required was, the redress of grievances and a govern
ment able and willing to give guarantees for the
future. That was certainly not more than we had re
quired of Mexico, when we made war against her in
1816. We required ample indemnity for the past,
which we took in the shape of nearly a quarter of her
8

34 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

territory ; and security for the future, which we got
by reducing her to a position of utter helplessness.
We had got all that we cared for from Mexico, when
we "acquired" California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado,
and New Mexico, in 1848 ; and we then left that
country to her fate.

Ten years elapsed, and the condition of the country
became more and more deplorable. Then, in 1859,
the intelligent portion of the people of Mexico made one
last effort for the establishment of some form of govern
ment that would guarantee public order and private
interests. There was a prospect, at one time, that this
would be accomplished by direct treaty with the
United States — the treaty negotiated by Mr. McLane.

The publication of that treaty, with the accompany
ing correspondence, revealed the fact that no govern
ment existing or likely to exist in Mexico had the
power to give effect to treaty stipulations, or protection
to the citizens of the United States sojourning in
Mexico. The accompanying convention provided for
the direct intervention of the military power of the
United States to enable the Mexican Government to
insure the due execution of the commercial treaty, and
to secure the safety of the transits conceded by the
same.

This treaty, as well as the subsequent one negotiated
by Mr. Corwin for the same purpose, failed to receive
the ratification of the United States Senate ; and it is

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN". 35

not too much to say that the extinction of the Mexican.
Eepublic is the result of the failure of those treaties.
The Mexicans who, in 1863, invited Maximilian to the
throne, before applying for help in Europe, having
failed in securing the intervention of the United
States Government in their behalf, " raised a large
fund," says Mr. Sylvester Mowry, "and proposed to
certain influential and intelligent gentlemen in the
United States to unite with them in establishing in
Mexico a strong government. Several officers of the
old regular army were enlisted in the cause, some of
them now distinguished and dear to the American
people. The arrangements were being perfected ; a
government with probably Iturbide at its head was to
have been established — with the administration of
affairs in American hands. Money to an adequate
amount to secure success was obtained — eight millions
alone from Mexico. A memoir prepared by one of the
leading men of New York to-day, assisted by McClellan,
Charles P. Stone, the writer, and the most intelligent,
wealthy, and influential Mexicans, which, I am in
formed, has been perused with great pleasure and
profit by the Emperor Napoleon, embodied the statis
tics and plan of the enterprise. When success was
certain if let alone, the United States Government,
whose neutrality was implored by all worth recog
nizing in Mexico, put out the hand of authority, and
the enterprise was reluctantly abandoned. Failing in

36 MEXICO UXDER MAXIMILIAN.

getting either private or public assistance here; the
Mexicans, who had property and life at stake, appealed
to Europe, and the throne of Maximilian is the result.'.'

Subsequently, one of these Mexican gentlemen said
to Mr. Mowry :

" We tried, as you know, for years to get the United
States to help Mexico. She would neither do it as a
C government nor permit an association of private indi
viduals to do it. As a last hope, we came to Europe,
and got the help we needed. If the United States
will recognize Maximilian, or say that they will remain
neutral, and -keep so, we can get all the money in
Europe needed for our government until the home
revenues are sufficient to sustain it and pay the inter
est on our national debt. If the United States makes
war on Maximilian she makes war on Mexico.
Europe will furnish us money and men, and we, the
gentlemen of Mexico, will gain in the army at least
the glory of dying for our country, in defence of the
only government worthy the name it has had or can
hope to have."

This was the simple, truthful sentiment of the intel
ligent, wealthy, decent/ responsible people of Mexico.

The French forces landed at Yera Cruz in December,
1861. The whole of the year 1862 passed away without
any serious movement being made by the Emperor
Napoleon for the conquest of Mexico. His army was
on the spot, making demonstrations toward Puebla

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 37

but it would seem that he was waiting to see whether our
government would take any step to uphold the Monroe
doctrine. No obstacle was placed in his way by our
government, however, and on the 19th of November,
1862, Mr. Convin wrote to Mr. Seward that there were
then forty-two thousand French troops besieging
Puebla, and that the capture of the city of Mexico it
self would speedily follow that of Puebla. On the
27th of January, 1863, there were twenty thousand
Mexican troops defending Puebla, which was strongly
fortified; while on the 1st of May, 1863, General
Comonfort, with iifteen thousand additional Mexican
troops, was advancing to the relief of the place. Be
fore the end of May, however, Comonfort was defeated,
and Puebla was captured by the French. Early in
June, 1863, Juarez evacuated the city of Mexico, and
on the 12th, General Forey entered and took posses
sion of the capital.

This is the proper place to examine the instructions
of the Emperor Napoleon, under which these military
operations were conducted. They are contained in
his letter to General Forey, as follows :

" THE EMPEROR TO GENERAL FOREY.

" FONTAINEBLEAU, Jill]/ 3, 18G2.

"MY DEAR GENERAL: — At the moment when you are
about to leave for Mexico, charged with political and
military powers,' I deem it useful that you should un
derstand my wishes.

38 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

" This is the line of conduct which you are expected
to pursue: 1. To issue a proclamation on your arrival,
the principal ideas of which will be indicated to you.
2. To receive with the greatest kindness all Mexicans
who may join you. 3. To espouse the quarrel of no
party, but to announce that all is provisional until the
Mexican nation shall have declared its wishes ; to show
a great respect for religion, but to reassure at the same
time the holders of national property. 4. To supply,
pay, and arm, according to your ability, the auxiliary
Mexican troops : to give them the chief part in com
bats. 5. To maintain among your troops, as well as
among the auxiliaries, the most severe discipline ; to
repress with vigor every act, every design, which might
wound the Mexicans, for their pride of character must
not be forgotten, and it is of the first importance to the
success of the undertaking to conciliate the good will
of the people.

" When we shall have reached the city of Mexico, it
is desirable that you should have an understanding
with the notable persons of every shade of opinion who
shall have espoused our cause, in order to organize a
provisional government. This government will submit
to the Mexican people the question of the form of
political rule which shall be definitively established.
An assembly will be afterward elected in accordance
with the Mexican laws.

" You will aid the new government to introduce into
the administration of affairs, and especially into the
finances, that regularity of which France offers the best

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 39

example. To effect this, persons will be sent thither
capable of aiding this new organization.

" The end to be attained is not to impose upon the
Mexicans a form of government which will be distaste
ful to them, but to aid them to establish, in conformity
with their wishes, a government which may have some
chance of stability, and will assure to France the re
dress of the wrongs of which she complains.

"It is not to be denied that if they prefer a mon
archy it is in the interest of France to aid them in this
path.

" Persons will not be wanting who will ask you why
we propose to spend men and money to establish a
regular government in Mexico.

" In the present state of the world's civilization Eu
rope is not indifferent to the prosperity of America;
for it is she which nourishes our industry and gives life
to our commerce. It is our interest that the Republic
of the United States shall be powerful and prosperous,
but it is not at all to our interest that she should grasp
the whole Gulf of Mexico, rule thence the Antilles as
wrell as South America, and be the sole dispenser of
the products of the Xew World. We see to-day, by
sad experience, how precarious is the fate of an indus
try which is forced to seek its raw material in a single
market, under all the vicissitudes to which that market
is subject.

" If, on the contrary, Mexico preserve its independ
ence, and maintain the integrity of its territory, if a
stable government be there established with the aid of

40 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

France, we shall have restored to the Latin race on the
other side of the ocean its force and its prestige ; we
shall have guaranteed the safety of our own and the
Spanish colonies in the Antilles. We shall have estab
lished our benign influence in the centre of America,
and this influence, while creating immense outlets for
our commerce, will procure the raw material which is
indispensable to our industry.

" Mexico, thus regenerated, will always be favorable
to us, not only from gratitude, but also because hei;
interests will be identical with our own, and because
she will find a support in the good will of European
powers.

" To-day, therefore, our military honor involved, the
demands of our policy, the interest of our industry and
our commerce, all impose upon us the duty of march
ing upon Mexico, there boldly planting our flag, and
establishing perhaps a monarchy, if not incompatible^
with the national sentiment of the country, but at least
a government which will promise some stability.

" NAPOLEON."

These admirable instructions were faithfully car
ried out. On the 12th of June, 1863, the French
army, under General Forey, entered the city of
Mexico as conquerors, precisely the same as the
American army, under General Scott, had entered
that capital in 1847. At that time, and in 1848, ,
the good citizens of Mexico, the men of wealth,
of property, and of education, implored General

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 41

Scott to remain, and give them a good govern
ment. They wished to put themselves under the
protection of the United States government, and
offered to do so. The United States government
laughed at them. They cut off a generous slice of
the country, including the whole of California, Utah,
New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, etc., and left the
rest of Mexico to her fate. The eleven years of an-

hy followed, from 1849 to 1860.

Now let the reader observe how differently Napo
leon treated the country. He had, in 1863, the same
right that we had, in 1847, to seize upon three or four
rich Mexican States, and make French provinces of
them. Did he do so ? No. Let us observe what he
did do.

On the 16th of June, 1863, General Forey, after
consultation with the French minister residing in
Mexico, called together thirty-five of the most emi
nent citizens of the country, men distinguished both
for their abilities and their virtues, and deliberated
with them in regard to the state of the country.
These gentlemen were men acquainted with every
body of note or prominence in the whole country.
It was agreed that they should designate two hundred J\
and fifteen Mexican citizens, from the various States,
constituting, with themselves, an Assembly of Nota
bles, to whom should be intrusted the duty of deter
mining upon the form of government to be adopted.

42 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

The supreme executive power being vested tempora
rily in three eminent Mexican citizens, Messrs. Al
monte, Sal as, and Ormaechea, they issued, on the
24th of June, 1863, the following manifesto to the
Mexican nation :

"MANIFESTO OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE POWER TO
THE NATION.

" MEXICANS : — Having been appointed by the supe
rior committee of government, to exercise the supre
powers of the nation, it is right that we should instruct
you of the very grave situation in which we find our
selves, and of our designs in fulfilling the mighty
charge that we have received.

" Never was the Mexican nation seen with more mis
fortunes nor with more solid hopes. A disciplined and
courageous army, a great and civilized power, have
undertaken to save us from the unfathomable abyss of
evils to which, as blindly as impiousty, a misled minor
ity of our countrymen have brought us. They labor
for our national restoration not by the terror of arms,
nor by anti-social principles.

" The force that comes to protect us will only be
used to conquer that which persists in destroying us ;
to the errors which have perverted us there will be
opposed the truths that regenerate nations ; to the
demoralization which has overturned every thing there
will be applied the justice which maintains the order of
nations.

" We know how manv sophisms and calumnies those

MEXICO UNDEK MAXIMILIAN. 43

who have persisted in our ruin have employed and em
ploy to diffuse among you aversion or mistrust with
respect to the intervention. Compare their sophisms
with the facts which you behold ; their calumnies with
the conduct which is observed ; their insidious prom
ises with the evidence of the disasters and desolation
that 3'ou contemplate. Compare the deeds with the
words of the magnanimous and enlightened Emperor :
No hostility to the nation, and sufficient mildness even
toward those who compromise it and tyrannize over it.

" Driving from the capital the power which the pre
tended constitution of 1857 systematized in evil, by
evil, and for evil, the representatives of the Emperor
have made no delay in establishing the provisional
Mexican government, which will govern until the na
tion, more amply represented, shall fix freely and defi
nitely the form of government which Mexicans ought to
have permanently. The chimeras of conquest with
which it was attempted to alarm the thoughtless are
made evident and vanish. Mexico has again self-gov
ernment, and is able and at liberty to choose, among
all the political institutions, that which suits it best,
and has the most glorious titles and firmest guarantees
of stability.

" In the mean time it is incumbent upon us to govern
ad interim this suffering and disorganized nation ; a
task immensely arduous and complicated, and much
superior to our strength. Can we, in our transitory
administration, repair the disorders and injuries of half
a century ? That which was founded by three centu-

44: MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

ries of peace, and a gradual progress, is not restored in
a few days ; we can only aspire to take the road and
guide 3rou in the first steps. No doubt Divine Provi
dence reserves to more competent persons the consum
mating all the moral, social, political, and industrial
restoration of Mexico.

" The work is grand, and will be the sooner realized
according as your co-operation is decided and general.
We shall do very little if just men of all classes, par
ties, and ranks of our society do not aid our intentions
in their respective spheres.

" We behold you vacillating and uncertain about the
future of our beloved country, as dejected with cares
and anxieties, as fearful of new misfortunes, anxious
for peace, and distrustful of provoking new wars ;
ruined and panting for tranquillity to restore your for
tunes, with aversion for the political and administra
tive theories which we have tried, and jealous of trying
other new ones. Order and disorder, misery and pros
perity, conciliation and discord, are at your choice.
You have two powers in view — one whose long tyranny
and bad passions you have so wofully experienced, and
another whose measured and just behavior you are able
to observe : the one which is not satisfied with all your
treasures, nor with your most necessary furniture, and
the other which commences by relieving you of taxes,
and introducing the severest economy : the one which
fled from this city without any other support than the
faction whose illegitimate interests it foments, and the
other which, solidly fixed in Europe, will rest upon the

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 45

legitimate interest and cardinal principles of society :
that, in short, which, sacrificing to personal interest, or
that of party, all that was orderly, just, useful, respect
able, and sacred, brought our country to wars, and this,
which, by the light and unconquered force of Catholi
cism, according to the invincible rules of good govern
ment, and supported by the bountiful protection of
France, omitted nothing, that Mexico may rise in the
New World, as vigorous, enlightened, and improved as
corresponds to the admirable abundance of her ele
ments of prosperity.

" Very grave affairs are about to occupy our atten
tion. Peace, which has its roots only in justice and
well-defined liberty ; agriculture, now so decayed, the
basis of every kind of industry, and which, for so long,
has been the comman prey of revolutionists and high
waymen ; commerce, so paralyzed and fallen, from the
public insecurity in the country; mining, a first-rate
branch of industry, in decay from the prejudices and
special burden which it has suffered ; the unmeasured
exactions in the towns and the demoralization in agree
ments ; the arts either destroyed or impoverished ; the
administration of justice, with some honorable excep
tions, so corrupt and tardy ; security on the highways
or in the inhabited places altogether lost ; the vagrancy
of all classes and ranks serving as a food for disorder
and national depravation ; finally, the reparation of the
moral and physical disasters made by the so-called sys
tem of liberty and reform, for which the two powers
will co-operate together as far as concerns them, united

46 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

or separate, and the tribunals in cases within their
competency.

" The well-deserving army will likewise merit a pre
ferable attention, and their sufferings will be taken into
consideration, proceeding, without delay, to its reor
ganization. The worthy mutilated of the national inde
pendence will not be forgotten, nor less the suffering
widows of the honored soldiers who have died in de
fence of their country.

" The Catholic religion is re-established and free.
The church will exercise its authority without having
an enemy in the government, and the State will concert
with it the manner of resolving the grave questions
which are pendant.

" The atheism which has been planted in the estab
lishments of instruction, and the infamous propaganda
of immoral doctrines which have ruined us, must cease.
Catholic instruction, solid and of the greatest possible
extent, and new literary careers and guarantees for
good teachers, will be the object of our labors.

" We have still to get rid of the so-called constitu
tional government, which is only able and only knows
to do evil, which courts no good in its career of inno
vations and destruction. Whilst it exists, we Mexi
cans shall have no peace, nor our fortunes security, nor
commerce increase. The Franco-Mexican army will,
as the first act they perform, pursue it until it surren
ders or is driven from the national territory, and in
proportion as the towns shake off their intolerable
yoke, they will begin to feel the repose and prosperity

MEXICO UXDEK MAXIMILIAN. 47

which the people already liberated enjoy. At the same
time suitable measures will be dictated to expedite the
pacification of the departments, and diminish the ruin
which the agents of demagogism still occasion them.

" Our misdeeds, and the acts committed by terrorists
against friendly nations, have discredited us in the Old
World. Good and dignified relations will be opened
again with injured governments and with the Sovereign
Pontiff; every effort will be made to ratify the obliga
tions of Mexico with friendly powers, and with the pro
tection of France and the other nations that shall
support the new government, we shall be respected
abroad, and the honor and credit of the nation will be
repaired.

" We have told you frankly what we think of the new
situation, and what we intend to do in the difficult
commission which we have received, in spite of our
insufficiency. Much will be done if eminent men of all
kinds assist. Let our disgraceful discord at last end.
Let the scandal which we have given to the world
cease. Let there be concord, union, peace, and public
spirit among us. Let the sordid speculations at public
misfortunes be extirpated, and let those riches be
turned to great and /lucrative industrial enterprises.
Let honest labor be the foundation of fortunes ; let
functionaries have no power over the laws, nor the laws
over moralit}*. Let religion and authority, property
nnd liberty, order and peace, be at last precious reali
ties for Mexicans. May the God of armies, who has so
directly favored our cause, reward the generosity and

48 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

sincere intervention of France, and the patriotic inten
tion with which wre good Mexicans have accepted it,
with the speedy grandeur and prosperity of the nation.
" Palace of the supreme executive power in Mexico,
the 24th of June, 1863.

"JUAN N. ALMONTE.

"JOSE MARIANO SALAS.

"JUAN B. ORMAECHEA."

Having thus terminated the great mission which
had been intrusted to him, General Forey returned to
France. He was succeeded in command of the French
army in Mexico by General Bazaine, to whom, on the
17th of August, 1863, the Emperor Napoletea^efit the
following letter of instructions :

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 49

CIIAPTEE III.

The Emperor's Instructions to General Bazaine — Proceedings of the Assem
bly of Notables — They Determine upon a Limited Monarchy, and Offer
the Crown of Mexico to Prince Maximilian — A Deputation of the Nota
bles Proceeds to Europe — Offer of the Crown to Maximilian — Remarkable
Reply of Prince Maximilian to the Ofl'er of the Crown — The Conditions
upon which he Bases his Consent — Approval of these Conditions by tha
Emperor Napoleon.

THE EMPEROR'S INSTRUCTIONS TO MARSHAL BAZAINE.

"PARIS, August 17, 18G3.

" GENERAL : — At the moment in which 3-011 find your
self invested with the plenitude of political and military
power, and when, thanks to the heroism of our soldiers
and the skill of our chiefs, the elaboration of a new
political regime supersedes the clash of arms in Mexico,
I deem it useful to retrace once more the ideas with
which the Emperor's government is inspired. Those
ideas have been clearly indicated in the letter addressed
by his majesty to General Forey, July 3, 1862, and to
this memorable document we must always refer.

"I shall not return to enumerate the facts which
caused our intervention, or the incidents, too well
known, which have signalized the first phase of it,
whilst we were engaged in collective action with other
powers. I refer to them merely to call to mind the fact
that, left alone, we have used our independence only to
4

50 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

pursue the work which it was not in our power to
accomplish in conjunction with the rest, and without
deviating from the line which, from the beginning, we
had traced out for ourselves, and which we had indi
cated to our allies. In acting thus, we believe that we
serve the general interests of Europe.

" We have recognized that the legitimacy of our inter
vention resulted solely from our grievances against the
government of that country; we have declared that,
whatever rights war conferred on us, we sought neither
conquest nor colonial establishment, nor even any politi
cal or commercial advantage to the exclusion of other
powers. Penetrated, however, with the idea, which
several onerous experiences justified, that an expedition,
analogous to those of which the traditional proceedings
of the Mexican Government have so often imposed on
us and others the necessity, would assure us only very
precarious satisfaction and no guarantees for the future,
we have thought that it would be worthy of us and pro
fitable for all to remind the Mexican people of the ini
quities of their government, and to afford them, if they
desired to avail themselves of it, the occasion and the
means to react against the elements of dissolution
accumulated on their soil by a deplorable succession of
anarchical powers. We applaud ourselves heartily now
for not having despaired of the good sense and patriot
ism of the Mexican nation. For the rest, we most
unequivocally eschew, as you are aware, any intention
of substituting our influence in place of the free resolu
tions of the country ; we promise it our moral support

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 51

to second whatever efforts it may wish to make in its
own independence ; but it is from its own loins that its
regeneration must issue.

" We have received with pleasure, as a symptom of
favorable augury, the manifestation of the Assembly of
Notables of Mexico in favor of the establishment of a mon
archy, and the name of the prince called to the empire.
However, as I have indicated to you in a preceding dis
patch, we can consider the votes of the Assembly at Mex-\
ico only as the first indication of the disposition of the
country. With all the authority which attaches to the
eminent men who compose it, the Assembly recommends
to its fellow-countrymen the adoption of monarchical
institutions, and it designates a prince for their suffrages.
It belongs, however, to the provisional government to
collect those suffrages in such a manner as to banish all
doubt in regard to the expression of the will of the
country. It is not my part to indicate to you the mode
to be adopted in order that this indispensable result
should be completely attained ; we must search for this
in the local customs and institutions. Whether the
municipalities should be called upon to declare their
wishes in the different provinces according as they shall
have recovered the free disposal of themselves, or
whether the lists should be opened by their care in order
to collect the votes, the best method will be that which
shall insure the largest manifestation of the popular
will in all its independence and sincerity. General, the
Emperor particularly recommends this essential point
to your most careful attention.

52 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN".

" Other questions at the same time demand your
solicitude. AYe have flattered ourselves with the idea
that we represent in Mexico the cause of progress and
of civilization, and our regard for our responsibility does
not permit us to accept the species of provisional
guardianship with which we are invested by circum
stances, except on condition of serving that cause faith
fully by our counsels and by our actions. From this
point of view, we have to regret certain measures which
contrast in an unfavorable manner with the ideas which
we ought to strive to establish. Sequestrations, prohib
itions, outlawries, have too often been, in Mexico, the
arms used by parties in straits, in their desperate con
tests — too often, indeed, not to interdict the use of them
to a government that goes to conserve and restore.
Adopted, doubtless, in view of the urgent necessities of
which I cannot judge, they can have but a provisional
character, and at the moment at which I write to you
they are certainly revoked, if they have not been already
so at the reception of the instructions sent out by the
last packet.

" The reorganization of the Mexican array is one of
the most important questions which should, at present,
occupy the attention of the provisional government and
yours. It is the duty of the minister of war to transmit
special instructions to you on this point. I will confine
myself to saying, that, the desire of the Emperor's gov
ernment being to restrict, as promptly as circumstances
will permit, the extent and the duration of our occupa
tion, it is essential that this reorganization should be

MEXICO UXDEK MAXIMILIAN. 53

pushed forward with all possible activity, and that it is
desirable that in future, and in proportion to the pro
gress realized, an honorable share of duty should be
assigned to the Mexican army. In the interest of the
country and its ulterior development, as well as to pro
vide for present necessities, I recommend you to press
upon the government the duty of applying its utmost
care to multiply the means of communication, and to
assure, on the roads which now exist, security of trans
portation and rapid exchange of correspondence.

" Without directly substituting your initiative for
that of the government, all your counsels, General,
should tend to have the administration, properly so-
called, reconstituted in conditions of regularity and
strength, such as may give confidence to the country
and reassure it against all ideas of reactionary and ex
clusive policy. Under the shadow of our flag, all
parties can be worthily reconciled, and we will induce
them to this ; but as we repudiate their passions, we
must never allow it to serve as a shelter for them to
work out their revenges.

" The same principles should preside over the reor
ganization of the judicial administration, and you will
have to recommend to the government, to be inspired
with them in the choice of magistrates and in the
impulse which it will give them, the independence and
honesty of the magistracy being able to contribute
powerfully to elevate the moral state of a people among
whom the notions of right must have been very much
blunted by the contact of so many revolutions.

54: MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

" The existing administrative and judicial institutions
appear, moreover, to answer the wants and customs of
the country. Your counsels should, therefore, be
directed, in this regard, rather to the choice of function
aries and the directions to be impressed upon them,
than to the institutions themselves.

"It is not entirely so with regard to the finances.
We have there, moreover, a direct interest, which com
mands us to watch more closely over the execution of
such regulations as ought to assure to the country the
benefits of a regular system of accountability. The
proper management of the public money is the guaran
tee of our debts, and, from this point of view, we have
good reason to exercise an active control over the finan
cial administration. We have, for the rest, as far as
depended on us, facilitated its reorganization b\T assur
ing to it the precious support of special agents delegated
for that purpose by the minister of finance. Under
their enlightened influence, the germs of prosper! t}7, so
varied and abundant, which the country possesses can
not fail to be rapidly developed.

" I have spoken of our claims. They are, as you
know, General, of two kinds : those which are anterior
to the war, and those which have their origin in the war.
As to the former, they will be all referred for examina
tion to a commission which shall be instituted in con
nection with my department, and which shall be com
posed in such a way as to assure an unquestionable
authority to its decisions. The total amount to be
presented to the Mexican Government will be composed

MEXICO UNDIvR MAXIMILIAN. 55

of the sum of all these claims that shall be recognized
by the commission as legitimately founded in justice.

"As to those which proceed from the war which we
arc now maintaining, my colleagues in the departments
of war and marine are occupied in combining such
elements as will allow them to form a proper estimate
of the expenses of which we shall have to claim reim
bursement. We shall most likely be able to transmit to
you, by the next packet, the result of this labor, and you
will then have to present to the provisional government
for acceptance the demand for reimbursement of the
sum which shall be indicated to you.

"DROUYX DE LIIUYS."

The Assembly of Notables comprised the men who
had, in 1848 and 18-49, and again in I860, implored
the United States to save Mexico and give her a good
government. Let the reader remember the experience
they had had, of forty years of anarchy in Mexico,
owing to the want of a good government. Let the
efforts be remembered which they had made to estab
lish a good government themselves, under the protec
tion of the United States. Let it be remembered how
all their efforts had foiled, and how they and their
country had been spurned by the United States, and
the latter given up by us to continued anarchy.

But there was one great power that had not despised
them ; there was one powerful hand stretched out to
save their country and to give them a good govern-

56 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

ment. They were not fools, neither were they un
grateful. Here is their action :

" The provisional supreme executive power of the
nation to the inhabitants thereof: Know ye that the
Assembly of Notables has thought fit to decree as
follows :

" ' The Assembly of Notables, in virtue of the decree
of the 1 6th ultimo, that it should make known the form
of government which best suited the nation, in use of
the full right which the nation has to constitute itself,
and as its organ and interpreter, declares, with absolute
liberty and independence, as follows :

" ' 1. The Mexican nation adopts as its form of gov
ernment a limited hereditary monarchy, with a Catholic
prince.

" ' 2. The sovereign shall take the title of Emperor
of Mexico.

" ' 3. The imperial crown of Mexico is offered to his
imperial and royal highness the Prince Ferdinand Max
imilian, Archduke of Austria, for himself and his de
scendants.

"' 4. If, under circumstances which cannot be fore
seen, the Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand Maximilian,
should not take possession of the throne which is offered
to him, the Mexican nation relies on the good-will of
his majesty Napoleon III., Emperor of the French, tc
indicate for it another Catholic prince.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 57

" ' Given in the Hall of Sessions of the Assembly, on
the 10th of July, 18G3.

"'TEODOSIO LARES, President.
"'ALEJANDRO ARANGO Y ESCANDON, Secretary.
" ' JOSE MARIA ANDRADE, Secretary?

" Therefore let it be printed, published by national
edict, and circulated, and let due fulfilment be given
thereto.

" Given at the palace of the supreme executive power
in Mexico, on the llth of July, 18G3.

" JUAX X. ALMONTE.
"JOSE MARIANO SALAS.
"JUAX 13. ORMAECIIEA."

A deputation of tlio Assembly of Notables immedi
ately proceeded to Europe, sought the Archduke
Maximilian, and communicated to him the wishes of
the Mexican people. In September, 1863, they thus
addressed him :

THE OFFER OF THE MEXICAN CROWN.
Senor Estrada's Address to Maximilian.

" PRINCE : — The powerful hand of a generous monarch
had* hardly restored liberty to the Mexican nation, when
he dispatched us to your imperial highness, cherishing
the sincerest wishes and warmest hopes for our mission.
We shall not dwell upon the visitations which Mexico
has had to undergo, and which, as trrey are notorious,
have reduced our country to the verge of despair and

58 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

ruin. There are no means we have not emplo3red, no way
we have not tried, to escape a situation full of misery
for the present, and foreboding catastrophes for the
future. We have long endeavored to extricate ourselves
from the fatal and ruinous position into which the
country had fallen, on adopting, with credulous inexpe
rience, republican institutions, at variance with its
natural arrangements, its customs, and traditions ; in
stitutions which, though they resulted in the greatness
and prosperity of a neighboring nation, have only be
come a source of trials and desperate disappointments
in our case.

" Nearly half a century, Prince, has elapsed, carrying
with it for Mexico barren tortures and intolerable
humiliation, but without deadening the spark of hope
and indomitable vitality in our breasts. Full of un
shaken confidence in the Ruler of human destinies, we
never ceased to look out for a cure of our ever-growing
national malady. We may say we awaited its advent
true to ourselves. Our faith was not in vain. The
ways of Providence have become manifest, opening up a
new era, and exciting the admiration of the greatest
minds by an unexpected turn of fortune.

" Once again master of her destinies, Mexico, taught
by experience, is at this moment making a last effort to
correct her faults. She is changing her institutions,
being firmly persuaded that those now selected will be
even more salutary than the analogous arrangements
which existed jre the time she was the colony of a
European state. This will be all the more certain if we

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 59

should be destined to see at our head a Catholic Prince,
who, with the high and recognized worth of his charac
ter, with the nobility of his feelings, knows how to couple
that firmness of will and self-sacrificing devotion which
are the inheritance of those only who have been selected
by God Almighty, in decisive moments of public danger
and social ruin, to save sinking peoples and restore
them to a new life. Mexico expects much from the
spirit of those institutions which have governed it for
three centuries, and which, when they fell, left us a
brilliant, but, alas ! now spoiled inheritance. The demo
cratic republic endeavored to do away with the traces
of former grandeur. But whatever may be our confi
dence in such institutions, their efficiency will be only
perfect when crowned in the person of your imperial
highness. A king, the heir of an old monarch}', and
representing solid institutions, may render his people
happ}', even in the absence of distinguished qualities of
mind and character ; but very different and exceptional
qualities arc required in a prince who intends to become
the founder of a new dynasty and the heir of a republic.
"Without you, Prince — believe it from these lips
which have never served the purposes of flatten* — with
out you, all our efforts to save the country will be in
vain. Without you will not be realized the generous
intentions of a great sovereign, whose sword restored us
to liberty and whose powerful arm now supports us in
this decisive hour. With you, however, experienced in
the difficult art of government, our institutions would
become what they ought to be, if the happiness and

60 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

prosperity of our country are to be guaranteed. With
you they would have for their foundation that genuine
liberty which is coupled with justice and moderation —
not the spurious counterfeit we have become conversant
with during half a century's ruinous wars and quarrels.
Such institutions, equally as they are in harmony with
the spirit of the age, will also become the unshakable
corner-stone of our national independence. These senti
ments, these hopes, which have been long entertained by
all true friends of Mexico, are now in the hearts of all
in our country. In Europe, too, whatever sympathies
or antipathies may have been roused on the occasion of
our present step, there is only one voice in regard to
your imperial highness and your noble consort, who,
shining by personal worth and high virtues, will share
your throne and rule over our hearts. The Mexicans
require only to see you in order to love you.

" Faithful interpreters of the longing desire and the
wishes of our country, in its name we offer to your
imperial highness the crown of Mexico — that crown
which a solemn resolution of the Assembly of Notables
has of its free will and accord handed over to your
imperial highness. Even now that resolution has been
confirmed by the assent of many provinces, and will
soon be sanctioned by the entire nation. Nor can we
forget, Prince, that by a fortunate coincidence of cir
cumstances this^ great national act is taking place on the
day on which Mexico celebrates the anniversary of the
victorious appearance of the national army, carrying
high the banner of independence and monarchy. May

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 61

it please your imperial highness to fulfil our prayers
and accept our choice. May we be enabled to carry the
joyous tidings to a country awaiting them in longing
anxiety ; joyous tidings not only for us Mexicans, but
also for France, whose name is now indissolubly bound
up with our history ; and gratitude for England and
Spain, who began the work of revival ; and for the illus
trious house of Austria, connected by time-honored and
glorious memories with a new continent.

" We do not undervalue the sacrifice to be made by
3rour imperial highness in entering upon so great a task
with all its consequences, and in severing yourself from
your friends in Europe — that quarter of the globe which,
from its centre, diffuses civilization over the world.
\es, Prince, this crown which our love oilers you is but
a heavy burden to-day, but it will soon be made enviable
by your virtues, our zealous co-operation, our loyal de
votion, and inextinguishable gratitude. Whatever may
be our faults, however deep our fall, we are still the
sons of those who, inspired by the sacred names of reli
gion, king, and country, hesitated not to run the great
est risks, engage in the grandest enterprises, combat
and suffer in their course. These are the sentiments
which, in the name of pur grateful country, we lay at
the feet of your imperial highness. We offer them to
the worthy scion of that powerful dynasty which planted
Christianity on our native soil. On that soil, Prince,
we hope to see you fulfil a high task, to mature the
choicest fruits of culture, which are order and true

62 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

liberty. The task is great, but greater is our confidence
in Providence, which has led us thus far."

Who can read this eloquent address without
emotion ? It is full of the noblest sentiments of
Christian patriotism. The heart of Prince Maxi
milian was deeply touched by this mark of the
attachment of the Mexican people, and he made the
following reply : —

PtEPLY OF THE ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN TO THE
MEXICAN DEPUTATION.

"October 3, 1863.

" GENTLEMEN : — I am profoundly grateful for the
wishes expressed by the Assembly of Notables. It
cannot be other than flattering to our house, that the
thoughts of your countrymen turn to the descendant
of Charles Y. It is a proud task to assure the inde
pendence and the prosperity of Mexico under the pro
tection of free and lasting institutions. I must,
however, recognize the fact — and in this I entirely
agree with the Emperor of the French, whose glorious
undertaking makes the regeneration of Mexico possible
. — that the monarchy cannot be re-established in your
country on a firm and legitimate basis, unless the whole
nation shall confirm by a free manifestation of its will,
the wishes of the capital.

" My acceptance of the offered throne must, therefore,
depend upon the result of the vote of the whole
country. Furthermore, a sentiment of the most sacred

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN". 63

of the duties of the sovereign requires, that he should
demand for the proposed empire every necessary
guarantee to secure it against the dangers which
threaten its integrity and its independence. If sub
stantial guarantees for the future can be obtained, and
if the universal suffrage of the Mexican people select
me as its choice, I shall be ready, with the consent of
the illustrious chief of my family, and trusting to the
protection of the Almighty, to accept the throne. It is
my duty to announce to you now, gentlemen, that in
case Providence shall call me to the high mission of
civilization which is attached to this crown, it is my
fixed intention to open to your country, by means of a,
constitutional government, a path to a progress based
on order and civilization ; and, as soon as the empire
shall be completely pacified, to seal with my oath the
fundamental agreement concluded with the nation.

"It is only in this manner that a truly national
policy can be established, in which all parties, for
getting their ancient quarrels, will unite to raise
Mexico to the high rank which she should attain under
a government whose first principle will be law, based
on equity. I beg you to communicate these my inten^
tions, which I have frankly expressed, to your country
men, and to take measures to obtain from the nation
an expression of its will as to the form of government
it intends to adopt."

The admirable sentiments of this reply will at
once strike the mind of every intelligent person.

64 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

Maximilian is not eager to accept the brilliant destiny
that is offered to him. He did not seek the Mexican
crown, nor does he covet it. He feels the momentous
importance of the step which he is invited to take.,
He does not shrink from the mighty task of creating
an empire out of such unpromising materials. He
accepts, on two weighty conditions : — 1st, on ccm-
dition that the action of the Assembly of Notables
shall be ratified by the whole Mexican people, and
2nd, on condition that the great powers of Europe
shall guarantee the stability of the throne that is
offered to him.

The reasonableness and justice of these conditions
were admitted by the Emperor Napoleon. In his
dispatch to General Bazaine, August, 14, 1863, M.
Drouyn de Lhuys, the French Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, says : — "According to the Emperor's
ideas, no pressure should be exercised upon the
Mexican nation : it alone should have the right of
deciding on the form of its institutions, and in case
It should adopt a monarchical constitution, on the
choice of the prince who should be called to reign
over it. We already see, in the vote of the Assembly
of Notables, a spontaneous manifestation, and a most
imposing one, of its dispositions ; but it is important
that this vote should be confirmed and ratified as soon
as possible by the assent of the people. We likewise
applaud the choice of the eminent prince whom the

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 65

assembly has called to the throne by an acclamation
which must, in like manner, receive its definitive
approval from the suffrages of the country."

Thus, it will be seen that, before the crown was
offered to Maximilian, the Emperor Napoleon had
declared that the action of the Assembly of Notables
must Ibe confirmed and ratified by the Mexican
people : and that the choice of the person also whom
they had called to the throne " must receive the ap
proval of the suffrages of the country." The same
principles are enunciated in still more forcible lan
guage, in Napoleon's instructions to General Bazaine,
August 17, 1863. He says:— "As I have intimated
to you in a previous dispatch, we can consider the
action of the Mexican Assembly of Notables, only as
the first indication of the disposition of the country.
With all the authority which attaches to the eminent
men who compose it, the Assembly recommends to
its fellow countrymen the adoption of monarchical
institutions, and it designates a prince for their suf
frages. It belongs to the provisional government
to collect those suffrages in such a manner as to
banish all doubt in regard to the expression of the
will of the country. The best method to be adopted
will be that which shall insure the largest manifesta
tion of the popular will in all its independence and
sincerity." See Napoleon's instructions to General

Bazaine, ante, p. 49.
5

66 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

CHAPTER IY.

The Mexican People Vote upon a Change in the Government — Popular
Ratification of the Action of the Notables— The Mexican People Pro^
nounce in Favor of Maximilian for Emperor — Manner in which this
Election was Conducted — Its Perfect Freedom — Every Mexican Voted—
His Election in Mexico Compared with the Elections in Maryland for
Three Years past — Two-thirds of the Voters of Maryland Disfranchised
— Superior Freedom of the Mexican Election.

THE question was accordingly presented to the

Mexican people, and the election took place. The

utmost freedom was allowed. Bodies of French

troops were present in every Mexican State, but

M . ^lely in order to keep open the way to the polls.

•jj* *'.£$"(> vote was challenged ; no vote was refused. The

Q^ elections were held at the usual polling places, and

the usual local magistrates and judges of election

presided. The votes were openly counted, and it was

found that the Mexican people had sanctioned the

action of the Assembly of Notables, and had, by an

almost unanimous vote, pronounced in favor of a

monarchy, with Maximilian for Emperor.

Mr. Seward, in a letter to Mr. Dayton, our minister
to France, October 23, 1863, thus speaks of this
election : —

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 67

" M. Drouyn de Lhuys now speaks of an election to
be held in Mexico, to result in the choice of Prince
Maximilian of Austria to be Emperor of Mexico. We
learn from other sources that the prince has declared
his willingness to accept an imperial throne in Mexico
on three conditions, namely, that he shall be called to
it by the universal suffrage of the Mexican nation ; that
he shall receive indispensable guarantees for the
integrity and independence of the proposed empire :
and that the Emperor of Austria shall acquiesce."
And Mr. Sewarcl concludes this dispatch with the
following significant language, referring to the supposed
result of the Mexican election: — ''The United States
can do no otherwise than leave the destinies of Mexico
in the keeping of her own people, and recognize their
sovereignty and independence in whatever form they
themselves shall choose that this sovereignty and inde
pendence shall be manifested."

If this does not mean that the United States will
recognize the empire of Mexico if the people choose
to have an empire, what does it mean ?

I know it has been said that this Mexican election
was held under the glitter of French bayonets. That
is true : but, as 1 have stated, the French bayonets
only kept open the wray to the. polls. The French
bayonets did not keep a single Mexican away from
the polls. No Mexican was challenged. The vote
of no Mexican was refused. It was by far the freest
election that had ever taken place in Mexico. Com-

68 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

pare it with the elections in Maryland and Missouri
from 1863 to 1866.

In Maryland two thirds of the citizens of the State
are disfranchised and cannot vote at all.* This is
effected by means of a registry law, now in force in
that State. This act was passed by the legislature
of that State in 1863. The legislature by which it
was passed, was elected for the express purpose of
passing this registry law. Maryland was not one of
the States which seceded. Maryland was not one of
the rebel States. Maryland furnished and kept on
foot a body of twenty-five thousand troops in the
northern army during the whole war. Maryland was
represented in Congress during the whole war, by
her senators and representatives. Yet from the
beginning of the year 1863 to the end of the year
1865, all the elections in Maryland have been con
trolled by the presence of soldiers, and by military
usurpation. During all this time the civil authorities
in Maryland exercised no powers except such as it
pleased the military authorities to permit them to
exercise. The\ rights of Maryland as a State, were
entirely taken away. Maryland was changed into a
Military Department, and was ruled by a military
governor. During the greater part of the period
above-named, Maryland was governed by a Mr.

* This was written in 1866.

MEXICO UXDER MAXIMILIAN. 69

Schenck, "the hero of Vienna," who, although with
out military education, military talents, or military
experience, had been made a major-general by Mr.
Lincoln, and was placed in command at Baltimore,
with a large body of troops under his orders. A
bitter radical himself, in him the leaders of the
radical republican party in Maryland found a ready
and willing ally.

There were two parties in Maryland, as there had
always been two parties in all the States : the Demo
cratic, or rather the Conservative party, embracing all
the old Clay and Webster Whigs; and the Republican,
or rather the Eadical party, embracing the abolition
ists. The latter were in a very small minority. The
Conservative, or Democratic party, embraced fully
four-fifths of the inhabitants of the State, and all the
old residents and persons of property. The Republi
cans were new settlers, people from the New England
States, persons of no property, and comprised, indeed,
a class who would have remained forever without in
fluence in the government of the State. Their total
strength in 1860 was only two thousand two hundred
and ninety-nine votes. In the election for President
held in that year, the Democratic candidate for Presi
dent received ninety thousand two hundred and eight
votes, and Lincoln, the Radical candidate, only two
thousand two hundred and ninety -nine. That was

70 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

the last free election that ever took place in Maryland
until the election for members of Congress and mem
bers of the State Legislature in November, 1866. In
1863, 1864, and 1865, the whole State was overrun
by hordes of soldiery from other States, and all the
elections were controlled by bayonets.

In 1863, a State constitution was framed by a radi
cal Republican convention, which was utterly repug
nant, in its character, to the Democratic citizens of the
State. When this constitution was submitted to a
vote of the people, it was rejected by a majority of one
thousand nine hundred and forty-three votes. But
there was a body of two thousand five hundred sol
diers stationed at and near Baltimore. The military
authorities ordered these soldiers to vote, and by their
votes a majority of seven hundred and ninety-eight
votes was secured for the constitution. All of these
facts will be found recorded in the newspapers of the
day, particularly the New York World, and the Balti
more American, from Oct. 18 to 25, 1863. Thus was
a constitution, repugnant to their wishes, and which
had actually been rejected by a majority of one thou
sand nine hundred and forty-three of her own citizens,
fastened upon the State of Maryland. The Governor
of the State addressed the following letter to the Pres
ident, on the subject of this military interference with
elections in Maryland : —

MEXICO UXDER MAXIMILIAN. 71

GOVERNOR BRADFORD TO THE PRESIDENT.

"EXECUTIVE OFFICE, ANNAPOLIS, Oct. 31, 1863.
" To HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT LINCOLN : —

SIR : — Rumors are to-day current, and they reach me
in such a shape that I am bound to believe them, that
detachments of soldiers are to be dispatched on Monday
next to several of the counties of the State, with a view
of being present at their polls on Wednesday next, the
day of our State election. These troops are not resi
dents of the State, and consequently are not sent for
the purpose of voting ; and there is no reason, in my
opinion, to apprehend any riotous or violent proceed
ings at this election ; the inference is unavoidable that
these military detachments, if sent, are expected to
exert some control or influence in that election. I am
also informed that orders are to be issued from the
Military Department on Monday, presenting certain
restrictions or qualifications on the right of suffrage —
of what precise character I am not apprised — which the
judges of election will be expected to observe. From
my knowledge of your sentiments on these subjects, as
expressed to Hon. R. Johnson, in my presence, on the
22d instant, as also disclosed in your letter of instruc
tions to General Schofield, since published, in reference
to the Missouri election, I cannot but think that the
orders above referred to are without your personal
knowledge ; and I take the liberty of calling the subject
to your attention, and invoke your interposition to
countermand them. I cannot but feel that to suffer any

72 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

military interference in the matter of our election, or
to prescribe any test of oath to voters, when all the
candidates in the State — with the exception, perhaps,
of two or three in one Congressional district, are all
lo}'al men — would be justly obnoxious to the public
sentiment of the State. There are other reasons why
such proceedings would appear as an offensive discrimi
nation against our State. Our citizens are aware that
highly important elections have recently taken place in
other States, without, it is believed, any such interfer
ence by the government authorities, and, if votes by
hundreds of thousands have been allowed to be cast
there without objection, and with no limit upon the
elective franchise, other than the State laws prescribe,
and where one, at least, of the candidates so supported
was considered so hostile to the government, that for
months past he has been banished from the country,
certainly any such interference as between the loyal
men now candidates in this State, would, under such
comparisons, be more justly objectionable, and finds
nothing in the present condition of things here to jus
tify it. I rely, therefore, upon your Excellency for
such an order as will prevent it. I have the honor to
be, with great respect, your Excellency's obedient ser
vant, A. W. BRADFORD.

Governor Bradford also issued the following pro
clamation :

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 73

PROCLAMATION BY GOVERNOR BRADFORD.
>, EXECUTIVE DEPARTME?
ANNAPOLIS, Nov. 2, 1863.

STATE OF MARYLAND, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,")

'• >

" To THE CITIZENS OF THE STATE AND MORE ESPECIALLY
THE JUDGES OF ELECTION : —

"A military order, issued from the headquarters of
the "Middle Department," bearing date the 27th ult.,
printed and circulated, as it is said, through the State,
though never yet published here, and designed to operate
on the approaching election, has just been brought to, my
attention, and is of such a character, and issued under
such circumstances as to demand notice at my hands.

" This order, reciting ' that there are many evil dis
posed persons now at large in the State of Maryland,
who have been engaged in rebellion against the lawful
government, or have given aid and comfort, or en
couragement to others so engaged, or who do not recog
nize their allegiance to the United States, and who may
avail themselves of the indulgence of the authority
which tolerates their presence, to embarrass the ap
proaching election, or through it to foist enemies of the
United States into power,' proceeds, among other
things, to direct ' all provost marshals and other mili
tary officers to arrest all such persons found at or hang
ing about or approaching an 3' poll or place of election
on the 4th of November, 18C3, and report such arrest
to these headquarters.'

" This extraordinary order has not only been issued
without any notice to, or consultation with the consti
tuted authorities of the State, but at a time and unclec

74 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

circumstances when the condition of the State, and the
character of the candidates, are such as to preclude the
idea that the result of that election can in any way en
danger either the safety of the government or the peace
of the community.

" It is a well known fact that, with perhaps one sin
gle exception, there is not a Congressional candidate
in the State whose loyalty is even of a questionable
character, and in not a county of the State outside of
the same Congressional district is there, I believe, a
candidate for the legislature or any State office whose
loyalty is not equally undoubted. In the face of this
well known condition of things, the several classes of
persons above enumerated are not only to be arrested
at, but 'approaching any poll or place of election.' And
who is to judge whether voters thus on their way to the
place of voting have given ' aid, comfort, or encourage
ment' to persons engaged in the rebellion, or that they
' do not recognize their allegiance to the United States,'
and may avail themselves of their presence at the polls
' to foist enemies of the United States into power ?' As
I have already said, in a very large majority of the
counties of the State there are not to be found among
the candidates any such ' enemies of the United States ;'
but the provost marshals — created for a very different
purpose — and the other military officials who are thus
ordered to arrest approaching voters, are necessarily
made by the order the sole and exclusive judges of those
who fall within the prescribed category ; an extent of
arbitrary discretion, under any circumstance the most

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 75

odious, and more especially offensive and dangerous in
view of the known fact that two, at least, of the five
provost marshals of the State are themselves candi
dates for important offices, and sundry of their deputies
for others.

" This military order, therefore, is not only without
justification, when looking to the character of the can
didates before the people, and rendered still more ob
noxious by the means appointed for its execution, but
is equally offensive to the sensibilities of the people
themselves, and the authorities of the State, looking to
the repeated proofs they have furnished of an unalter
able devotion to the government. For more than two
years past there has never been a time when, if every
traitor and every treasonable sympathizer in the State
had voted, they could have controlled, whoever might
have been their candidates, a single department of the
State, or jeopardized the success of the general govern
ment. No State in the Union has been or is now actu
ated by more heartfelt or unwavering loyalty than
Maryland — a loyalty intensified and purified by the
ordeal through which it has passed ; and yet, looking
to what has lately transpired elsewhere, and to the
terms and character of this militaiy order, one would
think that in Maryland, and nowhere else, is the gov
ernment endangered by the ' many evil disposed per
sons that are now at large.'

" Within less than a month the most important elec
tions have taken place in two of the largest States of
the Union. In each of them candidates were before the

76 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

people, charged by the particular friends of the govern
ment "with being hostile to its interests, and whose elec
tion was deprecated as fraught with the most dangerous
consequences to its success. One of the most prominent
of these candidates was considered so dangerously
inimical to the triumph of the national cause, that
he has been for months past banished from the coun
try, and yet hundreds of thousands of voters were al
lowed to approach the polls, and to attempt ' to foist
such men into power,' and no provost marshals or other
military officers were ordered to arrest them on the
way, or so far as we have ever heard, even test their
allegiance by any oath.

" With these facts before us, it is difficult to believe
that the suggestion that the enemies of the United
States maybe foisted into power at our coming election,
was the consideration that prompted this order; but
whatever may have been that motive, I feel it to be my
duty to solemnly protest against such an intervention
with the privileges of the ballot box, and so offensive a
discrimination against the rights of a loyal State."

In Governor Bradford's next message to the legis
lature of Maryland, he thus spoke of these unparal
leled outrages : —

" A few days before that election a military order was
issued from the army headquarters at Baltimore, which
in effect placed the polls under the surveillance and at
the command of the military authority.

You will be furnished with a copy of this order, and

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 77

it is not necessary further to recite it than to state in
general terms that it was to be executed by the milita
ry, aided Ir^the provost marshals. They were to arrest
voters whom they might consider disloyal in approach
ing or hanging about the polls ; a prescribed form of
oath was furnished, without taking which no one, if
challenged, could vote ; and the several commanding
officers were charged to report to headquarters any
judge of election who should refuse to administer that
oath, or to aid in cariying out that order. The Presi
dent modified the first part of the order on the Monday
preceding the election, but even that modification
seemed to receive no attention from those entrusted
with its execution, and was in some instances openly
disregarded.

"Prominent among the provost marshals to whom the
execution of this order was in part committed were
several who were themselves candidates for important
offices.

"These marshals, appointed for the pupose of the mil
itia enrollment and draft, were placed by the law creat
ing them under the control of the provost marshal
general, but to insure the right to employ them about
this election order, special authority was obtained from
Washington to place them for the time being under the
orders of the military authorities.

" I, therefore, on the Monday evening preceding the
election, issued a proclamation giving them this assur
ance, a copy of which is herewith submitted.

" Before the following morning militpw orders were

78 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

sent to the Eastern Shore, directing its circulation to
be suppressed, the public papers were forbidden to pub
lish it, and an embargo laid on all the steamers in port
trading with that part of the State, lest they might
carry it.

" Abuses commenced even before the opening of the
polls. On the day preceding the election, the officer in
command of the regiment which had been distributed
among the counties of the Eastern Shore, and who had
himself landed in Kent county, commenced his opera
tions by arresting and sending across the bay some ten
or more of the most estimable and distinguished of its
citizens, including several of the most steadfast and un
compromising loyalists of the Shore. The jail of the
county was entered, the jailer seized, imprisoned, and
afterwards sent to Baltimore, and prisoners confined
therein under indictment, set at liberty. The com
manding officer referred to gave the first clue to the
character of disloyalty against which he considered
himself as particularly commissioned by printing and
publishing a proclamation in which, referring to the
election to take place next day, he invited all the truly
loyal to avail themselves of that opportunit}^ and estab
lish their loyalty ' by giving a full and ardent support
to the whole government ticket upon the platform
adopted by the Union League Convention,' declaring
that ' none other is recognized by the Federal authori
ties as loyal or worthy of support of any one who
desires the peace and restoration of the Union.'

" To secure the election of that ticket seemed to be

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 79

the business to which he and his officers especially de
voted themselves throughout the day of election. In
the statements and certificates which have been for
warded to me from different counties in that Congres
sional district, I have been furnished, I presume, with
an account of part only of the outrages to which
their citizens were subjected. The ' government ticket'
above referred to was in several, if not all of these
counties, designated by its color; it was a yellow ticket,
and armed with that, a voter could safely run the
gauntlet of the sabres and carbines that guarded the
entrance to the polls, and known sj'mpathizers with the
rebellion were, as certified to me, allowed to vote un
questioned, if they would vote that ticket, whilst lo}Tal
and respected citizens, ready to take the oath, were
turned back by the officers in charge without even al
lowing them to approach the polls.

" In one district, as appears by certificate from the
judge, the military officer took his stand at the polls
before thc}r were opened, declaring that none but ' the
}Tellow ticket ' should be voted, and excluded all others
throughout the day. In another district a similar offi
cer caused every ballot offered to be examined, and
unless it was the favored one, the voter was required to
take the oath, and not otherwise ; and in another again,
after one vote only had been given, the polls were
closed, the judges all arrested and sent out of the
count}-, and military occupation taken of the town.

"A part of the army which a generous people had
supplied for a very different purpose was on that day

80 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

engaged in stifling the freedom of election in a faithful
State, intimidating its sworn officers, violating the con
stitutional rights of its loyal citizens, and obstructing
the usual channels of communication between them and
their Executive."

But this was not all. A few months before the
election, every Democratic newspaper in the State of
Maryland was suppressed by military authority, in
contempt of the laws of the State, and in defiance of
the constitution of the United States. One only re
mained, the Evening Post, of Baltimore. This too
was suppressed, by the following order : —

" EIGHTH ARMY CORPS, MIDDLE DEPARTMENT.

"BALTIMORE, SEPT. 30, 1864.

"EDITOR EVENING POST : — As the surest means of pre
venting your office being made the subject of violence,
you will discontinue the publication of your paper the
Evening Post. By command of

"Major-General WALLACE."

Thus were the Democratic citizens of Maryland de
prived of all means of knowing by what conduct on
their part the electoral vote of their State might possi
bly be secured for the Democratic candidates. Mr.
Lincoln was a candidate for re-election himself; that
part of the army which was stationed in Maryland
was under his express orders ; and he thus used it, in

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 81

order to prevent the vote of Maryland from being
cast for the Democratic candidates. The editors of
the Evening Post immediately came to Washington,
to beg the President that he would permit them to re-
same the publication of the paper. But Mr. Lincoln
refused even to see them. Whereupon the Hon.
Severely Johnson caused the following two letters to
be published : —

"BALTIMORE, OCT. 6, 18G4.
" To the President of the United States.

"Srn: — The accompanying communication from the
editor and proprietors of the Evening Post, of this city,
has been placed in my hands, with a request to forward
it to 3rou. The wrong it discloses seems to me to be so
utterly without justification or excuse that I should be
doing injustice to you to suppose for a moment that
jou. will permit it to be continued.

" You will also receive with this a copy of the paper
issued on the last day on which its publication was per
mitted, and I am sure you will agree with me in the
opuRon that it contains nothing of a disloyal character,
uflflRg it be that it has at its head the names of Me
Clellan anel Pendleton, as its preferred candidates in
the present Presidental canvass. It would be my duty
to apologize in advance were I even to hint that you
would consider that as any evidence of disloyalty, or as
affording the slightest grounds for the suppression of
the paper.
6

82 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

11 The reason assigned for the military order com
plained of you cannot fail also to agree with me in
thinking to be wholly insufficient, since the officer issuing
it had under his command two or three thousand armed
soldiers, a force abundantly adequate to protect the
office of the newspaper and its editor from the violence
of a mob, had there been any indication at the time
that such violence would be used.

" I am made the organ of bringing this matter to your
attention, because of my being one of the Senators of
the State, and bound by that relation to do what I can
to protect her citizens against outrage.

"An early reply to the request of the editors, sent
through me, is respectfully solicited, and, not doubting
that it will be a favorable one — I have the honor to re
main your obedient servant.

"REVERDY JOHNSON."

NEWSPAPER SUPPRESSION AT BALTIMORE.

" BALTIMORE, OCT. 10, 1864.
" To the editors of the National Intelligencer i
11 GENTLEMEN : — The papers you receive with this
(and which you will do me the favor to publish) jceak

for themselves, telling a story that no American
worthy of the name will read but with deep regret.

" Of the many outrages of like character perpetrated
I under the authority of the President or with his
approval, the suppression of the Evening Post is the
most flagrant. The cause assigned (if true) is a sad
exhibition of the power of the President to put down

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 83

a gigantic rebellion having arrayed in its support hun
dreds of thousands of well disciplined soldiers, com
manded by brave and skilful officers. A major-general
of the President's appointment, having several thousand
soldiers subject to his orders, has not the power, he tells
us, to prevent the suppression of a paper by mob
violence ; and the President, with a want of courtesy not
to have been expected, refuses to see the gentlemen
whose property and rights as freemen, he was informed,
had been outraged, or even to answer respectful letters
soliciting his interference.

" Posterity will hardly believe that such things should
have occurred, and the people in this country, and
everywhere where liberty is valued, will regard it but
with shame and indignation. I trust in God that the
day is near at hand when the constitution which our
fathers bequeathed us, and the freedom which they de
signed should be perpetual, will be ours once more.
"Yours, with regard,

"REVERDY JOHNSON."

When the election for President took place, the
rqgiftry law had not yet gone into operation, and the
Democratic citizens made every effort to vote. These
efforts were frustrated in two cases out of three, over
the whole State. The leaders of the radical party in
Maryland had sought the aid of the great radical
leaders in Congress, and the latter had instructed the
military authorities to see to it that no disloyal person

84 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

was allowed to vote in Maryland. Parties of soldiers
were accordingly stationed at every voting place in the
State. Whenever a Democrat came up to vote, he was
denounced by the radicals present as "disloyal,'' and
was usually hustled away from the polls. About one
third of the Democratic voters in the State succeeded
in getting their votes in, but fully two thirds were
prevented. The judges of the election reported
the result of this election as follows: For Lincoln,
forty thousand one hundred and fifty-three; for
McClellan, the Democratic candidate, thirty thou
sand seven hundred and thirty-nine. Now it being
notorious that there are ninety thousand Democratic
voters in the State, it is evident that sixty thousand
of them were thus deprived of their votes by the bay
onets of a foreign soldiery.

The registry law provides in substance, that no
person in Maryland shall be allowed to vote unless his
name be registered ; and that no person's name shall
be registered unless he can give certain prescribed an
swers to some twenty of the most absurd and ridicu
lous questions. These questions do not relate fb his
right to vote at all. They relate to his private opin
ions, his feelings, his wishes, his hopes, and other
nonsense of that kind. Very few Democrats, of course,
can answer them to the satisfaction of their political
opponents. The law was drawn up by the radical
leaders in Maryland for the express purpose of dis-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 85

franchising the Democratic voters of the State. A
State legislature was then elected for the express
purpose of passing this law. This election was con
ducted in the same manner as the one described above.
Very few Democrats were allowed to vote ; all the
radical candidates were elected ; and the radical legis
lature, thus elected, passed the "registry law." While
this registry law remains in force, two thirds of the
citizens of Maryland are thus deprived of their votes.
Compare these elections in Maryland with the election
in Mexico, and see which was the freest ; which was
the most consistent with republican institutions.

The condition of affairs in Maryland, even at as late
a day as the 3d of November, 1866, is thus eloquently
described by Hon. Reverdy Johnson, in a speech de
livered on that day:

" Before the war, every citizen of Maryland possessed
the franchise. Now, it is not so. Our people are not
all on the same footing, and our present constitution
excludes from the franchise a large majorit}' of our citi
zens. The provisions of the registry law are so stringent
that they exclude many who would not be excluded if
the constitutional provision on the subject had been
fairly carried out. The citizen who, having had a father,
son, or brother in the service of the confederates, even
felt, during the war, sj'inpathy for his fate, is excluded.
He who had entertained the opinion that a State had a
right to secede (a doctrine taught by Jefferson, and

86 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

maintained by many of the best men in every State),
is excluded. He who, hearing that a father, son, or
brother was suffering from want of food or medicine,
and sent him the smallest quantity of either, is excluded.
We all remember that most of the registers, with an
ignorance or audacity never before exhibited, refused
registration upon the most ridiculous pretences. The
result was, nearly three fourths of the voters were ex
cluded. In the city of Baltimore, about ten thousand
were registered, when its voting population was thirty
thousand. And bad as this was, many of those who
were registered, at the elections that have since occurred
have been denied the right to vote by partisan judges.
At the last municipal election, less than eight thousand
votes were polled, though the entire voting population
was at least forty thousand. Can this condition of
things continue ? Ought freemen to permit it ?"

I am aware that I have made, in this chapter, a
long digression. But it is not irrelevant to the sub
ject. It shows, by comparison with the election held
in Mexico, in 1863, that the latter was a thousand
times more free, and expressed the popular will in
finitely more correctly, than the elections held in
Maryland for some years past.'

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 87

CHAPTER Y.

Maximilian's Second Condition also Complied with — The Stability of the
Mexican Empire Guaranteed by France, Austria, and Belgium — A
Deputation of Mexicans Arrive at Miramar — Maximilian Accepts the
Mexican Crown — Embarkation of Maximilian for Mexico — The Voyage
across the Atlantic — Arrival at Vera Cruz — Reception there — Proclama
tion of Maximilian on Landing — Arrival at the City of Mexico — Recep
tion there — Rejoicings of the People — Festivities and Illuminations —
Immensity of the Task which Maximilian found before him — Measures
which he Adopted to Secure the Prosperity and Happiness of the People
— Good Effect of these Measures — Revival of Commerce, and of all
Branches of Business — Effect of the Encouragement of Industry —
Gradual Increase in the Revenues of Mexico.

Ox the 10th of April, 1864, Prince Maximilian re
ceived the Mexican deputation at Miramar, and for
mally accepted the crown and throne of Mexico. M.
Estrada, president of the deputation, delivered an
address, in which he dwelt on the importance of the
national vote of Mexico, which had been taken at the
request of Maximilian, and which had resulted in the
ratification of the action of the Assembly of Notables.
Maximilian, replying, said that he felt not the slightest
doubt, from the act of adhesion just presented to him,
that the immense majority of the country were in
favor of the imperial form of government, and of him
self as the head of the State. The choice of the

88 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

country had been laid down, in his reply of October
3d, as one condition of his acceptance ; and another
was, that full guarantees should be given of his being
able to devote himself peaceably to the task of advanc
ing the prosperity of the country. Those guarantees
were now fully assured, thanks to the magnanimity
of the Emperor of the French, who, during the whole
of the negotiations, had shown a straight-forwardness
and kindness which he (the speaker) could never
forget. " The illustrious head of my family," pursued
the archduke, "having given his consent, I now de
clare that, relying on the assistance of the Almighty,
I accept the crown offered me by the Mexican nation.
As I stated in my address of October 3d, I shall en
deavor to place the monarchy under the authority of
the constitutional laws as soon as the pacification of
the country shall be complete. The force of a gov
ernment is, in my opinion, more assured by sound
regulations than by the extent of its limits, and I shall
be anxious for the exercise of my government to fix
such bounds to it as may insure its duration. I shall
hold firmly aloft the flag of independence, as the
symbol of our future grandeur. I call for the co-opera
tion of all the Mexicans who love their country to aid
me in the accomplishment of my noble but most diffi
cult task. Never shall my government forget the
gratitude it owes to the illustrious sovereign whose
friendly support has rendered the regeneration of our

MEXICO UXDKR MAXIMILIAN. 89

noble land possible. I am now on the point of
leaving for my new country, paying, as I go, a visit
to Rome, where I shall receive from the holy father
that benediction which is so precious for all sover
eigns, but above all to me, called, as I am, to found a
new empire."

As soon as the archduke had uttered the last word,
the deputation and all the Mexicans present acclaimed
their new sovereign by crying out three times : " God
save the Emperor Maximilian I." "God save the
Empress Carlotta!" At the same instant, salutes of
artillery, fired from the bastions of the castle, an
nounced to the public the accession of the Archduke
Maximilian to the throne of Mexico, and were imme
diately followed by other salutes from the port and
town of Trieste. Then M. Gutierrez de Estrada, as
president of the deputation, returned thanks to his
majesty for his definitive acceptance of the Mexican
crown. He said :

" Sire, this complete and absolute acceptation on the
part of your Majesty is the prelude of our happiness ;
it is the consecration of the salvation of Mexico, of its
approaching regeneration, of its future greatness.
Every year, on this day, our children will offer up
their thanksgivings to heaven in gratitude for our
miraculous deliverance. As for us, sire, there remains
a last duty to perform, and that is to lay at your feet

90 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

our love; our gratitude, and the homage of our
fidelity."

The arrangements of Maximilian for his voyage
across the Atlantic were soon completed, and a few
days afterward he embarked, accompanied by the
Empress Carlotta, and attended by a brilliant retinue,
composed of Mexican, French, and Austrian officers
of high rank, many of whom also were accompanied
by their wives and daughters. The Emperor of
Austria had placed at the service of Maximilian, for
this ocean transit, three national vessels, although one
of them was of a capacity sufficient to convey the
young Emperor, with most of the members of his suite,
in perfect comfort. The voyage was a very pleasant
one, and was marked by no unusual incidents.

Toward the end of May, 1864, the little fleet reached
Vera Cruz in safety, and the distinguished party
immediately landed. They were received by the
authorities and inhabitants of the city, with every
mark of consideration and respect, and Maximilian
immediately issued the following proclamation.

' MEXICANS : — You have desired my presence. Your
noble nation, by a universal vote, has elected me hence
forth the guardian of your destinies. I gladly obey
your will. Painful as it has been for me to bid farewell
forever to my own, my native country, I have done so,
being convinced that the Almighty has pointed out to

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 91

me, through you, the great and noble duty of devoting
all my might and heart to the care of a people who, at
last, tired of war and disastrous contests, sincerely wish
for peace and prosperity — a people who, having glori
ously obtained their independence, desire to reap the
benefits of civilization and of true progress only to be
attained through a stable Constitutional Government.
The reliance that you place in me, and I in you, will i)e
crowned by a brilliant triumph if we remain alwa}Ts
steadfastly united in courageously defending those
great principles which are the only true and lasting
basis of modern government, those principles of inviola
ble and immutable justice, the equality of all men before
the law ; equal advantages to all in attaining positions
of trust and honor, socially and politically ; complete
and well-denned personal liberty, consisting in protec
tion to the individual and the protection of his property ;
encouragement to the national wealth, improvements in
agriculture, mining, and manufactures ; the establish
ment of new lines of communication for an extensive
commerce; and lastly, the free development of intelli
gence in all that relates to public welfare. The blessing
of God, and with it progress and liberty, will not surely
be wanting if all parties, under the guidance of a strong
National Government, unite together to accomplish
what I have just indicated, and if we continue to be ani
mated by that religious sentiment which has made our
beautiful country so prominent even in the most troub
lous periods.

" The civilizing flag of France, raised to such a hiirh

1)2 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN".

position by her noble Emperor, to whom you owe the
new birth of order and peace, represents those princi
ples. Hear what, in sincere and disinterested words,
the chief of his army told you a few months since, being
the messenger of a new era of happiness : ' Every
country which has wished for a great future, has become
great and powerful.'

" Following in this course, if we are united, loyal,
and firm, God will grant us strength to reach that
degree of prosperity which is the object of our am
bition.

" Mexicans : The future of your beautiful country is
controlled by yourselves. Its future is yours. In all
that relates to myself, I offer you a sincere will, a hearty
loyalty, and a firm determination to respect the laws
and to cause them to be respected by an undeviating
and all-efficient authority.

" My strength rests in God and in your loyal confi
dence. The banner of independence is my symbol ;
my motto you know already: 'Equal justice to all.'
I will be faithful to this trust through all my life. It is
my duty conscientiously to wield the sceptre of author
ity, and with firmness the sword of honor.

" To the Empress is confided the sacred trust of de
voting to the country all the noble sentiments of Chris
tian virtue and all the teachings of a tender mother.

" Let us unite to reach the goal of our common de
sires ; let us forget past sorrows ; let us lay aside party
hatreds, and the bright morning of peace and of well-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 93

deserved happiness will dawn gloriously on our new

empire.

" MAXIMILIAN.

"VERA CRUZ, May 28, 1864."

This proclamation was immediately circulated all
over the country, and it had a most happy effect.
After being at the mercy of one military adventurer
after another, for forty years, whose boundless rapa
city had kept them in constant poverty, the Mexican
people now hoped that a deliverer had come at last,
who would protect them in their persons and property
and allow them to pursue the avocations of peace and
industry in security. Nor were these bright anticipa
tions disappointed.

On the 12th of June, 1864, the Emperor made his
formal entry into the capital of Mexico. Escorted by
a brilliant retinue of troops, whose bright uniforms,
polished armor, and glittering weapons flashed in the
sunlight, and followed by a motley crowd of Indians,
dressed in strange and uncouth garments, he rode into
the city amid the noise of artillery, and the clashing
of musical instruments. After leaving Rio Frio, he
and the Empress travelled on horseback for six miles,
arriving at the hacienda of Zoquiapan at nightfall,
while the rain was falling copiously. On the follow
ing day (the llth) they again left for Ayutla and
Guadaloupe, and it was between these two towns
that the Indians flocked to join the cavalcade, bearing

9-i MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

banners made of palm leaves and calico, and covered
with devices and inscriptions in the Mexican language.
A number of floral arches were also erected along the
road, and on one or two occasions children were sent
out with bouquets of fresh flowers to be presented to
the Empress, who received them with great kind
ness and evident satisfaction. Deputations of citizens,
male and female, left the city early in the morning to
meet the imperial party, and, arriving at Guaclaloupe
at about noon, added to the activity and brilliancy of
the scene.

As soon as the cannon of the fort announced the
appearance of the Emperor, the political and munici
pal authorities went out to greet and welcome him.
The archbishops of Mexico and Michoacan and the
bishop of Oajaca awaited their majesties at some dis
tance from the door of the church, and on their ap
proach conducted them within its walls under a
silken canopy. The church itself was decorated for
the occasion in the most complete and expensive
fashion, a throne having been erected for the sove
reigns. The services of the day began by the inton
ing of the "Domino salvum fac Imperatorem" by
Archbishop Labastida and the other prelates present.
At the close of the religious exercises the Emperor
returned to the entrance and passed through to the
cabildo. Here, in one of the largest saloons, the

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 95

political prefect of Mexico, Senor Villar de Bocanega,
made the following address to the Emperor :

" SIRE : — At the foot of the portentous Cerro of
Tepeyac, and divided only by a wall from the temple
in which is venerated the protecting mother of the
Mexicans, the Guadaloupan virgin, the political prefect
of the first department of the empire, the municipal
prefect of the great city of Mexico, the ayuntamiento,
the archbishop and other authorities, full of the most
grateful pleasure, their hearts swelling with joy, pre
sent themselves before their beloved sovereigns to
welcome them on their happy arrival at the gates of
the city in which is erected the throne which the
Mexicans have reared for them. Words fail me to
express at once our gratitude for abandoning another
throne, riches, country, parents, brothers, and friends ;
and having compassion for our misfortunes, your
majesties have deigned to come and try to make us
happy, and to save us from the evils which were lead
ing us to disappear from the catalogue of nations. By
information and writing your majesties have heard of
the will of the people, and now you personally see
that you have not been deceived, but that from the
shores of Yera Cruz to the gates of the city all
acclaim their sovereigns, their enthusiasm having no
limits. The Mexicans will continue to do so ; and
sire, I protest, in the name of the departments under

96 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

my charge, that we will obey and assist the monarch
whom we have chosen."

The Emperor's reply was brief and to the point.
He said:

"Profoundly moved by the enthusiastic reception
which I have from all the towns and cities in my
progress, my emotion and my gratitude acquire new
intensity on finding myself at the gates of the capital,
to see its principal authorities assembled to congratu
late me in a place so respected and so dear to me and
the Empress, as it is to all Mexicans. I thank you
for your felicitations and salute you with the warmth
of one who loves you and who has identified his fate
with yours."

At the close of this little speech, which the Empe
ror spoke with great earnestness, applause burst forth
on all sides, accompanied by clapping of hands, and
waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies. Such a bril
liant sight had seldom been seen in Mexico as the
appearance of the city on this occasion. The streets
selected for the imperial transit were decorated in
the most profuse and dazzling styles of beauty and
splendor. Every building, public and private, was
closed and hung with flags and banners, mingled
with festoons of flowers. The streets and public
places were lined with soldiers, French for the most
part. Balconies and windows commanding a view of

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 97

the line of march brought fabulous prices. Churches
and church-towers were gaudily decorated, while the
bells of the cathedral and other edifices kept up a
continual clangor. The palace and public buildings
in the square were sumptuously ornamented, and
portraits of the Emperor and Empress appeared at
many of the windows. To give a full idea of the
various decorations of the streets would occupy much
more space than is necessary. But it must be confessed
that it was a brilliant and successful affair, not only so
far as the mere display of taste was concerned, but also
because it was accompanied by every manifestation of
genuine enthusiasm on the part of a free people.

The arrival of the Emperor was made known by
salvos of artillery from in front of the Portales, and
as he rode along in an open carriage, with the Em
press at his side, the ladies from the balconies and
azoteas showered down rose-leaves and gold and silver
leaves upon them in great profusion. Frequently
the streets were so crowded with people that the
whole cortege had to stop, and then the Emperor
would bow all around to the people in the streets, on
the balconies, and on the housetops. Loud cheers
and vivas resounded in every street through which
the brilliant cavalcade passed, and the ladies waved
their handkerchiefs and small flags, both French and
Mexican. The Emperor rode along the Calle San
Francisco to Calle Potrero, and thence direct to the

98 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

cathedral, where the bishops were prepared to con
duct him to the throne there erected for him. The
crowds gathered about the square and the palace at
this time were very large, but there was no disorder
or confusion.

After the celebration of mass, the Emperor received
his friends in the national palace, and presented many
of them to the Empress. On several distinguished
Mexicans he conferred the order of Guadaloupe.
General Mejia was among those who were thus hon
ored. Banqueting and festivity filled up the rest of
the day, and toward evening the Emperor took a ride
in the groves at the end of the city.

The illumination of the capital in the evening was
the most brilliant and successful part of the whole
demonstration. As darkness fell upon the city, the
dwellings on the principal streets were at once trans
formed into palaces of light and beauty. Brilliancy
of color and effect prevailed everywhere. The great
square or plaza in front of the palace was decorated
and illuminated in excellent style, while the centre of
the enclosure was reserved for the display of fire
works to come off at night. The palace itself, as well
as the Monte Pio, Portales, Museum, and other public
and private edifices in the vicinity, blazed with lights
of every order of form, color, and brilliancy. The
cathedral, with its old towers flashing out hundreds
of lights, was the most attractive of all. From its

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 99

portals, around its corridors, and to the highest pin
nacle of its great belfry, innumerable lamps were sus
pended, the united effect of so many lights, on so great
an eminence being very beautiful. The windows of
the towers, too, were all thrown wide open, and illu
minated ; and the bells therein were kept continually
revolving and thundering out their loud notes of
acclamation.

At eight o'clock, the gathering in the square con
sisted of many thousands of people. The main street,
which traverses the city from the square to the Ala-
niada, was the scene of much activity, beauty, and
attraction. All the houses along its whole length
were draped with white and colored curtains, and
from the windows, balconies, and azoteas floated innu
merable national flags, banners, and ensigns. Here
and there, at regular distances, gigantic triumphal
arches were erected, and, though not all entirely com
plete or perfect, adorned with a multitude of green
boughs, odorous blossoms and fresh flowers, gathered
in the extensive gardens around the city. Exquisite
bouquets and garlands, skilfully worked in every
style of native art, were suspended around the col
umns, tributes of ingenuity and of loyalty of the
Indian peasants, who had gathered the fragrant roses
in the bosom of the tranquil mountains. Beneath
the gleaming colored light of thousands of lanterns,
all these designs and architectural triumphs were seen

100 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

to great advantage. The principal decorations and
illuminations in the Calle de Potrero and the Calle
de San Francisco, the one being a continuation of the
other, were those of the German Club, the Hotel de
Iturbide, and the residences of Messrs. Barron and
Escandon, wealthy residents of Mexico. The German
decorations were got up with all the taste and ele
gance for which, this people are so famous in all parts
of the world. Many of their congratulatory inscrip
tions were written in the language of " Yaderland,"
and must, therefore, have been particularly pleasing
to the Emperor. M. Escandon's house was orna
mented by two splendid oil paintings of Maximilian
and Carlotta, very good likenesses indeed, the pro
ductions of a Mexican priest. The residence of M.
Barron was also artistically illuminated. In the cen
tre were two paintings, more than ten feet high, the
one representing Maximilian seated on his throne,
attended by figures of Peace and Plenty, and handing
to Almonte a scroll of the Constitution. In* the per
spective, Napoleon the Third was seen pointing to
the valley of Mexico, where a couple of very large
oxen were seen ploughing, and a railroad extending
in circuitous lines until it was lost in the clouds.
The other painting was a representation of the Em-

* See Report on Mexican affairs, in the first volume of
''Executive Documents, No. 73," transmitted to Congress,
March 20, 1866.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 101

press surrounded by the ladies of the court. The
scene along the street, from seven to ten at night, was
more like the realization of some fairy dream than of
any thing else one could suppose.

Thus was Maximilian welcomed to his capital.
From that moment to the present, the attachment of
the Mexican people to his person and his govern
ment has never wavered, but has, on the other hand,
steadily increased. This attachment is based upon
the gratitude which the Mexicans feel, for the un
wearied zeal with which the Emperor has devoted
himself to the advancement of the happiness and
prosperity of the people, and upon the success which
has attended his endeavors.

The task which Maximilian found before him, on
assuming the administration of the government of
Mexico, was probably the most difficult that has ever
confronted any ruler or chief magistrate of modern
times. Everything was in confusion. Forty years
of anarchy had destroyed all order and system, in
every department of the government. The people
were impoverished by the repeated exactions of the
republican chiefs who had succeeded each other in
the supreme power. Agriculture languished, because
to plant, cultivate, and raise a crop, was only to do s(/
for the benefit of some republican guerrilla chief, who
would swoop down upon the farmer's barn, and carry
off the whole produce of his farm, as soon as it

102 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

harvested. The mechanic arts languished, because .
the incessant civil wars that had prevailed, had com
pelled nearly all the young men in the country to
serve under the banners of one or the other of the
contending chiefs, and there were few left at home,
either to learn, or to carry on, the useful arts. Com
merce languished for the same reason, and, also, be
cause even the most wealthy merchants were liable to
be deprived of the fruits of years of labor and enter
prise, by the forced loans and forced contributions
which were levied incessantly by the republican
chiefs ; exactions which it was impossible to resist,
and for which no redress could be obtained. In a
word, every department of industry was paralyzed ;
the wealth of the country was drained by the chief
of whatever republican party happened to be in power,
and was lavished to enrich his followers ; and jjo jane
had any incentive to engage in any of those enter
prises which develope the resources, increase the
wealth, and, add to the prosperity and happiness of
other countries.

The Emperor fully comprehended the situation,
and set himself resolutely to work to effect a radical
change in all these particulars. The principles upon
which the government was to be administered, had
already been enunciated, and had commended them
selves to the approval of every intelligent Mexican.
First of all, the Emperor caused it to be distinctly

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 103

understood, that henceforth every citizen of Mexico
was to be protected by the laws, in his person and his
property ; that life and property were to be secure ;
and that every one was expected to devote himself
with assiduity to his business, without any apprehen
sion of being called upon for compulsory military ser
vice. No sooner was this understood, than a marked
change took place at once, all over the empire. The
merchants, in the large towns, who were fortunate
enough to have agricultural implements for sale,
were besieged by crowds of farmers anxious to buy
ploughs, scythes, forks, shovels, rakes, any thing
with which they might resume the cultivation of
their long neglected fields. The supply of these arti
cles was soon. exhausted ; but orders were sent to
New York and Philadelphia for fresh supplies, as
well as for the more improved descriptions of imple
ments which had not yet been introduced in Mexico.
This was the beginning of a trade of this kind, be
tween Mexico and the cities of the United States,
which, although, of moderate dimensions during the
war, has grown to very large proportions during the
last two years. And here is a fact that speaks vol
umes in favor of the Mexican merchants. Their first
purchases were made on credit; necessarily so, for
they were so impoverished by their forced "contri
butions" to the republican chiefs as to be unable to
pay in cash ; but their bills were always promptly

104 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

met: and now, and for more than a year past, they
both buy and sell for cash. There could not be a
stronger proof than this, of the real and substantial
benefits which the government of Maximilian has
conferred upon the Mexican people.

In every other department of industry in Mexico,
the same enterprise began to be exhibited, and with
the same encouraging results. The mechanic arts re
ceived a powerful impetus. Mexican mechanics have
always been noted for their ingenuity, and for the
excellence of their workmanship. Encouraged now
by the prospect of certain remuneration for their
labor, they devoted themselves in all the principal
cities and towns, to their respective departments of
labor with an assiduity which met with an immediate
and generous reward. Before the lapse of many
months, hundreds of the Mexican youth, instead of
growing up in idleness and crime, were apprenticed
by their parents to skilled artisans in the various
handicrafts, and are now qualifying themselves for
lives of usefulness. The demand for the work of
these artisans has steadily increased. Nearly all the
furniture used in Mexico is made by them ; and they
are very skilful workers in gold and silver ware, and
in all the various manufactures of iron and brass.
The productive industry of this very useful class of
citizens is not confined to the capital and the chief
cities. In States at a distance from the capital,

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 105 *

the same security has been felt, and the same enter
prise manifested. During the summer of 1866, and
before the Empress Carlotta sailed for Europe, both
she and the Emperor were the recipients of many
beautiful presents consisting of useful and valuable
articles, manufactured by native Mexicans in distant
parts of the empire. From Yucatan, the Empress
received several handsome workboxes and work-
stands, made of native Mexican wood, beautifully pol
ished, and inlaid with gold and silver; and a splendid
ladies' saddle, which was described to the author, by
a gentleman who saw it, as the most superb specimen
of saddlery that he had ever seen. A bridle, whip,
and elegant saddle-cloth, richly embroidered, all of
native Mexican manufacture, accompanied the saddle ;
and these articles, rich as they were, are only a speci
men of the articles that are commonly made by the
Mexican artisans.

The commerce of Mexico received at once a power
ful impetus. It was to some extent hampered at first,
bv- the existence of the war in the United States.
But with the West Indies, with South America, and
with several of the European countries, a brisk trade
at once sprang up, which has been steadily increas
ing ever since, and has been, for the last two year.-,
a source of considerable revenue to the imperial
treasury.

106 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

CHAPTER VI.

Causes of the Success of Maximilian's Government — Severe Measures
Adopted against the Guerillas— Good Effect of these Measures— The
Authority of the Empire Gradually Extended over the Whole of Mexico
— Republican Mexican Soldiers join the Army of Maximilian — Their
Reasons for doing so — Construction of Railroads, and Other Works of
Internal Improvement — The New Coinage — The Finances — Encourage-
Hnent Afforded to Education hy Maximilian — Encouragement Extended
to Literature — Freedom of Religion in Mexico — The Administration of
Justice — Publication of the Mexican Laws — Admirable Features of the
Mexican Code — The Empress Carlotta — Her Visit to Yucatan.

THE success which has attended the administration
of the government of Mexico during the last three
years, may be attributed to two causes : first to the
indomitable energy and perseverance of the Emperor
Maximilian himself and to his admirable and unusual
administrative qualities; and to the incomparably
noble manner in which all his efforts have been
seconded by his devoted and affectionate wife, the
Empress Carlotta : — and second, to the fact that he has
been fortunate in having around him a body of Mexi
can gentlemen, both in and out of his cabinet, who
are truly and honestly devoted to the interests of
their country ; and who, with unselfish patriotism,
have consecrated their lives to its service. Every

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 107

monarcb; no matter how active he may be, must, to
some extent, see with the eyes, and hear with the ears
of other people. Maximilian has travelled considera
bly in Mexico, and has seen and heard for himself
as much as possible, of the condition of the country
and the people : but he has derived immense advan
tage from the information and suggestions furnished
to him by the Mexican gentlemen to whom I have
alluded, who, of course, are perfectly acquainted with
all that relates to the interests of the country.

In the organization of his government, Maximilian
wisely availed himself of the services of these Mexi
can gentlemen, as well as of the experienced states
men and financiers who had been sent to his assist
ance by the Emperor Napoleon. His council ' of
Ministers, and his council of State, were thus com
posed of the very men who were best qualified to
give proper direction to the various measures neces
sary to carry on the government.

There were three subjects, which seemed to demand
the immediate attention of the Emperor. These were
the finances, military operations, and the treatment
of the robbers and guerrillas by whom the roads in
Mexico were infested.

A year had elapsed since the capture of Mexico by
General Forey, and the defeat and dispersion of the
republican army. During that time the French forces
in Mexico had been actively engaged in pursuing tha

108 MEXICO UXDEB MAXIMILIAN.

remnants of the republican troops, who, broken up
into small detachments, roamed all over the country,
robbing and murdering travellers, and plundering
and burning houses, and even villages. This kind
of warfare, on the part of the French troops, was
exceedingly laborious and unprofitable, and was
attended by few decisive results. The guerrillas, by
their superior knowledge of the roads and mountain
passes, almost uniformly escaped capture. They
always retreated before the French, and thus drew
them on, many a weary mile, through difficult moun
tain passes, and then at last eluded them.

The atrocities which they committed were horrible.
Robbery and murder were the least of their crimes.
The outrages which they committed on the helpless
women who fell into their hands, were too dreadful
to speak of in detail; but these atrocities roused
against them the anger of every Mexican. The
Emperor therefore issued the following proclamation
and decree, on the 2d and 3d of October, 1865.

" PROCLAMATION OF HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR.

" MEXICANS : — The cause which Don Benito Juarez
defended with so pauch valor and constancy has already
succumbed under the force, not only of the national
will, but also of the very law which that officer invoked
in support of his pretensions. To-day even the faction

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 109

into which the said cause degenerated is abandoned
by the departure of its chief from the native soil.

" The national government for a long time was
lenient and exercised great clemency, in order to give
the chance to misled and misinformed men to rally to
the majority of the nation and to place themselves
anew in the path of duty. It has fulfilled its object ;
the honorable men have assembled under its banner,
and have accepted the just and liberal principles which
regulate its politics. The disorder is only maintained
by some leaders carried away by unpatriotic passions,
and assisted by demoralized persons who cannot reach
to the level of political principles, and by an unprinci
pled soldiery, the last and sad remnants of the civil
wars.

" Hereafter the contest will ou\y be between the
honorable men of the nation and the gangs of criminals
and robbers. Clemency will cease now, for it would
only profit the mob who burn villages, rob and murder
peaceful citizens, poor old men and defenceless women.

" The government, resting on its power, from this
day will be inflexible in its punishments, since the laws
of civilization, the rights of humanity, and the exigen
cies of morality demand it.

" MEXICO, October 2, 1865. MAXIMILIAN."

" MAXIMILIAN, EMPEROR OF MEXICO.
" HAVING heard our council of ministers and our
council of state, we decree .

" ARTICLE 1. All persons belonging to armed bands

110 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

or corps, not legally authorized, whether they proclaim
or not any political principles, and whatever be the
number of those who compose the said bands, their
organization, character, and denomination, shall be
tried militarily by the courts-martial ; and if found
guilty even of The only fact of belonging to the baud,
they shall be condemned to capital punishment within
the twenty-four hours following the sentence.

ART. 2. Those who, belonging to the bands men
tioned in the previous article, will be captured with
arms in their hands, shall be tried by the officer of the
force which has captured them, and he shall, within a
delay never extending over twenty-four hours after the
said capture, make a verbal inquest of the offence,
hearing the defence of the prisoner. Of this inquest
he will draw an act, closing with the sentence, which
must be to capital punishment, if the accused is found
guilty, even if only of the fact of belonging to the
band. The officer shall have the sentence executed
within the twenty-four hours aforesaid, seeing that the
criminal receive spiritual assistance. The sentence
having been executed, the officer shall forward the act
of inquest to the minister of war.

"Art 3. From the penalty established in the pre
ceding articles shall only be exempted those who,
having done nothing more than being with the band,
will prove that they were made to join it by force, or
did not belong to it, but were found accidentally in it.

"ART. 4. If, from the inquest mentioned in article
two, facts are elicited which induce the officer holding

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. Ill

it to believe that the prisoner was made to join the
band by force, without having committed any other
crime, or that he was found accidentally in it, without
belonging to it, the said officer shall abstain from
passing sentence, and he shall send the accused, with
the respective act of inquest to the proper court-martial
in order that the trial be proceeded with by the latter,
in conformity with article one.

"AnT. 5. Shall be tried and sentenced conformably
with article one of this law: 1st. All those who will
voluntarily assist the guerriUcros with money, or any
other means whatever. 2d. Those who will give them
advice, information, or counsel. 3d. Those who volun
tarily, and knowing that they arc rjuerrilleros, will put
within their reach, or sell them arms, horses, ammuni
tion, subsistence, or any articles of war whatever.

"A TIT. G. Shall also be tried conformably with the said
article 1st: 1. Those who will hold with the gucrril-
lerox such relations as infer connivance with them. 2.
Those who voluntarily and knowingly will conceal
them in their houses or estates. 3. Those who, by
word, or writing, will spread false or alarming reports,
by which public order may be disturbed, or will make
against it any kind of demonstration whatever. 4.
All owners or administrators of rural estates who will
not give prompt notice to the nearest authority of the
passage of some band through the same estates. Those
included in paragraphs 1st and 2d of this article shall
bo punished b}T imprisonment from six months to two
years, or by hard luhor from one to three }rear3;

112 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

according to the gravity of the case. Those who, being
included in paragraph 2d, were the ascendants, descen
dants, spouses, or brothers of the party concealed by
them, shall not suffer the penalty aforesaid, but they
shall remain subject to the vigilance of the authorities
during the time the court-martial will fix. Those in
cluded in paragraph 3d of this article shall be punished
by a fine of from twenty-five to one thousand dollars,
or by imprisonment from one month to one }rear, accord
ing to the gravity of the offence. Those included in
paragraph 4th of this article shall be punished by a fine
of from two hundred to two thousand dollars.

"Art T. The local authorities of the villages who
will not give notice to their immediate superiors of the
passage through their villages of armed men will be
ministerially punished by the said superiors by a fine
of from two hundred dollars to two thousand dollars,
or by seclusion from three months to two years.

"Art. 8. Whatever resident of a village who, having
information of the proximity or passage of armed men by
the village, will not give notice of it to the authorities,
shall suffer a fine of from five to five hundred dollars.

"ART. 9. All residents of a village threatened by
some gang, who are between the ages of eighteen and
fifty-five years, and hrwe no pl^sical disability, are
obliged to present themselves for the common defence
as soon as called, and for failing to do so they shall be
punished by a fine of from five to two hundred dollars,
or by imprisonment of fifteen days to four months. If
the authorities think it more proper to punish the

MEXICO UXDER MAXIMILIAN. 113

village for not having defended itself, they may impose
upon it a fine of from two hundred to two thousand
dollars, and the said fine shall be paid by all those
together, who, being in the category prescribed by this
article, did not present themselves for the common
defence.

"Airr. 10. All owners or administrators of rural
estates, who, being able to defend themselves, will not
prevent the entrance in the said estates, of guerrilleros
or other malefactors ; or, after these have entered, will
not give the immediate information of it to the nearest
militaiy authority ; or it will receive on the estates the
tired or wounded horses of the gangs, without notifying
the said authority of the fact, shall be punished for it
by a fine of from one hundred dollars to two thousand
dollars, according to the importance of the case ; and
if it is of great gravity, they shall be put in prison and
sent to the court-martial, to be tried by the latter con
formably with the law. The fine shall be paid to the
principal administrator of rents to which the estate
belongs. The provision of the first part of this article
is applicable to the populations.

"ART. 11. Whatever authorities, whether political,
military, or municipal, shall abstain from proceeding,
in conformity with the provisions of this law, against
parties suspected or known to have committed the
offences provided for in said law, will be ministerially
punished by a fine of from fifty dollars to one thousand
dollars ; and if it appear that the fault was of such a
nature as to import complicity with the criminal, the

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

said authorities will be submitted, by order of the
government, to the court-martial, to be tried by the
latter, and punished according to the gravity of the
offence.

"ART. 12. Thieves shall be tried and sentenced in
conformity with article 1st of this law, whatever may
be the nature and circumstances of the theft.

ART. 13. The sentence of death pronounced for
offences provided for by this law shall be executed
within the delays prescribed in it, and it is prohibited
that any demands for pardon be gone through. If the
sentence is not of death, and the criminal is a foreigner
even after its execution, the government may use
toward him the faculty it has to expel from the terri
tory of the nation all obnoxious strangers.

"ART. 14. * Amnesty is granted to all those who
may have belonged, and may still belong, to armed
bands, if they present themselves to the authorities
before the 15th of November next, provided they have
not committed any other offences subsequently to the
date of the present law. The authorities will receive
the arms of those who will, present themselves to accept
the amnesty.

"ART. 15. The government reserves the faculty to
declare when the provisions of this law will cease.

" Each one of our ministers is charged with the execu
tion of this law in the part which concerns him, and
will give the necessary orders for its strict observance.

" Given at the palace of Mexico on the 3d of October
1865. " MAXIMILIAN."

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 115

The good effects of the course thus determined upon j
were immediately apparent. During the course of
the ensuing six weeks, several hundred men, who
belonged to these guerrilla bands, voluntarily came
in, gave up their arms, received the executive clem
ency, and began to engage once more in the pursuits
of honest industry. It was a remarkable circumstance
that almost all those who thus eagerly embraced the
opportunity of withdrawing from a life of crime, were
young men, mostly from twenty to twenty-five years
of age They stated that they had been forced to
enter the republican army, and on the defeat and
dispersion of that army had been persuaded by their |
older comrades to join the guerilla bands. So far as I
is known, all of them have become honest and useful )
citizens.

Tbe remnants of the guerilla bands now withdrew
themselves to the more remote parts of the empire, and
the principal roads were no longer infested by their
presence. The operations against them were contin
ued with great vigor, and whenever any of them were
captured they were summarily dealt with.

The military operations were conducted under the
direction of General Bazaine. Although the main
army of the republic had been destroyed and its frag
ments dispersed, there yet remained in the field, in
various parts of the empire, certain detachments of
republican troops, who continued to be a source of

116 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

considerable trouble. Juarez himself, with a few hun
dred men, had retreated from Mexico to San Luis
Potosi ; from San Luis to Zacatecas ; from Zacatecas to
Saltillo ; from Saltillo -to Monterey ; from Monterey to
Chihuahua. This place was at such a distance from
the City of Mexico (nine hundred miles by the roads,
or as far as from New Orleans to Chicago), that it was
a work of the greatest difficulty to carry on military
operations over so great an extent of country ; and
therefore Juarez was able to remain at Chihuahua for
several months. During the summer of 1865, how
ever, he was driven from that place by a few regiments
of French troops, and escaped to El Paso del ISTorte, on
the extreme northern frontier of Mexico. By the
month of September, 1865, he was compelled to leave
that place also, and, crossing the Eio Grande, he fled
for some distance into Texas. It was then that the
Emperor Maximilian issued the proclamation of Octo
ber 2d, quoted above.

By that time, the good effects of Maximilian's mild
but firm government had begun to be felt in all parts
of the empire The Mexican people of all classes saw,
that, for the first time in forty years, Mexico had a good
government, a government which had at heart the
happiness and prosperity of the people. Thousands
of the Mexican citizens who had heretofore been at
tached to the republic, now gave in their adhesion to
the empire; and besides this, hundreds of soldiers

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 117

deserted the various detachments of republican troops
that still maintained their organization, and asked to
be allowed to take service under Maximilian. A gen
tleman who has lived many years in Mexico, has
related to the author a conversation which he had with
one of these deserters, who, at that time, was a ser
geant in one of Maximilian's Mexican regiments. He
found the man very intelligent, and when he asked
him why he had wished to join Maximilian's army, lie
replied, " Because I and my comrades had learned
what the Emperor had done for Mexico, how the
country was prosperous and happy wherever his
authority extended, and how the Empress was exerting
herself to build up and support schools and factories."
The feelings of this humble Mexican soldier were no
doubt the feelings of thousands of his comrades and
countrymen. A letter from Mexico, written at this
time, says:

" The work of pacification is progressing satisfactorily
in several departments of the empire. The States of
Oajaca, of Colima, and of Sonoro are now, after years
of bloody conflicts, enjoying a certain degree of peace
and security. Guerillas have disappeared from most of
the districts, and the population is pursuing with great
energy the few bands who remain yet in the mountains

" The imperialists are in hope to crush the guerillas in
the opening campaign, and in less than a year succeed
in completely pacifying the country. They base their

118 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

confidence upon the fact that a year ago Juarez was ,
still in possession of several States and cities from
which he has been expelled without trouble or resist
ance, most part of the time by the inhabitants themselves,
and without the assistance of the French. They say
that, during these twelve months, the cities of Matamoras,
Monterey, and Mazatlan have been occupied, the State
of Talisco completely pacified, the State of Oajaca con
quered, Sonoro submitted, and the last organized corps
of the Juarists destroyed or dispersed. Juarez himself,
compelled to leave the central part of Mexico, has so
little expectation of causing any portion of the people,
however small, to rise in his behalf, that he deems it pru
dent to run to the frontier and to place himself under
protection of the guns placed along the Texan shore."

Such a thing as a railroad in Mexico was unknown
before the advent of Maximilian. But at a very early
period of his administration he devoted his attention
to this subject. By offering encouragement to capital
ists and engineers, he soon had several lines of railway
undertaken, on all of which satisfactory progress has
been made. The principal line is the one from Yera
Cruz to the capital. Of this, one half of the distance
is now completed and in operation. This road is being
built by the eminent engineers. Smith, Knight & Co.,
of London. The solid and substantial character of the
work may be inferred from the fact that one of the
bridges, near Orizaba, constructed entirely of iron, is
nine hundred feet long and three hundred feet high.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 119

Other works of internal improvement were at once
commenced, and carried on with vigor under the
direction of the government. The roads and canals
were repaired and improved ; an improved system of
drainage was adopted for the capital, and the city of
Mexico was adorned and beautified by the establish
ment of a new and extensive park, which owes its
existence to the liberality and public spirit of the
Empress.

The finances were placed in charge of M. Langlais,
a very able French financier, who speedily brought
order out of confusion. Under his wise and judicious
administration, the revenues of the country were
placed upon such a basis as very soon afforded a satis
factory income. M. Langlais unfortunately died some
months ago ; but before his death he had the satisfac
tion of reporting to the Emperor that the revenue of
Mexico was now ample to support the government and
leave a surplus for the payment of the foreign liabili
ties.

Mexico does not enjoy the blessing of " greenbacks/'
or national bank-notes thirty-seven cents below par ;
nor do the Mexicans have the luxury of a fractional
currency. They are obliged to content themselves
with the old-fashioned gold and silver coins as a cir
culating medium. Maximilian has kept the mints
busy ever since his accession ; and in the spring of
1866 he began to coin the new gold and silver pieces

120 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

that are now in circulation. The new silver dollar,
and the twenty dollar gold coin, are both beautiful
specimens of coinage, bearing on one side the head of
the Emperor, and on the other the time-honored
Mexican sentiment, "God and Liberty."

During the first journeys which the Emperor and
Empress took, in various parts of Mexico, they were
impressed with the fact that the cause of education
throughout the country needed great encouragement.
That encouragement they have afforded in the' most
liberal and munificent manner. Schools and acade
mies have been everywhere established, even in such
remote States as Yucatan, and liberal provision has
been made for their support ; and all the colleges in
Mexico have received large endowments from the im
perial purse. A letter from Mexico, in April, 1866,
says :

" LIBERALITY OF THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS.

" Their majesties expended a large portion of their
yearly salary — five hundred thousand dollars — in works
of charity, donations to schools and benevolent institu
tions, and works of public improvement. The Alameda
of this city, one year since, was a disgrace to any coun
try village, being nothing more than a few dilapidated
fountains in an ugly, gnarled wood, destitute of a single
ornament or walk that was safe for a foot passenger
The Empress determined to remedy this, and ordered
the grounds to be put in complete order, paying the

MEXICO UXDKR MAXIMILIAN. 121

expenses out of her private purse. The fountains have
been repaired, the pavements relaid, trees pruned and
trimmed, and the ei>tire ground decorated with plants,
flowers, and trees, until a more lovely silvan spot can
scarce be imagined. Thousands of citizens resort here
every morning for health or recreation, and what was a
few months since carefully avoided has become the
fashionable promenade and morning drive for all classes
of Mexicans. The Plaza which, three months since,
was merely a bare paved square, destitute of ornament,
is fast assuming a new aspect. The whole pavement
has been taken up, new walks laid, the spaces between
the walks filled with trees, flowers, and shrubbery, foun
tains erected, and in the centre is to be placed a group
of statuary, representing the leading spirits of the Mex
ican revolution — all the design and work of Mexican
artists."

In order to afford encouragement and give an im
pulse to dramatic art, the Emperor has commenced
the erection of a superb theatre, and has offered two
prizes, of two thousand dollars each, for the best
tragedy and comedy. lie is truly a man of noble
impulses, and has the good of his people at heart.
His ambition is to make Mexico a power upon the
"Western continent second only to the United States,
and to leave behind him the name of a human bene
factor.

The Catholic religion is the religion of the State,
but all religions are tolerated. Every one in Mexico

122 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

can freely worship God according to the dictates of his
own conscience. The Episcopalian, the Presbyterian,
and the Methodist is equally protected in the enjoy
ment of his religion with the Catholic ; and the minis
ters there are not required to take " test oaths" before
they can preach the gospel.

The administration of justice throughout the em
pire is provided for by the Emperor with peculiar
care. The judges of the courts are required to be
men learned in the law, experienced in the manage
ment of causes, and of unblemished integrity. Where-
ever the authority of the empire extends, justice be
tween man and man is speedily administered, and no
man's cause is delayed. Such a state of things has
heretofore been unknown in Mexico, under any repub
lican government.

Every encouragement has been afforded by the
Emperor to the great work of the codification and sys
tematic arrangement of the Mexican laws. This work
has been accomplished by a board of the most learned
Mexican lawyers, and is now complete. The entire
code forms a body of ten large octavo volumes, which
have recently been printed, published, and bound, in
the city of Mexico. The paper, typography, and bind
ing of these volumes are in the first style of art, and
would do credit to any publishing house in New
York or Philadelphia. This code of laws embraces

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 123

first, all the Mexican laws of a public and general
nature, which were in force at the time when the pre
sent government was established; and second, those
that have been subsequently enacted by the authority
of the imperial government. The whole body of laws
is said to be based upon the plan of the Code Napo
leon, and to possess many of the merits of that incom
parable work.

There is a deep significance in the emission of these
handsome volumes. They represent the energy and
intellect which Maximilian has infused into the ad
ministration of the laws of Mexico. These decrees and
laws, particularly those enacted during the last two
years, are replete with the wise forethought and intel
ligent progress of the empire. And they are not
merely laws on paper. They have been put in execu
tion, and their good effects have been felt in every
department of the government, and reach to every
Mexican State. Everything, it would seem, has been
remodelled by those laws, and placed upon a better
basis. Whoever would know the spirit and stamina
of the imperial government, should consult these vol
umes. Their contents embrace every subject, and
reveal the industry, the tact, and the remarkable abil
ity of their author; for the Emperor Maximilian is
the originator of nearly every one of the recent laws.
Here may be found the organic law of the empire, to

124 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

the strict observance of which Maximilian has pledged
himself.*

"While upon the subject of book publications, it
may be stated that this is a branch of business that
has grown up entirely during the last three years.
There are two houses in the city of Mexico that have
found encouragement enough to warrant them in pub
lishing school-books and literary works to a consider
able extent. Among their recent publications are the
complete works of the celebrated Spanish author,
Gonzales ; among them, " El Pastero de Madriga," and
"Lucrezia Borgia." Also an excellent translation, in
Spanish, by a Mexican gentleman, of Victor Hugo's
" Travailleurs de la Mer," under the title of "Los
Trabajadores de la Mar," which is a little nearer the
original than " Toilers of the Sea."

Allusion has heretofore been made to the very great
assistance which Maximilian has derived from the de
voted and zealous co-operation of his wife, the Empress
Carlotta. This admirable lady, tenderly nurtured, and
accustomed all her life to the perfumed air of courts
and the luxuries of royalty, devoted herself at once,
with all the energy of her nature, to the great work in
which her honored husband was engaged. She accom
panied him everywhere; saw with her own eyes the
wants of the people ; alleviated suffering and distress

* Letter to "New York News."

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 125

wherever she encountered it ; encouraged industry by
her smiles ; stimulated the children and youth to
assiduity in their studies by her frequent presence in
the school-houses ; and quickened the genius of Mex
ican artists and men of letters, by her munificent re
wards for their works.

In November, 1865, she undertook a journey to the
distant State of Yucatan, that the people there might
see that their welfare was not overlooked by the Em
peror. Everywhere she was received with the most
enthusiastic expressions of the love and devotion of
the people.

While at Merida her majesty donated the following-
sums : two thousand five hundred dollars for the estab
lishment of a free school for girls in that city ; three
thousand dollars to the general hospital ; three thou
sand dollars to be distributed among the poor, in
especial to such as had suffered by the war of castes ;
one thousand dollars toward completing the work on
the cathedral, and smaller sums to various religious
orders.

On the 1st of December, the Empress visited the
Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition, and the fol
lowing day she was present at the benediction and
inauguration of the "Constancia" cotton spinning
establishment.

Her majesty left Merida on the morning of Decem
ber -1th, fur the city of Campeche, passing through

126 MEXICO teDER MAXIMILIAN.

Uxmal. A large nuniber of the young men of Merida
volunteered to attend {he Empress as far as the limits
of the department as a guard of honor.

A letter from Merida, the capital of Yucatan, thus
describes the reception of the Empress at that ancient
city:

" Her majesty was elegantly but simply attired, wear
ing a white dress trimmed with light blue, her noble
head being covered with a graceful little hat, also set
off with blue. Not a gem or jewel was to be seen upon
her graceful person. At the back of her head, beneath
the little hat, her well combed auburn hair was noticeable.

"After receiving the congratulations of the delegations
mentioned, her majesty advanced into the city, in the
midst of the liveliest acclamations, the cortege being
swelled by various deputations and by a large num
ber of distinguished persons following in sumptuous
carriages of various colors.

" It would take much space to describe the order of
the carriages in the procession, the innumerable shouts
of welcome resounding in the air, and the cordial greet
ings uttered by the dense multitude, right and left,
during the passing of the imperial cortege at a foot pace
from the first triumphal arch to the Plaza de Jesus.

" There her majesty alighted from her carnage, and
was received by another delegation of ladies and an
angelic bevy of little children.

" While passing by the Government Palace a shower
of natural and artificial flowers, of ribbons, bearing

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN". 127

appropriate mottoes, and of strips of paper printed
with verses, almost inundated our august Empress.

" From the base of the arch to the main entrance to
the cathedral her majesty passed between a double line
formed by the chief local authorities, presided over by
the Political Prefect, Senor Don Jose Garcia Morales.

" His Excellency Don Jose Salazar Harrequi, the
Imperial Commissioner, and General Severo del Cas
tillo, commanding the Seventh provincial division,
accompanied her majesty, together with the other
persons of the court in her suite.

" The military were dressed in full uniform.

"At about eleven o'clock her majesty was received
upon the steps of the porch of the temple by the
apostolic administrator of the diocese, Dr. Leandro
Rodriguez de la Salu, the venerable ecclesiastical
chapter, and all the clergy of the capital, in their
splendid vestments, preceded by the Cross and a
number of wax tapers.

" Kneeling upon a crimson velvet cushion bordered
with gold fringe and placed upon a rich carpet, her
majesty kissed the holy crucifix presented to her and
entered the edifice under a canopy, the poles support
ing which were borne by the judges of the Superior
Court and the members of the government council of
the district. Upon entering the precincts of the temple
her majesty devoutly received the holy water offered
her.

" In the chancel a rich canopy was prepared, and
after the prayers customary upon the reception of

128 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

sovereigns and a chant accompanied by the solemn
music of the organ, worship was offered to Him through
Whose will all sovereigns reign, during which the Em
press remained kneeling in a most devout attitude. k

" Thereafter a solemn Te Deum, expressly composed
for the occasion, was performed.

" The vast cathedral was filled with a numerous as
semblage, comprising persons belonging to the highest
as well as the lowest degrees of society, collected to
gether to bless and welcome our august sovereign.

" Upon the conclusion of the religious ceremonies
her majesty proceeded on foot (dismissing the carriage
which awaited her at the foot of the steps) to the resi
dence placed at her disposal — one of the most elegant
and capacious mansions in the city.
^ " Shortly after noon her majesty reached her quar
ters, where she was greeted with another shower of
flowers, ribbons and verses, accompanied by the ex
quisite music of a military band and the joyful shouts
of thousands of both sexes.

"A just tribute to her merit, virtue, beauty and
goodness of heart.

"• Shortly afterward her majesty received the con
gratulations of the officials of the district, in an apart
ment specially arranged for the purpose, after which a
large number of ladies, military and civil officers and
citizens paid their respects to the Empress.

" In reply to the congratulatory address delivered by
the Political Prefect, her majesty, after appearing on

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 129

the balcony of her apartments at the clamorous request
of the multitude without, expressed herself as follows : —

" l We have long wished to visit you in order to study
your necessities and learn your desires. The Emperor
being prevented from effecting this important object,
has sent me to you to present to you his cordial
greetings.

" ' I assure you from my heart that he deeply regrets
that he cannot be here with me, to tell you how great
is his affection toward you. He will regret it still
more when I inform him of the enthusiastic reception
you have given me. He desires, and by all means will
endeavor to secure, the prosperity and happiness of the
people of Yucatan."3

We shall soon see the Empress discharging a
mission, of still greater importance, for the welfare of
Mexico.

9

130 MEXICO UNDKR MAXIMILIAN.

CHAPTER VII.

Arms and Ammunition Shipped to the Mexican Liberals from New York
— The Steamer Everman — Attempts of the Radicals in Congress to Loan
Thirty Millions of Government Funds to Juarez — Measures Taken by
Maximilian to Supply the Place of the French Troops — The Emperor
Anticipates Intervention by the United States in Favor of Juarez —
Mission of the Empress Carlotta to Europe — Sickness of the Empress —
Embarrassing Situation of Affairs in Mexico — Outrages of the Mexican
Liberals — Sickness of the Emperor — lie Retires to Orizaba — The Sher
man and Campbell Mission to Mexico — Mr. Campbell's Instructions — •
Utter Failure of the Mission — Results of the Mission — It Demonstrated
the Attachment of the Mexican People to Maximilian — The Question of
Abdication Presented to Maximilian — He Refuses to Abdicate — Generous
Conduct of the Clergy and Merchants — Encouraging Prospects of the
Empire.

THE objection that is most easily and most fre
quently raised against the government of Maximilian,
is, that it has not yet succeeded in conquering the
prejudices of all the Mexicans, and that the republi
cans in Mexico still keep troops in the field, and even
gain some victories over the imperial troops. This is
true, to some extent ; and the explanation of the fact
is by no means creditable to the United States. These
"liberal successes" have all taken place during the
last few months, and are the result of direct interfer
ence in behalf of Juarez on the part of citizens of

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 131

the United States. Armed expeditions were fitted
out in New York, and cargo after cargo of arms and
ammunition was sent to Mexico. It is believed that
one of these expeditions was under the command of
a major-general late of the United States army, whose
gallant and intrepid conduct, and admirable dispo
sitions at Monocacy, saved Washington from capture
by the Confederates, and who is now understood to
be following the fortunes of Juarez.

But it is not material aid, alone, that the Juarists
have derived from the United States. During the
first session of the thirty-ninth Congress, beginning
in December, 1865, persistent and strenuous efforts
were made by Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, Mr. Schenck,
and other leading radical republicans, to induce Con
gress to appropriate thirty millions of dollars for the
cause of the Mexican republic — or, in other words,
to authorize the government to endorse certain Jua-
rist bonds to that amount. These bonds were utterly
worthless, and the endorser, of course, would be
called upon to pay them. The scheme never received
the approval of Congress. But its agitation, both in
Congress and in the newspapers of the north, served
the purpose for which the friends of the Juarists
had introduced it. Juarez himself, and his followers
in Mexico, are thus encouraged to hope that the Uni
ted States government will, at some period not very
distant, intervene in their behalf, and by actual armed

132 MEXICO U-NDElt MAXIMILIAN.

interposition, as well as by the advances of large
sums of money, assist them in overthrowing the pre
sent government of Mexico, and in re-establishing
the republic. These hopes have been greatly cher
ished and strengthened, 1st, by the extraordinary
conduct of General Sheridan on the Kio Grande, in
the interests of Juarez : and 2d, by the recent
mission of General Sherman and Mr. Campbell to
Yera Cruz. Stimulated by the hopes thus afforded,
Juarez and his officers have succeeded in keeping
in the field a force of a few thousand men, with
whom the recent "liberal successes" have been
achieved. These men are the most reckless and
desperate characters that can be found in Mexi
co ; robbers, thieves, murderers and assassins. Al
most every paper that comes from Mexico, is filled
with the records of their atrocities. They are allowed
the utmost license to plunder the inhabitants, and
whenever they capture a town or village, it is given
up to their unlicensed rapacity. The outrages which
they thus committed at Hermosillo, a few months
since, are already fresh in the public mind. Such
are the "soldiers of the republic," in behalf of whom
the sympathies of the American people are invoked.
In the early part of the year 1866, the Emperor
Maximilian was made aware of the determination of
the French government to withdraw the French
troops from Mexico during the course of the year

MEXICO UXDKR MAXIMILIAN. 133

18G7. This event, however, had been anticipated
by Maximilian, and already measures were in pro
gress by which the Kmperor hoped to supply the
places of the French troops by an army winch should
be essentially Mexican — a national Mexican army.
The arrangements for the organization of this army
proceeded during the whole of the year 1800. By the
end of that year there were organized into regiments
twenty-six thousand native Mexicans, all good soldiers,
well disciplined, and acquainted with military life and
duties. These were divided into four divisions, and
each division placed under the command of a compe
tent general. The principal officers of the regiments
were for the most part Frenchmen ami Austrians ; but
in the grade of captains and lieutenants there were
nany Mexican gentlemen. Although the French
army, as an organization, was to be withdrawn, yet the
Emperor Napoleon had given permission to all the
officers and men wrho chose to do so, to volunteer and
enter the Mexican army, and up to the end of the
3'ear 1866, about eight thousand men had signified
their intention to do so : so that Maximilian counted
upon having an effective army of thirty-five thousand
men, ready to take the field by the spring of 1867, if
the French troops should be withdrawn as soon as that.
It became a very serious question, however, whether
the Mexican government could maintain itself, after
the departure of the French army. There was no

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

doubt of the efficiency of the newly organized Mexi
can army ; there was no doubt of the attachment of
the great body of the Mexican people to Maximilian
and his government. If left alone, without interfer
ence from abroad, there was no doubt that the govern
ment could maintain itself without serious difficulty.
But there was too much reason to fear that interfer
ence on the part of the United States was to be ex- i
pected, as soon as the French troops should have left I
Mexico. The Emperor Napoleon had, indeed, before i
he had made the final arrangements for the withdraw
al of the French troops from Mexico, inquired of the
United States government whether, in case of such
withdrawal, neutrality on the part of the latter, to-
ward Mexico, would be observed : and Mr. Sewird^
Secretary of State, had replied in plain words, that, in
case the French troops should be withdrawn from
Mexico, the United States would observe absolute neu
trality toward that country, and would allow the Mexi
can people to settle for themselves, the form of their
government. But the Emperor Maximilian placed very
little reliance upon this promise ; and he anticipated
that active interference on the part of the United
States, in favor of the Juarist faction, might be ex
pected the moment after the French army should
have embarked. The event showed that these antici
pations were well founded.

There were other weighty questions connected with

.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 135

the future stability of the empire, that gave Maximil
ian much concern ; and it was finally agreed, in the
summer of 1866, that the Empress Carlotta should
herself proceed to Europe, in order that, by personal
interviews with the Emperor of France and the Em
peror of Austria, these questions might be placed upon
a basis of satisfactory settlement. This journey was
accordingly undertaken. The Empress embarked on
board the French mail steamer " Empress Eugenia,"
on the 13th of July, and in due time reached Paris.
In the course of three months, the main objects of her
mission to Europe had been successfully accomplished.
Her last letter to the Emperor Maximilian stated in
substance, that although every thing they had hoped
for had not been gained, yet that the results that she
had accomplished were quite sufficient to compensate
her for all that she had undergone since she had left
Mexico.

The fatigues of the voyage, however, in the hot
summer, and the excessive labors which she felt it
necessary to impose upon herself, were too much for
the delicate organization of the Empress. She bore
up under her sufferings with extraordinary fortitude,
as long as any portion of the work, to which she had
devoted herself, remained undone. But when she had
accomplished her task, her energies gave way, and
she was prostrated by a severe attack of sickncs?. In
spite of all the care of her relatives and friends, this

136 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN".

illness rapidly assumed an alarming character, and
finally developed itself in brain fever of the most dan
gerous type. The highest medical talent in Europe
was at once placed at her service, but for many weeks
her life was despaired of. A merciful Providence
however, watched over her, and at last Jier. health wag
entirely restored. .-'•••

In the meantime the situation in Mexico was
becoming every month more embarrassing. In pur
suance of the agreement made between the French
government and the United States, the actual arrange
ments in Mexico, for the evacuation of Mexico by
the French troops, were steadily progressing. Large
bodies of French troops were withdrawn from distant
points in the north and west of Mexico, and were
concentrated at the capital, preparatory to marching
to Vera Cruz, the point of embarkation. This left
the States of Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango,
Coahuila, and part of New Leon, exposed to the
incursions of the republican forces, whose ranks were
in many cases augmented by bands of guerillas who
joined them for the sake of the plunder of towns and
villages. It would require a volume to relate the
atrocities committed by these republican troops, at
Hermosillo, at Ures, at Lajunta, at Sinoloa at Cosala,
at Matamoras, at Mazatlan, and at dozens of smaller
towns. Scarcely had the French troops been with
drawn from any place, before it would be entered by

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 137

these Juarist troops, who, after first levying a forced
contribution on the inhabitants, would then proceed
to rob and plunder indiscriminately, and too often
would indulge in outrages too gross for description.

It was at this critical juncture that the health of the
Emperor gave way. His labors, for months past, had
been excessive. His anxieties for the State had been
very great. And now, when he most needed the
presence and smiles of his beloved wife, came the
crushing news of her dangerous illness. His first
impulse, as a man and a husband, was to fly to her
side. But when he understood the nature of her dis
tressing malady, and that absolute quiet was essential
to her recovery, he abandoned that idea. And this
he did the more willingly, as he had full confidence
in the skilful physicians by whom the Empress was
attended ; a confidence which the event has proved,
was well founded. . On the other hand, his duties as a
sovereign, and the critical nature of the situation, ab
solutely required that he should remain in Mexico,
at whatever sacrifice of his personal feelings. He
bent all his energies, therefore, to the task before
him. But his anxieties, his labors, and his cares,
were too much even for the strongest constitution,
and in October he was prostrated by a severe attack
of fever. In November, when he had partially recov
ered, but while he was still very weak, he left the
capital for a few days, and retired to Orizaba, where

138 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

the air is pure and bracing, and where, the physi
cians thought, he might most speedily recover his
strength. It was while he was at Orizaba, that the
United States steamer Susquehanna arrived off Vera
Cruz, with General Sherman and Mr. Campbell on
board; and their mission to Mexico must now be
explained.

The sending of General Sherman and Mr. Camp
bell to Yera Cruz, was unquestionably one of the
greatest blunders in the history of modern diplomacy.
Nothing was accomplished by the extraordinary step,
except to place the United States in a ridiculous atti
tude before the world. The objects which Mr. Sew-
ard seems to have had in view were, 1st, to afford
direct aid and encouragement to the Juarist party,
which, of itself, would have been in violation of our
pledge of neutrality ; and, 2d, that General Sherman's
presence at Yera Cruz might overawe the French
officers in command, and cause them to hasten the
embarkation of the French troops, under the guns of
the frigate Susquehanna. The event shows that Gen
eral Sherman's presence at Yera Cruz had just the
contrary effect.

General Sherman and Mr. Campbell were sent to
Yera Cruz under a misapprehension of existing facts
which seems almost incredible. The situation in
Mexico must have been perfectly well known to Mr.
Seward, and yet his action seems to have been based

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 139

upon two delusions : 1st, that General Sherman's
presence at Yera Cruz would scare away the French;
and 2d, that the empire and the present government
of Mexico would fall, and the republic be restored in
Mexico, immediately on the departure of the French
troops.

Mr. Seward's instructions to Mr. Campbell were as
follow :

" DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ")

"WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 1866.)

" SIR. — You are aware that a friendly and explicit ar
rangement exists between this government and the Em
peror of France, to the effect that he will withdraw his
expeditionary niilitaiy forces from Mexico in three
parts — the first of which shall leave Mexico in Novem
ber next, the second in March next and the third in
November, 1867, and that upon the evacuation being
thus completed the French Government will immediate
ly come upon the ground of non-intervention in regard
to Mexico which is held by the United States. Doubts
have been entertained and expressed in some quarters
upon the question whether the French government will
faithfully execute this agreement. No such doubts
have been entertained by the President, who has had
repeated and even recent assurances that the complete
evacuation of Mexico by the French will be consum
mated at the periods mentioned, or earlier if compatible
with climatical, military and other conditions. There
are grounds for supposing that two incidental ques-

140 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

tions have already engaged the attention of the French
government — namely, first, whether it should not ad-\
vise the departure of the Prince Maximilian for Austria /
to be made before the withdrawal of the French expedi*
tion ; second, whether it would not be consistent with
the elimatical, military and other conditions before
mentioned, to withdraw the whole expeditionary force at
once, instead of retiring it in three separate instal
ments, and at different periods. No formal communi
cation, however, upon this subject has been made by
the Emperor Napoleon to the government of the United
States. When the subject has been incidentally men
tioned, this department, by direction of the President,
has replied that the United States await the execution
of the agreement for the evacuation by the government
of France at least according to its letter, while they
would be gratified if that agreement could be executed
with greater promptness and dispatch than are stipu
lated. Under these circumstances the President ex
pects that within the next month (November) a portion
at least of the French expeditionary force will retire
from Mexico, and he thinks it not improbable that the
whole expeditionary force may be withdrawn at or
about the same time. Such an event cannot fail to pro
duce a crisis of great political interest in the republic
of Mexico. It is important that you should be either
within the territories of that republic or in some place
near at hand, so as to assume the exercise of your func
tions as Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States
to the republic of Mexico. What may be the proceed-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 141

ings of the Prince Maximilian in the event of a partial
or complete evacuation of Mexico, of course cannot
now be certainly foreseen. "What may be the proceed
ings of Mr. Juarez, the President of the republic of
Mexico, in the same event, cannot now be definitely
anticipated. We are aware of the existence of several
political parties in Mexico other than those at the head
of which are President Juarez and Prince Maximilian,
who entertain conflicting views concerning the most ex
pedient and proper mode of restoring peace, order, and
civil government in that republic. We do not know
what may be the proceedings of those parties in the
event of the French evacuation. Finalh*, it is impos
sible for us to foresee what may be the proceedings of
the Mexican people in case of the happening of the
events before alluded to. For these reasons it is im
possible to give you specific directions for the conduct
of your proceedings in the discharge of the high trust
which the government of the United States has con
fided to you. Much must be left to your own discre
tion, which is to be exercised according to the view you
may take of political movements as they shall disclose
themselves in the future. There are, however, some
principles which, as we think, may be safely laid down
in regard to the policy which the government of the
United States will expect 3-011 to pursue. The first of
these is that, as a representative of the United States,
you are accredited to the republican government of
Mexico, of which Mr. Juarez is President. Your com
munications as such representative will be made to him,

142 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

wheresoever he may be, and in no event will you offi-
c'al'.y recognize either the Prince Maximilian, who
claims to be Emperor, or any other person, chief, or
combination, as exercising the executive authority in
Mexico, without having first reported to this depart
ment, and received instructions from the President
of the United States. Secondly, assuming that the
French militaiy and naval commanders shall be en
gaged in good faith in executing the agreement before
mentioned for the evacuation of Mexico, the spirit of
the engagement on our part in relation to that event
will forbid the United States and their representative
from obstructing or embarrassing the departure of the
French. Thirdly, what the government of the United
States desires in regard to the future of Mexico is not
the conquest of Mexico, or any part of it, or the aggran
dizement of the United States by purchases of land or
dominion, but, on the other hand, they desire to see the
people of Mexico relieved from all foreign military in
tervention, to the end that they may resume the con-
duct of their own affairs under the existing republican
government, or such other form of government as,
being left in the enjoyment of perfect liberty, they
shall determine to adopt in the exercise of their own
free will, by their own act, without dictation from any
foreign country, and of course without dictation from
the United States. It results, as a consequence from
these principles, that you will enter into no stipulation
with the French commanders, or with the Prince Maxi-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 143

milian, or with any other part}', which shall have a ten
dency to counteract or oppose the administration of
President Juarez, or to hinder or delay the restoration
of the authority of the republic. On the other hand,
it may possibly happen that the President of the repub
lic of Mexico may desire the good olliccs of the United
States, or even some effective proceedings on our part,
to favor and advance the pacification of a country so
long distracted by foreign combined with civil war, and
thus gain time for the re-establishment of national au
thority upon principles consistent with a republican and
domestic system of government. It is possible, more
over, that some disposition might be made of the land
and naval forces of the United States without interfer
ing within the jurisdiction of Mexico, or violating the
laws of neutrality, which would be useful in favoring
the restoration of law, order, and republican govern
ment in that country. Yon are authorized to confer
upon this subject with the republican government of
Mexico and its agents, and also to confer informally, if
you find it necessary, with any other parties or agents,
should such an exceptional conference become absolute
ly necessaiy, but not otherwise. You will ly these
means obtain information which will be important to
this government, and such information 3-011 will convey
to this department, with your suggestions and advice
as to any proceedings on our part which can be adopted
in conformity wTith the principles I have before laid
down. You will be content with thus referring any im-

144 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

portant propositions on the subject of reorganization
and restoration of the republican government in Mex
ico as may arise to this department, for the information
of the President. The Lieutenant-General of the
United States possesses already discretionary author
ity as to the location of the forces of the United States
in the vicinity of Mexico. His military experience will
enable him to advise you concerning such questions as
majr arise during the transition stage of Mexico from a
state of military siege by a foreign enemy to a condi
tion of practical self-government. At the same time it
will be in his power, being near the scene of action, to
issue any orders which may be expedient or necessary
for maintaining the obligations resting upon the United
States in regard to proceedings upon the borders of
Mexico. For these reasons he has been requested and
instructed by the President to proceed with }^ou to
your destination, and act with you as an adviser, re
cognized by this department, in regard to the matters
which have been herein discussed. After conferring
with him, you are at liberty to proceed to the City of
Chihuahua, or to such other place in Mexico as may be
the residence of President Juarez ; or, in your discre
tion, you will proceed to any other place in Mexico not
held or occupied at the time of your arrival by enemies
of the republic of Mexico ; or 3Tou will stop at any
place in the United States or elsewhere, near the fron
tier or coast of Mexico ; and await there a time to
enter any portion of Mexico which shall hereafter be

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 145

in the occupation of the republican government of
Mexico.

" I am, sir, your obedient servant,

"WILLIAM II. SEWAIID.

" LEWIS D. CAMPBELL, etc."

In pursuance of these instructions, General Sher
man and Mr. Campbell sailed from New York about
the 10th of November, and after spending a few days
at Havana, in order to learn some reliable news of
the real condition of affairs in Mexico, arrived oft'
Vera Cruz on the evening of the 29th. The vessel
remained there until the midnight following, Sunday,
December 2, when she sailed away under cover of the
darkness of the night, and thus ended the Sherman
and Campbell mission to Mexico. Mr. Campbell
found the situation in Mexico to be such that he
could not carry out his instructions. General Sher
man found that if he had been sent there to watch
the embarkation of the French, some months must
elapse before he could enjoy that pleasing spectacle.
The Susquehanna therefore made the best of her way
to New Orleans, where she arrived about the 8th of
December, touching at Tarnpico and Matamoras on
the way.

A well-informed correspondent of the " New York
Herald," writing from Washington, gives the follow
ing facts in relation to the affair : —
10

146 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

"Mexican advices state that the abortive Susque-
hanna expedition has proved a positive injury to the
Juarez government. The Mexicans are in nothing so
consistent as in their jealous hatred of all foreigners.
Had Sherman and Campbell succeeded an reaching
Juarez, it is doubtful whether their presence in the re
publican seat of government under existing circum
stances would not have been more a source of weakness
than of strength to the Mexican President. As it is,
their failure to do any thing at all has cast ridicule
upon the United States ; has drawn upon Juarez the
suspicion of trafficking with the foreigner, and has given
the cause of Ortega, who is looked upon as the anti-
American candidate for the presidency, an impetus
which would otherwise have been wanting. Minister
Campbell is understood to complain that Juarez made
no effort to communicate with the embassy, and rather
thwarted than aided their feeble attempts to communi
cate with him. Juarez probably had a deep meaning
in holding aloof from emissaries who came without
power to afford him actual assistance, and whose pres
ence at his head-quarters would compromise him with
his countrymen.

" There are some piquant little facts connected with
the expedition which have never yet been told. Sher-
(man and Campbell pulled together from the start like
a baulky team. Each had separate instructions, and
each claimed to rank the other. On the arrival of the
Susquehanna at Yera Cruz, Sherman, it seems, was for
accepting Bazaine's invitation and going straight to

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 147

Mexico city. Campbell strongly opposed the sugges
tion on the ground that he was accredited to Juarez
only, and had nothing to do with Bazaine, Castelnau,
or any one outside the republic of Mexico. This argu
ment at last prevailed ; but not till after a somewhat
stormy discussion, in the course of which personal allu
sions to kid-gloved aides-de-camp and legation secreta
ries presumed to be " on the make" had been pretty
freely interchanged. The breach thus occasioned was
never healed, and culminated at Matamoras in Sherman
returning to Xew Orleans by the Susquehanna and
Campbell by private steamer. Sherman took up his
quarters with Sheridan in Xew Orleans, and Campbell
buried himself in the fourth story of an indifferent hotel,
each speaking contemptuously of the other and giving
a contradictory account of the expedition."

There is no doubt of the substantial correctness of
this statement. The " Herald" itself, in speaking of
it, says : —

" THE CAMPBELL-£IIERMAN MISSION — MAXIMILIAN
SAYS HE WILL DIE WHERE HE IS.

" Our Washington despatches give us the latest ac
count of the inside history of the late Sherman-Campbell
mission to Mexico, which is so interesting as to merit
a few words from us. Two prominent facts are revealed
. — one, that the mission did not do the work intended
for it ;* and the other, that Juarez made no attempt to

* The " Herald" adds here, " because the elements composing
it were inharmonious," — which was not the cause of its failure.

148 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

hold any communication with the members of that
commission because he feared to arouse the jealous
susceptibility of his countrymen. The case, then, thus
stated, presents a rather unexpected aspect; for, put
ting aside for a moment the unchemical compound
known as the Campbell-Sherman mission, we are in
formed in plain terms that the Mexican people fear any
action our government may take toward restoring the
republican form of government among them from a
deep-rooted conviction that we are impelled thereto by
interested motives. Direct allusion to this was made
by Juarez in his speech at Chihuahua, when he ex
pressed a hope that the United States does not think
of annexing any portion of Mexican territory. We
have repeatedly disclaimed any such intention, but it is
very doubtful if our declarations have had the slightest
effect toward removing the deep distrust entertained of
us in Mexico. The greater the pity, therefore, that the
Campbell-Sherman mission exploded as it did. That
commission not only covered itself with ridicule and
threw discredit on the United States government in the
eyes of the Mexicans, but an opportunity was lost for
removing the delusion which that entire nation persists
in adhering to. Minister Campbell may or may not
have been the proper person for the business. We are
strongly inclined to think he was totally unfit. General
Sherman may or may not have been the right man ; but
one thing is very plain — that each considered himself
the head of the mission, and, as is the case in all unnatu-

MEXICO UXJJER MAXIMILIAN.

ral things with two heads, the thing was a monster and
died after a brief, unhealthy existence.

"Another carious feature in our latest Mexican news
is the reported conversation between General Casteliiau
and Maximilian, wherein the former is said to have
urged an abdication, while the latter announced his
determination to remain where he is till he dies."

Bat what was the effect of this mission in Mexico?
The New Orleans "Picayune," of December 13, says: —

" The news which we publish this afternoon puts an
entirely new light upon affairs in Mexico. It would
seem that the alliance between Juarez and the United
States, the reported sale of Mexican territory, move
ments on the border and expedition of the Susque-
hannah, with General Sherman and Minister Campbell
to Mexican waters, have frightened the Mexicans into
their usual liberality, when the integrity of their
country is feared. The church, always the first to
move, have placed $25,000,000 at the disposal of the
Emperor, and the merchants have promised to give him
$10,000,000 annually, provided he will remain. To this
proposition he assented, immediately issued his procla
mation accordingly, and the empire is, for the time
being, re-established."

"This has given, great joy throughout the country.
Church bells were rung, bonfires lighted, and a large
mass of the people went into ecstacies of joy. A new
impulse was at once given also to works of internal im
provement, railroads, telegraphs, etc."

150 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

The fact is, on recovering from his sickness, the
Emperor Maximilian found that the difficulties sur
rounding him were very great; but, on a candid
consideration of them, he did not deem them insuper
able. General Castelnau, who had recently arrived
from Paris, presented to him the alternative of abdica
tion : but this proposal did not commend itself to the
Emperor with any degree of favor. After having
devoted all the energies of his life, for three years, to
the great work of making of Mexico a happy and
prosperous country, Maximilian did not think that
this was the time to abandon all that he had done,
and to leave the country to anarchy. He convoked
the council of ministers therefore, and after laying
before them a candid statement of the difficulties of
the situation, he desired their frank opinion, whether
there was any existing reason, why he ought to abdi
cate? Their unanimous reply was, that by all means
he ought to remain at the head of the government.
As this fully coincided with his own views, there was
no further question about the matter, and the follow
ing proclamations were at once issued : —

" PROCLAMATION or THE PREFECT or VERA CRUZ. ")
YERA CRUZ, Dec. 1, 1866. J

Viva el Emperio ! Viva el Emperador ! Vera Cruz-
anos ! One of the greatest events for the good Mexi
cans has happened to give renewed life to the nation.
His majesty the Emperor, who has made so many

MEXICO UXDKR MAXIMILIAN". 151

sacrifices for the well being and happiness of our dear
country, has given the final proof of his consideration
for our welfare while agitated by those natural senti
ments which struggled in his breast. In consequence
of the aflliction of his august and noble spouse, our
lovely sovereign, it was for a moment feared that he
w^ould temporarily quit the country to dedicate his
whole time to the rendering of those attentions, which
the delicate state of health of his worthy consort
rendered necessary. But the Emperor has sacrificed
ail for us, has put aside his duties as a man for those
which concern his house as a ruler, and in the momen
tous crisis now overhanging the country declares
solemnly his intention of continuing in the front, even
to the extent of shedding the last drop of his blood in
the defence of the nation. Citizens of Yera Cruz, we
congratulate you. Let us give thanks to Providence
for having saved the integrity of our country, and from
the inmost recesses of our hearts let us hail the day of
resurrection of our nationality, which was on the eve of
being destroyed.

" PROCLAMATION OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN.

" MEXICANS. — Circumstances of great magnitude re
lating to the welfare of our country, and which increase
in strength by our domestic difficulties, have produced
in our mind the conviction that we ought to reconsider
the power confided to us.

"Our Council of Ministers, by us convoked, has
given as their opinion that the welfare of Mexico still

152 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

requires our presence at the head of affairs, and we have
considered it our duty to accede to their request. We
announce at the same time our intention to convoke a
national Congress on the most ample and liberal basis,
where all political parties can participate. This Con
gress shall decide whether the empire shall continue in
future, and in case of assent, shall assist in framing the
fundamental laws to consolidate the public institutions
of the country ; to obtain this result our counsellors
are at present engaged in devising the necessary means,
and at the same time arrange matters in such a manner
that all parties may assist in an arrangement on that
basis.

" In the meantime, Mexicans, counting upon you all,
without excluding any political class, we shall continue
with courage and constancy, the wrork of regeneration
which you have placed in charge of your countryman

" MAXIMILIAN,

" ORIZABA, Dec. 1, 1866."

In taking this step the chief reliance of the Em
peror Maximilian was upon the Mexican people them
selves. The events of December, 1866, and of Janua
ry and February, 1867, have demonstrated that this
confidence was not misplaced. The Mexican people
seemed to appreciate the gravity of the situation,
and they rallied around the Emperor, determined to
uphold him, and the government which he had admin
istered with such wisdom and paternal care. All

MEXICO UXDETC MAXIMILIAN. 153

classes rushed to his support. The clergy and the
merchants furnished the financial means that were
necessary for immediate use; volunteers flocked to
the army, and swelled the ranks of the regiments ;
and soon all matters began to wear an encouraging
aspect. The Sherman and Cambell mission therefore,
so far from witnessing the downfall of the Mexican
Empire, has only demonstrated the attachment of the
Mexican people to it, and their determination to up
hold it.

Military operations against the Juarists were at
once commenced, and were carried on with vigor and
. success. Ortega, the legal President of the defunct Mex
ican republic, escaping from the illegal imprisonment
to which he had been subjected by General Sheridan,
had crossed the Eio Grande, and his partisans and
those of Juarez were at once engaged in deadly strife
with each other. The latest intelligence from Mexico
brings us the news of the capture of the cities of
Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi, by a Division of the
Imperial troops under the Mexican General Miramon,
— the defeat of the republican troops at those points,
and the capture of Juarez himself..

The fate of Mexico depends upon the United States.
A If our neutrality toward that country is maintained,
in accordance with Mr. Seward's promise to the Em
peror Napoleon, the " republican" faction in Mexico will
destroy each other, and the government under Max-

154 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

imilian will become firmly established. But it may
be quite another matter if we continue to take the
part of the usurper Juarez against the legal President
Ortega, and if the Juarists continue to derive aid and
encouragement from the United States. In conse
quence of such intervention, Maximilian may be forced
to abdicate : and what will be the result then ? The
war between the Juarists and the followers of Ortega
will rage with greater bitterness than ever : Mexico
will at once revert to its former condition of anarchy :
and continual civil wars will absorb all the energies
and all the wealth of the people. Mexico has never
prospered under a republic, and the history and char
acter of her people proves that she never can prosper
under that form of government. To re-establish the
republic in Mexico would simply be to give up that
country to the pillage of rival republican chiefs.

Under such a state of things, every foreign nation
which has claims against Mexico would at once present
them, and Mexico would again be at the mercy of
every foreign power. England, Spain, and France,
all have heavy claims against Mexico, which remain
unsatisfied to this day. Under the present govern
ment of that country, there is a fair prospect that those
claims will be eventually paid. France has arranged
for hers, and England and Spain are willing to wait.

But the matter would be very different, if the pre
sent government of Mexico should be destroyed by

MEXICO UNDHIi MAXIMILIAN. 155

intervention on the part of the TJnited States ; and
with it, the ability of Mexico to satisfy these claims.
Those three nations would again make war upon
Mexico, as they did in 1861 : they would be compelled
to do so, in order to obtain for their own citizens the
payment of their just claims. The end of such a war
would find Mexico dismembered, as we dismembered
her at the end of our Mexican war in 1818. The
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, with its already surveyed
railroad between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, and
the States of Oaxaca, Tabaso, Chiapas, Campeche, and
Yucatan, lie very convenient to the British and Span
ish possessions in the Balize and Cuba : and nothing
would be easier than for the French, at the same time,
to again occupy and hold the port and State of Yera
Cruz, and the city of Mexico, with the immediately
surrounding country.

The best and richest half of Mexico thus disposed
of, what would become of the remainder? It would
ultimately be absorbed by the United States, and
Mexico, as a nation, would disappear from the face of
the earth.

156 MEXICO UXDLK MAXIMILIAN".

CHAPTER VIII.

Policy of the United States toward Mexico — Question before the " Lincoln
Administration : " Shall we Save the Mexican Republic ?" — Consequences
to the North of Interference in Opposition to Napoleon — Object of the
American Civil War — Interference with the Emperor Napoleon would
Defeat that Object— Critical Condition of the North in 1862— Conse
quences to the North if the Emperor Napoleon should Recognize the
South — The United States Determine to Maintain a Neutral Policy —
The United States Government Acknowledges the Right of France
to make War on the Mexican Republic, and to Secure the Fruits of
Victory.

No sooner did the Emperor Maximilian ascend tlie
throne of Mexico, than he communicated the fact of
his accession to all the great powers of the world, 'and
among the rest, to the United States. This was in
May, 186-i. The United States government took no
notice of the communication. All the other great
powers irmnediately recognized the empire of Mexico,
sent ministers to reside at the court of Maximilian,
and received ministers from him to reside at their
capitals. But why did the United States not interfere
in time to prevent the extinction of the Mexican re
public?

When France made war on Mexico, in 1861 and
1862; when the French expedition, under General

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 15J

Forey, was sent to Mexico, the United States was in
vited to join that expedition. The United States
government declined, but at the same time admitted
the justice of the Avar on the part of France. On the
llth of September, 1803, Mr. Seward said to Mr.
Motley, our minister to Vienna: " When France made
war against Mexico, we asked of France explanations
of her objects and purposes. She answered that it was
a war for the redress of grievances; that she did not
intend to permanently occupy or dominate in Mexico ;
and that she should leave to the people of Mexico a
free choice of institutions of government. Under
these circumstances the United States adopted, and
they have since maintained, entire neutrality between
the belligerents, in harmony with our traditional
policy in regard to foreign wars."

But our policy toward Mexico had a deeper founda
tion than that. At the time of the French intervention
in Mexico, the United States were engaged in civil
wrar. In 1862, when it became necessary for our
government to decide what our policy toward Mexico
was to be — when it became absolutely necessary for
us to decide whether we would uphold the Monroe
doctrine in Mexico, and save the republic there, or
remain coldly looking on while the empire was being
established — at that time matters did not look well
fur the North.

The iirst war fever had passed away, and people

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

began to realize that they had been entrapped into a
job that was going to be any thing but an easy one.
Drafting had not yet begun, but it was plainly seen
^ that conscription was inevitable, and that without
<^ forced conscription the war could not be carried on.
2£ it was plainly seen that the real object of the war was
v /to free the negroes and to subjugate the Southern
States ; and that in giving liberty to the blacks the
\ white people would lose their own^

The finances of the country had begun to get de
ranged. All the specie in the country had been with
drawn from circulation, and had been sent to Europe
to buy arms ; and our new national bank-note currency
had not yet got under headway. The events of the
war had not been such as to inspire confidence as to
the result of the struggle. The North had been de
feated, and the South had been victorious, at Big
Bethel, Bull Run, Manassas Junction, Ball's Bluff, and
Belmont. Washington had been beleaguered by the
Confederate forces, from the battle of Manassas, in
July, 1861, until March, 1862, a period of seven
months* President Lincoln had offered the South
four hundred millions of dollars for the liberation of
their slaves, and the offer had been refused. The
peninsula campaign against Richmond had not been
successful. The -national army had then been placed
under the command of General Pope. It had been
defeated with terrible loss, and had retreated in con-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

fusion to Washington, at the end of August, 1862 ;
and the prestige of General McClellan's name alone
had saved the capital from capture. The President
had left the White House, so imminent was the danger,
and had gone to General McClellan's residence, and
implored him to take command of all the troops for
the defence of the capital ; and a locomotive was^
kept at the depot, with steam up day and night, ready
to convey Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stanton away to Balti
more in case the Confederates should attack Wash
ington.

Such was the situation, when Mr. Lincoln was
called upon to adopt a course of policy toward Mexico.
And here it must be remembered who caused the war,

; and for what purpose it was waged. The war origin
ated in a systematic co^spl1^/ ou the part of the
leaders of the radical Republican party, of whom Mr.
Lincoln was one, for the conquest and subjugation of

1 the Southern States. Any person with a calm and
unprejudiced mind, who will sit down and study the
political history of the country for the last forty years,
can plainly trace this conspiracy through the whole
of that long period. It took its rise in that spirit of
intolerance which has always been the distinguishing
trait of New England Puritanism. This spirit of in
tolerance had swept all over the Northern States, and
wherever it could make its influence felt, it compelled
men to abandon the most cherished convictions of their

ftfc

MEXICO UXPER MAXIMILIAN.

lives, and to conform to the rigid, unbending standard
of Puritan morality and politics.

The conspiracy was successful in driving the
Southern States to secede, so as to have a pretext for
making war on them. It was also successful in ex
citing the North to make war on them, by pretending
that it should be a war for the restoration of the
Union. Left alone, there was a possibility that the
North, after a war of some years' duration, might sub
jugate the Southern States and impose upon them
whatever, conditions they pleased. But it was certain
that the North could not conquer the Southern States
if any European power should recognize the latter as
an independent government and enter into an alliance
with them. And there seemed reason to fear that this
would take place.- England was building magnificent

iron-clad vessels for the South ; and all through Mr.

•

Seward's diplomatic correspondence, in 1862, are ex
pressions of fear that the Emperor^Napoleon might
recognize the South.

One or two instances of this must suffice here for illus
tration. On the 15th of September, 1863, the Minister
(of Foreign Affairs wrote as follows to the French
minister at Washington :

"PARIS, September 15, 1863.

" Mr. Dayton, the American minister, has been moved
at certain rumors which appear lately to have obtained
some credit at Paris, and he has come to converse with

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 161

me about them. According to these reports, the Em
peror's government has decided to recognize the South
ern States, and a treaty has even been alread}7 signed,
according to which the new confederacy is to cede to
France, Texas and a part of Louisiana."

On the 9th of October, 1863, Mr. Seward wrote to
Mr. Dayton, our minister to Franco :

" We know from many sources, and even from the
direct statement of the Emperor of France, that on the
breaking out of the insurrection he adopted the then
current opinion of European statesmen that the efforts
of this government to suppress it would be unsuccessful.
To this pre-judgment we attribute his agreement with
Great Britain to act in concert with her upon interna
tional questions which might arise out of the conflict,
his practical concession of a belligerent character to the
insurgents, his repeated suggestions of accommodations
by this government with the insurgents, and his con
ferences on the subject of a recognition. These proceed
ings of the Emperor of France have been very injurious
to the United States by encouraging and thus prolonging
the insurrection. When recurring to what the Emperor
of France has already done, we cannot, at any time, feel
assured that, under mistaken impressions of our embar
rassments in consequence of a lamentable civil war, he
may not go further in the way of encouragement to the
insurgents, whose intrigues in Paris we understand and

do not underestimate. "
11

162 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

Of course, if the Emperor Napoleon should "go much
further in the way of encouragement to the insurgents"
than " he had already done ;" if " his conferences on the
subject of recognition" should lead him finally to re
cognize the South, then the grand conspiracy of the
radical Kepublicans, for the conquest and subjugation
of the Southern States, to which Mr. Lincoln was fully
committed, would have to be abandoned. What, then,
was to be done ?

There was Napoleon, making war against Mexico,
just as we, said the radical Kepublicans, are making
war against the South. If we interfere, we shall save
the Mexican republic, save Mexico from conquest,
baffle all of Napoleon's designs. If Napoleon inter
poses in our quarrel, he will save the cause for which
the South is fighting, will save the South from con
quest, will baffle all our designs. If we let Napoleon
alone, he can do what he pleases in Mexico. If we
can induce Napoleon to let us alone, we can do what
we please with the Southern States.

Thus Mr. Lincoln and the radical Eepublicans
reasoned, in 1862 ; and thus it was that no hand on
our part was raised to save the Mexican republic or
to vindicate the Monroe doctrine. This is the key to
the whole policy of the United States toward Mexico,
from 186J. to 1866. The Washington correspondent
of the "New York News," in a letter dated Washing
ton, December 30th, 1865, says :

MEXICO USDEK MAXIMILIAN. 163

How THE XORTII CONQUERED THE SOUTH.

* ^-

"It is a great mistake to suppose, or to say, that the

diplomatic correspondence of our government with
France, in regard to Mexican affairs, when it is sent in
to Congress, ' will show that our government has at no
time had any purpose or thought of abandoning the
Monroe doctrine.' On the other hand, that correspon
dence will show that the Monroe doctrine was aban
doned by the government, in 18G1 and 1862, when
Napoleon first began the execution of his designs in
Mexico, and communicated those designs to us. The
government clearly perceived at that time that if we de
clared our firm determination then to uphold the Monroe
doctrine, and not to permit the establishment of a mon
archy in Mexico, that Napoleon would recognize the
Southern Confederacy, and would then, after assisting
the South to gain her independence, establish a monarchy
in Mexico and enter into an alliance with the Southern
Confederacy. The proofs of this are scattered all
through Mr. Da}'ton's diplomatic correspondence, in
1862 and 1863; while, on the other hand, if we yielded
to what seemed a military necessit}^, gave a tacit consent
to Napoleon's operations against Mexico, and said noth
ing about the Monroe doctrine, we would thereby secure
Napoleon's neutrality and would be able to conquer the
South. I assert, and I defy contradiction, that this
alternative was considered at several successive Cabinet
meetings, in the fall and winter of 1861, and that the
latter was deliberately chosen. It was deliberately de-

164 MEXICO UN; Eii MAXIMILIAN.

cided by the government that the Monroe doctrine
should be sacrificed, in order that we might be able to
'whip the South.' We see the result to-day in the firm
establishment of the Mexican empire, a result which the
government must have foreseen. The only alternative
left to us now is to recognize that empire, or to go to
war with France, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and
England, in order to root it out. The idea that Maxi-^
milian will abdicate, or that he will be deserted by his
European allies, is too preposterous to be noticed."

On the 26th of September, 1863, Mr. Seward wrote
to Mr. Dayton, our minister to Paris : " The United
States have neither the right nor the disposition to
intervene by force on either side, in the war which is
going on between France and Mexico." On the elev
enth of the same month, he wrote to Mr. Motley, our
minister to Austria: "When France made war against
Mexico, we asked of France explanations of her ob
jects and purposes. She answered, that it was a war
for the redress of grievances; and that she did not
intend permanently to occupy or dominate in Mexico,
and that she should leave to the people of Mexico a
free choice of institutions of government. Under
these circumstances the United States adopted, and
they have since maintained, entire neutrality between
the belligerents, in harmony with the traditional
policy in regard to foreign wars.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 165

CHAPTER IX.

Policy of President Johnson's Administration toward Mexico — His Mes
sage in December, 1865 — Our Policy to be Based upon the Principle of
Non-intervention — We must Finally Recognize the Government de
Facto — Why Mr. Logan was Appointed Minister to Mexico — Why he
Refused the Appointment — Why Mr. Campbell was Appointed — Why
Mr. Campbell is Not Permitted to go to Mexico — Xo Constitutional
Republican Government in Mexico in Existence — Juarez a Usurper.

THE policy of the United States toward Mexico,
from 1861 to 1865, might have been right or wrong.
President Johnson had nothing to do with it. On
his accession to the Presidency, he found that the
republic of Mexico no longer existed, and that it
had been succeeded by an empire which was firmly
established, and which had been formally recognized
by the eight great powers of the earth. He found,
that of all the. great powers of the earth, the United
States was the only one that was not holding diplo
matic relations with Mexico. He found, that for
the first time in our history, the United States had
failed to recognize a de facto government. On fur
ther inquiry and study, he found it to be an un
questionable fact that the new government in Mexico
had been established by the will of the people, and
was heartily supported by nine tenths of the popu-

166 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN".

lation of Mexico, including all the honest and in
dustrious people, all the merchants, all the men of
wealth and property, all the educated and professional
men, and by the church. He found that it was
opposed solely by a few bands of guerillas.

The question for him to determine was, whether he
should interpose and uproot all this, and, by forcing
a republican government upon Mexico, throw back
that country into its former condition of anarchy and
weakness, or whether, on the other hand, he should
observe our settled policy of non-intervention in the
affairs of other nations, and leave Mexico to the
enjoyment of that government which she had chosen,
and under which, for three years, her people had
been so happy and prosperous.

The Washington correspondent of the New York
" News," in his letter of December 8, 1865, in speak
ing of the message which President Johnson had just
sent in to Congress, says :

" There is nothing either in the character of Andrew
Johnson, or in the circumstances by which he is sur
rounded, which require him to use the language of
ambiguity in speaking of the relations in which we
stand toward Mexico. If the government intends to
uphold the Monroe doctrine in Mexico, there is no
reason why the President should not plainly say so.
But he does not say it, nor can any such intention be
implied from what he does say. Napoleon has done a

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 167

certain work in Mexico. What he has done there is
finished and complete. There is nothing more for him
to do there. But the whole world knows what he has
done : namely, that he has established in Mexico a
strong and permanent government. Now, if Mr. John
son objected to that; if he objected to what Xapoleon
has done in Mexico ; if he intended to take any meas
ures to undo what Napoleon has done ; if he intended to
take any measures whatever for the expulsion of Maxi
milian and the resuscitation of the Mexican republic,
he would have said so, plainly and unequivocally, in
his message. But he says nothing of the kind. He
does not complain of or object to, any thing that Xapo-
leon has done in Mexico. lie does say, in a very vague
and indefinite manner, that we might protect ourselves
against designs inimical to our own government ; but
he does not say that the government has any design to
interfere in favor of a republic in Mexico. On the con-
traiy, alluding to the fact that the Mexicans seem to
have chosen a monachy instead of a republic, he says,
that " Republicanism is the only government suited to
our condition ; but we have never sought to impose it
upon others."

"INTENTIONS or THE GOVERNMENT TOWARD MEXICO.

" Again, in the whole Message there is not one word
of sympathy for the Mexican republic ; not one word
of regret that the republic has fallen, and has been suc
ceeded by an empire ; not one word of encouragement
to Juarez and his followers. This studied omission

168 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

must mean something. It can only mean that the gov
ernment does not feel any such sympathy or regret.
Mr. Johnson is not the man to suppress the sentiments
of the government on such a subject. A correspon
dence between the United States and France, on the
subject, is alluded to. We are not left in the dark as to
the nature of that correspondence. Napoleon's designs
in regard to Mexico have been plainly and unequivo
cally expressed, and have been bef6re the world ever
since 1863. He concealed nothing from the first. The
purpose which he had in view, and which was announced
as early as 1863, has been fully accomplished. There
is nothing more in Mexico for him to do; and he has no
'designs,' 'inimical' or otherwise, 'toward the United
States,' or 'against our government.' He has even
offered to withdraw from Mexico all the French troops,
if we will maintain our former neutrality toward Mexico.
On our part, the correspondence alluded to by the Presi
dent has been carried on by Mr. Seward. Mr. Seward
is not a man whose foreign policy is subject to sudden
changes. We have Mr. Seward's diplomatic correspon.
dence down to the end of the year 1864. We have his
letters to all of our foreign ministers long after the em
pire in Mexico was firmly established, and his instruc
tions to them on that subject. There is no ambiguity
in those letters. He speaks plainly and to the point.
And the whole tenor of what he says is this : that,
under no circumstances, will the United States inter
fere in what is going on in Mexico ; that we will con
tinue to preserve the most perfect neutrality between

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 169

the belligerents, and that in the end we will recognize
the government which shall be finally established."

The same writer, in another letter of the same date,
says, in relation to the appointment of Mr. Logan as
minister to the republic of Mexico : —

" General Logan arrived here last evening, and had
an interview with the President and Secretary of State
before the cabinet meeting to-day, lie stated to the
President that he would gladly accept the post of min
ister to Mexico, if the government would assure him
that our policy toward Mexico would be changed, and
that we would aid the liberals in Mexico in expelling
Maximilian and in restoring the republic ; but that he
positively declined the mission until he should receive
such assurances. The President informed him that he
could not give him those assurances ; that, up to this
time, the government had not determined to make any
change in its policy, Mr. Seward added that non-in
terference in the affairs of other nations was one of the
fundamental principles of our government ; that, so far
as it applied to Mexico, that policy had been adopted
when France made war against Mexico, in 1861, and
had been steadily adhered to ever since ; and there was
no reason for a departure from that policy now ; that
it would, on the other hand, be maintained and con
tinued ; that the Mexican people must be left free to
decide their form of government for themselves ; that, as
the President had stated in his message, " we have
never been the propagandists of republicanism, and have

170 MEXICO UXDER MAXIMILIAN.

never sought to impose our form of government upon
others ;" and that we must recognize the sovereignty
of Mexico in whatever form the Mexican people them-
selves choose to manifest it.

" Thus the matter ended ; and thus ends the delusion
that the American people indulged in when the appoint
ment of General Logan was first announced."

The same writer, in a letter to the "Chicago Times"
dated December 24, 1865, thus explains the subse
quent appointment of Mr. Campbell, in place of Mr.
Logan : —

" The appointment of Mr. Campbell is a tub thrown
to the whale. It was made from the same motives, and
with the same end in view, as Mr. Logan's appointment.
Our foreign affairs under this administration, are man
aged exclusively by Mr. Seward, precisely the same as
they were under the former administration. Mr.
Seward sees the necessity of making some concession
to the strong feeling in favor of the Monroe doctrine,
which has recently found such emphatic expression in
Congress ; and therefore he caused Mr. Campbell to be
appointed in place of Mr. Logan, who declined. But
the appointment of Mr. Campbell is not the fact upon
which the public should fix their attention. The great
point to be ascertained is, why did General Logan
refuse to accept the Mexican mission ? That is the
important point ; and on this point the readers of the
" Times" shall not be in the dark.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 171

General Logan was appointed November 14, 18G5.
He was selected because he had identified himself with
the Monroe doctrine and was prominently before the
public as an advocate for its enforcement, even by
force of arms, if necessary. The Democratic press
everywhere throughout the country hailed his appoint
ment, as affording a sure indication that our policy
toward Mexico would be changed, and that our govern
ment intended now to take an active stand in favor of
the Mexican republic. General Logan himself believed
so. But I ascertained, and stated before the end of
that month, that he was mistaken, and that, when he
discovered that fact, he would refuse to accept the
mission. The event has confirmed this statement. On
the 8th inst., he had a long interview with the Presi
dent and Secretary of State. For some days previously
Mr. Seward had been urging him to accept the appoint
ment. The time had now come when he must decide.
He frankly expressed his desire to go to Mexico, if he
could be assured that our policy toward that country
would be changed. But he declared his unwillingness
to go, unless the government intended to.extend some
substantial aid to the liberals. He was informed that
our policy of neutrality toward Mexico would remain
unchanged for the present, and he at once and peremp
torily refused the mission. What transpired at this
interview was kept a profound secret for ten days, and
in the meantime, the public was informed almost daily
that General Logan would probably accept. But, on
the 21st inst., the "Intelligencer" announced the appoint-

172 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

ment of Mr. Campbell ' in place of Mr. Logan who
declines.'

" Now who can believe that the policy of the adminis
tration, on an important question of foreign policy like
this, has changed since the 8th of December ? Depend
upon it, that policy is unchanged. But Mr. Campbell
is a different man from General Logan. I believe him
to be a man of ability, and a gentleman who would not
disgrace the diplomatic service of the country. But he
is not particularly distinguished as ' a Monroe doctrine
man,' and his appointment does not carry the weight
that Mr. Logan's did. And he was spoken of, only a
few weeks ago, by an able and usually accurate Wash
ington correspondent as a hanger-around bar-rooms and
saloons, and as a man who had already outlived his
influence. What is the precise nature of his instruc
tions, and what his course will be, I am as yet unable
to say. Your readers may be assured, however, on
two points : 1. That there is nothing in his instructions
which will lead the liberals in Mexico to expect any
aid from the United States, or that will bring about
hostilities between the United States and France ; and,
2. That the reasons which impel the United States to
appoint a minister to the Mexican republic are so well
understood at Paris that this appointment will not
affect the diplomatic relations between the United
States and France."

Our policy of neutrality toward Mexico is based
upon sound principles of international law. The

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 173

United States government, in 1862, acknowledged the
right of France to resort to war in order to enforce
her just claims against Mexico. That acknowledg
ment was of itself an engagement on the part of the
United States to recognize any de facto government
that might be the legitimate result of that war. See
Wheaton's International Law, Lawrence's edition.
That the government of the United States intended
that such a government de facto in Mexico should
eventually be recognized, is evident from Mr. Seward's
diplomatic correspondence.

THE TREATY WITH PRESIDENT JUAREZ.

But there are deeper and more important considera
tions, even than these, which require a brief historical
retrospect. In accordance with the Mexican constitu
tion Juarez was elected President in 1859. In 1860
our minister to Mexico negotiated a treaty with him,
which would have been vastly advantageous to us in
a commercial point of view, and would, in all proba
bility, have prevented the subsequent intervention by
England and France, and the present establishment of
the Mexican empire.

By this treaty the Mexican government granted the
right of way for railroad purposes, through the States
of Sonora and Chihuahua, with a protectorate over
the same ; in consideration of which the United States
agreed to loan Juarez four million dollars: What

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

would have been the result of the ratification of
this treaty ? In the first place, it would have firmly
established the constitutional republican government
of Mexico, under President Juarez. It would have
enabled the latter to have paid off the foreign debts
of Mexico, thus taking away all pretence for subse
quent French interference ; and, finally, it would have
enabled the Mexican people to demonstrate whether
or not they were capable of living under a republican
government. Besides that it would have given us an
opportunity, and the means of building a Southern
Pacific Kailroad, running through Texas, with its
western terminus at the seaport of Guaymas. Sup
pose the four million dollars had never been repaid,
what then ? "We would have a protectorate over the
whole of the two northern States of Mexico. They
would already be in our possession, and they would,
ultimately, have been ceded to the United States.

WHY WAS THE TREATY NOT KATIFIED ?

That treaty, however, failed to receive the ratifica
tion of the Senate. It is true that this treaty pledged
the United States to uphold the Monroe doctrine (as
it was then understood, and as it has been until now
understood) in Mexico. Was that the reason why it
was not ratified? Whatever the reason was, the
refusal of the Senate to ratify this treaty, prepared

MEXICO UXDER MAXIMILIAN. 175

the way for the downfall of tlic Mexican republic,
and opened the way for the establishment of the
empire.

Three years have elapsed since the establishment
of the Mexican empire. Its stability seems to be
beyond question. Can it be possible that a nation of
eight millions of people would have permitted this
state of things if they were, indeed, opposed to it?
It has been a favorite expression that the throne of
Maximilian is upheld by French bayonets. But that
is not true in the sense that it is intended. It is true
that the Mexican empire is upheld by the moral
force of France. Bat at any time during the last
eighteen months it has been within the power of the
Mexican nation to expel Maximilian and restore
Juarez and the republican government, if the Mexi
can people really wished to do so. But what have
they done? What has this nation of eight millions
of people done ? They have seen Juarez driven from
Mexico to San Luis Potosi, from San Luis to Chihua
hua, from Chihuahua to El Paso del Xorte. From
fifty thousand troops which he had when the French
began the siege of Puebla, his forces have dwindled
down to twenty thousand, to ten thousand, to four
thousand, and at last to a few bands >f scattered
guerillas and robbers. Would the M' an nation
have permitted this if they really wislit' . 'public?

176 MEXICO UXDKR MAXIMILIAN.

WHY HAVE WE NOT ASSISTED MEXICO?

It is true they have been disappointed in not
receiving from the United States that assistance in
their struggle which they felt they had a right to
look for from a powerful sister republic, contiguous
to their own. Why was this? When Juarez fled
from Mexico to San Luis, in June, 1863, he invited
our Minister Mr. Corwin, to go with him. Mr. Cor-
win declined, and Mr. Seward wrote to him on the 8th
of August, 1863, that the President approved of his
decision in so declining. Since that time we have not
even pretended to maintain any diplomatic relations
with the republican government of Mexico in 4hat
country. Appeal after appeal has been made by
Juarez for aid, but the United States Government has
maintained a cold and studied indifference. On the
15th of December, 1862, Mr. Seward wrote to M.
Romero : " The United States laments the war which
has arisen between the republic of Mexico and France.
Since it has unhappily occurred, however, they can
act in regard to it only on the principles which have
always governed their conduct in similar cases." In
other words, we would recognize the government de
facto, by whichever party it might be in the end
established. On the 26th of September, 1863, Mr.
Seward wrote to our Minister at the Austrian Court :
" The events which are occurring in Mexico are

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN". 177

regarded as incidents of the Avar between France and
Mexico" (the French were then in possession of the
Mexican capital, and the crown had been offered to
an Austrian Prince). On the 23d of October, 1863,
Mr. Seward -wrote to our minister in England that
Maximilian had declared his willingness to accept the
imperial throne in Mexico if he shall be called to it by
the voice of the Mexican nation ; and concludes his
dispatch by saying: "The United States can do no
otherwise than leave the destinies of Mexico in the
keeping of her own people, and recognize their
sovereignty and independence in whatever form they
themselves shall choose that this sovereignty and
independence shall be manifested." On the 26th of
September, 1863, Mr. Seward also wrote to Mr. Day
ton : " The United States have neither the right nor
the disposition to intervene by force, on either side,
in the lamentable war which is going on between
France and Mexico. They have neither a right nor
a disposition to intervene by force in the internal
affairs of Mexico, .whether to establish or maintain a
republic or to overthrow an imperial government, if
Mexico chooses to accept it."

OUR GOVERNMENT WILL FINALLY RECOGNIZE THE
EMPIRE.

These extracts from Mr. Seward's dispatches plainly
imply two things, as the supposition that he has cor-

178 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

rectly expressed the views of the government : 1st.
That from the day when the French began the siege
of Puebla, the administration had determined to look
on and see the life squelched out of the Mexican
republic, before we would raise a ringer to prevent
it: — and 2d. That as soon as Maximilian's empire is
firmly established, the United States will recognize it,
as that manifestation of the sovereignty and indepen
dence of Mexico which her own people shall have
chosen. What then becomes of the Monroe doc
trine ? Let it rather be asked

WHAT IS THE MONROE DOCTRINE ?

Is the popular understanding of it, the correct one ?
Does it mean that we must maintain a republic in
Mexico, when the Mexicans themselves have submit
ted to the establishment of an empire ? Does it mean
that we must force a republic upon Mexico, when
the Mexicans themselves have chosen an empire ?

That Mexico has a perfect right to choose her own
form of government : — and that the United Stated are
bound to recognize that government, whatever form
it may assume, whenever it becomes firmly established,
are principles that have always been regarded, recog
nized, and acknowledged, as among the fundamental
rules of our national policy.

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 179

MUST WE ADD A GREEN ELEPHANT TO OUR MEN
AGERIE !

Now it is certain that such a state of things as exists
in Mexico at the present time, and has been brought
about by the present existing government, has never
existed in Mexico at any previous period of her his
tory. What has been the history of Mexico for the
last fifty years ? Has it not been a history of continual
civil war and commotion ? Has not that unhappy
country been torn by faction, and by the quarrels of
the different races by which it has been inhabited, for
a period far beyond the recollection of most of my
readers ? Has not Mexico been dismembered because
she could never establish or maintain for herself a
government of sufficient stability to pay her debts?
Suppose our government does demand the with
drawal of Maximilian and the demand is acceded
to. Do we wish to plunge Mexico again into her for
mer troubles and anarchy ? Do we wish to see re-
enacted the civil wars of Santa Anna, of Altamont,
of Arista, of Comonfort, of Miramon and of Juarez ?
Do we wish to do over again the work that Maximilian
has done so well, and that we are anxious to undo ?
Is not the white elephant and the black elephant
that we already have on our hands quite as much
menagerie as we can manage? Must we have

180 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

a green elephant also ? Does the Monroe doctrine
require this ?

TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF THE DOCTRINE.

There are two interpretations to the Monroe doctrine.
According to one, we would be bound tore-establish a
republican government in Mexico, even to the extent
of going to war against France, and even if it should
manifestly appear that the Mexican people themselves
desire, and have chosen a monarchy. It is believed
by those who are best informed on the subject, that
there are few members of Congress who hold this to
be the true interpretation of the doctrine. According
to the other interpretation we are bound to leave the
Mexican people to decide for themselves what form of
government they prefer, and we are further bound to
acquiesce in that decision. I am aware that this is a
novel interpretation of the Monroe doctrine. But this
is probably the interpretation which Mr. Seward puts
upon it, and there is reason to believe that this view
will meet with a warm support in the next Congress.
If we insist upon the enforcement of the Monroe doc
trine under the first interpretation, and as it has been
popularly but perhaps erroneously understood, we will
be obliged to give up and abandon another, equally
cherished, and equally important principle of our
government. That, to acknowledge and recognize

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 181

the government de facto whenever such a government

has been established.

OUR SETTLED POLICY TO RECOGNIZE THE GOVERN
MENT DE FACTO.

This principle has been well settled, and has always
been acted on by our government without deviation.
Oar ministers abroad have always been imperatively
instructed to act upon it. The diplomatic correspond
ence of Daniel Webster, of Edward Everett, of Henry
Clay, and of Lewis Cass, when these gentlemen were
severally Secretary of State, is full of such instruc
tions, and abounds in illustrations of this principle.
The present Secretary of State has had nothing to do
but to follow those illustrious precedents. And he has
followed them. In the case of Mexico he has been par
ticular in instructing our ministers abroad that the
United States would not interfere with what has been
going on in Mexico during the last four years, and
that we would, in the end, recognize the government
which should be de facto established.

On the 15th of December, 1862, after the French
army had landed at Vera Cruz, but before active oper
ations had been commenced, Mr. Seward wrote to Mr.
Eornero: "The United States deplore the war which
has arisen between the republic of Mexico and France.
They are not, however, a party to that war, and they

182 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

can act in regard to it only upon principles which
have always governed them heretofore, in similar
cases." On the llth of September, 1863, after the cap
ture of the City of Mexico by the French, Mr.
Seward, in a letter to our minister at Vienna, says :
" The United States adopted and have maintained
entire neutrality between the belligerents, in har
mony with the traditional policy in regard to for
eign wars." And on the 9th of October, the same
year, he writes to Mr. Motley, at. Vienna: "The
United States practice, in regard to Mexico, in every
phase of the war, the non-intervention which they
require," etc. And on the 23d of October, 1863,
he wrote to our Minister to England: "The United
States, consistently with their principles, can do no
otherwise than leave the destinies of Mexico in the
keeping of her own people, and recognize their sover
eignty and independence in whatever form they them
selves shall choose that this sovereignty and. indepen
dence shall be manifested."

No one can read these extracts from Mr. Seward's
diplomatic correspondence, and compare them with
what had then taken place in Mexico, without being
convinced that it never was the intention of the pre
ceding administration to save the Mexican republic
from extinction ; nay, without being convinced that
the preceding administration had foreseen, from the
first, that the Mexican republic was doomed to ex-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 183

tinction, and bad made up their minds to acquiesce in
that extinction. The triple alliance of France, Eng
land and Spain, against Mexico, was concluded by a
treaty signed at London, October, 31, 1861, of which
our government had immediate notice. Did our gov
ernment protest against this? Not at all. The allied
forces landed at Yera Cruz during the succeeding
winter. Still no protest. On the other hand our gov
ernment acquiesced in the justice of the war made by
France against Mexico, and thus bound ourselves to
recognize the government which should be established
by the successful belligerent.

After a careful study of Mr. Seward's diplomatic
correspondence, it is impossible to doubt that he
clearly foresaw that such a government as would be
established in Mexico by Napoleon and Maximilian
would be gratefully received and eagerly embraced
by the Mexican people ; and that they themselves, in
the course of two or three years, would rally around
it and secure its perpetuity. In his dispatch to Mr.
Motley, our minister to Austria, October 9, 1863,
he says : " "War exists between France and Mexico.
The United States has neither a right nor any dispo
sition to intervene by force in the internal affairs of
Mexico, whether to establish or to maintain a repub
lican or even a domestic government there, or to over
throw an imperial or a foreign one, if Mexico shall
choose to establish or accept it." And, in a dispatch

184 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

* no

the

to Mr. Dayton, our minister to France, on the 23d of
October, 1863, lie says: "The United States can do
otherwise than leave the destinies of Mexico in
the keeping of her own people, and recognize their
. sovereignty and independence in whatever form they
themselves shall choose that this sovereignty and in
dependence shall be manifested." These are weighty
words. Let them be carefully examined. They can
bear only one interpretation, namely, that the United
' * States has no right to force, and will not force, a
republic upon Mexico, if the Mexican people desire a
monarchy ; and that the United States must and will
recognize the present government of Mexico as soon
as it shall become apparent that it is the choice of the
Mexican people.

MEXICO UNTEll MAXIMILIAN. 185

CHAPTER X.

What is the Monroe Doctrine ? — Is it a Constitutional Enactment? — Is it
an Irrepealable Law ? — Absurdity of the Doctrine — It has no Binding
Force — Why it ought to be Repudiated.

THE opposition to the Mexican empire, in the
United States, arises chiefly from an impression which
prevails, to the effect that the present government in
Mexico has been established in contravention of the
Monroe doctrine, and that it is incumbent upon the
people of the United States to support that doctrine,
even to the extent of destroying the government which
has existed in Mexico for the last three years. The
impression prevails in regard to the Monroe doctrine,
that, although it is no more than the mere dictum of
one man, uttered forty-three years ago, yet it consti
tutes a law of binding force which there is no power
in the American people to repeal, which never can be
repealed ; which must forever remain in full force ;
which, although given to a former generation, must
be observed by the present generation and all subse
quent generations ; and that this doctrine requires the
United States to take Mexico under our special protec
tion, and to force a certain form of government upon
her, even when her people desire another form of gov-

186 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

ernment. The popular understanding of the Monroe
doctrine is, that the Mexican people are to be forever
debarred from the exercise of the right enjoyed by all
nations, of choosing their form of government for
themselves. The popular understanding of the Mon
roe doctrine is, that republicanism is the only form
of government that Mexico can ever have, and that
the United States must force the Mexicans to have
that, and to have no other form of government.

What is this Monroe doctrine ? Is it a part of the
Constitution of the United States, which can never be
amended ? No : it is not a part of the Constitution.
Is it an irrepealable law ? Is it a law passed by Con
gress and signed by the President ? No : it is not
even a law, unless Mr. Monroe had the individual
right to make laws. Was he ever empowered to
make laws ? laws, too, which can never be repealed ?

In these latter days we have dared to lay our hands
upon the Constitution ; to expunge from it one article,
and to alter and amend it in other respects. Is the
Monroe doctrine something superior to that sacred
instrument? Are we to be told that the Constitution
is nothing ; that it may be tinkered and patched at
pleasure; but that we are to touch not the Monroe
doctrine ?

Let us examine, and see what this Monroe doc
trine is.

In the first place, the Monroe doctrine did not

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 187

originate with Mr. Monroe. It is of British origin.
It originated with the eminent British statesman,
Mr. Canning. Mr. Canning first suggested the ideas
to Mr. Rush, our minister to England, Mr. Rush wrote
them out and sent them to John Quincy Adams, our
Secretary of State, and Mr. Adams communicated
them to Mr. Monroe, and prevailed upon him to
introduce them into his message. Mr. Buchanan
gives all the facts, as follow :

" The allied powers of Europe had triumphed over
Napoleon, and had restored the elder branch of the
Bourbons, in the person of Louis XVIII. to the throne
of France. Emboldened by this success, Russia, Aus
tria, and Prussia, in 1815, formed the holy alliance.
To this France, and nearly all the other continental
powers, soon afterward acceded. Great Britain, how
ever, stood aloof and refused to become a party to it.
The object of the allies was to abolish liberal govern
ments on the continent of Europe, and to maintain the
divine right of sovereigns to rule according to their
own discretion ; in short, to roll back the tide of pro
gress toward free institutions, and to restore the old
despotisms as the}- had existed before the French revo
lution. Accordingly France was deputed to destroy
by force of arms, the liberal government of the Cortes
in Spain, and to restore the implacable and bigoted
Ferdinand VII. to absolute power. In 1823, a French
army, commanded by the Duke d'Angouleme, invaded

183 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

Spain, and in a single campaign accomplished these
objects.

" In the year before the date of this expedition, the
government of the United States had formally ac
knowledged the independence of the different southern
republics, formerly Spanish colonies ; and an appropria
tion of one hundred thousand dollars had been made
(May 4, 1822,) by Congress to defray the expenses of
missions to these ' independent nations on the Ameri
can continent.'

" Whilst the French invasion was in successful pro
gress, the British government became satisfied that the
allies, after crushing the Spanish liberals, intended to
employ their arms in assisting Ferdinand VII to subju
gate what they termed his rebellious colonies on this
side of the Atlantic. To such an enterprise Great
Britain was strenuously opposed, and she resolved to
resist it If successful, this would prove to be a severe
blow to her trade in that quarter of the world — an in
terest to which she has ever been sensitively alive.

" To avert the impending danger, Mr. Canning, then
the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, in August,
1823, proposed to Mr. Hush, then the American minis
ter in London, that the two governments should im
mediately unite in publishing ' a joint declaration before
Europe,' manifesting their opposition to the policy and
purposes of the alliance in regard to this continent.
This expressed the opinion that the recovery of the
colonies by Spain was hopeless ; that their recognition
as independent States was one of time and circum-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 189

stances ; that the two powers were not disposed, however
to interpose obstacles in the way to any arrangements
by amicable negotiations between the colonies and
Spain, but that, whilst they aimed at the acquisition of
no portion of these colonies for themselves, they would
not see the transfer of any of them to a third power
with indifference. Mr. Canning also observed that in
his opinion such a joint declaration by Great Britain
and the United States would alone prove sufficient to
prevent the allies from any forcible interference against
the former Spanish colonies. For those reasons he
earnestly urged Mr. Hush to become a party to it on
behalf of his government. Although Mr. Rush had no
direct instructions to warrant him in such an act, and
this he had communicated to Mr. Canning, }-et he
wisely agreed to assume the responsibility, but upon
one express condition. This was that the British
government should first acknowledge the independence
of the American republics, as the United States had
already done. Mr. Canning, though resolved on defeat
ing the projects of alliance against the republics, was
not prepared at the time to take this decisive step, and
therefore the joint declaration was never made.

"Mr. Bush, in his dispatch of September 10, 1823, to
Mr. John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, com
municated to him a lucid statement' of these negotia
tions, with explanatory documents. After these had
been considered by President Monroe, he sent them,
with his own views on the subject, to Mr. Jefferson, and
asked his advice as to the course which ought to be

190 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

pursued by the government to ward off the threatened
danger.

"Mr. Jefferson's answer is dated at Monticello, on
the 24th of October, 1823. It is earnest, enthusiastic,
and eloquent, displaying in old age the statesmanlike
sagacity and ardent patriotism of the author of the
Declaration of Independence. It foreshadows and re
commends the ' Monroe doctrine' to the fullest extent.
From its importance we quote it entire from Randall's
Life of Jefferson, vol. iii., p. 491. Mr. Jefferson sa}^s :
' The question presented by the letters you have sent
me is the most momentous which has ever been offered
to my contemplation since that of independence. That
made us a nation ; this sets our compass and points the
course which we are to steer through the ocean of time
opening on us, and never could we embark on it under
circumstances more auspicious. Our iirst fundamental
maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves in the
broils of Europe. Our second, never to suffer Europe
to meddle with cis-Atlantic affairs. America, North and
South, has a set of interests distinct from those of
Europe, and peculiar!}7 her own. She should, therefore,
have a system of her own, separate and apart from that
of Europe. While the last is laboring to become the
domicil of despotism, our endeavor should surely be to
make our hemisphere that of freedom. One nation,
most of all, could disturb us in this pursuit; she now
offers to lead, aid, and accompany us in it. By acceding
to our proposition we detach her from the bands of
despots, bring her mighty weight into the scale of free

MEXICO UXDKR MAXIMILIAN. 191

government, and emancipate a continent at one stroke,
which might otherwise linger long in doubt and difficulty.
Great Britain is the nation which can do us the most
harm of any one, or all on earth ; and with her on our
side, we need not fear the whole world. With her, then,
we should most seriously cherish a cordial friendship,
and nothing would tend more to unite our affections
than to be fighting once more side by side in the same
cause. Not that I would purchase even her amity at
the price of taking part in her wars. But the war in
which the present proposition might engage us, should
that be its consequence, is not her war, but ours. Its
object is to introduce and establish the American sys
tem of keeping out of our land all foreign powers, of
never permitting those of Europe to intermeddle with
the affairs of our nations. It is to maintain our own
principle, not to depart from it ; and if, to facilitate this,
we can effect a division in the body of the European
powers, and draw over to our side its most powerful
member, surely we should do it. But I am clearly of
Mr. Canning's opinion, that it will prevent instead of
provoke war. With Great Britain withdrawn from their
scale and shifted into that of our two continents, all
Europe combined would not undertake such a war.
For how would they propose to get at either enemy
without superior fleets? Xor is the occasion to be
slighted which this proposition offers of declaring our
protest against the atrocious violations of the rights of
nations by the interference of any one in the internal
affairs of another so flagitiously begun by Bonaparte,

192 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

and now continued by the equally lawless alliance call
ing itself holy.

" ' But we have first to ask ourselves a question : Do
we wish to acquire to our own confederacy any one or
more of the Spanish provinces ? I candidly confess
that I have ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting
addition that could ever be made to our system of
States. The control which, with Florida Point, this
island would give us over the Gulf of Mexico, and the
countries and isthmus bordering thereon, would fill up
the measure of our political well-being. Yet as I am
sensible that this can never be obtained, even with her
own consent, but by war, and its independence, which is
our second interest (and especially its independence of
England), can be secured without it, I have no hesitation
in abandoning my first wish to future chances, and
accepting its independence, with peace and the friend
ship of England, rather than its association at the ex
pense of war and her enmity.

" ' I could honestly, therefore, join in the declaration
proposed : that we aim not at the acquisition of any of
those possessions ; that we will not stand in the way of
any amicable arrangement between them and the mother
country ; but that we will oppose, with all our means,
the forcible interposition of any other power as auxili
ary, stipendiary, or under any pretext, and most espe
cially their transfer to any other power by conquest,
cession, or acquisition in any other way. I should think
it advisable, therefore, that the Executive should encour
age the British government to a continuance in the

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 193

dispositions expressed in these letters, by an assurance
of his concurrence with them as far as his authorit^y
goes ; and that, as it may lead to war, the declaration
of which requires an act of Congress, the case shall be
laid before them for consideration, at their first meeting,
and under the reasonable aspect in which it is seen by
himself.

" ' I have been so long weaned from political subjects,
and have so long ceased to take any interest in them,
that I am sensible I am not qualified to offer opinions
on them worthy of any attention. But the question
now proposed involves consequences so lasting, and
effects so decisive of our future destinies, as to rekindle
all the interest I have heretofore felt on such occasions,
and to induce me to the hazard of opinions which will
prove only my wish to contribute still my mite toward
any thing which may be useful to our country. And,
praying you to accept it only at what it is worth, I add
the assurance of my constant and affectionate friendship
and respect.'

" President Monroe, thus fortified by the support of
Mr. Jefferson, proceeded to announce in his seventh
annual message to Congress, of December 2, 1823, the
now celebrated 'Monroe doctrine.' This summed up in
his assertion, ' as a principle in which the rights and in
terests of the United States are involved, that the two
American continents, by the free and independent condi
tion they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth
not to be considered as subjects for future colonization

by any European powers.' "
13

194 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

It is from tlio above modest dimension that the
Monroe doctrine of the present day has grown, and it
may safely be said that Monroe himself would fail to
recognize his offspring in its gigantic proportions of
to-day. Mr. Monroe speaks of certain independent
governments. He says that no European power must
oppress them, nor control their destiny in any other
manner. He says that the two American continents
are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for
future colonization by any European power. He does
not say that we will go to war to vindicate this doc
trine. But he merely says that a violation of these
principles will be regarded as the manifestation of an
unfriendly spirit toward us.

That is all.

HAS MAXIMILIAN VIOLATED THE MONROE DOCTRINE?

Now apply these principles to Mexico. Have they
been violated by Napoleon and Maximilian ? Are the
Mexicans " oppressed" by the imperial government;
or, on the other hand, have they been delivered from
oppression ?

In the second place, it is evident that the Monroe
doctrine was put forth with reference to a certain
state of things existing at that time, and chiefly be
cause the English government desired it. The com
mercial supremacy of England was threatened with
a certain danger. The interests of England and those

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 195

of the United States happened to be identical at the
time, and Mr. Canning had no difficulty in persuading
our government to take the ground that he desired,
and which ground, taken by us, would and did avert
from England the threatened danger. The idea run
ning through the whole of Mr. Jefferson's letter is
plainly seen to be, a virtual alliance with England, in
order to break up certain designs of some of the other
European nations. Mr. Jefferson says we must never
suffer Europe to meddle with cis-Atlantic affairs. Mr.
Monroe does not go so far as that. Indeed, that
doctrine would carry us far beyond our strength,
great as that is. If "Europe " once made up its mind
to meddle with the affairs of any nation in America
except ours, we should be compelled either to permit
such interference, or else to risk our own nationality
in a war with the great European powers.

How absurd it is in the American people to fancy
that Mr. Monroe could make a "doctrine" which
should constitute an irrepealable law to all future gen
erations ! Suppose Mr. Monroe had enunciated certain
dogmas about commerce or about finance, sound at
that time, but which the experience of forty years has
proved erroneous, would we be foolish enough to ad
here to such financial or commercial errors now, mere
ly because they had been doctrines of Mr. Monroe ?
Most certainly not. Would we not have the right to
repudiate them now ?

196 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

Suppose we should change the form of our own
government, and choose a monarchy ? The event is
not impossible. All the republics that ever existed
in the world, the republics of Greece, the republics of
Kome, and the republics of modern times, have all
fallen, and each one has been succeeded by a monarchy.
What reason have we to suppose that our republic will
prove an exception? The decline of constitutional
liberty in America has already commenced. Com
menced ! did I say ? It commenced in 1848 and 1850,
when the Northern States refused to perform their con
stitutional obligations toward the South : and it has
been progressing with frightful velocity during the
last six years. What kind of republican government
is enjoyed in Maryland and Missouri, where two thirds
of the citizens are disfranchised, and those the oldest
and most respected citizens of those States ? What
kind of a republican government is that in Missouri,
where, until the 14th day of January, 1867, a clergy
man could not preach nor perform any of the holy
offices of religion, without first taking an iron-clad
test-oath — an oath repugnant to the conscience of
every Christian, and which the Supreme Court of the
United States lias pronounced to be entirely illegal
and unconstitutional ? What kind of republican
government is that enjoyed by the ten Southern States,
with their representatives excluded from Congress,

MEXICO UNDKH MAXIMILIAN. 197

and with every prospect of negro suffrage "being forced
upon them ? ^

Would it not be well for us to settle among our
selves what republican government is, before we
insist upon forcing it upon the Mexicans who detest
it in any form ? Mr. Thaddeus Stevens says, in his
place in the House of Representatives, that Pennsyl
vania is not a republic, and never has been. Mr.
Thaddeus Stevens proclaims that the United States has
not now, and never has had, a republican form of
government. We are to force upon Mexico therefore,
not the kind of a government that we have enjoyed
during the whole period of our national existence,
and under which we became, until 1800, such a pros
perous, happy, and powerful nation, but some other
kind of a government, which the radical politicians
now in powrer, fancy to be a republic. According to
Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, a republic is a
government where thirty-six States are governed by
twenty-five, and where the twenty-five force upon the
other eleven institutions which are repugnant to them.

The Hon. Mr. Doolittle, Senator of the United
States, in a speech, recently delivered at Philadelphia,
said : —

" Our fathers in the Declaration of Independence,
you remember, declared, ' we will hold the people of
Great Britain as we do the rest of mankind, enemies in
war, in peace friends.' Fellow-citizens, is it the best

198 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

way to make peace to say to these ten States, with six
or eight millions of people, covering a country as large
as England and France and Italy and Germany all put
together : ' You shall have 110 representatives in Con
gress ; you shall have taxation without representation ;
we will tax you by millions ; we will govern you by the
representatives of the twenty-six other States ; you
shall have no voice in the government that taxes and
governs you ?' Is that the way to make peace ?
Fellow-citizens, I say most solemnly we have never
given to that people an}' just cause for revolution or
rebellion against the government of the United States ;
but if we continue to do as this majority in Congress
has during the last year, deny to that people the right
of representation, tax them without representation,
govern them, and give them no voice in the government
we shall give to them the same cause for rebellion and
revolution which our fathers had for rebelling against
Great Britain. I ask you, fellow-citizens, is that the
way to make peace ? Is that the way to restore fra
ternity? Is that the way to re-establish the Union?
God forbid."

But if Mr. Monroe had.1i "doctrine," Mr. Jefferson
had one too. Mr. Jefferson's doctrine was, 'that each
one of the States is sovereign, and that a State has a
right to secede from the Union. If Mr. Monroe's
doctrine is sound, and of binding force, why not that
of Mr. Jefferson's ?

MEXICO UXDER MAXIMILIAN. 199

CHAPTER XI.

Policy of the Emperor Xapoleon toward Mexico — Objects of the French
Expedition — The Emperor Xever Intended the French Troops to Remain
Long in Mexico — The Arrangements for the Withdrawal of the French
Troops were not made until the Stability of the Empire was Secured —
Detailed Exposition, by the French Government, of the Objects and
Purposes of the Emperor Xapoleon — Principles upon which the Mexican
Empire was Established — Why it is Supported by Xapoleon — The
Xegotiations between France and the United States for the Withdrawal
of the French Troops — France Desires a Guarantee of Xeutrality on
the Part of the United States — Mr. Seward Gives the Guarantee of
Xeutrality.

IT has been made an objection to the Mexican
empire, that it was not only established by a French
army, but that it was the intention of the Emperor to
keep it supported by a French army. I have already
shown that the empire was established by the Mexican
people themselves. I shall now produce some facts
which will show the groundlessness of the latter
objection. I shall prove that the Emperor Xapoleon
alwa}Ts intended that the French expedition should be
brought to as speedy a termination as possible, and
that the French troops should return to France as
soon as they had afforded to the Mexican people the
necessary aid to enable them to establish their govern
ment. In his instructions to General Bazaine, August

200 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

17, 1863, he says: "The reorganization of the Mexi
can army is one of the most important questions
which should occupy your attention and that of the
provisional government. It is the duty of the Minis
ter of War to transmit special instructions to you on
this point. I will confine myself to saying that the
desire of the French government being to restrict, as
promptly as circumstances will permit, the extent and
duration of our occupation, it is essential that this
reorganization should be pushed forward with all
possible activity."

On the 17th of August 1865, the French govern
ment wrote to the Marquis de Montholon, French
Minister at Washington, "We have already with
drawn some of our troops from Mexico, and we shall
recall them all gradually, according to the re-establish
ment of order and the pacification of the country.
We look forward with the sincerest wishes to the day
when the last French soldier shall quit Mexico."

On the 18th of October, 1865, the French govern
ment wrote as follows to the Marquis de Montho
lon : —

''MONSIEUR DROUYN DE LHUYS TO THE MARQUIS
DE MONTHOLON. — (Confidential.)

" [Translation.]
"MlNISTRE DES AFFAIRES ElRANGERES,

"PARIS, October 18, 1865.

" MONSIEUR LE MARQUIS : — I have taken several
occasions since two months to advise you of the dis-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 201

positions of the Imperial government concerning the
duration of the occupation of Mexico by the French
troops. I told yon, in my despatch of August It, that
we called with our most sincere wishes for the day
when the last French soldier should leave the country
and that the Cabinet of Washington could contribute
to hasten that moment. On the 2d of September I
renewed to }~ou the assurance of our strong desire to
withdraw our auxiliary corps so soon as circumstances
should allow it."

On the 10th of January, 1866, M. Drouyn de Lhuys,
the French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
handed to Mr. Bigelow a memorandum in writing,
which says :

" [Translation. — Memorandum.]

" The "Washington Cabinet recognizes the right which
we have, like any sovereign nation, to make war on
Mexico. On our side we desire to observe the principle
of non-intervention. Does not the approximating of
these two points offer the basis of a common under
standing ?

" To make war is not only to overthrow fortifications
and kill a certain number of men, it is especially to
assure a right infringed upon, the vindication of which
has rendered necessary the employment of arms. Until
this end is fully attained, the means of execution inci
dent to war remain legitimate. In Mexico we hope to
obtain before long the guarantees which we have sought

202 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

and which are to complete our final arrangements with
the Emperor Maximilian. At that moment the mission
of our troops will be accomplished, and they can return
to France."

The public mind in the United States has been con
fused and perplexed in regard to the Mexican ques
tion, and has been led to form wrong conclusions as
to what national honor and our national interests re
quire of us, in regard to its settlement. The idea has
been put prominently forward, that the Emperor
Napoleon regrets what he has done in Mexico ; that
it was a great mistake on his part ; that he is anxious
to wash his hands of the whole affair ; and that he
withdraws the French troops from Mexico in order to
leave Maximilian to his fate, and because he believes
that the empire in Mexico cannot stand without
French bayonets : a support which he finds to be too
costly for him longer to afford. This idea is radically
erroneous.

OBJECTS OF THE FRENCH EXPEDITION.

Napoleon organized the expedition to Mexico with
certain objects in view. These objects were, in brief,
first, to deliver the Mexican people from that condi
tion of anarchy and helplessness under which they
had groaned for forty years, deluded by the name of
a republic, but which was a republic only in name ;
second, to offer to the Mexican nation a government

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 203

whose stability should be guaranteed by the great
powers of Europe, and which should secure to the
Mexican people as perfect and the same liberty that
is enjoyed by the people of England, France, or any
other well regulated, constitutional monarchy, and all
the other blessings of a good and stable government ;
third, to inaugurate and set on foot measures for the
development of the vast and inexhaustible mineral
resources and agricultural wealth of Mexico ; fourth,
to give to Mexico those facilities for transportation, in
the shape of railroads, which would enable her to
enjoy her full share of the great carrying trade be
tween Europe and the East Indies.

THESE OBJECTS HAVE BEEN FULLY ACCOMPLISHED.

These objects are now regarded by Napoleon as
having been accomplished. The government which
Napoleon offered to the Mexican people was accepted
by them, first by the Assembly of Notables, and after
ward by the cheerful acquiescence of four fifths of the
Mexican people. No one who is well informed on
Mexican affairs disputes this, nor can it be denied
that four fifths of the Mexican people are ardently at
tached to Maximilian's government, and sincerely
desire its continuance. The stability and perpetuity
of this government is beside guaranteed by the stipu
lations of a treaty between France, Austria. Belgium
and Maximilian.

201 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

The Emperor Napoleon therefore, can not only
look with pride upon his work, but he can leave it,
and withdraw the French troops, with the full know
ledge that the Mexican people themselves will sustain
the empire, the government of their own choice. In
establishing this government, Napoleon was no doubt
moved by a laudable and honorable ambition. Hav
ing established it, therefore, upon a firm and durable
basis, his first care was to secure its permanence and
stability. He knew that it would be vain to look for
its recognition by the United States, until its ability
to sustain itself had been demonstrated. He took
pains to provide the Emperor Maximilian, therefore,
with able and experienced officers for every depart
ment of his government, civil as well as military ;
and, second, to make such treaties with the great
powers of Europe as should secure the end he had in
view. By the means alluded to under the first head,
the internal administration of affairs in Mexico for the
last two years, has been such as to make that country
prosperous and its people happy and contented, a con
dition which Mexico has not enjoyed before for forty
years past. Its finances although not in a perfectly
satisfactory condition, are in a far better state than
ever before ; trade and commerce are flourishing to an
extraordinary degree and are rapidly increasing ; the
revenues of the country are steadily increasing ; the
people are actively engaged in all the avocations of

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 205

industry ; and the vast agricultural and mineral re
sources of Mexico are being developed to an extent
never before dreamed of. Satisfactory progress has
been made in the construction of the great railroad
from Vera Cruz to the capital; schools and academies
are in successful operation, and the Mexico of to-day
is far more like the United States than the Mexico of
five years ago.

HOW THESE OBJECTS WERE ACCOMPLISHED.

This state of things has been brought about mainly
by the active exertions of the officers, civil and mili
tary, who have been supplied by the French Govern
ment, acting under the immediate and personal super
vision of Maximilian and the Empress Carlotta.

These are the facts to which the Emperor Napoleon
could point, if the United States, not satisfied with the
withdrawal of the French troops, were to request him
to withdraw from Maximilian the moral support of
the French government also. He could say in sub
stance to Mr. Seward: — "Excuse me, sir, if I decline
your polite invitation. My movements in Mexico
were conducted with great deliberation, and in the
sight of the whole world. I waited a whole year, to
see if you would interpose in behalf of your Monroe
doctrine. Instead of doing so, you said that you did
not see a struggling, dying republic in Mexico, but
that you saw there two belligerent parties, and that

206 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

you would look on, and see us fight it out on that
line. Well, sir, we have done so. I found Mexico
torn with civil commotions, a prey to faction, and
deeply in debt to the citizens of France. You had
refused to help her to maintain a republican govern
ment. I have given her a government which holds
out the prospect of stability. Under the government
of Maximilian, Mexico can now become a happy and
prosperous nation."

The whole history of the Emperor of France, and a
careful study of his character, shows him to be a man
of remarkable foresight and sagacity ; a man who
never undertook any enterprise hastily; a man who
has seldom or never failed in any public enterprise
that he has once embraced. He is irrevocably
committed, to support the empire in Mexico. If he
regards the establishment of a good government in
that country, and the deliverance of the Mexican
nation from its former condition of anarchy and weak
ness, as one of the greatest acts of his reign, and as
one of the greatest achievements of modern times,
what candid and intelligent person will deny that it is
so ? Will not history so record it ?

If it be asked, " Why then, does Napoleon withdraw
his troops from. Mexico?" this is the answer: because
they are no longer needed there. The object for
which they were sent there, has been fully accom
plished. They have remained in Mexico until the

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 207

government of the empire is firmly established, and
until their presence is no longer required to give
stability to that government. When the last squadron
of those troops shall have embarked at Yera Cruz,
they will leave behind them an army of forty thou
sand native Mexican troops, and French and Austrian
volunteers, all veteran soldiers, well armed, admirably
disciplined, and commanded by French and Austrian
officers. The arrangements for the substitution of
this Mexican army for the French troops, have been
quietly made by the Emperor Maximilian, during the
whole of the year 1866.

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND

FRANCE.

But it may be well to remember that certain nego
tiations between our government and that of France
preceded the announcement by Napoleon of his inten
tion to withdraw the French troops. In the first
place, Xapoleon sought to know whether, in case those
troops were withdrawn, the United States would con
tinue to maintain their policy of neutrality and non
intervention toward Mexico ? On the 12th of Feb
ruary, 1866, Mr. Seward gives a plain and direct
answer to this question. In his dispatch of that
date to the Marquis de Month olon, he assures the
French government that, in case the French troops
are withdrawn from. Mexico, the United States will
continue to maintain our policy of neutrality and

208 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

non-intervention toward Mexico. This was all that
Napoleon desired, for he immediately rejoined, that
that assurance was perfectly satisfactory to him ; and
on the 5th of April, 1866, M. Drouyn de Lhuys wrote
to the French minister here, and desired him to con
vey to the United States government the information
that, depending upon that pledge of neutrality upon
our part, the French troops would be withdrawn from
Mexico in detachments. Substantially, therefore, the
withdrawal of the French troops from Mexico is to
take place in pursuance of a solemn agreement be
tween France and the United States, by which we are
bound, by every principle of honor, to continue to
maintain our policy of neutrality toward Mexico.

But the policy of the Emperor Napoleon may be
found clearly set forth in his own language, and in
the State papers of the French foreign office. His
instructions to General Forey, of July 3, 1862, and to
General Bazaine, August 17, 1863, are worthy of the
most careful attention of the reader. They will be
found on pages 37 and 49.

On the 9th of January, 1866, the French government
wrote to the French minister at Washington, as follow :

" THE MINISTER or FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO THE FRENCH
MINISTER AT WASHINGTON.

11 PARIS, $th of January, 1866.

" M. LE MARQUIS : — I had desired yon, by the Empe
ror's order, to make known to the cabinet of Washing-

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 209

ton the views of his majesty's government upon the
affairs of Mexico, and conformably to my instructions
you have brought to Mr. Seward's knowledge the dis
patch I had the honor to forward you on the 18th of
October. The Secretary of State replied to that dis
patch by a communication he was good enough to
address to you on the 6th of December, of which I
think it advisable to recapitulate here the principal
points.

" According to Mr. Seward, the presence of a foreign
force in a country adjacent to the Union cannot but
be a cause of uneasiness and disquiet. This state
of things entails upon the Federal governnment in
convenient expenses, and may bring about collisions.
The chief reason for the displeasure of the United
States, however, is not the fact of there being a foreign
army in Mexico, still less that the army is French.
The cabinet of Washington recognizes the right of
every sovereign nation to make war, provided the exer
cise of that right does not threaten the security and
legitimate influence of the Union. But the French
army has gone to Mexico to overthrow a national
republican government, and with the avowed object of
establishing upon the ruins a foreign monarchical gov
ernment. Mr. Seward sets forth in this respect how
much the people of the United States are attached to
the institutions they have adopted, and repudiating all
ideas of propagandism in favor of those institutions, he
claims for the various peoples of the Xew World, the

right of securing to themselves this form of government
14

210 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

according to their convenience. He would considei
it inadmissible that European powers should inter
vene in those countries with the idea of destroying
the republican form to substitute kingdoms and empires
in its stead.

"'Having thus frankly defined our position,' adds
Mr. Seward, ' I submit the question to the judgment of
France, while sincerely wishing that great nation may
find it compatible with its true interests and its high
honor to abandon the aggressive attitude it has taken
up in Mexico. '

11 In concluding, Mr. Seward recalls, as a reason for
his hope of arriving at a happy solution, the ancient
affection of the United States for France, and the value
every American citizen has always attached to our
friendship in past times, and continues to attach, to it
in future.

" I have not failed to submit this communication to
the Emperor, and after having maturely examined the
considerations laid down by Mr. Seward, his majesty's
government remains convinced that the divergence of
views between the two cabinets is, above all, the result
of an erroneous appreciation of our intentions.

" Our expedition, I need hardly say, was not intended
as hostile to the peoples of the New World, and as
suredly still less to those of the Union. France cannot
forget that she has contributed to establish them with
her blood, and among the number of glorious recol
lections the old monarchy bequeathed to us, there was
not one of which Napoleon I. was prouder, and which

MEXICO UNDEK MAXIMILIAN. 211

Napoleon III. is less disposed to repudiate. If, on the
other hand, we had been actuated by an idea of ill-will
toward that republic, would we have endeavored from
the beginning to obtain the assistance of the Federal
government, which, like ourselves, had claims to ad
vance ? Would we have observed neutrality in the
great crisis the United States have passed through?
And now would we be disposed, as we declare with the
greatest frankness, to hasten as much as may be possi
ble the time of recalling our troops ?

" Our only object has been to claim the satisfaction
to which we had a right, by resorting to coercive
measures after having exhausted all others. It is
known how numerous and legitimate were the demands
of French subjects. We took up arms in presence of
a series of flagrant injuries, and striking denials of
justice. The complaints of the United States were
certainly less numerous and less important, when they
too were induced, some years ago, to employ force
against Mexico.

" The French army did not bring monarchical tra
ditions upon Mexican soil in the folds of its flag. The
cabinet of Washington is not unaware that there have
been for a certain number of years a considerable group
of men in that country who, despairing of finding order
under the conditions of the system then existing,
cherished the idea of returning to monarchy. Their
opinions had been shared by one of the late Presidents
of that republic, who had even offered to use his power
to favor the establishment of royalty. Seeing the de-

212 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

gree of anarchy to which the government of Juarez had
fallen, they thought the time had come to appeal to the
sentiment of the nation, tired, like themselves, of the
state of dissolution in which its resources were ex
hausted. We did not think we ought to discourage
this last effort of a powerful party, whose origin is of
prior date to our expedition ; but, faithful to the maxims
of public right we hold in common with the United
States, we declared that this question must be referred
solely to the suffrages of the Mexican people.

"The idea of the Emperor's government was defined
by his majesty himself, in a letter addressed to the
commander-in-chief of our army after the capture of
Puebla. ' Our object, you are aware,' said the Empe
ror, ' is not to impose upon the Mexicans a government
contrary to their wishes, nor to make our successes
subserve the triumph of any party. I desire that
Mexico should be born into new life, and that, speedily
regenerated b}^ a government based upon the national
will, upon the principles of order and progress, upon
respect for the law of nations, she may recognize, by
friendly relations, that she owes to France her repose
and her prosperity.'

" The Mexican people uttered its decision. The Em
peror Maximilian was summoned by the wish of the
country. This government appeared to us of a nature
to bring about peace at home, and good faith in inter
national relations. We granted it our support.

" We went, therefore, to Mexico to carry out the
right of war which Mr. Seward fully admits that we

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 213

possess, and not by virtue of a principle of inter
vention, upon which we profess the same doctrine as
the United States. We went there, not to make prose
lytes to monarchy, but to obtain reparation and
guarantees we were entitled to claim, and we sup
port the government founded with the assent of the
population, because we expect from it the satisfaction
of our complaints with indispensable securities for the
future.

" As we seek neither an exclusive interest nor the
realization of an. ambitious idea, our sincerest wish is
to hasten as much as possible the time when we shall
be able with security to our fellow-subjects and dignity
to ourselves, to recall what remains in that country of
the corps d'armec we sent there. As I informed you in
the dispatch to which Mr. SewanVs communcation
replies, it depends greatly upon the Federal govern
ment to facilitate, in this respect, the accomplishment
of its desire. The doctrine of the United States, rest
ing, like our own, upon the principle of the national
will, is not incompatible with the existence of mon
archical institutions ; and President Johnson in his
message, like Mr. Seward, in his dispatch, repudiates
all idea of propagandism, even upon the American con
tinent, in favor of republican institutions. The cabinet
of Washington entertains friendly relations with the
court of the Brazils, and it did not refuse to enter into
relations with the Mexican empire, in 1822. Xo funda
mental maxim, no precedent of the diplomatic history
of the Union, therefore, creates a necessary antagonism

214 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

between the United States, and the system which, in
Mexico, has replaced a power which has, continually
and systematically violated its most positive obligations
toward other nations.

" Mr. Seward seems to make the government of the"
Emperor Maximilian a two-fold reproach as to the diffi
culties it meets with and the aid it borrows from foreign
forces But the resistance against which it has found
itself compelled to struggle has no particular reference
to the form of its institutions. It suffers the ordinary
fate of new authorities, and its chief misfortune is to
have to endure the consequences of the disorders which
have arisen under previous governments. Which of
those governments, in fact, has not found armed com
petitors and has enjo3red undisputed authority in peace?
Revolts and intestine wars were then the normal state
of the country, and the opposition raised by some mili
tary chiefs to the establishment of the empire is only
the natural consequence of the habits of want of disci
pline and anarchy, of which the authorities to which it
succeeds have been the victims.

" As for the support the Mexican government re
ceives from our army, and which Belgian and Austrian
volunteers give it also, no attack is thereby made upon
the independence of its resolutions or upon the perfect
liberty of its acts. What State is there which has not
had need of allies, either to constitute or to defend it ?
And have not great powers, like France and England,
for instance, almost constantly maintained foreign
troops in their armies ? W^Tien the United States fought

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 215

for their emancipation, did tlie assistance given by
France to their efforts prevent that great popular move
ment from being truly national? Will any one say that
the struggle against the South ivas not equally a national
war because thousands of Irish and Germans fought
under the Union flag ? It would be impossible, there
fore, to dispute the character of the Mexican govern
ment, and to consider as a motive of dislike toward it
either the resistance it must conquer to consolidate it
self, or the foreign troops who will have aided it to
cause security and order to revive in a country so long
and so deeply agitated."

" Such an undertaking is assuredly worthy of being
appreciated by a nation so enlightened as the United
States, especially calculated to reap advantage from it.
In place of a country incessantly troubled, which has
given them so many subjects of complaint, and upon
which they themselves have even been obliged to make
war, they would find a pacified country, henceforth
offering guarantees of security and vast outlets to their
commerce. Far from injuring their rights or impairing
their influence, it is they in especial who ought to
profit by the work of reorganization being carried out
in Mexico.

" To sum up, M. le Marquis, the United States recog
nize the right we had to make ivar in Mexico ; upon the
other hand, like them, we admit the principle of non
intervention. This two-fold admission seems to me to
offer the elements of an agreement. The right of making
war, which belongs, as Mr. Seward states, to every

216 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

sovereign nation, implies the right of securing the re
sults of war. We have not crossed the ocean solely
with the intention of displaying our power and of in
flicting chastisement upon the Mexican government.

" After a series of useless reclamations, we must demand
guarantees against the return of the violence from which
our fellow-subjects have suffered so cruelly, and we can
not expect these guarantees from a government whose
bad faith we had so often experienced. We find them
now in the establishment of a regular power, which
shows itself disposed honestly to keep its engagements.
Under these circumstances we hope that the legitimate
object of our expedition will soon be attained, and we
are hastening to make arrangements with the Emperor
Maximilian which, while satisfying our interests and our
dignity, allow us to consider the part of our army upon
Mexican soil at an end. The Emperor has ordered me
to write in this sense to his minister in Mexico.

" We return after that period to the principle of non
intervention, and from the moment we accept it as our
rule of conduct, our interest and honor require us
to demand its equal application by all. Relying upon
the equitable spirit of the Washington cabinet, we ex
pect from it the assurance that the American people
will conform to the law they invoke by maintaining a
strict neutrality with regard to Mexico. When you
shall have informed me of the resolution of the American
government in this matter, I shall be in a position to
acquaint you with the result of our negotiation with the
Emperor Maximilian for the return of our troops.

V

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 217

"I request you to band Mr. Seward a copy of this
dispatch, in reply to his communication of the 6th of
December last, asking him to bring it to the knowledge
of President Johnson ; and I rest with confidence for the
examination of the arguments it contains upon the tra
ditional sentiments recalled by the note of the Secretary
of State of the Union.

"DROUYX DE LIIUYS."

This admirable state paper needs no comment, for
it is its own commentary. But every line and every
word of it is worthy of the most attentive considera
tion. ISTo one, wlio lias not read this dispatch, can
fully comprehend the Mexican question ; and no one
who has given it an attentive perusal, can be misled
upon any vital point concerning that question. In
our intercourse with France, on this subject, we must
be guided by, and conform to, the principles of inter
national law. None of those principles are more
clearly settled than that which declares that the right
to make war implies and carries with it the right to
secure the results of war. Xapoleon did not cross the
Atlantic to punish the Mexican people. He came to
Mexico to secure guarantees for the claims which"
France had against Mexico, and these guarantees he
could not expect to find in a government whose per
fidy even the United States had proved. He found
those guarantees, finally, in the establishment of the

218 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

present government; a government founded, as he
claims, upon the will of the Mexican people them
selves. He went to Mexico to obtain these guarantees.
Having thus obtained them, " we sustain the govern
ment," says M. Drouyn de Lhuys, " which is founded
on the consent of the people, because we expect from
it the satisfaction of our wrongs." And he then in
forms Mr. Seward that as soon as the latter will assure
him that the United States will maintain neutrality
toward Mexico, arrangements can be made for the
return of the French troops to France, because they
will have accomplished the objects of the Mexican
expedition.

APPENDIX. 219

APPENDIX.

i.

"TREATY BETWEEN THE EMPEROR OF FRANCE,
AND THE EMPEROR OF MEXICO.

" THE government of the Emperor of the French and
that of the Emperor of Mexico, animated with an equal
desire to secure the re-establishment of order in Mexico,
and to consolidate the new empire, have resolved to
regulate by a convention the conditions of the stay of
the French troops in that country, and have named
their plenipotentiaries to that effect, viz. :

" The Emperor of the French, M. Charles Herbet,
minister plenipotentiary of the first class, councillor of
state, director of the ministry of foreign affairs, grand
officer of the Legion of Honor, etc. ; and the Emperor
of Mexico, M. Joaquin Velasquez de Leon, his minister
of state without portfolio, grand officer of the distin
guished order of Our Lady of Guadaloupe, etc. ; who,
after having communicated to each other their full
powers, agreed on the following provisions :

220 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

"ARTICLE 1. The French troops at present in Mexico
shall be reduced as soon as possible to a corps of twenty
thousand men, including the foreign legion. This corps,
in order to safeguard the interests which led to the
intervention, shall remain temporarily in Mexico on the
conditions laid down by the following articles.

" ARTICLE 2. The French troops shall evacuate Mexico
in proportion as the Emperor of Mexico shall be able to
organize the troops necessary to replace them.

"ARTICLE 3. The foreign legion in the service of
France, composed of eight thousand men, shall, never
theless, remain in Mexico six years after all the other
French troops shall have been recalled in conformity
with Article 2. From that moment the said legion shall
pass into the service and pay of the Mexican govern
ment, which reserves to itself the right of abridging the
duration of the employment of the foreign legion in
Mexico.

" ARTICLE 4. The points of the territory to be occu
pied by the French troops, as well as the military
expeditions of the said troops, if there be any, shall be
determined in common accord, directly between the
Emperor of Mexico and the commandant-in-chief of the
French corps.

" ARTICLE 5. On all the points where the garrison
shall not be exclusively composed of Mexican troops,
the military command shall devolve on the French com
mander. In case of expeditions combined of French
and Mexican troops, the superior direction of those
troops shall also belong to the French commander.

APPENDIX. 221

•

" ARTICLE 6. The French commanders shall not inter
fere with any branch of the Mexican administration.

"ARTICLE T. So long as the requirements of the
French corps cTarmee shall necessitate a two monthly
service of transports between France and Vcra Cruz,
the expense of the said service, fixed at the sum of four
hundred thousand francs per voyage, (going and return
ing,) shall be paid by Mexico.

"ARTICLE 8. The naval stations which France main
tains in the AVcst Indies and in the Pacific Ocean shall
often send vessels to show the French flag in the ports
of Mexico.

" ARTICLE 9. The expenses of the French expedition
to Mexico, to be paid by the Mexican government, are
fixed at the sum of two hundred and seventy million
Cranes for the whole duration of the expedition down to
the 1st of July, 1864. That sum shall bear interest at
the rate of three per cent, per annum. From the 1st of
July all the expense of the Mexican army shall be at the
charge of Mexico.

" ARTICLE 10. The indemnity to be paid to France by
the Mexican government for the pay and maintenance
of the troops of the corps d'armee after the 1st of July,
18G4, remains fixed at the sum of one thousand francs a
year for each man.

"ARTICLE 11. The Mexican government shall hand
over to the French government the sum of sixty-six
million francs in bonds of the loan at the rate of issue,
viz. : fifty-four million francs, to be deducted from the
debt mentioned in Article 9, and twelve million francs

222 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

as an instalment of the indemnities due to Frenchmen
in virtue of Article 14 of the present convention.

"ARTICLE 12. For the payment of the surplus of the
war expenses, and for acquitting the charges in Articles
7, 10, and 14, the Mexican government engages to pay
annually to France the sum of twenty-five millions in
specie. That sum shall be imputed, first, to the sums
due in virtue of articles T and 10; and secondly, to
the amount, interest and principal, of the sum fixed in
Article 9 ; thirdly, to the indemnities which shall remain
due to the French subjects in virtue of Article 14 and
following.

"ARTICLE 13. The Mexican government shall pay, on
the last clay of every month, into the hands of the
paymaster-general of the army, what shall be clue for
covering the expenses of the French troops remaining
in Mexico, in conformity with Article 10.

"ARTICLE 14. The Mexican government engages to
indemnify French subjects for the wrongs they have
newly suffered, and which were the original cause of
the expedition.

"ARTICLE 15. A mixed commission, composed of
three Frenchmen and three Mexicans, appointed by
their respective governments, shall meet at Mexico
within three months, to examine and determine these
claims.

"ARTICLE 16. A commission of revision, composed
of two Frenchmen and two Mexicans, appointed in the
same manner, sitting at Paris, shall proceed to the
definite liquidation of the claims already admitted by

APPENDIX. 223

the commission designated in the preceding Article,
and shall decide on those which have been received for
its decision.

"ARTICLE 17. The French government shall set at
liberty all the Mexican prisoners of war as soon as the
Emperor of Mexico shall have entered his States.

" ARTICLE 18. The present convention shall be ratified
and the ratifications exchanged as early as possible.

"Done at the castle of Miramar, this 10th day of
April, 1864.

" HERBET

"JOAQUIN YELASQUEZ DE LEON."

II.

"THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO THE
FRENCH MINISTER IN WASHINGTON.

"PARIS, llth of August, 1865.

" MONSIEUR LE MARQUIS: — The minister of the United
States addressed to me on the 1st instant the note of
which you will find a copy annexed. In the answer,
of which a copy is also given, which I sent by the
Emperor's command to this communication, I felt
bound to declare to Mr. Bigelow that, always ready to
reply to demands for explanations addressed to us in
a friendly manner, ive could not think of responding to
interpellations expressed in a threatening tone relative to
vague allegations founded on equivocal documents. At
the same time I took the opportunity afforded by the

224 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

communication of the minister of the United States, to
remind him that, as observers of a scrupulous neutrality
in all the internal questions which may agitate or
divide the American Union, we were entitled to rely on
the exact and loyal reciprocity promised to us on his
part with regard to the affairs of Mexico. We do rely
on it, in fact, and yet we are unable to conceal from
ourselves that there is some difficulty in conciliating
certain recent facts and manifestations, of which we
cannot mistake the character, with the assurances we
have received.

" We know that our expedition, its consequences, the
establishment of a monarchy in Mexico, have been
viewed with displeasure in the United States ; we have
been told this, and we regret it. But a displeasure
does not constitute a grievance, a sentiment does not
create a right ; and the peace of the world would be
exposed to continual dangers if each State, in its rela
tions with its neighbors, were to conduct itself solely
to suit its own conveniences or preferences. In a free
country, par excellence, like the United States, it should
be known that the liberty and the right of each — State
or individual — have for limits the liberty and right of
others.

" / have not here to justify our expedition to Mexico.
Obliged to do ourselves justice, we went to Mexico to
seek the satisfaction which had been obstinately refused
us. We yielded to a necesssity of the same nature as
that which had, at another epoch, conducted the Ameri
can arms to the capital of Mexico. The Union exer-

APPENDIX. 225

cited the rights of victory in all their plentitude by
annexing a new State. France does not go so far ; ice
shall leave Mexico without acquiring an inch of soil, and
without reserving to ourselves any advantage not
common to all other powers. After our formal declara
tions on this subject, and the categorical denials wo
have opposed to all contrary allegations, we are dis
pensed from reptying to the persistent rumors of terri
torial cessions, by means of which endeavors are made
to keep up irritation against us in the United States.
The semblance of a government against which we made
war disappeared at our approach, Far from pretend
ing to dispose of the country, we invited and encour
aged it to dispose of itself.

" In a communication which Mr. Bigelow did me the
honor to address to me on the 12th of June last, he
was pleased to acknowledge that the success of republi
can institutions in Spanish America had not been such
as to encourage the United States to attempt propaga
ting them otherwise than by example, and that, in fine,
any government which should be acceptable to the Mexi
cans would satisfy the United States. There is no
reason to be astonished, therefore, that Mexico, enlighf
ened by disastrous experience, should endeavor, under
a system better adapted to its instincts, to escape from
the anarchical chaos into which it had been plunged by
an interminable series of revolutions.

"A movement took place in the sense of monarchical
ideas in favor of a liberal prince, belonging to a
dynasty certainly illustrious among all, but attached to
15

226 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

us by no bond, and with which we had just been at war.
The Archduke Maximilian, called by the suffrages of the
country, and proclaimed Emperor, now exercises the
sovereign rights conferred on him by the Mexican
nation. No other constituted power exists on Mexican
soil. An ex-President, flying from village to village, is
no more a head of a government than a few bands of
guerillas, pillaging and infesting the high roads, are
armies. Can the cabinet of Washington be ignorant
of that state of things ? It has itself, during four j^ears,
contested the character of a regular power to the
government residing at Richmond. Are we not
allowed to ask by what signs it recognizes in the person
of M. Juarez the attributes of sovereignty ?

" Our right, resulting from injury done to our inter
ests, took us to Mexico. We are unwilling to leave
anarchy behind us, because we do not wish to have
fresh wrongs to avenge, or interests again compromised
to defend. We have already withdrawn some of our
troops, and we shall recall them all gradually, accord
ing to the re-establishment of order and the pacification
of the country. We look forward with the sincerest
wishes to the day when the last French soldier shall
quit Mexico. Those whom our presence disturbs or
incommodes may contribute to the approach of that
moment. There can be no doubt that excitements from
outside keep up agitation. Let those encouragements
cease ; let them allow that unfortunate country, weary
of anarchy, to become tranquil and organize itself
under a government calculated to heal the wounds

/z_/.'

APPENDIX. 227

inflicted j order and tranquillity will soon be established,
and the term assigned for our occupation will be greatly
abridged. But the fact should be well borne in mind
that we are not in the habit of hastening our steps on '
account of haughty injunctions or threatening insinua
tions.

" You will have the goodness, Monsieur le Marquis,
to take in the full meaning of this dispatch, and to com
municate those explanations to the Federal govern
ment. They have for object, and we desire that they
should have for effect, to clear up the situations and
remove all doubts as to our intentions. We hope for a
reply in the same spirit of frankness and conciliation
that has dictated our own language. It is not worthy
of two great nations to allow any thing equivocal to
subsist between them, and their governments would
incur a severe blame in history, and a grave responsi
bility at the present time, if, in default of preliminary
explanation, they were to abandon to the chance of cir
cumstances and unforeseen incidents the maintenance
of their good relations and the preservation of peace.
Confident in the straightforward common sense of the
American people and the enlightened sagacity of its
government, we are unwilling to believe that temporary
impulses can, against all that is common to us both in
old reminiscences, against present interests and future
prospects, prevent a truly solid and durable basis for
the alliance between the two countries.

"Receive, etc., DROUYN DE LHUYS."

228 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

III.
"MB. SEWARD TO MARQUIS DE MONTHOLON.

" DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ")

f.J

" WASHINGTON, February 12, 1866.

"SiR: — On the 6th of December I had the honor to
submit to you in writing, for the information of the
Emperor, a communication upon the subject of affairs
in Mexico, as affected by the presence of French armed
forces in that count ry. On the 29th of January there
after you favored me with a reply to that communication,
which reply had been transmitted to you by M. Drouyn
de Lhuys, under the date of the 9th of the same month. J
have submitted it to the President of the United States.
It is now made my duty to revert to the interesting
question which has thus been brought under discussion.

" In the first place I take notice of the points which
are made by M. Drouyn de Lhuys.

"He declares that the French expedition into Mexico
had in it nothing hostile to the institutions of the New
World, and still less of any thing hostile to the United
States. As proofs of this friendly statement, he refers
to the aid in blood and treasure which France con
tributed in our revolutionary war to the cause of our
national independence : to the preliminary proposition
that France made to us that we should join her in her
expedition to Mexico; and, finally, to the neutrality

APPENDIX. 223

which Franco has practiced in the painful civil war
tli rough which we have jtis-t successfully passed. It
gives me pleasure to acknowledge that the assurances
thus given on the present occasion that the French
expedition, in its original design, had no political
objects or motives, harmonize entirely with expres
sions which abound in the earlier correspondence of
the minister of foreign affairs, which arose out of the
war between France and Mexico.

" We accept with especial pleasure the reminiscences
of our traditional friendship.

" M. Drouyn de Lhuys next assures us that the French
government is disposed to hasten, as much as possible
the recall of its troops from Mexico. We hail the
announcement as being a virtual promise of relief to
this government from the apprehensions and anxieties
which were the burden of that communication of mine,
which M. Drouyn de Lhuys has had under considera
tion.

" M. Drouyn de Lhuys proceeds to declare that the
only aim of France, in pursuing her enterprise in
Mexico, has been to follow up the satisfaction to which
she had a right after having resorted to coercive meas
ures, when measures of every other form had been ex
hausted. M. Drouyn Lhuys says that it is known how
many and legitimate were the claims of French sub
jects which caused the resort to arms. He then re
minds us how, on a former occasion, the United States
had waged war on Mexico. On this point it seems
equally necessary and proper to say, that the war thus

230 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

referred to was not made nor sought by the United
States, but was accepted by them under provocations
of a very grave character. The transaction is past,
and the necessity and justice of the proceedings of the
United States are questions which now rest only within
the province of history. France, I think, will acknowl
edge, that neither in the beginning of our Mexican war
nor in its prosecution, nor in the terms on which we
retired from that successful contest, did the United
States assume any position inconsistent with the prin
ciples which are now maintained by us in regard to the
French expedition in Mexico.

" We are, as we have been, in relations of amity and
friendship equally with France and with Mexico, and,
therefore, we cannot, consistently with those relations,
constitute ourselves a judge of the original merits of
the war which is waged between them. We can speak
concerning that war only so far as we are affected by its
bearing upon ourselves and upon republican and Ameri
can institutions on this continent.

" M. Drouyn de Lhuys declares that the French
army, in entering Mexico, did not carry monarchical tra
ditions in the folds of its flag. In this connexion he
refers to the fact that there were, at the time of the
expedition a number of influential men in Mexico who
despaired of obtaining order out of the conditions of
the republican rule then existing there, and who, there
fore, cherished the idea of falling back upon monarchy.
In this connexion, we are further reminded that one of
the later presidents of Mexico offered to use his power

APPENDIX. 231

for the re-establishment of royalty. We are further
informed that at the time of the French invasion, the
persons before referred to deemed the moment to have
arrived for making an appeal to the people of Mexico
in favor of monarchy. M. Drouyn de Lhuys remarks
that the French government did not deem it a duty to
discourage that supreme effort of a powerful part}',
which had its origin long anterior to the French expe
dition.

"M. Droii3'n de Lhuys observes that the Emperor
faithful to maxims of public right, which he holds in
common with the United States, declared on that occa
sion that the question of change of institutions rested
solely on the suffrages of the Mexican people. In sup
port of this statement, M. Drouyn de Lhuys gives us a
copy of a letter which the Emperor addressed to the
commander-in-chief of the French expedition, on the
capture of Puebla, which letter contained the following
words: ' Our object, you know, is not to impose on the
Mexicans a government against their will, nor to make
our success aid the triumph of any party whatsoever.
I desire that Mexico may rise to a new life, and that,
soon regenerated by a government founded on the
national will, on principles of order and of progress,
and of respect for the laws of nations, she may acknowl
edge b}7 her friendly relations that she owes to France
her repose and her prosperity.'

" M. Drouyn de Lhin's pursues his argument by s&y-
ing that the Mexican people have spoken ; that the
Emperor Maximilian has been called by the voice of

232 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

the country ; that his government has appeared to the
Emperor of the French to be of a nature adequate to
restore peace to the nation, and, on its part, peace to
international relations, and that he has, therefore, given
it his support. M. Drouyn de Lhuys thereupon pre
sents the following as a true statement of the -present
case : France went to Mexico to exercise the right of
war, which is exercised by the United States, and not
in virtue of any purpose of intervention, concerning
which she recognizes the same doctrine with the United
States. France went there not to bring about a mon
archical proselytism, but to obtain reparations and
guarantees which she ought to claim ; and, being there,
she now sustains the government which is founded on
the consent of the people, because she expects from that
government the just satisfaction of her wrongs, as well
as the securities indispensable to the future. As she
does not seek the satisfaction of an exclusive interest,
nor the realization of any ambitious schemes, so she
now wishes to recall what remains in Mexico of the
corps which France has sent there at the moment

when she will be able to do so with safety to French
citizens and with due respect for herself.

" I am aware how delicate the discussion is to which
M. Drouyn de Lhuys thus invites me. France is en
titled, by every consideration of respect and friendship,
to interpret for herself the objects of the expedition,
and of the whole of her proceedings in Mexico. Her
explanation of those motives and objects is, therefore,
accepted on our part with the consideration and confi-

APPENDIX. 233

deuce which we expect for explanations of our own
when assigned to France or any other friendly power.
Nevertheless, it is my duty to insist that, whatever
were the intentions, purposes, and objects of France,
the proceedings which were adopted by a class of Mex
icans for subverting the republican government there,
and for availing themselves of French intervention to
establish on its ruins an imperial monarchy, are re
garded by the United States as having been taken
without the authority, and prosecuted against the will
. and opinions of the Mexican people. For these rea-
'sons it seems to this government that, in supporting
institutions thus established in derogation of the in
alienable rights of the people of Mexico, the original
purposes and objects of the French expedition, though
they have not been, as a military demand of satisfac
tion, abandoned, nor lost out of view by the Emperor
of the French, were, nevertheless, left to fall into a con
dition in which they seem to Lave become subordinate
to a political revolution, which certainly would have
not occurred if France had not forcibly intervened, and
which, judging from the genius and character of the
Mexican people, would not now be maintained by them
if that armed intervention should cease. The United \
States have not seen any satisfactory evidence that the j
people of Mexico have spoken, and have called into I
being, or accepted, the so-called empire, which it
sisted has been set up in their capital. The""flnited
States, as I have remarked on other occasions, are of
opinion that such an acceptance could not have been

234 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

freely procured or lawfully taken at any time in the
presence of the French army of invasion. The with
drawal of the French forces is deemed necessar}^ to
allow such a proceeding to be taken by Mexico. Of
course the Emperor of France is entitled to determine
the aspect in which the Mexican situation ought to be
regarded by him. Nevertheless, the view which I have
thus presented is the one which this nation has ac
cepted. It therefore recognizes, and must continue to
recognize in Mexico, only the ancient republic, and it
can in no case consent to involve itself, either directly
or indirectly, in relation with or recognition of the in
stitution of the Prince Maximilian in Mexico.

" This position is held, I believe, without one dissent
ing voice by our countrymen. I do not presume to say
that this opinion of the American people is accepted or
will be adopted generally by other foreign powers, or
by the public opinion of mankind. The Emperor is
quite competent to form a judgment upon this impor
tant point for himself. I cannot, however, properly ex
clude the observation that, while this question aifects
by its bearings, incidentally, every republican State in
the American hemisphere, every one of those States has
adopted the judgment which, on the behalf of the
United States, is herein expressed. Under these cir
cumstances it has happened, either rightfully or wrong
fully, that the presence of European armies in Mexico,
maintaining a European prince with imperial attributes,
without her consent and against her will, is deemed a
source of apprehension and danger, not alone to the

APPENDIX. 235

United States, but also to all the independent and sov
ereign republican States founded on 'the American con
tinent and its adjacent islands. France is acquainted
with the relations of the United States toward the
other American States to which I have referred, and is
aware of the sense that the American people entertain
in regard to the obligations and duties due from them
to those other States. We are thus brought back to
the single question which formed the subject of my
communication of the 6th of December last, namely,
the desirableness of an adjustment of a question the
continuance of which must be necessarily prejudicial to
the harmony and friendship which have hitherto always
existed between the United States and France.

" This government does not undertake to say how
the claims of indemnity and satisfaction, for which the
war which France is waging in Mexico was originally
instituted, shall now be adjusted, in discontinuing what,
in its progress, has become a war of political interven
tion dangerous to the United States and to republican
institutions in the American hemisphere. Recognizing
France and the republic of Mexico as belligerents en
gaged in war, we leave all questions concerning those
claims and indemnities to them, ^he United States
rest content with submitting to France the exigencies
of an embarrassing situation in Mexico, and expressing
the hope that France may find some manner which
shall at once be consistent with her interest and honor,
and with the principles and interest of the United
, to relieve that situation without injurious delay.

236 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

" M. Drouyn de Lhuj^s repeats on this occasion
what he has heretofore written, namely, that it depends
much upon the Federal government to facilitate their
desire of the withdrawal of the French forces from
Mexico. He argues that the position which the United
States have assumed has nothing incompatible with the
existence of monarchical institutions in Mexico. He
draws to his support on this point the fact that the
President of the United States, as well as the Secretary
of State, in official papers, disclaim all thought of pro-
pagandism on the American continent in favor of re
publican institutions. M. Drouyn de Lhuys draws in,
also, the fact that the United States hold friendly rela
tions with the Emperor of Brazil, as they held similar
relations with Iturbide, the Mexican Emperor, in 1822.
From these positions M. Drouyn de Lhuys makes the
deduction that neither any fundamental maxim, nor
any precedent in the diplomatic history of this country,
creates any necessary antagonism between the United
States and the form of government over which the
Prince Maximilian presides in the ancient capital of
Mexico.

" I do not think it would be profitable, and therefore
I am not desirous to engage in the discussions which
M. Drouyn de Lhuys has thus raised. It will be suf
ficient for my purpose, on the present occasion, to
assert and to give reassurance of our desire to facilitate
the withdrawal of the French troops from Mexico, and,
for that purpose, to do whatsoever shall be compatible
with the positions we have heretofore taken upon that

APPENDIX. 237

subject, and with our just regard to the sovereign rights
of the republic of Mexico. Further or otherwise than
this France could not expect us to go. Having thus
reassured France, it seems necessary to state anew the
position of this government, as it was set forth in my
letter of the 6th of December, as follows : Republican^
and domestic institutions on this continent are deemed 1
most congenial with and most beneficial to the United j
States. Where the people of any country, like Brazil]
now, or Mexico in 1822, have voluntarily established
and acquiesced in monarchical institutions of their own
choice, free from all foreign control or intervention, the
United States do not refuse to maintain relations with
such governments, or seek through propagandisni, by
fore*? o/ mtrisr.ue, to overthrow those institutions. On
tilts-contrary, where a nation has established institutions
republican and domestic, similar to our own, the
United States assert in their behalf that no foreign na
tion can rightfully intervene by force to subvert repub
lican institutions and establish those of an antago-
nistical character.

" M. Drouyn de Lhuys seems to think that I have
made a double reproach against the Prince Maximilian's
alleged government, of the difficulty it encounters and
of the assistance it borrows from foreign powers. In
that respect M. Drouyn de Lhuys contends that the
obstacles and the resistance which Maximilian has been
obliged to wrestle with have in themselves nothing es
pecial against the form of the institutions which he is
supposed by M. Drouyn de Lhuys to hava established.

238 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

M. Drouyn de Lhuys maintains that Maximilian's gov
ernment is undergoing the lot quite common to new
powers, while, above all, it has the misfortune to have to
bear the consequences of discords which have been pro
duced under a previous government. M. Drouyn de
Lhuys represents this misfortune and this lot to be in
effect the misfortune and lot of governments which
have not found armed competitors, and which have en
joyed in peace an uncontrolled authority. M. Drouyn
de Lhuys alleges that revolts and intestine wars are
the normal condition of Mexico, and he further insists
that the opposition made by some military chiefs to the
establishment of an empire under Maximilian is only the
natural sequence of the same want of discipline, and the
same prevalence of anarchy, of which his predecessors
in power in Mexico have been victims. It is not the
purpose, nor would it be consistent with the character
of the United States, to deny that Mexico has been for
a long time the theatre of faction and intestine war.
The United States confess this fact with regret, all
the more sincere, because the experience of Mexico
has been not only painful for her own people, but has
been also of unfortunate evil influence on other nations.
" On the other hand, it is neither a right of the Uni
ted States, nor consistent with their friendly disposition
toward Mexico, to reproach the people of that country
with her past calamities, much less to invoke or approve
of the infliction of punishment upon them by strangers
for their political errors. The Mexican population
have, and their situation has, some peculiarities which

APPENDIX. 239

are doubtless well understood by France. Early in the
present century they were forced, by convictions which
mankind cannot but respect, to cast off a foreign mon
archical rule which they deemed incompatible with their
welfare and aggrandizement. They were forced, at the
same time, by convictions which the world must respect,
to attempt the establishment of republican institutions,
without the full experience and practical education and
habits which would .render those institutions all at once
firm and satisfactory. Mexico was a theatre of conflict
between European commercial, ecclesiastical, and politi
cal institutions and dogmas, and novel American insti
tutions and ideas. She had African slavery, colonial
restrictions, and ecclesiastical monopolies. In the chief
one of these particulars she had a misfortune which
was shared by the United States, while the latter were
happily exempted from the other misfortunes. We
cannot forget that Mexico, sooner and rnore readily
than the United States, abolished slavery. ~\Ve cannot
deny that all the anarchy in Mexico, of wrhich M.
Drouyn de Lhuys complains, was necessarily, and even
wisety, endured in the attempts to lay sure foundations
of broad republican liberty.

" I do not know whether France can rightfulty be ex
pected to concur in this view, which alleviates, in our
mind, the errors, misfortunes, and calamities of Mexico.
However this may be, we fall back upon the principle
that no foreign State can rightly intervene in such trials
as those of Mexico, and, on the ground of a desire to
correct those errors, deprive the people there of their

MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN".

natural right of domestic and republican freedom. All
the injuries and wrongs which Mexico can have com
mitted against any other State have found a severe
punishment in consequences which legitimately followed
their commission. Nations are not authorized to correct
each other's errors, except so far as is necessary to pre
vent or redress injuries affecting themselves. If one
State has a right to intervene in any other State, to
establish discipline, constituting itself a judge of the
occasion, then every State has the same right to inter
vene in the affairs of every other nation, being itself alone
the arbiter, both in regard to the time and the occasion.
The principle of intervention, thus practically carried
out, would seem to render all sovereignty and indepen
dence, and even all internationarpeace and amity, un
certain and fallacious.

"M. Drouyn cle Lhnys proceeds to remark, that as for
the support which Maximilian- receives from the French
army, as well also for the support which has been lent
him by Belgian and Austrian volunteers, those sup
ports cause no hindrance to the freedom of his resolu
tions in the affairs of his government. M. Drouyn de
Lhuys asks what State is there that does not need allies,
either to form or to defend ? As to the great powers,
such as France and England, do they not constantly
maintain foreign troops in their armies ? When the
United States fought for their independence, did the
aid given by France cause that movement to cease to
be truly national ? Shall it be said that the contest be
tween the 'United States and the recent insurgents was

AI'PEXDTX. 2-il

not in a like manner a national war, because thousands
of Irishmen and Germans were found fighting under the
(lag of the Union ? Arguing from anticipated answers
to these questions, M. Drouyn de Lhuys reaches a con
clusion that the character of Maximilian's government
cannot be contested, nor can its efforts to consolidate
itself be contested, on the ground of the employment
of foreign troops.

" M. Drouyn de Lhuys, in this argument, seems to us
to have overlooked two important facts, namely : first,
that the United States, in this correspondence, have
assigned definite limits to the right of alliance incom
patible with our assent to his argument ; and secondly,
the fact that the United States have not at any time
accepted the supposed government of the Prince Max
imilian as a constitutional or legitmate form of govern
ment in Mexico, capable or entitled to form alliances.

"M. Drouyn de Lhirys tlum arranges, in a graphic
manner, the advantages that have arisen, or are to arise,
to the United States, from the successful establishment
of the supposed empire in Mexico. Instead of a coun
try unceasingly in trouble, and which has given us so
man}7 subjects of complaint, and against which we our
selves have been obliged to make war, he shows us in
Mexico a pacific country, under a beneficent imperial
sway, offering henceforth measures of security and
vast openings to our commerce, a country far from in
juring our rights and hurting our influences. And he
assures us that, above all other nations, the United
States are most likely to profit by the work which is
1G

242 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

being accomplished by Prince Maximilian in Mexico.
These suggestions are as natural on the part of France
as they are friendly to the United States. The United
States are not insensible to the desirableness of politi
cal and commercial reform in the adjoining country ;
but their settled principles, habits, and convictions for
bid them to look for such changes in this hemisphere to
foreign, royal, or imperial institutions, founded upon a
forcible subversion of republican institutions. The
United States, in their customary sobriety, regard no
beneficial results which could come from such a change
in Mexico as sufficient to overbalance the injury which
they must directly suffer by the overthrow of the repub
lican government in Mexico.

" M. Drouyn de Lhuys, at the end of his very elabo
rate and able review, recapitulates his exposition in the
following words : ' The United States acknowledge the
right we had to make war in Mexico. On the other
part, we admit, as they do, the principle of non-interven
tion. This double postulate includes, as it seems to me,
the elements of an agreement. The right to make war,
which belongs, as Mr. Seward declares, to every sov
ereign nation, implies the right to secure the results of
war. We have not gone across the ocean merely for
the purpose of showing our power, and of inflicting
chastisement on the Mexican government. After a
train of fruitless remonstrances, it was our duty to de
mand guarantees against the recurrence of violence
from which our country had suffered so cruelly, and
those guarantees we could not look for from a govern-

APPENDIX. 243

merit whose bad faith we had proved on so many occa
sions. We find them now engaged in the establishment
of a regular government which shows itself disposed to
honestly keep its engagements. In this relation we
hope that the legitimate object of our expedition will
soon be reached, and we are striving to make with the
Emperor Maximilian arranguinents which, by satisfying
our interests and our honor, will permit us to consider
at an end the service of the army upon Mexican soil.
The Emperor has given an order to write in this same
sense to our minister at Mexico. We fall back at that
moment on the principle of non-intervention, and from
that moment accept it as the rule of our conduct. Our
interest, no less than our honor, commands us to claim
from all the uniform application of it. Trusting the
spirit of equity which animates the cabinet of Wash
ington, we expect from it the assurance that the Amer
ican people will themselves conform to the law which
they invoke, by observing, in regard to Mexico, a strict
neutrality. AYhen you [meaning the Marquis de Mon-
tholon] shall have informed me of the resolution of the
Federal government, I shall be able to indicate to you
the nature of the results of our negotiation with the
Emperor Maximilian for the return of our troops.'

" I have already, and not without much reluctance,
made the comments upon the arguments of M. Drouyn
de Lhuys which seem to be necessary to guard against
the inference of concurrence in questionable positions
which might be drawn from our entire silence. I think
that I can, therefore, afford to leave his recapitulation

24:4 MEXICO iJNDER MAXIMILIAN.

of those arguments without such an especial review as
would necessarily be prolix, and perhaps hypercritical.
The United States have not claimed, and they do not
claim, to know what arrangements the Emperor may
make for the adjustment of claims for indemnity and
redress in Mexico. It would be, on our part, an act of
intervention to take cog -.izai:ce of them. We adhere to
our position that the war in question has become a
political war between France and the republic of Mexico,
injurious and dangerous to the United States and to the
republican cause, and we ask only that in that aspect
and character it may be brought to an end. It would
be illiberal on the part of the United States to suppose
that, in desiring or pursuing preliminary arrangements,
the Emperor contemplates the establishment in Mexico,
before withdrawing his forces, of the very institutions
which constitute the material ground of the exceptions
taken against his intervention by the United States. It
would be still more illiberal to suppose for a moment
that he expects the United States to bind themselves
indirectly to acquiesce in or support the obnoxious in
stitutions.

"On the contrary, we understand him as announcing
to us his immediate purpose to bring to an end the ser
vice of his armies in Mexico, to withdraw them, and in
good faith to fall back, without stipulation or condition
on our part, upon the principle of non-intervention up.on
which he is henceforth agreed with the United States.
We cannot understand his appeal to us for an assurance
that we ourselves will abide by our own principles of

APPENDIX. 245

non-intervention in any other sense than as the expres
sion, in a friendly way, of his expectation that when the
people of Mexico shall have been left absolutely free
from the operation, effects, and consequences of his
own political and military intervention, we will ourselves
respect their self-established sovereignty and indepen
dence. In this view of the subject only can we consider
his appeal pertinent to the case. Regarding it in only
this aspect, we must meet the Emperor frankly. He
knows the form and character of this government. The
nation can be bound only by treaties which have the
concurrence of the President and two thirds of the
Senate. A formal treaty would be objectionable ns un
necessary, except as a disavowal of bad faith on our
part, to disarm suspicion in regard to a matter concern
ing which we have given no cause for questioning our
loyalty, or else such a treaty would be refused upon the
ground that the application for it by the Emperor of
France was unhappily a suggestion of some sinister or
unfriendly reservation or purpose on his part in with
drawing from Mexico. Diplomatic assurances given by
the President in behalf of the nation can at best be but
the expressions of confident expectation on his part that
the personal administration, ever changing in conformity
and adaptation to the national will, does not misunder
stand the settled principles and policy of the American
people. Explanations cannot properly be made by the
President in airy case wherein it would be deemed, for
iiuy reason, objectionable on grounds of public policy

24:6 MEXICO UN LEU MAXIMILIAN.

by the treaty-making power of the government to intro
duce or entertain negotiations.

" With these explanations I proceed to say that, in
the opinion of the President, France need not for a
moment delay her promised withdrawal of military
forces from Mexico, and her putting the principle of
non-intervention into full and complete practice in re
gard to Mexico, through any apprehension that the
United States will prove unfaithful to the principles and
policy in that respect which, on their behalf, it has been
my duty to maintain in this now very lengthened corres
pondence. The practice of this government, from its
beginning, is a guarantee to all nations of the respect
of the American people for the free sovereignty of the
people in every other State. We received the instruc
tion from Washington. We applied it sternly in our
early intercourse even with France. The same principle
and practice have been uniformly inculcated by all our
statesmen, interpreted by all our jurists, maintained by
all our Congresses, and acquiesced in without practical
dissent on all occasions by the American people. It is
in reality the chief element of foreign intercourse in our
history. Looking simply toward the point to which our
attention has been steadily confined, the relief of the
Mexican embarrassments without disturbing our rela
tions with France, we shall be gratified when the Empe
ror shall give to us, either through the channel of your
esteemed correspondence or otherwise, definitive infor
mation of the time when French military operations
may be expected to cease in Mexico.

APPENDIX. 247

" Here I might perhaps properly conclude this note.
Some obscurit}', however, might be supposed to rest
upon the character of the principle of non-intervention,
whieji we are authorized to suppose is now agreed upon
between the United States and France as a rule for their
future government in regard to Mexico. I shall, there
fore, reproduce on this occasion, by way of illustration,
some of the forms in which that principle has been
maintained by us in our previous intercourse with
France. In 1SG1, when alluding to the possibility that
the Emperor might be invoked by rebel emissaries from
the United States to intervene in our civil war, I ob
served : ' The Emperor of France has given abundant
proofs that lie considers the people in every country the
rightful source of authorit}', and that its only legitimate
objects are their safety, freedom, and welfare.'

" I wrote also, on the same occasion, these words to
Mr. Dayton : ' I have thus, under the President's direc
tion, placed before you a simple, nnexaggerated, and
dispassionate statement of the origin, nature, and pur
poses of the contest in which the United States are now
involved. I have done so only for the purpose of de
ducing from it the arguments you will find it necessary
to employ in opposing the application of the so-called
Confederate States to the government of his majesty the
Emperor for a recognition of their independence and
sovereignty. The President neither expects nor desires
any intervention, or even any favor, from the govern
ment of France, or any other, in this emergency. What
ever else he may consent to do, he will never invoke nor

248 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

even admit foreign interference or influence in this or
any other controversy in which the government of the
United States may be engaged with any portion of the
American people.'

* * * * * *

"'Foreign intervention would oblige us to treat
those who should yield it as allies of the insurrectionary
party, and to carry on the war against them as enemies.

"' However other European powers may mistake, his
majesty is the last one of those sovereigns to misappre
hend the nature of this controversy. He knows that
the revolution of It 76, in this country, was a successful
contest of the great American idea of free, popular
government against resisting prejudices and errors.
He knows that the conflict awakened the sympathies of
mankind, and that ultimately the triumph of that idea
has been hailed by all European nations He knows at
what cost European nations for a time resisted the pro
gress of that idea, and, perhaps, is not unwilling to con
fess how much France, especially, has profited by it.
He will not fail to recognize the presence of that one
great idea in the present conflict, nor will he mistake
the side on which it will be found. It is, in short, the
very principle of universal suffrage, with its claim of
obedience to its decrees, on which the government of
France is built that is put in issue by the insurrection
here, and is in this emergency to be vindicated and
more effectually than ever established by the govern
ment of the United States.'

" In writing upon the same subject to Mr. Dayton,

APPENDIX. 249

49

on the 30th of May, 18G1, I said : ' Xothing is wanting
to that success except that foreign nations shall leave
us, as is our right, to manage our own affairs in our
own way. They, as well as we, can only suffer by their
intervention. No one, we are sure, can judge better
than the Emperor of France how dangerous and
deplorable would be the emergency that should intrude
Europeans into the political contests of the American
people.'

" In declining the offer of French mediation, on the
8th of June, 18G1, I wrote to Mr. Dayton: 'The
present paramount duty of the government is to save
the integrity of the American Union. Absolute, self-
sustaining independence is the first and most indis
pensable element of national existence. This is a
republican nation ; all its domestic -affairs must be con
ducted and even adjusted in constitutional forms, and
upon constitutional, republican principles. This is an
American nation, and its internal affairs must not only
be conducted with reference to its peculiar continental
position, but by and through American agencies alone.'

"On the 1st of August, 18G2, Mr. Adams was in
structed by this government in the following words :
' Did the European States which found and occupied
this continent almost without effort then understand its
real destiny and purposes ? Have they ever yet fully
understood and accepted them? Has anything but
disappointment, upon disappointment and disaster upon
disaster, resulted from their misapprehensions ? After
near four hundred years of such disappointments and

250 - MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

disasters, is the way of Providence in regard to America
still so nrj'sterious that it cannot be understood and
confessed ? Columbus, it was said, had given a new
world to the kingdoms of Castile and Leon. What
has become of the sovereignty of Spain in America ?
Richelieu occupied and fortified a large portion of the
continent, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the
straits of Belle Isle. Does France yet retain that
important appendage to the crown of her sovereign ?
Great Britan acquired a dominion here surpassing by a
hundred-fold in length and breadth the native realm.
Has not a large portion of it been already formally
resigned ? To whom have those vast dominions, with
those founded by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the
Swedes, been resigned but to American nations, the
growth of European colonists and exiles, who have
come hither, bringing with them the arts, the civilization,
and the virtues of Europe ? Has not the change been
beneficial to society on this continent ? Has it not been
more beneficial even to Europe itself than continued
European domination, if it had been possible, could
have been ? The American nations which have grown
up here are free and self-governing. They have made
themselves so from inherent vigor and in obedience to
absolute necessity. Is it possible for European States to
plunge them again into a colonial state and hold them
there ? Would it be desirable for them and for Europe,
if it were possible ? The balance of power among the
nations of Europe is maintained not without numerous
strong armies and frequent conflicts, while the sphere of

APPENDIX. 251

political ambition there is bounded by the ocean which
surrounds that continent. Would it be possible to
maintain it at all, if this vast continent, with all its pop
ulations, their resources, and their forces, should once
again be brought within that sphere ?

" ' On the contrary of all these suppositions, is it not
manifest that these American nations were called into
existence to be the home of freemen ; that the States of
Europe have been intrusted by Providence with their
tutelage, but that tutelage and all its responsibilities
and powers are necessarily withdrawn to the relief and
benefit of the parties and cf mankind, when these
parties become able to choose their own system of
government, and to make and administer their own
laws ? If they err in this choice, or in the conduct of
their affairs, it will be found wise to leave them, like all
other States, the privilege and responsibility of detect
ing and correcting the error- by which they are, of
course, the principal sufferers.'

" On the 8th of May, 1862, Mr. Dayton was instruc
ted to express to M. Thouveuel ' the desire of the
United States that peaceful relations may soon be
restored between France and Mexico upon a basis just
to both parties, and favorable to the independence and
sovereignty of the people of Mexico, which is equally
the interest of France and all other enlightened
nations.'

"On the 21st of June, 1862, Mr. Dayton was author
ized to speak on behalf of the United States concern
ing the condition of Mexico in these words : 'France

252 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

has a right to make war against Mexico, and to deter
mine for herself the cause. We have a right to insist
that France shall not improve the war she makes to
raise up in Mexico an anti-republican or anti-American
government, or to maintain such a government there.'

"Accept, sir, a renewed assurance of my high con
sideration.

" WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

"The MARQUIS DE MONTHOLON, etc., etc."

IT.

MR. DROUYN DE LHUYS TO THE MARQUIS
DE MONTHOLON.

" [Translation.]

"PARIS, April 5, 1866.

"SiR: — I have read, with all the attention which it
deserves, the answer of the Secretary of State to my
dispatch of the 9th of January last. The scrupulous
care with which Mr. Seward has pleased to analyze that
dispatch, and the extended considerations upon which
he has entered to define, in regard to the expose which
I have made of the conduct of France in the affairs of
Mexico, the doctrines which are the basis of the inter
national policy of the United States, bear witness in our
eyes of the interest which the cabinet of Washington
attaches to putting aside all misapprehension.

APPENDIX. 253

"We find therein the evidence of its desire to cause
the sentiments of amity which the traditions of a long
alliance have cemented between our two countries to
prevail over the accidental divergencies, often inevita
ble, in the movement of affairs and the relations of
governments. It is in this disposition that we have
appreciated the communication which the Secretary of
State has addressed to you, the 12th of February last.
I will not follow Mr. Seward in the developments he
has given to the exposition of the principles which
direct the policy of the American Union. It does not
appear to me opportune or profitable to prolong, on
points of doctrine or of history, a discussion, where we
may differ in opinion from the government of the United
States, without danger to the interests of the two coun
tries. I think it better to serve those interests by ab
staining from discussing assertions — in my opinion
very contestable — in order to take action on assurances
which may contribute to faciliate our understanding.

" We never hesitate to offer to our friends the explana
tions they ask from us, and we hasten to give to the
cabinet of Washington all those which may enlighten it
on the purpose we are pursuing in Mexico, and on the
loyalty of our intentions. We have said to it, at the
same time, that the certainty we should acquire of its
resolution to observe in regard to that country, after
our departure, a policy of non-intervention, would hasten
the moment when it would be possible for us, without
compromising the interests which led us there, to with
draw our troops, and put an end to an occupation, the

254 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

duration of which we are sincerely desirous to abridge.
In his dispatch of the 12th of February last Mr. Seward
calls to mind, on his part, that the government of the
United States has conformed during the whole course
of its history to the rule of conduct which it received
from Washington, by practicing invariably the principle
of non-intervention, and adds that nothing justifies the
apprehension that it should show itself unfaithful in
what may concern Mexico. We receive this assurance
with entire confidence, and we find therein a sufficient
guarantee not any longer to delay the adoption of mea
sures intended to prepare for the return of our army.
The Emperor has decided that the French troops shall
evacuate Mexico in three detachments : the first being
intended to depart in the month of November, 1866;
the second in March, 1867 ; and the third in the month
of November of the same year.

" You will please to communicate this decision offi
cially to the Secretary of State.

"Receive, Marquis, the assurance of my high con
sideration.

"DROUYN DE LHUYS.

" The MARQUIS DE MONTHOLON,

" Minister of the Emperor, at Washington."

APPENDIX. 255

V.

"ME. SEWARD TO ME. BIGELOW.

" DEPARTMENT OF STATE. ">

"WASHINGTON, $OV. 23, 1866. )

" SIR :— Your dispatch of the 8th of November (No.
384), in regard to Mexico, is received. Your proceed
ings in your interview with M. Moustier, and also }Tour
proceedings in your interview with the Emperor, are
entirely approved. Say to M. Moustier that this
government is surprised and affected with deep concern
by the announcement now made for the first time that
the promised recall of one detachment of the French
troops from Mexico in November current has been post
poned by the Emperor. The embarrassment thus pro
duced is immeasurably increased by the circumstance
that this proceeding of the Emperor has been taken
without conference with and even without notice to the
United States. This government has not in any way
afforded reinforcements to the Mexicans, as the Em
peror seems to assume, and it has known nothing at all
of his countermanding instructions to Marshal Bazaine,
of which the Emperor speaks. We consult only official
communication to ascertain the purpose and resolutions
of France, as we make our own purposes and resolutions

256 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN.

known only in the same manner when she is concerned.
I am not prepared to say, and it is now unnecessary to
discuss, whether the President could or could not have
agreed to the Emperor's proposed delay, if he had been
seasonably consulted — if the proposition had been then
put, as the proceeding is now, upon the ground of mili
tary considerations alone, and if it had been marked
with the customary manifestations of regard to the
interests and feelings of the United States. But the
Emperor's decision to modify the existing arrangement
without any understanding with the United States, so
as to leave the whole French army in Mexico for the
present, instead of withdrawing one detachment in No
vember current, as promised, is now found in every way
inconvenient and exceptionable. We cannot acquiesce,
first, because the term "next spring," as appointed for
the entire evacuation, is indefinite and vague ; second,
because we have no authority for stating to Congress
and to the American people, that we have now a better
guarantee for the withdrawal of the whole expeditionary
force in the spring than we have heretofore had for the
withdrawal of a part in November ; third, in full reli
ance upon at least a literal performance of the Emperor's
existing agreement we have taken measures, while facili
tating the anticipatea French evacuation to co-operate
with the republican government of Mexico for promo
ting the pacification of that country, and for the early
and complete restoration of the proper constitutional
authority of that government. As a part of those mea
sures, Mr. Campbell, our newly appointed Minister,

AITKMUX. 257

attended by Lieutenant-general Sherman, has been sent
to Mexico in order to confer with President Juarez on
subjects which are deeply interesting to the United
States, and of vital importance to Mexico. Our policy
and measures thus adopted in full reliance upon the
anticipated beginning of the evacuation of Mexico were
promptly made known to the French legation here, and
doubtless you have already executed your instructions
by making them known to the Emperor's government
in Paris. The Emperor will perceive that we cannot
now recall Mr. Campbell: nor can we modify the in
structions under which lie is expected to treat, and
under which lie may even now be treating with the
republican government of Mexico. That government
will of course most earnestly desire and confidently ex
pect an early and entire discontinuation of foreign
hostile occupation. You will therefore state to the
Emperor's government, that the President sincerely
hopes and expects that the evacuation of Mexico will
be carried into eilect with such conformity to thgfex-
isting agreement a.s the inopportune complication which
calls for this dispatch shall allow. Mr. Campbell will
be advised of that complication. Instructions will be
issued to the United States military forces of observa
tion to await in every case special directions from the
President. This will be done with a confident expecta
tion that the telegraph or the mail may seasonably
bring us a satisfactory resolution from the Emperor in
reply to this note. You will assure the French govern
ment that the United States, while they seek the relief
17

258 MEXICO U^'DEii MAXIMILIAN.

of Mexico, desire nothing more earnestly than to
preserve peace and friendship with France ; nor does
the President allow himself to doubt that what has been
determined in France, most inauspicionsly, as we think,
has been decided upon inadvertently, without full reflec
tion upon the embarrassment it must produce here, and
without any design to retain the French expeditionary
forces in Mexico beyond the full period of eighteen
months originally stipulated for the complete evacuation.

" I am, sir, your obedient servant,

"WILLIAM II. SEWARD.

"To JOHN BIGELOW, ESQ., &c., Paris."

• r- ,

RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT- . -

—* 202 Main Library

___

All BOOKS MAY BE RECAUED~

(P6572slO)476-A-32

GENERAL LIBRARY -U.C- BERKELEY

BOOOW51B

/3 7*7

UNIVERSIT\£<^C£&JFORNiA LIBRARY