WITH MAXIMILIAN IN MEXICO 197 



of the Mexican government. It was not prepared to 

 offer them lands on any terms, and many first-rate men 

 from various parts of the South, who had been looking 

 for homes, had gone away in disgust. The fundamental 

 reason for failure should not, indeed, be laid at Maury's 

 feet. But by this time the instability of the Mexican 

 throne had begun to betray itself in the slowness of 

 action and the lack of decision of the Emperor. 'The 

 indecision and weakness of Maximilian", writes Steven- 

 son, "prevented his taking full advantage of the oppor- 

 tunity then offered to strengthen the empire. The delay 

 caused by a vacillating policy discouraged the would-be 

 colonists, and before long the flood of immigration was 

 checked ".2 



Still some progress contined to be made. On Maury's 

 recommendation. General Magruder, formerly of the 

 Confederate States army, was placed in charge of the 

 land office, under whom was to be a large number of 

 surveyors, most of whom were former Confederates. 

 Among the other prominent men who had come to Mex- 

 ico in the summer of 1865 were: Generals Kirby Smith, 

 Shelby, Slaughter, Walker, and Terrell of Texas; Gov- 

 ernor Price of Missouri; Ex-Governor Isham G. Harris 

 and General Wilcox of Tennessee ; General Hindman of 

 Arkansas; Governor Reynolds of Georgia; Judge John 

 Perkins, Colonel Denis, and Pierre Soule of Louisiana; 

 and Major Mordecai of North Carolina. Across the 

 frontier had been brought horses, artillery, and every- 

 thing that could be transported. Both large and small 

 bands of Confederate soldiers had come over into 

 Mexico, and some 2000 citizens had left the United 

 States with the intention of colonizing Sonora in North- 



* "Maximilian in Mexico" by Sara Y. Stevenson, p. 174. 



