MEXICO. 



561 



of the first two orders have already been widely 

 distributed in Mexico and Europe. 



From the moment of assuming the imperial 

 crown, Maximilian was troubled with questions 

 respecting the succession. No issue had re- 

 sulted from his marriage with the Empress, and 

 the hostility manifested toward his government 

 by a large portion of the Mexican people satis- 

 fied him that no solution of the difficulties in 

 which he was involved could be obtained by a 

 future transfer of the imperial dignity to another 

 prince of European extraction. The stigma of 

 foreign usurpation would still attach to him. 

 A native prince, however, might form a rally- 

 ing point for a national party, to include all 

 persons in favor of a strong government, and 

 under the prestige of such a name, in connec- 

 tion with the succession, his own rule might be 

 tolerated, and perhaps become popular. For- 

 tunately for his purpose, Mexico, soon after its 

 independence had been secured, was erected 

 into an empire under Augustin Iturbide. Al- 

 though this form of government was annulled 

 in less than a year, and the Emperor himself 

 was banished and subsequently shot, two of his 

 sons and several grandchildren still survive, 

 and in them, if in any native Mexican, the tra- 

 ditions of imperial power would seem to centre. 

 Hence the idea was conceived of nominating 

 one or more of this family as successors to the 

 empire established in 1864, in case Maximilian 

 should die without issue. Such an act, it was 

 urged, would go far toward disarming the prej- 

 udices of those who still held out against the 

 'empire, and -would, perhaps, induce Juarez and 

 the republicans to cease their opposition. In 

 the hope, therefore, that the Mexicans would 

 look with complacency upon the prospect of the 

 throne being tilled by a native dynasty after the 

 death of the reigning monarch, two of the 

 grandchildren of the Emperor Iturbide are said 

 to have been designated as princes imperial, 

 next in the line of succession after Maximilian 

 and his consort Carlotta. It having been re- 

 ported that one of these, the child of an Ameri- 

 can woman, had been removed from his moth- 

 er's protection, and that the latter had been 

 compelled to leave Mexico, a resolution was 

 adopted in the United States House of Kepre- 

 sentatives, requesting information "in regard 

 to the kidnapping of the child of an American 

 lady in the city of Mexico, by the. usurper of 

 that republic, the so-called Emperor, under the 

 pretence of making such child a prince." In 

 reply, the State Department announced that no 

 official information had been received in regard 

 to the kidnapping referred to, and no other in- 

 formation upon the subject which it was deem- 

 ed advisable to make public at the present time. 

 The termination of the rebellion in the South- 

 ern States of the American Union in the spring 

 of 1865, cast adrift many restless spirits, who, 

 accustomed to the excitement of military life, 

 ill relished the idea of settling down to peace- 

 ful, industrial pursuits. Many of these natu- 

 rally looked at once toward Mexico, with the 

 VOL. v. 36 A 



republican party of which they heartily sym- 

 pathized, as a new field for adventure, and the 

 Imperial Government entertained grave appre- 

 hensions that thousands of discharged Amer- 

 ican soldiers would hasten to enlist in the service 

 of Juarez. That the Mexican republicans should 

 wish to fill their wasted and demoralized ranks 

 with such material was natural enough; and 

 scarcely had the first disbanded regiments of 

 United States volunteers returned from the bat- 

 tle-fields of the South, than offices were opened 

 in the Northern cities for registering the names 

 of persons wishing to emigrate to Mexico, where, 

 it was alleged, liberal inducements to settle, in 

 the shape of grants of lands, were offered to 

 them. As Gen. Ortega was in the United 

 States at the time, it was generally reported 

 that he was the promoter of this scheme, which 

 was also said to be connected in some manner 

 with his election to the Presidency of Mexico. 

 However that might be, no doubt seems to have 

 been entertained that the so-called emigrants 

 were intended for military service in the repub- 

 lican army ; and the question arose, whether the 

 United States Government was not bound, un- 

 der the provisions of its neutrality act, to pre- 

 vent their departure. The solution of this 

 question might have involved a rupture with 

 France, with which country our relations were 

 of an exceedingly delicate nature ; but such an 

 issue was avoided by the difficulty which those 

 having charge of the emigration scheme en- 

 countered in raising the necessary funds to 

 equip and despatch men to Mexico. The long 

 distance to be traversed before reaching then* 

 destination, the obstacles which the French 

 fleet could oppose to a landing on the coast, 

 and the utter impossibility of putting the emi- 

 grants in an effective condition when landed, . 

 presented grave obstacles to the scheme, in view 

 of which it was ultimately abandoned, without 

 the necessity of interference on the part of the 

 United States Government. 



Believed from the apprehensions excited by 

 the prospect of American emigrants enlisting 

 in the service of Juarez, the Imperial Govern- 

 ment proceeded to perfect a plan of its own for 

 encouraging emigration into the country. The 

 arrival of foreign colonists, bringing with them 

 habits of industry, a love of order, and a spirit 

 of activity and progress, it was supposed, would 

 exert a beneficial influence upon the native 

 population, and tend to develop the national re- 

 sources. At the close of 1864 rumors were very 

 prevalent that Dr. Gwin, an ex-Senator from 

 the United States, had been appointed by Maxi- 

 milian prefect of several of the northern States 

 of Mexico, with a view of encouraging thither 

 an extensive emigration from the Southern 

 States of the American Union, or of developing 

 the mineral resources of that part of the coun- 

 try; and it was further hinted that this portion 

 of the empire was to be ceded to France as 

 some sort of indemnity for the expenses under- 

 gone by her in establishing Maximilian on his 

 throne. The appointment of Dr. Gwin as prefect 



