520 



MEXICO. 



sovereign was greeted by shouts of " God save 

 the Emperor Maximilian I.," and salvos of 

 artillery from the castle and the town of 

 Trieste. Gutierrez de Estrada then addressed 

 him in the following remarks : 



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 

 thanksgivings to Heaven in gratitude for our miracu- 

 lous deliverance. As for us, sire, there remains a 

 last duty to perform, and that is to lay at your feet 

 our love, our gratitude, and the homage of our fidel- 

 ity. 



The deputation then knelt and kissed the 

 hand of the Emperor, and immediately after- 

 ward a proces verbal of the acceptance of the 

 crown of Mexico was signed by the parties to 

 the interview. 



On the same day a convention between 

 France and Mexico was signed by their respec- 

 tive representatives in the following terms : 



ARTICLE 1. The French troops at present in Mexico 

 shall be reduced as soon as possible to a corps of 

 20,000 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 condition laid down in the following 

 articles : 



ART. 2. The French troops shall evacuata Mexico 

 in proportion as the Emperor of Mexico shall be 

 able to reorganize the troops necessary to replace 

 them. 



ART. 3. The foreign legion in the serrice of France, 

 composed of eight thousand men, shall nevertheless 

 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 Gov- 

 ernment, which reserves to itself the right of abridg- 

 ing the duration of the employment of the foreign 

 legion in Mexico. 



ART. 4. The points of the territory to be occupied 

 by the French troops, as well as the military expedi- 

 tions of the said troops, if there be any, shall be de- 

 termined in common accord, directly between the 

 Emperor of Mexico and the Commandant-in-Chief of 

 the French corps. 



ART. 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 directions of those 

 troops shall also belong to the French commander. 



ART. 6. The French commanders shall not inter- 

 fere with any branch of the Mexican Administration. 



ART. 7. So long as the requirements of the French 

 corps d'armee shall necessitate a two-monthly ser- 

 vices of transports between France and Vera Cruz, 

 the expense of the said service, fixed at the sum of 

 400,000 francs per voyage (going and returning), shall 

 be paid by Mexico. 



ART. 8. The naval stations which France maintains 

 in the West Indies and in the Pacific Ocean shall 

 often send vessels to show the French flag in the 

 ports of Mexico. 



ART. 9. The expenses of the French expedition to 

 Mexico, to be paid by the Mexican Government, are 

 fixed at the sum of 270,000,000 francs for the whole 

 duration of the expedition down to the first of July, 

 1864. That sum shall bear interest at the rate of 5 

 per cent, per annum. From the first of July all the 

 expenses of the Mexican army shall be at the charge 

 of Mexico. 



ART. 10. The indemnity to be paid to France by 



the Mexican Government for the pay and mainten 

 ance of the troops of the corps d'armee after the 1st 

 of July, 1864, remains fixed at the sum of l,000f. a 

 year for each man. 



ART. 11. The Mexican Government shall hand over 

 to the French Government the sum of 66,000,000 in 

 bonds of the loan at the rate of issue, viz. : 54,000,000 

 to be deducted from the debt mentioned in Art. 9, 

 and 12,000,000 as an instalment of the indemnities 

 due to Frenchmen in virtue of Art. 14 of the present 

 Convention. 



ART. 12. For the payment of the surplus of the 

 war expenses, and for acquitting the charges in Arts. 

 7, 10 and 14, the Mexican Government engages to 

 pay annually to France the sum of 25,000,000 in 

 specie. That sum shall be imputed : 1. To the sums 

 due in virtue of Arts. 7 and 10. 2. To the amount, 

 interest and principal, of the sum fixed in Art. 9. 

 3. To the indemnities which shall remain to French 

 subjects in virtue of Art. 14 and following. * 



ART. 13. The Mexican Government shall pay, on 

 the last day of every month, into the hands o'f the 

 Paymaster-General of the army, what shall be due 

 for covering the expenses of the French troops re- 

 maining in Mexico, in conformity of Art. 10. 



ART. 14. The Mexican Government engages to in- 

 demnify French subjects for the wrongs they have 

 unduly suffered, and which were the original cause 

 of the expedition. 



ART. 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 theso 

 claims. 



ART. 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 

 the commission designated in the preceding article, 

 and shall decide on those which have been reserved 

 for its decision. 



ART. 17. The French Government shall set at 

 libeiiy all the Mexican prisoners of war as soon 

 as the Emperor of Mexico shall have entered his 

 States. 



ART. 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. 



Soon after the interview at Miramar, Maxi- 

 milian visited the Pope at Eome, and then, 

 with his consort, the Empress Charlotte, em- 

 barked for Mexico ; and after touching at Ma- 

 deira and Martinique, at the latter of whict 

 places he liberated a number of Mexican pris- 

 oners, arrived on May 28th at Vera Cruz. On 

 the succeeding day he landed, and passing 

 hastily through the city, departed for Orizaba, 

 where he arrived on the 30th. The inhabitants 

 of Vera Cruz, with the exception of the French, 

 exhibited a passive indifference to the imperial 

 presence, and very few outward demonstrations 

 of enthusiasm greeted the new sovereign upon 

 entering his dominions. The brief stay in the 

 city was attributed to the fear of the yellow 

 fever and vomito entertained by the imperial 

 couple. After a few days of rest from the fa- 

 tigues of the sea-voyage at Orizaba, the emperor 

 continued his journey to the capital, and on 

 June llth was met at Guadalupe, a few miles 

 distant from Mexico, by the chief ecclesiastical, 

 military, and civil dignitaries of the realm. 

 Here, at the famous church of Our Lady of 

 Guadalupe, high mass was celebrated bv the 



