MEXICO. 



521 



Archbishop of Mexico, assisted by other pre- 

 lates, with imposing ceremonies, after which 

 the emperor listened to an address from the 

 political Prefect of Mexico, profuse in protesta- 

 tions of loyalty and delight at his arrival, to 

 which he made the following reply : 



Profoundly moved by the enthusiastic reception 

 which I have received 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, and seeing its principal authorities assembled 

 to congratulate 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 iden- 

 tified his fate with yours. 



The imperial entry into the capital took place 

 on Sunday morning, June 12th, with a degree 

 of pomp and circumstance never before witness- 

 ed in Mexico. The streets, lined with soldiers, 

 were brilliantly decorated with flags and draper- 

 ies, and at appropriate points spanned by tri- 

 umphal arches festooned with flowers ; and as 

 the imperial cortege passed along, the roar of 

 artillery and the clangor of church bells made 

 a deafening welcome. The populace, who were 

 gathered in dense crowds to witness the pa- 

 geant, by their silence and lack of enthusiasm 

 afforded a singular contrast to its scenic splen- 

 dor. The French residents and the numerous 

 government employes, it is true, gave vent to 

 noisy demonstrations ; but the native Mexicans 

 looked on with comparative apathy, curiosity 

 being apparently the only feeling which they 

 cared to exhibit, and were sparing of their 

 vitas or applause. Many of them took pains to 

 impress upon strangers how different was the 

 reception of Maximilian to that in former days 

 bestowed upon some popular leader of the re- 

 public. After healing a Te Deum at the cathe- 

 dral the emperor held a levee at the palace, 

 where he conferred the order of Guadalupe 

 upon a number of persons, and the festivities 

 of the day ended with an illumination of the 

 city at nightfall. In the mottoes and inscrip- 

 tions plentifully distributed over the city during 

 the three days through which the celebration 

 was protracted, the influence of the reactionist 

 or church party was very apparent. Combined 

 with the customary Mexican bombast, there 

 was an ostentatious allusion to religious topics, 

 which suggested political rather than religious 

 motives, and showed how assiduous were tly 

 ecclesiastics to create a public opinion in their 

 favor. Maximilian and his consort were apos- 

 trophized, not merely as the saviours of tempo- 

 ral Mexico, but as the defenders and bulwarks 

 of the faith throughout the world, Mexico be- 

 ing, of course, the source whence their aus- 

 picious influences were to flow. 



The excitement attending his arrival having 

 subsided, the emperor set himself seriously to 

 work to organize the government of his realm, 

 and to ascertain in what manner the much de- 

 manded " regeneration" could be accomplished. 

 Coming to power, according to his friends, with 

 Intelligence, capacity, and liberal views of gov- 



ernment, he at once called upon the notables 

 of the different provinces, and those persons 

 supposed to represent the intelligence and 

 strength of the country, for information upon 

 the population and resources of their respective 

 localities, and also for suggestions as to the best 

 method of introducing order into the disorgan- 

 ized branches of the administration. He sought 

 also, by private interviews with such persons, to 

 get an insight into the national character and 

 feelings ; and as a pledge of his desire to estab- 

 lish a popular government, he organized them 

 into committees to report upon financial, mili- 

 tary, legal, or other reforms. Some of these 

 committees were formed on the most liberal 

 scale as regards numbers, that on finance alone 

 consisting of sixty members, who represented 

 every shade of opinion. The development ol 

 the resources of the country also occupied his 

 attention, and projects were broached for build- 

 ing the much-mooted railroad across the isth- 

 mus of Tehuantepec, for forming new mining 

 companies, railway and telegraph lines, and 

 for organizing a national navy. As it was in- 

 dispensable to unite the capital by a permanent 

 line of communication with the Gulf of Mex- 

 ico, the contract for continuing the railroad be- 

 tween Mexico and Yera Cruz, formerly granted 

 by Juarez in perpetuity to M. Escandron, was 

 given to an English company, who engaged to 

 finish the road within four years. 



The clemency which the emperor had shown 

 to the Mexican prisoners at Martinique was 

 subsequently imitated on a broader scale, in the 

 hope that the people would thereby be induced 

 to acquiesce in the new order of things ; and 

 shortly after his installation in the capital he 

 conceded a general amnesty to all prisoners 

 condemned for political offences, and also to 

 those who, for mixed offences, had been sen- 

 tenced to more than ten years' imprisonment 

 or hard labor ; although such persons were not, 

 in consequence of this amnesty, released from 

 private claims against them. Of more import- 

 ance than these measures for pacification was 

 an invitation which he sent immediately upon 

 arriving in Mexico, to Juarez and the republican 

 leaders, to attend a conference in the capital for 

 the purpose of discussing a plan for the restora- 

 tion of peace to the country and the firm estab- 

 lishment of the empire. This overture met 

 with little favor from sincere liberals, who 

 generally refused to hold any communication, 

 except by arms, with the "agent of Xapoleon," 

 although to the wavering or despondent ones 

 it afforded a welcome pretext to forsake the 

 cause of the republic. Juarez replied in the 

 following terms : 



RESPECTED SIR : You have privately addressed me 

 a letter, dated the 2d inst., on board the frigate No- 

 vara ; and in mv character of a polite and respectable 

 person, the obligation is imposed on me of replying 

 to it, although nastily, and without any thing like 

 meditation, because you must alreadv suppose that 

 the delicate and important charge of President of the 

 republic absorbs all my time without cessation- not 

 even at night. French filibustering is seeking io en- 



