MKXICO*. 



501 



mission was un y tin- IJn- 



tHressl'arliitM, with a \icw to^rengtheii thoal- 



;! of :i persona! intcr- 



Icon, ami, it' po>siMc. obtain ad- 



:i the tottering empire 



.'.an. The empress departed early in 



July. accompanied 1-y Castillo, the Mexican 



. i^'ii A Hairs and other officials, 



.:-ri\ed ia 1'aris on the 9th of August. 



inquiries of the American minister as to 



tlio truth of certain rumors connected with an 



' .'tween the empress and Napoleon, 



iviich Minister of Foreign Affairs replied : 

 l.uve received tlio empress with cordiality 

 -md . i.t the plan heretofore deter- 



mined upon by the emperor's government will 

 .1 in tlio way announced." From 

 Paris the empress proceeded to Rome and 

 sought an interview with the pope. On this 



ion the whole vexed subject'.of the Con- 



, the sequot ration of Church property in 

 Mexico, and Maximilian's decrees of religious 

 toleration was discussed, with a result satisfac- 

 tory to neither party. The pope positively re- 

 to sanction the Concordat proposed by 

 Maximilian, in spite of the most earnest solicita- 



<>f the empress ; and the mind of the lat- 

 -t meted by disappointment and a multi- 

 tude of cares, finally broke down under the 

 excitement with which she was laboring. In 



ml visit to the Vatican she exhibited un- 

 doubted symptoms of impaired intellect, which 

 were soon developed into confirmed insanity. 

 In this distressing condition she was conveyed, 

 as soon as she was able to bear the journey, 

 back to Miramar, where, at the close of the year, 

 she still remained, in no perceptible degree re- 



:ed. 



Meanwhile Maximilian was harassed by ma- 

 ny perplexing questions, not the least urgent 

 of which was the adoption of a plan for re- 

 cruiting a force of native troops, to take the 

 place of the departing expeditionary corps. En- 

 listments proving unavailing, he had resort to a 

 conscription, with the usual provisions for ex- 

 emption, and an additional one permitting a 

 dratted man to pay $400 to the government for 

 a substitute. 'J his proved also a failure. The 

 able-bodied men fled to the mountains and other 

 hiding-places before the day of drafting ar- 

 rived, leaving none but exempts behind them ; 

 and the official journal of the capital finally 

 announced that the entire conscription had 

 been indefinitely postponed as ''unnecessary.'' 

 Meanwhile the Republicans were pressing upon 

 the central States from the north and south, 

 and but a few weeks would intervene 1 

 the departure of the first detachment of Trench 

 troops. Nothing remained, therefore, but 

 to return to the old system of enlistments. 

 The influence of the Conservatives began to be 

 felt about this time in the severe penalties in- 

 flicted upon the press for the publication of ex- 

 ceptional articles ; and the mild and conciliatory 

 measures which signalized the arrival of Maxi- 

 ujilian in the country gradually gave place to a 



modelled after the jiattern of 

 ub.-ulutc Kuropean powers. On AugtJbt 16th 

 V-brated throughout Mexico by Imperial- 

 ists and Republicans alike the fifty-sixth anni- 

 versary of the national independence. The 

 Republican programme, it was said, included 

 an uprising in every town garrisoned by the 

 Imperialists. But this does not seem to have 

 been carried into effect to any considerable ex- 

 tent. In the capital Maximilian went in state 

 to the cathedral and heard a " To Deum," after 

 which he held an audience in the palace, where, 

 in reply to a congratulatory address from the 

 president of the Cabinet, ho delivered the fol- 

 lowing speech : 



MEXICANS : For the third time, as chief ruler of the 

 nation, we are celebrating the great and glorious 

 day of your independence. On such a day we recall 

 to remembrance the patriots of the country, and it is 

 necessary that I speak to you frankly from my heart 

 when I rejoin with yon in a review of the past. 

 Fifty-six years have passed since you gained your in- 

 dependence. 



It is a half century, during which Mexico has 

 wrestled for real independence and pacific consoli- 

 dation. 



This struggling and patient toil of patriots is merelv 

 a repetition of those events and trials through which 

 each nation has to pass ero it reaches a grand and 

 strong position. 



Four first period has passed without sacrifice of 

 blood, without punishment, without human triumphs, 

 without steady progress, and without political stand- 

 ing. This lesson of the first period of our history 

 directs us how to proceed now without further sacri- 

 fices ; how to make union, and engender an inimita- 

 ble faith in onr future. 



Let all act with energy in his sphere toward ac- 

 complishing the great wort of regeneration, then our 

 work will not be fruitless, and there will follow a con- 

 sciousness of having performed our duty. 



I have undertaken the great work of regeneration, 

 and have confidence that my labors will ultimately 

 be crowned with peace and prosperity for the coun- 

 try. 



.Nevertheless, I am firmly established in the place 

 that the voice of this nation called me to occupy. 

 Notwithstanding all my difficulties, I shall not prove 

 vacillating in my obligations. A Hapsburg never 

 deserts an arduous post. 



The greater part of the people of the nation elected 

 me to defend their most sacred rightflPagainst the 

 makers of disorder and the destroyers of true inde- 

 pendence. It is a sacred truth that the voice of the A 

 people is the voice of God. 



The departed heroes of the country are watching 

 our efforts. Before us are their immortal examples 

 of toil and perseverance. To us is given an enviable 

 task to make solid and crown the work of inde- 

 pendence that they consecrated with their precious 

 blood. 



Mexicans ! let independence and the remembrance 

 of your immortal martyrs live. 



In spite of this spirited harangue, and of 

 rumors of active military movements to be 

 undertaken by the Imperialists, one of which 

 represented that the emperor was about to take 

 the field in person at the head of his army, al- 

 most the next intelligence from Mexico was to 

 the effect that, on October 22d he left the capi- 

 tal forever, en route for Vera Cruz. The rea- 

 sons for this sudden though not unexpected 

 move, have never been satisfactorily given, but 

 may readily be conjectured. Deserted by Ka- 



