502 



MEXICO. 



poleon, harshly treated by the pope, harassed 

 by Bazaine, hated by both Liberals and Con- 

 servatives, and surrounded by men in whose 

 ability, honesty, and fidelity, he could place lit- 

 tle reliance, it is scarcely to be wondered that 

 the unfortunate prince should break down under 

 the weight of cares pressing upon him, not the 

 least of which was the dreadful malady afflict- 

 ing the empress, of which he had just received 

 intelligence, and should wish to abandon a 

 country so full of misfortune to himself and its 

 inhabitants. Upon reaching Orizaba Maximil- 

 ian received a dispatch from Bazaine, urging 

 him to delay his departure, and pointing out 

 the propriety of his making a formal abdication 

 before embarking. He is even said to have in- 

 sisted on the necessity of his immediate return 

 to the capital. Whether or not this message was 

 coupled with a threat to prevent his departure 

 unless a formal abdication should be made, or 

 whether Maximilian understood that he would 

 not bo allowed to go except under such a con- 

 dition, and was therefore virtually a prisoner 

 of state, it is certain that he stopped short at 

 Orizaba on his journey to the coast, and re- 

 mained there for several weeks. During this 

 time, as may bo supposed, the French were 

 greatly perplexed what course to pursue, while 

 the Conservatives were alarmed at the prospect 

 of losing the head of an empire on which they 

 had staked their all. It became apparent to 

 both parties that an effort must bo made to re- 

 tain Maximilian in the country, and after con- 

 siderable correspondence had passed between 

 the capital and Orizaba, a delegation from the 

 ministry and council of state departed for the 

 latter place on November 22d. Thither also came 

 Conservative deputations from several of the 

 neighboring States, on whose arrival a council 

 of deliberation was opened, in which every 

 argument was urged to persuade the emperor 

 to remain in Mexico, and make a final effort to 

 establish his throne on a firm basis. To add 

 weight to their entreaties, the Church party 

 stepped in. at this juncture, with an offer of 

 several millions of dollars to sustain the sinking 



cause of -the empire ; and Miramon, but lately 

 returned from Europe, and distrusted by all 

 for his treacherous and vindictive disposition, 

 placed at the disposal of Maximilian his enter- 

 prise and undoubted military talents. Such 

 arguments were scarcely to be withstood, and 

 it was therefore without much surprise that the 

 public learned, through the official govern- 

 ment organ, that Maximilian, in obedience to 

 the almost unanimous request of the council of 

 deliberation, had consented to retain his power, 

 and return soon to the capital. Simultaneous 

 with this announcement the following procla- 

 mation was promulgated in Mexico on Decem- 

 ber 5th : 



ORIZABA, December 1, 1SG6. 



MEXICANS : Circumstances of gj-eat magnitude re- 

 lating to the welfare of our couikry, and which in- 

 srease in strength by our dornestiV "difficulties, have 

 produced in our mind the conviction that we ought 

 to reconsider the power confided to us. Our council 



of ministers by us convened has given, as their jpin 

 ion, that the welfare of Mexico still requires our 

 presence at the head of affairs ; and we have consid 

 credit our duty to accede to their request, announcing;, 

 at the same time, our intention to convoke a national 

 congress on the most ample and liberal basis, where 

 all political parties can participate; and this congress 

 shall decide whether the empire shall continue in 

 future ; and, in case of assent, shall assist in frannng 

 the fundamental laws to consolidate the public insti- 

 tutions of the country. To obtain this result our 

 counsellors are at present engaged in devising the 

 necessary means, and at the same time arrange mat- 

 ters in such a manner that all parties may assist in 

 an arrangement on that basis. 



In the mean time, Mexicans, counting upon vou 

 all, without excluding any political class, we shall 

 continue the work of regeneration with courage and 

 constancy, having been placed in charge of your 

 countrymen. 



(Signed) MAXIMILIAN. 



"While Maximilian was lingering at Orizaba in 

 the half-way house between abdication of his 

 throne and a renewed effort to save it, the 

 public mind was considerably excited in the 

 United States by apprehensions that Napoleon 

 would prove faithless to his stipulation to re- 

 move his troops from Mexico in three detach- 

 ments. On November 1st Mr. Bigelow was 

 informed by the French Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs that it was the emperor's intention to 

 withdraw the whole expeditionary force in the 

 spring of 1867, but no portion of it before that 

 time. For this change of plan considerations 

 of a purely military character were assigned. 

 Mr. Bigelow immediately obtained an interview 

 with the emperor, and requested to know what 

 could be done to prevent the discontent which 

 would be felt in the United States should this 

 intelligence be received there without explana- 

 tion. The following is the substance of Napo- 

 leon's reply as communicated by Mr. Bigelow 

 to Mr. Seward : 



The emperor said that it was true that he had con- 

 cluded to postpone the recall of any of his troops un- 

 til spring, but that in doing so he had been influenced 

 by entirely military considerations. At the time he 

 gave the order the successors of the dissidents, sup- 

 ported as they were by large reinforcements from 

 the United States, seemed to render any reduction 

 of his force then perilous to those who remained be- 

 hind. He accordingly sent a telegram to Marshal 

 Bazaine, who had already embarked a regiment (the 

 Eighty-first, I think he said), but which had fortu- 

 nately been prevented from sailing by unfavorable 

 winds, directing him to embark no troop_s until all 

 were ready to come. This dispatch, his majesty 

 said, was not sent in cipher, that no secret might be 

 made of its tenor in the United States. The troops 

 were then disembarked and returned to Orizaba. 

 His majesty went on to say that he sent General 

 Castelnau to Mexico about th'e same time, charged to 

 inform Maximilian that France could not give him 

 another cent of money nor another man. If he 

 thought he could sustain himself there alone, France 

 would not withdraw her troops faster than had been 

 stipulated for by M. Druyn de Lhuys, should such 

 be his desire ; but if, on the other hand, he was dis 

 posed to abdicate, which was the course Iris majestj 

 counselled him to take, General Castelnau waa 

 charged to find some government with which to 

 treat for the protection of French interests, and to 

 bring all the army home in the spring. 



On Novemb'v 93d Mr. Seward telegraphed 



