Mi: XI CO FERDINAND MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH. 



Icon, declare that tin- monarchy cannot be 



Mished 'in :i Jcu'itimate ami linn Itii-is 



witliniit a spontaneous c.xpiv-M.iii of tin- will 



(if t!u> whole nation. I inii^t make my accept- 



. .f tin- tlirono dependent (in a //////> 

 tin- whole nation/' With this answer the 

 ^legation returned home with tho 

 1.1,- object of procuring a popular vote in. 

 ,.f tin- propo-ed empire, but, in the scat- 

 Hid disturheil state of the Mexican people, 



am a popular vote of any character was 

 evidently Impracticable. With thisrepresonta- 

 timi tli. 'delegation again visited Maximilian, and 

 on the loth of April ho expressed himself sat- 

 isfied that, "tin- resolution which brought them 

 tlie tir-t time to Miramar was confirmed by the 

 immense majority of their compatriots, and that 

 he illicit, with good right, consider himself tho 

 legitimate elect of the Mexican people." Im- 

 mediately afterward a proces verbal of the ac- 



ice of the crown of Mexico was signed 

 liy tho parties to the interview, and a. conven- 

 tion between France and Mexico was entered 

 into. Soon after this interview Maximilian 

 started for Mexico, stopping at Rome to receive 

 the benediction of the Pope upon the enterprise. 

 On May 28th he landed at Vera Cruz, and on 

 Sunday, June 12th, entered the city of Mexico, 

 lie immediately commenced organizing ft new 

 government, and to afford him a basis of action 

 he adopted every means for securing informa- 

 tion upon the population and resources of the 

 different sections of the country, and an insight 

 into.the national character. In order to initiate 

 good feeling, shortly after his installation in the 

 capital he conceded a general amnesty to all 

 prisoners condemned for political offences, and 

 some other classes of offenders. He also sent 

 immediately to Juarez and tho Republican lead- 

 ers, inviting them to attend a conference in the 

 capital for the purpose of discussing a plan for 

 the restoration of peace in the country and the 

 firm establishment of the empire. This met 

 with a contemptuous refusal from Juarez, and 

 found as little favor from other leaders. From 

 tho first the financial question was the most 

 difficult with which Maximilian had to meet, 

 and a committee which he appointed failed, from 

 ignorance of the economical condition of the 

 country, to institute any available measures for 

 pecuniary relief. About the middle of August, 

 Maximilian started on a tour of observation, 

 intending to go as far as Zacatecas. Previous 

 to his departure he removed the censorship 

 from tho press. On the 8d 6f November he 

 addressed a letter to his Minister of State, 

 Velasquez de Leon, in which he announced a 

 determination to treat as outlaws the armed 

 adherents to the Republican Government, and 

 commanded " all functionaries, magistrates, and 

 military authorities of the nation to pursue and 

 annihilate them by all means in their power." 

 Financial troubles continued to embarrass the 

 Emperor, and to these were added fresh com- 

 plications arising from demands of the eccle- 

 siastics for the restoration of Church proper- 



ty confiscated during Liberal administrations. 

 These demands the poverty of the empii . 



pclled him to ivfti-e, and thus he otleiid'-d tho 

 Church party and tho Pope. On October 2d, 

 18C5, believing that Juarez when driven out 

 of Chihuahua had taken refuge in the United 

 St.it.--, Maximilian issued a proclamation an- 

 nouncing the. departure of the Republican 

 1'n-ideiit from Mexican soil, and declaring his 

 cause utterly lost, and that "the struggle in 

 future will be between honest men and gang's 

 of criminals and bandits." This proclamation 

 was immediately followed by an imperial de- 

 cree pronouncing the most vigorous measures 

 against parties in arms against the Government, 

 and declaring that when captured such persons 

 would be shot within twenty-fou,r hours after 

 conviction by court-martial. In accordance 

 with this decree, Generals Ortega and Salazar 

 and several Republicans, being captured at 

 Santa Anna Amatlan on October 13th, were, 

 in a few days, summarily executed, notwith- 

 standing that it was probably then known by 

 the Emperor that Juarez's reported abandon- 

 ment of his cause was unfounded. 



The year 1866 opened with the Republic in 

 so crushed and mutilated a condition as to be 

 scarcely recognizable, but soon the Republicans 

 were greatly encouraged by the convention be- 

 tween France and the United States, by which 

 j;he Emperor of France agreed to withdraw ah 1 

 the French troops from Mexico by November, 

 1866, while the United States, on the other 

 hand, informed France that she might rely 

 upon our friendship and neutrality. Gradually 

 the Republicans gained^ important ad van: 

 until, in the latter part of June, General Mejia 

 found himself compelled to surrender the im- 

 portant seaport of Matamoros. This first sig- 

 nal defeat of the Imperialists was followed by 

 a series of other successes of the Republicans, 

 which reduced the territory subject to Maximil- 

 ian's control to a very small portion of the 

 country. An effort to delay the financial ruin 

 of the country, by the appointment of M. Lan- 

 guet as Minister of Finance, failed in conse- 

 quence of the death of Languet, in February. 

 The official announcement of the determination 

 of Louis Napoleon to withdraw all the French 

 troops, induced Maximilian to dismiss the Lib- 

 eral members of his Cabinet, and lean again en- 

 tirely on the Church party, which agreed to 

 supply the immediate wants of the Government 

 by a loan of several millions. His effort to re- 

 tain a part of the expeditionary force in Mexico 

 entirely failed. A journey undertaken by tho 

 Empress Carlotta to Paris and Rome, mainly 

 for this purpose, was not only unsuccessful, but 

 entirely broke down the health ojf the Empress, 

 who became insane. An attempt to create a 

 native army led likewise to no result. On tho 

 16th of August, on celebrating the anniversa- 

 ry of Mexican independence, Maximilian still 

 promised to defend his throne to the last ; but 

 on tho 22d of October he left the capital, as 

 was generally supposed, with a design to embark 



