Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 1.djvu/236

202 Prim, pressed by his necessities, might some day place himself at the head of a few regiments, issue a pronunciamiento, call the people to arms and upset the Cabinet and the dynasty together. Prim was not only capable of doing such things, but his popularity furnished him also the means for doing them. The Government, therefore, in order to get rid of a very dangerous man, had placed him at the head of an expedition which would remove him from the country and at the same time give him an opportunity for filling his pockets. This somewhat uncharitable explanation, although coming from an opponent of General Prim and undoubtedly colored a little by party feeling, may be not quite unfounded as far as the views of the Government are concerned; for it is currently believed that Spanish generals are somewhat unsafe persons when out of funds. It is by no means unlikely that the Government, after having undertaken the Mexican expedition in order to relieve itself of a political embarrassment, should have seen itself forced, in order to relieve itself of another embarrassment, to place the same expedition under the control of a man whom it is exceedingly difficult to govern.

Last night I had a long conversation with General Prim himself. He expressed himself with that frankness which is one of his characteristic qualities, and I will give you the substance of what he said. He assured me that he would use all his power to insure to the Mexican people full liberty in arranging their own affairs. He considered it absurd to think of the establishment of a monarchy in Mexico; all the traditions of the people were republican and he was sure there were but few Mexicans who seriously thought of introducing monarchical institutions. He knew well that the misfortunes and the demoralization of the Mexican people were largely owing to the influence of the clergy, and this conviction would not be