Page:The Fall of Maximilan's Empire.djvu/103

 shame,—Emperor of Mexico; all dissatisfied Mexicans will keep up an active correspondence with him about his supposed popularity there, and even may induce him to return at some future time, as they did with Iturbide; such of them as can afford it will go over to Austria and form a Mexican court for Maximilian at Miramar, and he will have enough of them to organize a legitimate Mexican government there, as the ex-king of the Two Sicilies did at Rome, after he was expelled from Naples; some European powers will keep recognizing him as the Emperor of Mexico, as Spain did with the ex-king of the Two Sicilies; whenever we may be likely to have complications with any European nation, the first step taken by the interested party will be to intrigue with Maximilian, and to threaten us with giving aid to our lawful sovereign to recover his authority from the hands of the usurpers, if we decline to accept their terms.

"Besides, if Maximilian is pardoned and allowed to go home, nobody in Europe, I am sure, will give us credit for magnanimity, as weak nations are not supposed to be magnanimous; but, on the contrary, it will be said that we did so through fear of public opinion in Europe, and because we would not dare to treat harshly our sovereign.

"I do not mean by this to say that Maximilian must necessarily be shot; what I mean is that his power to do any further mischief in Mexico must be utterly destroyed before he is allowed to depart."