Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/133

Rh the population were in favour of Maximilian. In conclusion, our government tried even to colour the withdrawal of its troops with a desire of being better able to serve the interests of that throne which it was about to leave to ruin, or, rather, the fall of which it was, as we shall soon prove, about to precipitate.

Paris, January 15, 1866. . . . This state of things leads me to ask if the interests of the Emperor Maximilian, when thoroughly understood, do not entirely chime in with the necessities to which we are bound to yield. Among all the reproaches which are thrown out by domestic malcontents and foreign enemies, the most dangerous for a government which is in course of establishment is certainly that of being maintained only by a foreign power. No doubt, the suffrage of the Mexicans has given a reply to this imputation; but nevertheless it exists, and it is easily to be understood that it might prove useful to the cause of the empire to deprive its adversaries of this weapon.

Now that various considerations compel us to confront the termination of our military occupation, the emperor's government, in its solicitude for the glorious work which it has begun, and in its sympathy for the Emperor Maximilian, feels bound to acquaint itself exactly with the financial position of Mexico. The situation is a serious one, but is not desperate. With energy and courage, with a firm and unswerving will, the Mexican empire may triumph over every obstacle in its path; but success can only be attained on these terms. This is the conviction we have arrived at from an attentive and conscientious examination of its obligations and its resources, and you will strive to impress it upon the minds of the Emperor Maximilian and of his government.

Can it be pretended that M. Rouher was ignorant of the truth when, from the elevation of the tribune in our Corps Législatif, he drew those pleasant pictures of the Mexican landscape which had been already so