Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/135

. . . His majesty's desire, as you know, is that the evacuation should commence towards next autumn, and that it should be accomplished as soon as possible. You will have to come to an understanding with Marshal Bazaine to settle as to the course of it, in conjunction with the Emperor Maximilian.

I cannot here enter into the various considerations which must weigh in the conduct of this operation; some of them, of a purely military and technical character, are essentially cognisable only by the marshal commanding in chief; others, of a more political kind, must be left to your mutual consideration, enlightened by the perfect knowledge which you possess of local circumstances and the necessities which they impose.

. . . These points being arranged, and French interests being thus protected, the emperor's government will not the less continue to testify in an effective manner to all the sympathy which his majesty feels towards the person of the sovereign of Mexico, and the noble task to which he has devoted himself. You will be pleased to assure the Emperor Maximilian of this in his majesty's name.

The 'Yellow Book' is not, as we see, uninteresting to refer to. Maximilian was, therefore, placed in a perfect cul-de-sac. It must be understood that article 2 of the treaty of Miramar,—worded as follows, 'The French troops shall evacuate Mexico in proportion as his majesty the Emperor of Mexico shall be able to organise troops to replace them'—would confer on France the strict right of diminishing its forces, inasmuch as Maximilian had had for eighteen months both the time and the means for organising a part of his army, if he had not been hindered by his generals and officials. But although it might be desirable as a salutary measure to leave the Mexican nation to rely gradually on its own powers, it did not follow that the evacuation, commenced in autumn, should be completed with such fatal precipitation. The point that especially rendered, and at first sight must render, the discussion an irritating,