Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/136

120 one was the fact that the cabinet of the Tuileries made use of the treaty of Miramar so far as suited its own purpose, and at the same time determined to get rid of the obligations which it had accepted through this convention, which bound the two parties to it. At the end of February, the Baron Saillard, without finishing his mission, set sail for Europe.

By the renewed urgency of our diplomatists, the court of Mexico was not long in perceiving that its cause was being seriously compromised at Paris. It thought that sending an ambassador devoted to the cause, who could explain freely to its august ally all its hopes and fears, would be the means of doing away with, or at least modifying, the resolutions which had been arrived at. M. Almonte, the former regent, received the order to be bearer of an imperial missive to the palace of the Tuileries. Whilst he was awaiting the result of these negotiations, the sovereign of Mexico turned all his attention towards the foreign legion and the Austro-Belgian brigade, the only European elements which would be left after the evacuation to form the buttresses of the imperial edifice. The proper organisation of these forces became of the highest importance for the future, and even for the safety of the crown.

The convention of Miramar, by article 3, had stipulated 'that the foreign legion in the service of France, composed of 8,000 men, should remain for six years in Mexico after all the other French troops had been recalled' (in conformity with article 2). 'After this time, the said legion was to pass into the service and the pay of the Mexican government. The latter government reserved to itself the power of abridging the duration of the employment in Mexico of this foreign corps.'