Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/142

 Without allowing his difficulties to dishearten him, Maximilian, in whom the dreams of poetry too often eclipsed the feelings of a sovereign, set courageously to work. His hopes being revived by the formation of the cazadores, the emperor made up his mind to cut into the very heart of the military question, by the dismissal of dangerous officers, and by the reduction of the national forces at all those points where they remained at the expense of the treasury, without being of any service to the country. The following letter, which he addressed to his minister of war, shows that now, being made wise by experience, and left to his own ideas, he endeavoured for a time to follow a path full of wisdom:—

Cuernavaca, May 11, 1866. My dear Minister Garcia,—We return you the draft of the project which you sent us as to the new organisation of the army, the basis of which appears to be generally good.

Nevertheless, you will take care to communicate previously with Marshal Bazaine, so as to make sure that no corps is suppressed which plays any important part in the plan of his military operations.

With regard to the delicate business of suppressing a certain part of our organised forces, you will take all the necessary precautions so as not to discourage the officers at the first outset, and thereby cause them to go and swell the ranks of the malcontents.

It will likewise be proper that you should settle the mode to be adopted in carrying out this reduction, by fixing a date, at which each commandant of a corps, a battery, company, &c. should draw up, assisted by the nearest military authority, a list of the effective force under his command, of their clothing, arms, &c; and it will be also requisite to point out some one who is to take possession of everything that belongs both to embodied and disbanded forces.

You will devote all your attention to the best plan to be followed in dispersing the small corps, which, by reason of