Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/186

 your excellency that the cabinet of the emperor is abolished, and is replaced by a secrétariat.

His majesty places Captain X——— at the head of the military section of this office.

For the future, the emperor desires to correspond with your excellency, the chief of the staff, and the various ministers, through the medium of this officer.

I cannot at present acquaint you with the name of the head of the civil section.

Maximilian now felt himself, and rightly so, relieved of all gratitude to the French government, and had only one aim with regard to them; namely, to derive all the advantage he could from our help, and to make use of our soldiers as long as he could, in order to save his crown. And he had a right to do this. Thus, he constantly expressed his wishes that the French should guard specially the northern frontier line, and the neighbouring ports of the United States. In this sphere of action there was a chance of their coming in collision with the Americans; but our authorities kept on their guard and obeyed the instructions which came from Paris, although at the same time they afforded complete co-operation to the crown of Mexico which they were still charged to defend, the convention of July 30 being now signed. Impressed by these hopes now deceived by our total abandonment of the northern frontier, Maximilian thus wrote to the Commander-in-Chief:—

Alcazar de Chapultepec, August 4, 1866. My dear Marshal,—The capture of the city of Tampico by the rebels and the evacuation of Monterey apprise me that the result of the campaign in the north will be attended with the most serious consequences to my country.

I desire, therefore, to be informed of the plan which you propose to follow in your operations, so that I may try to save,