Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/199

 courier, and this is the only way in which this affair can be looked at.

With the most profound respect, sire, &c.

Mexico, September 16, 1866. My dear Marshal,—I regret that you place MM. Osmont and Friant in a position which will leave them no alternative but to resign their portfolios. Both of these officers fulfilled their duties to my entire satisfaction. The former has managed to secure the good feeling of the Mexican army; the latter has just prepared a series of decrees calculated to increase our resources, but which he alone is able to carry into execution. If, therefore, it is true that the alliance between my own and the French government is to be considered as a reality, as I flatter myself that it is, it is my desire that these two officers should continue in their ministerial functions, for, I am pretty sure, it will not be impossible to replace them, at least temporarily, in the offices which they occupy in the expeditionary corps.

Your reply will at all events inform me as to which class of ideas I must now make up my mind to.—Your very affectionate

Mexico, September 17, 1866. . . . Taking into serious consideration the desire which your majesty expressed in your letter of September 16, I have the honour of informing you that, until the arrival of fresh instructions from my government, the present positions of MM. Osmont and Friant will not be altered.

These two gentlemen will remain at your majesty's disposal, and the duties which belong to them in the expeditionary corps will, until further orders, be fulfilled by their respective assistants.

With the deepest respect, sire, &c.

Again, our head-quarters' authorities yielded to Maximilian's wishes. The reply of the French cabinet, dated August 26, was not long before it arrived. It was as the marshal had foreseen; 'it was of serious consequence to us,' they wrote, 'to keep aloof from the administration of the country. The Emperor