Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/218

 gratitude for the kind expressions of feeling which have done so much good to my poor heart.

Receive, my dear marshal, the assurance of my sincere friendship.

At this critical moment, when devotion might become dangerous, M. Larès presented himself at the palace, and declared, in the name of his colleagues, that all the ministers would retire if the emperor quitted Mexico. M. Herzfeld immediately informed the commander-in-chief of this.

Mexico, October 20, 1866. Excellency,—M. Larès has just tendered the resignation of all the ministry, and has stated that, as soon as the emperor leaves the capital, there will no longer be any government. As his majesty is in a state of extreme weakness, and insists upon leaving, it is necessary that some measures should be taken. I beg that your excellency will be pleased to consult with the emperor again this evening.—I am, &c.,

On being informed of this significant incident, Marshal Bazaine wrote immediately to the president of the council, that the ministers must be wanting both in loyalty and generosity if they abandoned the emperor in an hour like this, after having sought for all his confidence; and that he (Marshal Bazaine) should feel compelled to adopt certain measures towards the ministers if they persevered in their resolution.

If it had not been for this energetic and necessary firmness, the whole government of the country would have suddenly fallen on the French commander at a time when the exact information received at our headquarters proved that all parties were on the point of rising en masse against the foreigners, and to massacre the small bodies of French which were still scattered over the territory, as if in another night of 'Sicilian Vespers.' In the evening, M. Herzfeld, by