Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/228

212 government and that of France. M. Dano, not having received any reply to the notification which he gave on this subject, has informed me of his intention to refer it to me in order that it may be carried out.

I have the honour of bringing the above statement under your majesty's notice, and to beg you to be pleased to give your orders for the fulfilment of the said convention.

Your majesty is certainly aware of the disaster which has befallen the column which was going to assist Oajaca. I shall have the honour of acquainting you with the details as soon as I am in possession of the official documents.

General Douay is at this moment on the other side of Matehuala, pursuing a pretty considerable body of cavalry.

With the most profound respect, Sire, &c.,

Some days after, the city of Oajaca, the garrison of which were compelled to lay down their arms, capitulated and opened its gates to the victorious Porfirio Diaz, notwithstanding the heroic defence of the chief of the cazadores, the brave commandant Tétard, who was killed during the siege. This double feat of arms accomplished by the liberal troops made a great noise in Mexico. In the Terres Chaudes, the guerilla chiefs getting bolder commenced to threaten the environs of Médellin, Tehuacan, and Pérote. At this crisis, Maximilian, surrounded by the clerical party, could not yet make up his mind to take any decided course, so great was the vacillation of his character and the extent of his reluctance. It cost him much to resign this crown, which he had been dreaming about since his infancy. One is struck with the precocious ambition which is breathed in his Souvenirs de Voyage, written after he had contemplated in the church at Grenada the royal insignia of Ferdinand the Catholic. 'I handled,' said Maximilian, 'the golden circlet and the sword once so powerful, with mingled feelings of