Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/234

 CHAPTER XVII.

FTER General Castelnau had fallen in with the Emperor Maximilian in the village of Ayotla, and had failed in obtaining an interview with the sovereign, he went on to Mexico, where he arrived October 21, 1866.

Dating from this epoch, so important to the destinies of Mexico, Marshal Bazaine's moral responsibility totally ceased. Public opinion was purposely misled when it has been attempted to throw upon the commander-in-chief the onus of any one resolution which was taken, or of any one act which was committed in this distant country after the arrival of Napoleon III.'s aide-de-camp. And, in fact, the instructions from the Tuileries, dated September 12, 1866, enjoined our head-quarters authorities neither to determine on nor execute any measure, either political or military, amidst the important events which were presenting themselves, without previously submitting everything to the assent of General Castelnau, assisted by M. Dano, the French minister, whose authority, hitherto almost effaced, now acquired fresh force.

The marshal consequently was now nothing more than a military commander, entirely subordinated to