Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/283

Rh documents not in conformity with the laws of the empire, that the representatives of France have no authority to place agents at the said custom-house to assist the transfer of the said goods; for even supposing that the convention of July 30 was in force in all its rigour, the action of the said representatives would be confined to the port of landing, and could not extend to the custom-houses of the interior; on the other hand, if the said goods should be withdrawn without a previous settlement with the administration of the Mexican revenue, the owners will be subject to all that will be necessary to be done in conformity with the fiscal laws now in force.

It will hardly astonish when we say that perfect harmony did not prevail in the camp of the French authorities, and if we are to believe in the indiscreet things which, either purposely or not, followed the secret conferences held at the head-quarters at Buenavista, we cannot doubt that discord on a certain point had broken out amongst our representatives, the echo of which had spread as far as Washington. Now, this capital was always kept well informed by Romero, Juarez's minister, and it was well known there that Maximilian's prolonged stay was a source of irritation both to the imperial aide-de-camp and to M. Dano. Energetic measures even were spoken of such as circumstances dictated. Now it was that the marshal felt all the difficulty and painfulness of the task which he had consented to go through with. He was more than once compelled (we defy contradiction in this), to bitterly express his regret that he had not demanded his recall from Mexico. What must his feelings have been in contemplating the daily decay of the monarchy which he had as it were nursed in its cradle, and the frail existence of which he had for three years done his best to prolong?

After all, Maximilian (who had declared 'that he would not go back to Europe in the baggage-waggon