Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/287

 who certainly cannot be reproached with a want of generosity, had decidedly resolved that his fellow countrymen should not participate in the chances of his fortune, and had liberated them from their engagements. This action is an honour to the memory of the sovereign. The marshal had been waiting for this spontaneous movement on the part of the crown, in order to ask for his decision relative to our countrymen also. Maximilian replied that he gave them also their liberty; the following was his last letter to the French head-quarters:—

Hacienda de la Teja, January 7, 1867. My dear Marshal,—I have received the letter in which you ask if I offer any obstacle to the arrangement by which the officers and soldiers of French origin who are at present serving in our army, should return to their country (those at least who desire to do so), according to the instructions which you have received from your government. I hasten to acquaint you that our minister of war has received the order to grant to all soldiers of the French nation who have entered the Mexican service the same advantages which the Austrians and Belgians have received.

Receive the assurance of the entire friendship of your very affectionate,

Maximilian was still deluded as to the state of public opinion in France, and could not help recalling continually to his mind the former promises which he had received at Paris; he still therefore retained a secret hope that the court of the Tuileries would relax in the severity of its measures. A private letter from the Empress Eugenie, for whose character he professed a sympathetic admiration, had not a little contributed to cherish these illusions in the mind of the young emperor. He seemed to take a pleasure in saying that this letter, the aim of which was to heal the wound which had been made by the interview of Saint Cloud,