Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/293

 This loyal declaration well deserved to reach the steps of the throne. The marshal immediately sent a copy of it to the emperor:—

Sire,—Your majesty invited me, through the medium of the president of the council of ministers, to state, in a candid and friendly way, my opinion as to the present state of things. I have now the honour of sending to your majesty the statement which I read at the meeting held to-day, which is the sincere expression of the views I entertain. With the deepest respect, Sire, &c.,

After they had heard the commander-in-chief's statement, the Junta proceeded to the ballot. Unanimously, with the exception of four voices, it was decided that the monarchy was to continue to struggle on. The die was cast. This vote, which closed the door to any combinations of republican reorganisation on the part of France, and irretrievably swept away the guarantee of the French claims and loans, (which might have been stipulated for with a new republican president,) decisively put a stop to General Castelnau's mission, and the attempts which were making by our diplomatists among the disaffected leaders.

The Junta likewise declared, 'that any other appeal was unnecessary, notwithstanding the express desire of the emperor to refer the matter to a national congress.'

The ministers of war and of finance asserted that they possessed—the one 250,000 piastres in cash, the other 11,000,000 piastres, of which 8,000,000 piastres were at his immediate disposal.

The French occupation was approaching its close. After the Emperor Napoleon's last despatch, directing that complete freedom of action should be left to Maximilian, one task only remained to the commander-