Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/53

Rh have saved and upheld the emperor if he had only known and appreciated them.

By order of the clergy, who flattered themselves that the visit of Maximilian to the capital of the Holy See would ensure the success of their unjust claims, the Indians rose en masse; they were already devoted to the cause, but still were intent and eager to hear from the imperial lips a promise of liberty, and of a reestablishment of their rights. They went back again in despair to their miserable ranchos.

On Maximilian's arrival, an active imperialist party, sincere and full of enthusiasm, was freely and spontaneously formed, captivated as they were by the personal charms of their majesties. There was then a time when the empire, in spite of the difficulty and peril which the task promised, had a good chance for a great future. It was an unexpected hour for Mexico; but neither the prince nor his subjects knew how to take advantage of it. Despite the efforts of a wife abounding in illusions, which were subsequently to be so painfully deceived and so grievously punished, whose name, however, will ever leave a shining track in the history of that unfortunate country, Maximilian, who dared not do as he would, committed numerous errors, because with his chivalric and undecided character he persisted in fancying that he was seated on an European throne. Under his easy rule every bad passion, with its accompanying appetites, again got the upper hand. He forgot that treason circulates in the very blood of Mexico. The Mexicans needed a Louis XI or a Cromwell, who would unflinchingly pursue his set course, thinking of the country's good, without caring for individuals. He could not expect to conquer his kingdom with a bulletin of laws as his weapon; he should, on the contrary, have been always in the