Page:The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian.djvu/59

 ' his due share of responsibility. That portion which concerns Maximilian, which will be developed in this new consideration of past events, will explain, before the tribunal of history, the faults and the misfortunes of that unhappy sovereign. Looking to the numerous documents before us of unquestionable authenticity, two principal points will, from the very outset of the imperial reign, make their appearance through the veil we are about to tear away, and will dilate on the Mexican horizon up to the fatal end. On one side will be revealed the instability, the indecision, and the blindness of Maximilian, animated though he was by the most generous sentiments, which he willingly ratified with his royal blood, after having been deceived by the sudden desertion of our government; and, on the other side, will shine forth the rough freedom, the continuous loyalty, and the co-operating devotion which was shown to the second Emperor of Mexico by the French military commander.

In order to understand fully the march of events which signalised the period of the Mexican intervention from 1866 to 1867, it will not be without interest to cast back a brief glance on the political conduct of the French and Mexican cabinets.

From the day on which the French government invited Maximilian to ascend the throne which the famous junta of notables had raised for him under the ægis of our flag, the Emperor Napoleon, who flattered himself that he had attained his first end— the regeneration of Mexico through the influence if the Latin race—considered that the proper time had now come for demanding the reparations due to the interests of our countrymen. For this purpose, after the acceptance of the throne by the archduke, which took place on April 10, 1864, the treaty of Miramar was concluded,