Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/201

Rh sustained by a host of trained soldiers. Notwithstanding the popular pressure, headed by Grant and his party, who clamored for the fulfilment of the doctrine to the letter, and the immediate withdrawal of French troops, the United States government wished by no means to rush into another war, and swell its enormous debt. It even endeavored to maintain a fair neutrality toward both of the contending parties, although officials did manage to favor the Juarists somewhat.

Encouraged by this attitude, Maximilian ventured to write to President Johnson, only to find both his letter and envoy ignored. In August, in connection with the Gwin colonization scheme, the American minister at Paris declared in an official note that the American people sympathized warmly with the republicans of Mexico, and looked impatiently on a continuance of French intervention. The French reply, while somewhat haughty, was reassuring; and in pursuance thereof, an effort was made two months later for a recognition at Washington of the empire, with a promise that this would hasten the departure of French troops. The United States refused, and, encouraged by the deferential tone of the notes from Paris, they assumed so hostile an attitude that the prospect of a rupture seemed to many inevitable.