Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/286

266 followed only instructions, although impelled occasionally perhaps to a certain excess by the hostility and misconstruction applied on every side; yet it must be admitted that sordid avarice was among the defects of character which tended to justify suspicion against him. A letter from General Diaz was not without its effect, accusing him of offering to surrender all the towns in French possession with armament, and even the persons of Maximilian and his leading supporters; but this rests on the misinterpreted utterances of the agent sent to confer with him about assuming the leadership of the new government sought by France. Negotiation with Ortega had been frustrated by the United States, as we have seen, and Diaz was too loyal to entertain the offer; yet he as well as several other leaders showed every consideration for Frenchmen, and readily exchanged the prisoners of this nationality.