Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/299

Rh to Napoleon and the French government is different, and he exposes the double-faced policy of the former. Attention is also called to Maximilian's unlucky choice of advisers.

Kératry published in Paris the same year ''L'Élévation et la chute de l'empereur Maximilien. Intervention française au Mexique 1861–1867.'' Paris, 1857, 8ᵒ, pp. xx., 372. In 1868 there was published in London ''The Rise and Fall of the Emperor Maximilian. A Narrative of the Mexican Empire 1861-67. From Authentic Documents. With the Imperial Correspondence.'' By Count Émile de Kératry. Translated ... by G. H. Venables. London, 1868, 12ᵒ, pp. viii., 312, plate. Other works by Kératry are, La Créance Jecker, les indemnités françaises, et les imprunts Mexicains, Paris, 1868, 8ᵒ, pp. 2, 158; and La Contre-guérilla française au Mexique. Seconde édition. Paris, 1869, 16ᵒ, pp. 4, 313.

Revista Filosófica de la Historia Política, Monterey, 1866, 8ᵒ, 96 pp. A philosophical review, or rather, a very sketchy account, of Mexican history from the Spanish conquest to the end of the French intervention, said to have been issued in New York by an American citizen. The present copy is a Spanish translation of the English original by I. G.

El Imperio y la Intervencion, n. p. n. d., 8ᵒ, pp. 83, contains particulars and documents relating to the intervention and the establishment of the empire. The last page bears the date Feb. 2, 1867, and is signed Un Mexicano. The writer was evidently a strong conservative, and defends Maximilian's policy, explains the reasons why monarchy ought to be preferred to a republican form of government in Mexico, and deprecates the withdrawal of the French troops, which, he says, was a dishonor to the court of Paris and a harm to Mexico. Fear of aggression on the part of the U. S. is the prominent feature in this production, and the author sums up the result of the French expedition by remarking that it had left the U. S. more arrogant, the Mexicans more divided, French interests more insecure, the influence of France nullified in the new world, her debt increased, and her arms less respected. pp. 81-2.

Charles D'Héricault — Maximilien et Mexique — Histoire des Derniers Mois de l'Empire Mexicain, Paris, 1869, 12ᵒ, pp. 419. The author, an uncompromising supporter of the intervention, regards it and all events connected with it from a thoroughly French point of view. He denounces the execution of Maximilian, which, he says, was instigated by savage feelings of hatred, and not by patriotic desire to save Mexico. He compares the Mexicans with the Apaches in ferocity and rapacity, but admits that among them there are great characters of pure and elevated sentiments. After the fall of Maximilian he could see no future for the country. Liberty and independence, he says, can no longer be spoken of in reference to Mexico. By liberty was meant the right to overthrow a government that was not ready to make promotions to any desired extent; by republicanism was meant the right to impose a forced loan on a town the morning after losses at monte; and by independence the right to impress and arm hordes of Indians whenever the spirit of warfare or pillage instigated. D'Héricault predicts that Mexico will be gradually absorbed by the U. S., which he speaks of with much bitterness. He reviews the consequences of the intervention to France, and sketches a vivid picture of the humiliating failure, in every respect, of the expedition. Then he discusses the causes of the failure, attributing them to the blindness and want of prevision of the French government, which did not recognize the difficulties attending the conquest of an extensive country like Mexico, with its great diversity of physical features, and its inhabitants of a warlike character but wanting in compactness, thereby precluding their subjugation by one great victory. As a climax to these difficulties was the jealous attitude of the U. S. and the pressure applied by that nation. The French government, D'Héricault remarks, instead of having espoused the Confederate cause when the North was weak, insidiously bit its talons when it had become strong. His work includes the period from the autumn of 1866 to the departure from Mexico of