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334 out his instructions to reconstitute the cabinet, which he did with the following ministers, namely: Santiago Vidaurri, minister of the treasury and president of the council; Tomás Murphy, of foreign affairs; José María Iribarren, formerly the imperial commissioner in Sinaloa, of government and fomento; Manuel García de Aguirre, of justice and ecclesiastical affairs, and during his absence in Querétaro the portfolio was to be in charge of the under-secretary Pedro Sanchez Castro; General Nicolás de la Portilla, of war; and Cárlos Sanchez Navarro, of the imperial household. Lares and Marin were relieved. Tubera and O'Horan retained their respective offices, the one as general-in-chief of the garrison, and the other as political prefect.

The selection of Marquez, Vidaurri, and Iribarren implied an energetic policy. That of Marquez would hardly call for any comment; it was intended to forward the aims of Maximilian and his supporters, which I have explained elsewhere; that of Vidaurri presaged that there would be no half-way measures in financial affairs, and as for Iribarren, he had shown himself in difficult positions to be a man of indomitable energy, and seemed to be a proper person to coöperate with the others.

Marquez found the condition of affairs not so favorable as he expected on leaving Querétaro. Events soon proved that it was a change of measures as well as men that had recently taken place. Vidaurri summoned to his presence the chief merchants and property owners, and demanded from them a prompt contribution of funds to enable the government to resume military operations. And in order to avoid