Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/363

Rh Meantime Marquez exerted himself to place the city in condition for a desperate defence. But he encountered great difficulty in procuring funds wherewith to pay expenses. Vidaurri, minister of the treasury, acknowledged his inability to provide any, and placed his resignation in the lugarteniente's hands. All denials to the contrary notwithstanding, the fact was that Marquez and Vidaurri were no longer in accord, owing to the latter's disapproval of O'Horan's violent course in collecting the forced loan. J. M. Lacunza became president of the council.

Marquez paid no regard to right or common decency. He continued to extort money in the emperor's name His emissaries forcibly entered private dwellings to make seizures. He also resorted to the unjustifiable device — so bitterly censured by the conservatives when Juarez' minister, Mendez, used it in 1863 — of confining those who resisted his demands, barely allowing food enough to support life, with the intent to force the payment of ransom.

The imperialist press assured its partisans that their triumph was certain; Escobedo and Diaz would be compelled to retire from before Querétaro and Mexico. Encouraging news reached Marquez on the 6th of May from Maximilian, announcing his victory of April 27th, and giving the assurance that he would soon march to the relief of Mexico. Marquez needed