Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to enclose
to you, for the information of the government of the United States,
a translation into English of an article published on the 3d instant
by the paper called Diario del Imperio, the organ in the city of
Mexico of the ex-archduke of Austria, Don Fernando Maximilian, and
of a manifesto from him to the Mexicans, dated on the 1st. In these
documents is reiterated the determination of the ex-archduke to
remain in Mexico some time longer, which I communicated to your
department in the note which I had the honor of addressing to you on
the 14th instant.
In both documents, and especially in the second, are at once
noticeable the vacillations of its author as to what is best for him
to do to get out with less discredit of the difficult position to
which he is reduced. After having constantly asserted that he was
called to Mexico by the will of the Mexican people, he now wishes to
call on lhat very people to know whether it consents in his
continuing in the character he has assumed, and for that purpose he
announces that he is going to convene a congress that may decide
this point, and in which all parties may be represented.
If the Mexican people have already expressed their will on this
point, why should they be consulted again on the same subject ?
Besides, that people, which, with arms in their hands, have been
expressing their will in an unequivocal manner, would not lend
themselves to participate in elections ordered by Maximilian, should
they be attempted; since they do not recognize the right to convoke
elections except in the national government, which exercises it in
conformity with the constitution of the republic. The complete
accord which exists between the conduct of the ex-Archduke of
Austria and the suggestions made to him by his counsellor, Mr. F.
Eloin, in the letter which he wrote to Maximilian, dated at Brussels
on the 17th of September last, is a very remarkable fact. I referred
to this letter in the note I had the honor to address to your
department on the 10th of October following.
It seems to me, besides, that there is some inconsistency in the
present desire of the Austrian ex-archduke to have assembled in
congress, for no less a purpose than that of deciding whether the
so-called empire shall exist or not, the portion of the Mexican
people which has not ceased to resist French intervention and all
its consequences, with the provisions of his decree of October 3d,
1865, which still remains in force, and which, as you well know,
provides that all Mexicans defending the independence of their
country shall be shot, denying them even the rights which civilized
nations accord to belligerents.
I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, Mr. Secretary,
the assurances of my most distinguished consideration.
[Enclosure No. 3.—From the New York Daily Herald.]
Orizaba,
December 12, 1868.
Maximilian’s hiding place.—Rightly
judging, as events have since shown, that Orizaba would be the
next point d’ appui in the Mexican
revolution, I have made my way here, fortunately in time to
witness the departure of Maximilian. It was a strange fortune
that thrust this quiet, beautiful city of the mountains into
notoriety. Its magnificent climate, never very hot and never
uncomfortably cold, together with the grandeur of the
surrounding scenery, were probably the reasons that recommended
it to Maximilian as his temporary place of refuge. Strategic
merits, it has none. Here the Austrian archduke whom misfortune
has made an emperor has passed his time for the last month or
two, writing voluminous despatches, which, like Mr. Toodle’s
letters, seem to have reached no one but the writer; in chasing
beetles and butterflies, and in raising up for himself, on very
insufficient capital, a great and undeserved reputation as a roué. He used to drive out daily,
attended by only a few Austrian soldiers, and generally in the
direction of Cocolapa, where there are a large cotton factory
and a paper mill, whose operations he found pleasure in
watching, till the French, ill-natured and for no other reason,
apparently, than to give him annoyance, threw a barricade across
the road, with room only for a horse or foot passenger to pass
through. Thus cut off from his daily drive, Maximilian, who does
not much fancy horse exercise, has
[Page 511]
took to pedestrianism, and 20 times a day
he was to be seen in the streets, dressed simply in a hussar
jacket and forage cap, his long lanky legs encased in
tight-fitting breeches, terminated by Hessian boots, and with no
mark of his rank except a handsome gold medal on his breast. I
met him thus at least three or four times yesterday. He was
attended by his master of the household only; and, as he walked
rapidly along, striding over the gutters and wedging his way
among the barricades, few turned their heads to look after him,
and fewer still paid him the slightest mark of respect. He
looked careworn and muddled, but not in any way depressed. The
building which Maximilian has occupied as a palace is an
unassuming private building, two storied, as all houses are in
this volcanic country, and limewashed a dingy green hue. The
front part is let out as stores, and a tobacconist and a
dry-goods dealer hang out their signs under the imperial
flag.
The departure.—Thus matters stood
yesterday, when the rumors of Maximilian’s projected return to
the capital, which had for a long time prevailed, began to
assume a more connected shape, and gradually it leaked out that
Maximilian would certainly leave for Mexico city at 6 o’clock
this morning. French troops were sent ahead to clear the road as
far as Puebla, and all the Austrian troops in Orizaba were
placed under marching orders. Long before daylight this morning
the march began, but it was considerably after 6 o’clock before
Maximilian, attended by his ever present factotum, Father
Fisher, stepped into his travelling carriage, drawn by 12 sturdy
mules, and gave the word, “On to Mexico.” Not a cheer was raised
nor a hat lifted. The stolid Mexicans who happened to be on hand
looked on and smiled and chattered placidly among each other,
but neither seemed nor cared to understand the import of what
was occurring. The imperial escort consisted of about 200
Austrian cavalry, all told. He leaves behind him none but French
troops at Orizaba.
The issue is reduced to a game of checkmate between Maximilian
and Marshal Bazaine. Maximilian returns to the capital, not with
any strong expectation of regaining the power he once wielded
there, but to spite and thwart the French, whose treatment of
him latterly he feels has been neither just nor honorable.
Bazaine’s designs.—From the first Marshal
Bazaine hated and despised the archduke, who was sent out to
take a position which he himself coveted Maximilian, instead of
crushing him when he had the means, weakly sought to propitiate
him by costly gifts. Bazaine went on consolidating his
influence, till at last he got Maximilian in his grasp, and for
the last few months he has held him virtually as a state
prisoner. In every district not overrun by the liberals Marshal
Bazaiue is emperor of Mexico, not Maximilian. He holds the
troops and the purse-strings, and has left to Maximilian but the
semblance of a sovereignty. Moreover, facts are coming to light
which seem to indicate a design on the part of Bazaine to hold
on to his power at all risks, with or without the countenance of
the French government. Vain, ambititious, and unscrupulous, he
will stick at nothing to carry his ends. From sources of the
best information I learn that within the last few days he has
been endeavoring to open communication with the liberals, and
even got together such liberal chiefs as he could find, in and
around Mexico, and made overtures to them for their support.
They rejected his proposals with contempt. Meanwhile every petty
insult and contumely has been heaped upon Maximilian to induce
him to quit the country. The barricading of his favorite drive
is one of many such acts.
Maximilian wanting to bolt.—It was while
the irritation caused by these slights were fresh upon him that
Miramon and Marquez and his council of state came to Orizaba and
urged Maximilian to return to the capital. The French were daily
pressing him to abdicate, and he, to thwart them, was seriously
preparing to hurry down to Vera Cruz, incognito, and embark at once for Austria. The strong
remonstrances of Mr. Scarlet, the British minister, against this
undignified step alone prevented him from doing so, and resulted
in the notable Orizaba manifesto, already published in the
Herald. Then it seems to have occurred to him that the
proposition of Miramon and Marquez afforded him the best
opportunity of spiting Bazaine and defeating the French; so back
to the capital he has gone.
Miramon a fugitive—Marquez a failure.—His allies, Miramon and Marquez,
will be able to afford him little assistance in his perilous
undertaking. Miramon’s arrest has been ordered by Bazaine,, and
he has fled to Queretaro, sixty leagues beyond Mexico city.
Marquez is still in Orizaba, but all he has done towards raising
the promised twenty millions and army has been to arrest some
200 laborers, whom he is keeping in prison till he can get arms
to put in their hands, and to steal a few thousand dollars from
the surrounding planters.
Maximilian on the President’s message.—
That portion of the President’s message which refers to Mexican
affairs was telegraphed to Orizaba immediately on its reception
in Vera Cruz. Maximilian is said to have rather enjoyed it, as
affording another chance to humiliate Bazaine.
Vera Cruz,
December 14, 1866.
French re-enforcements.—The French steamer
Panama, which has just arrived here, has brought out two hundred
additional French troops and three hundred barrels of
gunpowder.
Special envoys.—M. Eloin, the hero of so
many mysterious missions, and a special courier from the French
government to General Castlenau, also arrived by the steamer.
The courier started at once by special train for Mexico city.
The mysterious Eloin quietly booked his place in the diligence
and is jogging along in the footsteps of Maximilian.
Seizure of the custom-house.—The seizure
of the custom-house here by the French troops, on Sunday last,
has caused considerable excitement. Maximilian sent down an
order for
[Page 512]
$50,000 ;
the French authorities refused to allow it to be cashed; the
prefect protested, but a file of Egyptians cut his protest
short. The seizure has been made under the convention of
September last, but this convention, though it was temporarily
agreed to by Maximilian, and was sent to France for approval,
was never signed by him, and is consequently invalid. The French
assert that they only intend to hold the custom-house for ten
days.
Distinguished arrival.—Jake Thompson is
wandering about the city looking considerably dazed. He hooked
by the French steamer for Havana, but as the vessel did not
touch there he finds himself unexpectedly in Mexico. He can soon
hunt up some friends here. Beverley Tucker is managing a
hacienda at San Luis Potosi, and considers he has fallen into a
good thing; and General Price, Governor Harris, Judge Perkins,
and General Joe Shelby are all at Cordova.
[From L’ Estafette, December 2, 1866.]
BAZAINE, DANO AND CASTELNAU DEFINE THEIR
POSITION.
The official organ of the empire on the 29th of November
published an article purporting to state the object of the
emperor Maximilian in calling his ministers and council of state
to Orizaba. Said article appeared in the non-official columns of
that paper; but it is well known that it had been transmitted
over the telegraph by the ministry, with the order to publish at
once.
Public opinion was justly excited on learning that the emperor
Maximilian gave as his reasons for an eventual abdication,
first, the state of civil war in which the country is plunged;
and, second, the possibility of a Franco-American intervention
for the purpose of bringing such war to a close through a change
in existing institutions.
This last idea may appear strange, put forth as it was from the
midst of council which has no safe places of assemblage except
under the protection of French bayonets. It then becomes
important to set forth the truth of the case.
France has no wish to interfere in relation to the form of
government which the Mexican nation may wish to adopt. Having
sent her troops to Mexico for the protection of her own
subjects, and animated as she is with the desire to put an end
to the disorders from which all classes suffered alike, she
would certainly have preferred to see established that form
which appears to her eyes as offering the strongest guarantees
of stability. But far from having done anything whatever for the
purpose of changing the existing institutions, she has made the
most disinterested but unavailing sacrifices in order to
maintain them.
The trying crisis in which Mexico now finds herself can in no way
be laid to the charge of France. Her agents have been kept
entirely unaware of the sudden determination taken by the
emperor Maximilian to leave his capital. Some of them had no
knowledge of his having done so until informed by the notice
published in the Diario official.
No one is ignorant, however, of the fact that
when only a few leagues away from Mexico city he wished to
promulgate his act of abdication. And during the past
month he reverted several times to the same notion, and
refrained only at the most urgent instance of his suite. All
this while the orders connected with his departure had been
given, and vessels were awaiting him from day to day at Vera
Cruz. Even the majority of his counsellors were kept in utter
ignorance of the real intentions of his majesty. The agents of
France were neither consulted nor notified. However, the emperor
Maximilian, having manifested to them a desire to obtain from
them important concessions before taking any final step, they
made every effort to grant the concessions asked. His majesty
returned them his thanks for this, and, in view of an
eventuality which at that stage appeared imminent, but which
they had. not been instrumental in bringing about, they
consulted as to what measures might be necessary in order to
secure the interests of all—Mexicans as well as
foreigners—declaring that they would leave the Mexican nation to
choose its own destiny, and they made no attempt or pretence to
impose any form of government upon it. They could go no further;
and, in view of the action taken by the imperial government,
their duty becomes very simple. They do not wish to take any
part in the proceedings of interested parties; this would be to
revive hatred and rekindle the flames of civil war, which they
were endeavoring to extinguish. Henceforth they will confine
themselves to the rigid execution of their instructions, namely,
to disengage in the most absolute manner the responsibility of
their government; to look only to such interests as it is
directly incumbent on them to protect; and to prepare, in the
shortest time possible, the complete evacuation of the
expeditionary corps.
On the following day the Estafette published the following
notice:
“Some persons believe that the official communication which we
published on Sunday emanated exclusively from the legation of
France. We are authorized to state that the note referred to is
the common act of three high French authorities now resident in
Mexico—that is, of Marshal Bazaine, the minister of France, and
General Castelnau.”
The same journal, as if to show that the French troops are in a
hurry to evacuate, gives he following:
“Lieutenant Colonel the Marquis de Galiffet will take command of
the contra guerillas in the Tierra Caliente. Colonel Dupin is to
be appointed governor of the department of Vera Cruz.
“This looks like vigorous action on the coast.”
