The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian/Chapter XVI

by Émile de Kératry

 

CHAPTER XVI.

Maximilian's Entry into Orizaba—His enthusiastic Reception—Retires into Seclusion—Intrigues of Father Fischer and the Clerical Party— Disaster to the Austrian Contingent—Fall of Oajaca, and increasing Liberal Successes—Maximilian still undecided—His kind Thought for the Austro-Belgian Contingent—M. Eloïn's Letter—Decides Maximilian to renew the Contest.

MAXIMILIAN now made his entry into the city of Orizaba, which received him with enthusiasm: he passed through lines of French infantry and National Guards drawn up in the streets, accompanied by the sound of fireworks and ringing of bells. He soon retired into the house belonging to the rich family of Bringas. The reception rooms of Bringas— the most notorious smuggler in Mexico—were the well known rendezvous of all the enemies of the intervention: quite recently, several secret cabals had been held there under the presidency of General Uruga, who was then in the town on his way to embark at the port of Vera Cruz. During his short stay (of a week) in Orizaba, the young emperor only showed himself in public when he visited the bath-rooms. As soon as the courier from Europe brought him the heart-rending details of the empress's state of health, he retired to the Hacienda la Jalapilla, adjacent to the town, and almost lost amongst the sugar-cane and groves of coffee trees. He still hesitated to abdicate. Father Fischer, taking advantage of his influence over the young emperor, decoyed him into this secluded spot, under the pretext that both his body and mind had need of complete repose. The intrigues of the reactionary party, who felt sure enough that the ruin of the clergy and its decisive spoliation would immediately follow the fall of the monarchy, kept back from the sovereign both the importance and the rapidity of the liberal successes. The visits of the agents of the clerical party, whose only aim was to detain Maximilian on Mexican soil to fight for their party alone, needed both concealment and mystery; and in this hacienda they could follow each other without interruption.

Nevertheless, a portion of the imperial luggage had been already embarked on board the Austrian frigate 'Dandolo' anchored in the port of Vera Cruz; and the German attendants of the prince, though they saw with bitter regret the fall of the throne to which they had attached their fortunes, could not but acknowledge that the game was lost. In fact, the news of a serious disaster which had befallen the Austrian troops on October 18, had just reached Orizaba. A column, about fifteen hundred strong, which was on its way to help the Mexican general Oronoz and the cazadores blockaded by Porfirio Diaz in the city of Oajaca, had been attacked by the Juarist bands on the heights of Carbonera, and were completely routed with great losses both in men and munitions of war. Domestic matters also seemed to set worse as the time arrived for bringing in force the convention of July 30, and of handing over to the French commissioners the moiety of the daily receipts in the Port of Vera Cruz. All resources seemed to be vanishing at once. Nevertheless the marshal was obliged to put his finger on this sore place.

Mexico, October 25, 1866.

Sire,—The time draws near for putting the convention in force which has been entered into between your majesty's

government and that of France. M. Dano, not having received any reply to the notification which he gave on this subject, has informed me of his intention to refer it to me in order that it may be carried out.

I have the honour of bringing the above statement under your majesty's notice, and to beg you to be pleased to give your orders for the fulfilment of the said convention.

Your majesty is certainly aware of the disaster which has befallen the column which was going to assist Oajaca. I shall have the honour of acquainting you with the details as soon as I am in possession of the official documents.

General Douay is at this moment on the other side of Matehuala, pursuing a pretty considerable body of cavalry.

With the most profound respect, Sire, &c.,Bazaine.

Some days after, the city of Oajaca, the garrison of which were compelled to lay down their arms, capitulated and opened its gates to the victorious Porfirio Diaz, notwithstanding the heroic defence of the chief of the cazadores, the brave commandant Tétard, who was killed during the siege. This double feat of arms accomplished by the liberal troops made a great noise in Mexico. In the Terres Chaudes, the guerilla chiefs getting bolder commenced to threaten the environs of Médellin, Tehuacan, and Pérote. At this crisis, Maximilian, surrounded by the clerical party, could not yet make up his mind to take any decided course, so great was the vacillation of his character and the extent of his reluctance. It cost him much to resign this crown, which he had been dreaming about since his infancy. One is struck with the precocious ambition which is breathed in his Souvenirs de Voyage, written after he had contemplated in the church at Grenada the royal insignia of Ferdinand the Catholic. 'I handled,' said Maximilian, 'the golden circlet and the sword once so powerful, with mingled feelings of pride, longing, and melancholy. What a glorious, brilliant dream would it be for the nephew of Hapsburg of Austria, to draw the sword of Ferdinand to reconquer his crown!'

These few words help to explain the painful uncertainty, and the deep anguish to which Maximilian's ambition was a prey, during his stay at the Hacienda la Jalapilla.

The following letter was written when he was under the impression produced by the disaster suffered by the Austrians, whose valour had been so unfortunate: in it, too, he generously forgets his causes of complaint against the Belgians. It sufficiently testifies that even now, when he had determined in his mind on abdication, he was still desirous of making a last attempt before he finally let drop the sceptre which was costing his heart and his pride so much pain.

Orizaba, October 31, 1866.

My dear Marshal,—In the difficult circumstances in which I am placed, which also, if the negotiations I have just entered upon do not produce a happy result, will force me to resign the powers with which the nation has entrusted me, the matter I first lay to heart is to settle the destiny of the Austrian and Belgian volunteers, and to guarantee the full accomplishment of the conditions entered into with these corps.

For this purpose, I send to you my aide-de-camp, Colonel de Kodolich, to whom I have given the command of the Austrian volunteers, and have provided with full powers for settling this question, which interests me more than any other.

This officer enjoys my entire confidence, and when I place in your hands—that is, in the hands of France, so susceptible to a feeling of devotion—the lot of these brave and faithful men, I feel that I may expect with entire security the satisfactory issue of this matter.

Receive, my dear marshal, the assurance of my feelings of sincere friendship, with which I am your very affectionate,Maximilian.

At the time when Maximilian sent Colonel de Kodolich to our head-quarters at Mexico, he was thoroughly acquainted with the aim of General Castelnau's embassy. Napoleon's envoy had come to see with his own eyes, by investigating facts and ascertaining the state of public opinion, if the monarchy was able to stand its ground alone. Under the contrary alternative, which the cabinet of the Tuileries knew beforehand was the right one, he was to instigate the immediate abdication of the emperor; and in case of the refusal of the young sovereign to return to Europe, he was ordered to announce the recall of the whole expeditionary force en bloc and at once. These instructions given by his ally Napoleon III.—the full purport of which Maximilian was still ignorant of—were not of a nature to encourage him to throw himself again into the mêlée; and, besides, he no longer retained any illusion as to the elastic powers of the Mexican element in the country. His mind was fluctuating between, on the one hand, a humiliating return to Austria after a public rebuff which might compromise his political future, and, on the other, a well-founded dread of attempting an impossible task joined to a justifiable wish of rejoining his wife, the victim of her devotion to his evil fortunes.

Now intervenes a painful event with which but few are acquainted, which greatly influenced the destinies of the unfortunate prince, and was, in fact, the means of bringing him to the fatal ditch at Queretaro. Maximilian had been foiled in his negotiations with the liberal chiefs and with the United States, which he had for a second time blindly attempted. The state of health of the Princess Charlotte, which was almost despaired of, seemed to draw him more than ever to the chateau of Miramar. He was now preparing to set sail for Europe without intention of return, when a letter from M. Eloïn, the Belgian councillor, was handed to him. It was dated from Brussels, but had been submitted, in its passage through the United States, to the dark closet at Washington.

Brussels, September 17, 1866.

Sire,—The article in the Moniteur, disavowing the appointments of the French generals, Osmont and Friant, to the ministries of war and finance in the Mexican government, proves that, for the future, the mask is unreservedly thrown off. The mission of General Castelnau, aide-de-camp and confidant of the emperor, secret as it is, can have no other aim, in my opinion, but to bring on a conclusion as soon as possible. With a view of explaining away its conduct (which history will judge of), the French government would prefer that an abdication should precede the withdrawal of its army, and that thus the possibility should be offered them of alone reorganising a new state of things calculated to ensure its own interests and those of its countrymen. I am fully persuaded that your majesty will not be induced to afford this satisfaction to a policy which will, sooner or later, have to answer for its actions, and the consequences which have resulted therefrom.

The language of Mr. Seward, his 'toast' to Romero, the attitude of the president (the result of————of the French cabinet), are grave facts which are calculated to increase difficulties and to discourage the bravest. I am persuaded, however, that the abandonment of your party before the return of the French army would be interpreted as an act of weakness; and, as your majesty holds your right of authority under a popular vote, a fresh appeal should be made to the Mexican people, when relieved from the pressure of a foreign intervention; and it is to them that a demand should be made for the material and financial assistance requisite for the maintenance and growth of the empire.

If this appeal is not listened to, your majesty, having then completely brought to a close your noble mission, will return to Europe with the same prestige which accompanied your

departure; and, in the midst of the events which are sure to spring up, you will be able to play the part which so eminently belongs to you.

Having left Miramar on the 4th of this month with the resolution of embarking at Saint Nazaire, I was induced, after receiving the orders of her majesty the empress, to again put off my departure. It needed this august influence to change a determination which my devotion as well as my duty dictated to me.

I have been bitterly disappointed at learning that my numerous despatches of June and July did not reach your majesty in good time. They were placed under cover to our devoted friend Bombelle, and accompanied by long letters addressed to him, and intended to be communicated to your majesty; but I had not anticipated your departure from Mexico. They have now lost all the interest which they derived from the unforeseen events which were then so rapidly occurring. I especially regret this annoying incident, if it can have for a moment awakened doubts in your majesty's mind as to my unfailing desire to faithfully perform my duty.

When I was travelling through Austria, I was enabled to ascertain the general discontent which is prevailing there. Nothing is yet done. The emperor is disheartened; the people are becoming impatient, and publicly demand his abdication. A sympathy for your majesty is visibly spreading over all the territory of the empire. In Venetia, there is a party ready to welcome their former governor; but when a government arranges elections under the régime of universal suffrage it is easy to foresee the result.

According to your majesty's last orders, I forward by this courier a telegram in cipher to Roccas, to advise your majesty of the arrival of General Castelnau and of the disavowal of the appointments of MM. Osmont and Friant.Eloïn

Can it be believed that a royal councillor would have ventured to use language like this, if he had not been authorised by the secret wishes and confidence of his sovereign? Maximilian, then, was still dreaming of fresh adventures, and his ambitious glance was turned away from the crown of Mexico only to be thrown back again upon those of Austria and Venetia, the latter now become an Italian province: perhaps, in imitation of his ancestor Charles V., whom he used to call the 'Poet Emperor,' and whom he thought to imitate, he had seen in his visions of the future the two sceptres merged in his own hand. At every step that we take through the mazes of this lamentable story (the result, as it is, of a double-faced policy), intrigues and conspiracies are continually obstructing our path.

Looking at all these underhand plots, to which Sadowa had given fresh life, we cannot be astonished that the Austrian court had taken offence, and forwarded to the Baron de Lago, its ambassador at Mexico, a despatch, which forbade the archduke to set foot on Austrian soil if he returned to Europe bearing the title of emperor.

After he had thought over M. Eloïn's letter, Maximilian, forgetting all the perils before him, and obeying only the voice of a mad ambition, again seized the reins of power; and having resolved to surrender himself into the hands of the clerical party, who promised him both men and money, he prepared to make an appeal to the Mexican people.