that, with the aid of the Almighty, I accept the crown at the hands of the Mexican nation which tenders it to me."

He then declared that he should place the monarchy under the safeguard of constitutional laws, and asked all Mexicans who love their country to aid him in the accomplishment of his splendid but difficult task. Finally he directed Estrada to stop at Rome on his way to Mexico, and receive "at the hands of the holy father those benedictions so precious to sovereigns." The speech ended amid shouts of "God save Maximilian the First" from Estrada and his party, while salvos of artillery peeled from the castle of Trieste. After this Maximilian signed the acceptance of the crown of Mexico; but, what was more significant, he entered into a convention with France, among the articles of which were the following:

"Art. 1. The French troops at present in Mexico shall be reduced as soon as possible to a corps of twenty thousand men, including the Foreign Legion. This corps, in order to guard the interest which led to the intervention, shall temporarily remain in Mexico on the conditions laid down in the following articles.

"Art. 2. The troops shall evacuate Mexico in proportion as the Emperor of Mexico shall be able to reorganize the troops necessary to replace them.

"Art. 3. The Foreign Legion in the service of France shall nevertheless remain in Mexico six years after all the other French troops shall have been recalled."

After the settlement of matters at Miramar, Maximilian went to Rome, and having there received the benediction of the Pope, with his wife started for Mexico, the Land of the Sun, which Cortez, almost three hundred and fifty years before, under his ancestor, Charles V., had taken from the Aztecs and given to Spain. He reached Vera Cruz, May 28th, and, without stopping, proceeded at once to Orizaba. It was to be expected, if Estrada had told the truth, that the most unrestrained enthusiasm would accompany him in his progress. But the Mexican people, with the exception of the clergy and the French residents, exhibited the greatest apathy. At last, from the vale of Puebla, Maximilian ascends the ridge of mountains which separates him from the city. As he turns the edge of the Cordilleras, the valley of Mexico, ten thousand feet

above the level of the sea, is at once revealed to him in all its indescribable loveliness. He goes over the same ground trodden by the feet of Cortez and his followers. He is on the same errand, that of subjugation and conquest. He entered the capital with a pomp seldom seen. Amid the clangor of bells and the roar of artillery, the imperial cortége wound its way through streets spanned with arches, and adorned with the flags of all nations, to the Cathedral. There the solemn services were to be performed which should consecrate the new government. But it was observed that it was the Church party and its adherents that caused all the enthusiasm. Among the multitude of mottoes and inscriptions borne by them, and scattered over the city, the political influence to be attempted upon Maximilian was apparent. He was apostrophized, not as the founder of a new dynasty, but as the defender of the faith and the bulwark of the Catholic Church.

The ceremonies ended, Maximilian sat himself down to his "splendid but difficult task." He attempted two things, neither of which was successful. He tried to improve the finances of the country, and he invited Juarez and other Republican leaders to meet him at the Capitol and there devise the best means for the establishment of the empire. The finances certainly needed oversight. They were in a chaotic state. No revenue flowed. into the public treasury, and none was likely to. A committee was appointed, to whom the grave question was referred. But the committee did no good. They were unable to grapple with so hard a question. If they had been men of financial ability, it would have been pretty difficult work to squeeze from the Mexican treasury a quarter part of the money required. As it was, they went to discussing general principles. It was easier to do this than to solve the knotty problems set before them. The result was, that the Emperor was accused of appointing them as a pretext for establishing despotic rule, on the ground that popular bodies could not deal with practical questions.

The attempt to bring over the Liberal leaders met with no better success. All of them refused to hold any communication with the "agent of Napoleon." Juarez replied to the invitation with great dignity:

"You cordially invite me to go to Mexico, a city whither you your

to wear 20 proceed, to the end that we may there have a conferset, a conjunction with other Mexican chiefs who are now in arms, easing us all the force necessary for an escort in the transit, and ong as security your public faith, your word, and your honor. It smpossible for me to accede to this call; my official occupation will not admit of it. But if in the exercise of my public functions I could scent such an invitation, the public faith, the word and honor of an agent of Napoleon, the perjured, would not be sufficient, — of a man wiese safety reposes in the hands of Mexican traitors, and of a man wao at this moment represents the cause of one of the parties who sigued the treaty of Soledad."

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It has been seen that the reactionary party had not met with much success in their contest with the Regency. The Archbishop had been disposed of, the Supreme Tribunal had been abolished, and the Regency had confirmed the acts of the Liberals in the confiscation of Church property. They were beginning to think that foreign intervention was a great mistake. To sustain their privileges, they had disturbed Mexico from the time of Iturbide; to sustain them still, they now debated another overturn in this grand theatre of revolution. One hope only remained to them. Maximilian was a strong Catholic. He reverenced the Church. With this lever they hoped to induce him to annul the acts of Bazaine, to annul the acts of the Liberal party, to make them what they must be, if anything, the ruling power in the state. From his entry into the capital, they therefore paid sedulous court to him. But to no purpose. However much Maximilian may have desired it, "the march of events" would not permit him to come in conflict with the polev of the Regency. His decision, after all, may have been based upon the belief that the Liberals were the strongest party, and his desire to conciliate them. Hence his invitation to Juarez and the others to unite with him for the consolidation of the empire.

One more resort was open to the clerical party. In October, at their intercession, the Pope of Rome sent to Maximilian a letter, through his Nuncio, Meglia. In this letter the Pope writes to Maximilian as follows:

SIRE,When in the month of April last, before assuming the reins of the new empire, your Majesty arrived at this capital, in order to

worship at the tombs of the holy Apostles and to receive our benediction, we informed you of the deep sorrow which filled our soul by reason of the lamentable state into which the social disorders during these last years have reduced all that concerns religion in the Mexican nation. Before that time, and more than once, we had made known our complaints in public and solemn acts protesting against the iniquitous law, called the law of reform, which attacked the most inviolable rights of the Church,-against the seizure of ecclesiastical property and the dissipation of the sacred patrimony.”

The Pope then asks him to put his hand to the holy work and repeal the laws. For this purpose he sends his Nuncio. He tells him that, in order to reform the evils inflicted by the revolution, and bring back happy days for the Church, he must restore the Catholic religion, to the exclusion of all others; that the Bishops must be perfectly free in the exercise of their duties; that religious orders must be established in conformity with instructions from the Pope; that Church property, and the rights, which attach thereto, must be restored and protected; and that all instruction, public and private, must be directed. and watched over by the ecclesiastical authorities.

For the sake of form, merely, Maximilian opened negotiations with the Nuncio. The Nuncio told him that he brought no special instructions from the Pope. However, the Emperor submitted to him four propositions to be submitted to the Pope, which he had already determined to enact into laws. 1st. Ratification by him of the sale of all mortmain property. 2d. The. institution of the civil contract of marriage, instead of the religious one. 3d. Liberty of worship. 4th. Endowment of the clergy by the state. It will be seen that the first three of these propositions had been enacted by the constitutional government. The last one had been rejected, on the ground that, where liberty of worship existed, it was not necessary for the state to support the clergy. Maximilian, however, did not wait for any further correspondence from the Pope. Before the departure of the Nuncio he directed the Minister of Justice to frame the laws decided upon.

In August Maximilian set out on a tour of observation through the country held by the French. Before he went away, he did one thing which showed the action of liberal

that, with the aid of the Almighty. I accept the crown at the hands of the Mexican nation which tenders it to me."

He then declared that he should place the monarchy under the safeguard of constitutional laws, and asked all Mexicans who love their country to aid him in the accomplishment of his splendid but difficult task. Finally he directed Estrada to stop at Rome on his way to Mexico, and receive "at the hands of the holy father those benedictions so precious to sovereigns." The speech ended amid shouts of "God save Maximilian the First" from Estrada and his party, while salvos of artillery peeled from the castle of Trieste. After this Maximilian signed the acceptance of the crown of Mexico; but, what was more significant, he entered into a convention with France, among the articles of which were the following:

"Art. 1. The French troops at present in Mexico shall be reduced as soon as possible to a corps of twenty thousand men, including the Foreign Legion. This corps, in order to guard the interest which led to the intervention, shall temporarily remain in Mexico on the conditions laid down in the following articles.

"Art. 2. The troops shall evacuate Mexico in proportion as the Emperor of Mexico shall be able to reorganize the troops necessary to replace them.

"Art. 3. The Foreign Legion in the service of France shall nevertheless remain in Mexico six years after all the other French troops shall have been recalled."

After the settlement of matters at Miramar, Maximilian went to Rome, and having there received the benediction of the Pope, with his wife started for Mexico, the Land of the Sun, which Cortez, almost three hundred and fifty years before, under his ancestor, Charles V., had taken from the Aztecs and given to Spain. He reached Vera Cruz, May 28th, and, without stopping, proceeded at once to Orizaba. It was to be expected, if Estrada had told the truth, that the most unrestrained enthusiasm would accompany him in his progress. But the Mexican people, with the exception of the clergy and the French residents, exhibited the greatest apathy. At last, from the vale of Puebla, Maximilian ascends the ridge of mountains which separates him from the city. As he turns the edge of the Cordilleras, the valley of Mexico, ten thousand feet