CHAPTER XII.
Arrival of the Empress Charlotte at Saint Nazaire—Her Journey to Paris—Conversation with M. Drouyn de Lhuys—Her exciting Interview with Napoleon III.—American Despatches as to her Arrival— Maximilian's Coup d'état—The Abbe Fischer—The Emperor's Reactionary Policy—Concentration of French Troops—American Assistance to the Liberal Party.
AT the very time (August 10, 1866) when Marshal Bazaine, operating in the north of Mexico to uphold the imperial cause, was replying to the Emperor Maximilian that he could not approve of a state of siege being declared over the whole territory, the Transatlantic Company's boat flying the imperial flag suddenly landed the Empress of Mexico at the port of Saint Nazaire. The surprise of the local authorities, who hastened to make this event known in Paris, was even less intense than that of the court of the Tuileries. Our government was very far from expecting this visit, the announcement of which, as will be recollected, caused a great sensation in our capital; for public opinion had already a presentiment of some mysterious incidents in this Mexican drama, the circumstances of which were becoming more and more involved. On the very evening before she landed, the Mémorial Diplomatique and certain other journals, which were known to derive their inspirations from official sources, had protested against the report, saying, 'that they were authorised to denounce as an arrant calumny the mere supposition that the Empress Charlotte was on her way to Europe.' As soon as the princess landed
