whole of his still vast fortune to the cause, and hinted at the active coöperation of the now idle United States armies. The plot was not allowed to develop, however, owing to vigilance of the secret police employed by Bazaine to watch in particular the conservatives.[1] Another source for pretentions against Maximilian had already been removed by his assuming the guardianship of the two grandsons of Iturbide and pensioning the sons.[2] The act created a wide-spread belief that he intended the boy Agustin, then in his third year, for his successor, either because he had no children, or in view of a possible departure from Mexico. The latter rumor, though officially denied, was strengthened by a protest made by Maximilian at the close of the preceding year against the renunciation of his rights as an Austrian archduke. Many, indeed, began to assume that his liberal policy and assiduous law-making in Mexico were intended greatly for achieving popularity and reputation in his native country.[3] The protest certainly encouraged the liberals, as it created distrust among imperialists.
- ↑ The names of several accused personages are given in Arrangoiz, Méj., iv. 8, and Domenech, Hist. Mex., iii. 226-8. Santa Anna had bought 4,000 rifles and other arms in the U. S., and received attentions on board one of their frigates at St Thomas. His son, an imperialist colonel, venturing to disapprove the father's manifest, he was declared disinherited from any share in the paternal fortune, estimated, says Niox, Expéd. du Mex., 511, at 120,000,000 francs. See Diario Imp., Sept. 5, 1865, and U. S. H. Ex. Doc., 17, vi. 1-179, passim, 39th Cong. 2d Sess.
- ↑ The agreement signed at Chapultepec Sept. 9th is reproduced in Arrangoiz, Méj., iv. 12-14. The two boys, Agustin and Salvador, were the sons of Ángel and Salvador, the mother of Agustin being an American named Alicia Green. She protested soon after against the surrender of her son. The aunt Josefa remained at the palace as joint guardian, proud to be called 'querida prima' by Maximilian. Basch., Erin., i. 52-3. The reason given for the arrangement was gratitude on the part of the nation.
- ↑ The protest was dated at Mexico Dec. 28, 1864, and communicated to England, France, Belgium, and Austria. Leopold objected, and the Mexican minister at Vienna, Murphy, refused to communicate it. Prince Metternich listened to it merely confidentially, and so it was allowed to drop out of sight. Zamacois assumes, Hist., Méj., xvii. 755, that a withdrawal of the Austrian troops in Mexico might have been one of Francis Joseph's retaliative steps.
acted as agent. Text in La Voz de Méj., Aug. 29, 1865. He had been allowed to land in Feb. 1864, on recognizing the empire, but yielding to a natural bent for intrigue, he was expelled. For this recognition the Juarez government ordered the confiscation of his estates. Rivera, Gob. Mex., ii. 469; Iglesias, Interv., ii. 292-7.
