“I am sure that Herzfeld will share my views,” declared the physician. “As to Father Fischer, to tell the truth, I have not much confidence in his opinions.”
They then discussed the advisability of leaving at once or whether it would be better to wait for a time, but as there seemed no good reason at present for a sudden departure, Dr. Basch advised deferring it for a week in order that suitable preparations might be made.
That evening Maximilian summoned his Minister of State and Professor Bilimek, director of the museum, and laid the matter before them. To both, the Emperor’s safety was of far more concern than the fate of a half-civilized country whose indifference had caused the downfall of all his hopes and schemes. The recent plot against the Emperor’s life also may well have been an argument in favor of the plan. At all events they heartily coincided with it and Herzfeld urged preparations for departure with such energy that in three days’ time it was possible to leave Chapultepec, a summer palace near the city of Mexico, which Maximilian had had newly restored and fitted up at great cost and where he was staying at this time.
The rumor of the Emperor’s proposed departure caused general consternation. The new ministry was stunned and tried every means to dissuade him from this step. But Maximilian remained deaf to all arguments and, lest his resolution should be weakened, Dr. Basch had orders to permit no one to enter the royal apartments. All who came were dismissed with the information that His Majesty was ill and could receive no visitors. Even the Princess Iturbide, aunt of little Prince Iturbide, a descendant of August the First, the first Emperor of Mexico, whom Maximilian, having no children of his own, had named as Crown Prince, was unable to gain access to him. The physician admits he had rather a violent scene with the high-spirited Princess. She would take no denial and ended by roundly abusing those friends of the Emperor’s who had persuaded him to leave Mexico.
As a last resort the ministry threatened to resign in a body if the plan were persisted in, but even this was of no avail. Maximilian quietly declared that if these gentlemen resigned their offices he would leave the country at once, and he would certainly have kept his word. It is greatly to be regretted, therefore, that they did not do so and thus spare Mexico the everlasting stain of treachery and murder. Finding it the only means of at least deferring the Emperor’s abdication, however, they remained at their posts and sent a message to him agreeing to carry on the business of government during his absence in accordance with his wishes.
Maximilian had already received a letter from Bazaine approving the plan of changing his residence to Orizaba, which was only a day’s journey from the seaport of Vera Cruz, and promising to maintain law and order in the capital. The Emperor’s abdication would suit his own plans very well, by bringing him a step nearer to the realization of his secret ambitions.
Thanks to Herzfeld’s energy and activity, all was ready at the appointed time, and at four o’clock on the morning of the twenty-first of October, the Emperor, escorted by a troop of three hundred hussars under the command of Colonel Kodolitsch, set out from Chapultepec, little thinking ever to see that place again. Councillor Herzfeld remained in the capital to arrange some business matters, expecting to join the Emperor later on.
The journey to Orizaba must not be passed over in silence, as it was marked by the occurrence of an important event. On the afternoon of the first day, the imperial party reached the Hacienda Socyapan, where they were to spend the night. The Emperor seemed abstracted, and walked up and down before the hacienda in silence with his physician and Professor Bilimek. At length he broke out suddenly:
“I cannot have any more bloodshed in this unhappy country on my account. What am I to do?”
The professor advised him to abdicate and sail for Europe at once, but Dr. Basch opposed this, representing that an unnecessarily sudden departure would only precipitate matters and bring about exactly what the Emperor wished to avoid, namely, more bloodshed in Mexico. At the same time he urged a revocation of the decree of the third of October, 1865, a suggestion which Maximilian cordially approved, and in regard to which he expressed himself in strong terms on this occasion.