Father Fischer and Colonel Kodolitsch, who were also in the Emperor’s confidence, added their influence to the doctor’s, urging that a hacienda was not a suitable place from which to abdicate a throne, as Maximilian himself was forced to acknowledge. He contented himself, therefore, with issuing two orders. Father Fischer was to write personal letters at once to Bazaine and to Minister Lares, ordering the repeal of the law of the third of October and the cessation of all hostilities until further notice. These two important despatches were entrusted to Count Lamotte, an officer in the Austrian Hussars, to carry back to the city of Mexico, and on the following morning the Emperor left the hacienda apparently much relieved. At noon of the second day, while resting at Rio-Frio, he sent the following telegram to Captain Pierron:
“You, with Messieurs Pino, Trouchot, and Mangino, are hereby appointed a commission which, under your direction and with the assistance of some trustworthy official from the ministry of finance, will examine the Civil List accounts, mine as well as that of the Empress, to prove whether we owe the State or the State us. I desire from the commission a detailed and authenticated statement in regard to this, in which shall be included the sum taken by the Empress for her voyage to Europe, and that received by my secretary on the Civil List account, together with those employed by Minister Arroyo after the reduction of the Civil List, in works on the palace and at Chapultepec.”
Herzfeld was also commissioned to issue, in the name of the Emperor, the necessary written orders to the prefect and treasurer at Miramar.
“The Emperor wishes the utmost publicity to be given these matters,” so Herzfeld was notified, “and holds you responsible therefor on your honor and your friendship. Amid the political shipwreck he desires to keep his name and honor untarnished and would rather suffer personal loss than touch any part of the property of the Mexican nation.”
At the stations of Actzingo and Canada, Maximilian spent the night in the house of the priests, a fact which furnished his enemies an opportunity for accusing him of too close affiliation with the clergy. His arrival was everywhere hailed with rejoicings, and he was overwhelmed with expressions of sympathy for the illness of the Empress. On the twenty-seventh of October the imperial party reached the city of Orizaba, which they entered at five o’clock in the afternoon, greeted with booming of cannon and the enthusiastic acclamations of the populace.
Chapter XII
The Emperor at Orizaba
Herzfeld’s knowledge of the real state of affairs and anxiety for his master’s safety soon caused him to lay aside all other considerations and follow the Emperor to Orizaba, where he urged preparations for departure with all possible despatch. In the midst of those, however, he was ordered to Europe by Maximilian to prepare for his arrival there. Thus this loyal friend was spared being a witness of the Emperor’s tragic fate.
During his stay in Orizaba Maximilian led a simple, secluded life in his palace, seeing only his intimate associates, but occupied with arrangements for departure, and the settling of his private affairs. Much to his satisfaction, his Civil List showed a balance in his favor of $180,000. All his servants but two were paid and dismissed. Colonel Kodolitsch was sent to Mexico to arrange with Bazaine concerning the Austrian and Belgian volunteers, who had followed Maximilian to Mexico and for whose future he felt it his duty to provide. One question much discussed confidentially, and which Maximilian seemed quite unable to decide, was as to whether the abdication should take place before his departure or in Europe, where he had accepted the crown. His plans for the future were already made. It was not his intention to return at once to Austria, but to travel for two years, meeting the Empress at Corfu, if her condition should permit. Meanwhile his own health had greatly improved. With his two countrymen, Dr. Basch and Professor Bilimek, he made frequent excursions about the neighborhood, enjoying the wonderful scenery or searching for rare specimens of plants and insects. Suddenly, however, events occurred which changed the aspect of affairs and effectually put an end to the Emperor’s plans of travel.
Two old comrades-in-arms in the Mexican army, Generals Marquez and Miramon, returned from Europe and, seeking an immediate audience with the Emperor, urged him to return to the capital, holding out promises of support and encouraging prospects for the imperial cause. While Maximilian was hesitating, a letter arrived from Bazaine, which turned the scale. In this the Marshal was so imprudent as to tell tales out of school, betraying the fact that Napoleon III had made other plans for Mexico without consulting Maximilian, who, as he had not yet abdicated, was still sovereign of the country. This arbitrary conduct on the part of his ally roused Maximilian to action. Indignant at the slight cast upon him and anxious to prove that he was not slinking away at the bidding of France like a disgraced servant, he was in a proper frame of mind to respond to the appeal made by his conservative advisers, that it was his duty to remain and not desert his party in the hour of danger. Although outwardly preparations for departure continued as before, the Emperor’s resolution was weakened, and toward the end of November he summoned his council to Orizaba to consult with them as to the advisability of his abdication, giving in an address to that body his reasons for such a step, viz., the spread of the revolution with its attendant evils, the hostility of the United States toward Mexico, and the withdrawal of the support of France.
A vote was taken, twenty-three members of the council being present, of whom two were for immediate abdication, ten of the opposite opinion, while eleven were in favor of abdication, but held that the present was not the time for such a step. Maximilian yielded to the majority and agreed to remain on condition that funds should be raised for the proper defence of the government and the organization of a permanent national army, and that measures should be taken toward the settlement of questions pending with France and the United States. The Mexicans, proverbially lavish with promises, readily agreed to all these points, and on the first of December the Emperor issued a manifesto to the people, declaring that he had yielded to the desire of his council on condition that a congress representing all parties should be summoned to decide the existence of the Empire, and, if this were confirmed, he would devote himself to the promotion of its welfare.