Mr. Plumb to Mr.
Seward
New Orleans,
March 13, 1867.
Sir: I have received to-day, under date of the
4th instant, from the consul at Matamoros, an extra of the official
paper published at Monterey, Mexico, of the 28th ultimo, which contains
a proclamation purporting to have been issued by Maximilian on placing
himself at the head of his army, at Queretaro, on the 17th of February;
and also what purports to be a formal representation, addressed by the
French, Prussian, Spanish, Belgian, English, and Italian representatives
in Mexico, to Maximilian, denouncing the president of his cabinet, D.
Teodosio Lares, and the general-in-chief and second in command of his
armies, Marquez and Miramon, and protesting against his placing power or
trust in such hands; at the same time intimating that any farther
struggle on his part to maintain his position will prove useless, and,
in the interests of humanity, should be abandoned.
This latter document, if authentic, is of such importance that its text
should be taken from some other source than an interior Mexican
newspaper, and I send herewith the translation only as a matter of
information in case the document in an official form shall not yet have
reached the department.
I am, sir, with the highest respect, your most obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
[Translation.]
Maximilian’s proclamation to his army.
The emperor to the Mexican army.—Order of the
day.
To-day I place myself at the head and take command of our army, which
scarcely two months since was commenced to be raised and
organized.
This day I have for a long time ardently desired. Obstacles beyond my
control have stood in my way. Now, free from all compromises, I can
follow only my sentiments as a good and faithful patriot. Our duty
as loyal citizens obliges us to combat for the two most sacred
principles of the country: for its independence, which is threatened
by men who, in their
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selfish purposes, would alienate even the national territory; and
for interior good order, which we see each day outraged in the most
cruel manner, against the interests of our pacific
fellow-countrymen.
Our action free from all influence, from all foreign pressure, we
will seek to maintain high the honor of our glorious national
flag.
I expect that the generals will give to the officers, and these to
their gallant soldiers, the worthy example of the most strict
obedience and the most rigid discipline, as is due from an army that
should illustrate the national dignity.
Of courage and haughty pride it is not necessary to speak to
Mexicans; these are the natural inheritance of our country.
I have appointed the valiant General Marquez chief of my staff, and
have divided the army into three corps, giving the command of the
first to the gallant General Miramon, leaving the command of the
second to its present chief, and of the third to the intrepid
General Mejia.
I also await the immediate arrival of the distinguished General
Mendez, with his faithful and tried troops, who will take their
place in the second corps. I am accompanied also by the patriotic
General Vidaurri, who will organize as soon as possible his forces
and open the campaign in the north,
Let us confide in God, who protects and will continue to protect
Mexico, and we will combat valiantly and tenaciously with our sacred
invocation. “Viva la independence.”
MAXIMILIAN.
San Juan
del Rio,
February 17, 1867.
Representation and protest addressed by the
foreign representatives resident in Mexico to Maximilian.
[Translated from the Spanish.]
Mexico,
February 4, 1867.
Señor: The undersigned, representatives of
nations friendly to Mexico, have the honor to address themselves to
your majesty in discharge of the sacred duty which rests upon them
to watch over the lives and the interests of the foreign citizens
resident in this country.
Your majesty will observe a novelty in the form of this note, but
when you learn the object of it, all motive for surprise will
cease.
At this moment, when the unhappy crisis in this unfortunate nation,
created by the premature termination of the French intervention,
appears to be about to culminate, it is necessary to declare it, we
cannot expect any guarantee from the government of your majesty in
favor of the subjects whom it is our duty respectively to protect.
Only the most strict morality could give any foundation for our
hopes that life and property will be respected in the sad days of
trial of which the first symptoms already appear; and,
unfortunately, the most reliable information that is afforded by
impartial and honorable foreigners resident in Mexico for many
years, corroborated by facts of public notoriety and by authentic
documents, unhappily convinces us that your majesty is surrounded by
men upon whom rest very grave charges for unlawful and shameful
proceedings.
The president of your cabinet is D. Teodosio Lares, who presided also
under the administration of General Santa Anna, overthrown towards
the end of 1855. There were then ministers with Mr. Lares, Messrs.
D. Manuel Diez de Bonilla, D. Ignacio Aguilar y Marocho, and D.
Joaquin Velazquez de Leon.
The succeeding administration to that of General Santa Anna indicted
the said ministers for usurpation and abuse of power, specifying,
among other charges, that Messrs. Lares and Aguilar had extracted
from the treasury, as an advance of three years’ salary yet to
accrue, the sum of $30,000; that Mr. Bonilla had disposed for his
own benefit of the funds proceeding from the charge paid by
foreigners for letters of security and passports, and had even
appropriated some of the furniture in use in the department under
his charge; and that Mr. Velazquez de Leon transferred to his
residence the funds destined for material improvements, and even a
piano presented by an inventor who solicited a patent.
These records remain open, the accusation in force, and nothing has
appeared in vindication of the accused.
The command of the armies of the empire is confided to Generals
Marquez and Miramon. Your majesty cannot have forgotten, because the
recollection is still fresh in Europe, and the parties interested
are still suffering the consequences of the criminal outrage
perpetrated by these two generals at the end of the year 1860,
violating the seals of the British legation, and breaking into the
safes and extracting therefrom some millions remitted there by the
liberal government, resident then at the port of Vera Cruz, for the
payment of the interest on the English debt, and which sums so taken
instantaneously disappeared.
Nor was it other than these same Generals Marquez and Miramon,
seconded actively by General Horan, who also figures in the
government of your majesty, who were proved responsible for the
cold-blooded assassinations committed at Tacubaya, in April, 1859,
upon
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beardless youths,
philanthropic physicians, and pacific citizens torn ruthlessly from
their homes in the neighboring villages.
This painful review which the gravity of the circumstances and our
imperious duty obliges us to present to the consideration of your
majesty, sufficiently explains the reasons for our want of
confidence in the aid and protection from your government which we
have a right to expect; and it explains, also, the reasons why in
this note we depart from the common usage established in
international relations.
It is not incumbent upon our position whether or not it is proper or
consistent with humanity to prolong a fruitless resistance, which
compromises interests worthy of our solicitude; it belongs to us
only to demand of your majesty, as formally and solemnly we do
demand in the name of public law, effective securities for the
subjects of our respective governments, which cannot consist except
in the removal of the functionaries before mentioned; and in case
that proceeding shall not be possible we shall protest; as from the
present we do protest, against all acts of violence which are
attempted to be exercised upon the persons and the property of said
subjects.
Your majesty will be pleased to accept our respects.
ALFONSO DANO, Minister Plenipotentiary of
France.
A. DE MAGNUS, Chargé d’ Affaires of
Prussia.
EL MARQUES DE LA RIVERA, Minister
Plenipotentiary of Spain.
FREDERICO HOOMICK, Chargé d’ A ffaires of
Belgium.
C. R. F. MIDDLETON, Chargé d’ A ffaires of
Great Britain.
FRANCISCO CURTOPASSI, Chargé d’ Affaires
of Italy.
