Maximilian in Mexico | Page 6

parties and the condition of the country. But no
leader of men has, in the eyes of history, a right to be deceived either
by men or by appearances; and granting that Napoleon might at first
have been misled, he had timely warning, and the opportunity to
withdraw, as did the Spaniards and the English, without shame, if
without glory.
After Mexico, led by the patriots Hidalgo and Morelos, had thrown off
the Spanish yoke, it became for forty years the scene of a series of
struggles between contending factions which reduced the country to a
state of anarchy. Once rid of their Spanish viceroys, the Mexicans
found themselves little better off than they had been under their rule.
For centuries the Mexican church had played upon the piety of the
devout for the furtherance of its own temporal interests, until one third
of the whole wealth of the nation had found its way into its hands. It
was against the clergy, and against the retrogressive policy for which it
stood, that in 1856 a wide-spread revolutionary movement was
successfully organized, as a result of which, in 1857, a liberal
constitution was drawn up and accepted by the people.
The clerical or reactionary party, although it counted among its

adherents many of the best old Spanish families composing Mexico's
aristocracy, would probably soon have ceased to be a serious practical
obstacle in the way of reform had it not been for the wealth of a corrupt
clergy, by means of which its armies were kept in the field. Be this as it
may, the reign of constitutional order represented by President
Comonfort in 1856 was shortlived, General Comonfort abdicated in
1858. Benito Juarez, by virtue of his rank of president of the Supreme
Court, then became constitutional president ad interim.
By a pronunciamiento General Zuloaga, with the help of the army, took
possession of the government and of the capital, while Juarez
maintained his rights at Queretaro. War raged between the two parties,
with rapidly varying success. A letter dated November 19,1860, written
by my brother, a young American engineer who had gone to Mexico to
take part in the construction of the first piece of railroad built between
Vera Cruz and Mexico, gives a concise and picturesque account of the
situation:
Things look dark--so dark, in fact, that for the present I do not think it
advisable to risk any more money here. There is a fair prospect of the
decree of Juarez being annulled. If so, our bonds go overboard. There is
a prospect of Juarez signing a treaty. If so, our bonds go up 15 or 20. It
is rouge et noire--a throw of the dice. The Liberals have been beaten at
Queretaro, where Miramon took from them twenty-one pieces of
artillery and many prisoners, among them an American officer of
artillery, whom he shot the next day, AS USUAL. Oajaca has fallen
into the hands of the clergy. The Liberals under Carbajal attacked
Tulancingo, and were disgracefully beaten by a lot of ragged Indians.
They are losing ground everywhere; and if the United States does not
take hold of this unhappy country it will certainly go to the dogs. There
is a possibility of compromise between Juarez and Miramon, the effect
of which is this: the constitution of '57 to be revised; the sale of clergy
property to their profit; the revocation of Juarez's decree of July about
the confiscation of clergy property to the profit of the state; religious
liberty, civil marriage, etc.
A gloomy picture, and true enough, save in one respect. The Liberals
might be beaten everywhere, but they were not losing ground; on the
contrary, their cause rested upon too solid a foundation of right and
progress, and the last brilliant exploits of General Miramon were

insufficient to galvanize the reactionary party into a living force.
On December 22, 1860, Miramon was finally defeated at Calpulalpan
by General Ortega, and shortly after left the country. On December 28
the reforms prepared in Vera Cruz by Juarez, proclaiming the principles
of religious toleration, and decreeing the confiscation of clergy
property, the abolition of all 13 religious orders, and the institution of
civil marriage, etc., were promulgated in the capital by General Ortega;
and on January 11,1861, Juarez* himself took possession of the city of
Mexico. The Liberals were triumphant, and the civil war was virtually
at an end.
* Benito Pablo Juarez was of Indian birth, and as a boy began life as a
mozo, or servant, in a wealthy family. His ability was such as to draw
upon him the attention of his employer, who had him educated. He
soon rose to greatness as a lawyer, and then as a member of the
National Congress, governor of Oajaca, secretary to the executive, and
president