The Great Round World And What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1. No. 23, April 15, 1897 | Page 2

the daughter of Leopold I., King of the Belgians, was the most accomplished and beautiful princess of her time. She was the only daughter of the king. While she was still quite young he found she had a great talent for statecraft, and so he had her admitted to all the councils of state, and from her earliest childhood she was familiar with the ways and arts of diplomacy.
A brilliant future was expected for her, but when she was seventeen she married, for love, the young Archduke Maximilian, brother of the Emperor of Austria.
There was no expectation that Maximilian would ever come to a throne, and so it seemed as if the young princess' talents were to be thrown away when she settled down with her husband, and became the happiest young wife in Europe.
For seven years these two young folks were a model happy couple; then, one fatal day, Napoleon III. of France offered Maximilian the crown of Mexico.
Europe thought that Mexico needed a wise and clever ruler to straighten out the tangle into which its affairs had fallen, and it was supposed that Maximilian, backed by his beautiful and clever wife, would be just the man for the post. As Mexican affairs were in a very turbulent state, Napoleon promised Maximilian that he would keep a number of French troops in the country, and support him with an armed force, until the people of Mexico had learned to love and trust him, and he could rule them without danger.
Under these conditions Maximilian accepted, and the young couple became Emperor and Empress of Mexico, and, setting forth to their new land, bade farewell to Europe and happiness.
At that time Mexico was in the most terrible condition, as you will understand when you learn that within a period of forty-seven years there were three hundred revolutions, some successful, some the reverse. During this time the government was changed ten times, and over fifty persons succeeded each other as presidents, dictators, and emperors.
The throne of such an uneasy kingdom as this was by no means a pleasant one to occupy.
During these frequent revolutions it is easy to understand that many treaties were broken, and much property was seized.
The foreign residents in particular found Mexico a dangerous country to live in, and within a few years Spain, England, and France were making heavy claims against the country for damage done to their citizens.
The claims of England and Spain were satisfied, and they withdrew the troops they had sent to Mexico to enforce their demands.
France, however, could get no satisfaction, and so she remained, and carried on war against the Mexicans until she succeeded in getting a little the best of them.
It was at this moment that Louis Napoleon made up his mind that an Emperor was what Mexico needed, and sent out the unfortunate Archduke Maximilian to rule a wild, boisterous, and only half-conquered people.
The Mexicans, ever pleased with a change, welcomed the Emperor very kindly; the beauty and charity of the Empress made many friends for her, and for a time all went well.
With the aid of the French troops, Maximilian completed the conquest of the rebellious Mexicans, and was at the height of his popularity, when, in an evil moment, he made a proclamation that all the rebels who had fought against the government should be regarded as bandits, and punished as such.
The people were furious at this. These bandits were many of them of their own families and friends, and revolutions were so common in the country, that they could not see why these men should be hanged and shot by a foreign prince, whom they had never invited to come and govern them.
From that moment they began to conspire against him, and his position was becoming very unsafe, when Napoleon ordered his French soldiers to return from Mexico.
Maximilian would not allow this; he reminded Napoleon that he had only accepted the throne on the condition that the French soldiers were left to protect him; but Napoleon III. paid no attention to his protest, nor to the assurance that he would not be safe if the French soldiers were withdrawn.
The orders to return to France were repeated.
Both Maximilian and Charlotte were fearful of the result of this rash act; and as the Empress had been very successful in managing several difficult affairs in the government of Mexico, it was thought best that she should go to Napoleon and explain things to him, and get the order for the soldiers to remain in Mexico.
She started on her long voyage, hopeful of success; but when she reached France, Napoleon managed to avoid seeing her for months, and when at last she was admitted to his presence, she found him cold, hard, and determined to follow out his own plans.
The French soldiers