Arrival of the Emperor in Mexico
On the tenth of April, 1864, the die was cast for Archduke Maximilian
and Carlotta. On the fourteenth, the day set for departure, all was
bustle and confusion at Miramar, usually so peaceful. The harbor of
Trieste was filled with vessels, large and small, and, anchored at some
distance from shore, lay the _Novara_, the Austrian warship that was to
convey the imperial pair to Mexico. Little did any one then suspect that
this same vessel was so soon to bring back the body of Maximilian,
cruelly murdered by Mexican rebels! To-day all was joyous anticipation.
A gayly decorated barge carried the Emperor and Empress out to the
_Novara_. Showers of blossoms were flung after them as they left the
shore, lined with thousands of spectators, and floated gently out upon
the blue waves of the Adriatic. Cannon thundered a farewell. Maximilian
looked for the last time upon his native shores.
Two nights later the travellers rounded the southernmost point of Italy,
and on the eighteenth reached Civita Vecchia where they landed and were
met by the French and Italian ambassadors, envoys from Belgium and
Austria, and the Cardinals sent by Pope Pius Ninth to welcome
Maximilian. A special train was waiting to convey the entire party to
Rome where, on the nineteenth of April, the Emperor had an audience with
the Pope. Church affairs in Mexico had been completely demoralized by
Juarez, and one of the Emperor’s chief tasks was to restore order and
provide for the religious needs of his people. The following day Pope
Pius Ninth returned the visit at the Palazzo Marescotti, after which the
imperial party returned to Civita Vecchia, where they again boarded the
_Novara_ and resumed their voyage. At Gibraltar another stop of two days
was made, and on the twenty-eighth of May the _Novara_ anchored before
the city of Vera Cruz. The goal was reached—but what of Maximilian’s
reception by the people of Mexico who had chosen him as their sovereign
by a unanimous vote?
Although the French frigate _Themis_, which escorted the _Novara_ across
the Atlantic, had hastened on in advance to notify the city of the
Emperor’s arrival, there was no commotion in the harbor. No flags were
flying, no guns roared a welcome, no one was waiting to receive him. A
feeling of uneasiness pervaded the Emperor’s household, but Maximilian
himself made no comment. After a long delay the commander-in-chief of
the French fleet, Rear-admiral Bosse, and his adjutant finally made
their appearance, though even then, according to the Countess Kollowitz,
their greeting was none too warm. Quite different, however, was the
Emperor’s reception in the towns between Vera Cruz and Mexico; his
journey to the capital was like a triumphal progress.
Thus did Maximilian enter the land that was henceforth to claim his
whole attention and best endeavor. For this indifferent and ungrateful
people he had undertaken the Herculean task of regenerating a country
wasted by forty years of civil warfare; regulating a society demoralized
by anarchy; restoring national prosperity; reviving industries; and
reconciling to law and order a people to whom outlawry and robbery had
become second nature. The army must be reorganized, the land rid of
marauders, contending factions appeased and made to work together for
the common good. The Church must be placed once more on a settled basis,
new channels of trade established, and the whole national standard of
civilization raised. These were surely problems to daunt the bravest!
Well may Maximilian have hesitated long before accepting such
responsibilities, yet with heroic self-sacrifice the young Emperor set
himself to this stupendous work. That he failed was no doubt due partly
to his unfitness for the task, but more to the insuperable obstacles
that loomed before and finally crushed the noble Hapsburger.