CHAPTER 2.

            It did not augur well for the accord between the French and their clerical allies, that General Bazaine, on suddenly returning to the capital, found that, during his absence, the French army had been excommunicated by the Archbishop. It was a charmingly appropriate piece of revenge, but the General was more than a match for the powers of heaven as wielded by the prelate. Under his persuasions the discomfited dignitary bestowed his benediction publicly upon the excommunicated but victorious army; and the act proved to be the commencement of a period of tranquillity unexampled in Mexico in the previous forty years.

            This period lasted for about four months. Towards the end of that time Maximilian arrived. Noel had taken advantage of the rising hopes for the future of the country, to dispose of the mine for a sum which, allowing for the circumstances, fully equalled his expectations. He was compelled, by the arrangements necessary for completing the sale and transfer, to remain until the .Emperor’s arrival at Vera Cruz. It was a tedious and an anxious time to him, relieved only by

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his devotion to his book. The purchaser wished his presence at Dolóres, in order that they might go over the property together. The proposal startled him. He had not thought of such a thing. After a little reflection, he refused positively for himself, and nominated a substitute. He felt that he could not bear the pain of visiting the place again, deserted of all that made it sacred to him.

            He had but one wish to gratify before quitting Mexico for ever. It was to see Juarez. This seemed impossible. His army and his generals were scattered to the far extremities of Mexico, and his own whereabouts utterly unknown.

            It was they end of May when the new sovereign and his empress landed on the soil of Mexico. Noel was on his way to Vera Cruz, as the imperial cortège proceeded towards the capital. Thus, without any calculation on the subject, Noel witnessed the inauguration of the new destinies of Mexico.

            Standing in the noble plaza of Puebla, amid a crowd which seemed, in its enthusiasm, to have forgotten the recent miseries of that twice besieged city, Noel examined with interest the countenance of the new monarch, and scrutinized the genuineness of the enthusiasm he excited.

            ‘He means well, but is weak,’ was Noel’s conclusion, expressed audibly, but in English.

            To his surprise, he was answered by an old man, bent with age, and wearing a long beard and hair of snowy whiteness, whom he had noticed standing beside him, silent, but intent on the scene, and had taken for a superior sort of peasant, and one little likely to understand a foreign tongue. The old man, fixing a keen glittering eye on Noel, whispered, in Spanish, –

            ‘You have taken his measure a púnto. He is one to be led by others. That won’t do in Mexico. Póbre jovenéte. He had better turn round and go home again!’

            Noel recognised the glance and the voice. Knowing the imminent danger in which his companion stood, should he be recognised by any one else, he repressed his astonishment at seeing him there, and said, quietly and respectfully, –

            ‘I was only regretting having to quit Mexico without seeing you. I have somewhat of interest to tell you. Dare you venture into my apartment?’

            ‘Hotel?’ inquired Juarez.

            ‘Yes. Yonder.’

            ‘I must not show myself in an hotel, even in this disguise.

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Walk with me to the outskirts of the town, when the procession has passed.’

            ‘How could you be so rash as to venture among all these French bayonets?’ asked Noel, in a tone of friendly remonstrance, when they were clear of the crowd.

            ‘There is often safety in rashness,’ was the reply. They believe me far away on the Rio Grande. But I was bound to see my successor. No Indian would betray me, and few Spaniards out of the capital know me.’

            ‘You still have hopes? Yet the crowd seemed to be enthusiastic.’

            ‘I never despair. Least of all now that I have seen him. He is no ruler or leader of men. But tell me of Don Maynardo. I hope he is well.’

            Noel related the fate of his friend, and the manner of it, and the cause of his own presence in Mexico. Juarez was much moved at the recital, for his regard for Maynard had been sincere. The circumstances struck him much, for Maynard had given him the key to his antiquarian notions.

            When Noel had finished, he said, thoughtfully, –

            ‘The fates sometimes have a grim humour in them,’ and presently added, –

            ‘I doubt not that my present defeat has enriched his family. I will not grudge it. It is but temporary.’

            ‘I was disappointed to see the crowd so pleased,’ said Noel.

            ‘Hear the explanation,’ returned the other. ‘The clerigos hope, by conciliating Maximilian, to get back the property of which I deprived them. They have induced my people to shout for him, by telling them that he will give them the lands. That is, they pretend to credit him with my scheme! He rules by the land-owners, and therefore cannot do so if he would. I bide the time when the Indians discover the deception.’

            ‘But France?’ interrupted Noel.

            ‘The United States are nearer and stronger than France. Their entire sympathy is with me and the republic. Their war will not last for ever.’

            ‘Their war,’ said Noel, seems to me to argue an intolerance of all republics save their own. It means that they will not endure another alongside of it.’

            ‘In one sense, perhaps,’ returned Juarez. But in another, it means Nationality, – that for which I contend. I

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speak with certainty. They promise me support in the future. They give me an asylum in the present.

            ‘Ah!’

            ‘Yes. Think you not that I can afford to wait?’

            ‘I fear the Afterwards for your nationality,’ returned Noel. ‘We Anglo-Saxons are a bad race into whose hands to fall. The Spanish conquered, and ruled; though in its own evil way. The Anglo-Saxon annihilates, and replaces by itself.’

            ‘Not in Mexican latitudes. Like the Hindoo, the Indian is indigenous and eternal. The Spaniard is vanishing from the new world, as you call it. The Anglo-Saxon is transitory also. Wait till the supplies of old blood cease to come across the ocean!’

            ‘I wish,’ said Noel, after a pause, that you would let the world know more of you. Why not issue a manifesto of your principles? Forgive me for saying it, but you are very little comprehended in Europe.’

            ‘Can one race ever comprehend another? does it wish to? No, I deal not in words. Posterity may do that when it interprets me by my actions. For myself, I am content that Juarez approves what Juarez does. Remember only that I do not work alone. I am a civilian, and the present belongs to soldiers. I must now bid you farewell. I need not ask you to be silent.’

            And, without pausing for a reply or an adios, he turned into a thicket, for they were now at some distance beyond the walls of the town, and disappeared from Noel’s view.

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