ant quarters of the city.

On one occasion he had a difference of opinion with one of his
friends, who assured him that if he insisted on planting an open
space in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine with flowers, and protected
it by no railing, the flowers would very speedily be destroyed.
His pleasure and exultation were very great when he found he had
been right, and that not a flower had been plucked or broken.

The emperor was generally gay and ready to converse at table, but
he made it a rule never to criticise or discuss living persons
himself, or allow others to do so in his hearing.

There was much decorum at court so far as his influence extended
in the imperial circle, but there were plenty of scandals outside
of it; and as to money matters, even Persigny and Fleury--one the
friend of the emperor for five-and-twenty years, and the other
devotedly attached to him--could not restrain themselves from cheating
him and tricking him whenever they could.

[Illustration: _EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN._]

CHAPTER X.

MAXIMILIAN AND MEXICO.[1]

[Footnote 1: Much of the material of this chapter is taken from
Victor Tissot's book of travels in Austria; the chapter on Maximilian
as archduke and emperor I translated from advance-sheets, and it
was published in the "Living Age" under the title "From Miramar
to Queretaro." -E. W. L.]

Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, was born the same week that his
cousin, the unfortunate son of Napoleon and Marie Louise, had died.
He grew to manhood handsome, well educated, accomplished, and
enterprising. He had the great gift of always making himself personally
beloved. The navy was his profession, but his great desire was to
be made viceroy of the (then) Austrian provinces of Italy. He felt
sure that he could conciliate the Italians, and a great Italian
statesman is reported to have said that it was well for Italian unity
that his wish was never granted. His ideas were all liberal, and
opposed to those of Metternich. His family mistrusted his political
opinions, but the Italians, when brought into personal contact
with him, soon learned to love him. They saw a great deal of him,
for Trieste and Venice were at that period the naval stations of
the Austrian Empire. He was, therefore, often in those places,
and finally took up his residence in an earthly paradise upon the
Adriatic, created by himself and called by him Miramar.

In June, 1857, when the Indian Mutiny was at its height, though