n mind just what region he would annex to
his dominions.

* * * * *

We shall not need much argument to convince us that the subjugation of
Mexico does not, either in character or methods, differ much from other
acts of the French ruler. Nevertheless, the details are curious and
instructive. It must be allowed that Mexico had given the Allies causes
of offence. She left unpaid large sums due from her to foreign
bond-holders. The subjects of the allied powers, temporarily resident in
Mexico, were robbed by forced loans, and sometimes imprisoned, and even
murdered. To redress these grievances, an expedition was fitted out by
the combined powers of England, France, and Spain. The objects of the
expedition were, first, to obtain satisfaction for past wrongs, and,
second, some security against their recurrence in the future. It was
expressly agreed by all parties, that the Mexicans should be left
entirely free to choose for themselves their own form of government.
Later events would seem to prove that England and Spain were sincere in
their professions.

Everything went on smoothly until the capture of Vera Cruz. Then the
French Emperor unfolded secret plans which were not contained in the
original programme. They were these: To take advantage of the weakness
of the United States to establish in Mexico a European influence; to
take possession of its capital city; and thence to impose upon the
Mexican people a government more agreeable than the present to the
Allies. England and Spain retired from the expedition with scarcely
concealed disgust, declaring, in almost so many words, that they did not
come into Mexico to rob another people of their rights, but to gain
redress and protection for their own subjects. Louis Napoleon does not
even seek to conceal his intentions from us. "We propose," he says, "to
restore to the Latin race on the other side of the Atlantic all its
strength and prestige. We have an interest, indeed, in the Republic of
the United States being powerful and prosperous; but not that she should
take possession of the whole Gulf of Mexico, thence to command the
Antilles as well as South America, and to be the only dispenser of the
products of the New World." This is plain enough. What will be the final
form of settlement we do not even conjecture. It is probable that the
Emperor does not himself know. With our fortunes so unsettled, and with
so many European jealousies to con