But Maximilian, although a grand duke and heir of empire in Austria, was
nothing of a Caesar, and only a French automaton in the revolutionary drama of my
country. Let this unhappy fate be accepted in extenuation of his crime, in consenting
to be the automaton of the ambition of the French Csesar in the revolution of Mexico.
392
iDistorical Botes on /IDejlco.
Mexico can hereafter have no fears ; for her safety against foreign invasion is se-
cured ; no revenges will follow the revolution which her enemies inaugurated, and
which has resulted in their own overthrow and ruin.
In concluding these remarks, I fear I have already intruded too long upon your
patience [cries of " No, no"], I must say that I believe the Mexican Government is
preparing several documents to be given to the v/orld, in which its position and the
relations of Maximilian towards Mexico will be fully explained. I am certain when
these documents see the light, that all who doubted the correctness and propriety of
the policy adopted by the Mexican Government, will be inclined to change their minds.
I cannot resume my seat without again thanking the gentlemen present this evening
for their kindness and courtesy in tendering to me this demonstration. I shall always
remember it as one of the most pleasant evenings, and one of the most pleasing events
that has taken place in my life.
Banquet at New York City on December i6, i8gi. — Mr. Walter S.
Logan, a prominent lawyer of New York, of whom I have before
spoken, was also kind enough to tender me a banquet in the Demo-
cratic Club of the City of New York, which took place on December
i6, 1891, with the attendance of the following gentlemen :
Dr. Lyman Abbott,
Mr. Charles Frederick Adams,
Mr. Lawrence D. Alexander,
Mr. E. Ellerv Anderson,
Hon. John H. V. Arnold,
Hon. William H. Arnoux
Mr. Edward G. Bailey,
Mr. Peter T. Barlow,
Hon. Hiram Barney,
Mr. Henry W. Bean,
Hon. Henry R. Beekman,
Hon. James D. Bell,
Mr. William L. Bennett,
SeSor Don Nicanor Bolet-
Peraza,
Capt. E. C. Bowen,
Mr. Cephas Brainerd,
Mr. George W. Bramwell,
Mr. Eugene V. Brewster,
Mr. H. L. Bridgman,
Mr. Isaac H. Bro.mley,
Hon. William L. Brown,
Mr. Charles H. Brush.
Dr. Joseph D. Bryant,
Mr. Walter C. Cady,
Mr. John C. Calhoun,
SeRor Don Joaquin Bernado
Calvo,
Hon. Charles J. Canda,
Hon. Alfred C. Chapin,
Hon. Norton P. Chase,
Hon. L. E. Chittenden,
Mr. Gardner K. Clark, Jr.,
Mr. Salter S. Clark,
Mr. Charles W. Coleman,
Hon. Alfred R. Conkling,
Mr. Charles A. Coombs,
Mr. Magrane Coxe,
Hon. J. Sergeant Cram,
Mr. Thomas D. Crimmins,
Hon. William E. Curtis,
Hon. Noah Davis,
Mr. Charles W. Dayton,
Mr Lewis L. Delafield,
Mr. Clarence Deming,
Mr. Charles M. Demond,
Mr. Rhinelander Dillon,
Mr. Augustus T. Docharty,
Hon. Daniel Dougherty,
Hon. C. T. Driscoll,
Mr. Frank J. Dupignac,
Hon. Dorman B. Eaton,
Col. M. V. B. Edgerly,
Mr. Walter Edwards,
Mr. George Cary Eggleston,
Mr. Rudolph Eickemeyer,
Hon. Smith Ely,
Mr. William T. Emmett,
Mr. J. Rockwell Fay,
Mr. Charles S. Findlay,
Prof. John Fiske,
Dr. Austin Flint,
Mr. Roger Foster,
Mr. a. B. de Frece,
Senor Don Jose G. Garcia,
Capt. Hugh R. Garden,
Mr. William J. Gardner,
Mr. James C. Goddard,
Rev. John C. Goddard,
Mr. Walter L. Goddard,
Hon. E. L. Godkin,
Mr. Antonio C. Gonzalez,
Mr. Frank C. Hatch,
Mr. Frederick H. Hatch,
Mr. John R. Hatch,
Mr. Marx E. Harby,
Hon. William F. Harrity,
Mr. Burton N. Harrison,
Hon. Michal D. Harter,
Mr. Henry W. Havden,
Hon. Joseph C. Hendrix,
Hon. Abram S. Hewitt,
Mr. Thomas B. Hewitt,
Mr. Stephen R. Hewlett,
Mr. John R. Howard,
Mr. Edward C. Hurlbert,
Mr. Collis p. Huntington,
Hon. Thomas L. James,
Mr. George W. Kenyon,
Mr. John D. Kernan,
Hon. John Jay Knox,
Mr. Gilbert D. Lamb,
Col. Daniel S. Lamont,
Hon. Jefferson M. Levy,
Mr. Herbert H. Logan,
Mr. Grosvenor P. Lowrey,
Mr. Hart Lyman,
Hon. W. Gordon McCabe,
Mr. Walter L. McCorklk,
Mr. St. Clair McKelway,
Gen. James McLeer,
Mr. James F. Merriam,
Prof. John B. Moore,
Mr. Rollin M. Morgan,
Hon. Samuel D. Morris,
Hon. Theodore W. Myers,
Hon. Juan Navarro,
Hon. Henry L. Nelson,
Mr. Emmet R. Olcott,
Mr. a. C. Palmer,
Mr. George F. Parker,
Mr. Wheeler H. Peckham,
Hon. James J. Phelan,
Mr. Charles E. Phelps,
Hon. Orlando B. Potter,
Mr. Louis Prang,
Hon. Roger A. Pryor,
Causes ot tbe /IDejican IRevolutions.
393
Mr. George Haven Putnam, Mr. Lucius P. Starr,
Mr. John E. Risley,
Mr. Oliver H. K. Risley,
Hon. Ellis H. Roberts,
SeRor Don Matias Romero,
Hon. Horace Russell,
Mr. Louis H. Scott,
Mr. George H. Sexton,
Mr. John C. Sheehan,
Hon. Nelson Smith,
Mr. Santiago Smithers,
Mr. Henry B. Stapler,
Mr. Simon Sterne,
Dr. George T. Stevens,
Mr. John Stewart,
Mr. Albert Stickney,
Hon. W. E. D. Stokes,
Mk. Isidor Straus,
Hon. Oscar S. Straus,
Hon. John A. Taylor,
Mr. Henry T. Thomas,
Mr. Daniel G. Thompson,
Hon. W. L. Trenholm,
Hon. John R. Voorhis,
Mr. Arthur E. Walradt,
Mr. J. Langdon Ward,
Hon. John DeWitt Warner,
Hon. Bartow S. Weeks,
Prof. Arthur M. Wheeler,
Hon. Everett P. Wheeler,
Hon. Andrew D. White,
Hon. Horace White,
Mr. T. C. Woodward,
Mr. Hamilton B. Tompkins, Mr. Willis H. Young.
Prof. George A. Treadwell,
I
A great many speeches, and some of them of very great interest,
were delivered on that occasion, and I am sorry that I do not have the
space to insert here some of them, but I must confine myself to my
address, which, although the humbler of the speeches then made, is
relevant for the purpose that I now have in view. Fortunately they
were all published in a very neat pamphlet which Mr. Logan gave to
light under the title of A Mexican Night. My address in answer to a
toast, " The Future of Mexico and its Relations with the United
States," was the following :
Mr. Logan — Gentlemen : — I thank you very sincerely for this handsome and
significant demonstration, in which the friends of Mexico have been so kindly treated.
It has been the aim of my life to establish and cement the most cordial and friendly
relations between the two great republics of the Western Hemisphere, and any
demonstration like the present, calculated to produce such desirable results, is always
very pleasing to me. In this case, specially, I feel particularly complimented, because
I have been allowed the opportunity to meet so many of the most distinguished citizens
of this city, the metropolis of the greatest republic of the world, which is destined to
have a controlling influence in the welfare of mankind. (Applause.)
Although my participation in this banquet, as one of the friends of Mexico, is not
a personal compliment to me, but due to the official position I now hold, as the diplo-
matic representative of my country near the government of the United States, I never-
theless keenly feel the whole kind meaning of this feast, and extend my heartfelt
thanks to its originator, our amiable host, and to all the gentlemen who have honored
us with their presence.
I hope I will be allowed, at a Mexican feast, to say a few words concerning the
future of my country, in connection with the United States. You all know, gentle-
men, that the wealth of Mexico is really astonishing. She has all the climates of the
earth, from the frozen regions of the pole, in her snow-clad mountains, to the equato-
rial heat of her ticrras calientes, and can produce, therefore, all the fruits which grow
out of the earth ; and she alone can supply all the coffee, sugar, vanilla, india-rubber
and other tropical products needed to provide the large market of the United States.
Her mineral wealth is equally unbounded. Mexico has already yielded about two
thirds of the whole silver which forms the stock of the white metal in the world, and
her mines are, so far, merely scratched. Her mountains contain not only silver, but
gold, iron, copper, lead, tin, cinnabar, and every other kind of metal. We have also
large veins of coal, which are now being discovered, and only one has commenced to
be developed. The configuration of the country, traversed by rugged and steep
sierras, which come almost to the sea, while it prevents us from having large navigable
394 Ibistorical IRotcs on /iDejico.
streams of any length, furnishes tliousands of torrents, which, in their precipitous
course from the mountains to the sea, afford the largest amount of water-power I can
conceive of, and will make of Mexico, in the course of time, one of the leading manu-
facturing countries of the world. We are bountifully blessed by Providence, as far as
natiual wealth is concerned, and we have all the elements to make us a self-supporting
nation. All we need is peace and a just and patriotic government, willing to facilitate
the development of the country ; and I think we have established the former perma-
nently, and enjoy the latter fully. (Applause.)
Nature has made us neighbors, placing our respective countries in contiguity one
to the other, for a distance of nearly two thousand miles. Our roads intermingle and
make of both practically a single country for travelling and commercial purposes.
We have no natural barriers to trade, all those existing being entirely artificial.
Although the possibilities of Mexico are immense, we are not yet a manufacturing
country, in the whole extent of this word, because our resources are still undeveloped.
We produce tropical fruits, specially raw materials, which you require as food for
your large manufacturing interests, and we need a great many of the articles that you
manufacture in this country. There is no reason, therefore, why we should not trade
largely and to our mutual advantage. So far, and notwithstanding the artificial
barriers existing on the frontier, over eighty per cent, of our exports come to the
United States, and we take from this country nearly sixty per cent, of our imports;
and I have no doubt that with proper stimulus, and with a partial severance of the
present barriers, traffic will double or treble before the lapse of many years. The
development of trade will bring about not only the increase of business, but also of
social relations between our respective countries. The capital, energy, and sagacity
of the business men of this country will find a very large and profitable virgin field in
Mexican enterprises.
Great doubts have been entertained about the stability of the government in
Mexico, on account of our former political troubles. But it is quite plain, in my
judgment, that as there was a reason for such troubles, and that said reason having
now disappeared, there is no longer any danger that they will spring again, Mexico,
while a colony of Spain three hundred years, was ruled by the Church then allied to
the throne, which had a paramount influence, both moral and material. When Mexi-
can independence was proclaimed in iSio, the leader being a member of the low
clergy, Hidalgo, it was opposed by the Church, the aristocracy, and the Spaniards,
and against such odds it could not make any headway. When in 182 1 the .Spanish
Cortes adopted some liberal measures, which alarmed the conservative elements in
Mexico, the Church thought that its interests would be better protected, having a
home government that it could control, rather than one depending from the Court of
Madrid, and its ruling spirits, joined the few scattered patriots which remained in the
country, and independence was thus achieved, without bloodshed : this fact showing
conclusively how great was the power of the Church in Mexico. As success was du^'
to the adhesion of the Church party to the cause of independence, it was natural that
they should form the new government, and the transitory Empire of Iturbide, tiicir
leader, was the outcome of their success. But the struggle then began between Hie
liberal and progressive elements on one side, and the conservative party on the other,
which culminated with the French intervention, supported by the Church party, and
coinciding with the Civil War in the United States. The defeat of the intervention
put an end to the armed struggle of the Church for political supremacy in Mexico. It
is no wonder that such a struggle should last nearly fifty years, when it is taken into
consideration that Mexico passed during that period through complete social and
political evolution, while, in the old countries of Europe, similar clianges have required
the lapse of centuries and the shedtling of torrents of human blood. The United
Causes of tbe ^ejican IRevolutlons. 395
States, though a model country, as they began their national life under the best
auspices, and have continued it with wonderful success, had the seeds of future trouble
in slavery, and notwithstanding that slavery affected only the material interests of its
supporters, they could not settle that difficulty but by the bloodiest civil war that the
world ever beheld, and which lasted several years.
But, as the power of the Church has been completely broken down, thus bringing
about the successful evolution of liberal and progressive ideas, there is no longer any
danger of further political troubles, any more than there is in this country, or in any of
the older nations of Europe, where stability is reasonably considered as an accom-
plished fact. Besides, the rapid means of communication afforded by telegraphic
lines and railways, and the established credit of the country afford the Government
effective means to promptly crush any outbreak, of which it was deprived before.
The business men of the older European nations seem to have taken this view of
the situation, as they have invested largely in Mexican enterprises for the last fifteen
years, and so far with benefit to themselves and profit to my country, which needs
capital for the development of her immense sources of wealth. Citizens from this
country have also invested largely, as it is attested by tlie three trunk railways now in
operation in Mexico, connecting the country with the large railroad systems of the
United States, and making them practically extensions of the same, and a large num-
ber of mining companies which have recently sprung up, taking hold principally of the
old abandoned mines. Sometimes it has seemed to me that tlie European investors
prefer to have their Mexican ventures in the name of citizens of this country, perhaps
because they believe that their interests are better secured in that way. Every investor
of any nationality is, in my opinion, perfectly guaranteed in Mexico. The lines
already mentioned, and various others which are either finished or in process of con-
struction, have relied on foreign capital, and specially on English money. Capital
being so abundant in England, it is easier to find it there than anywhere else, for any
enterprise requiring a large outlay, and even some of the railways in this country have
been constructed with English capital.
When the settlement of the last territory of the United States shall make it diffi-
cult to find a new field for profitable enterprise, and before long it will be as difficult
to find it here as it is now in Europe, the capital which this country is now so rapidly
accumulating, and its enterprising activity, will have to look for new ventures. It will
be an act of foresight to enter at once into the large and rich field offered by Mexico,
at the very doors of the United States. I sincerely hope that you will avail yourselves
of this bountiful opportunity, and that the result of our common efTorts will lie
equally advantageous to both countries, as no one-sided bargain can ever be, in my
opinion, satisfactory or lasting, and that the ultimate result of our combined efforts
will be to create new bonds of cordiality, good will, and mutual profit between the
citizens of these two great republics, making them lasting and true friends, and
strengthening thus their respective positions among the family of nations, each
preserving, of course, its own nationality. The height of my ambition would be satis-
fied if I could be allowed to see such a consummation. (Prolonged applause.)
Banquet at Boston on jf^anuary 7, iSg2. — On January 7, 1892, a ban-
quet was given at the Hotel Vendome, in Boston, by the Merchants'
Association of that city, to celebrate the eleventh anniversary of their
organization, to which several of the diplomatic representatives of the
Latin-American nations in Washington were invited.
The following is a list of the members of that association and the
guests who attended the said banquet :
396
Ibistorical IRotes o\\ ^ejico.
Beverly K. Moore,
H. G. Parker.
Wfston Lewis,
H. Staples Potter,
John J. Henry,
Geo. O. Carpenter,
S. C. La\vkence,
J. H. Benton, Jr.,
John C. Paige,
Charles W. Parker,
J as. L. VVeson,
Cyrus A. Page,
John C. Lane,
Gardner W. Bullard,
Geo. W. Morse,
M. W. Richardson,
Geo. S. Burton,
Alfred Pierce,
a. l. joslin,
W. W. Sias,
Joseph H. Wiley,
Frank L. Gross,
D. L. Bowers,
Ed. B. Wilson,
L. G. Burnham,
Stephen B. Simons,
Frank Jones,
S. N. D. North,
Dwight Proutv,
Henkv C. Jackson,
John W. Chatham,
O. n. Alford,
C. H. Bacon,
M. Larrabee,
Jacob P. Bates,
Henry D. Yerxa,
J. Nelson Parker,
F. L. Walker,
W. E. Worcester,
Ed. p. Wilbur,
John Moir,
Caleb Chase,
Charles D. Sias,
Thomas Cunningham,
Col. Charles Weil,
Jacob Dreyfus,
C. A. Coffin,
Thomas P. Beal,
Wallace L. Pierce,
W. E. Simmons,
S. E. Shuman,
E. A. Shuman,
Thomas Doliber,
Charles S. Kelley,
W. H. Doliber,
C. A. Gilchrist,
Thomas Long,
Norman H. Siencer,
S. J. Kendall,
G. M. Preston,
G. K. Stratton,
Rufus F. Greeley,
J. E. Whitman,
Albert C. Manson,
B. W. Currier,
Geo. B. Carr,
Giio. McNeek,
W. M. Bunting,
F. A. Webster,
Edward E. Cole,
C. D. B. Fisk,
A. L. Richardson,
Dexter H. Follett,
.Asa H. Caton,
L. A. Dodge,
C. A. Browning,
Wm. H. Lord,
A\'. Howard,
Wm. Lewis,
H. Whittington,
William B. Rice,
E. W. Anthony,
Geo. N. Talbot,
Joseph W. Hall,
H. L. Rice,
B. T. Thayer,
Hon. a. E. Pillsbury,
O. H. Sampson,
A. W. Finlavson,
Samuel Little,
Arthur W. Tufts,
S. W. Reynolds,
Hon. Alden Speare,
Willia.m H. Horton,
J. V. Spalding,
Jonathan Bigelow,
John Hopewell, Jr.,
O. F. Kendall,
Samuel P. Mandell,
Rodney P. Woodman,
William B. Lawrence,
D. W. Lawrence,
G. A. Leonard,
James Delano.
Theodore P. Spitz,
Ed. Bicknell,
J. Brodie,
F. R. Spalding,
Henry A. Pevear,
Eugene Griffin,
William E. Briant,
Parker B. Field,
H. W. Patterson,
M. N. Smith,
C. L. Watson,
H. A. Pemberton,
A. Shuman,
J. H. White,
Gen. J. P. Martin,
N. W. Rice,
C. S. Roberts,
J. H. Holmes,
Alexander Steinert,
James B. Forsyth,
E. C. Wheeler,
E. F. Dunham,
Col. Albert H. Pope,
John L. Whiting,
Hon. John Simkins,
Charles O. Dyer,
Jerome Jones,
R. H. Gardiner,
Hon. Albert Clarkb,
Herbert Underwood,
Edwin S. Barret,
John Wales,
Geo. R. Wales,
John C. Wright,
A. O. Davidson,
James Phillips, Jr.,
John Bremer,
M. p. Clough,
John S. Bartlett,
E. L. Sanborn,
C. W. Whitten,
Henry S. Pratt,
F. Seavey,
Geo. a. Brigham,
Henry S. Howe,
W. H. Chipman,
W. A. Paine,
J. B. Leamy,
J. G. Ramsdell,
Frank W. Daniels,
W. B. Saul,
J. Alba Davis,
Rev. M. J. Savage,
N. B. Goodnow,
Cornelius P. Hatch,
John Sheppard, Jr.,
Frank M. Ames,
Frank F. Hodges,
G. H. B. Winship,
Senas Seares,
Charles S. Bartlett,
Alexis Torrev, L. G. B.j
j. c. hollins,
Sol. p. Stratton,
Geo. S. Spaulding,
Geo. L. Sevens,
Byron S. Card,
Albert Irvings Croll,
Alfred M. Goodale,
C. P. F. Kellog,
W. A. Copeland,
E. T. Wendall,
Jas. M. Childs,
Lawrence C. Fenno,
C. W. Leonard,
J. S. HOLDEN,
H. R. Turner,
Charles E. Adams,
Arthur W. Pope,
Joseph Li.\C( ln,
Frederick H. Viaux,
Charles H. Clark,
F. W. Cheney,
F. H. Odiorne,
B. F. Larrabee,
C. Granville Way,
John F. Albree, Jr.,
W. H. Atwater,
Causes of tbe /IDejican TRevolutions. 397
Harrison E. Woodward, John M. Graham, C. D. Smith,
Rev. J. H. Whitmore, John J. Eaton, Gus Atwater,
A. E. WiNSHip, Frederick Estabrook, W. W. Waugh,
W. L. Terhune, Joel Goldthwait, R. J. McCartney,
Gov. H. A. Tuttle, T. W. Deland, E. A. Burnham,
John Shepard, Hon. J. C. Bennett, James F. Mullen,
Cakes A. Ames, Edwin W. Ingalls, Matias Romei^o,
William E. Curtis, Nicanor Bolet Peraza, Theodore Nikerson,
M. Hewitt, Henry D. Hyde, Lewis R. Speare.
At that banquet I delivered the following address in answer to the
toast assigned to me :
Mr. Chairman — Gentlemen : — I feel quite diffident in speaking before such a
select audience, in this enlightened city, the Athens of America ; but I could not re-
frain from answering the sentiment which has been assigned to me, touching a subject
in which I feel a most lively interest, and with which I consider myself fully identified.
Over one hundred years ago, after this continent had remained for nearly three
centuries a dependency of the Western nations of Europe, the thirteen English colonies
of North America, having arrived at their maturity, proclaimed and established their
independence from the mother country. The Latin, or remaining portion of the con-
tinent, followed your example about thirty years later, a comparatively short period,
taking into consideration the difficulties of communication at the time, and the mo-
mentous character of the undertaking, and from iSio to 1824 we, too, proclaimed and
established our independence. You realized in this privileged land the dream of the
lovers of humanity in organizing a republican form of government, managed by the
people, and intended for the good of the people, following the principles, and in many
cases improving them materially, of the English unwritten constitution, which has
assured them the best governments in the world. We also followed in this case your
example and adopted a republican form of government, based substantially on the
Constitution of the United States of America. It is true that Mexico had an ephem-
eral empire, which lasted not quite two years, and that Brazil had, until recently, a
peaceful and progressive one ; but Mexico adopted, since 1823, a republican federal
constitution, modelled on yours, and Brazil has just done the same, without the shed-
ding of blood, and in fact without any opposition. If it is a source of great satisfac-
tion to you that the eighteen nations into which this continent is divided, not incluilini;
the United States, have followed your footsteps, not only in accomplishing indepen-
dence, but also in adopting a republican government, there is imposed upon you, at
the same time, the grave responsibility of setting a good example, which will contrib-
ute to the consolidation of popular government on this hemisphere.
We are following, besides, other equally meritorious examples which you have set
for us. I speak of your love for peace and your untiring energy in developing your
country, by which you have succeeded in making it one of the richest in the world
Your railroads, which surpass in extent those of Europe, notwithstanding that conti-
nent has three times your population, have been, in my opinion, the main element of
your progress. The Latin portion of this continent has also been making strenuous
efforts to build railroads. We have in Mexico one of the largest systems of the Latin-
American countries, and it gives me pleasure to acknowledge on this occasion that in
building it we have been greatly assisted by Boston capital, Boston enterprise, and
Boston energy.
The first, and for several years the only railroad built in Mexico, from Veracruz
to the City of Mexico, with a small branch to Puebla, was made wholly by English
capital. It took the company over sixteen years to build 29a miles. That line did
398 1F5i5torical Botes on /iDejico.
not prove of special advantage to the country, mainly because the company would
make no branches to connect commercial centres, and because its tariffs were exceed-
ingly high, the average of the import freights being twenty-two cents per mile per ton.
For the same reasons the road was not, in the beginning, a financial success, and its
stock was sold in London, in 1879, ^t six pounds sterling per share of one hundred
pounds ; but in 1883, when the line transported a great deal of railroad material for
the roads then under construction, which caused a dividend of 7 per cent, to be paid
on the stock, its price went up to 150, and this fact illustrates the possibilities of
Mexican roads.
In the face of such discouraging facts and prospects, Boston pluck undertook to