The Great Round World And What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1. No. 23, April 15, 1897 by Various


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Page 2

VOL. 1 APRIL 15, 1897. NO. 23


It is said that the unfortunate Princess Charlotte of Belgium is to be
taken over to Mexico, in the hope that a visit to the scenes of her former
happiness may restore her reason.

Her story brings back to memory a very sad and interesting page of our
modern history.

Princess Charlotte, the daughter of Leopold I., King of the Belgians, was
the most accomplished and beautiful princess of her time. She was the only
daughter of the king. While she was still quite young he found she had a
great talent for statecraft, and so he had her admitted to all the
councils of state, and from her earliest childhood she was familiar with
the ways and arts of diplomacy.

A brilliant future was expected for her, but when she was seventeen she
married, for love, the young Archduke Maximilian, brother of the Emperor
of Austria.

There was no expectation that Maximilian would ever come to a throne, and
so it seemed as if the young princess' talents were to be thrown away when
she settled down with her husband, and became the happiest young wife in
Europe.

For seven years these two young folks were a model happy couple; then, one
fatal day, Napoleon III. of France offered Maximilian the crown of Mexico.

Europe thought that Mexico needed a wise and clever ruler to straighten
out the tangle into which its affairs had fallen, and it was supposed that
Maximilian, backed by his beautiful and clever wife, would be just the man
for the post. As Mexican affairs were in a very turbulent state, Napoleon
promised Maximilian that he would keep a number of French troops in the
country, and support him with an armed force, until the people of Mexico
had learned to love and trust him, and he could rule them without danger.

Under these conditions Maximilian accepted, and the young couple became
Emperor and Empress of Mexico, and, setting forth to their new land, bade
farewell to Europe and happiness.

At that time Mexico was in the most terrible condition, as you will
understand when you learn that within a period of forty-seven years there
were three hundred revolutions, some successful, some the reverse. During
this time the government was changed ten times, and over fifty persons
succeeded each other as presidents, dictators, and emperors.

The throne of such an uneasy kingdom as this was by no means a pleasant
one to occupy.

During these frequent revolutions it is easy to understand that many
treaties were broken, and much property was seized.

The foreign residents in particular found Mexico a dangerous country to
live in, and within a few years Spain, England, and France were making
heavy claims against the country for damage done to their citizens.

The claims of England and Spain were satisfied, and they withdrew the
troops they had sent to Mexico to enforce their demands.

France, however, could get no satisfaction, and so she remained, and
carried on war against the Mexicans until she succeeded in getting a
little the best of them.

It was at this moment that Louis Napoleon made up his mind that an Emperor
was what Mexico needed, and sent out the unfortunate Archduke Maximilian
to rule a wild, boisterous, and only half-conquered people.

The Mexicans, ever pleased with a change, welcomed the Emperor very
kindly; the beauty and charity of the Empress made many friends for her,
and for a time all went well.

With the aid of the French troops, Maximilian completed the conquest of
the rebellious Mexicans, and was at the height of his popularity, when, in
an evil moment, he made a proclamation that all the rebels who had fought
against the government should be regarded as bandits, and punished as
such.

The people were furious at this. These bandits were many of them of their
own families and friends, and revolutions were so common in the country,
that they could not see why these men should be hanged and shot by a
foreign prince, whom they had never invited to come and govern them.

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