Gustave Aimard
The Rebel Chief: A Tale of Guerilla Life
Then they set off at a mad gallop.
"Where are we going?" the President asked.
"To Mexico; it is the only spot where they will not dream of looking for you."
An hour later they passed through the gate again, and re-entered the city, mixed up with the disbanded troops, who were raising deafening cries of "Long live Juárez!" and themselves shouting more loudly than those who surrounded them. Once inside the city they separated; Miramón and Don Jaime remained alone; prudence demanded that the fugitives should only return to their homes one by one. At about four in the morning they were all together in safety. Juárez' troops entered the city, preceding by only a few hours General Ortega. Thanks to the measures taken by General Bercozabal, and the foreign residents acting together, the change of Government was effected almost without commotion. On the morrow the city appeared as tranquil as if nothing extraordinary had occurred.
Don Jaime, however, was not tranquil; he was afraid that if Miramón remained any length of time in the city his presence might eventually become known; hence he sought an opportunity to get him away, and was beginning to despair about finding one, when accident offered one, on which he was certainly far from calculating. Several days had elapsed; the revolution was finished, and matters had resumed their ordinary course, when Juárez at length arrived from Veracruz, and made his entry into the city. The first operation of the new President was, as Miramón had truly foreseen, to intimate to the ambassador of Spain his expulsion from the territory of the Mexican republic. Similar notifications were made on the same day to the legate of the Holy See, and to the representatives of Guatemala and Ecuador. This brutal expulsion, made in the most offensive terms and so opposed to the principles admitted between civilized nations, caused a general stupor. Consternation prevailed in the city; what might not be expected from a government which began with such unjustifiable acts?
The opportunity which Don Jaime had so long sought was at length offered him. Miramón would depart not with the Spanish Ambassador, but with the representative of Guatemala. This was what really happened. The departure of the expelled ministers took place on the same day. They were the Spanish ambassador, the legate of the Holy See, the representative of Guatemala, and the minister of Ecuador. Moreover, the Archbishop of Mexico and four Mexican bishops, comprising the entire episcopate of the republic, had been exiled from the territory of the republic, and took advantage of the escort of the ambassador to leave the capital.
Miramón, whose wife and children had left several days previously, followed the minister of Guatemala in a disguise which rendered him unrecognisable. Count de la Saulay and the Duke de Tobar proceeded, on their side, to Veracruz, escorting Doña Maria and the two young ladies. Don Jaime, who was unwilling to abandon his friend, travelled with the ambassador, attended by Lopez. Don Estevan alone remained in Mexico. We will not relate the insults and annoyances to which the expelled ministers and the bishops had to submit during the course of their journey from Puebla, where they were kept prisoners, to Veracruz, where they were menaced; stones were thrown at them, and the population wished to proceed to the worst extremities against the legate, and the unfortunate exiled bishops.
Matters attained such a pitch, that the French consul found himself constrained to claim the assistance of a French brig of war, and a Spanish vessel anchored off Sacrificios, and which at once sent parties of marines ashore.
Miramón had been recognised, but owing to the energy of the French consul, and of the commander of the brig, he succeeded in making his escape from his enemies.
Two days later, the Velasco, a Spanish man-of-war, sailed for Havana, with all our characters on board.
On January 15th, 1863, a double marriage was celebrated at Havana.
That of the Count de la Saulay with Doña Carmen de Tobar, and that of the Duke de Tobar with Doña Dolores de la Cruz.
The witnesses were, the Ambassador of Her Catholic Majesty to Mexico, General Miramón, the Commander of the Velasco, and the ex-minister of Guatemala.
It was the legate of the Holy See who gave the nuptial blessing to the young couples.
Count de la Saulay, we understand, lately set out again for Mexico, in order to claim by the aid of the French intervention, the immense estates which his wife possesses in that country, and which the government of Juárez thought proper to confiscate.
Don Jaime de Birau, accompanies his friend. Leo Carral is with them.
