Much to his regret, therefore, Maximilian was forced to abandon all thought of an embassy at Washington. Realizing fully how great an advantage recognition by the United States would have been to the Empire, both he and his ministers had used every effort to establish friendly relations between the two governments. The White House, however, still continued to recognize Juarez and his ambassador, Romero, a crafty official who succeeded, not only in establishing recruiting offices for his master in some of the large cities of the United States, but in winning over many of the newspapers also to his side. Chapter VII Bazaine’s Position in Mexico The attitude taken by the French in Mexico has already been alluded to. Bazaine in particular seems from the first to have been little affected by the Emperor’s good example. He was well aware of France’s incalculable services to Mexico, and that it was French bayonets chiefly which still maintained some show of order in the country. As for Maximilian, while thoroughly appreciating Bazaine’s ability, he could not but regard him as the man of whose will he was more or less at the mercy, and felt most keenly the arbitrary acts of the Marshal and his underlings, of which the following examples will serve as illustrations. In 1864 the French general, Briancourt, had a Mexican colonel arrested and forced him to sweep the streets for two hours every day. Indignant at this outrage, some ladies of the town brought wreaths of flowers to the colonel as he swept, whereupon Briancourt had bills posted proclaiming that in the future any one who committed this offence should share the prisoner’s sentence. After being humiliated in this way for ten days, the imperial officer was summoned before Briancourt, who dismissed him with the words: “Go where you choose now—over to the republicans—for all I care!” And the colonel actually did join the Emperor’s enemies, with several other officers. A French officer, meeting one of his comrades who had served through a campaign under Lieutenant-colonel Ornano, congratulated him on having been one of those receiving decorations for bravery. “You do me an injustice!” replied the other. “We invariably turned our backs upon the enemy and if Ornano singled me out in his report, it was only through fear lest I might betray how it was falsified. Let me tell you just one incident of this honorable campaign. As we were approaching the village of San Francisco, Ornano sent a party of cavalry in advance to reconnoitre. A fifteen-year-old boy, attracted by the sound of riders, came to the door of his house to see who they were, and, as he galloped by, the leader of the patrol split the poor child’s skull with one stroke of his sabre, just as his mother was about to draw him back into the house. Truly a heroic deed!”