Belgian Princesses

"It is claimed that it was the Archduchess Charlotte who determined her husband's final acceptance. The princess is young, beautiful, lively, and the noble ambition to wear a crown and found a dynasty would have seduced her."

"Certainly, in such conditions there is enough to seduce those of our young officers whom Belgian neutrality condemns to a rest of which they are somewhat impatient. The honor of carrying with dignity abroad the name of the fatherland and that of defending the august daughter of a beloved sovereign will soon, we have no doubt, fill the ranks of the Belgian-Mexican legion."

"Whatever opinion one forms of the enterprise to which Archduke Maximilian has just devoted his life, it is not possible for us Belgians to forget that the princess who shares the destinies of the new emperor is also the beloved daughter of our king, that she grew up among us, that our homeland is her own, and that she has the right to count on the sympathies and the wishes of her compatriots ."

"It is understandable that a colonial establishment organized under such conditions cannot fail to prosper. We are also convinced that the example of the Empress' s guards will be followed by a large number of our compatriots who, trusting with reason in the new situation in Mexico, will take advantage of all this set of circumstances so exceptionally advantageous, to to go bring the contribution of their arms and their intelligence to the beautiful work of civilization undertaken by the emperor Maximilian and the empress Charlotte, his august companion."

"It would even appear that this prince wanted to lay down his crown a month ago and return to Europe after having explained his conduct in a proclamation to his people, but the Empress Charlotte would have thrown herself at his neck, begging him to still maintain the situation and wait until she was able to see the Emperor of the French. Maximilian’s determination is therefore only suspended, and many people continue to believe that the current ruler of Mexico will return to Europe before our soldiers."

"Will she succeed? We ignore it, but the truth does not allow us to conceal that, under the current conditions of Europe, with the commitments made by the French government, with the state of minds and things in the North of America. , the difficulties are enormous, not to say insurmountable."

"Nothing specific about the outcome of her mission is yet known, but public rumor persists in reducing to very little, if not nothing, any concessions she would have obtained from the emperor."