Glebe Collegiate Institute - Lux Glebana Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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A Hapsburg in America by Eric Minton N 1862 Napoleon III tried to create a French empire in Mexico. This short account deals with his attempt and its result. . France in the eighteen-sixties, the last decade of the Second Empire .had begun. Napoleon III, fresh from imposing v1ctor1es over the Austrians at Magenta and Solfer- ino, was at the height of his power and with a most facile imagination was already plan- ning a grandiose scheme for enlarging the empire. Napoleon had visited America in 1837 where he conceived the idea of the Canale- Napoleonen fPanamaJ. Central America had fascinated him, its importance obsessed him and ever since then he thought he knew and understood it. The Mexican adventure was primarily a financial matter. A rather amiable civil war had been going on in that country for years. Its treasury was exhausted. The crisis came in 1861 when President Juarez suspended for two years the payment of foreign debts. Posthaste a joint expedition was sent out by England, France and Spain. The first and last went simply as debt col- lectors, but the man in the middle thought differently. The English and Spanish soon realized this, broke off' the alliance, did their business, and went home, leaving behind a French force of some six thousand men. Defeat at La Puebla now brought France into open war in Mexico. Superior equipment and well-trained troops told the story in the end and early in 1863 saw the French marching into Mexico City unmoles- ted, while Juarez and his republican govern- ment fled to the northern provinces. Meanwhile in his castle on the Adriatic a young man watched the Mexican struggle -Archduke Maximilian, brother of the Em- peror of Austria, and a Hapsburg. Napoleon was looking for a monarch to rule over his new conquest. An offer of the Mexican throne to Vienna might please Franz-Joseph -bring about an alliance with Austria. He pursued this idea and in the spring of 1864 a picturesque delegation of Mexican emigres travelled to Trieste and offered Maximilian the throne of their country. The time LUX GLEBANA seemed opportune, America was embroiled in a civil warg the Munroe Doctrine lay dormantg and the French army was vic- torious and well-received, hailed with cheers and flowers Qtypical Latin courtesyj. Urged on by Charlotte, his ambitious wife, he accepted, signed the final documents, and one afternoon in April he bade Napoleon good-bye and sailed away to be crowned in the great Cathedral in Mexico City. For the next two years this colonial ex- periment which held the interest of French investors was a queer medley. Maximil- ian's authority existed only in the cities and towns occupied by the army. The country was perpetually bankrupt, and finally had to resort to the expedient of lotteries to raise money. Interminable guer- illa warfare went on between the republicans and the French. Juarez continued to harass and embarass the monarchy. Gradually the glamour of the Mexican adventure began to fade. New problems were forming in Central Europe. Germany under Bis- marck was rising, and rising fast, and the Rhine was nearer than the Rio Grande. By 1865 the American Civil War was over, and the government of President Johnson curtly refused to recognize Maximilian. Napoleon valued American goodwilland he valued more highly still his army which was in Mexico. Early in 1866, France, and the diplomatic world were informed that the troops would be withdrawn. No money, loyalty or support, Maximilian and his empress were left alone, and as the foot- steps of the departing troops died away down the long, hot, dusty, road to Vera Cruz they thought not of the unfortunate Haps- burg but only of Paris and home. Amid all his wars and schemes, Napoleon sought to make Paris the most attractive capital of Europe, and in these last years, before the fall of the Second Empire, it-was at its gayest. To this new Paris came Charlotte, from Mexico. Ill and a little wild-eyed she begged the 'French Emperor to support her husband. No, he would not, could not help her. Several days later by the new American cable Maximilian learned of his wife's death at Rome. Wavering between abdication and resistance he travelled from town to town. His position at home would be questionable, he could expect no welcome from Franz-Joseph. With no forces op- posing them, the Republican Government under Juarez returned to Mexico City, while the ex-ruler retired with fifteen hundred followers to Queretaro. There was a short Page 23

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just that he never did injury to any man but was the benefactor to his associates, so temperate he never preferred pleas- ure to rightg so wise in judging good and evil he was never at fault. But these disciples although they num- bered among them many famous men- Plato, Crito, Alcibiades, Xenophon, Phaedon. Euclides of Megara and Aristippus, were not merely unable to save him from the tragic fate which came upon him but were in away contributing causes of his downfall. In Athens at the time there were two extreme parties-the Aristocratic or Oli- garchic and the believers in Unmixed Dem- ocracy. Between them stood a middle party-which advocated a Limited Dem- ocracy and which had as its adherents the most thoughtful men of the time. Socrates was a moderate,and the spreader of moderate ideas. Hence, the extreme parties united in an effort to have him put out of the way and because of his oddity and the activity of his enemies, they succeeded in their unjust attempt. Socrates was accused first of denying the gods recognized by the state and secondly of corrupting the youth of Athens. His accusers were Meletus the poet, Auystus the tanner, and Sycon the orator. They were narrow-minded men who feared new ideas but they were also members of the extreme democratic party and while the accusations were on moral grounds the real cause of the persecution of Socrates was political. Socrates, instead of trying to conciliate his judges, defied them. He was found guilty by a small majority-280 to 220- of the 500 jurors. With such a number of jurors, mob psychology could easily have been used and their passions appealed to. Socrates, however, did not stoop to such means, and when Meletus proposed capital punishment, the accused gave his answer strongly and forcibly. There is no doubt that, if he had suggested a lighter penalty, his plea would have been accepted. But, to the amazement of all present, he declared openly that he should not be condemned, but supported by the state since it was in the state's welfare that he was working. He was willing, however, to pay a small fine of one mina. His judges were exasperated and the voters returned with a greater ma- jority against him. Then, in his famous address known as the Apology of Socrates, the philosopher professed his contentment with his own conduct and the sentence. Page 22 Even in his last speech, he tried to teach his listeners as he had in the streets. He knew not whether he would pass away to a dreamless sleep, or a new life in Hades, where he would have the opportunity of testing the wisdom of the heroes and ancient sages. But in either case, he esteemed it to be a gain to die. Under ordinary circumstances, the con- demned was to drink the poison hemlock on the day following the trial. In the case of Socrates, however, the rule that no one should be put to death during the absence of the sacred ship to Delos, made a delay of thirty days. During this time, he conversed freely with his friends, and looked forward to his death calmly and bravely as such a great man should. An escape was arranged by Crito, but Socrates refused to take advantage of it, saying that the verdict, though contrary to fact, must be obeyed for it was the verdict of a legitimate court. On the day of his death, he asked the jailor if he might not pour some of the poison out of the cup as an offering to the gods. The jailor, not real- izing that he was joking, replied that only the necessary amount of poison had been mixed and none should be wasted. Smiling, the old man-for Socrates was now over seventy,- drank it immediately though he had until sundown, and after walking up and down for a few minutes, he lay down and prepared to die. The numbness caused by the poison, gradually crept up from his lower limbs, and when it reached his heart, that great soul of wisdom passed into the un- known, certain that he had done no wrong. Hsvkvk Autumn The cold wind shakes the shivering trees, Dead leaves rustle under my treadg And sullen skies sulk down at meg . Even the sun has fled, In autumn. I see the dry, brown corpses stand That once as flowers made us gay: And in the trees deserted nests Whose birds have flown away In autumn. But though the earth seems dead and drab From out the ground the plants will creep, When spring shall whisper sweetly. Meanwhile they need their beauty sleep In autumn. RUTH AGULNIK-3J. Lux GLEBANA

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Fashion Notes by Marion Cameron SAT at my desk, gazing out of the win- dow at nothing in particular. I had been trying for some time to dream up a topic for a composition, when quite suddenly my thoughts were disturbed by a strange spectacle. There, before my very eyes, and seemingly walking along the window sill was a brightly-coloured feather. In broad daylight, this seemed rather odd. Hmmm . . . , quoth I, maybe there is something at the bottom of this. Indeed, investigation proved this fugitive tail feather to be nothing less than the sky-scraping adornment of a very jaunty little pill-box. To my further amusement, I found its proud owner to be escorted by a snappily- dressed young man in a hard hat and ear muffs. Eureka! I shrieked, Hats! ! -And hats it shall be. But first we must establish a viewpoint. If the subject of ladies' hats were discussed from the feminine angle, prejudice and preference might interfere. So we shall let the men say a word. The average man contimted from page 23 siege, surrender, and the Republicans rode in to take Maximilian a prisoner. But Paris in 1867 had more immediate interests. The new Government Expos- ition in the Champ de Mars attracted thousands of visitors from all corners of Europe, who came to inspect the latest marvels of science, the steam locomotive, the new light-weight metal aluminium and wonder of wonders, a rocking-chair. An interesting day, and an entertaining evening at the Alcazar where the bons vivants wined and dined mid laughter and applause as the ladies of the footlights danced to the merry measures of Offenbach. But one May day the gay crowds were temporarily silent when Napoleon made a speech at the Exposition for it was known in Paris that Maximilian lay dead at Queretaro, shot. The Mexican adventure was over, a failure. The first note of the swan song of the Second Empire had been struck. Had this been fiction a happy ending would have been possible. But fiction plays no part in history and in this enterprise one can say that disaster almost trod on the heels of triumph. Page 24 might roughly classify ladies' hats into three divisions: First, there is the jelly mould or mixing bowl type, which may range in style and general shape from the plainest to the fanciest-usually with very little incidental decoration. Shifted to the back of the skull, this type degenerates into something re- sembling a baby's bonnet. Elongated, it becomes the boat-shaped hat 3 and stretched three ways, the tricorne. Women haven't quite gotten around to anything as elaborate as the star-shaped jelly mould-but just give them time. In most cases, however, the individual size seems to have somewhat superceded the family size in popularity- at least for the moment. Secondly, there is the popular pancake or griddlecake hat. This particular variety ranges in dimensions from the man-sized buckwheat flapjack, to the dainty little French pancake. They may have their edges coyly rolled to enclose a mass of per- manently-waved plumage. Or they may be perfectly flat, and adorned with a single over-sized flower, a feather as long as a bullrush, a voluminous veil, or all three. In any case, they are designed to be worn by those who can manoeuvre without the use of their right eye, for it is upon the right eye that these creations perch. Thirdly, there is the bird nest, or sunken garden variety-adorned or unadorned. This type varies, of course, with the taste of the wearer. She may harbour a tender spot in her heart for feathered creatures, whole or in disconcerting pieces. On the other hand she may prefer to crown her chapeau with a suggestion of Spring-a truly wierd and wonderful variety of botannically non-ex- istant monstrosities. The characteristic of all of these, is that they cannot be worn-they must be attached, for they are designed to fit organ grinder's monkeys, not women. Whether suspended over one eye or perched on the back of the head, they invariably leave wide open spaces exposed to wintry winds. The former are supported 'by elaborately-ribboned elastic bands, or by fish net hoodsg the latter, merely by a ribbon under the chin. Inci- dental decoration upon such chapeaux is Widely varied indeed. In short, anything goes, as long as it is impracticable, un- wearable, impertinent, insecure, and tiny to the point of insigniiicance. 3411444 When they kiss and make up, she gets the kiss and he gets the make-up. LUX GLEBANA