Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-10-23


and as far as possible placed in posi-
ton"
france, the Confederate States and
Duke" Gwin.
Chicago Times, 18th.
Among the unwritten chapters of
American history there is none more
strangely interesting than that in which
the late "Duke" Gwin figured as a
prominent character during The State
sovereignty" war. The story Of Aaron
Burr's alleged conspiracy to sever the
Mississippi territory from the National
dominion and set up a rival republic
of the west has been told with roman
tic accessories that, while giving to ii
the interest of a w"ell-planned novel,
have greatly impaired its credibility.
The story Of the Sonora conspiracy"
is even more romantic, while its verify
is established by historic proofs that
admit of no doubt. 1t is the account
of a conspiracy in which the leading
motive was the arrest of the develop
ment of this republic by the imperial
power of France; the chief actors, the
last French Emperor and the principal
characters of the Southern Confede-
racy, and the principal dupe and VIC
tim, the Austrian Archduke Maximil-
ian.
10 some recent comments on the
death of Gwin, the Times said that his
pseudo title of Duke of Sonora" was
derived from an intrigue with Maxi
milan respecting his scheme to estab-
lish a colony in that Mexican province.
In reality, Napoleon III. vas at the
bottom of the conspiracy, which pro-
posed nothing less than the severance
from Mexico of Sonora, Chihuahua,
and other frontier States, their coloni-
Zation with "veteran confederates,"
and their erection into a political de-
tendency of France for the purposes
Of "a hostile barrier against any inter-
ference of the northern republic with
the empire of Macmillan"
The conception of that particular
project may have originated in the
fertile brain of Gwin; but it was
so entirely in harmony with the hardly
concealed motives and design Of
Napoleon Ill. in setting up the ephe-
neral Mexican empire that 1t is not
difficult to suppose that Gwin acted
from the first upon a knowledge of
what was in the mind of the chief
co~nspirator. In a letter to Gen. Favey,
July, 1862, n can read "between the
lines that Bonaparte's p%retense of
going to Mexico in the interest of
French creditors to put an end
to anarchy, ETC., was a sham, a mere
mask to conceal his real design. The
mask was "too thin" to deceive the
men that were expected to vote the
supplies. al exaggerate in nothing"
said M. Berger in the French cham
Der; II simply tell the truth. Read the
letter of July, 1862, and you will see
thet the development of the United
States is to be arrested" Nor was
Bonaparte able to prolong the decep-
ton of his associates, England and
Spain. Both withdrew from a con-
spiracy whose aim rested not in Mexico,
but was directed to this republic. Said
The Times, of London:
Let the official rhetoricians in the
corps Legislatif, and, the official jour-
mails of the second Empire, pretend to
disguise. if they can, the full and abso-
Lutte responsibility of their master for
that enormous conspiracy of factions,
priests, palace jobbers, Imperialist
agents and adventures, and Mexican
outlaws, against the independence of
the United States, under cover of a
crusade against the anarchy of Mexico
Such was the aim of the conspiracy
to which Gwin became a party, repre-
senting the interest of the pro-slavery
~Confederacy. 1t was really as
an emissary of the political es-
Establishment at Richmond, and
not as an agent of Macmillan,
that he proceeded to Paris and submit
ted to the emperor the proposition to
dismember Mexico as a means of
~effecting the common aim Of Napoleon
Bonaparte and Jefferson Davis.
OWNS relation to the latter is fully
established by the intercepted letters
that will be found in Mr.. Stewards
diplomatic correspondence of 1865.
His mission was that of a traitor as
well as a conspirator, and was even
more important to the confederacy
than that of Slidell, for the emissary,
living in the loyal part of the country
and not Identified by any covert act"
for the rebellion, could have audiences
with the emperor that, for obvious
reasons, could not be accorded to an
officially accredited agent of the Con-
federate government. Bonapart
granted him private audiences, lent a
willing ear to his project for the dis
memberment of Mexico, and wrote
with his own hand a letter to Marshal
Bazaine approving of OWNS scheme
and directing the French commander
in-chief in Mexico to furnish the
troops that the execution of the pro-
ject required. The proof of this can
he found if not AMONG the rchivac of