the interest being guaranteed partly by the state, and partly by the
house of Jecker. The latter was to receive a commission of five per
cent. upon the transaction--3,750,000 francs. The profit to the
government should have been 15,000,000 francs, had not a clause been
inserted enabling Jecker to deduct his commission in advance, as well as
half of the interest for five years,--11,250,000 francs,--which, as we
have seen, was guaranteed by the state; so that, as a matter of fact,
the government received only 3,570,000 francs. When, in May, 1860, and
without the slightest warning, the house of Jecker failed, the interests
of a large number of Frenchmen whose funds were intrusted to it were
jeopardized; and as their only hope rested upon the profit to be derived
from the issue of the bonds referred to, the decree of January 1, 1861,
annulling the contract under which they had been issued, not only ruined
the house of Jecker beyond recovery, but deprived its creditors of all
remaining hope. Jecker then went to France. There he skilfully managed
to win over to his cause some personages influential at the court of
France. The Duc de Morny, whose speculative spirit was easily seduced by
the golden visions of large financial enterprises in a land the wealth
of which was alluringly held up to his cupidity, took him under his
powerful protection. There is little doubt that this was an important
factor in the Mexican imbroglio. It is interesting to know that a just
Nemesis overtook Jecker, whose unworthy intrigues had brought about such
incalculable mischief. He was shot by order of the Commune in 1871. See
Prince Bibesco, "Au Mexique: Combats et Retraite des Six Mille" (Paris,
1887), p. 42.

** See "Revue des Deux Mondes," January, 1862, p. 766: "L'intervention
des puissances avait pour avoue d'exiger une protection plus efficace
pour les personnes et les proprietes de leurs sujets ainsi que
l'execution des obligations contractees envers elles par la republique