The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-05 00:00:00

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attacks, but the difficulty and expense of making
war on others are inducements to keep the peace.
The restlessness and ambition of the English chi-
racter have at many epochs of history overridden
these considerations, but in these days we are as a
' nation old and prudent, and the counting of the
cost always precedes, and generally modifies, the
enterprises we undertake. All parties have
gone into this Abyssinian dispute with reluc-
tance ; and it has only been because the injury
was so gross and patent, the conduct of the offender
so violent, and the danger to the national reputation
so threatening that the Government unwillingly
consented to have recourse to arms. The prepara-
tims for the expedition have only begun, and yet
the scale on which they must evidently have been
carried out has already startled the public. Twelve
or fourteen thousand troops must have been attended
by, perhaps, a still more numerous following. The
taking up of steam transports has caused freights to
rise, and it is as yet hardly known how many would
be required. The expeditionary force must be vic-
tualled from the country it leaves, and not from that
in which it acts. It would be unwise to countupon
a single sheep or ox, or pound of flour, in the do-
minions of the hostile sovereign, or even to look for
regular supplies in the countries of the Red Sea. At
each remove inland the army would "drag a length-
ening chain," and the trouble, hazard, and cost of
supplying it would increase. Though Abyssinia is
not a desert, it would be madness to trust to it for
the means of nourishing such troops as ours, or to
believe that even should we have provisions on the
coast it would be easy to march an army inland.
Even to those who are most acquainted with these
regions, Abyssinia seems to be practically unknown
as regards its communications, its resources, and its
traffic ; nor can it be concealed that the expedition
would have to learn all from its own experience—
experience which would probably have to be bought
as dearly as in other campaigns commenced with
high hope and confidence. There has been, un-
doubtedly, a different spirit on the present occasion.
The war has been undertaken on compulsion, as a
morally inevitable duty, and there is no one of any
class who will not anxiously hope that the telegraph
has given us the truth in the late news.
None will be more relieved, if it should prove
authentic, than the members of the Government.
The Abyssinian expedition must have been enough
to banish sleep from Mr. Disraeli's eyes, however
exhausted he might be by the labours of the Session.
The chief hope of the Government is success in
administration, and to this they must look to sup-
port them against the resentment caused by their
late change of principles. Lord Derby and Mr.
Disraeli must hope to meet Parliament next year
with a prosperous country and an overflowing trea-
sury. But the dream of an Abyssinian savage
seizing the British surplus and flying away with it
for ever must have been before their eyes for the
last few weeks. The escape from this most trouble-
some of little wars will be a signal deliverance for
the party now in power.
Let us hope that it may be possible, if there is no
further necessity for an expedition, to reduce the
expenses already incurred to within a moderate
compass. The contracts ought at least to have
been drawn so as to bind us to the very shortest
term of hire of the steamships, and as the apparatus
of war is always kept on hand in India, it may be
assumed that the cost of mobilisation has not been
excessive. Yet pay we must, and it will, we sus-
pect, be found that even should the prisoners be at
once restored, and the preparations everywhere
cease, the Budget of next year will feel the effects
very deeply. But, should we have done with Abys-
sinia, reasonable people will not complain. Only
let it be understood that those who have been deli-
vered, and all other bold spirits bent upon African
adventure, will have henceforth but themselves to
rely upon. They are all now forewarned, and must
take care to keep away from the Imperial clutches.
As for civilising King Theodore and his subjects,
whether loyal or rebellious, they had better leave it
alone ; if they engage in it, they must not look to
be rescued by new expeditions. We cannot send
a mission to redeem them with the chance of being
obliged to send an army to redeem the mission.

EXECUTION OP THE EMPEROR
MAXIMILIAN.

Various accounts, more or less apocryphal, of the
execution of the Emperor Maximilian hare been
published, but the following is the most authentic
and circumstantial that has yet appeared. It is
compiled from the testimony of Tudos, the Emper-
or's faithful Hungarian body-servant, who was an
eye-witness of the scene, and is corroborated by the
priest who attended Maximilian and the officer in
command at the door of the prison :
"At 7 o'clock a.m. on the 19th of June, his Ma-
jesty left the room where he had been confined in
the convent of the Capuchinas, accompanied by two
priests (poor Mexican canonici of Queretaro), a ser-
geant, and the guard. Three carriages awaited the
prisoners. His Majesty, with the two priests, got
into the first, Miratnon and Mejia into the two
others. The Emperor was very pale, but calm.
The procession was headed by 30 rifleros ; then
came the three carriages, followed by 15 tiradores,
four battalions of infantry, and two squadrons of
cavalry. They marched slowly to the Cerro de la
Campana—the spot at which his Majesty had sur-
rendered on the 15th of May. On the road people
publicly displayed their sympathy and indignation.
No men of the upper classes showed themselves.
The crowd was composed chiefly of poor Indians
and of ladies who followed the carriage, fearlessly
manifesting their sympathy. The Emperor acknow-
ledged these demonstrations by bowing on either
side, as was his usual custom. When they arrived
at the foot of the cerro ' the carriage stood still,
and as the door would not open the Emperor had
to get out through the window into the arms of his
servant Tudos. His Majesty said to him, Do
you really think that they are going to kill me
this time?' Tudos answered, 'No, I cannot believe
it, even yet.' The Emperor then had to walk about
100 paces up the hill, to where the powder magazine
had been during the siege. The officer in command
of the execution was General Diaz (not Porfiri3
Diaz) ; the captain who commanded the firing party
was Don Simon Montemayor. For each of the
prisoners there had been detailed four soldiers, and
one man in reserve ; they were placed at five paces
distant from the three prisoners, the latter standing
three paces from one another. They were not ar-
ranged by the officials, but took their places by
chance, the Emperor I,cing on the right, Miramon
in the middle, and Mejia on the left, facing Quere-
taro. When all was ready his Majesty took off his
hat and gave it to Tudos, telling him to convey it
to his father as the last he had ever worn ; ho wiped
his face with his handkerchief as the day was very
hot, and gave that also to his servant, with a request
that it might be given to the Empress, if alive, if
not, to his mother. Behind the prisoners, higher up
on the hill stood the people, nearly all poor Indians.
His Majesty gave to each of the four soldiers who
were to fire at him an ounce of gold (£.3 45.) and
told them to aim well and not shoot at his head, and
then, turning to those who stood around, spoke in
Spanish Perdono A todos, y pido que todos me
perdonen. Desco que la sangre mia, que se va t
derramor, sea para el bien deeste pais. Viva Mlejico!
Viva la Yndepencia His Majesty then placed his
hand on his breast to show the soldiers where to fire,
and opened his arms to receive the shots. The signal
lwaokesgdiven, and the four men fired. The Emperor
looked upwards, and fell slowly, in a sitting posi-
tion. He was struck by all four balls, by three in
the lower part of his waistcoat on the left side, and
by one high .up on the right. He moved his eyes
and arm, and looked towards Tudos, who had been
standing only three paces from him, as if be wished
to speak, but be was not able to articulate. One of
the priests sprinkled him with holy water. The
inam held in room then came up and gave him the