The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-08 00:00:00

HOW MAXIMILIAN WAS CAP 7 URED.

The following letter, dated Queretaro, May 20,
gives some details of the betrayal of the unfortunate
Ma xiniilian

"The principal defence of this town consists in
the vast convent of La Cruz, situated at the south
and on the side of the city of Mexico. This build-
ing, a relic of the splendours of the Spanish domina-
tion, is constructed of stone and adobe (bricks
hardened by the sun) ; a part of its enclosure is,
besides, protected by earth intrenchments. The con-
vent covers, with its dependencies, more than ten
acres of ground, and forms a citadel on which siege
artillery only could make any impression. Such, five
days ago, was the principal position of Maximilian,
who for some time had made it his head-quarters.
Immediately opposite in the Corretas mountains the
Mexican General Escobedo was established, and his
advanced guard occupied the valley which separates
La Cruz from the Corretas. In the night of May
14 there was a council of war in the town. The

Imperialist army had exhausted all its supplies, and
was likely to be soon reduced to the last extremities.
As flour was wanting, the Intendance every day
caused to be slaughtered a certain number of horses
and 'nub's which there was no means of feeding

!rem want of provender. Even this resource
threatened to fail before long, and for that reason
Maximilian resolved on attempting a vigorous
sortie, and opening for himself a passage through
the enemy's lines. At 11 o'clock the troops were
under arins and the artillery in position ; everything
was ready for the attack. But at the last moment,
in consequence of the slow movements of his gene-
rals, the Emperor found himself obliged to counter-
mand the expedition. Already at that moment the
army had been sold to the enemy. The fort of La
Cruz was to have been occupied an hour later by
the troops of the Liberals. It was notorious that there
were a considerable number of persons in the ranks
of the Imperialists disposed to give up the town,
but who would ever have suspected the colonel of
the regiment of the Empress, the keeper of the key
of Queretaro the commander of the fort of La Cruz,
Miguel Lopez himself ?Fle was the man who, in
the evening of the 14th, sent to Escobedo a letter in
which he offered to betray his companions in arms
for 3,000 ounces of gold ($18,000). Escobedo na-
turally did what any other general would have done
in his place—he accepted the proposal. Towards
midnight the advanced guard of the Liberals, pro-
tected by the darkness, left the camp, and arrived
without noise before the convent. Colonel Lopez,
ordering his soldiers to ground their arms, opened
the gates to the enemy. From that moment, the
Emperor Maximilian, who was sleeping tranquilly
in another part of the building, was irretriev-
ably lost. At the first gleam of the morning
the Archduke was on foot, and immediately per-
ceived that some extraordinary event had taken
place. Rousing up the Prince of Salm-Salm, his
aide-de-camp, Maximilian directed his step towards
the outer enclosure of the convent, but had scarcely
advanced a few paces when he was surrounded by
a detachment of soldiers commanded by Colonel
Ringon Gallardo. Lopez himself accompanied the
detachment, and pointed out the Emperor to the
troops, crying out, That is the man—seize
him.' A curious incident then occurred. Colonel
Gallardo, a brave soldier, who did not seem
greatly to relish the treachery of Lopez, stepped
up to Maximilian, and said to him, ' You are a
private person and not a soldier ; we have nothing
to say to you, go about your business.' With
these words he pushed his Majesty outside the
convent. Five minutes later I met Maxi-
milian, who seemed not to have yet recovered
from his surprise. He was walking as fast as
possible towards Cerro de la Campana, at the other
extremity of the town. This position h a fortified
hill commanding the northern part of the place. On
his arrival there he was joined by Generals Mejia,
Castillo, and Avellano, the Prince de Salm-Salm
and several others of his officers; but it soon be-
came evident that any resistance was impossible.
Four battalions of infantry and all the Liberal
cavalry were surrounding the Cerro. The white
flag was then hoisted, and the Archduke with all
his staff then surrendered to General Corona. The
prisoners were allowed to retain their horses, arms,
and personal effects ; and a few hours later they
were conducted to the convent of La Cruz.
The first companies of the Mexican advanced
guard which had entered the town com-
mitted some excesses ; several houses were pil-
laged and some persons rifled in the streets,
but immediately after the arrival of the general
officers order was re-established. On the whole, fewer
arts of violence were perpetrated than might have
been ex pected." A subsequent letter from Quere-
taro, dated May 25, contains the following :
" From the convent of La Cruz the Prince was con-
ducted, with his officers, to that of Santa Teresita,
where they were placed in rooms devoid of all com-
fort. During thi4e or four days they slept on the
bare ground, and the food was very insufficient.
The arrival of the Princess de Salm-Salm. and her re-
monstrances with Escobedo had the effect of amelio-
rating the condition of the prisoners. They were
transferred to another convent, that of Las Capu-
chinas, and they are now permitted to receive
from their friends provisions, wine, and clothing.
The adventures of the Princess de Salm - Salm
would form a strange chapter in a romance. Twice
did she traverse the Liberal lines to reach the capi-
tal and return from it, and on two occasions was
fired at by the Mexican sentries. She was after-
wards detained prisoner for two days at Guade-
loupe by General Diaz for having distributed money
to the German captives at that place. She at length
obtained a passport authorising, or rather ordering
her to proceed to the coast and quit the country.
But with that passport she made her way to Qin-

retaro and San Luis during the siege of the first-
named town. She was accompanied by only one
female Mexican servant. Subsequently she had in-
terviews with President Juarez and General Esco-
bedo to intercede in favour of Maximilian and her
husband. It is said that the Archduke wept like a
child on hearing a narrative of the heroic peregrina-
tions of this courageous lady."

THE RULERS OF MEXICO.

-

A Panama paper lately gave a list of the men
who have, under one designation or another, been
at the head of the Mexican Government since 1821.
From this it appears that there have been 33 changes
of Government in 46 years-one generalissmo, two
emperors, five dictators (counting the composite
dictatorship of Guerrero, Bravo, and Negrete, in
1833, as one), and 25 presidents. These offices
have been filled by 21 different men. The list is as
follows :-1821, Iturbide, Generalissimcki 1822,
Iturbide, Emperor ; 1823, General Guerrero, General
Bravo, and General Negrete, Dictators; 1824, Gene-
ral Guadalupe Victoria, President ; 1827, General
Pedraza, President ; 1828, General Guerrero, Presi-
dent ; 1829, General Guerrero, Dictator ; 1830,
General Bustamente, President ; 1832, General Pe-
draza, President; 1835, General Santa-Anna, Presi-
dent ; 1836, St. Jose Justo Caro, President ; 1837,
General Bustamente, President ; 1840, General
Farias, Dictator; 1841, General Bustamente, Pre-
sident ; 1841, General Santa- Anna, Dictator ;
1843, Santa-Anna retired, succeeded by -, after
whom again succeeded 1844, General Santa-Anna,
Dictator; 1845, General Canalizo, President ; 1845,
Generalllerrera, President ; 1847, General Paredes,
President ; 1850, General Arista, President ; 1852,
Dr. M. Juan Cebellos, President ; 1853, St. Manuel
Lombardini, President ; 1853, General Santa-Anna,
President, April 20, elected constitutionally Decem-
ber 15, same year ; 1855, Don Juan Alverez, Pre-
sident ; 1856, General Comonfort, President ; 1858,
Don Felix Zuloaga, President ; 1858, General
Miramon, President ; 1859, Don Felix Zuloaga,
Vice-President; 1860, General Miramon, Presi-
dent; 1861, Dr. Juarez, President; 1864, Maxi-
milian Emperor (executed Juue 19, 1867) ; 1867,
Dr. Juarez, President.

The nomination of candidates for the next Pre-
sidency has begun in earnest. A great many of the country
papers, and even some of " the great dailies," are conduct-

~, .......
log it with the utmost seriousness, and apparently with
strong faith in the value of their own predictions. General

Grant is a very general favourite with them, and this is
really the only strong ground which has yet presented
itself for believing that he has no chance. Wo notice, too,

expressions of impatience from political managers now and
then touching the general's extreme reticence. This is very
comical, inasmuch as outspokenness would ruin him in the
estimation of these very men. Wendell Phillips is Grant's
leading opponent, as ho has concluded, from an accurate
comparison of Grant with the Duke of Wellington, that
Grant is a knave, and a cowardly knave to boot. Chief-
Justice Cheee comes next, and his enemies, of course, by
way of making the canvass pleasant for him, accuse him
of diffusing devoted agents through the country in the
shape :of bankruptcy commissioners. Horace Greeley, we
are glad to say, has been nominated by the Blue Earth
Southwest, a Minnesota journal. Mr. Greeley deserves
this, and we trust the Blue Earth Southwest will not let his
claims be forgotten. The design of Providence in per-
mitting the existence of " minor editors," by which Mr.
Greeley was so much puzzled, is now made plain. Senator
Wade is also a candidate for the "chief magistraey." The
Independent speaks of him as " one of our grandest public
men," which is almost a nomination, and several other
journals and special correspondents speak of him as " Old
Ben Wade," a kind of appellation which, when often re-
peated, is fully equivalent to a nomination. In truth, the
possession of a good, popular nicknanie may be said to
be an essential preliminary to a good newspaper nomi li
-
nation for the Presidency— a fact of which Birdofre-
duam Sawin was aware when he requested his friends to
keep calling him in the columns of their journals " The
One-eyed Slarterer." " Old Ben" himself dons not, how-
ever, rely on his nickname, as he is out in Kansas, preach-
ing confiscation, which is what our milliners would call
the "latest novelty." Mr. Phillips says it is a French fashion,
but we have shown elsewhere that Mr. Phillips is mis-
taken. There aro other candidates, but either their modesty
or their merits leave us little to say about them at present.
The same paper says: -It is not often that we meet with
so scathing an exposure of the results of carelessness and
haste in the transaction of important business as is to be
found in Mr. Stanborry's "opinion" on the power of the
military commanders at the--South. The-Reconstruction
Act was undoubtedly intended by Congress to make the
military officers supreme in their districts, but it was
framed in such a way that no machinery was pro-
vided for carrying on there construction process at
all. This was remedied by a supplemental act, and
now that the two having been subu.iited to an acute
lawyer, ho drives a coach-and-six through them ; shows
that the State governments which the Act was intended
to displace are still in existence, and in full vigour, and
that the military commanders, who were selected with so
much care, are simply peace officers subject to the civil
power. Mr. Stevens now calls for a meeting of Congress
to amend the bill, but we should think he and some of his
colleagues would be heartily ashamed of their work.
They appeared to think during the session that the great
dutyof loyal menwas to drive bills through the house without
letting the Demccrats debate them. We wonder if what has
happened will teach them that the " previous question" is
a two-edged sword, and that freedom of debate is just as
likely to servo tho promoters as opponents of measures.
Had the Reconstruction Act been thoroughly discussed,
there is hardly a doubt that its glaring defects would have
sooner or later attracted the attention of some lawyer on
one side or other, and that, let part,- spirit have been ever
so strong, self-love would have tempted him to expose
them.—The Nati n.

SURRATT IN THE COURT HOUSE.—Surratt is
very watchful of all the proceedings. His face is selfish
and cowardly. On the one hand it is utterly devoid of
everything high and heroic, on the other it wants the lines
of a bold and daring villain. It is full of passion, but it is
also full of cold soil-control. Seeing
him, you can't resist
the conviction that the first and almost the sole concern of
this man is John 11. Surratt. He appears self-absorbed,
but he is never forgetful of his own affairs. If ho over did
a purely generous deed his own face boars no sign thereof
He sits most of the time with his head forward on his
breast—looking out in a sly and wary manner from eyes
deeply set under projecting frontlets, picking his hat or
twirling his thumbs, rarely looking around on the specta-
tors, with nothing of the bravado in his face or manner, win-
ning nobody to goodwill or kindness or inward sympathy.
Looking at him as he sits with his counsel, one could easily
fancy him the junior member of the firm—equal to suits
before stupid police magistrates, competent to hunt up
authorities, just the man to do copying in a clerkly
hand, capital for the part of a spy, and not above looking
after the interests of genteel gamblers. Or he might be a
seller of ribbons and dress goods, the clerk of an insurance
office, or even the keeper of a small faro bank— Washing-
ton Correspondence in Boston Gazette.

THE FOREIGN MINISTERS AT OSACA.—The Colo-
rado mail steamship has brought accounts to San Francisco
that " the treatment of the foreigners by the Tycoon at
Osaca was princely. Houses had been prepared for them,
filled with the costliest European furniture, French cooks
and European, servants were provided, wines and liquors
were without stint, and, in fact, everything they wanted
during their stay was furnished in abundance and free of
expense. Each representativeand suite was granted apri-
vate audience and dinner with the Tycoon several days
before the official visits took place. On these occasions the
Tycoon presided at the table, in a large high room, wholly
European in its outfittings. The dinner was thoroughly
French in detail, and small but valuable presents were laid
beside each plate. The Tycoon is a man of ordinary
stature, apparently 33. years of age, with good features,
bright black eyes and splendid teeth, which he frequently
displays in smiling. He was very richly dressed, and his
manners are easy and refined. At the official visit, which
was of short duration, everything was Japanese. The
Tycoon expressed to Minister Van Valkenberg his great
gratification at the establishment of the now steamship line
between America and Japan. Subsequently, the Tycoon met
the Ministers at Iliogo, 11 miles across the bay, and laid out
the foreign settlement there, where a tract of ground, a mile
in width, extending three or four miles back from the
water has been appropriated, under the same arrangements
as in other ports of Japan. The anchorage is good. The
settlement in Osaca is about the centre of the town. All
were highly pleased with Osaca. In about a month the
Ministers were to visit the west coast to locate a port
there. The place selected will probably be Tsuranga, in
the province of Kanga.
CITY STREETS.—In the course of the evidence
taken this session More the Cirrinions' Select Committee
on the Local Government of the Dletropolis and the London
City Improvement Rates Bill, it was noticed that in going
. from St. Paul's to the Mansion-house 14 streets are passed,
six branching off to the right at right angles and eight to
tho left, and only three of the whole number—Queen
street, King-street, and Old Jewry—have room for two
vehicles throughout the entire length of the street.
[ADVERTISEMENT. j—Holloway's Ointment and Pills.—
These highly-esteenied medi aments cannot be too strongly
recommended for curing most of the maladies to which
humanity is heir. They are as suitable for the child first
entering on the journey of life, as for the aged and infirm.
The ointment is a specific for the cuts, bruises, abrasions,
and eruptions, often witnessed in a nursery, and it is no
less efficient in healing up, soundly and permanently, the
chronic ulcers and bad legs which so often heap misery on
advanced years. By an early attention to the instructions
wrapped round each packet of ointment and pills, any mo-
derately intelligent person may abridge or avert the dis-
coulfort and misery of chronic ill health.

UP ..."

THE LOSSES IN 7HE WHITE SEA.

The Foreign-office have received from Sir A.
Buchanan a telegram which the Russian Govern-
ment have handed to him from Archangel. It is
dated July 1, and sets forth that the authorities at
Archangel had boarded every vessel arriving at the
port, in order to ascertain the fate of the wrecked
crews. The masters report seeing a large number
of wrecks in the neighbourhood of Puloni and Sas-
movets, distant 130 miles from Archangel, on the
western coast of the White Sea. They believe that
about 200 men reached Sasmovets belonging to the
wrecked vessels, which they say numbered 100.
During the 28th and 29th ult., ten abandoned Nor-
w.Tian vessels were towed up to Archangel, having
been extricated from the ice, and three English
vessels lying below the bar were reported to have at
least 200 shipwrecked people. There is a light-
house at Sasmovets, and it is to be hoped that the
unfortunate people who got ashore found refuge
there. A Government steamer was being fitted
out with all despatch to go to their assistance. She
would leave Archangel that day (July 1) for Sas-
movets and Puloni. A schooner was sent by
the Government on the 28th, and it was ex-
pected that the Monastery would also render
assistance. The following is the list of the vessels
wrecked as far as yet known :—The Brothers,
310 tons ; the Scotia, 250 tons ; the Venus, 260
tons ; the Onward, 300 tons ; the Westerwyck,
360 tons ; the Familien, the Norden, the Prince
Oscar, 300 tons; the Christine Agatha, 400 tons;
the Providentia, 230 tons ; the Johanna Louisa, the
Effort, 250 tons ; the Earl of Fife, the Trident, the
Prince of Wales, 400 tons ; the Emanuel, the
Eunomia, the Rogate, the Conqueror, the Perse-
verance, the Eident, the Ramonita, the Charity, of
Douglas, Isle of Man; the Alliance, the Kew, the
Chieftain, the Llewellyn, the St. Jago, the Erubla,
the William Nicol, the Fantasie, the Henrietta,
the Nereiden, the ThAmas, the Vargent, the Henry,
and the Mercurius. The Frenderue, the Johannes,
the Parrata, the Woden, and the Alpha have been
taken into Archangel derelict.