The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-27 00:00:00

TUE TRI.IL OF MAXIMILIAN.

The following further details have been received
of the trial of the Emperor Maximilian and his
generals :
The three days of prorogation granted by the
Supreme Government to the counsel of the
criminals for their defence having expired, an
order from head-quarters organised the court-
martial, and in virtue of the orders from head-
quarters, the Adjutant-General issued his orders as
follows :
"Army Corps of the North, Adjutant-
General's Office, Queretaro, Mexico.
" General Order of the Division, for the 12th and

13th of June, 1867.
" At eight o'clock on the 13th court-martial will
organise, and be composed of the following

officers :
" President, Lieutenant-Colonel Platon Sanchez ;
members, Captain Jose V. Ramirez, Captain
Miguel Lojero, Captain Ignacio Jurado, Captain
Juan Bueday Ausa, Captain Jose Verastigue,
Captain Lucas Villagran.
" This court-martial will meet at the appointed
hour, at the Theatre of Iturbide, in conformity with
article 8 and paragraph 5 of General Orders of
army regulations No. 37. All officers not on duty
will attend punctually on the court-martial at the
place and time mentioned. At 6 o'clock a.m. will
be formed, in front of the temple of Capuchinas,
fifty mounted riflemen, of Galeana, with their cor-
responding officers, armed and equipped ; and fifty
men of the Battalion of the Guard " of the supreme
powers," likewise with their arms, equipments, and
officers, both of which detachments will place
themselves under orders of Colonel Miguel Pala-

cios.

(Signed)

6t SIERRA.

" Countersigned Mediaa."

At eight o'clock a.m. on the 13th of June the
court-martial assembled at the Theatre of Iturbide,
and the audience was very large. The stage was
occupied by the Court, leaving the rest of the
theatre to the spectators. The right of the stage
was occupied by the members of the court, and on
the left, and immediately opposite, were placed three
tools for the criminals and seats for their counsel.
The most profound emotion was depicted in the
countenances of all, and the silence that reigned in
the circle could almost be felt.

messrs. Miramon and Mejia were brought to the
theatre at 9 o'clock in the morning, in a coach
escorted by a company of riflemen. The President
opened the Court. The members and the counsel
took their seats, all being in strict unifnrm. The
Judge-Advocate, Lieut.-Colonol Manuel Aspiroz,
read the charges.

The previously taken declarations of the prisoner,
first, Maximilian, then Miramon and Meija were
read. Next followed the confession and charges,
after which there were some slight unavoidable in-
terruptions, such as for example, Maximilian asked
that he be permitted to call three lawyers of Mexico
to defend him. He also desired Baron Magnus to
be called, that he had matters of his family to ar-
range, and also matters of a national character
touching Venice, Italy, and Austria, of the utmost
importance to those countries. The general-in-chief
granted the prayer of Maximilian, forwarding his
despatch to General Porfirio Diaz. The latter,
however, would not allow the telegram to pass
into that city, on account of its being besieged,
stating that he must have a special permit from the
supreme Government for the same, which was
granted.
Maximilian named as his counsel Mr. Jesus Var-
quez, of this city, Mr. Eulalio Ortega, 'Mariano
Riva Palacia, and Rafael Martinez de la Torre, of
the City of Mexico. Miramon nominated Messrs.
Jaurique, of San Luis Paosi, 'and AMbrosio Mo-
reno, of Queretaro. Mejia nominated Mr. Prospero
C. Vega, also of Queretaro. The counsel having
read the acceptathin of the defence, other documents
of a preliminary character were presented and read.
Among the documents regarding Maximilian,outside
of the petitions aforesaid, there was one protesting
against the jurisdiction of the court-martial, claim-
ing it to be an illegal proceeding against his person,
inasmuch ash was based upon the law of the 25th
of January, 1862, decreeing against traitors to the
country ; and that he, being a foreigner, could not
be a traitor to the country that is not his o pin ; and
further, that it was a country over which he exer-
cised such high functions that he believed himself
unamenable to the law. There was also a pe-
tition directed by Maximilian to the Presi-
dent, asking for an interview, and the
answer of the President, stating that the inter-
view could not be granted because of the
limited time allowed by law for his trial, but that
he could address him in writing anything he chose
to say. An order from headquarters also advised
the Judge Advocate that any protest or exceptions
taken by the accused shall be properly certified, and
a copy of it given to those interested. Mention
was also made of the certificates of illness of Maxi-
milian, arguing in favour of the prisoner being
removed to some other place, for the change of air.
Next was read the protest of Miramon and Mejia,
against the jurisdiction of the Court, which being
refused they again excepted to because they were
denied the right to appeal, there being no supreme
court in the nation, and they asked only that they
be furnished with a certified copy of the rulings of
the court. These proceedings having been gone
through with, the accused Thomas Mejia was
brought into court and was seated on a stool,
guarded on each side by an escort of the " supreme
powers." Mr: Prospero commenced the defence.
The points of the defence were three. Jfirst, the

tionality.

The counsel held that the law of January 25 is
only applicable from 6 to 11, inclusive, because the
balance conflicts with the rights of man, and cannot
subject the accused to the penalties of said law.
In sketching the political status of the accused, in
a brilliant biography, he reviewed his military
career up to the present time, showing conclusively
that he had not allied himself with the intervention,
said Mr. Vega Mejia offered from the Sierra an
armed neutrality to Doblado, which he observed
until the General Government abandoned the ca-
pital. He insisted that the defendant was not an
interventionist ; that in all of his campaigns he
limited himself to defence and never to attack,
remaining faithful to his flag and complying
with bis military duties. He especially claimed
as the best point for defence that Mejia never spilt.
the blood of prisoners ; that he had very frequently
in his power many of the coutnanders, chiefs, and
officers of the Liberal army ; that he always treated
them with humanity, to which, said the counsel,
Generals Escobedo and Trevipo could testify. He
touched upon the political character of the accused,
and showed that he was deceived by the promises
of the empire which he believed was established by
the will of the Mexican people, and finally address-
ing himself to the council of war, counsel spoke in
those affecting terms which never fail to move the
heart of the young and brave, calling their attention
to the humane principles laid down in the Consti-
tution of 1857, which abolished capital punish-
ment, and conjuring them not to stain the
laurels of . triumph with the blood spilt upon the
scaffold.

Mr. Vega spoke in a happy train, and the ob-
scure lawyer made himself famous before the bar of
Mexico.

The President asked the accused if he had any-
thing to say in his defence. lie answered no, that
all was said by his counsel, but that if anything
was forgotten the counsel would state it in proper
time.

Mejia was then led out, and immediately Miguel
Miramon was introduced.

Messrs. Jaurequi and Morono read successively
the defence of the accused with but slight difference
in the legal part of the defence, the same points
being claimed as were made in► the defence of
Mejia, regarding the incompetency of the Court
and the refusal of the right of appeal. A
great many authorities were read touching
the case, but the main point of defence
was that the law •f January 25th could not be
applied to Miramon, as many of the acts with which
he was charged had been committed before the pas-
sage of the law, and for which ho had already
suffered legal punishment. The counsel then went
over the entire ground of the invasion and establish-
ment of the empire, and showed that Miramon,
while in a foreign country, had offered his sword to
Juarez, who had accepted it, but through circum-
stances beyond his control he was unable to render
those services to his country. His banishment by
Maximilian and subsequent return when it appeared
to him that the Empire was firmly established in
Mexico was then narrated, and counsel next touched
upon his personal character, and cited his clemency
to prisoners as a claim for mercy to be shown to
himself. Miramon was then led out, and the trial
of the Archduke followed next.

He was unable from sickness to appear in Court.
His counsel read the defence denying the legality of
the Court and its incompetence to try the cases.
The Court overruled the position taken and forced
the defence to trial, the counsel declaring that they
could but would not keep silent, in view of the in-
competency
of the Court and illegality of the law,
and then commenced giving the history of the pri-
soner. Mr. Ortega, who was then speaking, said
that he would answer to the charges made against
the prisoner, because he was forced to do so, not
because there existed any proof sustaining the
charges. lle ran over the history of the accused,
his arrival in Mexico, answering to the charge made
against him as an usurper.
He said, Maximilian being at Miramar received a

delegation of Mexicans, presented to him by a high
functionary of the Court of his brother, who came
to offer him the crown of Mexico. He• hesitated,

but finally accepted, not believing himself a usurper,
but, on the contrary, the legitimate Sovereign of
the country, and his belief was strengthened by the
ovations he received on his arrival in the country,
and' n subsequent occasions. Counsel denied that
Maximilian was there as an instrument of France,

whose demands and pretensions he constantly op

posed. When Maximilian perceived the first symp-
toms of general discontent he withdrew from the
capital, and in Orizaba and Cunernavaca he called

around him his Ministers of State and consulted

with them about the legitimacy of his election and
the will of the people, and they represented to him
the entire fidelity of the people.
The charge of cruelty was then met and ably
refuted, and Mr. Ortega said that the law of the

3d October was intended only as a terror, and a

petition for pardon was never presented or refused ;
and, besides, one of tha articles of that law was
dictated by the Commander-in-Chief. Finally, the
counsel argued the unconstitutionality of the law of
1862, it being incompatible with the spirit of the
Liberal party and the rights of the nation, inas-
much as 'the conqueror is made the judge of the
conquered. The counsel closed with a stirring ap-
peal for clemency for his distinguished client, and
that the Government might for ever receive the
plaudits of coming generations for crowning the
greatest victories with the greatest pardons.
It being then 9 o'clock at night, the Court ad-

journed till next day, June 14, when counsel for
each of the prisoners were asked if they had any-
thing further to say. They replied, not at present.
They would reserve further argument until a later
period in the trial.
Mr. Manuel Aspiroz, the Judge-Advocate, then
read the charges against the accused, sustaining the
same by certr.in official documents emanating from
the so-called Imperial Government. Among the
accusations against Maximilian was found that ter-
rible charge of having attempted to prolong the
war by his celebrated decree of March 7. To
rebut the effort made by Mr. Vega to over-
throw the charges by reason of the absence of
any proof of the same, the Judge-Advocate said
that all the charges were founded upon the
notoriety of the acts, and that notoriety was
sufficient to establish the accusation. That, ac-
cording to article 28, of the law of January 25, it
would have been sufficient to establish it as a capital
offence then, previous to the identification of their
persons. The absence of those records and testimony
which the counsel deem so strange amount to no-
thing. They are not needed. The prisoners were
captured with arms in their hands, and their names
are known to the whole world. He concluded by
asking that capital punishment be adjudged the
accused. Messrs. Vazquez and Ortega then suc-
cessively addressed the court for the defence.
The first of these gentlemen carefully refuted
charges, and concluded with these memorable words
addressed to the court If you condemn the
archduke to death I am not uneasy about a coalition
in Europe, or the threatening attitude which the
United states may assume towards the Republic. I
have confidence in the Liberal armies that have
rooted out the French from its soil, but I fear the
universal reproach that will fall upon our country,
as an anathema, more than even the sentence of
death, because of the nullity of the proceedings of
this court."
Mr. Jaurequi having closed for the defence, Mr.
Moreno presented a protest based upon three pro-
positions, energetically protesting against the ad-
mission of evidence subsequent to the trial, inasmuch
as the prosecution had been closed up, and the
Judge Advocate had ample notification of the de-
fence. Without anything further transpiring the
court went into secret session for the purpose of
passing the sentence, which is now before the world.

-----
THE RETURN OF THE SULTAN.—The Sultan will
return to Constantinople by way of the Varna and Rust-
chuk Railway, Djemil Pacha, • the chamberlain, having
arranged with this company to provide suitable accommo-
dation for his Imperial Majesty and suite of 80 persons. A
state carriage, consisting of an inner saloon and two:open
compartments, constructed expressly for the Sultan, will be
used oil this spocazion.