, 1885-12-06
MaxlMlLlAn,s LAST MOMENTS
ee cot Disclosures Regarding tins last
Hours of the Emperor.


Hours of the Emperor
Cor. Boston Herald
II was in Queretaro that Macmillan
made his final stand after the with
lrawal Of the French troops at a word
Of warning from Mr.. Seward. IL is n
lovely old city, with a splendid a1uednct
in he oman manner, many ancient
and picturesque churches, and n soil
was . stronghold OF the church party,
the very citadel o. atholicism il,
MoAicc. Macmillan was here besieged
and ~oyerthrown, and imprisoned in the
convent OF the Capuchiuos, aud thence,
aiier tue famous tourt-martial, led out
to he Till of the Bells to be shot a.
cent disclosures regarding the last hours
OF the emperor will destroy many
legends OF the fatal day. and | will here
relate The contents of a document which
the priest oria lately dictated shortly
prior to his own death. oria was the
emperor's coufessor. and was with
him during his last few days, aud what
he here says must pass into history ms
the true account of MaXimilian's last
moments, an account not yet printed
in fnglish. II was of Soria that Maxi
milan said. 1T is | who must console
this good priest, and not let him become
utterly overcome
The night before his death, " says
the confessor Soria, the emperor wrote
two letters, one to the pope and the
other to his mother. lie confded both
to me, together with a handkerchief for
his mother.
''On the following morning l accom-
panied him to the place of execution.
The cortege was composed of three
wretched coaches. | got into the first
with the emperor, while Miramon and
Me ia occupied, with their confessors,
the other two.
Hardly had we left the convent Of
the Capuchiuos when ] was surprised to
see Macmillan strike his breast, say
ing:
- have put eight handksrohiefs
here to keep the blood from staining
my uniform
"All the rest of the way the emperor
busted himself with praying and
recommending his soul to God. But
on seeing the Hill of the Bells he ex-
claimed
There is where ! had thought to
hoist the standard of victory. and there
is where | am going to die. Life is
play
And after some moments of silence
he added: what a beautiful view
And what a beautiful day to diel
when we had arrived at the place Of
execution it was found difficult to open
the door Of the coach.
.Then Macmillan, being impatient.
leaped out Of the window, knocking off
his hat.
'He handed me the crucifx, embrac-
ing me. He also embraced Miramon
and Ne ia, distributed some gold coins
among the soldiers who were to shoot
him, and then, in a strong voice pro
nounced in Spanish these words: Il
forgive everybody and | ask that all
may forgive me, and desire that my
blood, which is going to be shed, may
be for the good of Mexico. Long live
Mexicol Long live her independence
Immediately he placed his hand on
his breast, indicating the spot for the
soldiers to take aim at. Then the
drums sounded, and in the presence OF
the 1000 soldiers assembled it was pro-
claimed that whoe er should raise his
voice in behalf of the condemned man
wsuld be made to suffer the same pen
atty. Not a murmur was heard among
the immense crowd standing behind the
troops.
at a given signal the three ~platoons
fired, Miramon and Me ia fell dead at
once, but Macmillan did not die at the
first discharge and uttered three groans.
Then they gave him the coup de grace. "
The priest Soria denied that Maxi
milan, as the legend goes, gave the post
Of honor at the execution to Miramon,
saying; "a brave man merits the re-
spect of his sovereign; take the place of
honor" The placing of the condemned
was by accident. Thus a picturesque
legend is dissipated.