The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-05-22

drama in which for few brief hours she
had played leading part. Maximilian's
i'll -starred empire was crumbling to its
fall. In the end, beaten at every point
by the liberal forces, with no possible
chance of success or escape, and knowing
that death would certainly be the result
of capture, he fled to Queretaro and in
trenched himself in the ruined convent of
La Cruz Here he sustained siege
against the liberal forces, removing after
time to The convent of La Capouchinez.
There it was that, through the treachery
OF his bosom friend, Col. Miguel Lopez,
Oh The Empress, regiment, whom, after
loading him with wealth and other hon
ors, he had just made General, whose
hand he clasped a thousand times in
"armest friendship, and whom he had
trusted completely with his most delicate
secrets, he was betrayed into the hands
Oh MS enemies, and was forced to surren-
DER TO Gems. Palacio and Escobedo on
May 10, 1867
GREAT efforts We're made to save him
from uhe sentence of death pronounced
upon him by the court martial fort
nlght later. The Princess Salm Salm
rode on horseback to San Luis Potosi,
the seat OF the republican government, to
lntercede with President Juarez, but the
latter, who, few months before, had
been Wiling to build the proverbial
golden bridge for a flying foe, refused to
be moved by her entreaties. To have
lCy1sc nj hon
popular feeling, would probably have cost
Juarez his position and his own life. And
| so, on June 10, 1867, three brave men
| were led out from their little cells in the
| convent of La Capuchinez. These men
We're Maximilian and his two Generals
Miramon and Mejia. They were con
Quoted to hill called Cerro de las Cam
panas, and there shot. Three crosses
now mark the spot on which they met
their fate. Macmillan died as soldier
and a SON. of the house of Hapsburg
should. His last words were worthy of
his and his race:
MeXicans! Mexicansl Men of nv
condition and race. and animated by nv
sentiments. are destined either to make
the happiness of a people or to be martyrs
to it. No Legitimate thought brought
me into your midst. 1t was you who
called me hither. Before dying, let me
say to you that have employed all my
energies with your good in view Next
cans! May my blood be the last that you
shall shed, and may Mexico, the unhappy
country of my adoption, be happy. Vive
Mexicol'
After these word he parted his long
blonde beard, the better to uncover his
breast. Indicating with finger his heart
and saying "There,' he stood like a
statue to receive the fatal bullet. Poor
Carlotta, - were the last words that came
from his lips, and few hours before his
execution he addressed to her these
touching lines:
My Beloved Carlotta-If God grants
that one day you may be cured and may
read these lines, you will know what
cruelty of fate has pursued me since your
departure for Europe. You took with you
not only my heart, but my good fortune.
Why did I not give heed to your voice?
So many events and so many unexpected
and undeserved catastrophes have been
heaped upon me that I have no longer
any hope in my heart, and await death
as an angel of deliverance. die without
pain. 1 shall fall with glory like a
soldier, and as a conquered king. If you
have not strength to endure long such
great suffering-if God shall soon reunite
us-I shall bless His paternal and divine
hand, which has dealt us this cruel blow.
Adieu. Your poor. ''MAX."
Macmillan kissed this letter, inclosed
the blonde curl which the jailer cut from,
his head and sealed it. But poor Carlotta
has never read those loving words. For
thirty years the poor little head that
dreamed of the crown of an Empress has
suffered what madness brings in its hor-
rible train. Only once was there hope of
her recovery. AT Miramar, surrounded |
by her flowers and her birds, in the midst |
of scenes associated with her past happi- |
ness, she was gradually, though slowly, |
recovering the equilibrium of her mind |
when a deputation came to Vienna from
her brother with orders to insist that she
should De removed 10 Delightful. Inc En- |
peror of Austria was thrown into much
trouble by this. His own medical advis-
ers agreed with the personal attendants of
the Inflated lady that the removal might
be very dangerous. They knew, of course,
of the intense evaporation against King
Leopold which had preceded and accom-
panied the outbreak Of her mental disease, |
and they feared that the excitement of a
railway journey across Europe, especially
if the journey was forced upon her against
her inclination, might undo all the good
that had been done by months of seclu-
sion and quiet at Miramar. But the
Belgian physicians declared there was no
danger, the instructions of King Leopold |
We're peremptory, and as the matter neces-
sarily involved some rather important |
pecuniary considerations, the Emperor |
Francis Joseph was naturally loath to
put himself under any possible imputa-