aga and his companions, carried out under Maximilian's unfortunate decree of October 3, 1865. Other leaders were kept on thorns by broad hints that Juarez' similar decree of January 25, 1862, might at at any moment send them as well as Maximilian after Mendez.[1]
The republicans gave little heed to the exalted rank and pretensions of their captive. He was unceremoniously transferred from one abode to another, among them the grave vaults of the pantheon, with the atrocious reminder that his end was at hand.[2] Finally he was lodged in a scantily furnished cell in the Capuchin convent,[3] together with his generals, Miramon and Mejía, Dr Basch and two servants occupying adjoining cells. Although exposed to the intrusive gaze of visitors, and the eyes of numerous even enjoyed the importance attached to his person.[4]
- ↑ Escobedo, says Arias, 'tenia en sus manos las vidas de Maximiliano,' etc., and could have done so with impunity. Ensayo, 234. Mendez was to be shot in the back as a traitor, but objecting to the insult, he turned partly round as the signal was given. Salm-Salm, i. 217-18. Hans, 295–6, alludes with feeling to his last adieu. According to Salm-Salm, an order came later to shoot all the leaders, but this is doubtful. A number of French officers tendered their services to Escobedo, which he contemptuously refused. Their action was condemned by compatriots. Names in Diary, i. 222-5.
- ↑ This outrage was due to Gen. Rufio Gonzalez, an ultra-republican who had protested against the earlier indications of sympathy for Maximilian, and managed to assume a share in the guardianship. After a transfer on May 11th, to Santa Teresa convent, he passed from the 22d to the 24th in the grave vault, and was thereupon removed to the Capuchin convent.
- ↑ It was situated in the upper story, opening on a passage which embraced three sides of a small central court. The furniture consisted of an iron bedstead, two tables, a rocking-chair, a few ordinary chairs, and a box. The only article de luxe was a silver candlestick with wax candles. The size of the brick-floored cell being only about 18 by 20 feet, the passage proved acceptable for giving additional room. A cut is given in Salm-Salm, Diary, i. 231-5, ii. 105.
- ↑ 'Die unten zittern, wenn der Löwe im Käfig sich regt.' Basch, Erinn., ii. 190. Whether intentionally or not, a crown of thorn had been hung against the wall. Rubio, the rich manufacturer of the town, provided the table of the emperor, and from this his poorly supplied companions obtained a share. He continued to suffer from dysentery, and a doctor from Escobedo's army was called in to join Basch so as to allay suspicion. His companions, notably Salm-Salm, were constantly in his room to entertain him, conversing, playing dominos, and so forth. Among the few books at his command was the History of King Charles I., appropriate if not cheering.
