Conclusion
As there may be some curiosity as to the later history of those who so
shamefully betrayed the Emperor Maximilian, a word as to their fate may
not be amiss.
His murderer, Juarez, proved himself unable to restore peace and
tranquillity in the country. He attained his ambition, however, when he
was again made President, and this sufficed for him. He did not long
survive the victim of his cruelty and revenge, dying, in Mexico, July
18, 1872. His friend, Escobedo, received from General Mejia his only son
as a legacy—one that was to prove a constant reminder of his treachery.
Twice the Juarist chief had owed his life to Mejia’s generosity, yet he
had not hesitated in turn to sign the latter’s death-warrant.
Napoleon Third’s subsequent career has passed into history. Losing
battle after battle, and finally his throne, in the war of 1870, he
surrendered his sword to King William First of Prussia on the second of
September of that year and was taken to Wilhelmshöhe at Cassel as a
prisoner of war, where he received very different treatment from that
accorded the captive Emperor in Querétaro. After the conclusion of peace
he retired to England, where he died at Chiselhurst.
A yet more tragic fate befell Marshal François Achille Bazaine. During
the Franco-Prussian War he was besieged in Metz by Prince Friedrich Karl
and forced to surrender with about one hundred and seventy thousand men.
He was taken to Cassel, where he shared Napoleon’s imprisonment. Accused
by the French not only of cowardice and incapacity but also of treason,
he was tried by court-martial and condemned to death. There being no
bloodthirsty Juarez in France, however, the sentence was commuted to
twenty years’ imprisonment on the Island of Sainte Marguerite, near
Cannes. He succeeded in escaping, with the help of his wife, and fled to
Madrid, where he lived in poverty and obscurity and died in 1888,
forgotten by the world and deserted by his wife, who returned to her
native Mexico.
Marquez escaped from the city of Mexico, hiding the first night, it is
said, in a coffin, and, continuing his flight at daylight toward the
north, succeeded in reaching Texas. His subsequent history is unknown.
After betraying the imperial army, Lopez prepared to enjoy the reward of
his treason, but it was flatly refused him. Despised alike by friend and
foe, and even by his own wife, he led a wretched existence, employing
himself in vain attempts to vindicate his treachery.
* * * * * * * *
Doubtless Maximilian made many grave mistakes, but from the foregoing
pages it is plain that both he and his wife went to Mexico with the
noblest aims and full of enthusiasm for the mission, to the difficulties
of which they finally succumbed. Yet the sacrifice was not wholly in
vain, for the last struggle has served to embalm the memory of the
Emperor Maximilian First of Mexico as a brave and chivalrous prince,
while that of his enemies is held in merited contempt.
On the spot where Maximilian and his two generals so gallantly met their
fate on the nineteenth of June, 1867, a memorial chapel has been
erected, to which throngs of Mexicans of all classes annually make a
pilgrimage on the anniversary of that day, as indeed they did
previously, when only a simple gravestone marked the place of death.
Appendix
The following is a chronological statement of important events connected
with Maximilian:
1832 Birth of Maximilian.
1850-57 Marine service.
1857 Marriage to Carlotta.
1859 Retires to Miramar.
1863 Mexican Embassy visits Miramar.
1864 Coronation ceremony.
1864 Arrival in Mexico.
1865 Revolutionary uprisings.
1866 The Empress goes to Europe.
1867 Departure of the French.
1867 Downfall of the Mexican Empire.
1867 Execution of Maximilian.
LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
_Translated from the German by_
GEORGE P. UPTON
36 Volumes Now Ready
_American Explorers_
Columbus
Pizarro
Cortes
Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky, and Other Pre-Columbian Discoveries
of America
_Historical and Biographical_
Washington
Franklin
Penn
Maximilian
Barbarossa
William of Orange
Maria Theresa
The Maid of Orleans
Frederick the Great
The Little Dauphin
Herman and Thusnelda
The Swiss Heroes
Marie Antoinette’s Youth
The Duke of Brittany
Louise, Queen of Prussia
The Youth of the Great Elector
Emperor William First
Elizabeth, Empress of Austria
Charlemagne
Prince Eugene
Eugénie, Empress of the French
Queen Maria Sophia of Naples
_Musical Biography_
Beethoven
Mozart
Johann Sebastian Bach
Joseph Haydn
_Legendary_
Frithjof Saga
Gudrun
The Nibelungs
William Tell
Arnold of Winkelried
Undine
Illustrated. Each 50 cents _net_
A. C. McCLURG & CO., Chicago
Transcriber’s Notes
--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
domain in the country of publication.
--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the
HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)
--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
dialect unchanged.