"I am yours,
"Maximilian."
"Queretaro, 16 June, 1867."
Compare S. Basch, "Maximilien au Mexique," p. 296.
The appointed hour passed, however, without being summoned to execution. After prolonged suspense, at four o'clock in the afternoon news arrived that a reprieve of three days had been granted by the president, in order that the condemned might make their last dispositions.
{illustration caption: THE CALVARY OF QUERETARO, SHOWING WHERE MAXIMILIAN, MEJIA, AND MIRAMON WERE SHOT.}
This unexpected delay* naturally aroused hopes among the friends of the doomed men. These hopes, it is said by those closest to him at that time, were not shared by Maximilian. He continued his preparations with the calm dignity that had not once forsaken him; but he sent a telegram to the national government, asking that the lives of Generals Miramon and Mejia, "who had already undergone all the anguish of death, be spared," and that he might be the only victim. The request was denied.**
*It is stated by Domenech that this reprieve was granted at the request of Baron Magnus, who hoped that delay might bring some chance of life to the condemned.
** He also wrote to President Juarez, under date of June 19, as follows:
"M. Benito Juarez: About to die for having tried whether new institutions could put an end to the bloody war which has for so many years disturbed this unhappy land, I should gladly give my life if the sacrifice could contribute to the peace and prosperity of my adopted country. Profoundly convinced that nothing durable can be produced from a soil drenched with blood and shaken by violence, I pray you solemnly—with that sincerity peculiar to the hour at which I have arrived—I beg of you, let my blood be the last spilled, and pursue the noble course which you have chosen with the perseverance (I recognized it even when in prosperity) with which you defended the cause that now at last triumphs through your efforts. Reconcile factions, establish a durable peace based upon solid principles."
See Dr. Basch, "Maximilien au Mexique," p. 303.
After making this supreme effort on behalf of his generals, he employed his remaining hours in dictating letters, and when night came he slept soundly.