Miramon and Mejia came forward, and he embraced them both. On arriving in the street he looked round him, and drawing a deep breath, said: "What a beautiful day! On such a one I have always wished to die."
The streets were crowded; every one greeted the condemned Archduke with respect; the women wept aloud. He responded to these greetings with his usual gentle smile.
He made a short address to the Mexicans, of which these were the last words:
"Mexicans! May my blood be the last spilt for the welfare of the country, and if more should be shed, may it flow for its good, and not by treason. Viva Independencia! Viva Mexico!"
Maximilian, Miramon, and Mejia were all shot at the same moment.
THE CONVENT OF CAPUCHINAS.
(Last prison of Maximilian.)
Thus really closed the episode of the French intervention in Mexico. The foreign intruder, encouraged by the short-lived intention of a European potentate to plant the Latin race upon the soil of the New World, abandoned by his instigator, betrayed by his few remaining troops, was dead. There was no longer question of a foreign prince upon the Aztec throne.