Señor Vigil is the author of volume five of the great historical work, México á traves de los Siglos (Mexico through the Centuries), treating of the period of La Reforma (The Reform). Our selection is taken from this work.
THE DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN.
Meantime the trial of the prisoners followed its course in Queretaro and, on the 13th, at eight in the morning, the council of war met in the theatre of Iturbide, under the presidency of Lieutenant-Colonel Platón Sánchez, the judges being Commandant-Captain José Vicente Ramirez, Commandant-Captain Emilio Lojero, Captain Ignacio Jurado, Captain Juan Rueda y Auza, Captain José Verástegui and Captain Lucas Villagrán. Maximilian excused himself from attendance on account of illness; the whole of the defense was read and, at eight o’clock at night, the council adjourned to meet again the next day. On the 14th, at half-past-twelve the trial ended after the prosecutor had presented the rebuttal, in which death was demanded, and the defenders had replied. It was easy to guess what the sentence would be and the associate defenders, who were in San Luis Potosí, hastened to direct to the President a second statement begging the pardon, a petition which was repeated on the 16th, on learning that the sentence had been confirmed by the General-in-Chief. The following reply of the President, communicated through the Minister of War, took the last hope from the defenders: “Having examined this appeal for pardon and the others of a similar kind which have been presented to him with all the care which the gravity of the case demands, the President of the Republic has decided that he cannot accede to them, since the gravest considerations of justice and the necessity of safeguarding the peace of the nation oppose themselves to this act of clemency.” At the same time the Minister sent a telegram to General Escobedo, in which he told him that it had been decided that the execution should not take place until the morning of the 19th, in order that the sentenced might have time for the arrangement of their affairs. General Miramon’s wife arrived at San Luis, in these moments, to see if she could save the life of her husband; but Juarez refused to see her, saying to the lawyers of the defense: “Spare me this painful interview, which, considering the irrevocable nature of the decision, would but cause the lady much suffering.” Finally, when Señores Riva Palacios and Martinez de la Torre were parting from the President of the Republic, he said to them: “In fulfilling your duty as defenders, you have suffered much by the inflexibility of the government. Today you cannot understand the necessity of this nor the justice which supports it. The appreciation of this is reserved to the future. The law and the sentence are, at this time, inexorable, because the public welfare demands it. It also may counsel us to the least bloodshed, and this will be the greatest pleasure of my life.”
The legal resources exhausted, the plan of escape, devised by the Princess Salm-Salm, in collusion with the Ministers of Austria, Belgium, and Italy and the French Consul, frustrated; the prisoners waited, with resignation, until the terrible moment should arrive in which the sentence was to be executed. The last letters and dispositions written by Maximilian and Miramon show that their natural valor did not abandon them in those supreme moments. Mejia wrote nothing; but in the mental depression in which the disease from which he was suffering submerged him, he maintained that tranquil stoicism, which marked his temperament.
On the 19th, at six in the morning, a division of four thousand men under command of General Jesús Diaz de León formed at the foot of the Cerro de las Campanas, on the northeast slope. Maximilian, Miramon, and Mejia arrived at about a quarter past seven, brought in carriages, and each one accompanied by a priest. Maximilian descended first and said courteously to his companions in misfortune: “Let us go, gentlemen,” and the three directed themselves with firm step to the place of execution, where they gave each other a farewell embrace. Maximilian then advanced and distributed twenty-peso gold pieces among the soldiers, who were to shoot him, and then, raising his voice, said: “I am about to die for a just cause, the liberty and independence of Mexico. May my blood seal the unhappiness of my new country. Viva Mexico!” Miramon read the following in a loud voice: “Mexicans! in the council of war, my defenders attempted to save my life; here, soon to lose it, and about to appear before God, I protest against the stigma of traitor which they have tried to put upon me to palliate my sacrifice. I die innocent of that crime, and I forgive its authors, hoping that God may pardon me and that my compatriots will remove so foul a stigma from my sons, doing me justice. Viva Mexico!” Placing himself on the spot indicated, Maximilian, who had asked that his face might not be disfigured, separated his beard with his hands, to one side and the other, exposing his chest; Miramon said, “here,” indicating his heart and raising his head; and Mejia, who had given the soldiers charged with his execution an ounce of gold to divide between them, said never a word but merely laid by the crucifix, which he held in his hand, on seeing that they were aiming at him. The signal to fire was given and a discharge put an end to the bloody drama of the Empire in Mexico, which was so fatal for its authors and for its partisans.
PRIMO FELICIANO VELÁSQUEZ.
Primo Feliciano Velásquez was born at Santa María del Rio in the state of San Luis Potosí, June 6, 1860. Before he was nine years of age, on account of promise shown in the school-room, he was taken in hand by the village priest, who taught him Latin and later secured for him admittance to the Seminario Conciliar at the capital city of San Luis Potosí. He was a diligent student and completed his study of law on October 23, 1880. Although his legal career opened auspiciously, he preferred to devote himself to journalism. In 1883 he founded, at San Luis Potosí, a publication intended to promote the celebration of the Iturbide centennial, through which he established a standing among the eminent literary men of Mexico. In 1885, in company with several others, he established El Estandarte (The Standard), a periodical bitterly opposed to the State Government, which caused him many vexations and penalties. Velásquez has made a special study of local history and archæology. His Descubrimiento y Conquista de San Luis Potosí (Discovery and Conquest of San Luis Potosí), received recognition from the Royal Spanish Academy. His Instruccion pública en San Luis Potosí durante la Dominación española (Public Instruction in San Luis Potosí during the Spanish Domination) was published in the memoirs of the Mexican Academy, of which he has been a correspondent since 1886. His Coleccion de Documentos para la historia de San Luis Potosí (Collection of documents for the History of San Luis Potosí) in four volumes, was published between 1897 and 1899. Senor Velásquez has during recent years returned to the practice of law.
THE TLAXCALAN SETTLEMENTS.
In this year of 1589, in which peace was arranged, Santa María del Rio was founded by Guachichiles and Otomis on lands of the Hacienda of Villela and at a place called San Diego de Atotonilco. Of the villages of our State, this one and Tierra Nueva count among their founders individuals of Otomi stock. The other colonies established were formed with Indians brought from Tlaxcala, either because that city was populous, or because of its relative culture, or—what is more probable—because of its unshakeable loyalty to the Spaniards. It is asserted that four hundred families set out from the ancient republic for these parts, by order of the Viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco II (1591), and with the aid of Friar Jerónimo Mendieta. Friars Ignacio de Cardenas and Jeronimo de Zárate brought them and distributed them in Tlaxcalilla—on the outskirts of this city of San Luis, close by the congregation of Santiago, which was of Guachichiles—in San Miguel, Mexquitic, Venado, San Andrés, Colotlan, and Saltillo. It can easily be believed that these colonists would not readily consent to abandon their soil and come to such a distance to serve as a protection against barbarians and as a guarantee of their obedience. Far from it; they stipulated that they should enjoy the same privileges as if they were noble-born Castillians; that they should go on horse and bear arms; and that their towns, in which no Spaniards were to live, should measure three leagues on each side.