Mr. Dix to Mr. Seward
Sir: At half-past eleven o’clock this morning I received a message from the Emperor requesting me to call on him at the Tuileries at half-past one.
He said he had sent for me to ask me to telegraph to the government of the United States and communicate his earnest wish that it should use all its influence to have Maximilian spared, the journals having announced that he had been captured by the Mexican forces.
He laid great stress on sending the despatch by telegraph instead of writing, and remarked that it might perhaps even now be too late. I told him the government had already, at the request of the Emperor of Austria, expressed to President Juarez the desire that Maximilian should be treated as a prisoner of war. He was aware of it, but was nevertheless desirous that his own wishes should be made known in the speediest manner to the government of the United States.
Regarding this as an exceptional case, and not in your contemplation when you instructed me not to use the cable in cypher or in writing, I did not hesitate to communicate the Emperor’s wish in the manner desired by him, and trust my course in this respect will be approved.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.