The French Exposition of 1867 was the second in the series of expositions held in Paris at intervals of eleven years, from the first in 1856 to the last, thus far, in 1900. In this exposition the Emperor Napoleon planned to celebrate his entrance uninvited into the select circle of crowned heads by bringing all his new cousins to visit him in his capital. He succeeded pretty well. Asia was represented by the Sultan of Turkey and the Shah of Persia. All the sovereigns of Europe were there (but not all at the same time) with the exceptions of Victor Emmanuel, who said he was too poor to go, and Queen Victoria, who could not be induced to leave her retirement. The sovereign people of the United States were also pretty well represented. One other “emperor” was not there. With the zeal of a new convert, Louis Napoleon had attempted to take advantage of the circumstance that the United States had business enough of their own to attend to, and improve the opportunity to plant monarchical institutions on this continent. Maximilian, a brother of the Emperor of Austria, the first and last Emperor of Mexico, was installed under the protection of French bayonets. Affairs in the United States did not take the turn that Napoleon had hoped for, and in compliance with a courteous request from the President that he would withdraw his troops from Mexico and save him the disagreeable necessity of driving them out, the French withdrew, leaving the unfortunate Maximilian a prisoner in the hands of the Mexicans. On a day in the summer of 1867, a grand function was celebrated in the Palais de l’Industrie, the building on the Avenue des Champs Elysées in which the exposition of 1856 had been held, for the distribution of gold medals to the successful exhibitors in this exposition of 1867. The Emperor presided, surrounded by sovereigns and their suites, and an assembly of 20,000 invited guests and holders of season tickets. In the midst of the ceremonies, an official entered and handed to the Emperor an envelope. After reading its contents he crossed over to the seat of the Austrian ambassador and placed it in his hands. After reading it the ambassador withdrew with his suite, and the proceedings were continued to their close. That evening the public learned what this envelope contained. It was a cablegram announcing the execution of the quondam emperor, Maximillian, by the Mexican government. From this point the fall of Napoleon proceeded steadily until he became “the man of Sedan.” This dramatic scene, marking the culminating point in his career, has, I believe, escaped the notice of historians.