686 



SPAIN. 



most difficulty that the Government troops 

 finally suppressed the rebellion. 



During the session of the Cortes, on June 

 8th, a motion was made that the King be 

 elected by a direct vote of the people of the 

 nation. After a debate, this was rejected. At 

 length the proposition, requiring the candidate 

 to receive a majority equal to one-half of the 

 whole number of deputies, was carried by a 

 vote of 138 to 124. 



On June 24th the Cortes adjourned to Oc- 

 tober 31st. They adopted no decree of amnesty 

 before adjourning, but authorized the Govern- 

 ment to declare a general amnesty whenever 

 they might deem it expedient. 



On June 25th ex-Queen Isabella signed the 

 following manifesto of abdication : 



SPANIARDS ! My long reign has seen many sad and 

 troubled periods sad above all for me, because the 



flory of certain facts and the progress realized while 

 ruled the destiny of our dear country cannot make 

 me forget that, loving peace and the increase of the 

 public good, I ever saw my deepest and most 

 cherished feelings, my noblest aspirations, and my 

 most earnest wishes for the prosperity of Spain, 

 thwarted by acts independent of my will. As a child, 

 thousands of heroes proclaimed my name, but the 

 horrors of war surrounded my cradle. As a girl, I had 

 no thought but to second proposals which appeared 

 good and calculated to secure your happiness, but 

 the heated strife of parties allowed no time for the 

 law and for the love of prudent reforms to take root. 

 At an age when reason is fortified by experience, the 

 ungovernable passions of men whom I would not 

 oppose at the cost of your blood, more precious to mo 

 than my own, have driven me to a foreign country, 

 far from the throne of my ancestors, to this friendly, 

 hospitable, and illustrious land, but which is not my 

 own country, nor that of mv children. Such, in brief, 

 is the political history of thirty-five yearSj in which 

 I have exercised the supreme representative power 

 of the people committed to my charge by God's law, 

 by personal right, and by national right. Keflecting 

 upon this period, I cannot accuse myself of contribut- 

 ing with deliberate intention either to the evils laid 

 to my charge, or to misfortunes which I was power- 

 less to avert. A constitutional queen, I have sin- 

 cerely respected the laws. A Spanish woman before 

 all, and a loving mother, Spain's sons are all equally 

 dear to me. The misfortunes which I could not pre- 

 vent were mitigated by me as far as possible. Noth- 

 ing was more grateful to my heart than to pardon 

 and reward, and I omitted nothing to prevent my 

 subjects' tears from flowing for my cause. "With de- 

 sires and feelings that have nevertheless been vain 

 to spare me, in my country or away from it. the bit- 

 ter trials afflicting my life, resigned to sutler them, 

 and accepting the designs of Divine Providence, I 

 believe I can yet freely and spontaneously perform 

 this last of my acts, all of which, without exception, 

 have sought to promote your prosperity and to se- 

 cure your tranquillity. Twenty months have passed 

 since I set foot upon foreign soil, apprehensive of 

 ills which, in their blindness, tenacious supporters 

 of illegitimate aspirations, who have been condemned 

 by the laws of the kingdom, by the vote of many 

 assemblies, by the right of victory, and by the dec- 

 larations of the Government of civilized Europe, do 

 not hesitate to endeavor to reproduce. In these 

 twenty months my afflicted soul has never ceased to 

 hear the suffering cry which arises from my never- 

 forgotten Spain. Full of faith in its future, solicitous 

 for its greatness, integrity, and independence, grate- 

 ful for the support of those who were and are at- 

 tached to me, forgetting the affronts of those who do 

 not know me or insult "me, for myself I ask nothing, 



but I would obey the impulse of mv heart and the 

 loyal sentiment of the Spaniards "by confiding to 

 their honor and noble feeling the des'tiny of a tradi- 

 tional dynasty and the heir of a hundred kings. 



Here follows the act of abdication, transfer- 

 ring the crown to the prince, under the title 

 of Alfonso XII., Isabella preserving all civil 

 rights, and the custody of Alfonso while liv- 

 ing abroad and until proclaimed King by the 

 Cortes. 



A council of the ministry took place at La 

 Granja, on July 6th, when it was decided to 

 send a special ambassador to Germany, to 

 make an offer of the Spanish crown to Prince 

 Leopold of Ilohenzollern - Sigmaringen. The 

 prince at first accepted the offer conditionally, 

 but afterward refused upon the advice of King 

 William of Prussia, the head of the house of 

 Ilohenzollern. The Provisional Government 

 then concluded to tender the crown to the 

 Duke of Aosta, second son of King Victor 

 Emmanuel. The duke accepted the offer, on 

 condition that he was elected by the Cortes 

 and recognized by the foreign powers. The 

 diplomatic body at Madrid received confiden- 

 tial notice of the candidacy, and favorable 

 replies, announcing the formal approval of 

 the proposed candidate, reached Madrid from 

 Prussia, England, Italy, Austria, and Eussi.n, 

 previous to the reassembling of the Cortes. 

 On November 4th General Prim formally pre- 

 sented the name of the Duke of Aosta as a can- 

 didate for the throne. The election took place 

 on November 16th, when, of the 347 deputies 

 entitled to vote, 311 voted as follows: 191 for 

 the Duke of Aosta, 27 for the Duke de Mont- 

 pensier, 1 for the Duchess de Montpensier, 8 

 for Espartero, 2 for Alfonso XII., 62 for the 

 republic, while 19 votes were blanks, given by 

 the Carlists and Moderados. A deputation of 

 crown-bearers was immediately elected and 

 ordered to proceed to Florence, where they 

 arrived on the 3d of December. "When the 

 crown was presented to the duke, he said : 

 "I have before me a smooth, and, I hope, happy 

 course to pursue. You present to my view a 

 more extended horizon, and invite me to duties 

 always elevated, but now of the utmost mo- 

 ment. I accept the noble mission, conscious 

 of its difficulties." The Duke of Aosta left 

 Italy for Spain on December 23d, landed at 

 Carthagena on December 30tb, and was ex- 

 pected to arrive in Madrid on January 2cl, 

 1871. 



On December 29th, while General Prim was 

 proceeding from the Cortes to his residence, 

 some persons in the Calle Alcala fired into his 

 carriage, wounding both the general and his 

 adjutant. Great popular indignation was mani- 

 fested at this atrocious act. The general died 

 of his wounds in the evening of the following 

 day. 



Carlist insurrectionary movements broke out 

 in February, at Murcia, Calatayud, and other 

 places, in the northern provinces, and were 

 soon increasing both in intensity and activity. 



