708 



SPAIN. 



a distance on the Hood-stained field of Alcolea, ready 

 to rush, without, however, exposing himself to dan- 

 ger, on the spoils of Isabella,_like the bird of prey on 

 a dead body ; when I find him at Lisbon watching 

 for the favorable occasion of imposing himself on 

 Spain, and impatiently counting the moments, and, 

 after those moments calculated by him, settling with 

 miserable niggardliness the accounts of his cook ; 

 when I see mm, in so impertinent and comical a 

 fashion, desiring to meddle in the recent struggle 

 which has left the noble and liberal city of Cadiz in 

 mourning : and when, to crown this Orleanist con- 

 spiracy, I hear Spaniards, unworthy to bear that hon- 

 orable title, proclaim the ridiculous and anti-national 

 name of this stranger forced upon us as if it were the 

 name of a hero, and when they thus trample under 

 foot the ashes of the martyrs of Carral the ashes of 

 the illustrious members or the Spanish army shot by 

 the treachery of the Madrid Government, delivered 

 over to Louis Philippe when I behold all this, I can- 

 not help asking what is the talisman and what are the 

 privileges of this pretender ? 



I, who count more than twenty-two years of suffer- 

 ing and political persecution, of which Louis Philippe 

 was the instigator I, who, without being culpable, 

 am banished from my country and from my home 

 feel indignant as a Spaniard, and as belonging to 

 the Liberal party, at the unjust and unpatriotic privi- 

 leges accorded to Montpensier. 



In the name of justice, I, who have never desired 

 the place coveted by the intriguer of whom I speak 

 I, who would consider myself debased if I bore 

 the title of pretender, for my aspirations are those of 

 the honest citizen who knows the high value of self- 

 denial I, who place the glory of Washington far 

 higher than that of Csesar I address myself to the 

 Provisional Government of the nation to be allowed 

 to return to my country, and to humbly occupy, as I 

 ever had the habit of doing, my rented apartment in 

 Madrid which contains the little I possess. 



The remains of my parents, those of one of my 

 children, and of my wife, are in Spain ; and those re- 

 mains, so dear to me, call me near them. I do not, 

 like Montpensier, seek a crown Montpensier who, 

 in the possession of his many millions, might live 

 contented and silent. All I ask for is the sunlight 

 of my beloved native land that air of country, of 

 home, which every citizen who is free from crime' has 

 a right to enjoy. 



At the same time I demand from the equity of the 

 Provisional Government another thing which is equal- 

 ly just to be reinstated in the naval service to which 

 I belong. The Duke de Montpensier being recog- 

 nized as field-marshal of the Spanish army, the rep- 

 resentatives of the party for which I have so much 

 suffered cannot hesitate to restore my sword to me, 

 of which I was deprived by the vengeance and the 

 tyranny of the Narvaez ministry. For a demand so 

 reasonable I appeal to the friendly relations subsist- 

 ing between me and General Prim at the time when 

 he, like me, was exiled. 



Receive, gentlemen, the assurance of the esteem 

 which is the result of every good action, and the tes- 

 timony of my gratitude for the favorable opinion I 

 have merited from you. HENRI DE BOURBON. 



PAEIS, December 2lst. 



The Provisional Government, during the 

 last weeks of the year, was greatly perplexed 

 by the activity and the progress of the Repub- 

 lican party, who were making demonstrations 

 in the provincial towns in furtherance of their 

 principles. The Provisional Government and 

 its officers greatly exasperated the Kepublican 

 party by using their whole influence in behalf of 

 the monarchists. The Republicans complained 

 that the Government, which had received no 

 authority from the people, denied to them rights 



which were granted to their opponents. On 

 Saturday, December 5th, an armed demonstra- 

 tion was made by the Republicans at Cadiz, 

 which the authorities considered it their duty 

 to repress. Accordingly, the assemblage was 

 called upon to lay down their arms. This de- 

 mand they not only refused, but commenced 

 to erect barricades. Sharp fighting took place 

 at the commencement, but the insurrectionists, 

 having obtained possession of the park of artil- 

 lery, very soon held all the chief places in the 

 city, and the foreign consuls were placed in the 

 custom-house facing the sea, in case the fleet 

 should attempt a bombardment. Immediately 

 on the news reaching Madrid, large bodies of 

 troops were dispatched to Cadiz, General Ca- 

 ballero de Roda having the chief command. 

 This officer at once declared Cadiz blockaded, 

 and, on arriving there, so disposed his troops 

 as to surround the city closely. He then (De- 

 cember 12th) issued a proclamation to the in- 

 habitants, in which he called upon them to lay 

 down their arms, and guaranteed to them in 

 the name of the Government that their lives 

 would be saved. He granted a delay until 

 next day, in order that old men, women, chil- 

 dren, and peaceably-disposed citizens might 

 leave the city. 



The insurgents sent a delegate, accompanied 

 by the consul of the United States, to General 

 Caballero, offering to place their arms in build- 

 ings which he should designate. This the gen- 

 eral did, but on the following morning the in- 

 surgents altered their tone, and offered to sur- 

 render their arms into the hands of the consul 

 of the United States ; but General Caballero de 

 Roda refused to entertain such a proposal, and 

 declared that hostilities would at once be com- 

 menced if the arms were not placed in the 

 military buildings. The insurgents thereupon 

 yielded to his orders, and the troops, under the 

 command of General Caballero, at once entered 

 and took possession of the city. This occurred 

 on December 14th. 



In the last days of December another fierce 

 conflict occurred between the Republicans and 

 the regular troops at Malaga. The Government 

 called on the National Guard of that city to 

 give up their arms, which demand was resisted. 

 When the commander-in-chief at length moved 

 down on the city (December 31st), and an- 

 nounced that a day's delay would be granted 

 for submission, the insurgents were at first dis- 

 posed to listen to him, but they were finally 

 urged to continued resistance by the more de- 

 termined spirits among their own number. 

 General Caballero de Roda then prepared to. 

 capture the barricades by force. The insur- 

 gents were strongly intrenched in the Trinity 

 quarter of the town, and this was not occupied 

 till after a heavy bombardment (in which the 

 ships joined), and the most desperate hand-to- 

 hand fighting. The troops finally obtained se- 

 cure possession of the whole place (January 1, 

 1869). They made an immense number of 

 prisoners, of whom, the greater number were 



