638 



SPAIN. 



dethroned dynasty. The priests especially 

 avowed themselves Bourbonists almost to 

 a man. There were papers, like the Siglo, 

 the Esperanza, the Ettandarte, and the Pensa- 

 miento Espaflol, which never made a mystery of 

 their hopes and desires, which advocated the 

 cause of the throne as indissolubly connected 

 with that of the altar, and which fought its 

 battles with a recklessness commensurate 

 with their ability. The Epoca advocated the 

 cause of the banished dynasty under the thin- 

 nest disguise of respect for legality. Bourbon- 

 ism, in short, was militant and rampant 

 throughout Spain a foe sufficiently to be 

 dreaded, even without reliance on the aid of 

 native and foreign plotters from abroad. 



Sagasta, Minister of the Interior, explained 

 the position and duty of the Government regard- 

 ing these outbreaks, by a circular, in which he 

 says : " The Government has no intention of 

 making a coup d'etat, or of disarming the citi- 

 zen militia. The present agitation tends to 

 prevent the carrying out of universal suffrage 

 in Spain, the meeting of the Cortes, and the 

 definitive constitution of the country, and has, 

 moreover, the effect of paralyzing Spanish 

 credit. The Government, aware of the ma- 

 noeuvres which are being employed, is resolved 

 to preserve intact the sacred deposit of the 

 national sovereignty, and to maintain order 

 until the assembling of the Cortes, whose de- 

 cision it respectfully awaits, and does not desire 

 to influence." 



The election for the Cortes closed in the 

 middle of January, and resulted in a consider- 

 able majority for the monarchical party. The 

 nation exercised its right of general suffrage 

 for the first time, and, though party spirit ran 

 very high, and certain classes were deeply in- 

 censed at the duplicity of the Government, the 

 election passed over with perfect order. The 

 assassination of the Governor of Burgos, while 

 making a new inventory of the archives of the 

 cathedral, by some fanatics, created great ex- 

 citement, and, at Madrid, demonstrations 

 against the apostolic Nuncio induced the Pro- 

 visional Government to issue, on January 28th, 

 an address to the nation. The Archbishop of 

 Burgos was arrested and given over to the 

 custody of the military ; and Zorilla, the Min- 

 ister of Instruction, ordered that the archives 

 of all convents and religious edifices should be 

 seized. 



The ex-Queen, Isabella, still indulging the 

 hope to be restored to her throne, published, 

 February 12th, the- following protest: 



To the Spanish Nation : 



The Cortes, illegally convoked and elected to a 

 great extent by violent and criminal measures, are 

 about to meet in answer to the appeal of four am- 

 bitious men, who, by reducing the army, and even 

 enlisting criminals in their cause, have succeeded by 

 means of terror in substituting their cowardly and 

 fatal tyranny for the constitution to which they most- 

 ly all swore fidelity, to the religion, laws, habits, and 

 customs of their country, that they have overthrown, 

 and which they are daily destroying. 



The moment has now arrived for me to address 

 you, Sefiores Senators and Deputies of the legitimate 

 Cortes of the kingdom, the entire nation, impassible 

 witnesses of such a great offence ; the heiress of Pe 

 layo and of Saint Ferdinand cannot longer assist at 

 such a spectacle without raising her voice in protest. 

 Therefore, let it be known by all : 



I protest in the most solemn and categorical man- 

 ner ; I declare null and void all that has passed and 

 that may transpire ; I intend to retain my rights in- 

 tact, of which those, who pretend to be invested 

 with powers which naught but the demon of dark- 

 ness, who directs their acts, could have granted, have 

 not been able to dispossess me. It is universally 

 known by what means they have brought the unfor- 

 tunate Spain to her present painful position. Thanks 

 to a tumultuous cry that proclaimed a universal and 

 sovereign will, they have been enabled to replace the 

 supreme power of the King united to that of the 

 Cortes, the most ancient and legitimate representa- 

 tion of the political right in Spain, by a theory as 

 impracticable as it is deceitful in its appearance. 

 *##### 



Were it not for the injustice, madness, and violence 

 that reign at present, you would see me among you 

 at this moment. * 



But if God shortens the- term of punishment, if the 

 clouds heaped up by falsehoods, rendered blacker by 

 calumny, end by being dispersed, and if, as I trust, 

 I should be recalled by those who erringly forced me 

 to leave, without knowing how bitter it is for a daugh- 

 ter of kings to eat the bread of exile, to cross the 

 threshold of a stranger's house, to quaff the cup of 

 tears and bitterness, if at last truth, sure but slow, 

 should rekindle the flame of enthusiasm with which 

 my people have so often received me, and which my 

 grieved heart now more requires than my outraged 

 pride ; if the love for my name, which I do not for a 

 moment doubt, should awaken within you and inspire 

 the respect by the shadow of which alone can be de- 

 veloped, in a monarchy as ancient as it is Catholic, 

 the precious fruits of peace, wise government, and 

 just administration, the fundamental basis of public 

 happiness, then, Spaniards, in your midst I will only 

 bear in mind faithfulness and rendered services. 



In the mean time, I address myself to you, Senores 

 Senators and Deputies of the legitimate Cortes of the 

 kingdom, and honorable men of all parties, in order 

 that you may well understand, and, by all the avail- 

 able means in your power, make known my protest, 

 which must for the present and for the future relieve 

 me of the serious responsibility now pending over 

 me ; a protest which, without any ambition to power, 

 merely obeying the love I bear to my country and my 

 dynasty, I beg to make, before you and God. who is 

 the only irrefutable witness of the sincerity of human 

 sentiments. He witnesses mine, and knows that if the 

 public good, the security of the Prince of Asturias, 

 and other elevated considerations did not withhold 

 my conscience, I could encircle my brow with the 

 crown; for in His eternal knowledge God knows 

 that hitherto I have only encountered thorns, and if 

 some laurels have fallen whose offshoots can yield 

 some fruit, those I reserve all for my son, or rather 

 for my sons, Alphonse being but the eldest, because 

 I have always loved the Spaniards with the feelings 

 of a mother. 



Let us, therefore, all unite together to remedy the 

 general confusion, and let each in his centre-of action 

 do his utmost, in the name of -God, to prevent the 

 laws from being trodden under foot, the fostering of 

 evil passions, the disappearance of legitimate right, 

 the overthrowing of the temples of Jesus Christ; in 

 short, let us not oe reproached with the act of trans- 

 mitting to our grandchildren that religion inherited 

 so pure from our fathers, in a state of profanity and 

 contempt. ISABELLA. 



The Constituent Cortes organized on Feb- 

 ruary 13th. Kivero was elected President on 



