SPAIN. 



639 



the 20th of February, by 167 votes against 47 



E'ven to Orense. Serrano, Prim, Sagasta, 

 )rilla, Topete, Becerra, and Rivero, were 

 elected at Madrid. Espartero, who had been 

 elected at Saragossa, declined to accept. In 

 the sitting of February 22d, Rivero thanked 

 the deputies for the honor they had conferred 

 upon him ; and, after some routine business, a 

 proposal was made by one of the secretaries 

 that the Cortes should pass a vote of thanks to 

 the Provisional Government, and intrust Mar- 

 shal Serrano with the executive power, and 

 the formation of a new Cabinet. Sefior Martos 

 strongly supported the motion, and Senor 

 Castellar (Republican) opposed it in a long 

 speech. The debate to which the proposal 

 gave rise was a very protracted one. Three 

 sittings were occupied by it. The Repub- 

 licans, who opposed the motion, succeeded 

 in obtaining 62 votes their opponents, 180. 

 At last, on February 24th, it was agreed 

 that the Provisional Government should be 

 thanked, and that Marshal Serrano should be 

 intrusted with the formation of a new minis- 

 try. On the following day the marshal made 

 a speech, in which he said that he had assumed 

 office from patriotic motives alone ; that, had 

 supreme power been conferred upon him, he 

 would have refused to exercise it; and that his 

 desire was to go hand in hand with the Cham- 

 ber, having the minority for censor and the 

 majority for judge. 



The strength of the parties represented in 

 the Cortes was as follows: 129 Progressists, 

 80 Unionists, 13 Republicans, 24 Ultramon- 

 tanes and Isabellists. 



Among the aspirants to the royalty, the 

 Duke de Montpensier was in the beginning of 

 1869 the most powerful, and at the same time thp 

 most opposed. In the Cortes the Republican 

 members made bitter attacks upon the ministry 

 for their alleged m onarchical proclivities. They 

 demanded that the Duke de Montpensier be 

 divested of his rank of Marshal of Spain, and 

 accused the Provisional Government of en- 

 deavoring to smuggle him into the country 

 for the purpose of placing him upon the 

 throne. General Prim replied that the Duke 

 could not with justice be deprived of his title 

 of marshal. Admiral Topete, the Minister of 

 the Marine, amid great excitement declared 

 that a kingdom with Montpensier on the 

 throne was preferable to a republic. Marshal 

 Serrano made a calm and dignified speech, de- 

 fending the Provisional Government from the 

 attacks of the Republicans, asserting the sov- 

 ereign authority of the Cortes, and insisting 

 that the determination of a form of govern- 

 .ment for Spain and the choice of her future 

 ruler should be left to the Constituent Cortes 

 alone. He deprecated the violent pressure 

 brought to bear upon the Cortes by the Repub- 

 lican party as impolitic and unfair. 



The Cortes rejected a bill providing for the 

 abolition of the capitation tax, and the military 

 conscription. General Prim having declared to 



them the country could not do without an army 

 of at least 80,000 men, a new levy of 25,000 

 men was ordered for the army on March 24th, 

 by 139 votes against 48, but it gave rise to 

 fresh disturbances. Barricades were erected 

 at Xeres ; Seville and other towns became 

 agitated. The revolt at Xeres was promptly 

 suppressed by the troops, who attacked the 

 barricades built by the revolutionists, and routed 

 them. They were glad to avail themselves 

 of the approach of darkness to evade their 

 pursuers. On Marchl 7th, however, the revo- 

 lutionists again showed front, but, after a 

 fierce struggle, were completely defeated. 

 . The committee appointed to prepare a new 

 Constitution made a report to the Cortes on 

 March 30th. The preamble runs thus : " The 

 Spanish nation, and in its name the Cortes Con- 

 stituentes elected by universal suffrage, de- 

 siring to establish justice, to affiance liberty 

 and security, and to develop the good and se- 

 curity of so many as live in Spain, decree and 

 sanction the following : " 



Chapter I., containing thirty-one articles, defines the 

 rights of Spaniards, individual liberty, inviolability of 

 domicile and letters, universal suffrage, liberty of 

 speech and of the press, right of assembly, association, 

 and petition. By article 20 the nation obliges itself to 

 maintain the worship and the ministers of the Eoman 

 Catholic religion. By the following article the public 

 and private exercise of any other worship is guaranteed 

 to all foreigners resident in Spain, without other 

 limitations than the universal rules of morals and of 

 right. By article 22 it is enacted that if any Span- 

 iards profess any other religion than the Catholic, all 

 the dispositions of the foregoing paragraph are ap- 

 plicable to them. The right of establishing schools 

 without license is guaranteed by article 24. In the 

 second and third chapters the public and legislative 

 powers are defined ; trie Congress to be composed of 

 one deputy at least to each 40,000 souls of popula- 

 tion, elected according to the electoral law ; the depu- 

 ty to be. a Spaniard, twenty-five years of age, and in 

 possession of civil rights. Chapter IV. is devoted to 

 the executive power, the relation of the King to the 

 state being stated: The person of the King is in- 

 violable, and he is not subject to responsibility. The 

 ministers are responsible. The King will nominate 

 and freely dismiss his ministers. The power to exe- 

 cute the law resides in the King, and iris authority 

 extends to all that conduces to public order within 

 and public security without the state. The King dis- 

 poses of the sea and_ land forces, declares war, makes 

 and ratifies peace, giving afterward documentary ac- 

 count to the Cortes. Only once in each legislature 

 can the King suspend the Cortes without the consent 

 of the same. In any case the Cortes must not fail to 

 be reassembled within the time fixed in article 43. 

 In event of dissolution of the Cortes, the royal decree 

 will necessarily contain the convocation of new ones 

 within three months. Beyond these necessary facul- 

 ties for the execution of the law's, there belong to 

 the King: 1. Care of the coining of money, on 

 which will be placed his bust and name. 2. Appoint 

 to civil and military employs, in accordance with the 

 laws. 3. Concede in the same manner honors and 

 distinctions. 4. Direct the diplomatic and commer- 

 cial relations with other powers. 5. To forgive crimi- 

 nals, in accordance with the law, save what belongs 

 relatively to the ministers. The King will need to be 

 authorized by a special law : 1. To alienate, cede, or 

 exchange any portion of the Spanish territory. 2. To 

 incorporate any other territory 'into Spanish. 3. To 

 admit foreign troops into the kingdom. 4. To ratify 

 treaties of alliance, especially of commerce, those 



