DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. 



261 



and enjoining the strictest vigilance and utmost 

 zeal in maintenance of order. 



Satisfactory answers had been received from most 

 of the provinces. The only ground for apprehen- 

 sion seemed to be that the suspension of the sitting 

 of the Cortes without action might be made a pre- 

 text for disturbances. It was understood that the 

 Conservative leaders were in council during the af- 

 ternoon and evening at the house of Senor Sagasta. 

 They expected to be summoned by the King to 

 form a new cabinet, efforts having been made by" tlie 

 Duke of Fernan Nunez, General Concha, Admiral 

 Topete, and others, to persuade the King to desist 

 from his proposed abdication and change his advis- 

 ers. It was even said on good authority that a depu- 

 tation of army officers, backed by General Concha and 

 others, proposed to the King to authorize them to put 

 themselves at the head of the troops of the Madrid 

 garrison, and enable the King to dismiss Zorrilla and 

 his colleagues, dissolve the Cortes, suspend the 

 constitution, and maintain the throne. The King 

 disapproved of all these suggestions. He paid he 

 had sworn to obey the constitution ; that he had 

 kept faith with the country, approving all measures 

 sanctioned by the Cortes, and had endeavored to do 

 justice to all parties ; that all the factions, except 

 the one in power, were habitually arrayed against 

 him, and that it was too late now for him to give 

 his confidence to those who bad kept aloof from the 

 court until no honorable resource was left but to re- 

 turn his crown to the Cortes, from whom he had re- 

 ceived it, and leave the country free to determine 

 its destinies. Marshal Serrano arrived in town the 

 same evening from the south, and it was expected 

 that he would put himself at the head of a conser- 

 vative movement, but without the support of the 

 troops, from whom he had long been separated, and 

 in presence of so formidable a popular rising in fa- 

 vor of a republic, the reactionary military leaders 

 shrunk from the responsibility and risks of action, 

 preferring to await events and hold themselves 

 ready to profit by any favorable opportunity that 

 might present itself. The Government called out 

 (everal battalions of citizen-militia, which guarded 

 the public buildings and squares during the night. 

 The main body of the garrison remained in their 

 quarters under arms. Thus the night was passed in 

 tranquillity. 



At three in the afternoon of Tuesday, the llth, the 

 Chamber of Deputies resumed the sitting suspended 

 the night before, with an announcement from the pre- 

 siding officer that a communication had been re- 

 ceived from the Government, which the secretary 

 read ns follows: * 



compensated by the loyalty of my nature, and that I 

 should find powerful aid in warding off the dangers and 

 conquering the difficulties that were not hidden from 

 my view in the sympaihy of all thoee Spaniards who, 

 loving their native land, were desirous of putting an 

 end to the bloody and barren strngeles which for so 

 many years have been gnawing at itc vitals. 

 ^1 realize that my good intentions have been in vain 

 For two long years have I worn the crown of Spain 

 and Spam still lives In continual strife, departing day 

 by day more widely from that era of peace and pros- 

 perity for which I have so ardently yearned. Had the 

 enemies to her happiness been foreigners, then, at tlie 

 head of our valiant and tried soldiers? I would have been 

 the first to give them battle. But all those who, with 

 sword, and pen, and speech, aggravate and perpeluate 

 the troubles of the ration, are Spaniards : they all in- 

 voke the hallowed name of fatherland ; they all strive 

 and labor for i)s well-being; and, amid the din 01 

 combat, amid the confused, appalling, and contradictory 

 clamor of the contestants, amid so many and so widely 

 opposed manifestations of public opinior, it is impossi- 

 ble to choose the right, and still more impossible to find 

 a remedy for such vast evils. I have earnestly sought a 

 remedy within the bounds of law. Beyond tills limit ho 

 who is pledged to obey the Jaw has no riget to go. 



None will attribute my determination to weakness of 

 spirit. No danger could move me to take off the crown 

 from my brown if I believed that I wore it for my conn- 

 try's good. Neither have I been influenced by the peril 

 that threatened the life of my august wife, who, In this 

 solemn moment, joins me in the earnest hope that In 

 good time free pardon may be given to the authors of 

 that attempt. 



Nevertheless, I am to-day firmly convinced of the bar- 

 renness of my efforts and the Impossibility of realizing 

 my aims. 



These, deputies, are the reasons that move me to give 

 back to the nation, and in Its name to yon, the crown 

 offered to me by the national suffrage, renouncing it for 

 myself, my children, and my successors. 



Be assured that. In relinquishing the crown, I do not 

 give up my love for this noble and unhappy Spain, and 

 that I Dear away with me from hence no other sorrow 

 than that It has not been possible for me to accomplish 

 for her all the good my loyal heart so earnestly desired 



AMADEO. 

 PALACE or MADRID, February 11, 1873. 



To the Prettdtnt of the Chambfr of Deputvt; 



Yoini EXCEU.BNCY: At half-past one this afternoon, 

 accompanied by the Minister of State, I presented mv- 

 sclf in the royal chambers. In compliance with his Ma- 

 jesty s request, and received from the King the Inclosed 

 ocument, which I have the honor to transmit to your 

 excellency, in order that it may be commnniratett to Con- 

 B>- MANUEL RUIZ ZORRILLA. 



MADRID, February 11, 1873. 



The secretary then proceeded to read the abdication 

 of the King in the following words : 

 ToOu Chamber: 



Great was the honor bestowed upon me by the Span- 

 lh nation when It elected me to occupy Its throne, an 

 honor all the more appreciated by me since it was of- 

 fered to me environed hy the difficulties and dangers 

 winch accompany the task of governing a country so 

 deeply acrltatcil. 



Animated, however, hy the firmness of purpose natu- 

 ral to my race, which seeks rather than shuns danger; 

 folly determined to seek my sole Inspiration in the good 

 of the country, and to raise myself above all party lev- 

 el; resolved to raHUI religiously the oath I took before 

 the Constituent Cortee; and ready to make all manner 

 of sacrifices in order to give to this heroic nation the 

 peace it neerls, the freedom It deserves, and the great- 

 "> which lt L'lorions history and the uprightness 

 find eonstnnry of its sons entitle It, I thought that my 

 limited experience in the art of governing would be 



The President: " Gentlemen of tlie Chamber, the 

 renunciation of the crown of Spain by Don Amadeo, 

 of Savoy, remands to the Spanish Cortes the sover- 

 eign authority over the kingdom. This event would 

 be grave if, in the presence of the majesty of th 

 Cortes, any thing could be grave or difficult. As 

 this Chamber cannot, by itself, exercise the powers 

 now devolved on Congress, the presence and coop- 

 eration of the Senate being necessary, I have the 

 honor to propose that a message be addressed to 

 that body, which is already written, in order that 

 both Chambers, representing the sovereign author- 

 ity, shall take such action in relation to tlie docu- 

 ment just read as the emergency demands." 



The motion was agreed to without debate. 



The two Houses of the Cortes assembled to- 

 gether and sent a reply to the King's message, 

 and approved of the following act: 



The national Assembly, assuming all power, de- 

 clares that the form of government of the nation is 

 republican, remitting to a constitutional convention 

 (cortex conttitvyentes) the organization of this form 

 of government. 



This Assembly will choose an executive, removable 

 by, and responsible to, the Chamber. 



The National Assembly then elected the 

 following persons to constitute the executive 

 power: President, Figueras ; Secretary of State, 

 Castelar ; Interior, Pi y Margall ; Grace and 

 Justice, Nicolas Salmeron; Finance, Jos6 

 Echegaray; War, Lieutenant-General Cardo- 

 va; Navy, Admiral Beranger; Public "Works, 

 Manuel Becerra; Colonies, Francisco Salme- 

 ron. 



In reference to the causes that contributed 



