or party sentiments. It is believed the message is the faithful expression of the views of the majority of the sovereign Cortes."

Mr. Castelar then read the message, of which the following is a translation:

The National Assembly to His Majesty Don Amadeo I.

SIRE: The sovereign Cortes of the Spanish nation have heard with solemn respect the eloquent message of Your Majesty, in whose chivalrous words of uprightness, of honor, and of loyalty they have seen fresh witness born to the high endowments of intelligence and character that distinguish Your Majesty, and of the exalted love you bear to this your second country, which, generous and brave, cherishing its dignity even to superstition, and its independence even to heroism, can never, never forget that Your Majesty has been the head of the state, the personification of its sovereignty, and the chief authority within the sphere of its laws; nor can it fail to discern that, in paying honor and praise to Your Majesty it honors and ennobles itself.

Sire, the Cortes have been faithful to the commands of their constituents, and guardians of the institutions they found already established by the will of the nation in the constitutional assembly. In all their acts and decisions the Cortes have restrained themselves within the bounds of their prerogatives, and have respected the will of Your Majesty and the rights belonging to Your Majesty under our constitution. While proclaiming this loudly and clearly, in order that upon them may never fall the responsibility of this issue, which we accept with regret, but which we shall meet with energy, the Cortes unanimously declare that Your Majesty has been a faithful, a most faithful observer of the respect due to these chambers, and that you have faithfully, most faithfully, kept the oath made when Your Majesty accepted from the hands of the people the Crown of Spain; a glorious, a most glorious record in this age of ambitions and dictatorial sway, when, seated on the inaccessible heights of a throne, which only a few privileged ones ascend, the least adventurous of rulers have not restrained their ambition from absolute authority.

Your Majesty may justly say, in the privacy of your retirement, in the bosom of your lovely native land, and by the fireside of your family, that if any human being could have checked the irresistible course of events, Your Majesty, with your constitutional education and your respect for established law, would have done so, absolutely and completely. Convinced of the truth of this, the Cortes, had it been in their power, would have made the utmost sacrifices to induce Your Majesty to desist from your purpose, and to recall your renunciation.

But, knowing as they do the unswerving character of Your Majesty, justice to the maturity of your ideas, and the firmness of your purpose, prevents the Cortes from praying Your Majesty to reconsider your determination, and decides them to announce that they have assumed the supreme power and sovereignty of the nation, in order that under such critical circumstances and with the promptness demanded by the gravity of the peril and the trancendency of the situation, they may minister to the salvation of deinocracy-the base of our political structure of liberty-the soul of all our rights and of the country-our immortal and loving mother, for whom we are all resolved to freely sacrifice not only our individual ideas but also our name and our very existence.

Our fathers battled with even more adverse circumstances at the beginning of this century, and, inspired by these ideas and these sentiments, it was given them to conquer. Abandoned by their King, their native soil overrun by foreign hosts, and menaced by that giant mind that seemed to possess the talisman of destruction and of war, the Cortes driven to an island at the furthermost verge of the country, not only saved their fatherland and wrote fhe glorious epic of its independence, but upon the widescattered ruins of the old social structure they laid the foundation of the new. The Cortes feel that the Spanish nation has not degenerated, and they trust that they themselves will still less degenerate from the austere and patriotic virtues that distinguished the founders of liberty in Spain.

When all dangers shall have been warded off, and all obstacles overcome; when we shall have emerged from the difficulties that attend every epoch of transition and of crisis, the Spanish people-which, while your Majesty remains upon our noble soil, will offer you every mark of respect, of loyalty, and of deference, because it is due alike to your Majesty, to your virtuous and noble consort, and to your innocent children-the Spanish people cannot offer you a crown in the future, but they will then offer you another dignity, the dignity of a citizen in the midst of a free and independent people.

PALACE OF THE CORTES, February 11, 1873.

The reading of the message was frequently interrupted by loud applause from all parts of the chamber.

The PRESIDENT: "This report, I do not hesitate to say, honors the Spanish nation, and demands from us that we name a committee to present the address to His Majesty. I also think it proper that we should appoint another committee to accompany His Majesty to the frontier. Before all, and above all, we are gentlemen, and as such we should deport ourselves."

Both committees were ordered to be appointed by the chair.

President Rivero resumed the chair, and said: "A proposition is in the hands of the chair to be submitted to the chamber. We are approaching a solemn moment in the national history. I count upon your calmness, dignity, and prudence, since these are the virtues of sovereignty."

The proposition was read, as follows:

The undersigned ask Congress to approve the following act:

The national assembly, assuming all power, declares that the form of government of the nation is republican, remitting to a constitutional convention (cortes constituyentes) the organization of this form of government.

This assembly will choose an executive, removable by and responsible to the chamber.

PI Y MARGALL.

NICOLAS SALMERON.
FRANCISCO SALMERON.
LAGUNERO.

FIGUERAS.

MOLINI.

FERNANDEZ DE LAS CUEVAS.

PI Y MARGALL: "I am not sure, gentlemen, if I shall know to-day how to maintain the serenity that you are accustomed to find in my speeches. I am profoundly moved. But my task is less difficult than it would seem, since I have nothing to say that is not already in the mind, in the hearts, and in the conscience of all present. You elected a King and that King has resigned the crown he received from you. You have no government. The ministers who have received their authority from the hands of the King have disappeared with the authority of the person from whom they derived their trust. There remains but one legitimate source of authority, the Cortes, and necessity compels this body to assume all power; you yourselves have confirmed what I say by your acts. If the Cortes hold the legislative power, they must create an executive authority. We propose that this be chosen by a direct vote of the assembly, and that it be charged with the duty of enforcing your decrees. Are we to have another interregnum? Should we leave the dynasty to pass from its orbit powerless and not replace it by another form of government? You all know the fruits monarchies have yielded us. You established a constitutional monarchy in the person of a Queen by divine right. You could not reconcile it with liberty. The people desired reform and progress. The people insisted upon the sanctity of personal rights, and that Queen and her father before her had no thought besides ignoring individual liberty and arresting the progress of the Spanish people. Finding her incompatible with your liberties, you banished her from the country; you then attempted to establish an elec tive monarchy, and you chose a King impersonating it. You see the result. He confesses himself to have been unable to overcome the rancor of parties and the discord that devours us. Our dissensions have multiplied; our animosities have spread and extended even to the parties that made the revolution of September, 1868. You are convinced that monarchy is incompatible with the political rights you have created. It is necessary,

therefore, that we go to the republic. You who have established the great principle of national sovereignty in the people, cannot do less than accept a form compatible with this principle, and this you do not find in a monarchy which circumscribes the power in the hands of a family. You cannot return to the monarchy. Privileges of caste have disappeared. It is impossible for you to merge the sovereignty of the nation in a dynasty. Bear in mind the ideas and the movement of opinion of your age. In other times, thanks to a religious belief widely accepted, there were dikes to bound the movement of thought and make hereditary powers possible. But in these days of free opinion how is it possi ble to suppose that a single person can control the currents of the popular will? We need movable powers, and for these the republic must be established. The executive should be so constituted that it may ever be in harmony with the ideas of the Spanish people. Look at the present state of Spain! Reactionary forces appear in many provinces, and you all know that a standing army is incapable of putting down these factions. It is necessary that the people rise in arms to put an end to this civil war. To do this you must give the people a flag they will accept and under which they will fight. This you cannot do in the name of monarchy. It is necessary, then, that this sovereign assembly proclaim at once the republic, leaving to a constitutional convention, to be hereafter chosen, the duty of defining the organization and form of the republic. We are federalists. We believe that in a federation lies the hope of the country. But we understand that in these moments all should make sacrifices, and ours is to forbear establishing now a federal form of government, leaving that determination to a future Congress. If we are agreed in this, we for our part are satisfied. Otherwise we must insist upon our attitude, since it is impossible for us to sacrifice our convictions. To-day we only ask that you proclaim the republic. Afterwards we shall know the form of republic the country desires." The proposition having been again read, was taken into consideration without a division. The debate was thereupon declared open.

Mr. ROMEO ORTIZ. "It has never been the doctrine of the liberal parties in Spain that a constitution can be modified without the consent of a convention elected expressly for that purpose. If we have had parties who thought otherwise, they were not liberals. With this observation I have only to affirm what has already been said by Mr. Ulloa. It would not become those of us who are monarchists by conviction to abandon our ideas and suddenly turn republicans. We are nevertheless disposed to lend our loyal and sincere support to the power that may be here created to sustain public order and maintain the integrity of our territory."

SALMERON, (DON NICOLAS.) "These are critical moments, when we not only have to decide the questions presented by the abdication of the Crown thrown into our midst by Don Amadeo, but we are bound to organize the country; and, to raise up the institutions, we need to maintain Social order and liberty. In this work we should form a compact phalanx; we must be prepared to sacrifice our lives, and, what is more, our name and our dignity, on the altar of the higher dignity of the Spanish nation. It is indispensable that we comprehend how we were yesterday divided by party passions under the monarchy; that, if heretofore factions have struggled with factions for power, to-day we have no monarchy to distract us. In this chamber, in presence of this sovereign assembly chosen by universal suffrage, we have already the republican form of government in which may be united every political and social aspiration. If you, the conservatives, say you are ready to support that

government, to maintain social order, raise yourselves a little higher and say, 'We come to assist in founding an order of things indispensable in this country after the ruin of the monarchy.' For you must realize that with the fall of the monarchy nothing legal remains but the first chapter of the constitution and this Cortes, the representatives of the national sovereignty. If you love your country as you say, if you are only animated by the desire of contributing to its welfare, accept the ideas within which we can all prosper. Let us all unite together. We, for our part, repel no one; republican liberty belongs to a social organization under which may live those who cherish the most opposite opinions. Repre sentatives of the Spanish nation, in this moment all Europe looks upon us. Let us imitate our forefathers, who redeemed our soil and reani mated our patriotism. For us there are neither conquerors nor conquered; neither republicans of yesterday nor of to-day. Let us all move forward together, confiding in the justice of our cause, resolved to save Spain and maintain liberty."

RUIZ ZORRILLA. "I do not propose at this moment to take part in the debate. I rise only to say to the representatives of the country that before approving or disapproving the proposition under discussion, it is indispensable to suspend the session, if only for a few minutes, in order that we may have a provisional government that may tend to the pres ervation of order in Madrid and in the provinces."

The PRESIDENT, (RIVERO.) "The president answers for order throughout Spain; [applause;] and to this end he relies on the co-operation of your excellency and your worthy colleagues."

RUIZ ZORRILLA. "Your excellency cannot expect our co-operation otherwise than as deputies or as senators. It is my duty to say that there is no government. Those of us who lately constituted the government, with much glory to ourselves, in the name of the monarchy, have ceased to exercise authority. And here you have not foreseen even the first necessity of a country, above all when it finds itself in the circumstances which surround us. If a telegram should come about the Carlists, [laughter,] or about any occurrence that might take place in any province of Spain, there is nobody who could receive it. [Laughter.] From the moment that Mr. Martos said that we had relinquished our authority as ministers, that we would not give attention to anything that might happen, you should have attended to this necessity. If a telegraphic dispatch were received now, saying that the Carlists had occupied an important city, or that one of our generals refuses to accept the situation, to whom could this be delivered, and who could take the proper steps to meet the emergency? [Loud murmurs. The president calls to order.] Gentlemen, understand the situation in the depths of your conscience and provide for the needs of the moment. I, gentlemen, am an honorable man, who has always performed his duty to the monarchy and to liberty, and when the monarchy and the dynasty disappear I offer fervent prayers that your efforts and measures will correspond to your impatience for that which I do not believe can last long in this country. [Murmurs of dissent.] This is a matter of opinion, and I regret to find myself interrupted; my position is not understood. I have been president of the council of ministers, and I have the consolation, in view of catastrophes which may come, that during the time that I have been at the head of the state, not one drop of blood has been shed. If I have interrupted this debate, it has been to call your attention to an immediate necessity. I am guided only by a sentiment of patriotism. This is said to you by one about to disappear from public life, and who has only one remorse, that of having returned to public affairs at the instigation of his friends.

disregarding, for once only, his own proper resolution. I think that my suggestion should not be disregarded, and I say this to you with all the more weight, because I expect to find myself under the necessity of resisting the aspirations of those who believe that after to-morrow we shall live in the world of Dr. Pangloss. I appeal to you by the love of that liberty which I have ever defended, that you give attention to the supreme duty imposed upon us by the extremely critical circumstances confronting us, a duty incumbent upon every society. I ask nothing in the interests of monarchy nor of the dynasty. They have disappeared. Nor in the name of my party, for it has ceased to exist. I appeal to you in the name of common sense. At this moment it is impossible to protect the interests of the country without some one in charge of the ministry of war and a secretary of interior; since it is impossible that the president of this assembly, who must preside over your deliberations, can at the same time perform executive duties that may be demanded of him at any instant. I do not wish to fatigue longer the attention of the assembly, and I conclude, praying that you will suspend the session for a moment and name a government, however provisional it may be, which may act until your further pleasure can be known. That is all I have to say."

The PRESIDENT, (RIVERO.) "The moment when the late ministry resigned their powers into the hands of the assembly, this body resumed them. In my opinion, although we have no precedent to guide us, when the sovereign assembly undertakes the functions of government, my authority should be sufficient until another is named. I, of course, may rightfully count upon the retiring ministers to assist me in the preservation of order until their successors are named. Relying on their support, and accustomed to preserve my equanimity in the most trying circumstances, there is no occasion whatever for the observations with which Mr. Zorrilla has interrupted the debate. If there is perturbation in Madrid, if disturbances happen in the provinces, I shall rely upon the ministers to suppress them, during the short period in which their assistance will be necessary. Is it possible, sovereign Cortes, that the functions of government can become inanimate? At the worst, this situation cannot last more than an hour or two, allowing to this debate the amplitude that the patriotism of the chamber may deem necessary. I am sure that we are all anxious to hasten the formation of a government, [Yes! Yes!] and that within two hours we shall have a government greater and stronger than we have ever had, invigorated by the co-operation of all the representatives of the country. Is this not enough? In order not to interrupt the discussion, I propose a very simple remedy-that we agree at once that the late cabinet resume their seats on the ministerial bench, exercising executive functions until the assembly names their successors."

The proposition was approved by the chamber.
ZORRILLA. "I ask the floor." [Murmurs.]

The PRESIDENT. "Order! Gentlemen of the late cabinet: in the name of the country and of the national assembly, I ask you to take your places on the ministerial bench, and discharge the functions of your separate offices."

MARTOS. "I ask the floor."

The PRESIDENT. "The question is not debatable. In the name of the assembly, and to support its authority, I insist that the late ministers obey."

ZORRILLA. "I am not disposed to go to the ministerial bench, although all my companions should do so, and your excellency will permit me to explain myself on this point." [Violent demonstration.]