his servile flatterers, and who at last came to be regarded as the colossal arbitrator of fortune and of war, sought to destroy the work of the convention, and restored slavery in San Domingo. And then, as the result of that great apostacy of the apostate Julian of the French revolution, there came that torrent of tumults and horrors and crimes which, though crimes, were no other than the deeds done by all nations, from Spain to Russia, in defense of liberty and independence. [Applause.] And then was seen a strange thing. The nation that most opposed the French revolution was England, the least democratic, but the most liberal of the powers of Europe, for democracy and liberty are not always synonymons. England! Yes; England, whose dread is that the lower classes should come to govern her, and who therefore seeks to repress them. England does not blindly oppose reform. When an idea possesses life, when it springs from the ballot-box and froin the people, when it reaches the heights of a parliament, when it combines all the elements that the principle of emancipation now combines among us, England does not oppose it; and this should be a lesson to the conservatives not to hinder the revolution from budding and bearing good fruit on the old Latin stock. For revolutions are avoided when governments lead reforms and welcome reforms, and when they soften them and put them into practice; but when reforms are blindly resisted, when self-evident principles are denied, until their realization in a single day is demanded from the crests of barricades or the seats of a convention, none can foretell the end of the convulsions thus born, anarchy or dictatorship following, which will at last destroy the Latin races if they be not brought to realize their own interests, and led to strive to harmonize order with liberty and government with democracy. [Applause.] So England therefore abolished her slavery, under conditions, it may be, but still she did abolish it, and thereupon the movement spread to those European nations in whose colonies slavery existed, and, whether by freeing slave children thereafter born, or by immediate emancipation, the extinction of slavery became general in almost all European possessions. And afterward another strange thing was seen. Was a revolutionary nation the next to abolish its slavery? Was it one of those nations that ever bears aloft the smouldering brand of revolution? Was it France, or Spain, or Italy, or even Germany? No! It was Russia. In Russia there arose a combined movement of literature and philosophy which all the power of her autocrats could not restrain. The Czar Nicholas himself rewarded the author of the romance called "Dead Souls," (Les Ames Mortes,) with a book whose leaves were bank-notes, without, perchance, being aware that by that act he rewarded the revelation of the condition of the serfs. And, as often happens, for there is power in ideas, this thought descended and spread from the summits of a sovereign mind over all the steppes and vast domains of Russia, and begot a soul in the bosom of the serf. Thus did the book bring about this change. As from the lofty peaks of the Alps, desert and frozen, whose thin air can scarce be breathed, flow downward into the deep valleys those rivers bearing the names of the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Danube, filling the plains with life and wealth, and by the fruitfulness they give to labor and tillage, fulfilling throughout the land the work of the Creator. [Prolonged applause.] Even so literature and philosophy do their work. An obscure thinker, in the solitude of his closet, moves revolutionary torrents that agitate all minds; and at last the Russian Empire cried, "Serfdom is no longer possible. Our soldiers have been conquered because they were not the soldiers of a free people; they have been conquered because they are mere machines-because they are serfs." And in the face of a resistance greater than all the privileged classes of Spain can oppose to us here, and Wielding the scepter of despotism, the Czar Alexander abolished serfdom in Russia. Nay more, not only abolished serfdom, but gave the serfs the germs of independence. And from thence the question passed to the United States; and the United States sacrificed themselves and their treasure, sacrificed a million of their sons and their boundless prosperity to redeem their millions of slaves; they, who had not even ranked the blacks as men, and who felt all the aristocratic disdain of the Saxon towards his inferiors; they who saw in the negro race a peril to the sublime work of Washington. Was it possible, after these grand achievements, Spaniards could maintain slavery? Could Spaniards deny that slavery was an international question? Had not Ferdinand VII, in their name, covenanted with England to abolish the slave trade and permitted their ships to be searched, and tribunals, foreign in part, to be established on Spanish soil to that end? And now the champions of traditional conservatism and monarchy were amazed at the moral influence exerted by a free people, when on their own shoulders they bore the brand set there by England! [Applause.] There had not been a single house of commons or of lords that had not raised protests against the action of Spain or of her captains-general in executing the slave-trade treaty; nor had there been a single Spanish government that had not been compelled to give England the explanations or tender her the apologies she so imperiously demanded as a right.

Well, then, representatives, has the United States Government done thus? Ah, gentlemen, permit me to protest here and now against the unseemly language-zealous and patriotic, without doubt, but still unseemly-that has been uttered in this place

concerning the representative of the United States, and concerning his nation and its President. Let me protest in the name of this democratic nation, of this republican nation, which can do no less than cherish deep reverence and admiration for the glorious people that in its lifetime of less than a century has solved the problem toward which we have so long been tending, the problem of making democracy the twin-sister of liberty and building up authority and government under the republic. [Good! good!] When, moreover, it is remembered that in the midst of the general want of confidence shown by Europe in our democracy and toward our republic, the United States hastened to recognize us, and by the act of giving us their moral and material guarantee to proclaim us to the world unhesitatingly as a people worthy of self-government, should we not owe a double debt of gratitude to that great nation that forms so high and favorable a judgment of us? And when, besides this, the President of the United States, in an address which is his own personal work, a speech for which he alone is responsible, and in preparing which he does not even have to consult his cabinet advisers, because it is his second inaugural address-this illustrious man, who, on the field of battle, has renewed in our day the triumphs of Alexander, says, "I seek neither war nor military predominance nor conquest; I simply desire liberty and democracy. I would wish to see all the nations in possession of one common right." And the man who speaks thus should he not be hailed with joy by a republican chamber, and recognized as the colossal figure in history, closing the era of conquest and inaugurating that of liberty and right?

Apart from this, the associations of Cubans formed in the United States are such as cannot be prevented under their laws. Even as we are not permitted by our laws to interfere in any way with a public association organized to effect a change in the form of any foreign government, for if we did we would infringe our constitution. What! do the members of this assembly hold that under our constitution we can prevent the formation of any public association in Spain hostile to a foreign government so long as it does not pass the limits of moral propagandism? We could not do so; the most that we could constitutionally do would be to prevent all forcible and aggressive acts, such as expeditions and shipments of arms. Very well; this is what the United States have done, to the utmost of their power, under all their administrations. This, gentlemen, is evident. It is a question of domestic policy. In the time of a celebrated minister, who sought to win the presidency by advocating the annexation of Cuba and Porto Rico to the Southern States, and thereby add two more slave States, then it was easy to understand why the Southern States in particular would endeavor to aid filibustering expeditions, as they in fact did; and the only time the integrity of our national domain and of the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico was menaced, was in the times of slave-holding rule, for the slave-holders were vitally interested in throwing two new slave States into the balance of the American Union.

But now, what interest have they in possessing Cuba and Porto Rico? None, absolutely none! Such an act would introduce an unstable element into the confederation: it would introduce a race that does not harmonize with the Anglo-Saxon race, which has always been at war with races not of its own blood; and, perhaps, it would compromise the greatness, the prosperity, and the peace of the people who have reared that marvelous Republic. And this the United States perfectly understand. But, gentlemen, their frontier, bordering close upon our frontier, and an insurrection being flagrant in Cuba, they have done, as England has done, and addressed us, not menacesfor they well know the dignity of the Spanish nation-not notes that could in any manner exert any influence upon our domestic affairs. No, gentlemen, they have addressed us friendly and courteous advice, such as all governments may tender to one another in the grand parliament of civilized nations. [Mr. SUAREZ INCLAN. How about the note of October 29th ?]

"I shall speak of that note. In the first place that note, although it foreshadowed a change of attitude, was not a note addressed to the minister of state here in Spain, but was a note to the United States representative in Madrid, and in that note the latter was not instructed to read it to, and leave a copy with, the Spanish minister of state." [A REPRESENTATIVE. How about publishing it?] "Publishing it may have been a violation of confidence, or a simple oversight. Why, only recently I myself came near being the victim of an oversight of this kind, and was obliged to use the utmost activity to prevent the publication of a note which, nevertheless, came very near being published. [Rumors interrupting the speaker.]

The PRESIDENT requested the members not to interrupt the orator, but to await their turn to say what they had to say.

Mr. CASTELAR.

Although the publication of that note may have been in accordance with the diplomatic usage of the United States, the minister of state was not officially made cognizant of it; it was neither read to him nor left with him; it had no influence on his decisions, which were prompted only by his own conscience. Let us not reach such a depth of humiliation as to seek to degrade the nation in order to put a party to shame. The minister of state of the late King was a minister of Spain. His eloquence, his renown, his glory, belong to us all; his honor is our honor, his good name is our

good name, and his patriotism being known, we should recognize and confess that he would have done all that mortal could do to protect the dignity of Spain, which none will suffer to be trodden under foot, so long as a patriot breathes on our soil. No! the Zorrilla ministry had no knowledge of that note; it was never informed of it; it was ignorant of its existence at the time when it had already resolved upon the abolition of slavery.

"The radical party is under pledges respecting the Cuba and Porto Rico question, you say. Are not we also? And I, who have not yet had a conversation upon American policy with the worthy representative of the United States, who has often called to see me-although the pressure of circumstances has prevented me from conferring with him-I, gentlemen, have to declare to you that I am an advocate of the immediate abolition of slavery in Porto Rico; I am an advocate of abolition in Cuba, with a due regard to all interests; I am an advocate of colonial reforms, and of extending every possible liberty to Cuba and Porto Rico; but if any one were to recall these convictions to me, and seek to bind me by them, I would answer, these pledges are with my conscience and my country, and a foreign nation has no concern therewith. And the worthy minister of the United States, who knows us and respects us will never seek to the Spanish nation, and the Spanish republic.

"The radical ministry, gentlemen, when it came into power, found itself pledged before the nation to reform the government of the Antilles, and to endeavor by all possible means to abolish slavery. But, gentlemen, when the ministers of the conservative party were in office, and when friendly counsels were vouchsafed to them in a certain sense by the United States representative in Madrid, did it perchance happen that they did not offer him certain indirect guarantees by way of satisfaction; that they did not assure him that certain reforms would be inaugurated at a certain time? And, nevertheless, no one has thought, neither do I think, that, because some nations interest themselves in the fortunes of other nations, or that, because some domestic questions may be related to other foreign questions, those ministers have compromised the dignity and honor of the nation. The slavery question is, in reality, an international question, as I have said before. What would the government say, if a foreign cabinet should say to it, how are you going to settle the question of the traditional tribunals (foros) of Galicia? What are you going to do about the rabassa morta of Catalonia? But no foreign ministry would say this, because these are questions solely and absolutely for ourselves to decide; but in the slavery question, the spirit of the human race, the advance of ideas, the pledges of the Spanish nation, and even her treaties, all lend to the slavery question an international character.

"And thus it is, gentlemen, that in relation to this question, frankness, which in such matters is the best policy, leads me to say that all, absolutely all the cabinets of Spain have been approached by England. There has not been a single session of the English Parliament that has not found fault with our administration in Cuba, nor a single English minister who has not preferred some claim against us.

"But notwithstanding that it is an international question, at the time it was brought up by the Zorrilla cabinet it was not, and had not been the ground of any foreign representations whatever. No one had requested the ministry to present this measure, no one had demanded it. The question came before the council of ministers, and some very patriotic and very liberal ministers differed from the rest of the government. This led to a crisis, and as soon as the government was recognized, it at once, of its own free and spontaneous act, brought the bill for the abolition of slavery in Porto Rico before the chambers.

"Ah, gentlemen, I will say no more upon this point, for I deem it a dishonor and an insult to a nation to believe that any of its sons could be controlled by a foreign impulse. I have only to say that, if in the brief time I have filled the ministry of state or may continue to fill it-and the same declaration has been made by all the ministers of Spain-any nation, howsoever powerful it might be, in circumstances as difficult and grave as these, when we so much need the friendliness of all the powers, if any nation whatever dare to offer me the slightest insult, I, as a true and honorable representative of my people, would prefer the utter destruction of my country rather than the loss of an atom of her honor. [Applause.] And other governments have said and would do exactly the same."

The radical party was bound by public and solemn pledges of honor and conscience. The record of the republican party made its pledges even more sacred. The emancipation scheme was presented and had practically been approved, almost unanimously, on the night of December 21st. From the commencement of the debate the main conservative argument was the haste and imprudence of bringing forward immediate abolition. But the conservatives themselves had rendered any gradual measure impossible. When they were in full power, obeyed by all, undisturbed by any changes in the form of government from a democracy to a monarchy and from a monarchy to a republic, then was the time to bring themselves up to the advanced ideas of the age, to study the difficulties of the problem; and when the representatives from the Antilles had come here to hear their views, and to frame a measure of emancipation which, even

though gradual, say in ten years, would have settled the problem by this time, they had instead offered blind resistance. They forgot that these problems are beyond man's control, and their inaction, which would have left the negro to drag his fetters for years and years to come, now made immediate abolition inevitable.

“Ah! gentlemen,” he said, “do not fall to-day into the same error. If I had a right to supplicate aught of you, I would beseech you, almost upon my knees, not to interpose obstacles to the passage of this law. For, know you not the perils and difficulties that surround us? Can none of you foresee? Can none of you forecast the spirit, born of the absolute freedom this government, if it be still in office, will give to the coming elections, which will be reflected in the future constitutional convention? And if from this soil so deeply sown with revolutionary ideas, from this sleeping volcano, from this land teeming with a widespread agitation of conscience and of thought, where it almost seems as if all the elements and all the ideas emanating from the human mind were gathered together, as by the unseen winds, here on the confines of Western Europe, if from this field so rank in all these ideas should arise an unreasoning, enthusiastic, and spontaneous movement in the future convention, how great would be your responsibility! Ah, what a commanding argument could we then use, we who represent moderation and prudence, if we could say to them, pause and consider; look at things practically; was it not also said that slavery would not be abolished in Porto Rico, and behold it is abolished; do not therefore imperil by your acts the lovely island of Cuba. We could say this with authority if you give us your vote and your assent now. But if emancipation in Porto Rico benot now decreed, I fear that the future representatives of the people will not pause for any human consideration. I fear lest they shall say in their generous impatience, All reforms delayed are lost! I fear lest by a spontaneous outburst of feeling they will do without forebodings what it is in your power to avoid now by moderation and prudence in passing this law.

"The government of the republic need make no protestations concerning the integrity of our domain. It solemnly engages to redouble its efforts and its sacrifices to maintain it at all costs, as a sacred legacy of past generations, which it must preserve intact for the generation of to-day and transmit to those to come; but do not hinder, gentlemen, the fulfillment of this inevitable duty. What, gentlemen, yon believe that a reform like this may be thus brought into notice, that the hopes of the slaves may be thus raised, that the question of this reform may be thus agitated before all the world, and then when freedom is seen and almost grasped by them you can forthwith snatch it away from thirty thousand slaves!

"I have not initiated this reform. I have not brought it before you. I have maintained a patriotic silence. I have stimulated no cabinet to action. I would not have it said of us that we imperiled the integrity of our domain; but I must now say one thing, and that is, that if this law for the abolition of slavery in Porto Rico be not passed, I renounce, before you all, my responsibility for whatever may happen. [Ap plause.] I wash my hands of it all; but if the law be passed, then you may throw all the responsibility upon us. [Applause.] We promise you to die a thousand deaths rather than consent that an atom shall be taken away from the integrity of our country. [Stormy applause.] If the abolition of slavery in Porto Rico bring dangers upon Spain, I swear it, that we, the republicans of Spain, will deem it an honor to die in the tropies for the salvation, for the liberty, for the independence, and for the integrity of Spanish soil. [Prolonged applause.] But, gentlemen, if it be not voted, I am ready to proclaim before Europe, before America, and before the whole world, that it has been defeated because this assembly, born under a monarchy, and which, under a monarchy, proposed the abolition of slavery, has prolonged slavery in order to compromise and even dishonor the republic. [Sensation. Loud murmurs interrupt the orator.]

"Gentlemen, this is not a party question. It cannot be made a party question; it is an eminently national question. No, do not, I beseech you, make it a question of conservatives and radicals and republicans. I cannot give it such a name, for it can in nowise assume such a character. But yesterday, but a day or two ago, Mr. Padial on one hand, and General Sanz on the other, in this chamber, inspired by motives which they doubtless thought were noble, hurled harsh words and anathemas at each other; and I for my part exclaimed, 'Good God, are we to have also, in the midst of the Spanish congress, this rivalry between creoles and peninsulars-[lond rumors]-this rivalry accursed of God, accursed of nature, and accursed of history!' [Vociferous ap plause.] And you, it is for you to give a proof of unity, of greatness, in casting these quarrels aside, and being reconciled, and saying that which ever should be said: Neither here nor there are creoles nor peninsulars; here and there alike, we are all Spaniards, children of one mother, of the same spirit, and the same race; for all bear the blood of the Cid and the blood of Pelayo in their noble veins, and the spirit of Spain in their generous souls.

"And so I beseech and implore you, conservatives, this is a national question, a question of humanity. Vote the abolition of slavery in Porto Rico, and I in turn pledge you that all interests shall be heard and borne in mind, and carefully consid

ered when emancipation in Cuba comes before the constitutional convention. For, gentlemen, although I have little, although I have nothing, I have still my humble, honest word, and a heart full of patriotism, ever devoted to my country's service. Í admonish you, conservatives, that you must have a spark of patriotism and of foresight. If you possess these, then this very afternoon we shall make the effort to pass this law, and see whether it be possible to abolish slavery. [Cries of Vote, vote.] And if we fail, then on your heads, and not on ours, be the responsibility. And if we succeed, I say to you, gentlemen, that we shall indeed have written a glorious page in our history.

"Under all aspects, these are solemn and difficult moments. The safety of the country-and why deny it ?-is endangered on every side. We need all the sons of Spain, we need to forget all our dissensions, in order to save order, to save the principles of authority, to save the integrity of our territory, to save the republic, which is our country itself. Be moved by an impulse of patriotism, and you will be assured of the gratitude of all the generations to come, the benediction of history, and, dearer than all these, the benediction of our conscience, like the peace of God, will rest upon our souls." [Tumultuous applause. Many representatives crowd around the orator and congratulate him with enthusiasm.]

No. 566.)

No. 400.

General Sickles to Mr. Fish.

UNITED STATES LEGATION IN SPAIN, Madrid, March 30, 1873. (Received April 23.) SIR: On Tuesday last, pursuant to appointment, I had a conference with the minister of state and his colleague of the colonial office respecting several pending questions.

In reply to a reference made by myself at the outset to the case of Santa Rosa, Mr. Castelar informed me that he was released, and he had received an expression of your thanks, through Admiral Polo, for the action of the Spanish government in the matter. Mr. Sorni added, that the release of this person was his first official act after entering the colonial department. Mr. Castelar said the omission to acquaint me with the action of the government, in reply to my note of the 2d ultimo, must be attributed solely to his pre-occupation in the assembly and in the cabinet council.

Passing to the subject of embargoed estates in Cuba, Mr. Castelar stated, in reply to a preliminary inquiry, that he had not received from his predecessor any explanation of the question. Having recapitulated the origin and bases of our reclamations and the course of the negotiations which had taken place, I presented two propositions for the consideration and action of the Spanish government, as follows:

First. That the embargoes, so far as they affected the property of citizens of the United States, were violations of the seventh article of the treaty of 1795, which expressly forbids all embargoes, and also because the property was seized by the arbitrary act of the executive authorities, thus depriving the owners of the right to a judicial hearing and judgment expressly guaranteed by treaty.

Second. That the reference of these reclamations to the mixed commission sitting in Washington was a dilatory and inadequate remedy, and that in all cases in which evidence had been presented showing that the claimants were citizens of the United States the right to the immediate restitution of their estates was clear and unquestionable.

Having explained the arrangement made with Mr. Martos before his resignation, by which the pending cases were referred for immediate action to the Spanish minister at Washington and the captain-general of