The New York Herald Newspaper, April 26, 1873, Page 4

THE SPANISH: REPUBLIC, The Perils and Cares of the New Commonwealth. ‘MADRID AN ISOLATED CITY. - Social Problems and Anxigties in Estremadura and Catalonia. WHATTHE CARLISTS ARE DOING War in the Provinces, Sedition in the Capital and Disorder Everywhere. EUROPEAN APATHY. How Spain and France Patronize One An- other---Thiers and Castelar. EMANCIPATION IN PORTO RICO. Thirty-five Thousand Slaves Made Free by the Young Republic. REACTION IN THE CORTES. The Government Takes the Offensive and Demands Dissolution. TRIUMPH OF THE MINISTRY. The Cortes Dissolves in the Best of Feeling— A New Cortes in June. Evils of the Spanish System. DECAY TO BE CHECKED. Want of Discipline Army. in the Spanish Antipathy to America and Its Causes. GRANT'S DIPLOMACY IN MADRID. The Republic or a Revolution More Terrible than the Revolution in France. MADRID, March 20, 1873, The young republic still lives; but will it live ? That is now the question asked by its most san- guine friends. I confess there 18 not a cheerful o@utiook, and yet what better could be? It is something to overturn asystem that is as old as the Romans, and which has been sustained bya people as loyal, as resolute and as difficult to ex- cite as the people of Spain, THE SITUATION IN MADRID. In Madrid the situation is this: We live from hour to hour. In the morning we marvel how we passed the day preceding, and speculate on what night may bring. The North is full of care and strife. The railway to France is the main artery of land communication with Europe. the frontier is a distance of perhaps 350 miles. To reach this frontier it is necessary to go through the Basque country. Scarcely a day passes but we are toid that the railway has been cut, that sta- tions have been burned and, the mails captured. The other day a conductor and a brakesman were | taken irom the train and shot. The passengers and a guard of thirty soldiers entered a house azd defended themselves until reinforcements came. For jour days last week we had no mail. This week we had one mail coming on time, but only one. Isent a despatch to one of your correspondents in | Barcelona on Sunday evening. He received it Wed- mesday morning—two days later than mail time. To reach London we have to telegraph to Lisbon and thence by cable to New York. This is the way you receive your special despatches. Madrid, the capital of Spain, is the mest isolated city in Spain. The line to Lisbon is as uncertain as the others. to run by paying the Carlists a few hundred dollars @ day, and, with this payment, it does not always receive permission. Now come stories of Carlist bands in Andalusia, the southern province, and the destruction of a bridge on the way to Cadiz, Carlism in the South is a new and suspicious fea- ture—something unusualin Spain, Then we have bad news jrom Estramadura, Estremadura is a province adjoining Portugal, containing Bada- joz, which Wellington captured by storm— ® province famous in the Roman times and under the Moors for its grain—now a pastoral country, with large flocks of merino sheep, owned by landlords who live in Madrid and Paris. The peasants are simple, indolent, kindly, @our- teous, and yet the race that gave us Pizarro and Cortez, They have looked upon the rents they pay to absent landlords as an evil, They feel that in some time or way they sheuld have an ownership ofthe land which they till, and upon which they and their ancestors have lived since the time of the Alonzos, Now that the Republic has come, they understand it to mean that they will pay | no more of these heavy rents. So we have “demonstrations” at Badajoz and elsewhere, Which excite all well-bred people in Madrid and make infinite clamor among the Monarchists, “Have you not hes evening, “of this fea they have begun a division of property.” thought,” was the reply, “it was the restoration 0 property.” EMIGRATION OF THE NOBILITY. While these evil tokens come from the North and the South there is a sense of unrest in Madrid, The nobility have nearly all emigrated, When they have not they have sent away their wives and daughters and portable pessessions. By the kind offices of a friend I had an appointment to visit the paiace of a celebrated nobleman. When I called the person in charge said he was sorry he could show none of the treasures of His Lordship's house. 1 was weicome to enter, but there were none of the pictures, ner the gems, nor the statuary. All had been quietly sent to Portugal The ladies of the household were in France, ‘You see,’ he said, “we ful news? Why, at Badajos are in @ time of revolution, and these scoundrels may at any time destroy the palaces. Somehow, as you know, Sefior, they have that habit, and so ‘we have taken precautions. So it is at the palaces | 6; 4 morai character, From Madrid to | The line to Barcelona is permitted | cd,’ said a diplomatist the other | «rr | education pt ner children. Poor amadeus is not the only Spanish grandee who has run away.” THE WANT OF PATRIOTISM. The prolonged absence of Figueras in Catalonia excites comment, You have heard all about his journey there and his movements from your Barce- lona correspondents; but general news from Cata- lonia does not comfort us. This is, perhaps, the most important province in Spain—the New Eng- land of the Republic, ‘the Catalans are rich and industrious, have a productive country and are mainly merchants. They are the only Spaniards who travel much in, Spain, But while the Catalans have always been rich and enterprising they have also been republican, ' That spirit of radi- calism which we saw in Marseilles and Lyons during the French revolution—which made the Manchester school in England and gave a party to “Bright and Cobden ;" which. we saw more con- spicuously in our own New England in antt-slavery times—has long existed in Catalonia. Prim came from this country, and likewise Figueras, and the mission of the President in the North is to pacify the extreme republican tendencies of the people, who are impatient because their Utopia comes so slowly. The enemies of the new Commonwealth rejoice over the embarrassments encountered by the President, just as they rejotced over the deteat of Mr, Glad- stone. It is amusing enough, but you will be sur- prised to hear, that when Mr. Gladstone was defeated in the Irish University bill the monarch- ists were in glee. “Now,” they said, “see what evil has come because of this foolish attempt to found & republic, Lord Gladstone has been turned out ef power by an indignant English people because he could not send an army to suppress the Republic, and now Sir, Disraeli will send one.” What will strike an observer in this spirit is the want of patriotism, and especially among @ people who have been conspicuous for Patriotic self-devotion, Here comes a consideration which is a painful feature in the present condition of Spain. There is really no patriotism in the upper classes. The tendency of a monarchy and an aris- tocracy based upon pride and corruption and foolish, feudal privileges has been to degrade those very classes in Spain which we would sup- pose to be the defenders of Castilian honor, THE OPERATIONS OF THE CARLISTS AND ALFONSISTS. Let me explain this more clearly. I have given you an idea of the exact situation in Madrid—the severing of all communications, the destruction of commerce and the paralysis of trade, These are now the crowning evils in Spain, Well, they are the work altogether of the upper classes. Don Jarlos represents the extreme section o! the mon- ‘chists, and believes in divine right. Don Carlos himself is skulking beyond the frontier, in some french disguise, but his followers are in arms in the Biscay country and in Catalonia, Protected by the mountains, with France as a refuge and base of supplies, and appealing to the madic tastes of the peasantry of that odd, attractive, sunny region, the iollowers of Don Carlos prey upon the commerce, the industry and trade of Spain, to restore a prince who was never in Spain in his life; whose ancestor, Ferdi- nand, abandoned his crown ignomimiously, and whose first act as king would be to restore the extreme powers of the Church, Here in Madrid there 1s @ Carlist committee, composed of Spanish noblemen, who print newspapers, furnish money and sustaln an active propagauda.’ This they do in open day, and the Republic, carrying to the ex- treme its views of liberty, makes no objection, While the friends of Don Car- los are in arms against the peace and prosperity of Spain the friends of the Prince Don Alfonso are actively conspiring. I saw a Spanish friend the other day who had come from Paris. He was an Alfonsist. He had seen Queen Isabella. “How is Her Majesty t”’ I ventured to ask. “Oh, my friend, she is very unhappy. The ingratitude ot the people cuts her to the heart, She has given up the throne for her son and they will not call him back. Montpensier is behaving ill, He wants to be Regent and no one will trust him. Se he will not pay out any meney, snd he had a let from France the other day from the Orleans property. And the generals, the men whom the Queen did so much ter, look at them—So and So and So—here they stay, serving tin republicans, and will not bring Alfonso back, So Her Majesty sits in her room ail any and cries about it—cries to break her heart, and says she hever saw suca ingratitude. And [I am sure nobody ever did.” Here was a Spaniard, who wouid have resented any suspicion of his honor, who was actually lamenting in broad day and in the capital of Spain that the generals of the army did not betray their trust and seek to overturn the , Commonwealth and bring civil war. He was loyal to his Prince, no doubt. Loyalty to his Prince meant assurance of office and hopes for promotion. This, IT am afraid, 1s the detinition of spanish loyalty among the higher classes, SEDITION IN THE CORTES—PROTEST OF CASTELAR. So, while tne Carlists are making what they call “war” in the North and wounding Spain withevery blow they strike, the monarchists have been teas- ing, annoying and seeking to destroy the govern- ment by fomenting an insurrection in the Cortes. I have written you about the various crises that came since the Republic. In all of them the gev- ernment triumphed—merely because the people were behind it in stalwart manifest fashion. ‘the effect of the last demonstration pioneered by Martos was to adh an angry aah | in Catalonia, Since then the favorite plan of attack has been to interpellate the government—to ask extraordinary questions—whether it is true the socialists have ariseu; whether there is any foundation for the rumor that there is to be a division of property; Whether the government has taken, er means to take, steps to discountenance the spread of these Tumors, Ina time like this and in acountry as sensitive as Spain the effect of these questions and insinuations 1s to soy discontent. The other day Castelar suddenly turned upon his tormentors ina brief two hay cage which thrijled Madrid. “In view,” id @astelar, “of the spectacle which this Chamber presents, in view | of the gravity of the situation and the necessity there exists for the government to preserve ail its powers—not for itself, bat on account of the great dangers to which are exposed liberty, right, the nation and the Republic—the government cannot | resist making a protest. No Chamber ever did | what this body is doing, namely, create a govern- nent in order to spit upon it—to blacken it, to | butfet it and bring ils authority into contempt.” (Here there was a burst of cheering and cries of “Live the Republic!) If you do not like this government; if it does not inspire you with conf- dence; if you believe that its ideas do not insure tranquillity; if the persons who compose it do not offer guarantees necessary to order, turn it out! but do net take aw | and respect n, this Government has proved that It to re-establish authority in alithe branches Commonwealth; to secure a disciplined army; a disembarrassed treasury}; to carry out the which its members gave when they were pposition and seeking for power. Above all, What we need in circumstances so grave and soiemn is that you will have faith in our caution, our pradence and patriotism (Here there | Was renewed cheering and cries of * Let us dis- | Solve immediately.) ‘No om said the supreme- | ly eloquent man, “has warred upon demagogy | as Ihave dene. But I must say since I came into | the government I have seen the demagogy | of the lower classes, with scarcely an exception, entirely submissive, and Ihave seen constantly | the insurrection of the demagogy of the upper | classes, I have seen its endless sedition. The | demagogy of the upper classes consists of some— | Laliude to no one, neither do Lexclude any ene— who are for seizing power by all means, who mean | to hold it at every cost and to sacrifice in their | amvition justice, ‘tranquillity and the nation. Ah, gentiémen, there is no burden se heavy | and bitter as power in these circumstances, with all | this agitation, with all the difficulties attaching to | government, with our responsibilities to Europe, the worldand history. He would be my best {riend who would relieve me at this moment of the re- | sponsibility of power. Bat while we do not desire | power, if you desire unity, the concentration of the government forces, and moral autherity, have confidence in the government. I yon have ‘not, turn itout. But do not continue to present this debasing spectacie, do not, 1 entreat you, by the ; honor of the nation, the safety of our children and the sacred name of the country.” _ ‘THE ISOLATION OF THE REPUBLIC, | This eloquent burst of Castelar brought a sense ofshame to the monarchists, and since then we have had comparative peace. wut another atfti- | culty, maimly sentimental, however, ig found in the isolation imposed upon Spain by the non-recog | nition of the Republic by fereign Powers. Nor- would I dwell upon this, but that there are no | diffleulties among @ people like those in Spain to compare with those addressed to the sentiment. In all the Latin racs—in the French so manifestly ; in the Spanish to no less a degree—the spirit of national Vanity or national pride is paramount to that of genuine patriotism. The other evening a nobleman, bearing oue of the famous | names of Spain and not unfriendly to | the Republic, considering Ms class, was mourning over the condition of Spain. “I tell you,’’ he said, | ‘the Republic cannot last, All Europe isin arms against us. We have friendship from no nations but Switzerland and the United States, The | the bill for two reasons. If friendship of Switzerland 18a satire; that of the | United States a mockery, us, aud every second man in Spain thinks America means to rob us of Cuba Our people feel as if they were ina state of political inanition, They cannot breathe.” This diMculty, appealing so strongly to the sentiment, is a grave danger te the Kepublic. There is ne Moly Alliance in Europe. We have in the monarchies a differ ent sentiment from what was manifested when Alexander of Russia preached the gospel of @ political, mystical Christianity. Nor would the public spirit of kurope tolerate an invasion of Spain like thatof the Duc d’Angouléme after the | Restoration. But there is no less a Holy Alliance The diplomatists who were of Duke A, and B, and ©,” and so on—naming the | here under Amadeus still remain, Their business principal dukes in Madrid. “Serrano is here, but he gent his family to Bayonne in an ostentatious mane ner, The Duchess of Prim remains, busy with the seems to be to decry the Republic, The money markets of the world reject Spanish credit, and will offer the Ministers of the new Commonwealth bo assistance to reviys it The Carlist trouble One is too sma,i to aia | could have been. stifled at any time had France pas the least respect to neutral obliga- tions. But with France as a base of supplics for war and a refuge. in case of defeat; with Carl- ist committees raising money in Paris and London, this contest is continued, and its effect 1s to virtu- ally sever Spain from the Continent. The influ- ence of England, so far as it can be understood, 1s against the Republic in what is called the federal Republic. Thus a declaration made that Great Britam would be compelled to defend the integrity of Portugal. This was followed by the movement of the English fleet to Lisbon. New, as nothing {3 in less danger from Spain, for this generation, at least, than the independence of rtugal, the Reaste has sorely wounded the Spanish liberals. ‘hey remember the avidity with which the Rogiish recognized Napoleon after the cowp-d'élat. ney point to the recognition of the French Kepublic— Pes i it was less legal than the Spanish in this, that the French sprung from a usurpation under mutiny against the authority of the Empire, while the Spanish came by the gentle and natural opera- tions of law. reek see, furthermore, that, while the French Republic only came into life amid mas- sacre and civil war and palaces in flames, not 4 shot has been fired in anger by a single partisan of the Republic—except in defending the nation against an invading army of Carlists. They nat- nrally ask why they have not as good a claim . to the ‘good "graces of England as the blood-stained Bonaparte and the usurp- ing Thiers, Italy would naturally recognize amy liberal government in Spain, but Victor Emmanuel would not hasten to welcome an envey from the capital that banished his son, England naturally does not want the peters ean to become a republican lake, wie two Lati and Spain—republican, how long would Italy re- main apart, id with the three Latin nations in alliance the Mediterranean Would not be as surely under the dominance of English guns. Germany was said to be on the point of recognizing the new Republic, but Russia and England, and even the apathy of France, deprived Bismarck of a pretext. CASTELAR AND THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. The apathy of France took an amusing shape recently. You will remember the famous circular addressed by Castelar to the foreign governments ee] the Republic. This document was pronounced by the London Times to be unexcep- tionable in tone, Well, to this circular an answer was vouchsafed by Count Kémusat, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. Count Rémusat was pleased, he said, to note the elevated sentiments and noble intentions expressed by Sefior Castelar, and he had the warmest desire to see them re- alized, Then camea flush of French vanity frem which even as sedate a man as Count Rému could not free himself, *It1s not,’’ he continued, “the government of the French Republic that can see with indifference the efforts which Spain is at this moment making to constitute itself.” Then, for- getting the measureless calamities that have fallen upon nce and the successive revelutions that have overwhelmed her, beginning with the Jena and ending with the Commune, he adaed:—“We trust she may arrive at the close of the revolu- tions which have so often disorganized her social system; we offer up prayers that she may gain the first of all blessings—order in liberty.’’ Then, passing into a rapturous mood, His Excellency con- tinued—‘‘May Heaven grant that the Constituent Cortes may insure to Spain a regular and definitive eevee which shall win the confidence of Eurvpe Py, reapecung, all rights at hot and abroad.” After this, and forgetting that the French departments of the Pyrenees were little more than recruiting grounds for Carlism, and that the French authorities had connived at the operations of Don Carlos, Count Rémusat concluded by saying that France would “attentively watch over ine main- tenance ot the excellent relations that subsist be- tween Spain and France, fulfliling ali the duties of nolenborty, Mndness imposed upon France by a common frontier, and making every effort to com- pel peace and insure freedom of trade and travel in the regien of the Pyrenees.” This note of Rémusat—written, let us hope, with the kindest feelings towards Spain, was not received in a cheerful spirit. In the present sensitive state of the public mind, and cepacially os regards eee countries, and the political isolation in which the Republic finds itself, nowing could be more offensive to the national mind than an attempt to patronize the Republic. Even Castelar saw this, His reply has not been published. But I learn that the young Minister could not resist tke temptation implied in the French note. In his answer he says that Spain Tecognizes the elevated sentiments animating the communication of the French Cabinet; that Spain has witnessed with interest the efforts of M. Thiers to constitute a Republic, and trusts they may be crowned with success; fer Spain could never look with indifference upon the ef- forts which the French Republic is now making to overcoine the disasters of civil war, consolidate se- clety and ensure order. ‘For Spain,’’ says Mr. Castelar, with an exquisite irony that wiil be ap- preciated nowhere more keenly than in Paris, “cannot do otherwise than wish that France may arrive at the close of the revolutions that have so eften led to misery and disorder; that she may suc- ceed in achieving the inestemable blessing of order that means liberty.” Mr. Castelar, pursuing his irony in @ manner almost pitiless, prays furthermore “that heaven may so guide the deliberations of the Censtituent Assem- bly, soon to meet, that France will gain a regular and permanent government, winning the confi- dence of Europe and the admiration of the werld by its respect for the rights of all.” Not overlooking the aid given the Carlists by France, Sefior Castelar says he “netes with ex- ceeding pleasure the assurances of Count Rémusat upon that subdject, and trusts that events will show he has not hoped in vain.” Whether it be altogether wise fer the new Republic to bandy phrases with France, or to yield to a temptation quite irresistible to a rheto- Tician as brilliant as Castelar, I will not say. But I mark the tone of the French note as an indication of apathy felt towards the Republic by a republi- can President like Thiers, and the tone of the reply of Sefior Castelar as an evidence of the extreme sensitiveness of the new government to ‘the tone of European public,opinion. ae DISSOLUTION OF THE CORTES, * Mapnrip, March 24, 1873, The Republic has passed through another phase of its creation, Slavery has been abolished in Porto Rico and the Cortes has dissolved, Spain is now called upon to pronounce upon the work that has been done, and to say, in electing a constituent Congress, whether she desires a federal or a unita- rian republic, or whether she wishes new men to control her destinies. THE EFFORT TQ DEFEAT EMANCIPATION, At two o'clock this morning the Cortes which proclaimed the Republic passed into history, For along time its members had been discussing the bill to abolish slavery in Porto Rico.’ The efforts made to defeat the bill were described to you ina recent letter, in which I dwelt upon the power and progress of the Pro-Slavery League. The enemies of the Republic fomented opposition to very were abolished in Porto Rico it meant the downfall of slavery in Cuba and would injure their class. Ifit were not abolished, then there weuld be an angry feeling among the republicans, who would feel that their leaders, while in opposition, had made pledges they dared not or could not redeem when in power. AS Zorrilla when in power was in favor of emancipa- tion, and there were radicals eneugh to pass the bill ifit came toa vote, the only policy left to the reactionists was to prevent a vote. By the rules of the Cortes no measure can be passed into a law unless a majority of the members elected—one-half plus one—attend and vote. It was, there- fore, resolved to defeat emancipation and kin- dred measures by absenting themselves from the Cortes, and preventing that jority that was necessary toa quorum. Many members resigned. Others quietly slipped hon Day after day the benches showed @ Slimmer attendance, Many friends of emancipation g: it up as hopeless, The Cortes would crumble away into a helpless minority, and, instead of dissolving in @ peaceful, legal, decorous manner, it would become @ mass of ruins, leaving the government it had made to get on as best it could, THE GOVERNMENT TAKES THE OFFENSIVE. But the government made a rally, It was neces- sary to do two things; emancipation mast be pro- claimed, and the Cortes must dissolve legally, Cas+ telar, who had been watching the debate, hoping for the best and waiting for the opportune mo- ment, at length, the day before yesterday, made a great address. In this—a synopsis or report of which J hope to send you, for such value as it may have two or three weeks after the result comesto you by telegraph—the orator summed up the whole question, and showed that Spain was committed to emancipation as @ condition precedent te any peace, There could be no reform in the Antilies, no hepe of the preservation of the Spanish pewer in the West Indies, unless emancipation began the reforms Which Spain owed to her rich and patient and long-suffering colonies. The address was moderate, conciliatory, making every allowance for the prejudices and interests of the slaveheld- ers, and showing that the passage of this bill, or a measure embodying its essential features, was necessary to the honor and safety ot the country. It is not often that a speech makes an impression deep and grave enongh to | affect @ Legisladire, but after the words of Castelar it was clear that there would be a fight on the slavery question; that the majority who had made the Cabinet should support it at least in their just and wise measures of reform, The govern- ment resolved upon @ decisive plan, Figueras had returned from the provinces, representing the un- easy tecling of all classes over the prolonged state of inaction in the Assembly, and saying that, wo natiens—France - NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1873—TRIPLE SHEET. Jess it came to an end, he would not be in any way responsible for the peace of the nation. THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME. It was resolved, therefore, to go into the Cortes and announce that the government would resign its powers unless three things were done—to wit:— L. The passage of the bill aboliehing slavery in Porto Rico, IL The appointment of a permanent commission until the meeting of to coungel the governmen: the Constituent Assembly, whose duty will be to enact a constitutions IIL Permanent session of the Cortes until a vote of dissolution was reached. THE EMANCIPATION BILL. The first question was upon the Emancipation bill, The speech of Castelar had convinced the conservatives of the fact that unless that bill was Passed now there would be no assurance that the new Assembly would not pass another one, giving indemnity to the slaves instead of the masters. As the Cortes stood the conservatives held the balance of power. On one side were the republicans in power; en the other, the radicals seeking power, da vainly believing that Spain would submit to their rule. On all questions the conservatives had acted with the radicals. But when the announcement was made by the government that @ course had been resolved upon they held a con- sultation. “What dowe care,” said they, “for one party more than another? Why should we ald the radicals, who are republicans at heart, to over- throw the republicans who are frank and honest Why displace Figueras and Castelar and Mar- gail, who are among the first men in Spafn, what- ever they think, for a lot of indifferent, heady politicians?” And so thinking they resolved to support the government and carry through its measures, THE LAST STRUGGLE OF THE REACTIONISTS. ‘The Cortes assembled—the last day of its life— and all seemed quiet enough. We were to have another dull, droning day, anda dozen, perhaps, succeeding. The seats were empty and there was no crow@ outside, The day was raw,and an un- usually keen, cold wind came down from the Gua- darrama snow tops, which may have had its part in keeping people at home. The confer- ence between the conservatives and the govern- ment had taken place, and it was resolved to amend the bill for emancipation in one or two un- essential particulars, Suddenly the President announced, in a quiet way, his programme. The Tadicals gave way, as they have always given way when met with a resolute resistance. The question then arose on the manner in whieh the Commission was to be elected. If the Assembly chose each member by ballot tne radicals would be apt to control the Commission, and thus have the government in a vice, as it were, during the interim, The republicans proposed that each member should ‘ote for four names, and the names having the largest number to be elected. This was the minority principle, something like what you have in Ilinois, If it were adopted there would be a positive minority of republicans on the commission, and men, too, whose character and force would make them, as they have always been, practically a majority. Upon the voting of this measure there was @ scene, By the constitution no member of the Assembly can hold an office, But as is so often the case with Spanish laws, it was a dead letter and members of the Assembly held offices. Since the republicans came into power they have, naturally enough, been appointing their friends to place. Those of the new appointments who were in the Assembly have been waiting for the dissolu- tion to take their offices. The President of the Cortes, knowing this fact and remembering the law, directed the Secretary not to call the names of several Deputies who had been named to office. The vote was so close that if these names were not called the republicans would lose their proposition. This exercise of the power of @isfranchisement led to a scene. The President insisted that he was right, and read the law. The republicans called upon the Secretary te read the names of the radicals who held office during the monarchy and remained in the Assembly. For a few minutes it seemed as if the Cortes would break intoamob; but the sense of the Assembly was against the President, and the proposition was passed, THE STORM BREAKS INTO SUNSHINE. Beaten again, beaten finally, the storm passed, and there came sudden and sweet sunshine. These strange Spanish people pass from one extreme to another so suddenly—from joy to tears, from anger to sobbing affection—that you can hardly under- stand the phenomena that followed. The govern- ment moved a permanent session: 1t was carried. Then came the votes on minor bills—about the navy, and so on: they were all passed, Then came the emancipation measure for Porto Rico, For days this had been debated, Speeches for it and against it had been made. It was discussed with @ vehemence that agitated the Republic. Its friends despaired of passing it under any circum- stances, And yet when it was called for a vote the whele Cortes arose and said ‘Yea,’ and there were shouts and cheers and shaking of hands. The ses- sien had passed into the night. No special inci- dent transpired, only a full Assembly, crowded gal- leries, the journalists eating supper in their box, and a sense of satisiaction, good will, kind- liness, free breathing, as. of men who had at last passed the rocks and the eddies and were now in a smooth, open sea. And so it continued until after midnight, until two o’clock in the morning, when the business ended, the vote of adjournment was carried. Members cried, ‘Live Spain!” and “Live the Republic!’ and the Cortes which Amadeus summoned, as the last hope of his crown, passed into history. THE MOST PEACEFUL DAY OF THE REPUBLIC, It was two in the morning when the Cortes dis- solved. But in this strange capital, where you Make evening cails at midnight, two in the morning is a busy, merry hour. The cafés were crowded with men waiting for news, ‘which the night, with its rawness, forbade them to do in the streets. The Sabbath came, and Madrid showed, in its brightness and activity, that a happy day had come. “This 1s the most satisfactory day the Republic has known,” said a friend; “the only day of perfect rest."’ The Cortes was disselved with- out acontest, although the stubbornness of the ma- jority had time and again brought the capital to the verge of acombat. Slavery was abolished in Porto Rico, and Spain was now to pass upon the Repubtic and the form of the new constitutien, THE EFFECT OF THE EMANCIPATION BILL, As for emancipation, the effect of the bill is this, slavery ceases absolutely in Porto Rico from this day., The masters receive an indemnity that will probably average $200 a head in American money. To pay this indemnity the sum of seven millions will have to be provided, the loan to be raised upon the resources of Porto Rico, It is hoped this loan will be taken in the United States, The negroes are compelled to make contracts with some Of the planters or with the government for three years’ service. This will prevent vagabondage. They may make the contracts with their masters or with whomever they please. At the end of three years this ebligation ceases, as it is hoped they will then know enough of freedom to enjoy its biessings. In the meantime exact and wise laws for education wjil be put into operation. What has been done for Porto Rico will be done fer Cuba as soon as the condition of the island will allow the election of representatives to the Cortes. In the absence of such representation it was felt the Cortes could not legisiate; and although the re- publicans were anxious to pass a law for Cuba they were compelled to admit the force of this argu- ment, The first act of the new Cortes will un- doubtedly be the passage of @ similar measure for Cuba, THE CONSTITUENT CORTES. ‘The Constituent Cortes, or the body which will make thé constitution for the new Kepubiic, will be elected in May, and will assemble in June. In the meantime this Cabinet remains in power, sub- ject to a committee which has power to advise with the Cabinet, and if atall necessary cali the Cortes together, In other words, the committee will have as much power as the com- mittee that watched over M. Thiers during the recess of the Assembly, It may advise and counsel, but will have no legislative or initiative responsibility. Now that the Cortes has dissolved the Cabinet can carry out many reforms to which no legislative body would have ready consented. Executive power in Spain can do a great deai by decrees; and the friends of liberty and reform expect @ great deal from the resolu- tion and vigor of the men in power, DIFFICTLTIES AHEAD, So the young Republic passes into smoother seas, The dangers end, but the dificuities begin, The reforms necessary to the salvation of Spain will never be admitted without a struggie. History slows It is go much easier to tolerate @ diflculty « oran abuse than to destroy It. ‘After me the deluge,” as the French king said, and ruling men are as content to have an easy time, and iet the deluge have its wili when it comes. With all my wishes and hopes for shes Hagel. shared as I know anor must reasonable people in America and England—I can- not overl or underrate the difficulties that lie before the new Cabinet, And the question arises, Are these the men who can command a State, and build it to rise up from its misfortune and me and be mre | and free? ‘They are worthy, honora- ble and gifted men. No one, how much he dislikes the Republic, denies the ability ef Figueras, the probity of Margall, the genius of Castelar. Are they men to win in work? Or do they del to the race of men like Vergniaud, Roland and vy, who were swept awayin the high floods of the French Revolution? Can Spain revive with- out some Cromwell, or Napoleon, or Bismarck to take command and build a republic by a policy of blood and iron? Cun the new Commonwealth sur- vive the cruel, pitiless policy of !solation—to which I farn the monarchs of Kurope are meting ts iho {Uro} the Repablie of Spain? silane nee Ie EVILS OF THE SPANISH SYSTEM. Recurring again to this question, let me say also that there are wise men in the republican party who are not uohappy because of this European isolation, They contend that not! will benefit Spain more clearly in the end than a period of isolation. Dumas that “‘Alrica begins at the Pyrenees.” There other phrase that ‘4 voice of epee. is drowned by the rences,” This yearn ng for activity in the diplomatic affairs of jurope is censured as an un- healthy, morbid aspiration—an effort to restore the prestige of Charles V. and Philip IL, without their power. As in America we have statesmen who can never forget that the slave- holder once held the government under his whip, so there are Spaniards who dream about the days when the Spanish dominions were the largest and the most powerful in the world—when her Kin; ‘was master of the Low Countries and had orders obeyed in four continents. It was only the other day that one of these fantastic patriots said that until America n her usurpations there was no part of the world where a Spanish seaman could not hear the language of Cervantes, and if Spain were only true to herself, im spite of America, that glory would come again, Wise men say, and say well, that for one generation at least, for more, perhaps, Spair. herself demands the undivided attention of Spaniards; that .before expecting consideration without its people must check decay within. The more closely we stuay the condition of the Spanish eople the more this impresses the observer. z in needs the undivided attention of Spaniards, ere 18 a country rich and beautiful and towne, the bosom ofthe earth cee mineral wealth, and its flelds offering the gl harvests of corn and oil and wine to all who will come and garner them. Railways are to be built, roads and communications opened, systems of irrigation and agriculture introduced, ‘his protective sys- tem which paralyzes the industry and ambition of the people must be rooted out and cast away. A thousand remnants of the old period of caste and privilege must be destroyea—privileges for the army, the Church, the aristocracy, for the owners of lands and exacting franchises. The spirit of gambling, which comes naturally from the protec- tive system, and is the sure precursor of national thriftiessness and decay, a spirit that per- yades every class in Spain, must be ex- terminated. Centralization must be abolished, as, for instance, government monopolies, like the monopoly of tobacco. As prigandage is another result of these baneful causes, with their suppres- sion it may pass away; but ir not, then it must be stamped out. There must be reforms in the army, the Church and ambng the nobility—reforms so evident that I can well understand the bravest Spaniard shrinking from the Te my but no less necessary to the regeneration of the country. Some men, like the bold and original Garrido, think that Spain should abandon her colonies; but of this I cannot say, nor as a foreigner and an American is it well for me to speak. THE DEMORALIZATION OF THE ARMY, For instance, take the army. ‘Spain is a country not much larger than two of our American States, yet she requires 600 generals for her army. There is no complaint more frequent than the absence of discipline among the troops: ‘“Oh,’’ we are told, by the enemies of the Republic, “there is no discipline among the troops. See in Catalonia, they are all going home, and erat will not obey officers, and only the other day they pelted General Contreras with oranges, be- cause he did pot; assent to their plun- aering an orange Without an army I can well understand that any Common- ‘wealth would be in a sad way. But what is the truth about the Spanish army? In the first place, there is no better infantry in the world than the infantry of Spain. My authority tor this sweepin: assertion is the Duke of Wellington. “The Britis! soldier,” says the Duke, ‘if you treat him well, if you feed him, if youclo:he him, will go anywhere and fight anybody; but the Spanish soldier, if you don’t treat’ him well, if you don’t feed him, if you den’t clothe him, will do the same!” This ‘army may be summed up as con- sisting of aboat one hundred and fifty thousand Men, and yet there are 600 generals to command it! There has never been a time, for a century at least, when the oficers of this army did not teach the troops an example of mutiny and treason. To begin, every officer is a politician. When a new party comes into power the generals are all retired on half pay ane ty Ol pera dancer in com- mand. hen an oficer is retired his duty is to conspire. Thus we find Espartero conspiring until he became Prime Minister. Then we had O’Donneil conspiring against Espartere and Narvaez conspir- ing against 0’Dornell, who in turn overthrew vaez, only tobe overthrown by Genzales Bravo, who was expelled by Prim and Serrano, each of them generals of the army and noblemen of Spain. Not long ago there was an insurrection in the South and at the head of it was General Vontreras. Instead of shooting Contreras for treason he was sent to the North as Captain General of @ prevince. Can you imagine, for instance, every officer in the Atlantic States the American regular army throwing up his command because General Hancock, a democrat, was as- ned to that department? Can you fancy what the response of General Grant would be—how swiftly these pretesting officers would be cashiered? Well, we had a parallel case in Spain. A general was ere command of an expedition against the Carlists. He was polltically unpopular, and at once 600 officers of the artillery retire Of course the effect was to disman the army. To en courage tkem in this treason the partisans of the monarchs subscribed a@ large fund, one nobleman _ alone ving $10,000 to pay, the salaries of these oficers while they were in a And here they are to-day swarming around Madrid, being what vulgar, brutish work- men _ would call “en a strike,” with the enemy in the North. And journals hope that “honorale arrangements” will be made to enable these gen- tlemen to return to their commands, for abandon- ing which, in the presence of the enemy, many of them would have been shot in twenty-four hours by an English or American court martial, THE REASON FOR THE DECAY OF THE ARMY. And yet the enemies of the Republic mourn the absence of disciplmme in thearmy. The reply is that discipline is destroyed by the men'whom Spain charges to command her forces. If you ask why it is that this mutinous spirit exists you will find it in the constitution of the army. There is an ancient regulation giving any officer who cares so to do the rignt to withdraw from his command, to remain in retirement as long as he pleases on half ay, and then to return when it suits his fancy. ‘his is @ privilege that has long been inherent to the Spanish oflicers, and it is one of that class of privileges to which I recently referred as burdening the State and needing extirpation. If an ofiicer is a Carlist, for instance, and his regiment is ordered to march against Don Carlos, he has simply to withdraw until the campaign is over. If Don Carlos loses, he resumes his command, Ifhe wins, he gains honor and wealth. With these ex- aiples before them, examples studding the history of Spain since the time of Chhries IV., who aban- doned his army, his annuity and his crown, and sold them all to Bonaparte, is it any wonder that discipline should be lax among the treops, and that under a Republic the soldier should ‘feel that he is entitled to the privilege of desertion, just as much as the officer? My only surprise is—reasoning from Saxon rinciples of human nature, which we all know to e so much higher and more rigid than those of any miserable Latin country like il tel there is an army atail. Asit now exists itis a great evil, combining the evils of an army and of a mob, and it needs regeneration. But you cannot sla it upon the Republic, although the Republic, in thi minds of the reactionists, must assume it all. SPANISH FEELING TOWARD AMERICA, ‘The appeals of the reactionists are in all respects made to the ancient spirit. Don Carles will bring back the ‘ee, of Philip and Charles V.; so bring him in, Don’ Alphonso will recall the prestige of Ferdinand and around Don Alphonse, These are the hopes and cries of the monarchs :—“No foreigner to ruic over Spain! “No invasion o1 the national integrity!’ “All Spain for the Spaniards!’ Nothing shows the insincerity of these partisans more clearly than these declarations. The Spaniards expelled Amadeus because he was @ foreigner, And yet Spain has had a succession Pt gg sega since the time of the | Austrian Charles, ‘st was the German house, isabella; let every Spaniard rally | and then came the house of Bourbon and the at- | tendant wars which ravaged half the nations of Europe. Don Carlos, the conspicnous leader of legitimacy, was never in Spain in his life, unless in the jue country; and if the losing of the colonies has been’ so sad a blew to Spain, they were lost by the Kings. It was Uharles IV, who ceded Louisiana for some Italian principality that he never attained. It was Ferdinand vil. who lost the American provinces, It was Isabella who failed to hold St. Domingo, and whose misrule has almost lost Cuba, So that nothing can be more insincere and unjust than the clamor that under the Republic Spain will suffer in her territory or her pride. This, leads me to dwell upon the singular feeling existing here towards America, So much has been said about Cuba and the Antilles that the Spanish mind 1s fanatical on the subject. One ts surprised to see in the press, in society, in the debates of the Cortes, in the cari- cature prints, the extreme antipathy towards America, I attribute this to several reasons, In the first place we have under our flag three sepa- rate colomes that came at different times from Spain—eoonies where Spanish laws and customs and names atill prevail, There is Louis- jana, which, aithough purchased from Napoicen, had been obtained by the French Emperor from the Spanish. Then came Florida, which came to us directly from Ferdinand VIL, and later the vast region extending from Texas to the Pacitic, which came from Mexicg. which bad taken it (ram Suain, eee ‘The Spaniard sees these regions under our flag. He sees them striding along in the path of empire, He reads of the wealth of California, and its name alone ig. a remembrance of his sovereignty there not a century ago. Without é>nsidering the causes leading tothe separation he regards our session as unlawful, and he broods over it in his sullen, burning way. Then he has heard of the Cuban discussions—the conierence at Ostend, when American diplomatists calmly sat down to sever the Spanish dominions, He has heard of the wild Southern speeches beiore the war, when Cuba waa to become a nursery for saves. He has seen our filibustering expeditions and has executed the leaders of many. He cannot understand why the present rebellion im that island should not suppressed, unless it is that Gen- eral Grant in seme way fosters it. He remem. bers—ior his history is full of the glory—when “Spanish faith and Spanish valor’ dominated the American Continent. Step by step his flag haa receded. Peru and Chile and the line of Pacifle colonies have vanished from its folds, Mexico na longer admits allegiance to Madrid. All that re- mains is his beautiful tongue—still lingering on the map to remind im of the day when the language of Cervantes gave the law to a Continent—and the much-loved Ouba. Even Cuba is grudged to him, and the avaricioug American eagle, like a bird of prey, hangs over it with menacing talons. If the Spaniard was an indifferent, low-spirited creature this thought would be exasperating. But when you know that he is the proudest of the sons of men, you can imagine how angry—how passionately angry—le becomes at the thought that Cuba may be wrested from him. ‘Rather than lose Cuba,’’ he says, “let us stake the whole empire. For without Cuba there is no Spain,” SPAIN AND SPANISH CUBA. Therefore, no phrase has been more earnestly shouted by the republicans themselves than this— “Spain and Spanish Cuba.”” When the Republic Was born Martos shouted it to an approving ortes, who answered back, ‘Live, the Spanish Cuba.” And the republicans have shown unusual ene! gwar alee Cuba. They have dallied wit! lists, but have sent extra ships and troops to Havana. This will surprise you, but if you knew the truculent and fiery feeling here you would see that to resist 1t would be mere than the Republic is worth. Nor do I think any of the Carlists desire to resist it, for they are Spaniards and breathe the living thought of Spain. AMERICAN DIPLOMATISTS IN SPAIN, Again our diplomacy in Spain has contributed largely to this feeling. In no country have we been so badty served; and it is a country where we needed our best service. An ordinary diplomatist could do well in Paris or London, for there he would meet healthy conditions of society and politic and nations strong and willing to do all that good neighbors could bie’ hay But, going back to the beginning of ¢ generation, when we had the sentimental Washington Irving, who was as competent to represent a Power like America at a Court like that of Spain as he would have been to command an army. We had until the close of our civil war a succession of preposterous or incompetent or misplaced representatives. Mr. Soulé was a fair type of what I might call the swashbuckler in diplomacy, He represented the flery, irrational, aspiring South. He wanted Cuba, and when he was not putting upon the Ministry the coarse, hard pressure of a Frenchman repre- senting the slave power in America, he was fightin; duels with the French Ambassador and the Duke of Alva. So until the war we had Ministers who carried into Spanish society the traditions and hopes of the slaveholders, trifling with Spain, en- deavoring to profit by its weakness, and longing to gain national distinction at home by securing in momenar, petit larceny, none better otering poe session of Cuba. When the war came we had Gen- eral 6churz, who was not long enough in Spain to know the way from the Palace to the Escurial, and hurried home to the war. General Schurz waa a foreigner, which was a disadvantage; and after him came another foreigner, who was put away here by Lincoln because he had some influence Ilinois and was essential to the ace of the republican party to have im as far from Iilinois as possible. en came & superannuated member of a young jped Gs whose usefulness at home was over, and, having once been an abolitionist candidate for the Presidency, was sent in a spirit of kindnet because, among other things, the salary would an advantage. etty scandals With ved daar are came those fermented by the jealousy and ambition of a minor officer of nis legation, who stained the fame of his country to gratify his thirst for place. Whatever usefulness the Minister may have had as Minister was destroyed in this cruel way, and America ha@ en more influence here than Paraguay or Buenos eB. GENERAL GRANT'S DIPLOMACY IN SPAIN. All this*time question after question had bees wing up between the two countries. It became he custom to postpone everything concerning the United States, and our Ministers were too busy with their own seandals to put pressure upon the Cabinets. So Spain fell into a tranquil, inaiffer- ent state of mind about America, a cabs the ened that General Grant himse! terested accession of Grant, a newera began. so nly was personal in Spanish questions, He hi served in Mexico and knew the customs of the country. The Minister he _ selected had held a delicate and important misston to the Spanish Republics of the cific. He knew the Spanish tongue and had seen much of the Spanish eople, Educated in the democratic party of New ork in its strongest days, of an essive temper, imbued with the principles of Jefferson and skilled in diplomacy, as the secretary to Mr. Buchanan when Minister to London, his coming here changed affairs. Whether from ambition, or a craving ac tivity of a mind that would not be at rest, or the influence of that cleaving, incisive, aggressive spirit men learned in Tammany Hail twenty-five Meet ago, or whether it was that he felt benind im the personal, impelling influence of Grant, with his earnest views on Cuba and Spain, this correspondent cannot say. But @ new era come. The Spaniards became restive. When @ serious question arose it was not remanded to eternity. The Minister called for an answer, and when he catled a second or third time he waited until he received it. Prime Ministers were told that General Grant was in earnest and would have no denial. This activity, this persistence, this follow- ing a question from morning until night, was dis- turbing to the lethargic Spanish mind. Such pre- cipitancy had never been known in diplomacy— was quite undiplomatic. Atlength, when Sagasta ‘was in power and we were harrying the soul of oor Catacazy, Sagasta took a happy thought. He felt sure that the impertinence and cruel asst- qduity of the American Minister would not be soproree in Washington, So he sent word informally to Mr. Fish that the Cabinet would prefer another Minister in the place of General Sickies, who Was hot agreeable to the Cabinet. President Grant said, “Very well.” If Sefior Sagasta Coes not like General Sickies he cam do without a Minister. So our Minister received his letter of recall, He was to retire from the mis- sion and leave a chargé d’aifaires in his stead. On the day of his return to Madrid Sagasta fell from power and he remained, THE RFFEOTS OF GRANT'S DIPLOMACY. But the cause of the Minister had tuis result. He became one of the most bitterly criticised and unpopular men in Madrid. Madrid is a capital largely filled with reactionists, who have money and power and social standing. When any ques- tions came about Cuba—when slavery was dis- cussed and the Republic was coming to lite—the American Minister was the cause of it ail. He wag the Marplot, the Mephistopheles, the harassing element that had come to disturb and divide happy Spain. And there are Spaniards who realiy believe that the ultimate ambition of Grantis ta ot A his Minister made President of a Spanish Re- bic. hi ‘These, then, are among the reasons why America is so disliked Py, Spaniards who do not houor the Republic; why it is that the republicans theinselves are sensitive to the idea that they are under Ameri- can influence, and why any sudden or impetuous action on the part of our government would over- throw the Republic; in aday. Relations of confi- dence between America and Spain will come, if at all, slowly, and can only be reached in a long times HOPES AND FEARS FOR SPAIN. When disaster or misadventure comes to a man he hesitates a long time before he accepts the real cause. It is so very easy to preach reform—so dif ficult to begin at the right end, Nothing is easier than to assign to twenty motives or pretexts or accidents what comes irom our own inability or lack of courage to do what is wise. So it is with this new Republic of Spain. It isso easy to de- nounce the rapacity of America, to resent the in- difference of England, to bitterly complain of tha more than indifference of France, It is so com> forting to say that but for these nations the Repub- lic would rise among the natiens itke an athlete, strong in her pride and greatness, and demanding consideration from the world. “But the way to greatness does not lie out of Spain. Reforms must begin in Madrid, and they must be of the most painful and radical character, Until they are ac- complished there is no future for Spain, except to become like Greece or Mexico, or Egypt beiore the Khedive. Greater than Babylonin her day, sie will sink lower than Babylon. The army must be broken in fragments. and a new army created, coming direct from the —pea~ ple. The vicious system of pensions and privileges and grants from the treasury must be abolished, The land tenure musi be reformed So that the tiller will have aright to his soil. The | national passion for gambling must be arrested, If in no other way then by suppressing the lot- teries. The monstrous evils that have come upon Spain with the protective system—smuggling and banditism—must be extirpated; tirst by abolishing the system and then the eifects of it. Reduce the army two-thirds, Give to the colonies the utmost liberty of trade ana _ goyern- men Consider nothing outside of Spain for “at least two yenerations. Let tne diplomatists iret and plot, centine spaniat diplo- macy to the simple protection of Spanish citizens, These reforms will of themseives strengthen the public credit, which should have added strengtir From a system of rigid economy in the government and exactness im meeting all Inancial obligations, Will the men who govern Spain have the courage to do these things—the courage aad the patience and that high, souwi-inspiring hope whieh never fails, however the heart may be sick from disappointment and delay? IT look upon the abolition of slavery in Porto Rico as the first sign, But it ts only the firstsign. Spain must achieve these things by the courage and faith of her rulers or fali, No reaction can sop the work. For, should reaction gain power by any of the ways so bitterly known in Spanish history, what is now coming in peace will come in strife'and civil war, and we shall have such a revolution here ax the World never saw—so flerce, 30 ractical, so tmpl® cable that tutare ages in r @ it will for, Commonwealth in Euglai oad we 2 ‘Terror in Frances