they felt that he was too sincerely a republican for them. They were almost weary of their great experiment before it had been fairly tried; and it may be truly said that the only offence of Cavaignac was that he was determined to give it a fair trial. He was, therefore, thrown aside as the champion

of a system already in disrepute, and the name of Napoleon, with its splendid traditions of empire and glory, acted like a talisman in favour of the pretensions of a man whose only claim upon the votes of his countrymen was, that he was the nephew of a military despot.

in the Diario Official de Avisos. It was as follows:

"On this day (the 28th of December), at half past 7 o'clock in the morning, in the year 1833, Donna Maria Christina de Bourbon was married to Don Fernando Munoz." The death of Ferdinand took place on the 29th of September that same year, so that, within three months from that date, the Royal widow consoled herself, according to her own statement, with a husband, although the public were kept in profound ignorance of the fact for upwards of fifteen

years.

At the sitting of the Congress, on the 4th of January, the following charges against Señor Salamanca were brought forward by Seijas Lonzano: they were four in number:

First, that of having, under the pretext of encouraging public works, authorized the bank of San Fernando to advance money on the shares of the Aranjuez Railway, under a Government guarantee for the repayment in case of nonpayment by the shareholders, Salamanca himself being the principal shareholder; secondly, of having remitted to certain traders the penalties they had incurred by having taken contraband goods from the Custom-house at Alicante, and introduced them into Madrid by means of permits fraudulently obtained; thirdly, of having ordered an illegal conversion into Three per Cent. Stock of arrears due to the Royal household; fourthly, of having converted into the same stock certain claims of an individual named Buschental, no value having been given by Buschental, Salamanca knowing the fraudulent nature of the transaction. Lonzano stated that, in 1844, Buschental took a contract to furnish a loan for build

ing steam-vessels. He agreed to pay into the Treasury 10,000,000 reals in metal, 10,000,000 in uncapitalized coupons, and the rest in good bills and other negotiable paper. Instead of this, Buschental delivered a number of promissory notes (pagarés) at various dates, for which he "fraudulently" obtained. a receipt declaring that he had paid the values agreed upon. The matter was investigated, and Buschental was called on to pay the cash and coupons according to the agreement. He persisted, however, in refusing to comply with the order. In 1845 he presented the bills for conversion; but the Government refused them then, and again when presented by other persons for the same purpose. A Junta appointed to inquire into the matter reported, that the values actually delivered by Buschental amounted to 11,656,000 reals, while he had received 17,890,000.

His

Señor Salamanca, in reply to the charges, said that they were brought from party motives, and that his enemies were bent on destroying him. When he entered office, he was rich; when he left it, poor; the charge of corruption would not therefore hold. sole object in the affair of the Aranjuez Railway was to benefit the country. The guarantee given by Government was merely nominal. There was no chance of default on the part of the shareholders; but, if they did not pay, the railroad became the property of the Government. He became a principal proprietor of shares through the exertions he made to expedite the work. Instead of meriting blame, the transaction redounded to his honour. As to the Alicante affair, he had merely

applied the amnesty to offenders of a certain class, in compliance with a Royal order to that effect signed by the Minister of Commerce.

In answer to the third charge, he said, it was true that the law of February prohibited the conversion of arrears of pay or allowance, but not of advances and contracts. The arrears of the Royal Household came under the head of contracts. But he had not completed the conversion, for the matter was still pending in Congress.

To the fourth charge, he answered, that the affair occurred when one of his accusers was Prime Minister. The Ministry that followed disallowed the claim; but, in consequence of the contractor's having followed up his claims, it appeared that the validity of the contract was subsequently recognised. At a time when there was no chance of his ever becoming a Minister, part of the bills came to him in the regular course of his banking business, went from him, and again came into his hands. Since 1845, however, they had not been in his possession. When other parties applied for their con. version, the matter was referred to the Council of Ministers, and the conversion was decided on at a time when he was not present. For the truth of this statement he appealed to his former colleague, Benavides.

In this statement Salamanca was supported by Señor Benavides and Señor Escosura. Pidal reiterated the charges, and alluded to a "rumour " further inculpating the late Minister. Escosura called upon him to state it explicitly. Pidal declined to do so, unless he were called upon by Salamanca himself. Salamanca immediately challenged him to speak openly;

and then, on the authority of many well-informed persons whom he knew," Pidal stated that, of fifty millions paid to the Royal Household, twenty-five had entered the pockets of Salamanca, though he had afterwards returned the amount.

Señor Salamanca denounced this new charge as a base and groundless calumny. He said he abandoned his defence against the accusation from that moment, and called for a solemn judgment upon his conduct, that he might be led to the scaffold if he merited it, or Pidal as a calumniator. This was said with extreme emotion, and was followed by applause from many of the Deputies and the public in the galleries. The President for some time in vain tried to restore order; but, at last, Salamanca recommenced, when he suddenly staggered, and after muttering a few words about "calumniator, vile calumny," he fell to the ground, and swooned away. He was carried out of the Chambers, still muttering the words "calumniator, calumny," and the debate was adjourned.

On the 7th of January, Espartero arrived in Madrid, and was received by the populace with the most joyful enthusiasm. He took the oaths and his seat in the Senate on the 13th.

On the 10th, a Committee of the Chamber of Deputies was appointed to manage the impeachment of Salamanca. The result, however, was favourable to the accused, for out of the seven members chosen five were opposed to the impeachment, and it therefore fell to the ground.

As though there were not already sufficient sources of disquietude and alarm, in respect of the chances

that England might find herself engaged in a continental war during the present year, Lord Palmerston thought fit to involve this country in an unseemly quarrel with Spain, which, though it only led to the cessation of diplomatic intercourse, was most ill-timed and unfortunate. For, by an act of meddling interference, he exposed himself to a sharp and well-merited rebuke from the Spanish Government, which certainly showed both spirit and dignity in resenting the affront which the British Minister seems to have thought it would quietly digest. It is no part of the duty of England to dictate a course of internal and domestic policy to foreign States; and it is perhaps a subject of congratulation that in this instance the attempt was treated as impertinent, and repelled with scorn. The lesson will perhaps be not without its use, though the result was somewhat humiliating to our national pride.

On the 16th of March Lord Palmerston wrote to Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, our representative at Madrid, the following letter:

"Sir, I have to recommend you to advise the Spanish Government to adopt a legal and constitutional system. The recent downfal of the King of the French and of his family, and the expulsion of his Ministers, ought to indicate to the Spanish Court and Government the danger to which they expose themselves in endeavouring to govern a country in a manner opposed to the sentiments and opinions of the nation; and the catastrophe which has just occurred in France is sufficient to show that even a numerous and well-disciplined army offers only an insufficient defence to the Crown, when

the system followed by it is not in harmony with the general system of the country. The Queen of Spain would act wisely in the present critical state of affairs, if she were to strengthen her Executive Government, by widening the bases on which the Administration reposes, and in calling to her councils some of the men in whom the Liberal party places confidence."

A copy of this officious epistle was communicated by Sir H. Bulwer to the Duc de Sotomayor, accompanied by some remarks of his own; and the Spanish Minister lost no time in replying in a strain of just severity.

After complaining that the substance of Lord Palmerston's note had already appeared in print in one of the Opposition journals before it had been made known to the Spanish Government, the Duc de Sotomayor thus proceeded :

"At the date of 16th of March last, when Lord Palmerston sent you his despatch, the Spanish Cortes were sitting, the press was completely free, and the Government of Her Majesty had adopted a line of conduct full of kindness and conciliation, which its enemies and its adversaries themselves were compelled to admit. What motive could, therefore, induce the Minister for Foreign Af fairs of Her Britannic Majesty to make himself the interpreter of the feelings and the opinions of this country, and that in an unfitting tone, when speaking of the Government of an independent nation, to recommend the adoption of legal and constitutional measures, as if such was not the conduct followed in Spain? to allow himself to advise it to modify the bases of the Administra