Address of the Senate and House delegations to the King, and replies of His Majesty, January1, January 2, 1873

Address of the Senate and House delegations to the King, and replies of His Majesty, January1, 1873.

the presidency of the council of ministers.

Yesterday at noon His Majesty the King was pleased to receive the committee of the Senate appointed to congratulate him on the opening of the new year.

The president of the senate addressed His Majesty in the following words:

“ Sire: With the opening of the new year, the third year of Your Majesty’s reign begins under happy auspices, while the year just closed sees with joy that the work of the constitutional convention, recognized at once by all civilized nations, consolidates itself in a shorter time and fortifies itself with greater strength than institutions and dynasties of traditional origin.

“The senate confidently hopes that this third year of Your Majesty’s reign will remain fixed among the glories of Spain by the imperishable achievement in humanitarian reform which will soon put an end to slavery in the beautiful province of Porto Rico, notwithstanding the opposition to it of certain egotistical interests and certain political ambitions, against which suffice that firmness of character which distinguishes Your Majesty and the vigor which the sense of right and the possession of liberty stamp upon the decisions of Congress.”

His Majesty the King was pleased to reply:

“Mr. President: I receive with the highest appreciation and with most profound satisfaction the congratulations which the Senate offers to me to-day, when grateful recollections engage my attention and grave reflections occupy my thoughts; for to-day marks two years since I began to rule in Spain—the commencement of duties in behalf of my new and beloved country, as arduous in their fulfillment as the honor is a high one I have received at the hands of the Spanish people, by whose will this throne was erected, upon whose love its foundations were laid, and by whose confidence it is to be strengthened and sustained. It is by such means that, while the country enjoys the fruits of the revolution, and while the work of the constituent Cortes is perpetuated, at the same time the energy of popular right manifests itself, in virtue of which new dynasties and modern institutions begin early to take root and acquire for themselves a robust maturity.

“I accept as a happy omen for the year just now begun the announcement which the Senate makes to me, and the hope they express that those men who now live as slaves in the loyal Spanish province of Porto Rico shall soon enjoy their liberty. A measure so humanitarian and so Christian will be a glory for Spain, an honor for the Cortes, a luster upon my reign, and a blazon for my dynasty. Civilized nations will find in this a new cause to congratulate themselves upon having recognized from the first moment the work of 1868. Spain will feel a natural pride at seeing herself esteemed and applauded by all the world, while they who have shown themselves distrustful will see that it is not reasonable to fear that an act of justice and humanity may be a source of danger to our prosperity and tranquillity.”

At a quarter past twelve the committee of the chamber of deputies presented their “Congratulations to the King, with the same motive.

The president of the chamber of deputies addressed His Majesty as follows:

“Sire: This day, which ushers in a new year in the evolutions of time, recalls to our minds the eve of a solemn moment in the life of Your Majesty, and a memorable epoch in the history of Spanish liberty. The chamber of deputies the immediate representative of the people, lay with joy before the elect of the nation the homage of their love, of their respect, and of their unshaken loyalty.

“Fortunate it is for Spain, and a glory for Your Majesty, that here, in this place, where flattery has so often raised its voice, are to be heard to-day congratulations prompted by the purest affection, and commendations dictated by the most heartfelt sincerity. The Spanish people is now beholding the fulfillment of the hopes with which, two years ago, they greeted Your Majesty for the first time, in your august person every citizen sees and loves the faithful guardian of popular rights and the swift defender of popular liberties common alike to all Spaniards without distinction of party or of class.

“Thus in vain are the plots, the conspiracies, and assaults directed against the popular throne by those who act Only in obedience to the baleful influences of party interest; now profaning the sacred name of liberty; now invoking aid from the empty shadows of antiquated institutions, long condemned by history, and now murmuring names which are made more hateful as we are vividly reminded of the intolerable abuses which they symbolize. Reaction, mobocracy, treason itself, if there be in this loyal land any one capable of treason, shallbe crushed under the weight of public condemnation, for Your Majesty, who so well understands and so wisely practices the sacred duties of your high office, will ever continue with unwavering firmness to assist all measures tending toward progress, and to lend an attentive ear to public opinion, the only counselor of popular kings and the only support of thrones founded upon the freewill of a nation.

“Listening again to that voice which you have never disregarded, Your Majesty has now immortalized your reign by authorizing the presentation of a bill which, as soon as it shall have been approved by the Cortes and shall become a law of the realm, will restore the rights of manhood to the thirty-one thousand unhappy beings weighed down to-day by the cruelties of slavery.

“And if, at the outset, the voice of disappointed interests or of hostile opinions should cry out against such a sublime act of humanity, its glorious results shall in the end allay all ill-will, shall calm every passion, and shall dispel every apprehension, and (let Your Majesty doubt it not) our most remote descendants shall bless the hour in which, following the inspirations of right, of justice, and of public good, you determined to wipe out forever the only blot upon our glorious escutcheon in the eyes of the civilized world.

“With hopes so well founded and under such happy auspices the chamber of deputies, in the name of the people whom it represents, implores the blessing of Heaven for Your Majesty, for the noble lady whose virtues adorn your throne, and for the royal children who, trained by so pious a mother in the sacred love of liberty, are to-day the hope of the nation, and shall one day be the honor of their family and the just pride of their country.”

The King was pleased to reply:

“Mr President: Upon the solemnity of this day, the chamber of deputies reminds me that the beginning of my reign corresponds with an epoch memorable for the liberties of Spain. This recollection is to me as proud a one, and as Worthy of my regard and appreciation, as is the homage paid to me by your love, your loyalty, and your respect.

“In guarding and defending public liberties and popular rights, I have only been true to the dictates of my conscience and to the oath which, of my own free will and in the sight of all the world, I took in the midst of the Constituent Cortes. Receiving the assurance, in the name of the chamber of deputies, that the Spanish people witness the fulfillment of the hopes with which they greeted me for the first time two years ago, I feel the greatest pride that a man may cherish and the most hearty satisfaction that a monarch may entertain.

“Full of the deepest love for this my adopted country, which, by raising me to the highest dignity, has placed upon me the gravest responsibility, I pray to God that He ‘will grant to it, in the year which now begins, the peace and prosperity which it deserves. I am confident, as is also the chamber of deputies, that the conspiracies directed against liberty and progress will be fruitless in the time to come, as happily they have been up to the present moment. And I sincerely and ardently long for the day when, with all angry passions laid aside, every one may be persuaded that there is no opinion and no interest which may not thrive in the shadow of a throne founded upon the national will, and daily more and more identified with the people and more firm in its determination to seek counsel in public opinion and to give up in the interest of freedom every temptation to injustice and every pretext for violence.

“The words of approval with which the chamber of deputies, the immediate representative of the people, receives the proposition to abolish slavery in Porto Rico are-to me a happy presage that very soon we are to give freedom and happiness to many thousands of men, joy to our Christain hearts, satisfaction to our country, and a just cause of praise to all civilized nations.

“Profoundly do I thank the chamber of deputies for the sentiments expressed toward my wife and my children, whom we shall train up in the love of liberty to the end that they may become worthy of their country.”