Mr. Harvey to Mr. Hunter

No. 340.]

Sir: A royal decree was communicated to the Chamber of Deputies to-day, dissolving the Cortes and convoking the chambers, after the elections, for the 30th of July.

The new ministry found it wholly impracticable to carry on the government with a majority in the popular assembly, which had been instrumental in causing the abandonment of power by its own friends.

Parties are now in a state of fusion, and the chiefs of opposing divisions have banded together in the hope of carrying into office a coalition which contains the seeds of its own dissolution, even in the event of a temporary triumph.

Both sides profess confidence in their ability to secure a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, but the actual ministry has an advantage in the organized machinery of official patronage which quite counterbalances if it does not [Page 128] exceed the combination of strange elements which form the temporary op-position.

The ministry of the Marquis de sa da Bandeira attracts the sympathy of the substantial interests of the country, and deservedly enjoys the confidence and respect of the representatives of foreign governments.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

JAMES E. HARVEY.

Hon. William Hunter, Acting Secretary of State.