Office of the Historian

No. 544.
Mr. Mantilla to Mr. Fish.

[Translation.]
Legation of Spain at Washington,
Washington, January 1, 1875. (Received January 2.)

The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Spain, has received orders from the new government established in that country to inform the Government of the United States that Prince Don Alfonso de Borbon y Borbon has been proclaimed King of Spain, with the title of Alfonso XII, by the most powerful elements of the country, with the general assent of the armies of the peninsula and of the colonies, and with the adhesion of the towns.

On the peaceful accomplishment of this highly important change, which opposes a popular and constitutional monarchy to the absolute monarchy, by divine right, which the fanatical Carlists have, for half a century, been endeavoring to raise upon the ruins of civilization, of liberty, and of progress, unsuccessfully, it is true, but with a perseverance and an earnestness worthy of a better cause, a ministerial regency has been established, in accordance with the provisions of the Spanish constitution, as follows:

  • President, Cánovas del Castillo.
  • Minister of state, Don Alejandro de Castro, and the Marquis de Molins ad interim.
  • Minister of grace and justice, Don Francisco de Cárdenas.
  • Minister of war, Don Joaquin de Jovellar.
  • Minister of finance, D. Pedro de Salaverria.
  • Minister of marine, the Marquis de Molins.
  • Minister of government, D. Francisco Romero Robledo.
  • Minister of fomento, (encouragement of commerce, agriculture, &c.,) the Marquis de Orovio.
  • Minister of the colonies, D. Adelardo Lopez de Ayala.

This movement having been seconded by the army of the north, the general-in-chief of the latter has addressed to the new government the telegraphic dispatch of which I have the honor to inclose a copy to your excellency, and the acting minister of state informs me that the event of which I have the honor to inform the Government of the United States has been hailed at Madrid and in all the provinces with the same enthusiasm as it has been by the army.

The undersigned avails himself, &c.,

ANTO. MANTILLA.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]

The General-in-Chief of the Army of the North to the President of the Ministerial Regency.

[Telegram.]
logeoño, 31.

In the name of this army, I congratulate Your Excellency personally, and I am happy to salute you with the highest respect. As we all rally under the flag of the legitimate monarchy, represented by Don Alfonso XII, permit me to give expression to the fervent desire of the Army of the North, that that flag may henceforth be, not the ensign of a party, but the emblem of the regeneration of our country, and the labarum of all Spaniards who love order and liberty alike.