O’Donnell’s speech in the Spanish Senate on the 18th of May 
contains most curious revelations of the secret history of contem- 
poraneous Spain. His betrayal of Espartero and his coup d’état 
having paved the way for Narvaez, the Polacos, in their turn, 
are now trying to rid themselves of the latter. To this purpose 
Gen. Calonge, himself a Christina rebel of 1843,°4° and the 
Captain-General of Pampeluna at the time of the outbreak of the 
revolution in 1854,**' was induced on the 18th of May, during the 
Senate’s debates on the address to the Queen,’ to move a series of 
amendments to the paragraph recommending a general amnesty. 
In a virulent attack on military insurrections in general, and on 
the military insurrection of 1854 in particular, he demanded “that 
the policy of conciliation should not go the length to encourage, 
by granting absolute impunity, incorrigible perturbers.” This stroke, 
premeditated by the friends of Sartorius, was aimed at O’Donnell 
as well as at the Duke of Valencia (Narvaez). The Polacos had, in 
fact, ascertained that O’Donnell would seize upon the first 
occasion to denounce Narvaez as his secret accomplice in the 
insurrection of the camp of the Guards. Such an opportunity was, 
accordingly, offered to O’Donnell by General Calonge. To prevent 
the threatened explosion, Narvaez ventured upon a desperate 
maneuver. He, the man of order, justified the revolution of 1854, 
which, he said, was “inspired by the loftiest patriotism, and 
provoked by the excesses of the preceding cabinets.” Thus, at the 
very moment that Mr. de Nocedal, the Minister of the Interior, 
was proposing to the Cortes a Draconian press-law, Narvaez, the 

chief of the ministry, acted in the Senate as the advocatus 
diaboli*—the vindicator of revolution and military insurrection. 
But in vain. During the subsequent sitting of the Senate, on the 
18th of May, while forced by the Polacos to recant his censure of 
“former Cabinets,” Narvaez had, at the same time, to writhe 
under O’Donnell’s indiscreet revelations, the truth of which he 
himself admitted, by complaining that “O’Donnell had revealed 
private and confidential conversations,” and by asking “what 
confidence could now be placed in friendship!” In the eyes of the 
Court, Narvaez is now a convicted rebel, and before long will have 
to give way to Bravo Murillo and Sartorius, the sure forerunners 
of a new revolution. 
The following is a literal translation of O’Donnell’s speech: 

“O’Donnell—I cannot remain silent in this eminently political discussion, after 
the important events that have occurred since the last meeting of the Senate. The 
part I have played in these cvents obliges me to speak. The chief of the rising of 
the camp of the Guards: the author of the programme of Manzanares 342; the War 
Minister in the Cabinet of the Duke of Vittoria>; summoned, two years later, by 
the crown, under solemn circumstances, to save the crown and endangered society; 
fortunate enough to obtain that result without being forced, after the combat, to 
shed one drop of blood or to pronounce a single sentence of banishment—lI 
should have felt obliged to take part in the pending discussion. But it would be a 
crime to keep silence after the accusations directed by General Calonge against 
myself and the worthy generals who, during two years, were conneeted with me, 
and, in the days of the crisis, assisted in saving society and the crown. General 
Calonge has described as a rebellion thé rising of the camp of the Guards. 
Wherefore? Has he so soon forgotten all the events that preceded it, and, in due 
course, would have precipitated the country into a revolution not to be subdued? I 
thank the President of the Council for the energy with which he has repelled the 
accusation’ of General Calonge. It is true that, in thus acting, he displayed the 
energy of one that defends his own cause [Profound sensation]. Being obliged to 
enter into details indispensable for the vindication of this fact, wishing above all to 
dismiss from these debates whatever might bear a personal appearance, [ should 
feel grateful if the President of the Cabinet deigned to answer the following 
questions: Is it true that the Duke of Valencia‘ was, since 1852, united by close ties 
to the Generals of Vicalvaro? Is it true that he was informed of all their 
undertakings since’ the closing of the Senate after the vote of the 105? Is it true 
that he was disposed to join them in the accomplishment of their projects? Is it 
true that, although prevented from doing so by motives which I respect, he, 
nevertheless, sent later on one of his aides-de-camp to congratulate us upon our 
triumph?” 

‘ Narvdez— After the words the Count of Lucena has addressed to me, I must 
declare that in all he planned and afterward executed, in the form in which he 
planned and executed it, I did not participate at all, whatever may have been our 
former relations.” 

“O’Donnell—_The President of the Cabinet has answered in the manner he 
thought the most opportune. I should have liked not to be obliged to give further 
explications, but, as I am driven to it, I shall give them. Everybody knows that, in 
the year 1852, there reigned in politics the most profound calm. Unfortunately for 
the Government and the country, then, for the first time, began to be whispered 
the words, ‘Constitutional Reform.’ The gentlemen of the Senate will recollect the 
agitation produced by the apprehension of a coup d’état. They will not have 
forgotten the numerous re-unions then taking place between political men, and in 
which an address to the Queen was resolved upon. To that address were appended 
many signatures, but it was not presented. The Cortes were convoked, and some 
days afterward, the Gaceta published the projects which produced such an effect in 
this very Chamber that the Government suffered a serious defeat in the election of 
the President. The Cortes were then dissolved. The most important men of the 
moderate party united then in order to protest against that measure; the Duke of 
Valencia being nominated as the President of the re-union. For fear lest the 
Government should obstruct the re-unions, a committee was appointed, over which 
the Duke of Valencia was again elected to preside, and of which Messrs. Mon, 
Pidal, and other important personages, were the most active members. Beside the 
protest, the legality of the new elections was mooted in this committee. Two or 
three days after the Duke of Valencia’s departure for Bayonne, the Bravo Murillo 
Cabinet retired. The Count d’Alcoy succeeded Bravo Murillo. The Opposition 
remained the same, and when the Cortes assembled, a manifest, drawn up by the 
Duke of Valencia, was handed to the Senate. The Senate dropped it, but it became 
then evident that the Opposition was assuming formidable proportions. The 
Cabinet of Count d’Alcoy was succeeded by that of Gen. Lersundi; then the 
Ministry of the Count of San Luis was installed. I regret being obliged to enter into 
certain details, but the moment has arrived of speaking of my own political 
relations with those who joined me in the camp of the Guards. I received, and all 
of us received, before the Duke of Valencia’s return to Spain, one of his confidants, 
with whom he had had a long conversation, and to whom, while deploring the 
lamentable situation in which the country was placed, and uttering apprehensions 
as to the dangers menacing the throne and the Constitution, the Duke said that 
there remained one escape only—the appeal to force [Sensation]. The Sartorius 
Ministry authorized the return to Spain of the Duke of Valencia. He went first to 
Madrid, and then retired to Aranjuez. There we had a conference with him. He 
communicated to us his patriotic feelings, which I am ready to admire, although I 
am unable to support the Cabinet he actually presides over. He declared to us that 
the situation made an appeal to force inevitable; that, from particular motives, he 
could not pronounce first, but that the second sword to leave the sheath should be 
his; adding that, in the present state of things, the rising of two regiments of 
cavalry would suffice to decide the revolution. This declaration was made to us in 
the manner the most categorical. The Cortes were opened. Fully convinced that all 
legal means would be tried in vain, the Duke of Valencia, instead of entering the 
Senate and taking the lead of the Opposition, withdrew to Loja. Everybody knows 
what then occurred in the Cortes; all remember the famous vote of the 105. The 
Government, nevertheless, thought not fit to resign. The Cortes were dismissed, 
and then a régime of unheard-of persecutions was initiated. The Generals who had 
voted against the Cabinet, the most eminent political men, the journalists of the 
Opposition, were sent into exile; organic changes in every direction were 
announced; the forced loan was proclaimed; in pne word, the Government 
outlawed itself. Now,. I ask you, dare you affirm that in this country, where all 
parties, when in opposition, did always conspire, there has ever been a revolution 

more legitimate than that of 1854? As to myself, I left the modest abode where I 
had hidden myself during six months. I left it on horseback, followed by some 
generals and some regiments, with a view to overturning a Government that so 
shamefully was trampling down a constitution I had sworn to defend as a general 
and a senator. We arrived at Vicalvaro, where, to my great regret, the combat was 
engaged. There were neither victors nor vanquished. On both sides the troops 
fought gallantly. The garrison had to return to Madrid, while we remained at 
Vicalvaro. On the following day, according to what was agreed upon with the Duke 
of Valencia, we marched through Aranjuez in the direction of Andalusia. In the 
province of Jaen there sojourned Gen. Serrano, who had promised us his support. 
We arrived at Manzanares, where he met us, saying that those who had promised 
to follow him had disbanded, and that he came alone to share our lot. It was then 
that I published a manifest, and, as I am not used to deny my own acts, I shall tell 
what was at that moment preparing. By emissaries I was informed of all Madrid 
occurrences. All important men of the moderate party were involved in the 
movement. Only it happened—what is sure to happen—that on the planning a 
thing, you may rely on the concourse of a great number of men, the most zealous 
of whom disappear when the hour of action sounds. I was told that we were not 
likely to be seconded by the people, whom the Ministry endeavored to persuade 
that the movement arose out of merély personal squabbles, and lacked any fixed 
political principle. This was the motive of the publication of the manifest of 
Manzanares, which contained two important points: : 

“Constitutional Reform, such as I in my quality of President of the Cabinet, later 
on, proposed to her Majesty; and the , 

“National Militia, not as it was actually organized, but, as I intended making it, a 
true element of order. 

We left Manzanares, and wrote to the Duke of Valencia a letter, signed by 
myself and four other generals, declaring that if he presented himself we should 
appoint hin our commander-in-chief. The Duke sent us an aide-de-camp with the 
message that he had fallen sick and was narrowly watched. It has been said that we 
were resolved upon flying to Portugal. This is false. We had, on the contrary, 
resolved to withdraw to the Sierra Morena, to establish our cavalry at Barrios, to 
stop all the wagons loaded with provisions, and to improve the first occasion for 
presenting ourselves before Madrid, when suddenly the news of the fall of the 
Sartorius Cabinet and the appeal made by the Queen to the Duke of Vittoria was 
imparted to us. From that moment my mission was put an end to. Gen. San 
Miguel, the Minister per interim, sent me word to return to Madrid. I obeyed, with 
the firm resolution of not entering the Cabinet. The Crown had removed the Duke 
of Vittoria, all relations with whom I had dropped since 1840. The same men who 
afterward accused me of having joined his Cabinet, came, on the very night of my 
arrival at Madrid, supplicating me to accept the War Ministry, as the only means of 
saving order and society. All these men belonged to the moderate party. I saw the 
Duke of Vittoria, and, at this point of my relation, I should feel much embarrassed 
if his own manifest did not warrant me in clearing myself from malignant 
imputations. Espartero embraced me cordially, and said that the time had arrived 
of dropping all dissensions between Spaniards; that it had become impossible to 
govern with one single party, and that it was his firm resolution to appeal to all 
men of influence and morality. I observed the situation at Madrid. The barricades 
stood still erect, the garrison was but very small, but the people, always judicious, 
inspired me with great confidence. My second interview with Espartero was rather 

cool; he offered me the portfolio of Foreign Affairs and of the Colonies. I made 
him aware that, on entering the Cabinet, I should decline every other place but 
that of War Minister. Then he told me that of all men I was most fit for fulfilling 
the functions of Captain-General of Cuba. I replied that, having already served in 
that quality, I should not like to return to Havana, and rather withdraw to private 
life; but I entreated him immediately to form a Ministry, and not any longer to 
abandon the nation to the dangers of a provisional state. Shortly afterward General 
Salanza, the originally-appointed War Minister, called upon me, in the name of 
Espartero, to accept the place of War Minister, and the same night I was sworn in 
with my colleagues. There were only two courses for me to take—either to leave 
the revolution to itself until its own excesses engendered a reaction, or to stop it in 
its march. The former part was the easier one; my honor and the interest of the 
country made me adopt the latter. I do not repent it. Our first discussion took 
place in regard to the Constituent Cortes. Mr. Collado, who sits among us, knows. 
all our disputes on this point. Our efforts were baffled. The decree for the 
convocation of the Cortes was signed. The general election took place—not, as 
Mr. Pidal said, under governmental pressure, but with an unlimited liberty. The 
majority of representatives was composed of men sincerely wishing the welfare of 
“the country. With a firm government, the Constitution would have been established 
in four months. But Espartero’s proverbial weakness of character—not as a 
military man, but as a politician—rendered every governmental action impossible. I 
did not continue forming part of the Ministry with a view to betray my colleagues, 
as the Duke of Vittoria erroneously supposes. 1 clung to my post from the very 
motives which had made me canvass it. I remained in order to check the overflow 
of the revolution.” : 

After a very clumsy apology for his coup d’état, O’Donnell 
concluded his speech with the declaration that he could not 
support the Cabinet of Marshal Narvaez, 

“since it had announced its intention of following a line of policy not in 
harmony with representative government.” 
Written on May 26, 1857 : - Reproduced from the newspaper 

Tribune, No. 5038, June 12, 1857