and official conduct Her Majesty had bound the intelligent and the good of all other peoples with strong bonds of admiration and regard. The Queen, most gracious in her demeanor, throughout the necessarily brief interview listened with an expression of extreme pleasure and then recalled my previous residence in Madrid as the American minister and the cordial relations which then existed with the court. She made special and flattering inquiry about Mrs. Curry and hoped to see her on to-morrow. To the King, standing beside his mother, I made my acknowledgments. I was surprised to find him so well grown and nearly as tall as Her Majesty. He was easy and dignified in manner, self-possessed, alert in speech, and made a decidedly favorable impression. His first utterance was, "I am glad to see you. You were here when I was born." In an adjoining room waited the Princess of Asturias, the King's eldest sister, to whom I was presented. She kindly said she remembered Mrs. Curry. Her husband was with her. The 17th, the natal day, was the day fixed by the constitution of 1876 for the coming of age of the King and the taking of the oath. Elaborate preparations had been made for the occasion and the ceremonial. The procession from palace to Chamber of Deputies, through streets beautifully decorated with ancient tapestries and splendid hangings, was a reproduction of the most magnificent of medieval cavalcades and displays. Royal coaches, drawn by eight horses, attended by mace bearers, outriders, royal guards, bore the Queen and King and Princess of Asturias to the Chamber. Twelve senators and twelve deputies received Their Majesties at the steps and conducted them to the Chamber, around which were benches filled by deputies, senators, and ministers, members of the Government, and many distinguished men and women in dazzling uniforms and decorations. The foreign princes and special envoys were seated immediately to the right of a platform which had been specially constructed and on which were four gilded chairs occupied by the King and Queen Regent and Princess and Prince of Asturias. As the King took his place upon the throne he was given a most enthusiastic reception, which he gracefully acknowledged. On the left of the King was a table on which was a Bible with a silver crucifix beside it. On the right was another table with a golden crown studded with jewels and a scepter. The common belief that there was to be a coronation was an error, as Alfonso was born King and needed not an official coronation. The president of the Chamber, addressing the King, said: Señor, the Cortes convoked by your august mother are assembled to receive from Your Majesty the oath which, in accordance with the constitution, you come to take to maintain the constitution and laws. His Majesty, rising and facing the assembly, placed his hand on the Bible and said in distinct, audible tones and in most impressive manner: I swear by God upon the Holy Bible to maintain the constitution and laws. If so I do, may God reward me. If I do not, may He call me to account. The ceremony of the transformation from the regency to the King, of the transference of rule from mother to son, and of the investiture, according to the constitution, with the rights and prerogatives of a King in his own separate right was exceedingly simple and intelligible. The boy King's manner was dignified and self-possessed, and nothing occurred to suggest opposition or a probable antagonism to the change of government. After this ceremony of taking the oath the King and royal party proceeded to the San Francisco Cathedral, where a solemn Te Deum was celebrated. On his return to the palace the King issued his first proclamation to the people, expressing the hope that he would receive from them the inspiration which time has not yet taught and that they will continue to him the support they had accorded to his august mother. The Queen, in a noble, pathetic letter to the Spanish people, expressed her unchangeable gratitude for the proofs of affection she had received, and stated that the most complete recompense for a mother for a life devoted to the fulfillment of her duties during a long regency and the bitter trials to which Providence had subjected her would be that her son might be preserved to emulate the glories of his predecessors and to procure peace and prosperity for the noble people he was called to govern. Among the most significant and warmly approved early actions of the new King was the royal decree giving to the Queen Mother the rank, honors, and preeminence of a reigning consort queen. Her fidelity to her son and ability as a ruler merited this act of filial regard and sound policy. A translation of this paper may well be preserved. Wishing to give to my august mother a testimony of the great affection and, at the same time, of the love and gratitude with which the noble nation directed by her during sixteen years will keep memory of her great services, and especially the fidelity with which she followed the traditions of my unfortunate father, King Alfonso XII, in the noble task of maintaining closely united the desires of the people with the ideals of the throne, I hereby order that during all her life she shall preserve the rank, honors, and preeminence as reigning consort queen, occupying, therefore, at official acts and ceremonies, the same place as before, or the immediate one to my wife, in case I should contract marriage. Although the official functions, those essential to the installation of the King and the transference of executive power, were closed, yet for several days and nights a series of banquets, receptions, illuminations, including a military review of different branches of service by the King, laying of the corner stone of the monument to his father, opening of an academy of arts, a battle of flowers, etc., was kept up with great interest. At all these festivities the royal family was present, and most convenient arrangements were made for the foreign representatives and the general public. Everything was prearranged with taste and art and skill, so that no hitch nor accident nor postponement occurred, and the displays and performances were singularly impressive. Such official and popular fêtes, such brilliant ceremonies, the capital had never seen, for they surpassed in eclat and splendor all that had preceded. The artificial exhibitions illustrated the hearty enthusiasm and contentedness of the people. The provinces swelled by 100,000 the usual population of the city, and the thronging crowds of both sexes and all ages, in most picturesque costumes, without disorder or drunkenness, were patient, cheerful, good-humored, and loyal. The prompt and cheerful response of so many Governments in the inauguration of His Majesty was regarded as a new era a hopeful sign of Spanish resumption of an honorable position among the nations. Not only all Spain but all the world contributed to give joyous acclaim to the young prince. It was an impressive and a significant fact that eleven foreign princes of royal blood, with numerous suites, and twentyfour extraordinary representatives from Europe and the New World, and imposing deputations from China, Japan, Siam, and Morocco, should, formally and with appropriate expressions of interest, have come to assure Spain of sympathy and regard, and to wish for the new sovereign the blessings of peace and prosperity. The presence and cheer of so many international associates must have been encouraging and inspiring. As the presence of an American ambassador and the preferential distinctions shown excited no inconsiderable attention and remark, a fuller mention may be pardoned. The President, with humane intuitions, knowing that the heart is often a better logician than the head, assured that the expression of the desire for thorough reconciliation would have a ready response, sent the embassy for the completer reestablishment of friendship and good will. He rendered an excellent service for both countries and placed his own in the forefront for magnanimity and international concord. That was true philosophy which said the sympathies of peoples with peoples, the sense of a common humanity between nations, the aspirations of nationalities for freedom and independence, are real political forces, and owning them as such places one on the right side, and disowning them, on the wrong. It was manifestly most gratifying for the royal family, the Government, and the people that the President should have shown such delicate and generous consideration, and that the United States should share in the great historical occasion. In no stinted words was their pleasure expressed, and in many ways, by many marks of distinction and favor, to the President, the Government, and the ambassador, was this satisfaction clearly exhibited. Queen, King, Infantas, members of the Government, and colleagues seemed to have been impressed by the unique fact, and therefore often spoke of it, that I was present in the palace when the King was born. The coincidence of his advent and inauguration, marked by the official presence of myself, was what the President happily called "poetic fitness," and it touched the Spanish heart. While the treatment of all guests was in the highest style of Spanish hospitality, it would be unjust not to rake specific and grateful mention of what was generously and courteously accorded to your representative, not as personal to him, but to show in marked manner an appreciation of the kindly act of the President and of the Government. At the railway station we were met by a royal carriage, which conveyed us to our house and remained night and day at our disposition while we were in Madrid. Under courteous guidance we were conducted to a handsome residence, over which floated the stars and stripes, where everything had been provided in most liberal manner for our maintenance and comfort. Nothing could have been more thoughtful and considerate, and with a delicacy which was the fruitage of the highest civilization. All these kindnesses were shown and continued without ostentation or interference. After the precedence extended to the foreign representatives of "blood royal" and to the papal nuncio, the American ambassador had the place of honor at the oath taking in the Cortez, at royal banquet, at official receptions, at the celebration of the Te Deum, at the military review, at all ceremonies and functions. The Marquis de Villalobar was assigned by Their Majesties to the embassy as special friend and adviser, and greatly to our profit and pleasure he remained until the hour of our departure. Having lived several years in our country, being a thorough gentleman, of much culture, familiar with court etiquette and the requirements of all the functions and ceremonies, in hearty sympathy with the object of the President in appointing the embassy, he discharged his duties as liberally interpreted and his privileges as friendship dictated, in the most acceptable manner. Our Government and the embassy could not have had one more sympathetic, more capable, more willing, more efficient. In the absence of the Hon. Bellamy Storer, our regular minister at Madrid, Mr. Stanton Sickles, the secretary, was acting as chargé d'affaires, and I have much pleasure in acknowledging his kind attentions and his courteous and useful services. J. L. M. CURRY. I have, etc., Mr. Hill to Mr. Curry. No. 3.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch of May 31, 1902, reporting your reception as ambassador extraordinary of the United States on a special mission to attend the ceremonies on the occasion of the coming of age of Alphonso XIII. The Department is gratified to learn of the appreciative reception accorded to you, as a forecast of the good will which this Government trusts will ever prevail between the United States and Spain. I am, etc., DAVID J. HILL, Acting Secretary. ASSUMPTION OF POWER BY ALFONSO XIII. Mr. Sickles to Mr. Hay. No. 662.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy, together with a translation, of a note that has been received from the ministry of state in connection with the taking of oath of His Majesty King Alfonso XIII, informing this legation in official form of that act. I have, etc., [Inclosure.-Translation.] STANTON SICKLES. The Duke of Almodóvar del Rio to Mr. Sickles. MINISTRY OF STATE, Madrid, May 17, 1902. MY DEAR SIR: It is with extreme satisfaction that I announce to you that His Majesty the King my august sovereign, who has arrived at his majority, has just taken oath to the constitution of the state in the form prescribed by the fundamental law of Spain, and that the Spanish Monarchy reigns from to-day. In giving you official news of such a memorable and happy event, I repeat the assurance, etc. THE DUKE OF ALMODÓVAR DEL RIO. PROTECTION OF CUBAN INTERESTS BY UNITED STATES CON SULAR OFFICIALS. Mr. Sickles to Mr. Hay. No. 665.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your cable instruction, that was received here in the early morning of May 26, and which I have deferred from acknowledging until I could inform the Department of the action that the Spanish Government intended to take in the matter. An answer to the note that I addressed to the Spanish ministry of state immediately on receipt of your cablegram, although bearing date May 31, was only received to-day, and I beg to inclose herewith a copy of the same and a translation. I have informed this morning, by telegraph, the consul-general of the United States at Barcelona, Mr. Julius G. Lay, of the contents of your cablegram and of the reply of the Spanish Government in this connection, instructing him to use his good offices in the representation of the interests of Cuba and of its citizens until Cuban consuls shall have been appointed, and requesting him to likewise instruct all our consular officers in Spain. I have, etc., STANTON SICKLES. [Inclosure.-Translation.] The Duke of Almodóvar del Rio to Mr. Sickles. MINISTRY OF STATE, Madrid, May 31, 1902. MY DEAR SIR: I have the honor to inform you, in reply to your courteous note of the 26th instant, that the Government of His Majesty, yielding to the wishes of the President of the island of Cuba, and of the Cabinet at Washington, that were therein conveyed, accedes with pleasure to the request that the consular agents of the United States in Spain represent the interests of the said island and of its citizens until Cuban consuls be appointed to that end. I take this opportunity to renew, etc., THE DUKE OF ALMODÓVAR DEL RIO. ACCIDENT TO PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. Señor Ojeda to Mr. Adee. [Telegram.] LEGATION OF SPAIN, New York, September 24, 1902. I beg you to convey to His Excellency my deep sorrow for the untoward accident, and my earnest wishes for his prompt and complete recovery. OJEDA. |