The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-26 00:00:00

ESPARTERO'S FALL FROM POWER.

An eye-witness, whose veracity is unimpeach-
able, thus relates Espartero's fall from power, and
O'Donnell's a-isumption of the reins of Govern-
ment.

Although the lapse of time has diminished the interest
of the affair, the many representations that have been
male of it, and the strict authenticity and curious
" minuteness of the details induce us to publish the follow-
ing, as it places it beyond a doubt that the expulsion of
the Liberal party from power was the result of a plan
concerted between the Queen and Marshall O'Donnell.
In this conspiracy the part assigned to the latter was to
pick a quarelle d' Alleraand, a sort of wolf and-lamb
quarrel, with his colleagues, and that of the Queen was
to support him through thick and thin, and to accept
anybody and everybody's resignation except his.
On the 11th of July the usual Friday's Council of
Ministers was held at the residence of its President, and
commenced by the reading and approval of a project of
decree relative to the importation of corn, presented by
the Mbuster of Public Works. After this, the Minister
of the interior, Escosura, read a rough copy of another
project of decree concerning the press, but, before it
could be discussed, Gen. O'Donnell addressed the Coun-
cil, and declared it necessary that the Goveramentehould
publish a programme, indicating to the country the eye.
tem of government it proposal to follow. Espartero and
the other Ministers pointed out to him that such a pro-
gramme was never furnished, except to the Queen on the
formation of a Cabinet. They consequently opposed the
proposition of O'Donnell, who insisted on it, and, among
other things, on the necessity of re-organising the
National Guard, expelling from its ranks persons unde-
serving of confidence. His colleagues pointed out the
inconvenience and illegality of such a measure, which
attacked the Constitution itself and the law passed by the
Cortes, by which it was ordained that persons who showed
themselves unworthy of belonging to the Nationa Guard
were to be judged by councils of discipline, and that if
the National Guard as a body, or any part of it, failed in
its duty, the Government had a right to proceed to its
dissolution and reorganisation, as had been done at Se-
ville, Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, and various other
places. Unable to refute these arguments, O'Donnell
shifted his batteries, and declared himself gravely offend-
ed at Escosura's having presented to the Council a writ-
ten project of law, without having previously verbally
communicated it. Escosara replied that such had always
been his practice ; the other Ministers declared that it
had also been theirs; and Espartero cited, as an instance,
the project just presented by the Minister of Public
Works, written in the same form as that of Escosura, and
to which none had objected, seeing that it was in confor-
mity with the custom of all the Ministers, including the
Minister of War himself. Thus baffled, O'Donnell de-
sisted from such trivial pretexts for discord, and started
upon another tack. " Well, gentlemen," he said, "my
policy differs widely from that of the Minister of the
Interior," and he proceeded to speak of the bad choice
made of Civil Governors of provinces, adding that Es-
cosura had filled up posts in his branch of the adminis-
tration even with democrats. To this charge Escosura
made the triumphant reply that whether the Civil Gover-
nors were good or bad was no fault of his, since with
extremely few exceptions they had all been proposed by
his predecessors and approved by the Council of Minis
tern. O'Donnell closed the discussion with these words:
" Well, gentlemen, it is impossible that Senor Escosura
and I should remain in the same Cabinet. Let Senor
Escosura leave it or I resign." Escosura replied that,
while feeling, as must also his colleagues, how unreason-
able General O'Donnell was, he was also conscious of
his own small importance, and how desirable it was
that the Minister of War should not quit the Cabinet,
and accordingly he tendered his resignation. Espar-
tero and the other Ministers opposed this, declar-
ing that neither Escosura nor O'Donnell should re-
tire, and that it was the duty of the Ministry to re-
main united and hold together until the Cortes had,
completed their mission, and the country was consti-
tuted. O'Donnell, however, insisted on resigning, and
said he would give in his resignation to the Queen her-
self. Escosura handed his to the President of the Coun-
cil to be transmitted to the Queen. Espartero opposed
theimmediate Creaking up of the Council, and the pro-
ject of taw concerning the press was discussed, O'Don-
nell proposing amendments, which were admitted. The
Ministers then separated until noon on the following
d,y, when they re-assembled and signed the above-
named project of law, but O'Donnell sent word that he
was ill in bed and could not come. The Ministers of
Finance and Public Works, and afterwards Espartero,
went to see him, and all left him with the impression that
he desisted from his intention of resigning, when sud-
denly.he presented himself in the Council Room and re-
n!itved his previous pretensions. All trio arguments of
his colleagues were fruitless to turn him from his pur-
pose, and he and Escosura left the Council. The
other Ministers remained together and agreed to ad-
vise the Queen to accept neither resignation, on the
ground that the Cabinet ought to undergo no change
until the Cortes had completed their task, now draw-
ing to a close, and in this opinion they were confirmed
by General Infante and Senor Portilla, President and
First Vice-President of the Chamber, whom they sent
for to consult, and who afterwards went to O'Donnell to
urge him to remain in office. He Mill refused, and Es-
partero then requested him not to give in his resigna•