St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-29

once or twice IL alnlOSt SllppSu IToln
his grasp; 1t was the smallest and
most delicate hand ever attached to
manly wrist, and yet at that moment
it held the destinies of Europe-the
edict of peace or war-the crowns of
the two sovereigns engaged in the ne
farious transaction, proposed by the
one with all a woman's gatete de occur,
unconscious of the sin committed, bent
only ON acquisition of the funds need
ed for carrying on the system OF
thoughtless extravaganza in which she
was involved: to the other, who safe
in self-Satisfied security, of greater
cunning and less scruple, as compared
with his fellow sovereign, ready to
seize upon any opportunity that might
offer to create a vacancy by intrigue,
to secure the place which was still de-
MED him as lawful sovereign elected
by the people, who still looked upon
him as an usurper and intruder into
the sacred ranks of the older monarch
les of Europe.
The expression of his countenance
was painful to behold. His eyelids
were red and swollen, as though he had
been weeping, and he seemed daZed and
bewildered, like man suddenly awoke
from slumber. Aguado stood behind
the envoy, the Prince Talleyrand was
attended by his secretary, who remain
ed standing at the back of the chair oc-
cupied by the prince-the banker and
secretary being present to sign the deed
as witnesses.
The articles of the contract were then
read over by the envoy, and at the end
Of each article there was pause,
while observations were made in a
whisper between Prince Talleyrand and
the king, the substance of which, how
ever, did not reach the ears of the rest
of the company. The cession of Cuba
was discussed but little; Aguado alone
was consulted concerning the rate OF
exchange, a question of small impor-
tance in itself, but yet debated by Cam
puzano with artificial vehemence evi.
IDENTIFY excited by the sole desire of
prolonging the conference and delaying
the awful manner of its termination.
But the cesSion of Cuba did end at last,
and the signatures were duly append
ed. The hectic flush on poor Campu-
zano's cheeks was gradually deepening
into livid crimson, and the flashes of
his eyes growing brighter as the pen,
handed round from one treacherous ac-
compl1ce to the other, and employed to
sign away the national birthright of
his country, scratched the signatures
beneath the first article; then came the
second, which, apparently, of far less
Importance, helped, nevertheless, to
save the Spanish government from the
shame, the disgrace and the civil war
which, during the awful moment were
hanging over it,
The article treating of Porto Rico and
the Philippine islands was now brought
upon the taps; the 10,000,00O of reals
We're brought under calculation. For
Porto Rico the bargain was soon dis
missed as satisfactory, with the mini
mum valuation, but the question of the
Philippine islands was a more difficult
one. Here the temptation to drive a
bargain was too strong for the citizen
king, whose talent for huckstering and
barter had been cultivated from the
very beginning of his career With a
bland smile he stayed the reading of
the article Of the contract by the obser-
walton that the cession of the Philip
pines would be so completely obnoxious
to England that the risk of great OBJ
position, if not of declaration of war
at the instgation OF the British minis
ter, might be the result. And always
the shadow of Lord Palmerston seemed
to rise in all its terror before the de-
spoiler The demand, therefore. of a
reduction in the price placed upon the
Philippines was made in a peremptory
and formal fashion. Louis Philippe.
who had been accused of making
money of everything, proved the justice
n ha
even the sentiment of fear inspired by
the supposed rath to be evinced by
Lord Palmerston was brought to mar
Ket before the useless temporizing of
Prince Talleyrand and the boiling in
dignation of the Spanish envoy.
Inc paper con Seyed, in short and
hurried terms, the propos. ton made by
Queen Christina, to hand over by Sc
cret treaty the island of Cuba to France
for the sum of S0,000,OOO reals, and the
Philippine islands, with Porto Rico, for
lO,OOO,0O0 more. The affair itself would
be found easier 70 manage than the
means OF its accomplishment in Sc
crecy, and 1t was entirely in dread and
awe OF Lord Palmerston that the
queen, who was, by the way, to take
upon herself the whole responsibility
VI SiiC iSSolidllOllS HdQ maQe THIS
crecy one of the solemn conditions up
on winch the transaction could be un-
dertaken. SO intense was the horror
OF Lord Palmerston's ubiquitous power
OF penetration that it had been tradi-
tonal in the chancelleries, and this
dread had guided Aguado in the in
stlgation of the method by which the
proposal was to be submitted to the
king.
Inc loan to be f1oated upon the bourse
was, OF course, to be entirely in that
great bankers hands. One million of
francs would be offered to Prince Tai
leyrand, and 100000 francs were to be
distributed as commission among all
connected with both the diplomatic and
financial negotiations.
1t was with great misgivings that
Prince Talleyrand's secretary consent
ed to submit the affair to the illus
trlous and clever statesman, who lis
tened with a smile to the informal
wording of the document received from
Queen Christina by Campuzano. To
the tempered Indignation of his secre-
tary, still under the influence of the
anguish he had witnessed on the part
of the envoy, the prince merely replied
by way Of response to the excuse for
submitting such an impossible motive
to his consideration: "Eh, bas len al
WI bien d'autres!'
A few moments afterward he was
eloseted with Nine. de Dino, and in less
than half an hour after that a message
was dispatched from the Rue st. Flor
ent1n to the Tuileries, and on the return
of the messenger the prince left at once
in his carriage for the palace What
took place at the interview between
the king and the diplomat has never
transpired, but the Spanish envoy. who,
with downcast look and weary gait.
was soon recognized among the serv-
ing men and attendants on duty as the
"trfste figure" always exciting the
jeers and pleasantries of the valetaille
by his detected manner, was in a short
time afterward beheld toiling up the
stairs.
1t is certain that the negotiations
were carried on to the very last mo-