Year: 1873

We print in another place the speech with
which Don Emilio CASTELAR, closed the debate
in the Spanish Cortes on the resolution favor
ing Emancipation in Porto Rico. The excep-
tional Importance and interest which this sub
ject possesses for Americans, justifies the space
we have given to the careful translation OF
this remarkable address, which has been pre-
pared exclusively for this paper. Castelar,
is the one privileged orator OF Spain
who has the right to resume and en-
brace in one utterance the thought and
the aspiration of the most cultivated and
liberal classes of the Peninsula. Others have
discussed this question from the point of view
of expediency and practicability. Its legal
and economic bearings have been considered
by iurists and statisticians But by common
consent it was left to the young tribune TO
sum up the duty and responsibility of the
Spanish democracy in relation to this question
from the point of view of honor morality,
and patriotism.


He probably never made a speech more
liable to the reprOach, which is fatal in every
Saxon community, Of pure rhetoric and senti-
ment. He does not for an instant touch upon
those considerations of expediency which
form the basis of all modern legislative dis
cussion. He does not once ask, "What Is the
"lawPr nor "Will this payi" From begin
ming to end he does not descend for
moment from the lofty eminence
of passionate conviction from which he
Judges this question, where nothing is con-
sdered but honor and conscience. 1t Is
not a speech which would impress Legis-
lature intent upon the peaceful pursuit of
dividends. The ideas it contains are by no
means practical. The whole matter is
weighed in the balance of morals. He tells
his colleagues that they are called upon to
free the slaves of the Antilles, because it is
commanded by religion, by democracy, and
by the inevitable progress of the age. lie
discards at once the feverish dream whlch
haunts so many Spaniards, of one day recoy-
ering their possessions on the continent lie
indulges, it is true, i'll fancy far more
poetical than feasible Of making the islands
of the Caribbean the medatOrs between
Europe and America, the neutral ground
of the geniuses of the two hemi-
spheres. He protests against the decline
of Spanish influence, but insists that it shall
be no longer stained and poisoned with the
traditions of darker ages From the mex
haustible stOrehouse of his historical reading
he makes a gallant argument to show that
the policy of the old monarchy was progress
siye and liberal, and almost makes you believe
it, He repudiates the idea Of foreign dicta-
ton, but cheerfully admits that the liberal
thought of all nations works in harmony with
the universal movement of progress. He rises
with his swelling theme into passionate
appeal for emancipation in the name of
liberty and democracy, which is one
of the most singular passages TO be
found in recent literature. 1t could not be
uttered in any but Latin country where
democratic institutions are fresh and new
No living orator of the North would dare, if
he could, speak with such unreserved and
youthful abandonment The very wealth and
beauty of dction, the glow of fancy and
fervor of feeling which characterize this sim
gular discourse, would condemn it before
one of our shy and cautious audiences
Eloquence gains nothing before a Yam
kee Areopagus by tearing away all her
drapery. But in reading this speech we
must remember it was not delivered In Wash
ington or London. The orator loves democ-
racy with personal passion, and is not afraid
or ashamed to let it be known. His audi
ence know he is in earnest, and are not
afraid of compromising themselves by yield
ing to the spell of his oratory. If you look
at it from moral point of view this speech
Is not without sublimity. Considering it as o
mere intellectual exercise, we may well envy
the peoples who still retain the good fortune
to hear and the taste to enjoy such efforts.


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