I could not accept the first of these conditions without entire loss of self-respect; I could not accede to the second without recognising the right of force, a right recognised neither by divine nor human laws, and the existence of which is incompatible with the Constitution, as it is incompatible with all Constitutions; I could not accept the third condition without infringing the Constitution, which regards as law any measure voted by the Cortes and sanctioned by the supreme head of the State, and which places a law once sanctioned beyond the sphere of the royal authority; I could not accept the fourth condition without accepting my own disgrace, passing condemnation upon myself and undermining the power which the King had left me and which the Chambers of the Cortes had afterwards confirmed, and which was preserved by me as a sacred possession which I had sworn never to surrender to the hands of factious men.
My firmness in resisting that which I could not accept in the face of my duty, my oaths and the dearest interests of the monarchy, has brought down upon the defenceless woman, whose voice now speaks to you, a series of griefs and sufferings which no human language could express. You will not have forgotten, Spaniards, how I carried my misfortunes from city to city, insulted and affronted everywhere, for one of those decrees of God which are a mystery to man, has permitted injustice and ingratitude to prevail. Doubtless for that reason the small number of those who hated me were emboldened to insult me, while the large number of those who loved me had so far lost courage as to offer me nothing but silent compassion as a testimony of their affection. There were some who offered me their swords, but I did not accept their offer, preferring martyrdom in isolation to the certain prospect of reading one day a new list of martyrs who had fallen victims to their loyalty. I might have stirred up a civil war, but civil war could not be aroused by myself, who have just given you the peace that my heart desired, a peace cemented by forgetfulness of the past; my mother's eyes turned away from so dreadful a prospect; I told myself that when children are ungrateful a mother must endure to death, but that she must not stir up war between them.
Days elapsed in this dreadful condition of affairs; I saw my sceptre become merely a useless reed and my diadem a crown of thorns. At length my strength failed; I laid aside my sceptre and my crown to breathe the air of freedom; an unhappy victim but with a calm brow, a clear conscience, and a soul without remorse.
Such, Spaniards, has been my conduct. I offer you this account of it that it may not be stained by calumny, and in so doing I have performed the last of my duties. She who was your Queen asks nothing more of you than that you will love her daughter and honour her memory.
Marseilles, November 8, 1840.
(Signed) Maria Christina.
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
[The names followed by an asterisk (*) have been already noted in more detail in the Biographical Index of vol. i.]
A