nd I do not desire to be, King, except of all
Spaniards; I exclude nobody, not even those who call themselves my
enemies, for a king can have no enemies. I appeal affectionately to
all, in the name of the country, even to those who appear the most
estranged; and if I do not need the help of all to arrive at the
throne of my ancestors, I do perhaps need their help to establish
on solid and immovable bases the government of the State, and to
give prosperous peace and true liberty to my beloved Spain.

"When I reflect how weighty a task it is to compass those great
ends, the magnitude of the undertaking almost oppresses me with
fear. True, I am filled with the most fervent desire to begin, and
the resolute will to carry out, the enterprise; but I cannot hide
from myself that the difficulties are immense, and that they can
only be overcome by the co-operation of the men of notability, the
most impartial and honest in the kingdom; and, above all, by the
co-operation of the kingdom itself, gathered together in the
Cortes which would truly represent the living forces and
Conservative elements of Spain.

"I am prepared with such Cortes to give to Spain, as I said in my
letter to the Sovereigns of Europe, a fundamental code which would
prove, I trust, definitive and Spanish.

"Side by side, my brother, we have studied modern history,
meditating over those great catastrophes which are at once lessons
to rulers and a warning to the people. Side by side, we have also
thought over and formed a common judgment that every century ought
to have, and actually has, its legitimate necessities and natural
aspirations.

"Old Spain stood in need of great reforms; in modern Spain we have
had simply immense convulsions of overthrow. Much has been
destroyed; little has been reformed. Ancient institutions, some of
which cannot be revivified, have died out. An attempt has been made
to create others in their place, but scarcely had they seen the
light when symptoms of death set in. So much has been done, and no
more. I have before me a stupendous labour, an immense social and
political reconstruction. I have to set myself to building up, in
this desolated country, on bases whose solidity is guaranteed by
experience, a grand edifice, where every legitimate interest and
every reasonable personality can find admittance.

"I do not deceive myself, my brother, when I feel confident that
Spain is hungry and thirsty for justice; that she feels the