TOEING THE LINE. 239 obscure, the difficulties will not be above the energies of the country. With armies both on land and sea, whose glorious traditions inflame courage, with a nation compact in the face of foreign aggression, and with a trust in God, Who has always guided us through great crises, we shall traverse this one likewise, without disgrace to our honour,against which a provocatory attempt is made without either reason or justice."

GovernorofMadridwas at thestation to wishhim good-bye,and there was with him a strongforce of gendarmerie to preserveorder,as it was seared that popular enthusiasm might lead to an angry demonstration against the departing ambassador. A great crowd watched the train move away. As it passed out of the station the Governor called for cheers for Spain and the army and navy. That night there wene noisy demonstrations in the theatres, and the crowd tore down the American eagle from the offices of two or threeinsurance companies, andattempted to do the same at the empty United States Embassy. But they were kept back by thepolice, and they then amused themselves with parading the Spanish flag through the streets.

It was no wonderthat brave words like these, spoken by the queen, with her boy, the little king, seated beside her, roused all who heard them to a generous enthusiasm. The votes the Government asked for were carried with acclamation. Parties had ceased to exist. Conservative and Liberal, Carlist and Republican, vied with each other in protesting their readiness to make any sacrifice for the national defence. They had ceased to be partisans. They were all Spaniards, closing up shoulder to shoulder as the decisivemoment drew near.

As General Woodford travelled northward in theParisexpress,crowds gatheredat the stations where it stopped to cheer for Spain. At Valladolid the mob threw stones at the carriagethe police had to make a charge to prevent further outrages. One of the ambassador's secretaries was a Spanish subject, and the authorities made an ill-advised attempt to remove him from the train at Tolosa. But General Woodford placed himself at the door of the compartment occupied by the young man, and requested an Irish fellow-traveller, Mr. Victor Collins, to explain to the gendarmes in their own language,quietly and distinctly, that they were exceeding their powers, and that if they persisted they would meet with physical resistance. This Mr. Collins succeeded in conveying to them with good effect, and after a hurried consultation among themselves, they left the train; whereupon the Minister shook Mr. Collins warmly by the hand,remarking with a laugh, "Ialways like to have an Irishman near me in a tight corner."

The same day that the Cortes met, the ultimatum was in the possession of the Ministry.

Mr.McKinley had not used a cipher in cabling it to General Woodford. It was part of the speedy methods adopted by modern diplomacy. Till very lately such a message would have been sent by a special messenger, and peace would have lasted, at least in name, till he could personally deliver it to the ambassador at Madrid. Perhaps there is somethingto be said for the older and moreeasy-goingway of transacting the business on which peace and wardepend. The ultimatum gave Spain till noon on Saturday, April 23rd, to renounce her sovereign rights in Cuba and order the withdrawal of her forces.

It appearsnot to havereached Madrid till late in the day. Some say it arrived earlier and the Spanish Government kept it back while the Cabinet, with a copy of the cablegram before it, was deciding what course should be taken. In any case Woodford had not the satisfaction of presenting the ultimatum. The Message had not been long in his possession when in the early hours of Thursday, the 21st, an official from the Spanish Foreign Office brought him hispassports, with a letter informing him that Senor Polo de Bernabe had left Washington, and that diplomatic relations betweenSpain and theUnited States wereat an end.

General Woodford and the staffof theEmbassy left Madrid on the Thursday afternoon. The Thus,on April 21st, the Spanish ambj to the States had reached Canada, and the American envoy to Madrid was on his way to France. Friendly relations had ceased between the two countries, and, though nominally the time of grace as defined in the ultimatum had two days yet to run,peace was at an end, and, though 110 act of war had yet been done, the Spanish-American War maybe said to date from that day.

Spain had staked upon the chances of battle the last fragments of her once world-wide domain,and the Republicof the West had set si ath upon apath as yet untrodden, that was to lead to conquest beyond the seas,and to the founding of a colonial empire.