Chapter 23
part two chapter thirteen of garcia moreno by guston berth this librivox recording is in the public domain according by maria the congress of eighteen sixty three according to the laws of the constitution of ecuador the chambers were to meet once in two years and for a limited period tried as he had been by the session of eighteen sixty one garcia moreno had still more to fear from that of eighteen sixty three when the members had been almost all elected under the influence of the infidel and revolutionary press which for eighteen months had been holding him up to execration as having violated the laws of his country by imposing a concordat which was both odious and intolerable a challenge in fact to our century of liberalism and progress to these open enemies of the church were added certain catholics bitten by the liberal tarantula the revolution has so muddled ideas in people's minds that the very fact of giving back liberty to the church is often looked upon even by good men as a usurpation of the civil power
this universal opposition among the upper classes had its natural effect on the common people who did not understand the question in the least hearing the concordat condemned in every way even by people whom they loved and respected they began to look upon it as a public calamity which in the interest of garcia moreno himself must be got rid of as soon as possible so that they returned an immense majority of anti-concordat members to the house the greater part of him were declared enemies of the president in fact in the two chambers he could hardly reckon on more than ten men frankly devoted to his policy to describe his isolation at this critical moment we will give our readers a little sketch of borrero one of the most intelligent members of the congress antonio borrero of cuenca an able lawyer and an old friend of garcia moreno whom he had ably defended in eighteen fifty seven and eighteen fifty eight and again with his pen in the struggle of eighteen fifty nine had brilliantly refueled lies regarding the french protectorate and written a magnificent eulogium of the president and of the good he had effected since his advent to supreme power garcia moreno reckoned on borrero as one trostan old friend of twenty years standing and proposed him as the official candidate for the vice-presidency of the republic
in the circular address to the governors of provinces garcia moreno spoke of him as of one whose disinterestedness and patriotism whose eminent intellectual abilities firm and honest character and high enruged morality eminently recommended him to the notice of the electors borrero accepted the candidature and announced in his paper the centenella that he should consequently remain neutral during the election but then came the publication of the concordat and as a liberal catholic borrero could not resist throwing a stone at pious the ninth and garcia moreno the latter beyond anything startled at his friends proceeding in the matter conjured him to avoid scandal to state his objections privately to him so that he might prepare some modifications which he could submit to the holy see but borrero's liberalism was too strong for him he publicly broke off his relations with the president and resigned his candidature rather than subscribe to his policy which he said was contrary to his principles of liberty great as this blow was to garcia moreno he was quite determined to resign his own presidency rather than give up a treaty which he justly considered the salvation of his country his admirable message to the chambers bore the character of a real ultimatum
in it he enumerated the different works he had undertaken and successfully carried out in the previous two years and then having fully justified the necessity of the concordat to repress the disorders in the church and restore her to her full liberty he wound up his speech with the words if the majority of the house should censure the acts of my administration i will immediately resign my powers praying divine providence to replace me by a magistrate fortunate enough to ensure the repose and the future well-being of the republic this message was received coldly by both houses garcia moreno's resignation which evidently would be the immediate result of his defeat would not have displeased the great majority had it not been for the storm brewing in new granada to get rid of their precedent would be to throw the country into the hands of musquera who would arrive like mahomet with the koran in one hand and the sword in the other they therefore contented themselves with covert attacks which were not the less pointed and culminated in a vigorous attack on the concordat accusing the government of having violated the law of the constitution and promulgating it before it had received the assent of the chambers for six weeks the debate continued till a declaration of war from
turned the attention of the whole country to the necessity of providing means of defence garcia moreno now found himself in a very difficult position between his determination not to sacrifice the concordat and the impossibility of resigning his presidency in the face of the new danger which threatened his country he called together the heads of the opposition and told them to prepare the reforms which they desired in the treaty with the pope and that he would consider their feasibility reserving to himself a veto should they infringe the rights of the church the deputies did as they were told and simply tore the concordat in pieces by the proposed reforms garcia moreno kept the document while in the meanwhile the chambers devoted themselves to facing the dangers threatened by ms guerra six months later when men's passions had calmed down the president announced that he refused the exquadetor to the proposed law of reform as being absolutely contrary to the imprescriptible rights of the church he then explained himself as to this refusal as follows it was impossible for me to carry out your wishes because to propose to the pope the re-establishment of civil appeals and other matters which he adjudged to be abuses would make all negotiations impossible if it were a question of the most insignificant of governments you would not permit ecuador to dishonour herself by violating stipulations already accepted still less by imposing obligations which by the very nature of the contract can only result from free and reciprocal engagements
and should we break our word to the great detriment of the national honour towards the highest authority in the world as a catholic people could we forget the sacred links which bind us to the centre of religious unity and refuse to the holy father the respect and consideration which we should grant to the head of the humblest little republic if we really wish in good faith to modify some of the conditions of the concordat which was concluded ratified and promulgated with legislative authority in eighteen sixty one do not propose such reforms as the recourse to civil tribunals and the like instead of throwing ourselves into these dangers and preparing a great schism in our country you and i and all the people are i feel convinced determined to preserve intact the faith of our fathers even at the peril of our lives after a day or two of calm deliberation the deputies allowed that their proposed law was impossible of execution they abrogated most of its provisions especially that regarding the appeal to the civil courts and begged the president to come to an understanding with the holy see which he gladly accepted thus the concordat was saved and the invincible energy of a real head of the state triumphed over the passions of the mob garcia moreno would never consent to act simply as a machine to sign decrees as president he considered that his duty was not to obey the people but to guide and direct them
the revolution tows the country into an abyss the counter-revolution marches ahead of the people by the light of the church to enlighten and to save them in a volume two chapter thirteen
