Such is the picture of the republic from the night of February 11, 1873, until the morning of January 3, 1874, when it was dissolved by the _coup_ of General Pavia. This opinion is no mere expression of party rancour, for, as it is founded on the facts and events recorded in the _Gazette_ and the _Journal of the Sessions of the Cortes_, which were noted day by day, they became, under the pen of the historian Lafuente, the true history which, according to Cicero, is “the light of truth and the master of life.” A few quotations from this diary of facts, which Ferretti republished as an antidote to the anti-dynastic feelings which were aroused by the loss of Cuba, give some idea of the effect of the republic on Spain: “_February 16, 1873._--Assassinations in Montilla under shocking circumstances. Eight houses sacked and burnt; Señor Robobo assassinated and quartered. Abolition of the oath of loyalty in the army. “_February 20 and 21._--During these days the theatre of Barcelona was the scene of dreadful military orgies and acts of immorality and barbarism. The column of Cabrinati rebelled in Santa Coloma de Farnés, at the instigation of the republicans, and the cry of ‘Down with the officers!’ was heard all over Catalonia. “_February 24._--There was a general Carlist rising in Navarre, and a call to arms of all men between twenty and forty years of age. “_February 28._--The neighbourhood of Madrid, in view of the prevailing want of discipline and the ease with which dwellings could be invaded, began organizing armed bands. “_March 15._--The battalion of ‘the Cazadores of Madrid’ committed unspeakable horrors in Falset, and several companies of Catalonia began a course of pillage and immorality. “_March 17._--General Hidalgo harangued the savage soldiers of Falset, but he was so hissed that he was obliged to retire, like almost all the other officers. “_March 18._--A great meeting was held at San Isidro, where the public commemorated what they called ‘the glories of the Commune of Paris,’ which they were evidently seeking to imitate.” The record of March closes with the mention of the occupation of the churches of Barcelona as barracks and theatres. April 3 we read: “The republicans of Manresa invade and profane a church, take possession of the library and rooms of the seminary, and the town-hall of Tarragona. “_May 13._--An electoral meeting in Barcelona; the popular Mayor Buxó is wounded by a stone. The voluntary troops of Madrid knock down and wound the chaplain of the hospital, insult the officials who seek to release him, and commit various robberies and assassinations, so that the troops have to be called out against them. “_June 3._--In Madrid and other places the procession of the Corpus Christi could not take place on account of the uproars in the streets. Orgies in the churches of Belen and San José at Barcelona, and indecent balls, in which the mysteries of our redemption were mocked at.