The Sun.
London, England, 1848-04-27 00:00:00

MARIA CHRISTINA.

LETTER FROM LOUIS PHILIPPE TO QUEEN CHRISTINA.
Neuilly, June 30, 1846.
My very dear Sister and Niece,—lf the publication
of M. Rubio aroused painful feelings within me, which
I thought it as well to express to you, I avow that Ido
not find in the letter I have just received from your
Majesty that satisfaction which I sought for. You
speak to me of the speeches of M. Thiers as having
called for some public explanation from your secretary.
You alone are, doubtless, able to form a judgment
on the necessity of such explanations; but I, in my
turn, may find it strange, that when it is a notorious
tact that there is not the slightest unison between me and
M. Thiers, ❑er between him and my Government, which
he is well known to oppose, we should find ourselves ex-
posed to assertions as false as those of which I com-
plained to you myself. But what would you have me
think today, my dear sister and niece, when I find the
following sentence in the letter you have just addressed
to me?

You are aware, my dear uncle, the preference given
Cqu'on avait donnie) to my brother Trapani was the result
of the conferences held at Eu, and it is to this too well-
known fact that M. Rubio alluded, and not to other
things; for he knows how to respect kings and royal
personages like a good and true Spaniard."
I must recal to your memory, as the above sentence
shows me that your recollections are not quite complete
and exact, that the preference given to your brother the
Count of Trapani bears a date much anterior to the
visits which the Queen of England deigned to pay me at
Eu, and I may add, that you know, or at least that you
ought not to have forgotten, that you manifested a desire
for this preference before the time when the King of
Naples, your brother, recognised your august daughter ;
and that it was in accordance with this desire, manifested
by your Majesty, that we set on foot the negotiation at
Naples, which ended in that recognition.
I must also tell you, my dear niece, that these friendly
visits of the Queen of England to Eu were by no means
what are styled conferences in diplomatic language ; and
although the two Ministers of Foreign Affairs, who
were in our suite, naturally took advantage of the occa-
sion to discuss the political- interest of the two countries,

it is nevertheless a well known fact that no protocol, or
any other notification whatsoever, was made in conse-
quenco thereof to any other power, and that assuredly
the Spanish Government did not receive one from either
of the two Governments whose Ministers met at Eu.

But this supposition of conferences held at Eu implies
a still more striking contradiction than all tit others ;
for if such conference had really taken place, it would
have consisted only of France and England, and it would
naturally follow that if the preference given to Count
Trapani, or all other princes, descendants of Philip V.,
was really the result of the conferences at Eu, England
would have acted conjointly with France in this pre-
tended coercion exercised towards Spain and your
Majesty to impose upon them, in favour of the Prince
your brother, that preference which, according to M.
Rubio, has made you suffer a martyrio singular. But
there is another fact which bears upon the suoject,which
I wish to recal to your memory, namely, that when in
our private conversations I convinced you that, notwith-
standing all our affection for you and for the Queen
your daughter, it was not amongst my sons that a hus-
band for her was to be found, your first thought fell very
naturally upon your brother, the Count d'Aquila, the
elder brother of the Count Trapani, and that it was only
twc::henimC
bo
y the u
n
t d'Aquila
et. Naples,quitahaddeclined the overtures made
conformable to your
wishes, esh, and long before his departure for the Brazils,
therefore- In vain,of Nuaapyledsetaook.upon himself to inform
Countt the King
of your intentions respecting him, It is
makeoutraw7lait M.
itabiedeareanniescbe,y thaet I endeavour to
aopayfo de agthuella‘
rec4imuet
ntmatbire.wthritgoentelll csea/nedmindecetsucrt:
and niece,, because I believ® ''''itatotebrethtrius'e,miys, tdearhat sister
when
M. Rubio composed his refutation of the s p
ee N". 'niers he did not sufa
Ciently calculatethelocehaersinogf of his insinuations, and of the serious embarrassments
which he was preparing for you, in endeavouring to
exempt you from a participation, impossiblete deny, in
a candidateship which has been unhappily
believe most unjustly, the object of nantlyndin-
vectives.

'must look upon
You tell me, my dear niece, thagtuyeoeun
tiea
moquestion;e
and oof the
a sp marriagean Spaniard.
According Isabella
ivi. idea,
this definition of your duties is very incomplete.gm"
without doubt, " as a mother and as a Spaniard,' agree
to it willingly; but be it expressly understood that it
should be especially as " Queen-Mother of the reigning
Queen of Spain," and with due consideration in their
full extent to the great interests which appertain to an
act of such high importance. Marriages of this nature
are not to be regulated after the simple conversances
which regulate marriages in private life. • There
is but one alternative. If the marriage of a
Queen of Spain in her own right does not
add strength and stability to her throne, be assured
that it will shake its foundations. And to procure this
accession of strength and stability, the choice of the hus-
band of the Queen must bring and rally round her throne
the inclinations and the affections of those national
fnl‘steser
respectingwh whose dispositions you cannot have forgotten
:::::11.911ettithiunsybiy6oigitti t o know
you have so often told me in our friendly conver-
sations.marr, It is also impossible for me not to see to what
the restricted conditions enumerated in your
L • apply, which appear to you sufficient to fix the
hand I feell-3 will-- tell
whenceArthirlorl4,,rd:4:-,,,itinhltiafy.,orfraolyim,io:dr august daughter. - Well,
R- i g. :,Py :hua tw
you frankly, that if on; the one
.Yours the most iincere-= and
feelings to th_ fa the other hand I entertain, similar
many :Ties ; and tt'ahf is endeared to myouhledarttakebythsaot
aaislima
yreelnadtieoanv,ouarnadt::t would beprecisely as a friend,
. ly the reverse
flexion, the results ofnd,uve-
utch, according to me,
e both parties •
I should use
to reject a con-
be exact would
vainly flattered themB,4" what they,..l. would
Yee .:Dave
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