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

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 I do
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, ner 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 to-day, 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
(qu'on avait (formic) 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 Foreiga 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-
Oence.thereof to any other power, and that assuredly
tne 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 the 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 subject,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 ht.( they of the Count Trapani, and that it was only
wishes, and lonhgfbe6fore his departu
when Count d'Aquila had declined the overtures made
to him by the Kin.- of Naples,
that the Kin
make out what M.'
Count Trapani of
therefore in %tains
recimento Nobre el origen, departure
conformablefor
the t
Bo r
ayzoi
lusr,
Naples took upon himself to inform
Rubio
niece, that I endeavour to
our intentions respecting him. It is
oetmeans by the "sole/nee escla-
But. what I wish to tell apur de aquella candi datura.
tillattotebr this, my dear sister
and niece, because I believey that when
M. Rubio composed his refutationetroufet'hies, speeches of
sufficientlytheserieus calculate the bearing
o.Ntl...hirshiinesrsinhueatdieindsn,Oatnd et
in embarrassmentsendeavouring
mpossiblete to
which he was preparing for you,i
exempt you from a participation,
a candidateship which has been unhappily deny,ns in
believe most unjustly, the object of so- unhappily
in-
vectives.
You tell me, my dear niece, that you "must look upon
the question of the marriage of Queen Isabella 11. " as
idea,
this mother and as a Spaniard." According to my
this definition of your duties is very incomplete. yes,
without doubt, " as a mother and as a Spaniard," I agree
to it willingly; but be it expressly understood that it
Queen-Mother of the reigning
should be especially
atihne"great interests this and with h due consideration in their
t which appertain to an
importance. Marriages of nature
actf9h el Queers
fxn
tseoufhethSt Spam,"
high
__
the
marria ofge a
'ye If
are not to be regulated after the. simple convenances
in private life. There
which regulate marriages
is but one alternati •
her own right does not
Queen of Spain in
add strength and stability to her throne, be assured
And torocure thischoice
accession of strength and stability,
f those national
the inclinations and the affections o
better than I do, but
band of the Queen must bring and rally round her throne
masses which you ought to know
41what you have so often told me in our friendly conver-
sations..
respecting whose dispositions you cannot have forgotten
choice
It is also impossible for me not to see to what
tluarrizcitlyl7
wrhesietrhictaepdpecaornditions enumerated in your
letter
of a husband tor your august-daughter. to yOu" sufficient to tix the
Well,
my dear ice, 1. -
feeliegs for the.'
hand I feel f will tell you frankly, that if on the one
lively affection, You and yours the most sincere and
many ties ;and that i:*
on the other hand I entertain 'similar
husband, and which from. whence you would take that
endeared to _my heart by. so
allltay endeavours to le,
as. a relation, and
an allied
would
.be preciSely as a friend,.
King, that I should use
exion, the! resulte .0e evvni_c.e both parties to reject a cone
be3tion,
caste]* the the reverse
which, _ aecexcling- 0 me„wouP
vainly
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