The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-14 00:00:00

MANIFES7O OF DON CARLOS.

PARTS, July 4, 1869.

Up to the present moment the Duke of Madrid
has published no manifesto. He considered it
essential to make no promise to the people of Spain
until the time was come when he could make good
his promises.
The legitimate desires of his supporters having,
however, led him to feel the advantages that might
accrue from an exposition of his political views, Don
Carlos has recently addressed to his brother, the
Infant Don Alphonsus, the following letter, which
has appeared in various Spanish newspapers :

" My dear Brother,—Several pamphlets and newspapers
have already sufficiently expressed to Spaniards my senti-
ments and opinions, as a man and as a king. Neverthe-
less, yielding to a strong and widely-expressed desire,
which has been conveyed to me from all parts of the
Peninsula, I now address myself, not only to you, my
dear brother, but also to all Spaniards, who, without ex-
ception, I look upon io the light of brothers.
"It is impossible for me, my dear Alphonsus, to come
before Spain as a pretender to the Crown. I believe, anl
I am justified in that conviction, that I already wear that
crown, and that Ido so in virtue of a sacred law. I was
born to rights which involve inevitable duties, but I de-
sire that these rights should be confirmed by the affection
of my people. It is my duty to consecrate to my people
all my powers and all my thoughts ; to save them ; and,
if need be, to die for them.
"It is needless to say that I aspire to bo the King of
Spain, and not the king of a faction ; for what man, worthy
of the name of sovereign, would be content to reign over
a party ? It would be beneath me to descend, in any de-
gree, from that elevated position of true royalty which
must ever raise mo above all minor and less noble con-
siderations.

"It is my desire and my intention to be King of all
Spaniards. I exclude none. Not even those who
call themselves my enemies. A Sovereign knows
no enemies. I appeal to all, without excepting even such
as have shown themselves hostile to my cause. I appeal
to them in the beloved name of our country. For even
did I not need the aid of all to establish myself on my law-
ful throne, I need them, each and all, to aid me in estab-
lishing the solid and enduring basis of the Government of
the State, and to procure true liberty and fruitful peace to
nay beloved Spain.

" When I reflect upon all that is necessary to attain so
great an end, the grandeur of the enterprise fills me with
consternation.

I am, indeed, conscious of an ardent desire to begin the
work, and a firm resolve to go through with it. But I
cannot conceal front myself that the difficulties aro incal-
culable, and that it will be impossible to overcome them
without the generous aid of all that the kingdom of Spain
holds of most disinterested and most honourable. But,
above all, we need the concurrence of the nation as repre-
sented by the Cortes, in which will be found united all the
vigorous and conservative powers of the kingdom.
" With the aid of the Cortes I purpose to give Spain an
established law, which, as I have already expressed it to
the sovereigns of Europe, will be definite and Spanish.
"It was together, my dear Alphonsus, that we studied
modern history, and that we reflected upon the great catas-
trophes which should serve as instruction to Sovereigns,
and lessons to their people. It was together that we
learnt that every age may, and indeed must, have its own
special necessities, and its natural aspirations.
" The old Spain had great need of reform, and modern
Spain has been cruelly disturbed. Many things have lacen
destroyed, few have been bettered. Ancient institutions
have been overthrown, and some amongst them can never
rise again. Efforts have been made to replace them by
modern inventions, which, hardly created yesterday, have
already seen their day. In spite of all that has been at-
tempted, we may say that all has still to be accomplished.
We are in the presence of an immense undertaking, no less
than that of a social and political reconstruction. We have
before us the august task of raising in our desolated country
a noble edifice, on foundations of which the experience of
ages has proved the solidity ; and in which all legitimate
interests and every respectable opinion and aspirition will
be fully and satisfactorily represented.
"I am not deceiving myself, my dear brother, when I
confidently assert that Spain hungers and thirsts for law
and order. She knows the urgent necessity of an ener-
getic, firm, and honourable Government; and she desires
earnestly the rule of laws equally binding on high and low.
Spain will suffer no outrage on the creed of her fathers.
Happy herself in the full possession of Catholic truth, she
knows that, in order to fulfil her Divine mission, the
Church must be free. She knows well that the 19th cen-
tury differs from the IGth ; but she is resolved at all costs
to preserve Catholic unity ; the greatest of our glories, the
spirit of our laws, and the bond of union of her sons.

"It is true that during the tumult of the revolution evil
deeds have been committed, but at the same time conven-
tions have since been made which we hold ourselves bound
religiously to observe and execute.
"Taught by sad experience, the Spanish nation will no
longer submit to fraud and subterfuge. She wills that her
king be truly a sovereign, and not a vain shadow. She
insists on a Cortes that shall form a regular and pacific
assembly of independent members, and not a meeting of
tumultuous and inefficient deputies and ambitious officials,
forming a servile majority or a seditious minority.
" Spain has ever been averse to the principh of central-
isation. My convictions are well known ou this important
question. And while the revolutionary spirit would class
the Basque Provinces with the rest of Spain, I, on the
contrary, desire that all the other Provinces should enjoy
an organisation equally liberal with that of the happy and
noble Province of Basque. It would bo my wish that each
r.amicipality end each Province should possess its own
privileges, at the same time avoiding such abuses as
would interfere with public order.

"My sole ambition, and my own ardent desire, is to
confer on Spain that liberty which, in spite of the false
and lying outcry of some misguided men, she has never
yet known. I would see my beloved country enjoying
theliborty which is the offspring of truth, which is opposed
to a fatal licence, misnamed reform, and which is based
on the just observance of all rights, human and divine.
" We, the sons of kings, are well aware that the nation
s not made for the sovereign, but the sovereign for the
nation. We know that while the king should be the first
nobleman and the most honourable man of his country,
he is bound also to be the father of tho poor and the de-
fence of the weak.

v" We have at this time, my dear Alphonsus, to grapple
with a question of the highest importance to, our country
—she question of finance. The prospect of a deficit which
all the resources of the country aro inadequate to cover,
and the imminent probability of bankruptcy, is very seri-
ous. It is difficult to say if Spain can avert this terrible
catastrophe, But of this I am certain—namely, that it can
only be effective by the intervention of a legitimate Sove-
reign, and a firm will, which may work wonders.
"lf ,the country is impoverished, let, at least, all live
within their means, without excepting the Ministers and
the King himself, who should not forget the example of
Henry the Needy. Let the King be the first to set this
laudable example ; the rest will follow. It would be well
to suppress certain offices, to diminish the body of subor-
dinates, and to decrease the number of the provinces. A
more judicious administration, greater encouragement of
agriculture, and further protection of commerce and in-
dustry, may yet save the credit of the country. It is true
it is a labour for Titans, but I count on the concurrence of
the Government and the people. It will be necessary that
while observing strict economy we should remain true
Spaniards, content with the products of our own land, and
only anxious to possess ourselves of such manufactures as
are essentially useful. History informs us that at one
period the commerce of a nation now noted for its wealth
was very languid. In consequence of which the principal
inhabitants adopted the fashion of wearing solely the
fabrics produced by native industry. The example was
universally followed, and in a short time the financial dif-
ficulty was overcome, and the country became rich and
prosperous.

"1 am persuaded that I have mastered the true and the
false of certain modern theories; and I am convinced that
the introduction into Spain of the commercial liberty
which France finds it so difficult to accept, and which is
rejected by the United States, would prove fatal. The
efficacious protection of native industry, and progress
througb protection ; this must be our principle. It is in
consequence of the just appreciation which I think I have
formed of the modern theories alluded to that I am able to
give credit even to many of those who appear most hostile
to my views. Whatever is reasonable and legitimate in
their appreciations does not date from yesterday, but takes
its source from ancient truth, too often forgotten in these
days. They deceive the people who call them sovereign.
But it is a great truth that virtue and knowledge are the
first titles of nobility, that the person of the poor man is
as sacred as that of the noble, and that the law should
equally protect the cottage and the palace. If the old in-
stitutions for the protection of the poor against the op
premien of the rich do not now suffice, lot new ones be
added. Jestice cannot be extended to all, but the general
preoccupation of a good government should be the welfare
of the humbler classes, and the provision, direct or in-
direct, of labour for the industrious, and of a superior edu-
cation adapted to the requirements of all, thereby leaving
the highest offices of the state open to these who by their
science and talent have made themselves worthy to fill
them.
"Span has always respected and loved the poor. The
revolution has not done so. Those of the people who
have called for a Republic are already beginningto per-
ceive this fact, which every day becomes more
All are beginning to believe that a Ch-'
r. gable.
can do more for the we" —.iet4an Monarchy
three hundred pel4
..,.re of the nation than
gating sovereigns quarrelling and dis-

a tumultuous assembly. Factions, and the
.leads of factions, are ever on the look out for their own
advancement, for power, and place, and money. But what
can a Christian king have more at hoart than the good of
his people ; what cai"give him happinoss so groat as the
attachment of his subjects?
"In cherishing these sentiments, my dear Alphonsus, I
ana but remaining faithful to tho good old txaditions of