The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-17
MARSHAL ,SERRANO

HE reorganization of the Spanish Govern
ment may now be considered as complete A
constitution liberal and, all things considered,
wise in its provisions, has been adopted; and
yesterday the Cortes completed the work
over which they have been delaying SO long,
and gave the Government visible and re-
sponsible head by electing Marshal Serrano
regent Under these circumstances, the
selection of a monarch to fill the vacant
throne will not be matter of such imme-
diate importance, and for those of republican
ideas the selection will have its advantages,
as it will show how far and how we'll the
country can manage to get along without the
assistance of gilded figure head, who would
expect to receive the reverence and allegiance
of the people because of the royal blood in
his veins, whether he had any brains in hi,
head or not.
1t is impossible to tell what the future will
bring forth, but hitherto Marshal Serrano has
said and done nothing that would entitle us
to doubt his patriotism, or to suppose that he
will endeavor to make use of his power for
the overthrow of the new-found liberties of
the people. There are rumors of intrigues,
plots, and counterplots at Madrid and Paris.
and the experiences of history would lead us
to expect that European revolution would
ultimately be consummated by the es-
tabhshment of q despotism. 1t has
already been seen, however, that it will not
do to judge Spain by France. The expulsion
of Isabella II, and the whole course of the
Spanish people and their leaders since that
time, have been so singular and so little like
what was to be expected that they cannot be
judged by ordinary historical precedents
The Spanish revolution, like the Rebellion in
the United States, presented anomalous and
exceptional features, which overturned the
theories of diplomatists and set at naught the
calculations of those who studied history and
forgot to watch with careful eye the progress
of living events.
The greatest difficulties in the way of
Spanish republic are the want of education
among the people, their ignorance of the
duties and responsibilities of free citizens,
and the thousand and one conservative ideas
that have grown into the national life during
centuries of despotism both spiritual and
temporal. These ideas cannot be eradicated
in a moment, nor can nation be educated
in moment to the point of understanding
what is the difference between license and
liberty.
The Spanish republics on this continent
have failed miserably, for the reasons indi-
Gated; and republican government in the
United States has been a success. because
from the first the importance of popular edu-
cation was understood and the people, when
called upon to take the power in their own
hands, knew what to do and how to do it,
If Marshal Serrano acts wisely in the posi-
tion to which he has been elevated; if he calls
around him patriotic, honest, and energetic
men, and if he steadfastly refuses to admit of
any priestly interference with the functions of
the government, it may happen that presently
all necessity for choosing a royal successor to
the depraved Queen will disappear, and Spain
will drift naturally and safely into a republi-
can form of government. If this should be
the case, the influence of the Spanish revolu-
ton on the future of Europe cannot be esti-
mated. Men will ask themselves why, if the
most conservative country in Europe can take
such stride forward, cannot the chains of
feudalism be loosened in other quarters and
the last relics of medieval standardization
be swept away? The Spaniards have the best
wishes of the friends of liberty everywhere in
their present situation, and they have an op-
portunlty not often offered to a nation to
prove that liberty is not merely a name, but a
living principle.