The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-04-03


by unprincipled coalitions; but nowhere else |
is opposition to the existing Government so |
habitually regarded as sufficient bond of |
union among those who are nevertheless |
divided by mutual enmities. Al present diff |
ferences Of political opinion are further COM
plicated by dynastic preferences; and yet the |
respective adherents of three or four rival |
pretenders combine with the implacable ad.
versaries of monarchy to weaken or over
throw the existing Government. The Minis
ters have themselves to blame for an impru
dent act which has caused just disconte mt to
several chiefs of the army. An unnecess ary
order that all general officers should take an
oath of allegiance to the King
has been disobeyed by. i'm
portant members of all the malcontent
parties. The objections to all promssory
oaths apply with comparatively little force to
the military oath which since Roman days has
been used in almost all armies. No ceremony
of the kind ever impeded mutiny, conspiracy,
or treason; but tests, if they are in any case
useful or justifable, would seem to be appro-
pirate methods Of enforcing the duty of mill
tary obedience. soldier is bound to be
faithful, not only to the abstract State, but
to its actual rulers; and if he affects to
question the title of the reigning sovereign
he may be justly punished or dismissed;
but in Spain it might have been
prudent to connive at hesitating loyalty in
stead of forcing it to assume the form of
disaffection. 1t is notorious that the gene
rails of the Spanish army are politicians and
partisans, and some of them had the strong
est personal reasons for dislikiDg the eleva-
tion to the throne of an Italian prince After
time some of them might have been won
over, and the King would have been better
able to judge of his own ability to compel
unwilling allegiance.
The Ministerial order was probably obeyed
by the generals whose fidelity was already as
sured, but those who had disapproved of the
election of King Amadeo took the opportu-
nifty of expressing their hostility by unani-
nous refusal. By singular indiscretion the
order was so framed as to include the Duke
of Montpensier, who holds the honorary rank
of Captain General. 1t was at least indeli-
cate to exact an oath from prince who had
recently been formidable candidate for the
Grown. The Duke of Montpensier has no
legal or moral right to supplant the present
King, but as long as the maintenance of the
new dynasty is doubtful he may reasonably
decline to compromise himself by personal
act of adhesion.
1t would have been judicious either to ac-
cept the excuse which was founded on the
peculiar nature of his military rank, or to
deprive him of his titular dignity; but the
Government unwisely, ordered him to report
himself at the Balearic Isles, offering him at
the same time a passage in a man-of-war.
The Duke of Montpensier replied that, while
he would not refuse to comply with even an
irregular order, he would not put the country
to the expense of conveying him to his
place of exile. General Blaser, once Minis
ter of War to Isabella H. General Calonge,
and the Count of Cheste, who
followed the Queen into France aud
General Novaliches, who commanded her
army at the battle of Alcolea, have received
similar order. They are all out of en-
plovment, though their names remain on the
army list, and they find a plausible pretext
for refusing the oath in the absence of any
constitutional provision on the subject. AS
General Blaser contends in his answer to the
Minister of War, the King is required to
swear obedience to the Constitution; but
no law provides that either civilians or
soldiers shall swear allegiance to the
King. 1t matters little whether
or not the legal objection is we'll founded, if
it is sufficiently plausible to serve as an ex-
cuse. The supporters of an unstable throne
ought to have understood the inconvenience
of forcing its opponents, and especially the
| generals of the army, to declare their hos
| tility Even the Progressist General Con-
treras, who advocated the pretensions of
| Espartero has refused the oath, on the
| ground Of his disapproval of the choice of
| foreign prince. The assemblage of a dozen
military exiles of various opinions at Port
Mahon may not improbably lead to some COM
bination which may be dangerous to the Gov
erDment.
The quarrel with the discontented generals
was especially inopportune on the eve of the
general election which is now concluded.
| The moderately conservative Cortes of 1869
! gave a steady support to the policy of the
| powerful Minister who controlled both the
State and the army; but the death of Prim
| has deprived the ajority of its ablest leader.
nor was it certain that the constituencies
| would be disposed to repeat their former
decision. Many instances have occurred, in
Spain and in France, of the cleo
ton of conservative Assemblies imme-
diately after successful revolutions.
Moderate Liberals are at such times satisfied
with the results which they have achieved;
and the alarm which is caused bv recent
events tends to provoke reaction. On the
eve of the overthrow of the French Republic
in 1851 careful observers anticipated that the
next election would add greatly to the strength
of the Democratic party; aud the Spanish
voters who in 1869 were contented with the
recent expulsion of the Queen NAV since
have probably accumulated grounds of COM
plant against the Constituent Cortes and
their elected King. Serrano and Prim could
count on the support Of all political parties
except the Republicans and Carlists, and of
all the partisans of domestic or foreign aspi-
rants to the throne. The friends of Espar.
tero, of Montpensier, and of Alfonso
have no motive, except perhaps
enlightened patriotism, for strengthening the
Italian dynasty. 1t is probable that two wears
OF exclusion from power and of ocoasio-ai
persecution may have strengthened tbS-hold
Of the clergy on the rural populatio-s and the
eloquence which some of the Republican
| leaders have disDlauad in ne COrteS has