The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-03-06
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SierEpre willSemeniber. III fkS PHnCesi1
Nary the dShghteFl of3 Primes UbAftRs
'Emhanuel dkl Poxao della !: ClessSna;
che ia only twenty-five Of aEej shs h .
very devout Catholic; and she 10 Ehe
mothsf ofzthree children. the youngest
of whom. q prince. was born At Madrid
Sfs the T btrsS 81 shfs oh9id, tie youSe 2
her sssy sgos y MIND III Sods, p She enn made
VOW. TO- the. Blessed Virgin, that if,
through the samsroy 3of God. she was
brought eufely through the periIs that
the .nvironed her, she would beg her
husband on her knees to resign the
throne of Spain and to hasten back t.
Italy. Her husband was present when
perhaps in delirium-she made this vow,
and he;made no remonetrsnce against it.
There is no doubt that he has been grow
Ing more and more weary OF Spain for
several months, and the distress and On.
guish Of bis young wife, to whom he is
tenderly attached, probably strengtfene ed
hia desire to get rid of his thankless
task. Events which happened after the
birth Of the child-who, in the opinion
Of its mother. was given her only as a
hostage for the performance Of her vow
doubtless removed all hesitation which
he might have still felt. He and his
wife-despite all his noble qualities and
all her grace and beauty-had never
been able to win over to their side the
proud mobiles of Spain. just as in Rome
the nobility OF the highest rank. with
| one or two exceptions. side with the
Pope, and refuse TO attend the Court Of
a. al kx1 49,
countenance to his Government, so in
| Madrid the grandees held aloof from
".he foreign adventurer." as they called
! King Amadeo. while their wives could
not be induced to appear in the train OF
| his wife. This alarmed aud irritated
both Of them-not without reason; but
they continued to hope that in time the
nobility could be won over to their side
The King made last effort to do this on
the occasion of the christening of th a
newborn child. He asked the Duchess
de in Tore, the wife of Serrano, to pre.
sent the royal infant at the baptismal
ceremony. She refused with scorn, and
the poor baby would have probably had
to suffer the ignominy Of being ''pre-
sented" by lady Of low rank, had not
the widow of Marshal Prim, herself q
Duchess, consented to leave her mourn.
ing retirement aud perform the function
I am told there was terrible scene il
the palace that day, and it was then thai
the King finally yielded to the prayers
and tears Of his wife, and made to hel
the promise Of abdication, which, as yor
know, Z he fulfilled on the 1lth of thi,
month. t'It is great honor" said the
King in his messags TO The Oortes an
nouncing his abdication. ''to preside
over the destinies OF country, however
disturbed. had resolved to Keep MI
oath and respect the Conetitution, for
believed that my loyalty to Spain woulc
compensate for whatever errors might b.
oaused' by my youth and inexpsrienoo
But my good wishes have deceived me-
for Spain lives i'll perpetual contest.
not abandon the task; bnt they are Spa
niards. r wish neither to be tho Kin,
OF party nor to act illegally; but, be-
lieviBg all my cHorts to be sterile, re
nonnce the crown for myself, my sol
and heirs"
These ale pluin. sad and bold words
but the Cortes listened to them will
scarcely concealed joy, and the ubdica
ton was unanimously accepted. There
are wheels within wheels; and had th
Cortes known all TINT was within tn
Kings mind. they probably would hav,
listed to his message with emotions of
very mixed character-for I have as ye
told only one-haf OF my story. Th
King has abdicated, it is true, to pleas
his wife; bnt if my informants arc cor
rect. he did this all the more willipgl,
because he believes that by giving vi
the insecure throne of Spain he makes
stride towards the throne Of Italy. Vic
tor Euanuel's health is extremely preca
.rious. and his death at any momen
would surprise no ono who knows him
the Grown Prince Humbert is tho yictiu
OF nameless disease which makes hi
life burden, and from which deatl
may soon relieve him; and his son-th
four.year old Prince OF Naples-is il
such a condition that his life can be pro
tracted only by something like miracle
These three precarious lives are all tha
stand between Amadeo and the italian
crown; and even should Victor Emanue
and Humbcrt die before tbs baby Primo,
OF Naples expires, Amadeo would have
claim to regency which would be il
fact sovereignty. The personal rela
tions between Victor Emanuel and Hum
bort are of tho most unhappy character