The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-22

The interview accorded to our special cor
respondent by Don Carlos, as published in
yesterdays HERALD, has given to the world
for the first time in direct and familiar man
ner the views and policy OF that gallant and
accomplished prince. Heretofore, the Carlist
cause has taken the form in the public mind
of hopeless and chronic insurrection, certain
to break out periodically in the Basque
Provinces and along the whole OF the Pyren-
mean district in Spain, and as certain to be
suppressed after brief struggle at the cost OF
greater or less number of lives, according to
the extent and importance of the rising. The
present generation is too far removed from
intrigues by which, the Neapolitan princess
who shared his throne prevailed upon weak
and vacillating monarch to sweep away the
Salic law of the Bourbon family, and to divert
the Spanish succession from his brother Carlos
to his daughter Isabella. The early struggles
between Don Carlos, the grandfather of the
present prince, and the Queen Christina oc-
Cured forty years ago, and hence we have for
gotten the fact that the cause of the
former was the cause of the majority of the
Spanish people, and that his defeat was only
secured by the foreign aid extended to the
Queen regent-by the legions raised in Eng
land and France to force upon Spain govern
ment in conflict with the recognized prin-
ciples of succession and offensive to the nation.
Brought face to face, as it were, for the first
fiv,,a with tho re tho hrofhor Of For
dinand VII, the legitimate heir of the Span
ish throne according to the Bourbonic law,
we find that the young leader, instead of being
a revolutionary adventurer, is chivalrous
prince, impressed with the justice Of his own
cause, strong in his confidence of the loyalty
that underlies the present unsettled condition
Of the Spanish mind, and earnest in his de-
sire to rule the nation, whose rightful monarch
he claims to be, with wisdom, moderation
and iberality. Recalling the past, we can
account for the enthusiasm and confidence of
the Carlist prince and while we claim that
self-government is the inalienable right Of all
people we can respect the constancy and
courage he displays in what he believes to be
o righteous cause.
The interview with Don Carlos is on histori-
the more Importance because it is impossible
to foretell what may be the condition Of the
Spanish government week hence. While
we hope the best for the Republic it is useless
to ignore the fact that its stability is doubtful
and that its leading spirits have not, as yet,
displayed the capacity necessary to make it q
success. Don Carlos regards the danger of
the Spanish Republic to be Is tendency to
assume the widest socialistic character. We
fear that it's main peril may spring from its
disposition to conceal an arbitrary govern
ment beneath republican robes. In the event
OF sudden and violent change the choice
would lie between military dictatorship, the
restoration of Christmas dynasty under the
son of Isabella II. and the recall of the legiti-
mate male line to the throne in the person Of
troubles Of Spain would be greater than they
have hitherto been under bad and weak
monarchs. Such people ruled by the sword
must be ruled with a cruelty and abso-
lutism which would sweep from them
the last vestige Of liberty. The licentious-
ness and corruption of Isabella's reign have
not yet passed out Of the memory of the people,
and the accession of the youthful Prince of
the Asturias to the throne would be in reality
the restoration of Isabella and her profigate
court Should the Spanish people at such
crisis turn their thoughts to Don Carlos the
of :,, oE
confidence would be of value in guiding their
Judgment. They know that the Prince has
passed through the ordeal of an experience
that must have added years to his young life;
that he has been tried in danger and in adver-
sity; that his mind has been trained in
severe but useful school, and his views en-
larged by contact with the world which he
never could have undergone had his days been
passed in the sunshine Of q court. They
know, too, that he is brave, chivalrous and
enduring, and his constancy of purpose must
convince them that he possesses strong will
and o steadfast Municipalities essential
in the ruler of powerful nation. But
they have not heretofore listened to
his words, and gathered from them
the principles which guide his political
convictions. He has now spoken to them
through the columns OF the HERALD. He has
told them that he fights for what he believes
to be his rights and the best interests Of the
Spanish nation. He has disabused their
minds of the idea, SO persistently inoulcated
by his enemies, that his accession to the
Spanish throne means reaction and tyranny.
He has declared his policy to be constitu-
tional parliamentary government and decen-
tralization. In his general views and his COM
ments on the policy of other nations as well
as of Spain he has shown thoughtful, dis
eliminating mind, and has given proof that
his twenty-five years of life have not been
idly spent