The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-10-10
ALFONSOS MARRIAGE.

ALEONSUS MAkhlAUEs
THE REPORTED BETRoTHAL OF THE DUKE DA
MoNTpENs1ERs DAUGHTER TO THE KING OF
from the New York SUM-
A latter nnblished in the London Times OF
E.idav last. short summary of which has
ham transmitted to us by telegraph, confirms
. renort that a marriage is probable between
aIfopSo XII and hi, cousin, Marla-de-las
Mercedes Youngest daughter OF the Du Ke de
Wontnensier. and sister of the countess oe
paris This marriage has been spoken OF ZOE
yeays mast. and it is probably one OF tne oess
ihinos that could happen to Spain, SO lar aS
court matters are concerned.
Should the young King Alfonso prove capa-
BILE of retaining the throne OF tnat 'iouui1
some peninsula, it is in every way uesiiap ~:
that he should have a daughter OF tne an rp
tious Duke de Montpensier for his VIE: hne
duke will thus be prevented from any Iurshei
intriguing in favor of his own accession 10
the throne Since the time when Montpen-
sier conspired in 1868 with Prim and oerrano
for the overthrow of his sister-in-law, ne mas
ALWAYS been preterder; and as there were
several pretenders besides him, the prospects
of the unlucky peninsula grew only al tue
darker on that account. Serrano beng al
wavs in favor of Montpensier, and the parry
of the duke in Spain, though small one pc
ing influential, there was time Wne4 nAs
chances of success were considerable. IL no
did not push the scheme still more, IL was
simply because of his apprehension that the
Spanish nation as whole wouio not 'oieia'0
the rule of Frenchman.
Asa step TO becoming king he tried to be-
come deputy in the Cortes, and got shame
fullv bsaten at the elections in the Asturlas.
He then tried to arrange reconciliation Win
Isabella. with the view OF becoming regent
during the minority of Don Alfonso; but the
vaccinations proved unsuccessful. Had they
mad a better issue, we might possibly never
have seen Amadeo on the throne OF Spain,
and might never have heard OF the Castelar,
republic.
The reason for the ill-success of these pego-
| tiatlons lay exclusively in the personal reia-
lions between Montpensier and Isabella. She
hated him because he had contributed 10 NJ
overthrow, while he brought against her the
accnsation that her life was immoral. l. took
them more than two years to smooth down
| these differences, and it was only just before
| the abdication of Am adeo that they managed
to come to an understanding upon the basis
of a prospective marriage bstWeen Don
Alfonso and Montpenslers daughter.
The Queen was to renounce to all political
interference. and the Duke to become regen'
until the majority of his nephew. Measures
were at once taken to work the country IN THIS
sense; large amounts OF money were prepared
for emergencies, and the foreign courts were
interested in the project through the Or
leans Princes and their party. Mr.. Theirs
himself who was then in power, seemed to
| be well disposed in favor OF the plan, and 1t
was generally believed that postponement OF
the recognition OF the Spanish Republic had
its main cause in the diplomatic influence OF
The Orleans family.
II had been understood, however, in the
original arrangement between Montpensler
and his sister-in-law that Marfori and all her
surroundings should ce put aside. The
| can1ariNa OF Isabella had, however, SO IN
| fuenced her within few weeks that this con-
dition was completely disregarded; and as
Montpensier insisted upon 1t, and showed a
DISPOSITION to inquire closely into the private
| life of the Queen, the compact was broken
before it had had time to yield any fruit
| whatsoever. 1t was in consequence OF this
little difference between Isabella and the
| Daka that we had to contemplate the short
lived republic, the rule of the Intransigentes,
| The Communistic instruction in CarIagena,
| and all the rest OF it.
| At the pre sent moment things stand some
what diff srently. Don Alfonso is no longer
under age, but is already King de tdcto, and
Spain does not stand IN need OF regent.
| Consequently, if the young King marrles
Maria de-las- Mercedes, the Duke will have to
| content itself with the exalted position OF
the father of the Queen, without his neces-
sarily gaining any great influence in the con
| duct of State affairs The country will any
how gain very much By this arrangement, tor
| it will have rid himself OF pretender and OF
| great int,iguer. Hal the marriage been
finally broken off, Montpensler might have
some day worked tor the overthrow OF Alfonso
| XlI as he did formerly for that OF Isabella
but when his daughter Is On the throne ne
will probably content himself with some high
position at court and his private station as the
| wealthiest orange merchant of Andalusia.
Whether the marriage is likely TO be q
| happy one is another question, and one not
easily to be solved. So far as we are in.
formed, the young couple have never seen
each other since the day when they were
babies playing about the palace of Aranjuez.
Don Alfonso is now eighteen and his bride is
| little over fifteen. During the last seven
years he has been constantly kept &C school al
Vienna while she was living in Seville. Under
such circumstances they Can not be expected
| to know of each other as much as is usually
considered necessary for matrimonial ar.
| rengement between young man and young
girl.
T,,+o,a of ,uritino paat little noayn on The