, 1875-10-16
SPANISH PROSPECTS.
from tie SPECTATOR

After five years of ceaseless turmoil,
Spain seems visibly nearer domestic peace
at least SO far as the elimination of one
discordant element is concerned-Carli SIN
appears to have entered its last phase.
At no previous period, not even when
Concha, after the Bilbao campaign, led his
soldiers against the outlying posts OF Estel-
la, have the prospects of the National
party been 30 bright, The ROYAL adven-
tnrer, who has drawn so largely on BASQUE
devotion and Uitramontane lanaticism,
has never stood so high as when he cover
ed the siege OF Bilbao from the heights of
SommoroStro, and threatened with capture
not only the Biscayan capital, but Santau-
der itself. That represents his grandest
offensive movement, and since his CON
spicuous defeat by Serrano and Concha,
he has been virtually reduced TO an expec-
tant defensive, varied by outpost fighting
and toraging,-that Is, plunderiug exploits,
more or less sanguinary. No doubt there
were i%nstants when CLEANS of success en-
couraged his hopes and bewiIdered onIook-
ers; when his cousin Alfonso swept down
upon Cuenca, a mere useless, freebo0ting
3ald; when his divis onai Generals went
forth upon promenades along the left Ebro
bank, and his active partioans seized loco
motives, cut telegraphs, and plundered
even churches, close to the Nationalist
head quarters when Saballs' tried so au-
daciously to surprise Puycerda, when SEQ
de Urgel was captured, and not only
Catalonia, but Aragon, appeared to be in
peril. Virtually, however, all these success
SEES were delusive. They were isolated frag-
ments and did not form a welI-jointed piece
of solid work, which alone gives permanence
and power to the offensive in war. Ever
since Pampeluna and the mouth of the
Bidassoa were relieved from pressure, the
Nationals have, however slowly, gained
ground. Despite the daring movement
OF Dorregaray south of the Ebro, the
gallant stand made by Lizarraga, and the
efforts of such truculent chiefs as SabaIIs
and the CWrG of Fix, 'Carlism has gone
the downward path. The restoration of the
Monarchy rendered the officers loyal to
the nation, and breathed fresh life into the
Army, showing that c'ass-feelings are
more potent than patriotism in Spain,
as elsewhere; and just as Cartagena was
rapidlyp%aken when Castelar, was over
thrown, so short work has been made Of
Dorregaray and Lizarraga after the advent
of Alfonso. XII. The Royalist Generals,
Jovellar and Martinez Campos, when they
had o King who could confer honours and
revive class government, really put forth
their best energies. The Moderados who
came back to power with the youthful
monarch used their advantage to levy men,
and thus supplied the means of securing
their own position, as we'll as that of AL
fonso. who merely embodies their inter
ests, And we frankly admit that they
have shown a clearer comprehension of
the conditions under which Spain can be
governed, as we'll as Carlos overcome,
than any set of rulers since an unknown
assassin robbed Prim of his life. Whether
the dominant section can rise above a
somewhat low level of governing ability,
time will show the credulous !; but there
are fair grounds for the inference that
they represent sufficiently the national
spirit at least to cast out the selfseeking
Carlos, before they begin to quarrel among