The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-11-30
Who and What the Carlists Are.

Cincinnati Sun,
In the brief career of the late King Alfonso
of Spain the incident of most Importance. per-
haps, was his suppression of the Carlist insur-
rection Immediately after his proclamation and
coronation as King, in 1875. He was only seven.
teen years old then and was a good deal of a
military hero after his months successful cam
paign against his enemies. Immediately upon
his death his party in Madrid began preparations
to meet another expected Carlist revolt, should
one occur, and the nations are looking with
great interest to see what the followers of Don
Carlos, the pretender, will do. Americans.
generally, do not trouble themselves to keep
posted upon affairs of a nation so impotent Spain,
and now they are asking who Don Carlos and the
Carlists are, The story of this man and his claim
to the royal seat is Interesting. In brief, it is
this:
One hundred and eighty-fve years ago, in the
year 100, Charles II. King Of Spain, died, leav-
ing no children. By will he bequeathed his
throne to the Duke of Anjou. grandson of King
Louis XIV, of France. England, who at that
time, as in all times, assumed to dictate to a
very considerable extent the d~estinies Of other
nations, was not pleased with this arrangement,
and entered her demurrer. The result was the
great twelve years War Of the Succession, which
ended in lib, in the treaty of Utrecht. Eng
land did not. accomplish her object of keeping
tho Duke of Anjou from the Spanish throne,
and he took his seat, and is known in history as
Philip V. The treaty which recognized him,
however, also provided that in future there
should be OILY men on the throne, the line of
succession to be through males alone. This was
all right for a hundred years or more-as long
as kings had sons-but in 1888, King Fer
dinand VII died without male issue. He
had two daughters, however, the elder of
whom was Isabella, the mother of King Alfonso.
He also had a brother, Carlos, who. by a strict
construction of the treaty of Utrecht, ought to
have been king, inasmuch as he was a man and
the nearest male relative to Ferdinand VII.
But the dead kings wife, Christina, turned up a
will, purported to have been signed by Ferdinand,
but said by Carlos's friends to be a forgery, in
which the young Isabella was named queen.
Christina was something of a terror, and she did
not propose to have the throne go out of the
family. She organized an army to show Don
Carlos that he had nc business loa6ng around
the throne. and he was compelled to fly from
his dread s~ister-in law and take refuge in
Portugal. He had plenty of friends left in
Spain, however, and they banded together for
the purpose Of righting his wrongs-and they
called themselves Carlists. They became
30 strong that the position of Christina, who
had appointed herself regent, was becoming
very shaky. Then England and France, who
were pretty generally inconsistent, kept up their
reputation in that line by going back on the very
thing they had insisted upon in the treaty Of
Utrecht, and helped Christina drive out the only
male candidate for the throne. and the Carlists
were for the time being completely crushed. In
course of time Isabella came to be queen her
self. She married her cousin, Francisco d'Assisi,
and Alfonso was born. They were in turn
thrown out of power in 1868. and six years later
were reinstated, Alfonso as king. In the mean
time Carlos's line had been going along through
a succession of sons, and the grandson of the
original pretender is now ready to become king,
if his followers, the Carllsts, succeed in con
vincing the Spanish people that he has the right
to it, and are able to whip the royal army. There
is no telling what kind of a chapter is yet to be
added to the romance.