The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1895-06-06
SPAIN'S UNLUCKY KING.
Ominous Future for the Juvenile
Monarch.
The Country Is Overburdened with Taxes
and Harassed by Rebellions- Dark
Spots In the Royal Family
History. .s.-.

The eyes of all the world have been
turned upon Spain lately, both on ac-
count Of the firing on the Allia nca by a
Spanish gunboat and Of the resignation
Of the Sagasta ministry under The most
remarkable circumstances. Spain is a
land Of moods and lenses, and at pres
ent it's people are engaging in both.
The military, led by Field Marshal
Martinez Campos, have been goaded to
the point of open revolt by the taunts,
deserved Or otherwise. of tho press of
Madrid. The press, with the customary
candor and courage of newspapers,
have decided to fight, if necessary. and
have taken drastic precautions in bar
ricading doors and in purchasing arms.
A boy of nine is king Of Spain under
the regency Of his mother, Queen Maria
Christina, un amiable and estlmable
woman-but a foreigner. The country
is ovcrburdened by takes, is harassed
by rebellions, small though they may
be, in Cuba and Manila, and is threat
ened at home by military revolt. How
long the royal house can withstand all
these shocks remains to be seen.
King Alfonso Kill, who will be un-
lucky if superstition counts for any
thing, is the grandson of Isabella H.,
woman with a number of ptlsts. I'm
like the Isabella in the burlesque of
''1492," she is not a "queen of great
propriety," but is inclined toward ultra
bohemianism. She came of good stock
Blood does not always tell; OF, perhaps
in this case, it told too much. She was
born on October 10, 1880, her father
being Ferdinand VII. of Spain, and
her mother Christina. daughter Of the
king Of the Two Sicilics, and grand
daughter of Charles W., another king
of Spain. When three years old Ferdi-
nand II. died, and Isabella was ac-
claimed queen under the regency of
her mother. The latter had a love af-
fair with young dragoon, who, be-
cause Of it, was created Duke de Rian.
zares. After eleven years of ''mar
riage" the pope bestowed nuptial
bcnediction upon them. Shortly after.
ward Isabella reached her majority. the
age of thirteen, and at once validated
her mothers left-handed marriage
Then Isabella concluded to follow in
her mothers footsteps, and did so
with such enthusiasm and energy that
soon all Europe was aghhst at the
young girls amours. This life lasted
three years, when family council was
called, and it was decided to marry Isa-
bella to her cousin on her fathers side,
Don Francisco d'Assizi. Despite yigor-
GUS objections by Queen Victoria, who
objected to French predominance in
Spain, the marriage took place on Isa-
bella's sixteenth birthday.
Don francisco was u physical wreck,
and had he been anyone but a duke he
would have been CONSIDERED an idiot.
Naturally Isabella did not take kindly to
her husband, and bestowed her affec-
tions on Marshal Serrano In 1851 Isa-
bella became the mother of son whose
paternity was laid at the door of Ser
rano. This son afterward became AL
fonso XII, the father of the present
king. For thirty-fve years Isabella
reigned and revelled. Then came the
revolution of 1868, and one night the
queen crossed the Pyrenees to
find shelter at the court of Napoleon
Ill. Isabella's husband lived with the
ax-queen while Alfonso, her son, went
TO school in Woolwich, England. In
1874 Alfonso was called to the Spanish
throne, and Isabella abdicated in his
favor. The new king, who was only
seventeen years old when recalled,
proved a veritable Don Juan after his
'eturn to Madrid. Like his mother be-
sore him, his punishment came in the
shape OF an uncongenial marriage with
lis cousin. Ihe young queen died six
months after her marriage, and AL
'onso married again in the following
7ear, his wife being Maria Christina,
laughter OF Archduke Carl Ferdinand,
# Austria, and niece of the present
emperor. Alfonso's excuses led to
llsease, and he died on November rs,
SS7. On May II of the following wear
he queen gave birth to posthumous
;hild, King Alfonso XIII.