New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-16
Don CARLOS.

spanish marriages and the Spanish sue
cesson' arc household words in history. For
four centuries and more they have marked Tho
crucial issues in the progress, or rcfr0gresslOn
Of ;llc Ihcrian Kingdom. Away back in the
DAYS of the Black Prince CASTLE was convulscd
with disputes over the succession to the Crown.
After both Pedro the Cruel and Henry OF ras-
,amaro were dead there arose now rivalry.
between the lattor'S sister and daughter tn"
sister. Isabella. won and by her marriage with
Ferdinand Of Aragon founded the real Spanish
| Kingdom. Another marriage, that of Maria
Theresa 10 Louis XIV OF France. marked the
end of that Kingdoms independence; II was
tbcnceforward the puppct and the tool II
France Half a ceniury later Europe was con
vulsed with the War Of the Spanish Succession.
and the once world-masicrinE kingdom saw it's
empirc divided among its foes and It's sovereign
dependent upon alien favor for his crown.
Then. in hope Of avering further troubles, the
French verS on of the Sale law was adopted i'll
SPAIN only TO provoke more serious troubles
than before In the first place. ii bound Spain
still more closely TO France. and thus involved
her the more deeply in the catastrophes Of the
NapOeonic era. ard in the second II led TO tho
Carlist controversy which has now for three
generations been the curse Of Spain.
When tho third wife of the wretchcd Fcrdi-
nand VII died, leaving that monarch still child
less. his next brother Don Carlos reckoncd him
self certainly his heir But Ferdinand took Il
fourth wife. and then as If in anticipation OF
what actually occurred revoked the Sale law
and restored the old prasmatic law of success
Sion so that If only daughter should be born
10 him she might inherit the crown. \ few
months later he undii that work and restored
the Sale law. A little later still he undd that
undoing abrOCatcd the Sale law. restored tho
pragmatlc and banishod his brother Carlos 10
Portugal. Then he died. leaving his infant
daughter Isabella TO be Queen. under the re-
/ gency of her mother. IN arrangement which
the Cortcs approved. but which Don Carlos re-
sisted with force and arms, half of Spain siding
with him. He claimed that Fcrdinands revh-
cations and countcr-rcvOca,ions were all Illegal.
ard that the ancient law Of succession of the
Kingdoms of Aragon. CASTLE and Navarro was
still in force. under which woman could in
hcrit the crown only in default of any male
heir. Thus came on the first Carst war. with
all the infamieS Of Cabrera on the one SIDE the
mastcrfur seventies Of EspartcrO OH tho other,
the weakness and cowardcc of the Prctcndcr
and ;he debauchCrics of the Queen Rcgcnt-a
scene of unIclicved horror. Don Carlos was
beaten. chiefly by the moral influence Of Europe.
and then Isabella. having reached mature years
and assumed the crown. set out to surpass the
immoralitics Of her mother and did 40. BY her
scandalously devised marriage with her cousin.
Don Francis, the son Of Don Francis, youngest,
brother Of Don Carlos and Ferdinand VII, the
frs. and third lines OF descent from Carlos "
were united. leaving tho second, the Carlst, ont
in the cold
The second Carst war came on ut the end Of
lsabclla's Infamous reign. The first Pretcndcr.
Carlos W dead So was his eldest son.
Carlos W. The latter had left the succession
10 his younger brother. Juan ILL.," and he had
in turn nbdicated in favor of his eldest son. the
present Don Carlos. or Carlos VII" When the
last named prince. then young and ardent, de-
cided to enter Spain to seize the crown he
went to Cabrera. who had begun life as a fisher
mans boy and had become one Of the ablcst SOL
dlers and the most bloodthirsty Of his time. To