New-York tribune., 1901-05-26
THE SORROWS OF SPAIN.
a TOTTERING DYNASTY AND A WELL
HATED RGY-RESENTMENT
TOWARD ENGLAND
From The Pail Mall Gazette.

Al the present moment. in view of the gen
eiai unrest, the universal corruption and the
entire lack of any sentiment approaching
tional unanimity Of purpose. Spain scarcely
be considered a fortunate country. Indeed, it is
hard TO believe that this shrunken power was
Enslahos predecessor as mistress OF the seas
And, strangely enough, she feels a sort of crazy
Resentment against her successor after all
these years. No story is wild to be believed
against England no theory of British aggres-
sion is too improbable to be adopted even by
well educated and otherwise liberal minded
Spaniards. That England is about to annex Por-
tugal with the direct intention of ANAL lgamatiny
Spain. is firmly believed by persons who
quite intelligently sceprical to the result of
the Boer War On three occasons-the last
has begun to fortify La Sierra Carbonera,
undertaking which. if accomplished. would
tirely negative the strategic Importance of
Gibraltar. AT each attempt a diplomatic note,
limiting that the negauon of the strategic i'm
rortance OF Gibraltar part of England's
foreign policy, has resulted in the discontinu
ance of work La Sierra Carbonera. These
facts are not generally known in England, but
every SpaniarG knows them. and they do. not
inspire any feeling Of confidence in our govern
ment. Two years ago a deputy one of the
Mealthiest and most prominent men in the As
turias stated his opinion that if the world was
10 be dominated by single power-which has
been practically the normal condition of the
world since the days of the Pharaohs-that
power might as we'll be England any other.
1t could not be Spain. He regretted it, In fact
no one regretted il more than he But he did
see how it could he Spain. So why not Eng
land? Besides. EngIand. said the prominent
and enlightened Asturian. understands the
business.
man il now leading a very private life
Mr.. Chamberlain is Of course not properly
appreciated by the Spaniards. They take a
pessirnistic and generally JaundIeed NleE OF the
Colonial Secretary. He is regarded the in
carnation of all that is greatest and most un-
\ pleasant in the English race-a MachaVe,ii. with
a monocle and a Maxim But in addition to the
British buEbear there is the Jesuit skeleton in
! tie cupboard Indeed. there are scarcely
erough cuptoalds in Spain to meet I'll Jesuit.cal
demands for accommodation. The followers Of
Ignatius Loyola increasing to 50 great an
extent that before long a castle in Spain" VII
be mefel: boarding house for Jesults- Also,
they VIII take the castle in part payment Of the
board which they have been good enough TO
consume The feeling against them has been
enormously Increased 10y the Electra" of Be
nito Perez Galdos. Conceive a Sign of the
Cross in which Nero is a Jesuit. Mercia is the
flower OF the Spanish maidenhoCd of to-day. and
Marcus is the ordinary man in The street or the
audience and you may gather some vague idea
Of the excitement that the triumphant progress
OF the play has caused through SPAIN Every
where Electra has been received with en-
thusiasnl. The Marci in the audience have
shouted riotous encCura cement TO the Marcus Of
the stage. The theatre has been converted into
a bull ring. Nero has become the bull No
Jesuits not loved. For was it not by their
that the unpopular marriage OF the
Kings sister with Don Carlos de Bourbon was
brought about? Had Canovas del Castillo been
alive the Princess OF the AsturiaS would surely
never have been allowed 10 marry man who
is hereditary enemy OF the regnins royal
house. His father, the Count of Caserta, was
Of Don Carlcs's generals. Between him and
the throne stands only the feeble life Of AL
phonso XIII.
The King is frail. creature anRmic and
nervous, drawing but little vigor even from his
frequent baths OF hot bullocks blood. If he
were an English boy his parents would not
venture to send him a public school. He Will
be sixteen years old year and then he will
be crowned. II is unlikely enough that he viii
ever make a king. He will certainly never
make a man. And the feeble boy is q fitting
emblem of the fallen State. Fragile to a de-
gree with a hydrocephalOus head, he seemed TO
me when / him last year a strangely pa
thetic sight. Dressed in a sort Of blue page
BOYS uniform, with brass buttons, he is neither
an imposing promising figure. If the boy
should die? His brother-in-law, Carlos de Bour-
bon would come the throne, and strife and
revolution would, beyond a question, come 10
Suain Even now the extreme tact Of the Queen
Regent has been scarcely sufficient to secure
lukawarrn tolerance for her delicate son. All
that woman could do make herself loved by
the people of Spain Queen Christina has sys-
teuaficaI,y done. She has il armed Basque, q
language yhich Mr.. Gladstone had not the cOur-
age 10 NEEDLE with till he seventy years old
Several persons who speak good coloquiai
Chinese are appalled, at the vagaries of basque
But her efforts have been of no avail The
Austrian in spite of her absolutely irreproach-
able life is very far from popular. Apparently
II is thought that woman would set about
learning Basque without some terribly sinister
rlotiye Ia living her life according to the high
est standard of humanity and womanhGod she
has succeeded in alternating the sympathies OF
All politcal parties in Spain. So she regns prac-
tfcalIv on sufferance, having stirred no chord OF
sympathy in the peoples heart, either by her