The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-05-17
SPAIN GREETs HER KING.

| CRv Cable TO the Chicago Tribune)
Madrid. Nav 10-The Spaniards have d
| striking religious form for designating tis
| boy king. who will take next week. in the
/ presence of the cortes, the oath as consti-
! tutional monarch. They describe him rev
erently as the only child born as king
since the birth of the Christ child in
I Bethlehem.
! The unique circumstance attending his
birth after the death of his father have
endeared him to his subjects as roman
| tic figure appealing strongly to the i'm
| agination.
The Spaniards. with all their faults, are
| tender in their treatment of children.
They have taken pleasure in thinking of
the pale-faced boy growing up under the
watchful care of the queen regent and
receiving special training for his career
| as constitutional ruler.
There have been few public glimpses o.!
| the boy, for he has been kept out OF
sight, with his gOvernesses and military
tutors and nothing worse has been heard
OF him than report that he tincne~
when he saw his first bull fight.
FEW PUBLIC GLIMPSES OF KING.
The time has now come when the KING
must appear on his sixteenth birthday
and take an cath to respect and maintain
the constitution which was enacted Wnen
the Bourbon dynasty was restored a quar-
ter of a century ago. The event VIII ue
celebrated by a series of fetes when
have been anticipated with pleasure oy
the volatile populace of Madrid
while these rejoicings will be general
throughout Spain, with the possible eN-
cepuon OF Catalonia, they can hardly p,
described as coronation fetes There VIE
be no pageant corresponding in any de-
gree with the splendid ritual of Westmin-
ster Abbey. The chief ceremony is an
q IFf hot =. srN- hH1 y
sterdam when Queen Wilhelmina tooS
the oath in the church adjoining the PAT
ace.
The young king. in the presence Of his
royal relations. the special Ambassadors
and the members of the corteS. VIII Pc
form a similar function and relieve ths
queen regent of the cares and RESPONSE
bilities of state.
The scenic setting provided by the pr
sale halls of the cortes with its llmlle-
accommodation for spectators. IS lkeis
TO be less impressive than the artsLo
beauty, stately spendor, and repuoll,C@Ir,'
simplicity with which the Amsterdam
ceremony was enriched. Ice
The personality of the boy king IS leS ~
interesting than that of the Dutch quo,
who lived among her subjects ana w., W.
regarded by them with personal dtiTt
ton There will be characteristic puDllO
feteS here as there were in the Dutci' CaR -
ital. The northeast provinces are ~
joining in these festaI scenes. Ihe CdeTi
lans, like the Irish, have a home luro
cause. and sullenly abstain from dlsP9 pal
ing the Spanish flag and ordering i ieie
celebrations. while CASTLE ana Anu'iN1
are rejoicing. rre-
The four Catalan provinces, unlike
land are the richest portion OF the At.s
dom. Barcelona is the Spanish antC..,rsd
ter, where cotton goods are mahuIaCSs san
for all the provinces. 1t is also tHe Esteel
ish Birmingham. where thousands Oh sr
workers are employed. 1t is the IIncal
of strong movement in favor o. i fset
autonomy which is justified by t uo
that the four provinces, being indus I'D
thrifty and rich, are more heaYny Ia1>S
than the other parts of Spain.