Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-30
LOOKS LIKE PHILIP "
Sketch of Alfonso XIII,
SPANS New King.
HAS GOOD DISPOSITION
ANXIETY OF THE PEOPLE AS TO
FUTURE.
Prospect That He Will Have Trouble
With the Clerical Cues

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
MADRID, May IA, 1902
Surrounded by his family, his children
grandchildren and his friends a few weeks
ago. the Oldest monarch in Europe, Christ
ian of Denmark, celebrated his eighty
fourth birthday.
On Saturday next Alfonso XIII of Spain
| attains his legal majority. and according
to the Spanish constitution assumes the
reins Of power. Though Alfonso will be
| only sixteen, and the youngest reigning
sovereign, he is not by any means the
youngest sovereign who has ruled this
troublous country
OF all the long line of Spanish rulers
he holds the unique position of having
been born a king, being the postumous
son Of Alfonso XII, but young as he is to
be invested with the powers of the head of
state he has not the distinction of being
Spain's youngest ruler
One of his predecessors Alfonso X be-
came king a the age of one; year, and actu-
ally reigned in his own right when he was
fifteen. Henry III of Castle succeeded his
brother at eleven years Of age and governed
at fourteen. John II, Philip III and Charles
II all reigned at fourteen. and Isabel II,
the present kings grandmother, was de-
clared of age when she was thirteen, owing
to the disturbances in which the regency
was then involved So 1t is evident that the
throne Of Spain does not lack precedent for
young sovereign.
Resemblance to Philip ~.
|. Yesterday at the Prado Museum I saw
the portrait of Valasquez Philip ", who
ruled Spain in the middle of the seventeenth
century. I was greatly struck by the re-
semblance between Don Alfonso and this
picture. In the portrait the face is maturer
and sterner, the lips formed and covered
with a musta che; but when Alfonso's face
natures and his somewhat weak lips be-
come firm he will look more like Philip "
than he does now. The length of the face
the formation of the chin, the forehead and
even the eyes are the same.
1t is not believed, however, that ne has
that kings cruel disposition, but Spain
would have reason to rejoice if Alfonso
XIII should prove to have the firmnesss Of
mind of his great predecessor. For forty
four years Philip ruled Spain, which then
at all events mad a master.
That is what this country, torn by revo-
luton and kept continually upset by politi-
cal parties, wants at the present time.
Through the thirteen years of the regency
Christina. the Austrian has kept the throne
safe for her and the country has had
nothing nearer civil war during this time
than occasional abortive Carlist risngs and
autonomist murmurings in Catalan
Every one here is anxious to know what
kind of king Alfonso will make. and his
entry into his inheritance is eagerly await
} ed Thus far there is little material from
which to judge. Spaniards WILL tell you
| that he has been tied to his mothers apron
strings and has never had. a chance to dis
close his character. And this is true. Queen
Christina has exercised the'mpst stringent
| control over the lad. and be hes been seen
little by the people
Has Pleasant Disposition.
That he is of joyous and mischevous dis
| position seems we'll established, as one
he~or
him on his friends. He is fond of teasing
| others, and this is an attribute Of many
other genuine boys, and it is also said that
| he has fits of giving way to temper, which
| is also boyish. Dozens of harmless stories
are going about Madrid concerning Alfonso,
but even here in his capital he is practically
unknown. and his subjects know very little
about him.
His appearance creates no excitement.
| even in this. his coronation, week. Yester-
day he had been laying the foundation
stones of some schools in the city and drove
| by my hotel accompanied by his suite, in
half a dozen carriages. preceded and fol-
| lowed by squadron of Gathering cavalry.
! Thousands from all over Spain are here;
| the streets were crowded with SpaniardS
| who never saw their king. as well as with
Madrilenos. but his passage evoked no cheer,
| nor was hat removed. A foreign resident
| here told me that Spaniards only cheered
at bull fights. and perhaps that is So.
| A Spaniard who is very near to the king
| and who sees him constantly told me that
| Alfonso is honest. loving and thorough
| boy. He has some of the bad traits of the
Bourbons. but that his mothers strictness
and the boys thorough education may
overcome these in the long run eve may
expect" said my informant, that Alfonso
| for year or SO will feel his way. He will
| pay great attention doubtless to the army
and military matters, for his generals, of
whom he has had several among his in
structors. have taken care to show him
bot "a fv,S vnoi in fr,rn
long time to come lies on the side of the
army He may, just to feel his freedom,
commit some small indiscretion. but no
serious harm will be done by him, unless
he develops such disposition later. Ger
tainly at present his whole idea is to bene-
fit his country. What he may be driven
to by bad advice Of ministers and the vio-
1ence OF party feeling no one can predict
On the other hand. apart from the separ-
ated movement in Catalan. and the constant
unrest in the Basque provinces. there is a
disposition among all parties to give the
young king a trial. "
Danger From the Church.
.The gravest difnculty..',;. continued. the
spaniard. lies In the claims made by the
church of Rome and the great hold on the
property of the country maintained by the
religious bodies Alfonso Is devout son
Of the church, and here may be trouble
for him if he loves Rome more than
Spain.''
1t is not surprising that on the regilious
question lies grave danger for Spain. l
would not like to guess how many slick
and overfed priests l have seen about the
streets of Madrid. but the proportion to
other men is very large The last census
showed about 10000 priests in all Spain,
$4,000 nuns and Sisters of Charity and 3d.
600 monks and Jesuits outside the ordinary
| clergy. There are $50 converts and mon
asteries in Madrid alone whose property
reaches an enormous sum in value and is
increasing every year. as it comprises some
Of the best sites in the city. The great
fear here among those of republican and
liberal tendencies is that Alfonso will be
too pco-cerical. II
1t is perhaps surprising to find Epaniards
whose soreness the war With America
has so greatly eased as to allow them to
say that it was good for th@ eountry, but
that IS what many are admitAne now. No