The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-12

ministers, but he never signs any de- cree without first having consulted his mother; nor does he make and observa- tions to his counselors without the per mission of his mother or express any desire which has not previously met with her maternal approval. In any case in which an immediate reply is ur- gently required, the sovereign allows his mother to frame convenient an- swer; and when a ministerial crisis takes place the premier, after having officially announced it to the king, goes to confer directly with the queen moth- CT.
 By the strict orders of Maria Christi na, her son Is obliged to lead almost the same life which he led before being pro- claimed king, excepting, of course, his daily interview with the ministers. His majesty rises at seven o'clock in spring and in summer anr eight o'clock in autumn and winter. After light breakfast, he takes lessons in con- stitutional law, in Spanish history, in political economy. in drawing, mathe- matics and languages, alternately. Afterward he gives audience to the pre-
 nier and other ministers, and then re- pairs to,his gymnasium situated on the ground floor of the palace where he exercises for one hour. Later on. hav- ing lunched with his mother, sisters and cousin, the Prince of Asturias, he mounts his beloved horse and goes to review his troops in the various bar racks; or rides his bicycle or automobile in the palace gardens, or else goes a. shooting in the royal preserves, situated near Madrid.
 At half-past four his majesty returns to the palace and takes fencing lessons until half-past five or six o'clock; then he devotes himself again to his studies until seven o'clock, at which hour he re- joins his family at dinner. Afterward' the royal family retires to private chamber of the queen mother, where the latter indulges in a game of check CTS with a maid of honor, while the king amuses himself with playing at tresillo with his sisters or aide-de-canlp and gentlemen-in-waitin The stakes consist of one cent for each game played! The winners put their gains into small box, and when three or four pesetas have been saved the amount is invested in the purchase of a national lottery ticket, according to the queens wishes. Fortune, however, has not favored the king and his compan- ions with so much as one farthing through the lottery. When the clock strikes ten the queen and her daughters rise, all play ceases, and the king seeks his bedroom. The rule is practically in variable, excepting on the rare occa- tsions on which a grand reception or banquet takes place in the palace, or when the royal family presides at any official ceremony.
 For what reason does the queen not allow her son more liberty of action in private as we'll as in state affairs? Why does she not permit him to lead a less monotonous and tiresome life? High personages at court affirm that there exist many weighty reasons, In the first place, the queen fears that if her son appeared more frequently in public, anarchists might attack him; second, she believes that, If the actions of the monarch were less restrained, he, with inexperience of life and state af- fairs, and an excessively lively charac- ter. might prove imprudent and endan- gersthe interests of the nonarchyi last ly, the queen thinks 1t necessary that her son should lead a quiet life because he Is not physically strong. The queen herself is to blame. however, for the kings .inexperience, because she has constantly kept her son confined in the royal palace, without allowing him to mix with youths of his. own age.
 < On the other hand, her arguments as to the kings health must be admitted. The young monarch is very tall and thin, and suffers from severe and tena- cious colds with alarming frequency; so much so that, according to trustworthy information, the court physicians, Sem ores Alabera and Ledesmas, impressed by these circumstances, submitted Don Alfonso to careful examination, in consequence of which they informed the queen that her son showed symptoms of consumption. Her majesty, greatly alarmed, lost no time In calling toaa consultation the eminent doctors Cami- son and Cortezo, as we'll as some re- nowned military practitioners, all of -