Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-12
WELCOMED BY SPAIN
Kings Selection of His Young
Bride Popular.
OPPOSED BY CHURCHMEN
Severe Restrictions on Professionalism
in the Peninsula.
FORMALITIEs OF COURT LIFE
Grand Banquet to Be Given to the
Diplomatic Corps on the Even
ing of the Wedding.
FoRMALITIEs OF COURT LIFT

ing Of the Wedding.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
The people of Spain. young and old. rich
and poor, high and lowly. have always
taken the most intense interest IN the
matrimonial affairs Of their sovereign. and
have not hesitated to express their approval
and disappFoval on several occasions Ihey
are very frank and free in these demon
STATIONS, and are quick to change their
minds when they find that they have been
deceived or mistaken. This trait was ex-
hibited in a remarkable manner at the
marriage of Alfonso XII with his cousin,
the beautiful Mecedes. Everybody was
opposed to the match. and. strange to say.
the king had no sympathy in what was
a truly love affair, which should have ap-
pealed to such sentimental race. But
within three months the bride became the
idol of the Spanish nation.
BY a striking contrast, Alfonsos second
marriage was approved with enthusiasm.
His bride was an Austrian princess and the
people thought that great good was coming
to their nation from the alliance. But
tickle populace soon frowned upon their
new queen, and, although she is one OF the
best of women, pure, gentle, just, generous,
intelligent and patriotic, she Is the most
unpopular member Of the royal family.
mis- is because she has never understood
the Spanish character and has never been
able to adjust herself to the social peculiar
tiles of the nation She is very serious.
Her life has been a succession of sorrows
and she is intensely religious. One of the
wits of Spain said that ''she not only Is
willing to kiss the pope's toe, but the toes
of all the priests in the kingdom" And
you will hear that ''she goes to mass twenty
times a day." She does not approve of
bull-ftghting, the national sport, and would
not allow her son to attend one of those
brutal performances until he passed from
under her control. She is mon simpatico'
as they say. and, although the public ap-
preciates her fine qualities, they do not
love her or care for her.
The Princess Ena
The Princess Ena, however, will receive
an enthusiastic welcome. The kings selec-
ton of bride is received with much warm
er approval in Spain than in England
Those who know the inside Of things say
that the archbishop of Canterbury and
other prominent ecclesastics attempted to
persuade King Edward to interfere. I'm
fortunately King Alfonso put an instru-
ment in their hands a few months before
the marriage proposal was offered in the
form of a letter to the bishop of Barcelona,
approving the action of the latter In for
bidding the opening Of an English
Protestant church in that city. The con-
stitutien of Spain forbids the practice of
all religions except that of the Roman
Catholic faith. The few Protestants in the
country, however, are permitted to have
what IS called private worship in private
houses, halls or buildings which have no
outer resemblance to churches. Barcelona
has large foreign population, and the
Engilsh Protestants of that city subscribed
Of at,,t .xoz
was forbidden by the government because
or the objections of the Catholic bishop of
that diocese. This action provoked a great
deal OF criticism and somebody persuaded
the youthful king to sustain the bishop
with letter. in which he said:
AS Catholic king and as submissive
ana loyal son of the only true church I
am deeply panied at this attack upon the
taith or our ancestors and the religion of
our state. l do not hesitate to assure Won
that l viii do all in my power and exercise
all or the attributes of my constitutional
sovereignty to prevent such a project as
has been attempted"
This, of course created a great sensa-
uon In England, and the rumors of the
engagement of an English PRINCESS and
member Of the Protestant church coming
so soon after naturally aroused opuo-
sltion and Indignation among the clergy
of the Church of England.
The Match a Popular One.
tIic pcOpAS VI SPAIN, however. COrdi9l1v
commend Alfonso for selecting a hearty
heaIthy' rosy English lass rather than one
OF the weaklings of his own race The
royal family of Spain is so intermarried
that each one is related to all the others
in seven OR eight different ways. There
have been five royal marriages between the
two Bourbon families during the last one
hundred years, and If there is ANYTHING in
the old theory that nature abhors the
union of relatives, the blood of the dynastv
must be very much diluted
King Ferdinand of Spain and his broth
ers married sisters, their own nieces. An.
other sister married King Louis Philippe
OF france. Isabella, the daughter OF
Ferdinand, married Francisco d Azzizi who
was her cousin on both sides. His father
was her uncle and his mother was her
aunt by blood, and all OF her children
married their first cousins. No member
of the royal family of Spain has married
anybody but a cousin for more than a
century, except Alfonso XII when he mar
ried Queen Christina.
Therefore the young king invoked the
approval of all his subjects when he went
outside the Bourbon family for O. bride
The match is also regarded as favorable
from political standpoint, although, curl
ouSly enough, the people of Spain gen.
orally hate the English more than the
Americans because of the result of the
war with the United States. They pretend
to believe that they would have been
Britain, and during the winter of 1S9S-99
the British legation In Madrid was boy
cotted for that reason.
Although the young king shows some
of the tendencies of his father. who was
very rapid sport, and shocked the sensi-
bIlities OF the Spanish aristocracy by his
escapades, he has been restrained by the
affection and devotion of his mother and
by group of tutors who have taught him
manliness and honor, although they are
very narrow. Everybody who knows him
speaks with admiration of his courage, his
frankness and his honesty. There Is no
question as to his kingly qualities or as to
his good intentions and high aspirations
and 1t is a pity that he could not have been
relieved of the narrow Influences that have
surrounded him and get out into the
world like other boys Everything he does
| is regulated by rules of etiquette, by
national prejudice, and by traditions that
are generations old. He cannot move
without an escort. He cannot leave the
| palace except he goes in state, accom-
| panied by general or an aide-de-camp,
/ and usually he Is saluted by the roar OF
| cannon whenever he appears He broke