Year: 1875




It is difficult to understand and impossible
to sympathize with those forid hopes where
with so many people, in England and France
especially, greet the accession OF Don Alfonso
to the throne of his mothers. He is to restore
the tarnished honor of Spain; he is to give
an impetus to trade and manufactures, as II
he were railroad subsidy; he is to DO JUS
ticc TO the uttermost isles of the sea; he Is
to put n stop to the Carlist rebellion; he is
to establish equity and maintain peace
throughout his borders. The maddest hope IS
that which fires the usually temperate brain
of our British cousin. Some of the sOberest
English papers take it for granted that civil
wars and conspiracics Will now Immediately
cease, and Mr.. Punch is hardly beyond the
sanguine spirit of the hour when, hearing
that tho Lord Mayor of London was pre-
sentcd to His Majesty between the acts at the
opening of the Grand Opera House, he bursts
into lyric exulation over the prospect that
British subjects will row get the interest on
their Spanish bonds. If there were the slight
est possibility of the realization OF these fine
visions, there would be no serious OBJ
lection to tho return of the young
gentleman whose family, only six
years ago, was driven ignominiOusly out
of Spain for cause. There are very few people
so welded to principles or theories that they
would prefer misery and disorder under u
government of their choice to safety and
prosperity under one with which they are at
variance. If Don Alfonso can give Spain
peace and order, and the prosperous develop
ment of her resources, lie is sure of happy
life and great name in history. None of his
family, for hundred years, has accomplished
this. The Republic cannot accomplish it. So
far as human knowledge goes, there is no gov
ernment and no ruler who can do this for
Spain. IF, in spite of these facts, it is re-
served for this STRIPPING, the offspring of
vicious race and the result of a vicious sys-
tenn, to work the miracle Of the regeneration
Of q nation whose degradation has been ef-
fccted by the very measures ne carries back TO
the Peninsula, no ono will be inclined to
question the means by which the happy re-
suit is achieved. The greatest objection to
dcspo.sm il not so much that it is wrong as
that it is disastrous to nations. II thc Non
al, ,hy cah make Spain happy, while it IS con-
cedtd that the Republic cannot, tho whole
question is settled.


But in no point of view does this appear.
There is not the least reason for believing
that the treason of Martinez-CampOs and
Primo de Rivera is to result IN any amelOra-
ton of the condition of things in Spain. The
army had grown tired of the Republic and
had res lved to strike for a chanGe-the
movement had no other significance. 1t can
not help the state Of the colonies. Nobody
supposes that the Cubans will come in from
the hills ana lay down their standards Of
rebellion because Alfonso XII. is King in
Madrid. The Captain General has set up the
statue of Queen Isabel once more in the Park
at Havana and the daily contemplation OF
that model of department is about the only
advantage the CrcOles can derive from the
restoration. Even this blessing will be ont of
the reach of the rural districts. We may
therefore expect this ulcer to remain open
for long tine to come. We cannot see
either how the advent of the King is to en-
able Spain to pay her debts. He brings no
mtney into the country. On the con-
trary he requires good many millions for
his civil list The army in his hands will
require more expenditure than ever, as all the
" pronouncing" Generals will require promo
tions to reward their loyalty, and all those
who did not pronounce will want them to
quicken theirs. 1t is hard to see where the
gold IS to come from. which British naivete
expects as the result of his accession. On
the contrary, it is highly probable that his
first communication to England. instead of
being an offer to pay his bonds, will be 4
demand for the surrender of Gibraltar.


1t is quite possible that n good many Carlists
may seize this opportunity to give up their
wearisomo self sacrifice; but it is too much to
believe that the Carlst cause will be aban-
doned simply because Don Alfonso has re-
turned. Don Carlos and bis progenitOrs have
been lighting nearly half a century, not against
tho Republic, but against the usurping OF
spring of Ferdinand VII, and for the reGs-
tablishment Of the Sale Law in Spain. The
Pretender is a young fellow of not too much
brains, but of unus al physical strength and
courage, and an energy of character which
has 80 far been proof against all discourage
ments. There ia no reason why he should now,
more than Mt any other time, give up the con-
test. 1t costs him very little to carry on war.
The fanatical faith and ignorance Of the
mountaneers of Biscay and Navarro are his
chief resource. They will not all at once be-
come ee-thinkers and constitutionalists be-
cause the Republic is dead. Nor will it be
found any easier for Alfonso to put them down
than for SeIranO or Concha. The Kings name
is no longer a tower of strength. 1t is too far
on in the Nineteenth Century for a Spanish
insurrection to be subdued by kilograms like
that of yesterday, announcing that "the King
"would take the field in person." Unless he
keeps well in the rear the breech-loaders will
care no more for him than for any other school
boy, and it is not to be expected that his first
form ot Sandhurst has made him thunder