Year: 1873

| received An almost unanimous vote or c0nn-


dence. The young King will not easily per-


made bis friends that his conduct in this mat
ter ia iudicous or timely The Government Is
| in this. as in other matters, sustained in the
! Cortes Inv large maiorities There is nothing
in the actual condition or prospects OF the


kingdom which should lead him 10 abandon


his connection with it. The Carllst insurrectloh
is not as vet important enough 10 menace lhe
Crown. and even if it were, that would be no
reason why a king, who is also a soldier,
sbouId avoid trying conclusions with IT. lie
has not. il is true, been received with the pop
uIar enthusiasm he doubtless expected. But
this fact has no novelty for him, ana he Is
to-day rather more popular than at hrst. ms
sudden and petulant outbreak seems to have
arisen. therefore, in this disagreement with
his Ministry. and auarreling with Ministry is
luxury in which no constitutional monarch
has the right to indulge. 1t Is well known
however, that His Majesty was greatly dlsap-
pointed when the Zorrilla party so completely
defeated the Unionistas in the Cortes and III
the elections. The Unionists have had
more experience and training III palace
life, and the politicians of that party
have the easy manners which usually accom-
pany easy morals. When the brusque and Sc
we're Radicals came into power, most OF whom
had been attorneys and school teachers and
engineers, it is not difficult to imagine that
official life lost much of its attractions to the
King and his spirited and naughty Queen.
The serious speech of Becerra and MartOs and
ZOrrilla affected the Court as the loud voice
of Choiseul did the efleminate ears of Louis
tJ,o tNnl DoI a
the kingdom drifting every day more and
more into current repugnant to his own per-
sOnal sympathies. One of the dearest wishes
cherished by himself and his wife was re-
Cancellation with the Pope. Yet every step
taken in the direction of religious freedom
rendered this object more difficult to attain.
In his own interest and in that of his
father, he naturally desired that the


principle of authority should be con-


tinually affirmed and strengthened III
Spain. Yet he saw the whole course OF legis-
lation constantly tending in the direction of


the enlargement of municipal and provincial


independence. He was still young enough to


dream of adding new splendOr and power to


the Spanish crown. But he needed no extra


ordinary sagacity to see that the necessities
of Spain required the abandonment OF ambl-
tiOus dreams and strict conservation OF all
available talents to the sober realities OF


every day administration. 1t is not surprising,


therefore, that the destruction OF these illu-


sions should have thrown him into state of


depressed and irritated spirits, where the occa-


sional manifestations of popular lll-wlll, and
the more frequent instances of incOmpatbllity
with the Ministry, have finished by rendering
the weight of the crown hateful and ntOleTable.
If he insists upon his abdcatlon 1t will be
hard to exaggerate the gravity of the crisis.
A Regency in the name of his infant son is
not to be thought of; it would merely be es-
tablshing a permanent state of insurTectiOn.
A provisional Regency would be scarcely bet


ter. 1t would only set on foot immediate and
active intrigues in the lobbies of the Congress
and the barracks of the army in favor of the
three existing pretenders, Don Alfonso, Don
Carlos and the Duke of MOntpensier. The


accession of either of the first two would be


not only ruin but disgrace to Spain. The third
is the best of the three, but not practicable.
There would seem still to be chance for the
Republic if the army is not actively controlled
against it, The startling success OF Figueras
last night gives the Republicans an immense
moral advantage in the recOnstitution of the


country. They cannot accomplish it alone. But


the able and patriotic leaders of the Radical party


must have been convinced by this time of the
illogical and obsolete character of the mon


archical establishment. 1t is too late to make


new dynasty anywhere; least of all where


great people have deliberately judged and


condemned an old one, and made for them


selves a free Constitution which distinctly es
tabshes the principle of individual rights and


national sovereignty. If the Cabinet of King


Amadeus have learned this truth during his


reign, and are ready TO act upon it, on his de-


parture, his Spanish experience will have been


as fruitful to the world as it has been tedious


and mortfying to himself