Year: 1872

UoStantS ..r


| spain-Her Unsettled and AlarmIng
Condition.


| The world still stands aghast and thinks
with horror of the dastardly and brutal
attempt which has just been made on the lives
of the young King and Queen of Spain. All
accounts agree that ths sysnt bss startled the
nation to it's remotest limits, and that the
universal indignation is such that the author
tiles find it difficult to hold it in check. The
latest accounts justify the opinion that the
attempted assassination was rs determined as
it was dastardly. We are left no room to
doubt that the affair was the result Of huge
and well organized conspiracy When we
read that the body of one OF the horses
attached to the royal carriage was pierced by
seven pistol shots, we perceive how near the
would-be murderers were to their intended
victims, and how narrow and miraculous was
their escape. There is something in this
attempted assassination which is peculiarly
Spanish. It is impossible to use language too
strong in denouncing the wicked deed. We
can conceive no cause of quarrel which
any section of the Spanish people can
have with the young and accomplished Queen.
Her only offence, SO far as we know or can
imagine, is that she is the wife of her hus-
band, and that, like true woman and good
wife, she Is willing to share her husbands
fortunes Yet, in seeking the life Of the man
whom they hated, these cowardly assassins
were perfectly willing to sacrifice the life of
the dutiful and unoffending Princess No
such atrocious deed, so far as we can remem-
Der, has been attempted in modern times. In
this her latest act of wickedness, Spain has
exceeded herself; for in the murder of Prim,
bad as it was and SO similar otherwise in
character to this, no other life was jeopardized.
| The life of woman who had done them no
wrong, Of Queen who had honestly sought
| their welfare, of stranger to whom they
owed the duties of hospitality stood between
them and their victim; but not even this
could stay the hands of those brutal men.
Hitherto the Spanish people have had but
small claims on the sympathy Of mankind; and
it is fair to say that but little sympathy has
been extended to them. Unless the Spanish
people con purge themselves of the crime,
what claims they had on the sympathy Of the
nations will be reduced to naught, and what
sympathy they received will be finally with
drawn. It is unfair to blame whole people
for the act Of few desperate men; but fair
or unfair the charge will be made, unless Spain,
in some satisfactory way, gives proof of her
innocence.


1t appears from our dispatches that the
authorities are leaving no stone unturned in
| their attempts to discover the assassins, their
accomplices and the secrets of the conspiracy;
and it is gratifying to know that fair measure
Of success is attending their labors Already
at least three Of the men actively engaged in
the attempt on the lives of the King and Queen,
with some twenty-seven Of their alleged accom-
plices, have been arrested and placed in GUS
tody. The trial Of these men, which is little
likely to be delayed, will prove sensation to
the peoples of both the Old World and the
New. The news will be as eagerly sought for
in New York and Philadelphia as in London
or Paris. 1t will be certain to throw much
needed light on the peculiar condition of
Spain. 1t is not possible but that some all
important revelations will be made. It will
become apparent as the trial progresses
whether the crime has any direct connection
with political conspiracy; and, if so, whether
the conspiracy is confined 10 one faction of
politicians or whether it is too large to be
limited by political party lines, having its
roots deep and widespread among the Spanish
people. We have no desire to prejudice the
case, nor will we attempt to do So There is
nothing unfair, however, in noting the prevail
ing and somewhat conflicting rumors. 1t is
notorious that there are in Spain men of all
shades of political belief who, from the COM
mencement, have been opposed to the Savoyard,
on the ground that he was q foreigner; and
there are many who, protesting to have their
information from the best and most reliable
of sources tell us that the bayonets of Prim,
not the votes of the Spanish people, placed
Amadeus on the throne of Isabella the Catholic
and of Philip the Second. 1t is not at all i'm
possible that the conspiracy may be larger and
more widespread than party limits would adj
NIT; but when we remember the large number
of votes which on two occasions already have
been recorded in favor Of Amadeus, and when
we take into account the enthusiastic express
sions of loyalty which this unhappy affair has
evoked from oil ranks and classes of the people,
we cannot allow ourselves to believe that the
conspiracy will be found to have much of a
national character. 1t is believed by many
that the assassins in this case, as in the case of
Prim, were the hirelings of the republican
party 1t is not our opinion, as we
have said more than once already in these
columns, when speaking Of the murder of Prim,
that Castelar, and his associates, whom we be-
lieve to be men pure in heart and of noble
purpose, would stain with blood the fair robe