SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME.
Spain Threatened with Interior Difficulties--Danger that the
Crown Might Be Lost to the Baby King of Spain--Don Carlos and the
Carlists Are Active--Castelar Is Asked to Establish a Republic--
General Weyler as a Possible Dictator--History of the Carlist
Movement and Sketch of "the Pretender."
While these events were in progress in the international
relations of the United States and Spain, with a threat of a
hopeless war hanging over the latter, the embarrassments of the
government of the peninsular kingdom as to the conflict of its own
affairs at home multiplied daily. Altogether aside from the
prospective operations of the war itself the Queen Regent and her
Ministry had more than one local difficulty to face.
It was frankly recognized in their inner councils that a
succession of Spanish defeats, in all probability, would lose the
throne to the dynasty and that the boy king would never wear the
crown of his father. A second threat of danger was that in the
midst of difficulties abroad there would be an uprising of the
adherents of Don Carlos "The Pretender," who would take advantage
of the situation to start a civil war and seize the authority. In
addition to all this, the republicans of Spain, growing more
restless under the misgovernment they saw, united in an address to
Castelar, who was formerly the president of the Spanish republic,
urging that he declare the republic again established and
promising to support him in such a movement. The names of 20,000
of the best citizens of Spain were signed to this request, and it
was an element of danger to the monarchy that was well recognized.
Finally, the partisans of General Weyler, who comprised a large
element of the proudest and most influential people of Spain,
showed distinct signs of a desire to establish a dictatorship with
that ferocious general as the supreme authority. He had been
recalled from Cuba as a rebuke and in order to alter the policies
which he had established there. His friends were ready to resent
the rebuke and offer him higher place than he had had before.
DON CARLOS AND THE CARLISTS.
Spain has been the scene of many revolutions, a fact easily
understood when the character of the government is known.
Dishonesty and oppression in an administration always breed the
spirit of rebellion. Don Carlos, who regards Alfonso as a usurper,
and believes himself the true King of Spain, issued, April 13,
from his retreat in Switzerland, a manifesto to his supporters. In
this he arraigned the government, sought to inflame the excited
Spanish populace against the Queen Regent, her son and her
ministers, and declared that they had permitted the Spanish
standard to be dragged in the mud. He said in part:
Twenty years of patriotic retirement have proved that I am neither
ambitious nor a conspirator. The greater and better part of my
life as a man has been spent in the difficult task of restraining
my natural impulses and those of my enthusiastic Carlists, whose
eagerness I was the first to appreciate, but which nevertheless I
curbed, although it rent my heart to do so. To-day national honor
speaks louder than anything, and the same patriotic duty which
formerly bade me say "Wait yet a while," may lead me to cry,
commanding the Carlists, "Forward," and not only the Carlists, but
all Spaniards, especially to the two national forces which still
bravely withstand the enervating femininities of the regency, the
people and the army.
If the glove which Washington has flung in the face of Spain is
picked up by Madrid I will continue the same example of abnegation
as before, wretched in that I cannot partake in the struggle other
than by prayers and by the influence of my name. I will applaud
from my soul those who have the good fortune to face the fire, and
I shall consider those Carlists as serving my cause who embark in
war against the United States.
But if everything leads me to fear that the policy of humiliation
will again prevail, we will snatch the reins of government from
those who are unworthy to hold them and we will occupy their
places.
While their leader was talking in this strain, his supporters were
preparing to act. They believed that the conditions for a
revolution were more favorable than they had been for years, that
the present dynasty was doomed, and that Spain would be forced to
choose between republicanism and Don Carlos. The only chance, they
said for the retention of the present dynasty, would be for Spain
to defeat the United States, and they were not so blind as to
believe that such would be the outcome of a war between the two
powers.
READY FOR ACTION.
Don Carlos himself believed that the time had come to act. He
journeyed to Ostend, where he consulted with Lord Ashburnham and
other Catholic Englishmen who were his supporters, and mapped out
a plan of campaign. He stood ready at any convenient moment to
cross the frontier and place himself at the head of his
supporters.
Never since there was a pretender to the throne of Spain, and Don
Carlos is the third of the name, had the outlook been so favorable
for the fall of the constitutional monarchy.
Discontent has been widespread in Spain and it has been fomented
by the Carlists, with a splendid organization, with more than
2,000 clubs scattered in various parts of the kingdom.
Causes for discontent have not been lacking, and the Cuban and
Philippine revolts, together with the threatened trouble with the
United States, were not the only reasons for popular
dissatisfaction. Spain was bankrupt and found it difficult to
borrow money from the money lenders of London and Paris. With the
increased expenses due to the revolution there had been a decrease
in receipts for the same cause--the usual revenues from Havana
being lacking. The people were poor and thousands of them
starving. Additional taxation was out of the question, for the
people were taxed to the limit.
These were the causes to which the strength of the Carlist
agitation was due. And that it was strong there can be no doubt.
The birthday of Don Carlos, March 30, was celebrated this year
with an enthusiasm and unprecedented degree of unanimity
throughout the kingdom, and the government did not feel itself
strong enough to interfere with them.
TOASTED AS KING.
There were hundreds of fetes in cities, towns and villages, and
many of them were held in the open air, where the pretender was
toasted as "El Key" or "the king," and Alfonso was ignored.
This inaction could be due only to the fact that the government
was powerless. To say that they did not fear Don Carlos would be
ridiculous, as the latest manifesto of Don Carlos was suppressed,
and the government was really in fear and trembling. A more
plausible reason would be that the ministry wished to be in the
good graces of Don Carlos should he win, and they were not ready
to trust themselves to absolute loyalty to the present dynasty.
Meanwhile, as this chapter is written, reports from Spain tell of
unprecedented Carlist activity. They are arming themselves. Arms
are pouring across the frontier in such quantities as to show that
the Carlists are preparing for an early rising, and all of the
actions and utterances of the leader show that they are only
waiting for a favorable opportunity to begin the revolution.
Strong proof of this is to be found in the fact that since Don
Carlos secured his second wife's vast fortune he has been
penurious, and it is not believed that he would spend money in
arms unless he believed the expenditure would bring about some
practical advantage to his cause.
His agents have been working among the army officers, and it is
said that they have secured many recruits for their cause. The
throne of Spain, like the throne of Russia, during the last
century, or that of Borne in the days of the empire, rests largely
upon the army, and if the army, discontented and dissatisfied as
it certainly is, were to revolt, Don Carlos' success would be
almost certain.
Ever since his marriage in 1894 with the Princess de Rohan, who
brought him a large fortune, Don Carlos has been watching a
favorable opportunity for a coup. There cannot be a better one
than that which will be offered when Spain is defeated by the
United States, and it would not be surprising to see Don Carlos
unfurl his banner to the breeze and call for troops to rally to
his standard.
Those who are supporters of the pretensions of Don Carlos believe
they have right on their side. His supporters love him with the
loyalty of the legitimists to the house of Stuart during the
period before the restoration in England. His personality is
attractive. He has all the elements of personal popularity with
the masses. He is brave and dashing. He does not sit and weep over
the fallen glories of his race, but he is always ready for action.
He is ready at any moment to lead an army in a forlorn cause and
will fight, for what he believes to be his rights.
FLOWER OF SPAIN.
The position occupied in Spanish affairs by Don Carlos is similar
to that occupied by Prince Charles Edward toward the throne of
Great Britain during the last century. His family has been
dispossessed for about the same length of time and he has made a
fight just as romantic, but with more brilliant prospects, and at
the head of the heroic highlanders, dwellers in the Basque
mountains. His followers are the flower of Spain, the most
aristocratic families in the kingdom, willing to risk all in his
support, setting property and life itself as worth naught compared
with their honor.
There have been three Carlist pretenders to the throne of Spain.
The first was Carlos V., born in 1788. He laid claim to the throne
on the death of his brother, Ferdinand VII., in 1833.
Ferdinand had had a stormy reign, torn by dissensions between the
court and the popular party. Napoleon compelled him to resign in
favor of Joseph Bonaparte, but he returned to the throne of his
ancestors upon the fall of Bonaparte. During twenty-eight years he
married five wives in succession. By four of these he had no
children, but a daughter was born to the last, who had been
Princess of Naples. She secured an absolute mastery of the king,
who was an imbecile unfitted to reign. The heir apparent to the
throne was the grandfather of the present Don Carlos, Carlos V.,
the brother of Ferdinand. Between Carlos and his brother there had
been a long enmity.
Christina used her influence with her husband to persuade him to
disinherit his brother. By the Salic law females were excluded
from inheriting the throne of France. But through the influence of
Ferdinand and his spouse the cortes was persuaded to repeal the
law, the more willingly since Carlos was in favor of absolutism,
while with a woman as ruler the chances would be better for the
perpetuation of constitutionalism. The Carlists claim that during
the last days Ferdinand repented his act and issued documents
which would have established Carlos' right to the succession, but
that these were suppressed. However that may be, upon the death of
Ferdinand his baby daughter was declared Queen of Spain, with her
mother as regent.
For five years there was civil war. The youth and weakness of the
baby queen proved her strength. The liberals believed that with
her as the nominal ruler the continuance of the constitutional
monarchy would be assured. For the same reasons France and England
supported Isabella. These were odds against which Carlos could not
effectually fight, and in 1869 he retreated from Spain, and the
historians treat the succession as settled in favor of the young
girl, who even at that time was not in her teens.
QUEEN ISABELLA'S REIGN.
Isabella II., or rather her mother, for the latter was the real
ruler, did not rule with prudence. Scandals disgraced the reign,
and led to the regent's removal from the regency. Queen Isabella's
ill-fated marriage and other intrigues led to domestic
disturbances which kept alive the pretensions of the Carlists.
Upon the death of the first pretender, in 1853, a second arose in
the person of his son, Don Carlos, Count de Montemolim. He
attempted to cause a revolution in 1860, but was arrested with his
brother, and they were not liberated until they had signed a
renunciation of their claims to the throne.
The second pretender died in 1861, and then the present Don Carlos
arose. He was the son of Don Juan, and a brother of the two who
had renounced their claims to the Spanish throne, and he claimed
that their renunciation could not be binding on him. This was the
Don Carlos who is now the leader of the legitimists, and he has
never renounced his claim to the throne of his ancestors.
His name in full is Don Carlos de los Dolores Juan Isidore Josef
Francisco Quirino Antonio Miguel Gabriel Rafael. He was born in
the little village of Laibach in the Austrian Alps, while his
parents were on a journey through the country, and from his
infancy his career has been surrounded with a romance which has
endeared him to the hearts of his followers. His father, Don Juan,
was an exile from Spain and a royal wanderer seeking a place where
he could end his life in peace.
He and his wife were befriended by the Emperor Ferdinand of
Austria, who placed the young Don Carlos under the care of a
Spanish priest, who educated him for the priesthood. Even in his
infancy he cared nothing to become a priest in spite of his devout
devotion to the Roman Catholic faith, but dreamed of the day when
he would rule as King of Spain.
Don Carlos was only seventeen years of age when he met and fell in
love with Margaret, the daughter of the Duke of Parma. She was
only fourteen, and the mother of the young prince persuaded them
to postpone the marriage for three years. With his wife the
pretender received a large fortune and he has been able to
maintain a court in the semblance of royalty for several years.
Thirty years ago Carlos might have been king. The crown was then
offered him by Prim and Sagasta, who journeyed to London for the
purpose. They said it should be his if he would support the
liberal constitution proposed for the country and would favor the
separation of church and state. It was the latter idea that led to
his rejection of the proffered honor. His strict Roman Catholic
training made him refuse, for religion was more to him than
anything else.
CARLOS' SCORNFUL REFUSAL.
"When I come to my throne," he declared, "I shall rule my land as
I see fit."
These were the words with which he scornfully spurned their offer.
The republicans never forgave him, and later when, after the
dethronement of Isabella, his name was again proposed in the
cortes by his supporters, Prim and Sagasta were his most bitter
enemies.
On Don Carlos' behalf, insurrections--speedily repressed--took
place in 1869 and 1872. But the insurrection headed by him in
person in 1873 proved much more formidable and kept the Basque
provinces in a great confusion till the beginning of 1876, when it
was crushed.
Before the commencement of the war of 1872-76, Don Carlos defined
clearly his position and views in various manifestos addressed to
the people of Spain. He declared that with him the revolutionary
doctrine should have no place. What Spain wanted, said Don Carlos,
was that no outrage should be offered to the faith of her fathers,
for in Catholicity reposed the truth, as she understood it, the
symbol of all her glories, the spirit of all her laws and the bond
of concord between all good Spaniards. What Spain wanted was a
real king and a government worthy and energetic, strong and
respected.
The opportunity for Don Carlos was found in the troublous times
that led to and followed the abdication of Amadeo I., Duke of
Aosta, who had been elected by the cortes. The four years' war
commenced in spring, 1872, and a year later Amadeo abdicated in a
message saying that he saw Spain in a continual struggle, and the
era, of peace more distant; he sought remedies within the law, but
did not find them; his efforts were sterile.
Thereupon the two chambers combined as the sovereign power of Spain and
voted for a republic. The two years of the republic were the stormiest
in Spanish history, and it was then that the Carlists made the greatest
progress. They numbered probably one-third of the people of Spain. A
republic was not suited to the disposition of the Spaniards, and
Castelar, who had the helm of the ship of state, gave up his task in
disgust. Then Alfonso XII., son of the exiled Isabella, was proclaimed
heir to the throne. Alfonso XIII., is his son.
Alfonso XII.'s first task was to suppress the Carlists, and in
this he succeeded. The people were tired of the continual strife.
Royalists and republicans alike welcomed the new monarch.
The number of his followers gradually dwindling and finding that
continued resistance would be unavailable, Don Carlos was finally
convinced that it would be useless to continue the struggle. So
early in 1876 his army disbanded. Accompanied by his bodyguard he
crossed the Pyrenees. As he stepped his foot on French soil he
turned as if to bid farewell to Spain, but his last words,
energetically pronounced, were: "Volvere, volvere! I will return,
I will return!" And it is the belief of his followers that his
time is near at hand.
HIS LOYAL FOLLOWERS.
No man has more devoted followers. The army that fought for him
during the Carlist revolution was one of the most heroic that has
ever been gathered together. To his standard came young men of
good family from every nation. He was regarded as the
representative of the old regime of monarchists, and in his ranks
were those who hoped for the re-establishment of the now obsolete
divine right of kings. He was the head of the house of Bourbon in
all Europe. Except for the existence of Maria Theresa, daughter of
Ferdinand of Modena, married the Prince Louis of Bavaria, Don
Carlos would be the legitimate representative of the royal house
of Stuart, and, barring the English act of settlement, King of
Great Britain and Ireland.
This fact may have had something to do with the cold shoulder that
was turned to him by all of the powers of Europe. Don Carlos was
regarded as the representative of the half-dozen pretenders to the
throne who live in exile amid little courts of their own and build
air castles peopled with things they will do when they mount the
thrones of which they believe themselves to have been defrauded.
The Carlists believe that with the support of one of the great
governments they would have won. But they could obtain no
recognition even of their belligerency, and that was in spite of
the fact that, as early as 1873, the president of the Spanish
Republic has declared in the cortes: "We have a real civil war.
... It has a real administrative organization and collects taxes.
You have presented to you one state in front of another. It is in
fact a great war."
Yet in spite of this declaration and in spite of the fact that the
five successive heads of the Madrid government recognized the
belligerency of the Carlists by conventions; that treaties were
made for the running of railroads and for other purposes, and that
the Carlists, had a mint, postoffice and all of the equipments of
a regular government, recognition was withheld by the powers.
Everything depended upon England, and General Kirkpatrick, a
brigadier general in the civil war, who represented the Carlists
as charge d'affaires at London, was unable to secure that boon
from Gladstone, and none of the continental powers would act until
England had led the way.
After his retirement from Spain, when the war had exhausted his
resources, Don Carlos lived humbly and quietly at Paris. He had
ceased to love his wife and they led a miserable domestic life. He
would sell his war horse and fling the money to her on the bare
table, telling her to buy bread with it. Then his friends would
buy the horse back again. Once he disposed of the badge of the
Order of Golden Fleece that had decorated the son of his
illustrious ancestor, Charles V. The discreditable part of this
action was not so much in the actual act of pawning as that he put
the blame for it on an old general who had served him with
fidelity for twenty years. He claimed that the general had stolen
it, imagining that the old soldier's devotion to his interests
would induce him to remain silent. But the general at once told
all of the facts in the case, and also told how Don Carlos had
used the money to satisfy the demands of a notorious demi-mondaine.
His financial difficulties came to an end with the death of the
Comte and Comtesse de Chambord, who bequeathed the larger part of
their immense wealth to their favorite niece, wife of Don Carlos.
The duchess kept the money in her own hands, but gave him all he
needed. At her death she was quite as provident, leaving the money
in trust for her children and giving only a small allowance to her
husband, from whom she had lived apart for fifteen years.
MARRIED A FORTUNE.
This threw the pretender again into financial straits, for he has
expensive tastes which require a large fortune to support. So he
looked around for a bride. His followers were startled to hear of
his marriage to the wealthy Princess Marie Berthe de Rohan. The
marriage took place April 29, 1894, and, although she was handsome
and exceedingly rich and a member of the illustrious Rohan family,
which alone of all the noble families of France and Austria has
the privilege of calling the monarch cousin--it was regarded as a
mesalliance by all of the Carlists in Spain and legitimists
everywhere. They believed that Don Carlos should have not married
any but the scion of a royal house.
By his first marriage Don Carlos had five children, among them Don
Jaime, now in his twenty-eighth year, who is regarded as heir to
the throne by the Carlists. Don Jaime is said to possess to a high
degree the strength of will and the determined character of his
father. He was educated in England and Austria, and is now serving
in the Russian army. Military science is his hobby, and he will be
able to fight for his throne, as his father has done, if it
becomes necessary.
Don Carlos is now in Switzerland, that home of the exiled from
other lands, and where he spends his summers. His winter residence
is at the Palais de Loredane in Venice.
At the present date the Carlist party is one of the strongest
political parties in Spain. This does not appear in the
representation in the Spanish cortes, for under the present system
the right to exercise the franchise freely is a farce.
There is no doubt that Don Carlos' popularity is greater than that
of the little king. The queen is regarded as a foreigner and the
king is too young to awaken any admiration in spite of the fact
that every opportunity is taken to make him do so. To popularize
the little king the queen regent promenades the poor child through
the provinces. He makes childish speeches to the populace, touches
the flags of the volunteers and in every way seeks to revive the
enthusiasm for the house of Austria. But without avail. The
wretched peasants, ground down by taxes, find little to stir them
in the sight.
On the contrary, Don Carlos is a great military hero, whose
actions have stirred the people to admiration in spite of his many
bad qualities.
That the present dynasty will endure when all of the evils from
which Spain suffers are considered, seems hard to believe. Unless
a miracle happens or the powers bolster up the throne of the
little king, the people are likely to turn to Don Carlos for
relief. There are those who believe that republicanism is also
rampant and that the Carlist agitation masks republican doctrines,
and that Weyler will be dictator. This may be. But Don Carlos
seems nearer the throne than he has been at any time during his
career.