21 JANUARY 1899, Page 1

The Times of Wednesday publishes a rather remarkable paper by

a Carlist on the chances of Don Carlos in Spain. He declares that a feeling that Carlism is the only solution has spread rapidly through all classes in Spain, especially in the North, and that if the Pretender crossed the frontier he would be joined by two-thirds of the Army. The arrival of the repatriados, or soldiers from the colonies, with their enormous sick-lists and bitter complaints of betrayal, is spreading discontent everywhere, which is increased by the fact that no trouble is taken to house or provide for the men,

thousands of whom are visible in the streets of Barcelona in insufficient clothing. An invasion is expected shortly, but "in Spain the expected happens leas frequently than else- where." We believe this account is substantially true; but the writer should have added that the confidence in Don Carlos personally is very slight, that he has no adviser or adlatus in whom Spaniards trust, and that the Generals, who must combine to give him victory, are evidently at sixes and sevens, one strong party desiring a military dictator under the present dynasty. There will be an explosion in the end, but the hesitating indecision just now marked in all the Latin races is strongest of all in Spain.