A report is current that an attempt has been made
to assassi- nate the King of Spain, who, however, escaped unwounded. His fall, it is supposed, would throw Spain into an anarchy, from which the Republic would be the only escape, but it would be much more likely to place the country under a military dictatorship. Nothing is more remarkable in history than the difficulty of kill- ing a king, except the facility with which anybody else is killed. President Lincoln perished in the first attempt on his life, but Louis Philippe, Louis Napoleon, and indeed most of the Sovereigns of Europe, have been menaced over and over again without effect. The reason we believe to be that the kingship does exercise an influence over the imagination even of bigoted Republicans. No lather theory will explain the immunity of the Pope from these attempts. No Protestant wants to kill him, and no Catholic, however sceptical, dare.
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