Affairs at Madrid exhibit a strange complication; and tomiL count
for it two stories are told. According to one, a worthless husband having been forced on Queen Isabella, and her conjugal prospects being utterly blighted, she has, to speak it plainly, adopted the Italian fashion of having a cevaliere servente ; the successful candidate for that office being General Serrano ; and her indignant Ministers are using every endeavour to get the young officer out of the way. The other story is, that the Mo- derados, growing more arbitrary and inordinate in their ambition with their continuance in power, are trying to usurp absolute supremacy. They wish to crush Serrano, because he is a Pro- gresista and stands in their way. Of the Queen they seek to make a mere pageant monarch ; seizing the Royal authority and coercing her to lend them her name. To that end, while they totally disregard her wishes and views, they pertinaciously ab- stain from resigning, and thwart her power of dismissal by with- holding their counter-signature from her decrees. It will be ob- served that these two stories are not incompatible: on the con- trary, to some extent they are mutual corroboration. Such are the results of French matchmaking ; and of English sulks, which, provoked at being overreached, induced our representatives to withdraw their useful influence from-real and living interests, to waste their strength on squabbles over the letter of old treaties.
