The ex-Queen of Spain has formally abdicated in favour of
her son, the Infante Alfonso, whom she declares Alfonso XII., King of Spain. She has at the same time issued a farewell manifesto, in which she affirms that as a child the horrors of war surrounded her cradle, as a girl the heated strife of parties allowed no time for the law to take root, and as a woman she was expelled by the. ungovernable passions of men whom she would not kill. "Reflect- ing upon this period, I cannot accuse myself of contributing with deliberate intention either to the evils laid to my charge, or to mis- fortunes which I was powerless to avert. A Constitutional Queen, I have sincerely respected the laws." "Fall of faith in the future of Spain, solicitous for its greatness, integrity, and independence, grateful for the support of those who were and are attached to me, forgetting the affronts of those who do not know me or insult me,
5 for myself I ask nothing, but I would obey the impulse of my heart and the loyal sentiment of the Spaniards by confiding to
their honour and noble feeling the destiny of a traditional dynasty "hh. and the heir of a hundred Kings." There is some truth in the ex-Queen's hinted defence, and some dignity in her peroration, but after all, she enjoyed and abused twenty years of nearly abso- lute power. The abdication will make little difference in Spain, where Alfonso XII. is but a Bourbon.
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