30 AUGUST 1873, Page 1

If the Standard's special correspondent can be trusted, Don Carlos

issued on the 23rd inst., in the form of a letter to his brother, a manifesto of great importance. It is written by some one who wields a pen of a very different calibre from any a Bourbon can use, and states that the King, if he mounts the throne, will pardon all men, will know no parties, will reign by himself, though he may call a Cortes to prepare a Code, will

grant the fueros, will try to be economical, and will not reintro- duce the Inquisition ; but that the Church must be made free, and must be guarded in the unity of her faith, every other form of worship being prohibited except in private houses. "Ibis liberty, daughter of the Gospel, not liberalism, son of Protestantism, which Spain requires,"—a funny phrase, for under the Salle law, Don Carlos's sole claim, the son inherits. In fact, you may live in Spain, if you obey every royal order and keep your religion in your own breast. The letter, as we have said, is eloquent, and should be read by everybody who expects that Don Carlos will ever be anything but the agent of a sacerdotal caste. That he will not personally be priest-ridden is likely enough. Bourbon kings seldom have put the burden of Church observances on -themselves, but have laid them, like the taxes, on their subjects. Louis XIV. was not exactly governed by priests when he revoked the Edict of Nantes, and dragooned the Huguenots out of France.