In Spain, the stories against Don Francisco de Paula multiply
; and are somewhat confirmed by the sudden separation between Queen Isabella and her uncle. The truth of the charges is stoutly denied by some ; others receive the stories as undoubted. Not only, we are told, did the Infant belong to the society of "Aven- gers of Alibaud," but he belonged to one for the assassination of monarchs in general, and stood in the list of that body as " Regi- cide No. 3." This is too jocose for belief; and yet the Queen's dismissal of her uncle from her palace, the sudden closing of a private passage between their apartments, and the removal of the Infant to the neighbourhood of the French frontier, look as if site believed the accusation. Appearances, we must confess, incline us to suspect that the tales have been fabricated for the specific purpose of frightening Queen Isabella into a rupture with her uncle ; who, if not a wise counsellor, seemed at least to be a faith ful adherent.
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