A FORECAST FOR SPAIN.
[To mu EDITOR OF TEE " SPACTATOR."]
8i,—In the Spectator of May '7th, for the second time within a few months, the assertion is made, in considering the present condition of Spain, that Alphonso XIII. is "the only child ever born a King." I had thought the circum- stances which marked the closing reigns of the Capetian dynasty were nearly analogous. On the death of Louis X., in 1316, his next brother was not declared King because it was hoped to carry on the direct line in the person of his expected son; the child, John, was thus born a King, and dying within a few months, was honoured with a Royal funeral, when his uncle Philip V. ascended the throne. The baby life was so brief that John is not counted among the French Sovereigns; but I think the French histories all chronicle his short reign.
Will you allow me to add the heartfelt thanks of at least one loyal American for the warm sympathy which you show
us, and the fine discrimination which you exercise in comment- ing upon our perplexing affairs ? You said truly, a few weeks ago, that a large body of sentiment, especially in the East, was opposed to the present war; still more do we dread the appalling complications which it is already presenting. Yet we have had grievous provocation; and now the one feeling is that, being in the quarrel, we must so bear ourselves that the opposed may beware of us.—I am, Sir, &e.,
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