We have discussed in a leading article the events which
led to King Alfonso's decision, provisionally at all events, to abandon his throne. Here we may record briefly the precipitate events of the past two days, The astonishing municipal elections of last Sunday had a more far-reaching and hasty sequelthan anybody had foreseen. Politicians who had wavered on the edged of Republicanism boldly passed into the Republican camp on Monday, and every responsible person who was in touch with public feeling felt " in his bones," that no mere compromise which the King might propose would meet the case. The long controversy about the holding of a Constituent Assembly had suddenly lost its importance. Vague talk about inviting the King to become the head of a Limited Monarchy, or- choosing the Prince of the Asturias in his place, lost every appearance of reality. The King must go—no mild solution had any chance against that.
