The Spanish Press, never an instrument of great influence, is
so effectually muzzled by the Directory that it is hard to gauge the importance of a rumoured attempt at revolution. It is alleged that military plotters, perhaps hankering after the old power of the Juntas in the army, meant to kidnap the Marquis de Estella, seduce the allegiance of the army to the Government, and then perhaps to proclaim a Republic, or at any rate to seize power. A General Lopez Ochoa is said to have been the leader and to have been arrested. He was formerly Governor of Barcelona. There certain associations, said to be Separatist in tendency, have been dissolved by order. The Directory is not the kind of Government that we like, but it has probably served its purpose well in a country of low political standards engaged in a serious war. We do not want to see it overthrown by violence.
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