Spain is probably on the eve of troubled days. The
loss of the colonies, the death of Senor Sagasta, and the rise of a fiercely Anti-Clerical spirit are changing the old Liberal party into a Republican one, which, it must not be forgotten, has strong friends and allies in France. Thirty-five Republicans have been elected to the new Cortes, and the capital has declared itself frankly Republican. This, again, has alarmed the Government, the real head of which, it is said, is still the Queen-Mother, and the cry of "Viva la Republica!" has been forbidden, while in the interior the task of maintaining order has been transferred from the gendarmes to the "Civil Guard," which is almost equivalent to pro- claiming a minor state of siege. Dangerous prisoners cap- tured by the Civil Guard have a trick of running away and getting shot. There is no doubt that Spain, humiliated and discontented, is inclined to trace its grievances to the Monarchy ; but whether any section of the Army shares that opinion is still doubtful. The young King seems to be popular enough ; but there is a complaint that he is too much in his mother's hands.
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