Queen Victoria, who is living at Biarritz, entered Spain on
Wednesday, and was received at San Sebastian by Queen Christina, Regent of Spain, with whom her Majesty stayed a few hours, and then recrossed the frontier. The visit has no political importance, but it was an interesting in- cident, the two Queens being at this moment the only women in Europe holding Royal power, though the Queen of Holland will in a day or two also be declared Regent. Queen Christina has the most difficult position of the three, as she has to manage an Army given to pronunciamientos, to act through Ministers whose majority is dependent on combinations, and to face the troubles caused by a Treasury which is again in serious difficulties. Her friends describe her as an able woman, very firm and courageous, with a trace of temper, and an absolute determination to preserve the splendid inheritance of her son. The obstacles in her way are great, one being the personal feuds and jealousies of the statesmen she is obliged to trust ; but she has on her side some advantages, —one being her birth, a matter of importance in Spain ; another, the favour she enjoys from the Church ; and a third, the strong inclination of Spaniards to wait and see if Alfonso X1TI., born a King, will not be able to rule well. His exceptional position, unprecedented in Europe, strikes the national imagination.
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