The outbreak of cholera in Spain is assuming grave propor-
tions. The deaths now exceed 500 a day, and on Wednesday 1,487 cases and 692 deaths were officially reported. The disease is most deadly in the city of Valencia, where 104 cases and 71 deaths were recorded ; but the epidemic in Aranjuez, the Royal country seat, is most severe; and on Wednesday King Alfonso, unable to bear the news, secretly left Madrid and paid a visit to the afflicted. He inspected every hospital, talked to the patients, and went back quietly by an ordinary train. He was received in Aranjuez, as might have been expected, with a Southern out- burst of gratitude, the people flinging themselves on their knees as he approached, and on his return all Madrid turned out to do him honour. The Ministry who resigned to prevent his visit to Murcia are powerless even to remonstrate, and he has done more to cement his personal authority than if he had won a victory. If Kings only knew where the secret of their power lay they would be harder to deal with even than they are.
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