Spain seems to be going through another Ministerial crisis, and
Emilio Castelar is at last to be placed at the head of the Council of Ministers. As he is distinctly in favour of postponing Federalism, of crushing Carlism and the Irrecon- cilables without mercy, of restoring discipline in the army and navy by any means, death included, he may win yet, more especially as the officers seem to support him heartily. His great difficulty seems to be his reluctance to inflict death on mutineers, who, of all men on earth, deserve it, while he has no scruple in killing Carlists or Irreconcilables, who may be very decent people. A month of office will cure him of this fancy, and as he has a clear determination that the Republic shall win, and as Don Carlos cannot cross the Ebro while San Sebastian remains untaken—if he did, he would be like a rat in a trap, and might be shot as an invader without commission—Castelar may succeed in producing order, and gain time to bind the peasantry to his cause by an agrarian law.
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