Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom

by Trumbull White

CHAPTER XLV.

SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME.

Spain Threatened with Interior Difficulties—Danger that the
Crown Might Be Lost to the Baby King of Spain—Don Carlos and the
Carlists Are Active—Castelar Is Asked to Establish a Republic—
General Weyler as a Possible Dictator—History of the Carlist
Movement and Sketch of "the Pretender."

While these events were in progress in the international relations of the United States and Spain, with a threat of a hopeless war hanging over the latter, the embarrassments of the government of the peninsular kingdom as to the conflict of its own affairs at home multiplied daily. Altogether aside from the prospective operations of the war itself the Queen Regent and her Ministry had more than one local difficulty to face.

It was frankly recognized in their inner councils that a succession of Spanish defeats, in all probability, would lose the throne to the dynasty and that the boy king would never wear the crown of his father. A second threat of danger was that in the midst of difficulties abroad there would be an uprising of the adherents of Don Carlos "The Pretender," who would take advantage of the situation to start a civil war and seize the authority. In addition to all this, the republicans of Spain, growing more restless under the misgovernment they saw, united in an address to Castelar, who was formerly the president of the Spanish republic, urging that he declare the republic again established and promising to support him in such a movement. The names of 20,000 of the best citizens of Spain were signed to this request, and it was an element of danger to the monarchy that was well recognized. Finally, the partisans of General Weyler, who comprised a large element of the proudest and most influential people of Spain, showed distinct signs of a desire to establish a dictatorship with that ferocious general as the supreme authority. He had been recalled from Cuba as a rebuke and in order to alter the policies which he had established there. His friends were ready to resent the rebuke and offer him higher place than he had had before.

DON CARLOS AND THE CARLISTS.

Spain has been the scene of many revolutions, a fact easily understood when the character of the government is known. Dishonesty and oppression in an administration always breed the spirit of rebellion. Don Carlos, who regards Alfonso as a usurper, and believes himself the true King of Spain, issued, April 13, from his retreat in Switzerland, a manifesto to his supporters. In this he arraigned the government, sought to inflame the excited Spanish populace against the Queen Regent, her son and her ministers, and declared that they had permitted the Spanish standard to be dragged in the mud. He said in part:

Twenty years of patriotic retirement have proved that I am neither ambitious nor a conspirator. The greater and better part of my life as a man has been spent in the difficult task of restraining my natural impulses and those of my enthusiastic Carlists, whose eagerness I was the first to appreciate, but which nevertheless I curbed, although it rent my heart to do so. To-day national honor speaks louder than anything, and the same patriotic duty which formerly bade me say "Wait yet a while," may lead me to cry, commanding the Carlists, "Forward," and not only the Carlists, but all Spaniards, especially to the two national forces which still bravely withstand the enervating femininities of the regency, the people and the army.

If the glove which Washington has flung in the face of Spain is picked up by Madrid I will continue the same example of abnegation as before, wretched in that I cannot partake in the struggle other than by prayers and by the influence of my name. I will applaud from my soul those who have the good fortune to face the fire, and I shall consider those Carlists as serving my cause who embark in war against the United States.

But if everything leads me to fear that the policy of humiliation will again prevail, we will snatch the reins of government from those who are unworthy to hold them and we will occupy their places.

While their leader was talking in this strain, his supporters were preparing to act. They believed that the conditions for a revolution were more favorable than they had been for years, that the present dynasty was doomed, and that Spain would be forced to choose between republicanism and Don Carlos. The only chance, they said for the retention of the present dynasty, would be for Spain to defeat the United States, and they were not so blind as to believe that such would be the outcome of a war between the two powers.

READY FOR ACTION.

Don Carlos himself believed that the time had come to act. He journeyed to Ostend, where he consulted with Lord Ashburnham and other Catholic Englishmen who were his supporters, and mapped out a plan of campaign. He stood ready at any convenient moment to cross the frontier and place himself at the head of his supporters.

Never since there was a pretender to the throne of Spain, and Don Carlos is the third of the name, had the outlook been so favorable for the fall of the constitutional monarchy.

Discontent has been widespread in Spain and it has been fomented by the Carlists, with a splendid organization, with more than 2,000 clubs scattered in various parts of the kingdom.

Causes for discontent have not been lacking, and the Cuban and Philippine revolts, together with the threatened trouble with the United States, were not the only reasons for popular dissatisfaction. Spain was bankrupt and found it difficult to borrow money from the money lenders of London and Paris. With the increased expenses due to the revolution there had been a decrease in receipts for the same cause—the usual revenues from Havana being lacking. The people were poor and thousands of them starving. Additional taxation was out of the question, for the people were taxed to the limit.

These were the causes to which the strength of the Carlist agitation was due. And that it was strong there can be no doubt. The birthday of Don Carlos, March 30, was celebrated this year with an enthusiasm and unprecedented degree of unanimity throughout the kingdom, and the government did not feel itself strong enough to interfere with them.

TOASTED AS KING.

There were hundreds of fetes in cities, towns and villages, and many of them were held in the open air, where the pretender was toasted as "El Key" or "the king," and Alfonso was ignored.

This inaction could be due only to the fact that the government was powerless. To say that they did not fear Don Carlos would be ridiculous, as the latest manifesto of Don Carlos was suppressed, and the government was really in fear and trembling. A more plausible reason would be that the ministry wished to be in the good graces of Don Carlos should he win, and they were not ready to trust themselves to absolute loyalty to the present dynasty.

Meanwhile, as this chapter is written, reports from Spain tell of unprecedented Carlist activity. They are arming themselves. Arms are pouring across the frontier in such quantities as to show that the Carlists are preparing for an early rising, and all of the actions and utterances of the leader show that they are only waiting for a favorable opportunity to begin the revolution. Strong proof of this is to be found in the fact that since Don Carlos secured his second wife's vast fortune he has been penurious, and it is not believed that he would spend money in arms unless he believed the expenditure would bring about some practical advantage to his cause.

His agents have been working among the army officers, and it is said that they have secured many recruits for their cause. The throne of Spain, like the throne of Russia, during the last century, or that of Borne in the days of the empire, rests largely upon the army, and if the army, discontented and dissatisfied as it certainly is, were to revolt, Don Carlos' success would be almost certain.

Ever since his marriage in 1894 with the Princess de Rohan, who brought him a large fortune, Don Carlos has been watching a favorable opportunity for a coup. There cannot be a better one than that which will be offered when Spain is defeated by the United States, and it would not be surprising to see Don Carlos unfurl his banner to the breeze and call for troops to rally to his standard.

Those who are supporters of the pretensions of Don Carlos believe they have right on their side. His supporters love him with the loyalty of the legitimists to the house of Stuart during the period before the restoration in England. His personality is attractive. He has all the elements of personal popularity with the masses. He is brave and dashing. He does not sit and weep over the fallen glories of his race, but he is always ready for action. He is ready at any moment to lead an army in a forlorn cause and will fight, for what he believes to be his rights.

FLOWER OF SPAIN.

The position occupied in Spanish affairs by Don Carlos is similar to that occupied by Prince Charles Edward toward the throne of Great Britain during the last century. His family has been dispossessed for about the same length of time and he has made a fight just as romantic, but with more brilliant prospects, and at the head of the heroic highlanders, dwellers in the Basque mountains. His followers are the flower of Spain, the most aristocratic families in the kingdom, willing to risk all in his support, setting property and life itself as worth naught compared with their honor.

There have been three Carlist pretenders to the throne of Spain. The first was Carlos V., born in 1788. He laid claim to the throne on the death of his brother, Ferdinand VII., in 1833.

Ferdinand had had a stormy reign, torn by dissensions between the court and the popular party. Napoleon compelled him to resign in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, but he returned to the throne of his ancestors upon the fall of Bonaparte. During twenty-eight years he married five wives in succession. By four of these he had no children, but a daughter was born to the last, who had been Princess of Naples. She secured an absolute mastery of the king, who was an imbecile unfitted to reign. The heir apparent to the throne was the grandfather of the present Don Carlos, Carlos V., the brother of Ferdinand. Between Carlos and his brother there had been a long enmity.

Christina used her influence with her husband to persuade him to disinherit his brother. By the Salic law females were excluded from inheriting the throne of France. But through the influence of Ferdinand and his spouse the cortes was persuaded to repeal the law, the more willingly since Carlos was in favor of absolutism, while with a woman as ruler the chances would be better for the perpetuation of constitutionalism. The Carlists claim that during the last days Ferdinand repented his act and issued documents which would have established Carlos' right to the succession, but that these were suppressed. However that may be, upon the death of Ferdinand his baby daughter was declared Queen of Spain, with her mother as regent.

For five years there was civil war. The youth and weakness of the baby queen proved her strength. The liberals believed that with her as the nominal ruler the continuance of the constitutional monarchy would be assured. For the same reasons France and England supported Isabella. These were odds against which Carlos could not effectually fight, and in 1869 he retreated from Spain, and the historians treat the succession as settled in favor of the young girl, who even at that time was not in her teens.

QUEEN ISABELLA'S REIGN.

Isabella II., or rather her mother, for the latter was the real ruler, did not rule with prudence. Scandals disgraced the reign, and led to the regent's removal from the regency. Queen Isabella's ill-fated marriage and other intrigues led to domestic disturbances which kept alive the pretensions of the Carlists.

Upon the death of the first pretender, in 1853, a second arose in the person of his son, Don Carlos, Count de Montemolim. He attempted to cause a revolution in 1860, but was arrested with his brother, and they were not liberated until they had signed a renunciation of their claims to the throne.

The second pretender died in 1861, and then the present Don Carlos arose. He was the son of Don Juan, and a brother of the two who had renounced their claims to the Spanish throne, and he claimed that their renunciation could not be binding on him. This was the Don Carlos who is now the leader of the legitimists, and he has never renounced his claim to the throne of his ancestors.

His name in full is Don Carlos de los Dolores Juan Isidore Josef Francisco Quirino Antonio Miguel Gabriel Rafael. He was born in the little village of Laibach in the Austrian Alps, while his parents were on a journey through the country, and from his infancy his career has been surrounded with a romance which has endeared him to the hearts of his followers. His father, Don Juan, was an exile from Spain and a royal wanderer seeking a place where he could end his life in peace.

He and his wife were befriended by the Emperor Ferdinand of Austria, who placed the young Don Carlos under the care of a Spanish priest, who educated him for the priesthood. Even in his infancy he cared nothing to become a priest in spite of his devout devotion to the Roman Catholic faith, but dreamed of the day when he would rule as King of Spain.

Don Carlos was only seventeen years of age when he met and fell in love with Margaret, the daughter of the Duke of Parma. She was only fourteen, and the mother of the young prince persuaded them to postpone the marriage for three years. With his wife the pretender received a large fortune and he has been able to maintain a court in the semblance of royalty for several years.

Thirty years ago Carlos might have been king. The crown was then offered him by Prim and Sagasta, who journeyed to London for the purpose. They said it should be his if he would support the liberal constitution proposed for the country and would favor the separation of church and state. It was the latter idea that led to his rejection of the proffered honor. His strict Roman Catholic training made him refuse, for religion was more to him than anything else.

CARLOS' SCORNFUL REFUSAL.

"When I come to my throne," he declared, "I shall rule my land as
I see fit."

These were the words with which he scornfully spurned their offer.

The republicans never forgave him, and later when, after the dethronement of Isabella, his name was again proposed in the cortes by his supporters, Prim and Sagasta were his most bitter enemies.

On Don Carlos' behalf, insurrections—speedily repressed—took place in 1869 and 1872. But the insurrection headed by him in person in 1873 proved much more formidable and kept the Basque provinces in a great confusion till the beginning of 1876, when it was crushed.

Before the commencement of the war of 1872-76, Don Carlos defined clearly his position and views in various manifestos addressed to the people of Spain. He declared that with him the revolutionary doctrine should have no place. What Spain wanted, said Don Carlos, was that no outrage should be offered to the faith of her fathers, for in Catholicity reposed the truth, as she understood it, the symbol of all her glories, the spirit of all her laws and the bond of concord between all good Spaniards. What Spain wanted was a real king and a government worthy and energetic, strong and respected.

The opportunity for Don Carlos was found in the troublous times that led to and followed the abdication of Amadeo I., Duke of Aosta, who had been elected by the cortes. The four years' war commenced in spring, 1872, and a year later Amadeo abdicated in a message saying that he saw Spain in a continual struggle, and the era, of peace more distant; he sought remedies within the law, but did not find them; his efforts were sterile.

Thereupon the two chambers combined as the sovereign power of Spain and voted for a republic. The two years of the republic were the stormiest in Spanish history, and it was then that the Carlists made the greatest progress. They numbered probably one-third of the people of Spain. A republic was not suited to the disposition of the Spaniards, and Castelar, who had the helm of the ship of state, gave up his task in disgust. Then Alfonso XII., son of the exiled Isabella, was proclaimed heir to the throne. Alfonso XIII., is his son.

Alfonso XII.'s first task was to suppress the Carlists, and in this he succeeded. The people were tired of the continual strife. Royalists and republicans alike welcomed the new monarch.

The number of his followers gradually dwindling and finding that continued resistance would be unavailable, Don Carlos was finally convinced that it would be useless to continue the struggle. So early in 1876 his army disbanded. Accompanied by his bodyguard he crossed the Pyrenees. As he stepped his foot on French soil he turned as if to bid farewell to Spain, but his last words, energetically pronounced, were: "Volvere, volvere! I will return, I will return!" And it is the belief of his followers that his time is near at hand.

HIS LOYAL FOLLOWERS.

No man has more devoted followers. The army that fought for him during the Carlist revolution was one of the most heroic that has ever been gathered together. To his standard came young men of good family from every nation. He was regarded as the representative of the old regime of monarchists, and in his ranks were those who hoped for the re-establishment of the now obsolete divine right of kings. He was the head of the house of Bourbon in all Europe. Except for the existence of Maria Theresa, daughter of Ferdinand of Modena, married the Prince Louis of Bavaria, Don Carlos would be the legitimate representative of the royal house of Stuart, and, barring the English act of settlement, King of Great Britain and Ireland.

This fact may have had something to do with the cold shoulder that was turned to him by all of the powers of Europe. Don Carlos was regarded as the representative of the half-dozen pretenders to the throne who live in exile amid little courts of their own and build air castles peopled with things they will do when they mount the thrones of which they believe themselves to have been defrauded.

The Carlists believe that with the support of one of the great governments they would have won. But they could obtain no recognition even of their belligerency, and that was in spite of the fact that, as early as 1873, the president of the Spanish Republic has declared in the cortes: "We have a real civil war. … It has a real administrative organization and collects taxes. You have presented to you one state in front of another. It is in fact a great war."

Yet in spite of this declaration and in spite of the fact that the five successive heads of the Madrid government recognized the belligerency of the Carlists by conventions; that treaties were made for the running of railroads and for other purposes, and that the Carlists, had a mint, postoffice and all of the equipments of a regular government, recognition was withheld by the powers. Everything depended upon England, and General Kirkpatrick, a brigadier general in the civil war, who represented the Carlists as charge d'affaires at London, was unable to secure that boon from Gladstone, and none of the continental powers would act until England had led the way.

After his retirement from Spain, when the war had exhausted his resources, Don Carlos lived humbly and quietly at Paris. He had ceased to love his wife and they led a miserable domestic life. He would sell his war horse and fling the money to her on the bare table, telling her to buy bread with it. Then his friends would buy the horse back again. Once he disposed of the badge of the Order of Golden Fleece that had decorated the son of his illustrious ancestor, Charles V. The discreditable part of this action was not so much in the actual act of pawning as that he put the blame for it on an old general who had served him with fidelity for twenty years. He claimed that the general had stolen it, imagining that the old soldier's devotion to his interests would induce him to remain silent. But the general at once told all of the facts in the case, and also told how Don Carlos had used the money to satisfy the demands of a notorious demi-mondaine.

His financial difficulties came to an end with the death of the Comte and Comtesse de Chambord, who bequeathed the larger part of their immense wealth to their favorite niece, wife of Don Carlos. The duchess kept the money in her own hands, but gave him all he needed. At her death she was quite as provident, leaving the money in trust for her children and giving only a small allowance to her husband, from whom she had lived apart for fifteen years.

MARRIED A FORTUNE.

This threw the pretender again into financial straits, for he has expensive tastes which require a large fortune to support. So he looked around for a bride. His followers were startled to hear of his marriage to the wealthy Princess Marie Berthe de Rohan. The marriage took place April 29, 1894, and, although she was handsome and exceedingly rich and a member of the illustrious Rohan family, which alone of all the noble families of France and Austria has the privilege of calling the monarch cousin—it was regarded as a mesalliance by all of the Carlists in Spain and legitimists everywhere. They believed that Don Carlos should have not married any but the scion of a royal house.

By his first marriage Don Carlos had five children, among them Don Jaime, now in his twenty-eighth year, who is regarded as heir to the throne by the Carlists. Don Jaime is said to possess to a high degree the strength of will and the determined character of his father. He was educated in England and Austria, and is now serving in the Russian army. Military science is his hobby, and he will be able to fight for his throne, as his father has done, if it becomes necessary.

Don Carlos is now in Switzerland, that home of the exiled from other lands, and where he spends his summers. His winter residence is at the Palais de Loredane in Venice.

At the present date the Carlist party is one of the strongest political parties in Spain. This does not appear in the representation in the Spanish cortes, for under the present system the right to exercise the franchise freely is a farce.

There is no doubt that Don Carlos' popularity is greater than that of the little king. The queen is regarded as a foreigner and the king is too young to awaken any admiration in spite of the fact that every opportunity is taken to make him do so. To popularize the little king the queen regent promenades the poor child through the provinces. He makes childish speeches to the populace, touches the flags of the volunteers and in every way seeks to revive the enthusiasm for the house of Austria. But without avail. The wretched peasants, ground down by taxes, find little to stir them in the sight.

On the contrary, Don Carlos is a great military hero, whose actions have stirred the people to admiration in spite of his many bad qualities.

That the present dynasty will endure when all of the evils from which Spain suffers are considered, seems hard to believe. Unless a miracle happens or the powers bolster up the throne of the little king, the people are likely to turn to Don Carlos for relief. There are those who believe that republicanism is also rampant and that the Carlist agitation masks republican doctrines, and that Weyler will be dictator. This may be. But Don Carlos seems nearer the throne than he has been at any time during his career.