hich assuredly awaited them, by appropriating
and exacting all the money that was possible during their short reign of
power. Probably the only difference between the highest and the lowest
official was in the actual amount he was able to acquire when he was
"in."

This system, subversive of all efficient service, and leading inevitably
to the worst evils of misappropriation of the national funds, had
perhaps its worst aspects in the colonies. A Government berth in Cuba
was a recognised means of making a fortune, or of rehabilitating a man
who had ruined himself by gambling at home. Appointments were made, not
because the man was fitted for the post, but because he had
influence--frequently that of some lady--with the person with whom the
appointments lay, or because he was in need of an opportunity for making
money easily. That there have always been statesmen and subordinate
officials above all such self-seeking, men of punctilious honour and of
absolutely clean hands, is known to all; but such men--as Espartero,
for instance--too often threw up the sponge, and would have naught to do
with governing nor with office of any description. Espartero, who is
generally spoken of as the "Aristides of Spain," when living in his
self-sought retirement at Logrono, even refused to be proclaimed as King
during the days when the crown was going a-begging, though he would
probably have been acclaimed as the saviour of his country by a large
majority. Long years of foreign kings and their generally contemptible
favourites and ministers, long years of tyranny and corruption in high
places, leavened the whole mass of Spanish bureaucracy; but the heart of
the nation remained sound, and those who would understand Spain must
draw a distinct line between her professional place-hunters and her
people.

Caciqueism is a mere consequence or outcome from the state of affairs
already described. While the deputies to the Cortes are supposed to be
freely elected as representatives by the people, in reality they are
simply nominees of the heads of the two political powers which have been
see-sawing as ministers for the last sixteen years. Two men since the
assassination of Canovas have alternately occupied the post of First
Minister of the Crown: Don Praxadis Mateo Sagasta, one of those mobile
politicians who always fall on their feet whatever happens, and
Francisco Silvela, who may be described as a Liberal-Conservative in
contrast to Canovas, w