rriage was a love match; the two young sons of the
Count of Caserta, who were nephews of the Infanta Isabel on her
husband's side, had been constantly at the Palace in Madrid, companions
of the boy King. An attachment sprang up between Don Carlos, the elder
of the two, and the King's elder sister, the Princess of Asturias. In
every way the projected marriage was obnoxious to the people. The Count
of Caserta himself had been chief of the staff to the Pretender, Don
Carlos, and though he and his sons had taken the oath of allegiance to
the young King, Spaniards have learned to place little reliance on such
oaths. Had not Montpensier sworn allegiance to his sister-in-law Isabel
II.? and of how much was it worth when the time came that he thought he
could successfully conspire against her? To allow the heiress to the
Crown to marry a Carlist seemed the surest way to reopen civil war, and
upset the dynasty once more. Moreover, the Jesuits were supposed to be
behind it all. The Apostolic party was apparently scotched and Carlism
dead, but was not this one more move of the hated Jesuits to resuscitate
both? The Liberal Government refused to allow the marriage; the Queen
Regent, actuated, it is said, solely by the desire to secure what she
considered the happiness of her daughter, who refused to give up her
lover, was obstinate; and rather than give in, Sagasta and his Ministers
resigned. A Conservative Ministry was formed--the methods of
manipulating elections must be borne in mind--and the marriage was
carried out. Even before the wedding-day the storm broke, and things
looked ugly enough. Riots and disturbances occurred all over the
country, as well as in Madrid itself; attacks were made on the houses of
the Jesuits, who were credited with being the authors of the situation;
and then followed the Government's suicidal step of suspending the
constitutional guarantees over the whole country. Absolutism had once
more raised its head! The Conservative Ministers, or many of them, were
accused of being mere tools in the hands of the Jesuits, and it was
complained that the confessor of the young King was one of the hated
order.

For a time Spain seemed to be on the verge of one of her old
convulsions. It appeared doubtful if the Queen Regent had not sacrificed
the crown of one child to gratify the obstinacy of another. Fortunately,
a catastrophe was averted. After vain efforts to retain the Conservative
party in power, or to form a