tinent." The meaning of this was that _America has been won for
freedom_; and no European Power will be permitted to establish a
monarchy, nor to coerce in any way, nor to suppress inclinations
toward freedom, in any part of the Western Hemisphere. This is the
"Monroe Doctrine"; a doctrine which, although so startling in 1832,
had in 1896 become so firmly imbedded in the minds of the people, that
Congress decided it to be a vital principle of American policy.

But there was another and more serious obstacle in the way of the
proposed plan for subjugating the Spanish-American colonies. The army
assembled by the Holy Alliance at Cadiz was an offense to the people
who had seen their Constitution burned and their hopes of a freer
government destroyed. Officers and troops refused to embark, and
joined a concourse of disaffected people at Cadiz. A smothered popular
sentiment burst forth into a series of insurrections throughout Spain,
and the astonished Ferdinand was compelled, in 1820, to acknowledge
the Constitution of 1812. This was not upholding the principle of the
"Divine Right of Kings"! So, under the direction of the Holy Alliance,
a French army of one hundred thousand men moved into Spain, took
possession of her capital, and for two years administered her affairs
under a regency, and then reinstated Ferdinand, leaving a French army
of occupation.

In this contest two distinct political parties had developed--the
Liberal party and the party of Absolutism. As Ferdinand VII. became
the choice of the Liberals, and his brother Don Carlos of the party
of Absolutism, we must infer either that it was a Liberalism of a very
mild type, or that Ferdinand's views had been modified since the
"Holy Alliance" took his kingdom into its own keeping. But his brother
Carlos was the adored of the Absolutists, and a plot was made to
compel Ferdinand to abdicate in his favor. This was the first of the
Carlist plots, which, with little intermission, and always in the
interest of despotism and bigotry, have menaced the safety and
well-being of Spain ever since. From the year 1825 to 1898 there has
been always a Don Carlos to trouble the political waters in that land.

So the mission of the "Holy Alliance" had failed. Instead of
rehabilitating the sacred principle of the "Divine Right of Kings,"
they saw a powerful liberal party established in a kingdom which was
the very stronghold of despotism. And instead of stamping out free
instituti