(Published in The Pall Mall Gazette)

The Standard thinks that the addresses fo the Grandees of Spain, of the Populist Alfonsist Club, the Conservative Alphonsist Club, and the Liberal Alfonsist Club of Madrid to the Prince of the Asturias upon the eighteenth anniversary of his birthday, together with the Princes reply, contain much matter for serious consideration by those who are interested in the fortunes of Spain. In the present position of affairs it is natural that the eyes of a considerable number of Spaniards should be turned towards the young heir of the Bourbons, now ripening into manhood. Whatever may be the faults of his progenitors, Prince Alfonso now remains, by a sort of exhaustive process, the only hope of Spain. The Prince’s answer to the addressees is couched in very modest and sensible terms, and does credit to his political teaching. He avers his belief that by the establishment of the Constitutional Monarchy only can “the oppression, the uncertainty, and the cruel disturbances experienced by Spain be ended.” All political questions are in a state of suspense, to be solved only by the return of the only constitutional and hereditary monarch. Yet the Prince of Asturias wisely declares that no one is to expect him to decide hastily or arbitrarily. He will do nothing, he intimates, without the consent of the Cortes, and in the meantime will continue to educate himself so that he may be worthy of his position and of his rights. So ends a correspondence in which every true friend of Spain will discern a germ of hope for the recovery of the country from the state of anarchy and confusion into which it has fallen in the vain attempt to arrive at the impossible Republic.