The Great Round World And What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1. No. 21, April 1, 1897 | Page 4

the misrule in Crete, are only the last two of a long series of crimes which have made Turkey the horror and the despair of Europe.
If the various Powers could only have agreed how to divide up the Turkish Empire between them, the Sultan would have been expelled from Europe long ago. But they never have agreed, and so the Sultan of Turkey has kept his throne.
The Powers sent a note to Turkey at the same time that the one was despatched to Greece, telling him that they wished Crete to have Home Rule under the control of a Turkish prince.
The Sultan's reply was most amiable; he agreed to the wishes of the Powers so willingly, that it is said that he is glad to have an opportunity of ridding himself of Crete, which has long been an annoyance and expense to his Empire.
At the same time he, too, is massing troops on the frontier, ready to fly at the Greeks the moment war is declared.
* * * * *
Affairs in Cuba are beginning to look a little brighter for the Cubans, but very dark and dismal for Spain.
The last news from Madrid says that a Carlist rising is feared, and that Spain dares not send any more of her soldiers out of the country to help in the Cuban war. Her money is also exhausted. The enormous sums that were raised last year have been spent, and she has no means of raising any fresh loans. If she can send neither money nor men to further the Cuban war, it is likely that the Cubans will soon be victorious, for General Weyler says that he has not enough men to pacify the island; the funds are so low, that the Spanish soldiers can neither be paid nor fed properly and are deserting to the Cuban ranks from sheer want.
The Carlist rising, that is so much feared, concerns the pretensions of a certain Don Carlos to the throne of Spain.
From the time of Philip V., in 1713, the succession to the Spanish throne had been according to the Salic law, from father to son; or to the nearest male relative.
The Salic law is a very old law, which provides that no woman can inherit lands, or occupy the throne. According to this law, if a king dies leaving several daughters, but no son, the throne passes away from the daughters, and goes to the nearest male relative, be he nephew, uncle, or cousin.
In 1829 Ferdinand III. of Spain, having no sons, rendered the Salic law of no effect in Spain by a decree granting the right of succession to the daughters and granddaughters of the king.
When Ferdinand died in 1833, his daughter Isabella Maria II. was declared queen, and the brother of Ferdinand, who under the old law should have been king, was passed over. This brother was named Don Carlos.
Don Carlos refused to recognize his brother's decree, and declared himself King of Spain. Many of the nobles, who did not like the idea of being ruled by a woman, flocked to his standard, and war was declared against the party of the Queen by the people of Don Carlos' party, or Carlists, as they were called.
For six years a cruel civil war raged, then Don Carlos was forced to give in. This first war was from 1833 to 1839.
In 1860 Don Carlos II., the son of Don Carlos I. (Ferdinand's brother), declared himself King of Spain, and headed a new Carlist rising, which was again unsuccessful.
There have been several unsuccessful uprisings since then.
From 1873 to 1876 Don Carlos III. headed a rising which bid fair to be successful.
Don Carlos III. is the direct descendant of Don Carlos I., and is the present pretender to the Spanish throne, to which, according to the Salic law, he is the rightful heir.
In January, 1876, he was forced to give up the fight, and nothing more has been heard of him till the present time.
There have been murmurs of new Carlist risings, but no actual trouble has been feared.
Now, with the whole country enraged and dissatisfied at the mismanagement of the wars both in Cuba and the Philippines, Don Carlos is once more gathering his followers together.
He has agents working for his cause in Cuba, as well as in Spain.
In the Spanish army, there are at the present time a number of officers who fought for Don Carlos in the last war.
These men were pardoned by the King of Spain when the Carlist revolt was subdued, and were allowed to enter the Spanish army. They have always been looked upon with suspicion, and have not risen to power, or grown rich, like the other officers.
They are of course not very well satisfied with the present state of things, and are very willing to