The marriage of Queen Isabella the Second has occasioned two
proceedings which, to English notions, are strange. Don Enrique, ' her cousin, one of the suitors for her hand, has issued a manifesto more sailorlike in its frankness than princely in its decorum. It is tantamount to an avowal that he will allow open competition with his own pretensions to all suitors of Liberal politics ! This is an extraordinary, phase of lover's generosity. The Ministers were questioned in the Cortes on the subject of the marriage; and the reply of Narvaez is not less curious than Don Enrique's de- claration : the commander-in-chief of Spanish affairs said that -Ministers thought it best at present to abstain from rousing in the youthful Queen feelings which are still dormant ! The great adventurer seems anxious to display his profound sagacity in con- ' stitutional physiology as well as constitutional polity. The reply 'looks as if Ministers had resolved to give the go-by to all the Queen's suitors ; whence it may be inferred that their own views for her are not favourably, received in influential quarters. If, Narvaez and Queen Christina had had a dispute on the subject, without coming to any conclusion, the answer is just such a one as .might suggest itself to postpone the difficulty and stave off 'inquiry. It is said that the young Queen has met Don Enrique,' out of doors, since the issue of his manifesto, and has saluted him with marked cordiality ; whence it is presumed that she was :ignorant of his sally. A very contrary inference might be drawn, though one not incompatible with the displeasure of Ministers.1 Their attempt to send him out of the way by ordering him to join' his ship gives further importance to the affair. Olozaga could tell Narvaez that Queen Isabella will have her own way ; and the peremptory Premier may find it advisable not to thwart her too far.
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