King Alfonso of Spain died on the morning of the
25th inst. of dysentery acting on a constitution enfeebled by consumption of scol':e standing. Never very strong, the King had of late suffered greatly from the keen air of Madrid, and a belief that his case was beyond cure has for some months past reinvigorated the hopes alike of the Republicans and Carnets. The event, however, has come like a surprise upon the nation, and is justly felt as a profound misfortune. King Alfonso, though a Bourbon, was a man of much energy and ability ; he succeeded in re-establishing discipline in his army ; he won the confidence of statesmen by his freedom from prejudice ; and though not exactly popular, be was respected by his people, who saw that he could rule, and greatly admired his conduct during the terrible outbreak of cholera of this year. The preposterous insult passed on him in Paris, after his return from Germany, brought all Spain to his side; and he was, moreover, regarded everywhere, except in Biscay, as the " legitimate " Monarch, the man who had a right to rule. The factions, therefore, never rose against him, and for ten years Spain enjoyed a peace scarcely known in her recent annals, during which her prosperity and her population rapidly increased.
