NEWS OF THE WEEK • fr HE event of the
week is a lamentable one. King Alfonso,
of Spain, arrived in Paris on Saturday, and was received by President Gr4vy, who accompanied him in another carriage to the Spanish Embassy. The escort was small, though suffi- cient for honour, and could only just penetrate the vast crowds —over 200,000, it is said—which overwhelmed the procession with insult, hissing and hooting at the King, crying, "Down with the Uhlan !" and yelling at the eminent Spaniards who had gone out to welcome their Sovereign. No actual violence was offered, but the temper of the crowd was unmistakable, and no attempt has been made to soften the accounts of the demon-
stration. Indeed, President Grevy, though not till the following day, pronounced, in the name of the Government, a formal apology, begging the King not "to confound France with the miserables who have compromised her old renown by demonstrations I repudiate. Unfortunately, our laws are powerless to repress such things." The King replied, in stately phrase, that "as chief of a proud and noble nation he could not remain any longer without compromising its dignity," but " desirous of giving a special proof of his regard and con- sideration for France," he would meet the Ministers at the tlysee. He did so, and was booted again in going and return- ing, the police offering no interference and making no arrests.
