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.