ess, and the
nation has at last awakened from its condition of slavery under unworthy
rulers, and is practically united in its determination to return to its
place among the nations of Europe.

There are many shades of Liberalism, and even Republicanism, but, as
will be seen in another place, the real welfare of the people, and not
the success of a mere political party, is the underlying motive of all,
however wild and unpractical may be some of the dreams for the carrying
out of these ideas of universal progress. It is impossible for a
Spaniard to conceive of maligning or belittling his own country for
merely party purposes; and, therefore, when he finds an English
newspaper calling itself "Liberal" he imagines the word to have the same
signification it has in his own country. So it has come to pass that
many of the worst misrepresentations--to use a very mild term--of a
portion of the English Press have been reproduced in Spanish newspapers,
and believed by their readers.

Among the principal newspapers, in a crowd of less important ones, _La
Epoca_, Conservative and dynastic ranks first; this is the journal of
the aristocrats, of the "upper ten thousand," or those who aspire to be
so, and it ranks as the _doyen_ of the whole Press. Its circulation is
not so large as that of some of the other papers, but its clientele is
supposed to be of the best. _El Nacional_ is also Conservative, but
belonging to the party of Romero Robledo. What the exact politics of
that variation of Conservatism might be, it is difficult, I might almost
say impossible, for a stranger to say. If you were told nothing about
it, and took it up accidentally to read of current events, you would
certainly suppose it to be independent, with a decidedly Liberal
tendency. Still it calls itself Conservative.

_El Correo_ is Liberal, of the special type of Sagasta, the present
Prime Minister. _El Espanol_, which also gives one the impression of
independence, is Liberal after the manner of Gemaro. _El Heraldo_,
calling itself _Diario Independente_, is credited with being the Liberal
organ of Canalijas. _El Liberal_ and _El Pais_ are Republican, and _El
Correo Espanol_ is Carlist, or clerical. This paper appears to be looked
upon a good deal in the nature of a joke by its colleagues, and
quotations from it are always accompanied by notes of exclamation.

_La Correspondencia de Espana_ is a paper all by itself, an invention of
Spanish journalism, and its