The Second Empire is severely shaken, and can only be maintained by radical means if the fatal sentence '_il est trop tard_' is not to come true--as I am inclined to believe it will be. Sympathy with France has disappeared in the East, and she has only herself to thank if the Christian nations throw themselves into the arms of Russia. Turkish and French politics are identical here.... "Many irregularities and embezzlements still occur in the various branches of the administration, but by no means in the same degree as formerly; a considerable period will probably elapse before this evil can be wholly remedied.... The juries are not always capable of fulfilling their task; they often sentence those who have been guilty of minor offences and acquit notorious criminals.... I am against Press prosecutions in Roumania, for what the papers write is valueless; I am in favour of unlimited freedom of the Press; it is decidedly less dangerous than limited freedom, the consequences of which are visible in France to-day." Events in Spain now appeared to be reaching a critical period, as Marshal Prim and Serrano were engaged in the task of selecting a ruler for the vacant throne. Rumour pointed to the following as possible candidates: The King of Portugal, the Hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern, Prince Philip of Coburg, and the Duc de Montpensier. In a letter to the Crown Prince of Prussia, thanking him for a communication received through Colonel von Krenski,[11] Prince Charles remarked: "The revolution in Spain came very much _à propos_, for France will now be forced to keep quiet. As an old acquaintance I deplore the fate of the poor Queen, but honestly confess it was no more than was to be expected. I should like to see an Orleans or Philip of Coburg ascend the Spanish throne, but on no account a regent put forward by Napoleon! If the Republic is victorious in Spain it will soon break out in France, and at the present time this would be a lesser danger for the development of Germany than the Napoleonic dynasty." [11] A Prussian officer, sent in October 1868 by the King of Prussia as military instructor to Roumania.