It seems impossible to doubt that the desire of those who pull the strings that work the Ultramontane party leaders was to provoke such a war. The declaration of the _Correo Catalan_ that a hundred thousand good Catholics were ready to follow the example of the Jesuits who fired on the crowd in Barcelona and to “go all lengths” against the forces of “anarchy” bears no other interpretation. The Liberal-Monarchists, who know that in any such war the people would stand as one man for the King and the Constitution against the Ultramontanes with the hated Pretender at their head, might have been excused had they dallied with the idea of sweeping out the Religious Orders by force, and thus settling once for all the eternal quarrel between the State and the Church of Rome. But no such course of action would have been admitted as possible by Moret, who is, and will remain while he lives, the spiritual if not the ostensible leader of his party. Well aware that he was offending the more advanced and impetuous among his followers, and that he was being accused of lukewarmness in defending the Liberal party from attacks both at home and abroad, Moret firmly pursued his lifelong policy of conciliation instead of provocation, and it was thanks to his firmness alone, during the last three months of Maura’s rule, that Spain was not once more thrust into the horrors of internecine strife. The week before Maura’s Government fell the Radical and Republican party in Madrid demanded permission to hold a meeting on the following Sunday, to protest against what they considered the illegality of a trial in which witnesses for the defence were not summoned. The organising committee frankly stated that whether Maura gave leave or not, the demonstration would equally take place. What might have happened had the Ultramontane Government still been in office on the day of the demonstration, no one can pretend to say. But in the meantime the climax came and the Maura Government fell, amid general rejoicings. The demonstrations took place, not only in Madrid but in all the large towns, and were in every case conducted with the most perfect order. Their original object seemed to be lost sight of in the satisfaction at the change of Government. The speakers said very little about Ferrer, because Ferrer was of so little interest to the people; in the majority of cases the demonstrators limited themselves to a protest against Maura’s policy and a demand that he should never hold office again. The Religious Orders were, or professed to be, in a state of panic terror when the demonstrations were announced. They declared that they expected violence, incendiarism, and robbery; treasures of gold and silver work, images, paintings, &c., were removed to private houses for [Illustration: A DEMONSTRATION OF REJOICING AT THE FALL OF THE ULTRAMONTANE MINISTRY, NOVEMBER, 1909. [To face page 174.]]