Señor Canovas del Castillo (_Casteelyo_), the Spanish Prime Minister,
has been assassinated!

The whole of Europe is greatly excited by this dreadful news.

[Illustration: Map

The shaded portions are British possessions. Islands owned by Great
Britain have names attached.]

Señor Canovas had overworked himself during the last session of the
Cortes, and this, combined with the worry of Cuban affairs, had broken
down his health.

In the hope of regaining his strength he had gone to the baths of Santa
Aguada, at Guesalibar, on the Bay of Biscay, not far from San Sebastian,
where the court is summering.

[Illustration: Señor Canovas]

He was sitting reading his paper in the grounds of the bath-house when
he was shot and killed by an Italian ruffian.

In Señor Canovas, Spain has lost one of her greatest statesmen. It was
he who put Alfonso XII., the father of the present king, on the throne
of Spain.

During his whole career Spain has been the scene of many stormy trials.