was so in favor of the
liberal side of the discussion, that a revolution was threatened and
Isabella was forced to seek safety in flight. For three years the
general-statesman ruled, until the majority of the Princess Isabella was
declared in 1843, and in that same year Espartero was forced into exile,
as he had become unpopular on account of his friendship for England.
With this change in governmental affairs, Maria Cristina was allowed to
return to Madrid, and she and her daughter, the new queen, Isabella II.,
controlled the destinies of the country. A husband was found for
Isabella in the person of her cousin, Francis of Assis, but he was a
sickly, impotent prince, with no vigor of mind or body, and the married
life of this young couple was anything but happy. The country meanwhile
continued in a state of unrest, and there were frequent revolutionary
outbreaks. Isabella was no less unreliable than her mother had been, and
her capricious manner of changing policy and changing advisers was
productive of a state of lawlessness and disorder in all branches of the
government which daily became more shameful. This shifting policy in
matters of state was equally characteristic of the queen's behavior in
other affairs. Dissatisfied with her pitiful husband, she soon abandoned
her dignity as a queen and as a woman, in a most brazen way, and her
private life was so scandalous as to become the talk of all Europe. But
the court was kept in good humor by the lavish entertainments which were
given; the proverbial Spanish sloth and indifference allowed all this to
run unchecked, for a time at least; and the sound of the guitar and the
song of the peasant were still heard throughout the land.

Some idea of the social life in Madrid at this time can be obtained from
the following charming description of an afternoon ride in one of the
city parks, written in September, 1853, by Madame Calderon de la Barca:
"This beautiful _paseo_, called Las Delicias de Ysabel Segunda, had been
freshly watered. Numbers of pretty girls in their graceful _amazones_
galloped by on horseback, with their attendant _caballeros_. Few actual
mantillas were to be seen. They were too warm for this season, and are
besides confined to morning costume. Their place was supplied either by
light Parisian bonnets or by a still prettier head-dress, a veil of
black lace or tulle thrown over the head, fastened by gold pins, and
generally thrown very far back, the magnific