Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-03-16
QUEEN ISABELLA.
How she Has Lived EcendaI
Down---Her Appearance I'm a
FOuFth-rnte Theafex.

Paris letter.
1t is curious to observe the rehabil-
~itation of Isabella OF Spain in public
opinion. No monarch and no woman
could have been in a worse case than
when she fed across the Spanish
frontier after the revolution. She was
both a political and social %outcast; in
fact her social cnormities had entailed
her political ruin, but she kept her
head up, and, having the wherewithal
Of exemplary patience in the shape of
a well-fllod purse, she has lived the
scandal down. She goes everywhere,
even, as we have seen, to Madrid, and
was, moreover, about the only one of
the illustrious performers at the wed.
ding ceremony who, as the actors say,
got a hand from the crowd" / sup
pose she owes much ofthis to a GER
tain bonhomie Of manner. She has
a grandmotherly way of smiling on
everybody, which captivates the
crowd. She condescends amazingly for
any queen, and especially for a queen
OF Spain. She takes part in public
fetes of charity where money is taken
at the doors, and the other day | saw
her, Of all places in the world, at a
little fourth-rste theater in the Rue
Taitbout. / had gone there to sec a
troupe OF Spanish dancers, the real
article from the peninsula, no Partisan
imitation, andthe queen, as it CHANGED,
had come to p%atronize them on the
same evening. They had hastily ex-
temporized a royal box by ticking out
the front Of the balustrade with a
scrap of fringcd velvet not much
deeper than a Scotchman's kilt. Isl-
bella was attended by the Marquis de
la Puente, who looks after her palace
in the Avenue du roi dc Rome, and
by the marchioness. The house took
no notice of her, but she took some
notice of the house, smiling round
upon it in a grandmotherlY way and
even nodding to some acquaintance in
the audience. The entertainment
was completely and sincerely Spanish
in character. 1t was all ballet, from
first to last; not a word was spoken,
though o good deal was sung in that
low, monotonous chant which is
the most exciting of all accOmpani.
ments for the Spanish dancer. In
one scene a little, plump woman gave
all the incidents ola bull. fight. First
she displayed the darts which they
stick into the bull 10 rouse him to
fury; then she came on as a picador
and hurt him with a lance, getting her
imaginary horse gored in return and
herself hobbling off with q we'll.
feigned sprain caught in the fall. At
last she appeared as the matador, ask
ing permission to kill the bull. In
the real arena the matador has to ad-
vance to the royal box, and as there
happened to be a royal box in the
sham arena at the Theater Taitbout
the actress seemed TO think she might
bring the queen into the play. She
accordingly preferred her request for
permission to kill in s%onorous Spanish
to that most catholic of princesses.
and her majesty, liking the humor Of
the thing, nodded to her gentleman in
attendance, who l~augbingly gave the
word, to the delight OF every Spaniard
in the house. These %exiles, voluntary
and otherwise, much as they might
hate each other at home, seemed to
find a common ground of patriotic
reconciliation in the bloody dust Of
the bull ring. While the imaginary
bull was being finished Isabella was
the most popular queen in christen-
dom-that is TO say, for at least two
minutes and a half.