The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-28

the day of the marriage of Queen Isa- bella. the title of King Consort was con- ferred upon Prince Francis by virtue of an act of the national cortes Moreover, precedence was granted to him imme- diately after his wife, the action of the legislature being doubtless due to the fact that he vas Spanish prince of the blood. and not a foreigner. The marriage was an unhappy one in every respect. The king consort was In con stant conflict with his wife. domestic as well as political, and If some of the of- ficlal dispatches sent by foreign envoys at Madrid to their respective governments are to be believed. he actually was priyy to several attempts upon the life of the queen. As long as his wife remained on the throne he was known as her most bitter enemy. Ineed, many of the moral delinCuencies of Isabella were excused on the ground that her husband was such a desDicable atom of humanity.
 A second daughter was born to her In December. 1851. and the mother, who showed 1t the most passionate attach ment. arranged to dedicate 1t to the Madonna of Atocha. The date fixed was in February. 1852. when all Madrid made holiday to see the stately and gorgeous procession take It's way to the church. <AS bhC doCShb Oh lCdNih6 lN5 POILdls dIIeF the ceremony. was about to enter the royal carriage. an old man. Martin Merf- no. knelt to present a petition. As she bent forward to take 1t, he drew his dag ger and stabbed her in the breast De- fore fainting she murmured: My child! Care for my child!' Although dangerous the blow was not fatal, and she inter ceded for the wretch who was publicly garroted few days later.
 This child was regarded as the Hu- ture sovereign of Spain until the son was born to Isabella, who afterward reigned as Alfonso XII. Eleven eventful years the Spanish Government, under this stormy-souled sovereign, was tossed to and fro in a hurricane of revolution and reaction. egged on by the dissoluteness of the royal woman. Dissensions followed by deluge of blood, conspiracies impos- sible to conquer, left her but one choice; and on the last day of September, 1888, attended by her meek little husband and the roubust Marfore, once a poor player now a noble marquis, Isabella fled to France.
 Driven into exile to save her life, she hurried into France and soon took up her official residence in Paris. There the people of France early learned to take a tolerant view of her "eccentricities."
 In 1S7U convinced that she would never be permitted to reascend the Spanish throne, she renounced her claims to the crown in favor of her eldest son, the Prince of the Austrias afterward Alfonso XII. s
 There are some chapters in the life of this ex-cueen that would melt type, while others would read like flights of romance
 According to the court records she was the daughter of King Ferdinand VII. and his wife, Queen Christine but a popular tradition connects this period of Queen Christmas life with dashing young sol- dier. A score of years later a papai benediction recorded and recognized a morganatic marriage between the queen and the handsome officer of the guards.
 It is a matter of record that this younR soldier mounted guard at the coffin of King Ferdinand and that at the command of the bereaved queen herself.
 It was common gossip everywhere that Isabella cared not 6 rap for popular opinion. She was wont to boast that as long as she reigned wisely 1t was none of her subjects business how she con ducted herself in private life.
 She must have retained this charitable conviction throughout her life, for In her long exile In Paris she never curbed her desire to do whatever struck her royal fancy. and her eccentricities and high living sometimes made even inc most liberal of Parisians vince