SPANISH ITEMS.

Southland Times, Issue 1081, 30 December 1868, Page 3

SPANISH ITEMS.

Queen Isabella has fallen after a reign of exactly thirty-five years. She succeeded to the throne at the death of her father on the 29th of September, 1833, and on the same day of 1868 the revolution reached her capital and terminated a reign that been almost coequal with her life. Eobtune or Isabella..— When the Infanta was married to the Count de '-.■■• -• i- : :- .■ :. . "'v :

G-ii-geuti, her mother's fortune was estimated at 120,0 0 000 of re ils, or about 5 L,230,000. Of tuis the Infanfca received 80 000.000 of reals for her dowry, 17,000,000 of which were found iv the palace. The remainder of the Queen's fortune .is invested in the French and English funds. The above estimate does not include the value of the crown diamonds, which is immense. The Spautards console themselves for their loss by the reflection that Isabella was a happy riddance at any price. Isabella's Life at Patt. — The Paris correspondent of the * Daily Ne\v»' writes : — " Isabella is" installed in the old castle of Henri Quatre at Pau, where everything was prepared and ready to receive her. She occupies the smaller apartments, decorated with Flanders and Gobelins tapestries. A private letter says the Queen since her arrival has 1 spent her time between the drawing room | and the chapel, wherein the ex-Bishop of Cuba says mass every day. A prefect of Tuileries, and a certain number of men belonging to the Imperial household, are on duty in the Chateau de Pau, as regularly as in any other pal«ce. -Queen Christina, Isabella's mother, who was visiting her large estates in the Asturiaa when the fiual blow was struck, is expected ai Pciu daily, and the mother and daughter will be able to meditate over human and royal vicissitudes. The Queen's Choice. — Wheu the Queen saw herself powerless aud friendless, she wrote a letter to Espartero, the purport of which v^as as follows :— " You have already saved my dynasty — you shall save it again. As "to myself I am no longer anything, and I wish for nothing; but here is the Prince of Asturias, whom I throw into your arms and confide to your care. What you have done for me you shall do for him." It appears that the letter was expansive and touching, but the little Prince had to be persuaded to leave the Qieen aud the mother had to make up her mind to separate from the child. The latter, though too young to be conscious of the position, saw that someching was going wrong, threw himself into the Queen's arms aud wept bitterly. Isabella broke down at once, burst into tears, tore up the letter, and abandoned all idea of appealing to Espartero. The Queen's Champions. — One of the three champions of Queen Isabella's throne, one, the mosfc chivalrous, Novaiiches, ia dyiug if not dead, of bis wounds ; the second, the most ruthless, Pezuela, is a fugitive to France ; the tl\ird,-the > most detested, Calonge, is a captive at Santo na. The^ flag of Bourbon royalty has fallen from~~evocy_J:ower and bastion. The memory of thatTiiynasty only lives in the people's execration. Foe one day at least Spain has accepted the revolution as its own tvork. ..Queen Isabella of Spain weighs two hundred and twenty-five pounds. She has become very homely, and when she appears in public with her two daughters, both of whom are very handsome girls, the contrast is most striking. The Queen's husband is the very embodiment of stupidity. He looks in his gorgeous uniform like an idiot wondering why they have dressed him up so nicely. . He is always head over ears in debt, and the Queen herself is likewise mostly short of funds. The better classes of Madrid society look with profound contempt on the royal family. As a proof of the Queen's unpopularity at the capital of Spain it is said that there is in Madrid scarcely a single girl bearing the name Isabella.