en, to take
away Isabella's last hope of support, certain popular generals, who had
been sent into exile, returned, and led the royal troops against the
hated sovereign. In the face of this overwhelming array of hostile
forces, the queen crossed the Pyrenees as a fugitive, and when she went
she left her crown behind her. After five years of upheaval, which
descended at times to complete anarchy, with the advantage resting now
with the conservatives and now with the liberals, the crown was finally
offered to the son of the dethroned queen, who, as Alfonso XII., began
his reign under most auspicious circumstances. With his unlooked-for
death in 1886, his wife and widow, Maria Cristina, was left as the
regent for her unborn son, who has so recently attained his majority.
This Maria was a most careful mother, who devoted herself with the
utmost fidelity to the education of her son; and her conception of this
duty was so high and serious that she practically put a stop to the
social life of the court, that she might give herself unreservedly to
her important task. With what success, the future alone can tell, but,
in the meanwhile, there is but one opinion as to her personal worth and
character.

Without venturing a prediction as to the probable future for Spain in
the history of the world, the fact remains that in recent years the
country has advanced greatly from many points of view, so far as its
domestic affairs are concerned. There has been a remarkable commercial
activity, railroads have opened up much of the country which had been
cut off from the main currents of life from time immemorial, and the
widespread use of electricity for lighting and for motive power is
perhaps unexcelled in any other European country. The greatest question
now confronting Spain is, in the opinion of many, the question of
popular education, and here there is continual advancement. As might be
expected in a country like Spain, where southern, and in some cases
semi-Oriental, ideas must of necessity exist with regard to women, their
education has not yet made great progress, although the question is
being considered in a most liberal and enlightened spirit. No movement
in this day and generation can be successfully brought to an issue
unless it can be shown that there is some general demand for the
measures proposed, and until very recently in Spain there was general
apathy with regard to the education of women. For many years girls have
bee