and take charge of the education of her eldest daughter, the Infanta
Isabel, a request which, though at first respectfully declined, was
finally accepted by her. From that time on Madame Calderon became the
constant companion of the Infanta Isabel, until the latter's marriage to
the Count of Girgenti in 1868. She then returned to the United States, but
only for a comparatively short time, for as soon as Alfonso XII came to
the throne, Madame Calderon went back to Spain and was created by him
Marquesa de Calderon de la Barca. Thenceforward she led a very quiet life
until her death, in the Royal Palace of Madrid, on February 3rd, 1882.

Any radical change in the form of government is liable to be accompanied
by disorders, and this is even more likely to be true in a country like
Mexico, which has become famous for its frequent political troubles and
has been aptly called "a land of unrest." In the eighteen-forties the
country witnessed many plans, "pronunciamientos" and revolutions, which
could not escape the vigilant mind of Madame Calderon, who often refers to
them with a spice of delicate satire and irony which is not unkindly.
After the long period of peaceful if unexciting viceregal rule, the
government of the new republic had become the prey of political groups,
headed by men who coveted the presidency chiefly impelled by a "vaulting
ambition" which, in most cases "overleapt itself." Madame Calderon drew
faithful portraits of many of the politicians of those days, not stinting
her praise to such men of honour as Bustamante, nor hiding her sympathy
towards the much reviled Santa Anna.

Naturally, as the wife of the Spanish Minister, she feels occasionally
bound to dwell somewhat disparagingly upon the existing state of things,
as compared with the excellences of the former viceregal regime. Thus, on
visiting the older cities and establishments, she lays stress on the great
benefits that the Mother Country had bestowed on her Colonies, an opinion