[Illustration: THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF ISABELLA II. DECLARES WAR AGAINST MOROCCO From a Painting by R. Benjumea] At this time Isabella received from the Infanta Josefa, daughter of the Infanta Louisa Carlota and Francisco de Paula, a letter which showed that the Princess had inherited her mother’s hatred of the Queen-mother, Maria Cristina; for she wrote: “Your Majesty should distrust the artificial and partial counsels of the Queen-mother. This lady, to whom you owe your birth, is sacrificing you to her insatiable greed of gold. Beyond your life you do not owe anything to Maria Cristina. She has done nothing for Spain that you should give her submission and obedience in your conduct as Queen. Hardly had Your Majesty’s father gone down to his grave than his widow gave you the pernicious example of an impure love, which began in a scandal, and ended, ten years later, in a morganatic marriage, to the incalculable harm of the country. “Maria Cristina is lax in the principles of morality, which ought to be the foundation of the education of Princes, and she knew not how to inculcate them in the mind of Your Majesty. Whilst you were a child, she did nothing but accumulate money and arrange for her future booty. “The disinterestedness and the generous sentiments which enrich Your Majesty’s heart, and the high tendencies which have shone in your mind, and which have only been suffocated by the pettiness of your entourage, are exclusively a gift from Heaven, and under favourable circumstances they would have developed into great and glorious deeds. When the time arrived for the marriage of Your Majesty--an event of such import to your destiny--Your Majesty knows that the Queen-mother only used her influence to make you marry a man whose sole merit lay in his power of ministering to her omnivorous nature. Never did a mother behave in such a self-interested way in what concerned her daughter’s domestic happiness! And now she continues the soul of the Government, counselling Your Majesty for her own ends, and with utter disregard of the wishes of the people.” This letter, which gives an idea of the dissensions of the Royal Family, and the expression of feeling against Maria Cristina, was shared by the people. Indeed, the hatred of the Queen-mother was publicly shown after she took refuge in the royal palace. The Plaza de los Ministros resounded with the cries from the townsfolk of “Death to Cristina!” A storm of stones broke all the windows of the palace. The soldiers fired on the people. The palace gate of El Principe had to be guarded by two cannon commanding the Plaza de Oriente. Twelve guns were stationed in the great courtyard called the Plaza de las Armas, and all the cavalry at Madrid was summoned to the defence of the royal abode; and during the siege there was serious anxiety that the provisions would not last long.