humiliation. Probably a truly diplomatic administration would have chosen, under these circumstances, to find some cautious side exit. Doubtless our Congress will in the end do this; but an ungraceful exit at best, it will be still more so after both the others have been tried. To plain people at a distance from the center of disturbance, it would appear as if the worst embarrassments of the whole situation might have been avoided by both the administrations concerned, if either one had sent a non-partisan commission of three men to Hawaii,—Mr. Harrison in place of hurried action without any investigation, Mr. Cleveland in place of investigation by a single commissioner of his own party, whose report was sure to be bitterly attacked.
As we write, the Midwinter Fair is still in so incomplete a condition that no very definite comment on it is possible; yet so rapidly nearing completion that this number will scarcely be in the hands of readers before the formal opening. In external aspect, it is about as it will be when the opening comes, yet by no means as it will be by April or May, if the possibilities of floral display are lived up to. But of what the extent and interest of exhibits will be, little idea can be had as yet, for the exhibits are but getting into place. The space covered by this Fair will be about the same as that which was occupied by the Centennial Fair at Philadelphia, and in general aspect it will make about as much of a showing; but this will be due to the large number of private displays and entertainments annexed to it, rather than to the extent of the Fair proper,—which will include some very interesting displays from other States and nations, but of course nothing like the systematic showing of the world's resources and civilization that the Centennial Fair had, not to speak of the Columbian Fair. In architecture, in beauty, in the ingenuity of its attractions, this exposition, which may be regarded as the first of the post-Columbian period in this country, must almost of necessity excel all of the pre-Columbian ones. So far, the most notable thing about it is that it has been built without any public aid or any loans, by the contributions of the people of a single State; a thing surely unprecedented. If it shall get through to the end without an appeal to the Legislature to make up deficiencies, it will be a singularly honorable record; one of those strokes of dramatic liberality by which California ever and anon silences criticism that is really due her record as to public spirit in some directions.
Queen Isabella and Harriet Hosmer.
Editor Overland Monthly:
Queen Isabella is coming to the Midwinter Fair. Not her present deposed majesty, but—in counterfeit presentment—the Isabella of Castile, the saint of the Spanish people, more revered than Washington, set down in the records of seven languages as one of the world's great rulers.
At Jackson Park, strangely enough, the great patroness of Columbus, who undertook the responsibility of his voyage not in the name of Spain but in that of her own crown of Castile, was wholly ignored. One of the first plans of the Exposition, in especial charge of the Isabella Society of Chicago, was to honor her memory by a statue, which should be the one thing to remain after the White City of staff was reduced to its original powder; and the order was given to the greatest woman sculptor that ever lived—Harriet Hosmer. But it came about, through personal differences among the managers, that the plan fell through,—the statue was never exhibited,—and to the indignation of the Infanta, when she visited the Exposition, she found in all that display not so much as a photograph to stand for honoring of her great ancestress. By a happy chance the Californian women had named their little pampas building the "Queen Isabella Pampas Palace," and it was this that brought to our Coast both Miss Hosmer and her statue of Isabella.
Miss Hosmer has come to spend six months in the Slate, and coming as she does with Isabella, should find herself especially at home, since this is the only State that has kept much of the atmosphere of Spain. Our cities, harbors, mountain ranges, and rivers, bear Spanish names; a considerable number of our people speak the language of Spain; and our old missions testify that we at least are not afraid of the religion of Isabella. California is on the shores of the sea that washes the India Columbus thought to reach, and in California is realized more nearly his dream than anywhere else in America.
This country, come to think of it, has been fortunate in its queens. By her initiative in its discovery, Isabella became queen of the entire continent; under Elizabeth, in 1607, began the English colonization, destined to be the controlling one; and today Victoria rules the largest single area on the continent. In good company we find the queen of art, who has by her statue associated her name with the earliest of these illustrious sovereigns.
Harriet Hosmer was a delicate child, and her mother and elder sister had both died of consumption. Her father, a physician of Watertown, Massachusetts, turned the younger girl outdoors, to lead the free life of a boy,—a daring thing to do in those days of staid indoor standards for girls. She grew up with the name of a tom-boy, but with a joyous, rollicking health that was the delight of her father's heart. Her constant companionship with horses gave her a freedom of action and self-reliance, for whoever can manage a horse can manage self and others. It is told of her among other reminiscences that it was a favorite prank of her madcap days to run away from her lovers on horseback. On one occasion a new admirer essayed to join her in her daily gallop. Her horse at once became apparently unmanageable. The young man, alarmed, tried to
