Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-11-25

naVlnR either the one or the other en-
gagged in industrious, rational anC
natural occupations" Thus Ferdi
nand and Isabella had scarcely united
the Spanish kingdom, and left it's I'm.
periai inheritance the Charleses and
Philips, when its power began SLOWLY
to decay. Pride, heresy, darkness, in.
tolerance and tyranny prevailed. II
was centuries before Spanish city ri
vailed, in any particular, the intellec.
tual glory, or the magnifcence of art,
which had shone in such splendor
under the Moors, at Cordova. Nc
cOuntry in the world has presented
such n striking example of the evils
of bad government. And vet Spain
had almost the same political elements
of success which England had-she
had far more extensive colonies, and
far greater means Of prosperity. Why
then, did she not take the place which
England has since taken? That is
answered in the paragraph we have
quoted, Her rulers wanted sagacity.
| Perhaps, we might say, with greater
truth, that God, who holds in His
Divine hand the governments Of the
earth, left them 10 the hardness and
blindness of their own hearts. At any
rate, they actually did choose the way
fof tyranny, OF Indifference, of dark
ness, of idleness and of heresy. All
the historians Of the earth may write
and rewrite the history of Spain, but
| they can not take from its rulers, du-
ring the period from Ferdinand and
! Isabella down to the invasion of Ma
/ poleon, the character of daring pride,
2 cnIRgh hfrfnr, orrH fnnr,,sfiorofaH ~
/ ranny Such is, however, the natural
career of unristrained human nature
! put in power. We said that Spain
had almost the same elements of poll
tical institution which England origi-
nally had, and in that fact lies the
hope of Spain at the present moment
The Cortes is an ancient Spanish
institution But what is the Cortes ?
In Spain, as in Englandand in France,
there was, in the early centuries Of
Christianity, what the English and
French called the Parliament. In
Spain it is called the Cortes, and, as in
England, one branch was chosen by
some sort of an election, and the other
was hereditary. This COrtes has in
some ages held a good deal of power,
but in the ages of arbitrary rule land
that was much the most of the time,
it was deprived of its rights, and the
popular element thus crushed out
Charles the Fifth was the first great
usurper, and Philip the Fifth the first
Of the BOurbons, established absolute
power. II is the revival of the rights
of the Cortes, in some measure,
which is the cause or origin of the
present popular revolution. This be-
gan, or rather the attempt began, du
ring the invasion of NapoleOn's ar
mies. That event could not, by ordi-
nary foresight, be deemed a fortunate
or happy event for the country, but
God moves in a mysterious way. But
the long war of the Peninsula proved
beneficialto Spain in more ways than
one. Napoleon afterward said, at st.
Helena, that it was the great mistake
of his life. He did il inconsiderately,
and il was attended with fatal cOnse-
quences. There were good qualities
in the Spanish nation, which its roy
al line OF bigoted and arbitrary Prin-
ces have failed to bring out. The
French invasion reused the energies
of the people; revived the ancient
spirit Of liberty; while the English
army, coming to their help, infused
into the Spanish nation a great many
new ideas and methods of action which
were unknown to them before. In
1880 an attempt was made to restore
the Cortes, with the extensive privi-
leges of the ancient assembly. In
1920, Ferdinand was obliged to accept
the Liberal Constitution Of 1872; but
France and the coalition came to his
help. Spain was again invaded by a
French army, andabsolutism re-estab-
lished. Those were the days of the
Holy Alliance. By the way, this
Holy Alliance owed its existence to
woman. Spain was again overrun by
Jesuits, BOurbOns, and the last wave
of that darkness and barbarism which
attended the corrupt and dying mon
archies of Europe. But after the Con-
stitution of 1Sl2-which had been
consequence of the Napoleanic inva-
sion-the Radicals (for they called the
Spanish Republicans what they call
us) could not be wholly suppressed
In 1887, Queen Christina was COM
pelIed to accept a modified form of
the Constitution of 1872 We need
not follow the contests of parties (for
Spain had now got freedom enough to
have partiesl during the last thirty
years. In 1854 occurred an insurrec-
ton which compelled the Queen to
form liberal Ministry, with Espar-
terO at its head. A constituent Cortes
was called, which restored in the main
the liberal Constitutions of 1872 and
1887, and declared itself in favor of re-
Iigious liberation and the sale of Church
property. Two or three years after
that, however, the old party Of abso-
lutists got into power, and attempts
made to restore the reign of tyranny
and Papal influence. 1t has termita-
ted, as we see, in this last revolution,
which is likely TO be much more per-
manent. 1t il impossible, hereafter,
TO restore the usurpation of a monar-
chy, or the influences Of the Papal
hierarchy. Spain has been a devOut
Roman Catholic country, and it has
been in such darkness, and under such
tvranny. from the time Of Charles the
Fifth to the Cortes of 1872, that it has
been the last to throw oft the reign of
the BourbOns, and the usurpatiOnists
of Rome. 1t will not be less Chris
tian country because it has thrown
off the bondage which only darkness
can submit to. 1t would not be the
strangest thing in history if Spain
should now go forward in a career of
growth, in both material and moral
prosperity, which she has not known
for ages. 1t is a curious fact that, since
1872, when civil freedom has been par
tally established, thegrowth of Spain
has been greater than in centuries be-
fore. The following is table Of fpOpu-
lation since 1900:
In 1884 08I tUu1
In nls40..---...-.-.....-.- ,2l6,OOO
In 1851 4O4 900
In nlsoO.--..---..-.-------.- s56O, 900
This is Spain proper, without its
colonies. This growth exceeds that
of France, or (webelieve) any country
in Europe. The industrial establish
ments Of Spain are numerous and pro-
duetive; but of this We must speak
hereafter.
The weak point of Spain is its igno-
rance; and while We are asking wheth-
er Spain will establish Republic or a
Monarchy, we should first ask, is it
possible to maintain q Republic with
out intelligence? 1t was only in 1915
that a Department of Public Instruc-
ton was constituted, and great efforts
are now making to populariZe know
ledge but it can no more be done at
at once In Spain than it can among
our rAfrico-Amerieans. There are now
2, 600 primary schools in Spain, and
hundreds of institutions Of higher
learning. A free government can do
much but free religion can domore.