National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-10-02
alatiuuaI gepnblifam
THE DECADEBGB OF SPAIN.
THE CAUSES WHICH HAVE BROUGHT
IT ABOUT-CONDITON OF THE COUN-

ought to read the lately reprinted Foyage
d'ESpdgIte, by Madame d'AulnOy. Tbs
Countess dAulnOy was a lively widow and =
fashionable novelist two hundred wears srO.
and her fairy tales have kept her memoir
more or less green. 1t was in 1879 that she
left Paris to join her mother at the Court Of
Madrid, and recorded her impressions of Span
ish life and character in a series of letters to
cousin These letters go far to prove that
Spain has not changed for the worst in the last
two centuries. In point of comfort the PENN
sula is scarcely even now an example to the
rest of Europe. But It is difficult to imagiHs
q civilized country quite so destitute as Madame
d'Aulnoy found Spain. Scotland in the time
of Eness PieeOlomini, or of HUMPHREYS
Clinker, was scarcely rUder.
In one inn Madame d'AulnOY was nearly
drowned by a sudden food of a river, and had
to take refuge In the garnet. In another she
and her people were shown into long hall IN =
which there were thirty beds. In the middle
of the night the landlord appeared with crowd
Of persons whom he called belated travellers,
and the French lady had to pay for the beds
which they pretended they wished to occupy
In the morning, of course, the travellers were
found to be neighbors and allies of the host
There was seldom more than one cup in amin,
and the kitchens had no chimneyS. Joints
were hung up above the fire until they were
black, and outlets were toasted on the hearth
In all Madrid there were but two inns, and il
was rare praise to say Of any hOnse that it
had glass windows All this Madame d'AuI-
nOy records without any Miniature. There
never was better-humOred traveller, and she
was much more ready to laugh than to grumble
at the extoTtiOns of landlords. She admits
that the ladies of Spain had plenty of esprit
though they sat on the floor at meals, were
very meagre her portrait represents the
countess as in the enjoyment Of perfect health
and avtrnuna1p snDprztiffOmG Rut with all
her wit and good nature, Madame d'AulnOy
draws Z very sad and instructive picture Of
Spain.
The fact is. that in 1879 Spain and her King
that anything but merry monarch, Charles
u-were taking an unconscionable time
about dying" II Is true that, with the excep-
ton of Portugal, ROussillOn and Franche
Comte, the country still held her great posses
siOns. When the light dust Il Charles IL. was
borne to the royal vault, it might have been
said of his coffin, ''the very cOnyeyanees of his
lands will hardly lie in the box" The Span
iards boosted that his French bride, the haPless
Marie Louise, would be queen of twenty-five
kingdoms. The sun never set on the Spanish
empire. and, what seemed even q greater sign
of prosperity, the importation Of gold FROM
America went on steadily increasing. Ia spite
of this the most bitter poverty reigned in the
peninsula. Whole districts were depopUlated.
1t was calculated that the country did not con
tain 600, 900 souls. The Cortes complained
that there soon would not be pilots
enough to guide the remnant of the people to
happier shores The common prOberb was that
the lark which flew across CASTLE must carry
its own grain with it. The starvation of Don
QuiXoJe's chateau was no caricature. The
grandees dined on an egg and pigeon served
up on the most sumptuOus plate Few indeed
were the houses where those famous hams that
st. Simon mentions of pigs that had been fed
on yiper's flesh could be met with. The sober
Spaniards gresdly deVOured the French cook
cry at Madame d'AulnOy's house. The crowds
of servants were so ill-fed that they would
snatch portions from the dishes they were car
rying. Horses died in the stables from lack Of
fodder. Even the king was sometimes com
PEELED 70 stay in Madrid through the summer
months, because the treasury did not contain
the 100000 CROWDS which etiquette demanded
that he should spend on his journey to she
Castle of Araniuez.
There were no gold or silver coinage in the
country. The lords of Peru were compelled
to use copper money reckOned by weight. In
tellectually Spain was no less impoverished.
There was literally no education. SUpersti-
ton was point Of honor. Men haggellated
themselves to death in the street for the glory
of the Holy Church and of their mistresses-
They tortured themselves like Indian fanatics;
a penitent had been known to thrust seyea
swords through his flesh. Everywhere were
ssnctuariss which sheltered brigands, highly
popular class. A kings majority was noe
complete without an GHtO-dG-fe. One polite
inquisitor kindly communicated to Madame
d'Aulnoy his notion of q really good dtHO-dd-fs
to celebrate Charles marriage She observes
that, after all O., only Jews and MOors suffered,
as the genuine Spaniard was too stupid to be
hereto. What struck her most in the cere-
mOny was the lofty throne of the grand in
quisitor, raised above the balcony of the king
The main value of this gossipis the light it
throws on the decadence Of Spain LORD
Macaulay sums up the causes of the national
decrepitude in the words ''bad government
But bad government has its causes and eOndi-
lions, and Madame d'AulnOy lets US know
what these were. Spain, to put it shortly,
was ruined by her devotion to the gentlemanly
interest. Spsniards lived up to the idea that
no man OF noble blood ought to meddle with
labor or trade, and good blood was so defined
that every man was noble. After the success
full struggle with the MoOrs, after the expnI-
sion Of the jews, every nan Of Christian de-
scent was hidalgo. If he had interest heTdid
not object to enriching himself as 4 governor
of some foreign dependency or as a missionary
If he had no interest he starved or begged. A
beggar was insulted if he were not called cav
aklerO.
When a friend of Madame d'Aulnoy's
scolded his cook that functionary replied that
he was an old Christian, ''hidalgo como cl
Rey, Y POGO mas, !" as good gentleman as the
King, or better. Servants were never dis
missed, and their work was done by slaves
from Africa. This gentlemaRly and spirited
view of life was carried into business. No one
paid his debts still his snip came home, }" as
the children say. When the gslleOns did
escape the pirates Of all nations, and touched
at Cadiz, the money was scattered, Madame
d AulROy says, Sas If it came by chance
Lord Mahon was, perhaps, more nearly right
than Lord Macaglay supposed, when he COM
pared the reckless national life of Spain to
that of men who speculate in mines, and enjoy
"a revenue which seems to spring from fortune
rather than to follow industry"
No one ever thought Of taking change for q
piece Of gold, and the gold itself was soon
drained of to solvent countries, The whole
description reads like an account of Irish man
ners in the last century, without the fun, the
whisky, the hospitality and the duelling-
When q Spaniard was nsulted, he took ad-
vice with an assassin, not with friend. This
Madame dAulnoy considers scarcely gentle
manly; but then, again, she seems little sur
pTised that cheating at cards was thought SO
very indelicate stratagem. So much does
opinion tiuctuate about the limits of the gen
tlemanly. Perhaps a few years of even 4
thirl-rate republic may do good to Spain if
they diminish the pride which is at the root Of
the poverty of the countrywide LGll GGzettg.
4 WIDOWS WITNESS.
1t was told of old that the eaeIle Of goose
once saved Rome. It is now related that a
swallow won a suit in court away down in
Texas. poor widow aud her daughter had
suit for damages before court in Houston.
The counsel for the plaintiff introduced into
his pleading the fable of the swallow that built
her nest and reared her young under the caves
of the temple of justice. The lawyer enlarged
upon the swallows trust in the protection of
her home the place afforded, and very aptly
,,,de the aDnIicatiOn tn the case before the