The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-09-18
TIRE FIRE IN THE ALEXANDRIA.

The destruction of the Alhambra by fire
would have been an irreparable disaster;
happily, the damage done by the flames
on Monday can soon be repaired. 1t
is probably less serious than the mis-
chief done by Charles V and Philip
II in endeavoriDg to Christianhe the
Moorish building. That noble edifce,
which is contemporaneou with Westminster
Abbey and Notre Dame de Paris, will still
remain-perhaps for centuries-to inspire
the poet and romancer, and to remind the
visitor of the final throes of the conflict be-
tween the Moslem and the Christian in
Europe.
The fortress and palace of the Alhambra
We're nearly $50 years old when the eight
hundred years war between Moor and
Spaniard came to an end by the Spanish
conquest Of Granada; their surrender sig
nifed the extinction Of Moorish sway in
Spain. Their charred walls symbolic the
subjugation of one of the most ingenious.
intelligent, industrious and thrifty races that
Europe ever lodged, and the triumph Of a
race which has done little for civilization.
The Moors Of Spain were pre-eminent in
number Of leading Industries; their textiles,
their pottery, their fine work in metals have
scarcely been equaled in our own day. They
were successful agriculturists, and had an
ticipated the people of this century in elab-
crate works of irrigation. They were highly
cultured; their ballads, many of which are
chiefly known by Spanish translations. and
are enormously called Spanish, are superior
in pathos and fire to the contemporary bal
lads of England and France. They exhib-
tied fine taste in art; and, finally. they
had elaborated system Of government I'M
der which the common people enjoyed
larger measure of self-gOYernment than was
dreamed of under the feudal regime in other
parts Of Europe. Unfortunately for the
Moors, they were Moslems, and the Spanish
Christians could not abide the coexistence on
Spanish soil Of race which differed from
them in such essentials.
The expulsion of the MooIs inflicted
blow on Spain from which the peninsula
has never recovered. The kingdom -four
ished-to all outward appearance-under
Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles V and
Philip II, but the prosperity rested on foun-
dations which had previously been laid by
the Moors. When the last of the Moors
were expelled commerce. industry and agri-
culture were exiled with them. Well-born
Spaniatds considered no calling worthy Of
their attention but that of arms The peo-
pie made a scanty living by mental pursuits.
In couple Of centuries there was neither
commerce nor industry, nor letters, nor art,
nor money. nor agriculture, nor even ma
tional life in a country which had once led
the world in every branch of civilization.
All this will pass through the mind of the
beholder as he looks this morning upon the
ruins of the famous hall Of the Baths. Un-
fortunately the mistakes which men make
cannot always be corrected. The gorgeous
afiuence and splendid prosperity which
Spain enjoyed when the Moorish Kings and
the members of their families sought
refuge in those baths from the rays OF the
southern sun have passed away, perhaps
never to return. The race which created
them drifted across the Mediterranean into
Morocco and Tripoli. has almost lost its