The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-10-21

when men had practically only two avenues
! open TO them-war or religion.
The Saracens for nearly eight centuries
had titled the luxuriant soil of Southern
Spain. Their mosques and palaces glittered
over the plains; their battlements aud towers
frowned from every rock and precipice.
The orange and the vine boomed In their
gardens, and fountains gushing forth cool
waters adorned their courts. During all
these centuries almost uninterrupted war
fare-the war between the crescent and the
cross-had been waged by the Spaniards
against these Moslem eonquerors. Under
Ferdinand and Isabella the elements of dis
cord, which previously separated the Spanish
warriors. were allayed. Feudal knights,
with their vassals. eagerly focked TO their
standard. Bitter and jealous feelings were
forgotten. aud they united in one common
cause against the foes Of their country
Then followed the capture Of Malaga in
1887. and Of Granada in 1892, and the Chris
tian empire was re-established, and the old
Spanish monarchy finally restored. This
great result cast an extraordinary luster on
the Spanish name
Buckle. In his History OF Civilization"
says: Hitherto Spain had been little
noticed by foreign powers. and had DOS
sessed little leisure to notice them. Now,
however, she formed compact and und-
vided monarchy, and at once assumed an
important position in European affairs.
During her next hundred years her power
advanced with speed of which the world
had seen no example since the days Of the
Roman Empire. She was the chosen abode
of ehivalry and romance. of yalor and of
10, ha If ha xuarld Ia
queen of the ocean. the terror of nations.
The successful battles and sieges in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries would
prove the vast superiority OF the Spaniards
in the profession of arms over their con-
temporaries, and would show how much
genius they had expended in maturing the
arts Of de struction. Since the time of an
cient Greece, no country has produced so
many eminent literary men who were also
soldiers. Loyalty and superstition were
| the two great elements of which the Span
| ish character were compounded: great
people glowing with military. patriotic and
| religious ardor. whose fiery zeal was
| heightened rather than softened by re-
| spectful obedience to their clergy and by
chivalrous devotion to their kings"
In one of his recent essays Froude gives
| an interesting summary of the Spain Of
| Ferdinand and Isabella. At that time there
were two peculiarities; first, that there as
no recognized capital, for the provinces
| which formed the monarchy were still inn
| perfectly cemented, and secondly. that the
mobiles and gentry the senores and the
| hdalg0s had their chief residences in the
| towns and not on their estates. or feudal
] chateaus and manor-houses, so numerous in
| France and England, there were not many
| in any part Of Spain and very few in the
| CASTLES. The landed aristOcraey congre-
| gated within the walls of the provincial cit
| les. Their palaces are still TO be seen in
| grand and gaunt neglect with their splen-
| did staircases, their quadranges, their col
| umned yerandas, the coats-of-arms carved
over the portals. In the cities also were the
learned professions, the lawyers, the doc
tors, the secular clergy, the religious
| ord ers.
| The court moved from place to place, and
there was no central focus to draw away
men of superior rank or superior talents
| from their local homes. The communca-
| tions were difficult; the roads were horse
| tracks; the rivers, save where some enter
| prising municipality had built bridge,
| were crossed only by fords and pontoons.
Thus each important town was the heart of
a separate district. complete epitome Of
| Spanish life with all its varied circles. An
aristocracy was In each. proud and exclu-
sive. A religious world was in each-a
world of art and literature, OF commerce
and adventure. Every family had some
member pushing his fortunes In the army
or in the new hemisphere
The minds OF men were in full activity
They were enterprIsing and daring. Their
manners were polished and their habits
splendid; for into Spain first had poured
the fruits of the discoveries Of Columbus,
aud the stream of gold was continually
growing with fresh conquests. Perhaps
nowhere on the earth was there q finer
average OF distinguished and cultivated
society than in the provincial Castilian
cities, as it is described In Cervantes'
novels. The Castilians were nation Of
gentlemen high bred, courteous, chivalrous.
In arms they had no rivals. In art and
literature Italy alone was in advance of
them, and Italy led by no great interval /;
while the finest characteristics were to be
met with equally In every part of the
country.
They were a sincere people. too, Catholic
In belief, and earnestly meaning what they
professed. In the presence of the Moors
Christianity had retained Its medieval
features. OF Christianity itself they knew
no form and could conceive OF none save
that for which they had fought against the
Moslem, and the cause Of the church was
the cause of patriotism.
The Zincali or Spanish gypsies were q
constant menace to the life and property Of
the poorer classes In the country districts
They were more bloody and more wolfishly
eager in the pursuit OF booty than those ol
their race in most other regions. They in
vaded Spain Ia the fifteenth century and
divided into numerous bodies; frequently
| formidable in point Of numbers, their pres