The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1893-07-08
TOLERATiON IN SPAIN.
Tho Modern Spirit of Freedom That at
Present Prevails.


Present Prevails.
The most remarkable thing about
Madrid is not SO much it's intellectual
activity as the absolute liberty with
which scientific inquiry is carried on.
This liberty is not merely the result of
the vigorous democratic laws which in
sure it, but also of the deeply rooted
customs of every grade of Spanish So
ciety. There are free nations, such as
the English, amongst whom belief in
the ancient liturgy and respect for
time-honored social conventions exef-
else so great a restraint that any new
ideas are altogether inadmissable es-
pecially if they trench at all either on
the Anglican faith or on the conssitu-
tional monarchy, and no one can give
expression to them without losing caste
1t is really piteous to note all the pre-
cautions with which the worthy Max
Muller has to hedge himself about in
order to develop his notions on THE
philosophy of religions without wound
ing the religious susceptibilities of the
English. And yet greater is the dis
favor with which an able orator and
statesman, such as Sir Charles Dixie,
has had to contend, on account of his
brilliant speeches with regard to the
British civil list, and his advanced
opinions as to the best and most suit
able form of government. Whereas in
Spain, in the classic land of the Inqui-
sition, no one is thought the worse of
whatever his new and progressive ideas,
whether on the subject of religious
dogma, philosophy or politics.
Even more than for it's wide toler-
| ance in intellectual matters is Madrid
distinguished for the natural, sincere
and constant respect shown amongst
its citizens for the principle of equal
ity. Never could an inhabitant of Mad
| rid be induced to entertain for a mo-
ment the notion prevalent amongst so
many other people of a privileged
class, enjoying a lofty and soli-
tary social position, or of aristocratic
quarters, resembling cemeteries in their
dreary seclusion, Set apart for the ex-
elusive use of what may be character
lied as the mere ghosts of ancient royal
| chimeras. At Madrid there are no dis
tinctions Of class, or, if there are, every
one meets on equal terms. When the
duchess of Medinaceli, or the duke of
Fernan himself, holds reception, the
| first person to be invited is the alcalde
OF their quarter, and he is always an
artisan. Beneath gilded ceilings, and
amongst the portraits OF kings and
| viceroys related to the illustrious own
ers of the house, and blazoned coat of
arms surmounted by crowns of gleam-
ing gold, on the soft carpets of splendid
salons and galleries, you meet the noble
and the plebeian, the Catholic and the
materialist, the actor and the general,
the nuncio and the archbishop be-
sprinkled with holy water, and the
atheist whose lips are vibrating with
the assertion that infinite space, void
OF intelligence, is abandoned to the
forces of nature. Nothing, in fact. can
exceed the political, religious and social
| tolerance or the absolute social equality
OF Spain. This does not mean that the
Spanish are strangers to religious ex-
altation, that they cannot be moved
to noble zeal for goodness and truth,
or reused energetically to defend what
they consider their just rights. One
thing is certain, in the strange city OF
Madrid, side by side with a court petri
fed in the traditions of it's ancient his
tory, dwells democracy thoroughly
imbued with the modern spirit. Emile
CASTELAR,, in Harper's Weekly.