Eureka weekly sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1887-1902, 1897-03-20
SPAIN THEN AND now.

q held uneXampteu VI uiOuetn VINES AOh
tragic interest. Long removed from
friction with either the constructive or
destructive politics of Europe, blessed in
natural resources and rich in tradition,
she has continued steadily q victim OF
herself, rather than Of her enemies.
II Spain were to be wiped out Of Eu-
rope tomorrow, few save the hapless
holders of her bonds would be seriously
disturbed. Portugal would feel q trife
lonely, perhsps-but who thinks Of Por-
tugal nowadays The balance OF Europe
might 20 about its affairs as usual. The
rapid decline of proud CASTLE since the
frss Napoleon digniied her with a firta-
ton is tolerably familiar, as well as ress.
onably tedious. Her greatness when
Columbus turned to her for the sppreci-
alton and aid denied him elsewhere is
equally q matter Of nursery recital. To
follow step by step the changes wrought
by time, and by moral and mental stag
nation, hss q fascination for the discrim-
mating student, but a startling con-
trast is secured by . leap in contempla-
ton from the sixteenth to the nineteenth
century.
A generation after Columbus sailed
from Pslos, Spain was the feared and
envied Of ell the world. In the earlier
sixteenth century she was peerless. Her
power over Europe exceeded for a time
that of Napoleon subsequently,. The
world had never seen IN empire SO splen'
did and so expansive as that Of Philip III.
In Europe he ruled over Spain, Portugal,
the Netherlands on both sides OF the
Rhine, Roussillon, the Milanese and the
two Sicilies. The small States Of Italy,
such as Parma and Tuscany, we're his
dependents. His dominion in Asia ex-
tended over the Philippines and all the
rich settlements created by Portugal on
the coast and in the Eastern Archipelago.
On the western continent, following the
lead Of Columbus, his possessions, tax
ing the equator as q central line, extend
ed on each into the temperate zone.
SPANS army was supreme on the land,
and her navy ruled the sea. The impe-
rial revenue was many times greater than
that enjoyed by England under Eliza
beth. The empires commerce extended
TO the uttermost limits of human ex-
change, and the rich stores Of the far
East and Of the virgin West were hers.
But SPANS greatness at this supreme
period was not confined to m and
to war. In diplomacy she was renowned
throughout Europe. In literature she
produced during the sixteenth century q
greater number Of eminent men than
did England under Elizabeth-the Eng
land which produced Shakespeare ; she
claimed among others, Boscan, Garcilasc
de Vega, AIonzo de Ercilia, Mendoza,
Lope and Cervantes. In art, such giants
as Velasquez and Murillo. Spain was
the sovereign of the world-unapproach
able, sublime.
To-day-what? A third-rate power,
despised in the councils Of Europe. I'M
considered in international relations; her
enmity or her friendship alike a matter
of indifference /; bereft Of her vast domin.
ions, her power in the field and on the
sea broken, bankrupt in purse and in
morality, her craftsmanship q farce, heI
literture and art a memory. With her
pride alone surviving the pitiable decay,
she stands in the eye of the world an
object Of contempt either open or yelled,
tottering toward humiliation.
Bad government and religious i~ntoler-
ance-twin brutalizing forces-these are
the abiding evils that have wrought this
marvellous Transformation in three CEN
Understanding domestic progress and
content, crushing intelligence and energy
and opening wide the door for revolution
at home and successful rivalry abroad.
Montesquieu said that despotic govern
ments resemble those savages who cut
down the tree in order to get at the fruit.
Herein lies the secret of the disappear
ance Of the Spain Of Philip H., to which
all the world bowed the knee, and the
substitution Of the Spain Of Alfonso
Kill, derided by the universe and con-
demned, il is to be feared, by the Creator