The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-06-04
THE SPANIARO.
A Woman's Analysis of the Character of
the People We Are Now Fighting.

Everybody is more or less interested
in everything pertaining TO Spain and
the Spaniards nowadays. The average
American sums up Spanish character
in one word. treacherous. 1t is not un-
interesting to note at the the
unprejudiced analysis of Spanish char
acter that Frances Elliot made in her
DIARY of an Idle Woman in Spain"
published in 1854. II is as follows:
I'm Spain you must learn to wait.
The first word l heard at Irun was
'manana' ~Cto-morrow) in everybody's
mouth. Manana, use to
hurry: needless to ~reproach: ridiculous
to scold: dangerous to swear. Time Is
made for slaves. Now, your Spaniard
may he poor. starving even. but he is
no slave. Time is his property, n
he will enforce his rights To it.
Spanish pride. is proverbial. 1t has
one good side, which results in every
man thinking himself a gentleman.
You speak to your servant. 70 a shop
man, to an artisan, as to an equal.
Even a troublesome beggar is adj
dressed as bsother. and adiured i'm the
name of God TO remove himself u of
the way all, including the beggsr, re-
plying with equal courtesy and re-
spect. People may draw knives and
kill each other, but aneir language is
polite: they only wrangle and call
names in the cortes. All this is so
singular. so thoroughly national, /
quite despair of making 1T comprehen-
sible: it Ia the of a people who
respect themselves. and By the action
of this feeling impose respect on 9TH
ers.
1T is also true hat the pride of the
Spaniard blinds him to ~truth-that he
thinks or affects to think his country
Is still the first In Europe; and. pass
ing with a flowing brush over the po-
litical insignifcance into which Spain
has fallen for centuries. and Is only
now slowly recovering from, goes back
in fancy to the glorious days when the
red and yellow flag waved over two
hemispheres, and her fleet ruled the
worlds seas. And as to the history of
the past. which is at the bottom of
these Authorizations, every one knows
II. Not educated men merely. but the
boy who cleans your shoes, the porter
who carries your luggage, the peas
| ant with his striped scarf. who tills
the ground, the water carrier. the Ia
borer in vineyard and olive ground. tbs
swsrthy torero who fights the bull. the
dark gitano who plays the guitar, the
peaceful serene who PAGES the silent
street, the very beggar who bothers
you for aims. Each and all raise theii
heads and their eyes glitter at th'
old names of yore, the Cid. KIM Jaime
Ferdinand. Isabella, Columbus. Pizar'
TO. Cortez. Ximenes. and that incarna
ton Of Spanish greatness, the Emperor
Charles ". Not. mind you. as heroe,
of old tales. to be read of in chronicles
but as actual living men i'm whose re
nown and glory they themselves share
"Caress his foibles and you will FIND
your Spaniard charitable and charm
ing. He does not exalt himself upoi
others ruin, nor discuss European ca
lamities the In too proud for that). Il
compare them with his own. On tn
contrary. ne is as willing to applaud
as ne would himself be praised. Al
ways with a reservation, unexpressed
and perhaps hardly admitted eve &
himself. that the Spaniard is so i'm
mensely superior to all others. no com
parison can possibly exist. But whe'
he speaks Of his country. he is insoleni
overbearing. unreasoning. For Spain
he will sing hymns of triumph all da,
lons-in parliament. in journals. b
speeches. pamphlets. ~books-Spain.
people of heroes. the great nation, tn
glory Of centuries past, present and {
come. Such In the S~paniard. The las
to learn, the FIRST to forget. always be
ginning. never ending: taking no les
sons from the past. despising h fu
ture: brave. indolent. frugal. honor
able. vain. with a faith toaremov
mountains. with a practice to let
molehill lie. None are such pessimist
in politics as Spaniards. With thei
arrogant self-esteem n infexibl
character this Ia remarkable But pub
lie confidence has been SO enectuall
shaken by centuries Of misrule unde
the sway # inqxuable ministers az
weak sovSfetoDvsnot' TO nsentio
bloody civil wa1s. . greedy. superst
tious eieYgy. Intriguing courtiexs. an
military dictators-that under the MOI
prosperous conditions IL will take
long time to restore iI"-New Yor
sun