The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-09-22
SPANS DECADENCE.
HER POSSESSIONS pNtNpt nc AND
HER POWER VANISHING.

Once ns' Amy end Navy We're Fsmou
For Their Prowess- whss She Aas Los
n Tive Csntariss-w Whine Oshsrs Wsr,
Acquiring She Went Dsws HiDl.
On his accession to the Spanis1
throne Philip H. found himself ruler Of
the greatest empire the world had seer
since Rome was at the zenith Of Its
power. Its navies were famous for
the: greatness and they ruled the
oasse. Its armies were famous for
Their wess, she swayed the destin-
'"a Of Europe, had possessions In all
the continents, and may be said to
nave owned the Americas, North and
South. Samuel Johnson, writing az
recently as 1740, when complaining Of
the poor peoples hardships. said:
Are there no regions yet unclaimed
by Spain2
Quick, let US rise, those happy lands
| explore,
And bear oppression's insolence no
more"
The Spanish empire was the result of
marriages. conquest and discoveries;
Its decline and fall may be ascribed to
the ruthless character of the Spanish
people. The Inquisition and bull fight
ing were evolutions from this char
acter; Torquemada and the matador
were no more cruel than the nature Of
the manila rouuirod nord&~ofn ,uo,c
frequently prime ministers, and Tam
erlane never treated Central Asians
more mercilessly than Spain treated
the Indians of North America. When
Columbus discovered st. Domingo 1t
had q population of 100000; in 1880
this population had dwindled to $780,
goo. Cortez in Mexico and Pizarro in
Peru were ideal Spanish conquerors.
In the latter part of Philips reign
Spain lost all, or nearly all, of her de-
Tendencies in North Africa, and early
In the next reign Burgundy, Naples,
Sicily and the Milanese
16O9-The Netherlands.
162S-Malacca, Ccylon, java and
other islands.
1640--Portugal.
164S-spain renowned all claim to
Holland.
164S-Brabant and parts of Flanders.
1649-Maestricht, Hertogenbosch,
Breda, Bergen-op-zoom, and many
other fortresses in the Low Countries.
In this year also she tacitly surren-
dered supremacy on the seas to North
ern Europe.
1659-Rousillon and Cardague.
Those places were coded to France,
thus making the Pyrenees the bound
airy between the two countries.
16G8-Other sections of Flanders.
1672-Many towns and cities in Elan
ders
1704-Gibraltar
1704-Majorca, Minorca and Ivizza.
1791-The Nootka Sod rottIe-
ments
1794-St. Domingo.
1S0G-LOuisiana.
1S02-Trinidad.
1S19--Forida.
1810-21-Mexico, Venezuela, Co!um-
bia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chill, Ar
Uruguay, Paraguay, Patago-
ma, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua.
San Salvador, Hayti, San Domingo, be-
sides numerous islands retaining not a
foot of ground in America.
During all those years, while other
nations were discovering new regions
Or capturing those discovered or con-
luered by Spain, the land of the Cid
was going steadily down
The hill. The only time she stood
still for a moment was in 1860, when
Marshal O'Donnell took Tetuan and
Ceuta from the MoOrs.
In the heydey Of Morosco ascendan-
" Spain had population of 20, 900 900,
n the time of Ferdinand and Isabella
100000 and in the beginning of the
eighteenth century only COCO, 900. The
present population is about 1909 900.
1t nay be said IN conclusion that ed
leation In Spain is limited to compare
lively few. Thirty or forty years ago
t was no disgrace for a Spanish gran
lee not to be able TO write his name,