The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-23
uIcTo8Y OF SPANISH RULE.
MO LEFT A RECORD OF
n ~ TprtCHERY AND CRUELTY.

NJ
.,Is of This Ancient Nation
hound in the Most brutal Tales OF
-,..s.bed. Treachery and De-
,.r,-succession by Assassi-
Most of the Early Kings
violent Deaths, and Recent
of the Ruling House of
n..-non Has Been Great Scan
>,roIcon Called spain IAN
- on His Back 4
rr.n the Washington Post.
..- t-fng consigned 10 dreary exile
- 81 Helena. Napoleon wrote of his in
d. 5t Spain: Il made a great mis-
,sre. Spain was an ulcer on my
..,ng my life out" The story of
...y heads that have worn crowns
e..i. rom Ataulph, the Goth, to the
49,. r.saiv lad who is King Alfonso to-
a7t may be just an ailing child of
common people tomorrow is
..rrible assassination, cruel treach-
anil infamous wrongs. 1t covers a
Mod of over a thousand years, and
s,.rIs unique in the history of nations.
nh. snlnish are proud of their blood,
,-lt s.bro.ogists have never been able to
,Js.sifv it properly. They say, however,
... s.n was probably once a part of
,s..g For centuries the country was
,,.rrpD with Franks, Goths and Vandals,
and though under the power of Rome, it
o,t no help from the Roman empire, be-
,.,se Rome had troubles of her own,
and was very glad when Ataulph prom
,e.1 10 rid Spanish Rome of her tormen-
t5-s. he 10 receive as his pay the beautiful
1.,elja sister of the Emperor of Rome.
rrs hargain was readily made, and
,-qi,,ph drove all the other barbarians
oYt of Spain, all except the Vandals, who
.,lleI in the most beautiful portion of
-7t infested peninsula, Andalusia, and
named it,
A,4uuh's reign was not long, however
One day when he was reviewing his troops
dwarf with a grudge in MS
evil heart crawled up behind
4 SPANS first King and stabbed him
in the back. The successor of Ataulph
was S,geric who got there by putting to
death the six little children of Ataulph,
Il thus expecting to insure his right to the
q throne He went TOO far, however, and
n the people rose in their wrath at his in
n human murder, and put him to death.
N WalHa who succeeded Sigeric, seems to
"A have died properly in his bed, after a
81 brief reign, and was in turn succeeded by
Theoioric /, the son of the great Alaric
He was killed in the battle of Chalons-
NJ sur-Marne, and his throne fell to his son,
"a Th0rismund, who was assassinated by his
brother Theodore II, who was after the
throne himself. He got the throne and
A LOT of trouble with it, and after few I'M
n easy years, his brother, Euric, who COW
eled The crown, killed him, and took up
the sceDter. Euric the Brilliant extended
n Tie kingdom, and taught his people many
A Of lle civilizing arts, besides drawing up
f code of laws, thai are the foundation for
much Of the jurisprudence of to-day Many
Of bis laws are yet in force in Spain,
though he compiled them about 4S0 A. D.
Alaric II, who then assembled the throne
fell by the hand of Clovis in battle in 5O7.
and Amalaric, his successor, was killed
ny an assassin in 531. His successor,
Theudes, was assassinated in his palace
al Barcelona in the year 54S. Theudisel
then assembled the shaky throne. He was
q monster of Wickedness with passions
III the grOssest sort, which trampled
upon ali The most sacred relations of do
nestle life. One night when he had a lot
Of boon companions drinking to a recent
victory with him, the lamps were sud-
denly put out, and in the darkness
dozen swords and daggers pierced his
Noflaless body, welded by the sons and
husbands, the fathers and brothers whose
ZONES he had ruined. Agila succeeded
MN and his short reign was tempestuous
ana terrible. War raVSged the whole
country The King was driven from his
N amIal and forced to take refuge else
"NeIe. with defeat trailing its banner
ms face, and the enemy triumphant
MS kingdom, his own soldiers turned
AGAINST nm, and murdered him "for the
good of the country"
Iefee or four kings in the next twenty
!elIs managed to shuttle off this mortal
"" III natural manner but Liuva,
.k Yong imbecile, broke the good spell,
'1' got himself assassinated for what he
'"l0h do, rather than for what he did.
me Was followed by Witeric (of Vitericus),
W." " S SO shamelessly wanton and so in
eu0uslF cruel that he was murdered at
own table, and his body was thrown in
plch from whence nobody cared 10 re-
l0'e H. For a pariod of ten or fifteen years
1l'7a assembled the throne, and died natur-
"ilHout having done much, except to
l"he me a burden to the Jews, for whom
~ COINS end Visgoths seem to have had
irene aversion. Swintia finally ascend
inc lhrone, and singularly prosperity
oNHta his reign for a few years. He
"''H stand 50 much prosperity, how
~ e'I became arrogant and cruel des-
ana dictatorial He tried to change
'FelNe crown into an hereditary one,
,ie'reed that his son should succeed
lA' Gothic mobiles, who considered the
"I' one of themselves, clothed in the
nHel authority that they elected to
curing good behavior, promptly de-
''t MIN, ana put Sisetand on the throne
gf three other kings were elected aud
'A with indifferent success, but at last
was elected in $40. He was such a
llrlIiciont ruler, permitting the laws
gf'ken with impunity that the no.
Ter enduring his imbecility for two
siuJ him uD in a monastery, and
1fins of power in the hands of an
4nout 672 Wanda came upon the
~ o- action as a ruler.
''""a name is one of the most IL
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