The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-08
END OF SPANS POWER
FALL OF THE Worldwide REALM
ONCE RULED FROM MADRID.
The Sixteenth Century Marked It's Ze-
Its Complete Overthrow.
Philadelphia Telegraph.

Philadelphia Telegraph
An empire founded uron the ruins Of Rome
and once comparable with the latter in all
its glory has passed through various stages
of decline to its utter fall, which was sig
nailed at noon on Jan / when the Spanish
flag was lowered on the forts and public
buildings at Havana and the stars and
stripes hoisted in its place. The empire as
an empire has absolutely persisted, nothing
now remaining but the supine and impov-
erished mother country and few scat
tered remnants of her once worldwide
realm. Spain once dominated all Europe
and claimed half of Africa, the whole of
America and a commanding place in Asa.
To-day she is hardly third-class power IN
Europe, is the least of all foreign land own
ers in Africa and sees the last of her Amer
lean and nearly all of her Asiatic possess
sions slipping from her grasp.
No empire ever began its course with
higher promise than did Spain. The PENN
sula is singularly favored by nature. Its
climate is genial. its soil well watered ana
fertile and Astounding in useful and precious
metals. Its geographical position gives 1t
command of entrance to and exit from the
Mediterranean, an ample frontage on both
that sea and the Atlantic, ready access to
connection with Africa. Nor were it's peo-
pie formerly unworthy of their environment
and opportunities. The autochthones were
probably superior to their neighbors, the
Cets and GauIs, beyond the Pyrenees. AT
any rate when some of these latter came
down and mingled with them the Celti-
berans were superior to the. Celts. Who
We're the autochthonous Iberians? Perhaps
the BaSqueS are their unmiscegenated de-
scePdants. If not, then who are the
Basques? Neither Japhetic nor Semitic, the
ethnologist and linguist would say nor yet
Hametic; perhaps the sole descendants of
some antediluvian ancestor not taken into
the ark. Certainly their language comes
from no rootstock elsewhere known. 1t is
the speech Adam and Eve had in the gar
den, says one. 1t was brought to Spain by
Tubal before the confusion of tongues at
Babel, says another. 1t is the language of
the angels, says a third, which the devil
once tried to learn, but mastering only
three words in seven years abandoned in
despair. No wonder if, says a fourth.
in it you spell a word Solomon and pro-
nounce it ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
But, however good the original stock, the
advantages of a composite or cosmopolitan
population were presently added. First
and Greece successfully added their quotas.
Next came the Carthaginians, the most
liberal contributors yet, and then, because
of them the Romans. The latter found
the Iberians far more difficult to subdue
than any of the purely Celtic tribes. 1t
was an inch-by-inch struggle over, the
whole peninsula not completed until the
time Of Augustus Caesar. Then Spain be-
came more Roman, If possible, than Rome
itself, Italian and Iberian fraternizing, IN
termarrying, commingling beyond possibility
of preserving traces of the separate strains.
The literature and arts of Rome there at
tanned their Well-night best development
Spain gave to Rome in arms and letters such
names as those of Trajan, Martial, Lucan,
Seneca and Quintiian while the names of
Leon Legio) SaragosSa Caesar AuguSta),
Pampeluna (Pompeiopolis), Merida (Emertta
Augusta and many others still tell in Spain
the tale of ancient Latin glory. Then came
the conquerors of the conquering Romans,
the Goths and their allies. The Suevi estab-
lished themselves in Lustania, the Van
dals made their home in and gave their
name to AndaluSia, and the ViSigothS set
up kingdom which outlasted all its con-
temporaries OF like origin: These added
to the already mixed blood a virile north
ern tincture, and then, in turn. yielded to
contribution from the south and east,
brought thither by the Moors With such
forebears the Spaniard of to-day is well
entitled to be called ''hidalgo 1.-THE son
of somebody"
SPANS WORLDWIDE EMPIRE.
Such was the composition of the nation
which for many years dominated the whole
empire upon. which it could truly be said
the sun never set The fifteenth century
saw it's rise, when famous navigators went
out toward all the corners of the earth to
find new worlds. Vasco da CANA and
Magellan may be claimed for Spain, the
latter because he was actually in her serv-
Ice, the former because Portugal and all
it's findings presently became an appanage
OF Spain. Greatest of all, however, was
oII1 xxybn in1a 81,
world for Leon and CASTLE and whose
great adventure called forth from Pope
ton of May 4. 1888, which gave to Spain
all the lands of the earth not already pos
sessed by Christian prince, lying west
OF line drawn north and south, from pole
to pole, hundred leagues west of the
Azores. True, the French and the British
disregarded the Holy Fathers decree. and
presently began making raids and even es-
tablshing colonies beyond the forbidden
line, and after a time such men as Hawk
putting Spanish sovereignty wherever they
found it. But for a long time Spain held
her sway over the bulk of the western
The history of Charles I of Spain, who
was Charles V, Emperor of Germany was
the history of all Europe The history of
his son Philip II was the history of the
whole known world. For under the former,
Spanish authority was dominant through
Holy Roman Empire and though Charles
failed broken heartedly in his great scheme
imperial dignity thereafter hereditary in his
line, he yet left to Philip a realm compared
with which that of Charleragne or of Ma
poleon seemed meagre indeed. For under
that despot the Spanish empire included the
whole Iberian peninsula and the Balearics,
Roussilon and Cerdagne north of the Py-
renees, the Island of Sardinia, Sicily, Naples.
and Milan, Franche-Comte, Holland and
Belgium, and practically speaking, Austria,
Bohemia Hungary and Pennsylvania. In
Africa it had a vast though indefinite do
main-all that the Portuguese adventures
had seized upon; in Asia the splendid Phil
ippine archipelago and various other hold
ings on islands and mainland and in Amer
lea everything south of Savannah on the
east and San Francisco on the west-the
shores of the gulf, the Caribbean islands,
Mexico. Central America, and the entire
South American continent. Moreover. il had
the finest army and navy in the world, and
some of the ahlest soldiers, sailors and
statesmen: and the mines Of the western
world poured into its treasury such wealth
of gold and silver as even ancient Ophir had
not known.
BEGINNING OF THE END.
The year 1880 marked the zenith Of the
Spanish power though to the beginning of
the seventeenth century there was but lit
tie decline OF all Europe, only one nation
dared seriously to challenge her supremacy.
but that one did An English captain VEN
tured TO "singe the King of SPANS beard
l. 10