New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-07

BISHOP POTTER DELIVERS a LECTURE IN
COOPER UNION UNDER THE AUSPICES
OF THE PEOPLES INSTITUTE

Under the auspices Of the Peoples Institute
Bishop Potter gave lecture at Cooper Unon last
evening What We May Learn from Spain"
There was a large audience. and the Bishops re-
marks listened 70 with close attention. ard
were frequently applauded Charles sprague Smith.
managing director OF the Peoples Institute. pre-
sided and introduced the speaker.
Bishop Potter began by saying that no one who
studied the history Of Spain could fail TO be i'm
pressed by the large tragic element that was TO be
found IN It. II the whole history Of the country.
and particularly in it, tragic side. much that
was OF enormous experience To-day the
curtain was Using upon new act in the history
Of the United States. Problems formerly Of no i'm
portance had now 10 oe solved. lie (the speaker
begged his hearers not 20 believe that he wished to
speak OF a great Nation with exuitaton over
fallen foe. but the people Of the United States
would fail In erasp.ns great opportunity Il they
did not profit By the lessons taught by Spains
failure.
Bishop Potter then went to speak OF the HIS
tory " Spain from It's colonization. before the
Christian era by PhGncilns. Greeks and Romans
until the present timr. In speaking Of the cooni-
cations OF Greece and Rome he said that they
were examples OF the types Of colonization ex-
mDited In modern lines by Spain herself and Great
Britain. The colonization OF Greece had no yascu-
lar connection with the people Of the country. and
consequently il LETT no trace. Rome took turbulent
peoples and physical conditions and organized and
recrsated them after her own model.
In mentioning the decay OF the power OF Rome
the Bishop said. when We go 10 Rome and look
at the wonderful ruins which remain OF that great
civilization, the august and terrible lesson OF the
pers Of too much luxury and 90 much wealth are
impressed upon US. 1t is a lesson which We in
this country may well apply to ourselves We may
wisely read the history Of Rome and beware"
The speaker then went on 10 show the causes
Of the decline OF Spain from the power which was
hers In the sixteenth century Among these auses
he spoke OF the relations between Church and
state. He declared that he meant nothing dis
respectful to any branch OF the Christian faith in
doing so. The results would have been probably
the same II the spanards had been Methodlsts or
Mormons or Unitarians. They were bound to rec
ogn!ze a certain tendency IN ecclesiastcism, and
he sid II as an ecclesiastic himself. which was
not % God, but Of man
In Spain the Church allied itself with the King
and the nobes. There We're four classes In the
country. The King the mobiles and ecclesiastics
were privileged. The rest Of the people paid the
taxes It was unnecessary to enlarge on the enor-
nous pers resulting from this tendency OF the
Church 20 ally Itself with the ruling classes.
one result Of it was the expulsion Of the Moors.
were the most industrious people In the PENN
.ula To the ecclesiastical mind The Moor a
pagan He Ghe speaker did not believe that one
mad the right 20 call any who believed in God
a pagan.
In closing Bishop Potter spoke Of the lessons 10
be- learned from the history Of Spain and es-
pecialv from her treatment Of her colonies First
be put the value OF union. Spain did not begin.
as the United States began By getting together.
What would the United States be now, suppos!ng
what were known States rights had not been
RENDERED? Spain could not learn that lesson.
She always remained unconsoldated Another
cause OF decline the mis- hief resulting from
the reverence paid 20 caste. Spaniards always in
sisted upon the superiority OF one strain OF blood
over other strains.
Finally and the chief and saddest factor OF all
which caused the decline Of Spain the enOr-
nous dsnrOportiOn between responsibility intrusted
10 the men who governed the colonies. and the
abllitiec ana character Of those men Her colonies
had been stripped from Spain because she had not
governed them honestly There not always
cruelty but there always weakness. From
first 10 last there not the fantest recognition
OF individual rights OF citizenship.
A discussion followed Bishop Potters address.
Naxt Monday evening Robert p Porter, the Spe-
ciaf Commissioner sent by President Mckinley TO
cuba and Porto Rico. will speak The Special
Work Which Confronts Is In Cuba"