The Republican journal., 1900-05-31
AMBLES AROUND TOLEDO.

correspondence of The Journal.
Ir4 Io. Spain, April Ii. 1900. Who
- 0meS to this ancient capital of
-Igoths should bring along d live
s@jUation: and then how fascinat-
The quaint and solemn city, pos
..ll by ghosts of Romans, Goths,
.~ Mours and Christians 1t is inn
-> Ne to put upon paper the emotions
a visitor from our infant Repub-
experiences when he sees for the first
rrune of these oldest strongholds of
hope. with their embattled walls and
c0catons. suggesting the turbulent
Hrs uf the Middle Ages. Among them
r,ue Stirs the soul like imperial
Iocdo, perched upon its lofty rock,
Wa0d which the yellow Tagus winds
rs ms i'll loving embrace-the stern,
H-'rfjouS river which has never yet
-e. Jegraded to the service of man. If
1HlareS owned the Tagus, its deep,
,a.'' -iae would long ago have become
lave Of commerce, bearing ships to
.- distant sea, with quays and ware
mU,rS lining the banks that are now as
ut0 0f life as the water of boats. But
e 81, the thought in wild, romantic
-u1j Since the dawn of history the
-.tF river has reflected only castles
l euugeons and the march of con-
ny armies. flowing solitary and un-
.- -hIough Il desoate country, keep
rrli The secrets of the centuries.
iurlodns will tell Won gravely-be-
l. What they say That the sun first
4l Ou his course from a point ven
." their city, and that Adam. the
-- KING of spain. made Toledo his
a- other legends ascribe its toun-
tu Hercules: and Others give de
and eireumStantial accounts of
uhHi began its building. exactly
'udrcd and forty-three years after
ieIG4e. Jewish residents assert,
Qiai sincerity THAT their ances-
Hl from Palestine III the days of
.@dueZZar. they found refuge in
.acr-then called Tarshish-a city
5 time decaying with age, whose
Inhabitants they speedily disposses-
ud gave it the Hebrew name, Tole-
M meaning "City of many genera
W~."
IL much is certain: When Marcus
lV> Novilir took Toledo. one hun
.r. and ninety three years before
,r. it was SO powerful city that it
TIE Roman legions many lives. On
lrcline of the Roman power it
4iue the capital of the Gothic King
NH l.eovigildo, under whom their
'Harchy was consolidated, moved his
l, from Seville to Toledo and made
after capital of Spain. Here the
mythical King Wanda reigned
1enefactor of the city, as recorded
dn inscription over the great gate
tuXlt fautore Dec reXinclytus urbem,
Ndnba. He was half-poiSoned, you
rmrmher, in the year GS7, by his ieal-
N' wal, Ervigius; and when supposed
he dead, was robed for burial accord
Dig q" custom, in a monks dress Once
U ln. the coWl can never be taken off:
dn ,n when the good Wanda recover
'' ,e was done with earthly affairs as
Atil as if really dead.
Here, too. lived Roderick, the last of
te Goths, whose unbridled passions
+t1fdlng to local story-caused the fall
the dynasty. Walking along the
agQs one day, he saw the Jewish
1mden. Florinda, bathing in a secluded
"". and became so enamored of her
"aly that he lad her straightwav
MYrd and carried to his castle; which
mirage so incensed the Jews, added to
@r.r ether wrongs. that they called
"u the tribes of Barbery and Egvpt
gtnge them.
iuere is no doubt that in earliest
'u'f~ many Hebrews did fly to this then
N-rrnost part of the earth to escape
'''l nan tyranny; and until their ex-
N ,lpn III the fifteenth century the inhu-
-|rr at the thrifty race was very marked
a spain. The laws of the Goths, bar
Aaous III severity. condemned all Jews
slavery, prohibited their worship. left
Nrl property at every mans mercy and
-'t1uraged the violation of their homes
Alder circumstances of most atrOciOus
tmTlty. Schooled to patience bv CEN
8FeS of oppression, the long-sutfering
Ft~S endured Gothic persecution until
j hecame, even to them, intolerable.
Heir trading propensities had connect
vi themselves closely with the wander
Ivy tribes of the desert; and history
ooAeedes that the sudden seizure of the
'ehnsula by Mohammed's followers
was due, in great measure, to an exten.
NVe conspiracy of Spanish Jews, which
'd been Matching for years. Under the
Aoors, the Hebrews were treated with
distinguished consideration, not onlv by
,ne khalifs, but also by the Kings of
,oiedo. after the city was declared in.
~pendent. They held posts of high in