The semi-weekly messenger., 1906-05-22

State are MS oeSci ip1foAS va e"SSs
scenes. undoubtedly the pest that were
ever written Mr.. Loweii was a mn
~ deem sentiment as we'll as learning
"a uas a master of the art Of de-
se~inrion. His dispatch TO the seC-c-
.ary Of State describing the wedding
: = classic There is nothing in litsT2-
go ~ the kind TO surpass il. Imbea-
sad in the text are rare jewels OF VIZ
and philosophy, and IL Is emoell!Shed
With pens of humor. He says:
MARRIAGE OF MERCEDES.
..>-,yvhare in the world could Su1n Z
snactacla (as the wedding OF Alfonso
and Nercedes) have been presented.
which recalled so various, so far-Teach-
ing. and in some respects. so sublime
asSciations: yet rendered depressing oy
sense OF anachronism OF decay, and
of that unreality which is all the sad
der for being gorgeous
.The banners of Lepanto and OF ne
Inouisition are fading together into
senila oblivion on the walls OF Atocha.
ing liveries and running footnen
Of Louis QuatorZe; the partisans Of
philip II's bodyguard, the three-Cort-
cred hats. white breeches and long black
CATERS of a century ago mingling pe'i-
melI with the French shakos and red
trousers of today; the gay and sonhtr
costumes from every province of SPAN
some recalling the Moor and some tha
motley mercenaries of Lopex de Zig
ueroa: the dense and silent thronC
which lined for miles the avenues 20
tho churmh. crowding the windows
with white mantillas. fringing he
caves and ridge poles, and clustered
| like swarmed bees on every Kind of
L
Cpen ground. All of these certainly
touched the imagination: but in my
| case, at least, with chill as of a dead .
| mans hand tha. played so larGe
| part in earlier incantations to recall
the buried or TO delay the inevitable.
| There was everything TO remind enc
of the past; there was nothing To aIe-
gest the future:
| And vet am unjust" continued Mr..
Lowell. There were the young King
! and his bride rehearsing the idyl which
| is charming alike to youth and TO age.
| and giving pledges, as | hope and be
lieve. of more peaceful and prosperous
wears to come for a country which has
| had too much glory and too little good
housekeeping.
No one familia. with Spanish his
, tory, or who has even that superb
cial knowledge of her national charac-
| ter, which is all that a foreigner IS
capable of acquiring, can expect any
sudden or immediate regeneration. Tie
| bent of ages is not TO be Strengthened
| II a day by never so many liberal
| constitutions nor by the pedantic ap-
| plication of theories drawn from for
eign experiences, the result of which
is wholly different past.
| LESSONS OF NINETY YEARS.
"If the ninety years since the French
revolution have taught anything II has
been that institution grow and can
not he made to order; that they SrcT
out Of an actual past, and are not 10
be conspired of of conjectural future,
that human nature is stronger thaA
any invention of man.
/ How much of this lesson has been
learned in Spain it is hard to say, br,
If the young king apply his really acute
intelligence, as those who know him
best believe he will, to the conscien-
tious exercise Of his constitutional pow
ers, and the steady development Of
parliamentary methods, till party lead
ers learn that an ounce Of patience
is worth a pound Of passion, Spain may
at length count on that duration OF
tranquility, the want Of which has
been the chief obstacle to her mater
ial development.
Looked at in this light, the pomrs
of the wedding festival on the 23rd Cf
last month may be something more
! than a mere show. Nor should it be
forgotten that it Is not the idea of
law, but the power, that is rooted in
the consciousness IT the people, and
I that the csremsnfI KS the garment Of
authority. "
THE CEREMONY.
"The Atocha is a small church, and
the ceremony there was necessarily
private, thus lacking the popular af-
f1uente and the perspective which
building OF grander proportions would
have given it. But the splendor Of The
costumes, especially those of the higher
clergy and the heraldS-at-arms, which
are the same now as 500 years ago.
gave Cne of the feeling that he saw the
original scene of some illuminated page
in Froissart. | was struck also with
the look Of genuine happiness in the
faces of the royal bridegroom and mig
bride. which strongly confirmed The
opinion of those who believe that the
match is one of love and not Of con-
venience.
THE ceremony over, the king and
queen, preceded by the cabinet minis
ters, the special ambassadors and he
grandness of Spain, followed by Other
parsonage, all in coaches of state drove
at foot pace to the palace, where tho
majesties received the congratulations
Of the court, and afterwards passed Ia
review the garrison of Madrid II was
a very picturesque spectacle, and yet
so comically like a scene from Cinde-
, rella as to have a strong flavor of IN
. reality. 1t was the past coming back
again and thus typifed one of the
chronic maladies of Spain. Whoever
, has seen the breasts Of the peasanry
, fringed with charms older than Car
: thage and relics as old as Rome and
= 7 fh0Ga Of ha nla n I'D