The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-29

nOWoVefs tnnt nOnBo ono l1N 70 90 one uuatr
ness OF the State and he says that tire no-
m~erouaand very able atate pagers and mem
Oranda OF advice from Olivares 10 Philip
still in existence show that every subject
OF importance was explained extensively
to the King, and that Il Philip left the exoou-
tive power In the hands Of the Minister II
was not because he was kept in Ignorance OF
the issues involved.
sv , .4t
@ a.,
Almost from the beginning the main ten
dency Of OEvares's policy was vowed to the
King. a policy which in our authors judg-
ment was in it's essence wise and states
manlike, though impossible Of expeditions
contamination. The difficulty which faced
Olivapes had faced Ferdinand and Isabella
and IAN, subsequent Spanish o. sOvsrsigns.
namely. the want Of political unity in the
Iberian peninsula. The @CaahOIc Kings'
had attained a Eaotitious h-Omogeneity and
cohesion by promoting a common spiritual
pride that had given 20 Spain great tenn
porary force. which. however. was already
well nigh spent when Ohvarss took up the
reins Of governments. How could Spain face
half Europe in arms and force orthodoxy
on unwilling princes and populations with
the resources of ruined CASTLE alone? Ara
gonese and Galatians were relatively rich. but
held their purse strinGss tight. Portugal,
with its fine harbors and rich Oriental trade.
held Atifiy TO the constitutional respect
which Spanish kings had; Bolemnly sworn.
and not a ducat Of taxes could be imposed
upon il by the King OF Spain without Portu-
guese consent or for other than Portuguese
purposes. a. g.
We learn from MIR. Hume that there 10
extant a paper, bearing the date Of 1895. in
which Oivares unfolds to Philip his ideas
Of the relations hat ought to exist between
the various dominions of which Spain oon-
sisted: the object in view. "a he says. being
70 arrange that lin case any of the States
was at war the rest should be obliged to
come to its aid and defence He cites
many examples. ancient and modern. OF
the need for national, unity in the matter
Of nance and reciprocal obligations, and
points out for the benefft Of the outer realms
Of Spain Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia and
PortugaD that they can only expect TO
form a great Power by making such sacri-
fices for their King as other subjects are
obliged to make. His idea evidently was
to use the obligation Of mutual defence a
the first step to a complete political fusion
Of the Crowns. There was. however. and
still is. no sentiment or tradition 80 strong
in the extra-Castiian regions, especially
in Catalonia. as hat OF political indepen-
dence Of CASTLE. and any such argument
AS that OF Ohvares was bound to meet
with stout resistance IL he attempted to
enforce it..
Although his ruling idea thai the political
unity OF Spain vas the thing primarily
needful must be- accounted sage and states
manlike,' the attitude OF 0livares toward
foreign Powers was insOlent in the eX-
treme and quite unwarranted by SPANS
financial position at the time. From an
economic point OF view Oltvares, though
he began his rule by outing down expense
in drastic fashion, was no wiser than his
predecessor. In some ways however. our
author compares him favorably with Lerma.
While his ambition was voraCious, the
industry Of Olivares was in~defatigable.
His greed was not personal. as that OF
Lerma had been, though his love Of power
led him to absorb no fewer Offices. He
was vehement and vOluble, arrogan and
impatient even with the King, and impressed
upon Philip incessantly the heed for exer-
ton on his own part. This last assertion
denied by his enemies, but original
documents prove that in this az in many
another thing they did him an injustice.
The portraits Of him by Velasquez enable
us to see the man az he l~ived-stern, dark
and masterful, with bullying forehead and
sunken eyes and mouth, his massive shout
ders bowed by the weight Of his ponderous
head. One knows i~nstinctively that such q
man would either dominate or die. We
add that he was the finest horseman in
Spain. and he treated men as he treated
his big boned chargers. breaking them to
obedience by force Of will and persistence.
Such was the Minister who directed the
course Of the Spanish monarchy during
the crucial period which was to decide
not only whether rance or Spain should
prevail politically, but whether the culture
and civilization Of Europe should in futurs
receive its impulse and color from Spanish
or from French influence. In that great
contest Spain was beaten, not so much. in
our authors opinion, because Olivsrs was
inferior to Richelieu as because Of the old
traditions that hampered Spain at home and
abroad and pitted a decentralized country.
where productive industry had Q stiied
and the sources Of wealth choked. against
a HOMOGENEOUS nation whose active work
was Tostered by the central authority and
whose resources were at It's command.