The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-08-22

ST. Teresa and st. Ignatius. Mrs. G
G. Hartley has written some charm
ing books on Spain and she comments
on the common British delusion that
the great majority of the population in
Spain are illiterate, and that educa-
ton there is universally defective;
and she condemns, out of her exper-
fence, the sweeping statements made
by writer's who do not know the coun-
try or understand the people, and
draw pictures untrue to the high in
tell1gence of the Spaniards. She pro-
nounces misleading" much that we
read and hear on the subject of SPANS
education, inasmuch as no reference
is made to the splendid developments
and progress" She recounts a visit
to School Of Arts and Industries,
where to the working classes the in
struction is free, whilst to those who
can afford it nominal fee (about IS
year, is charged. The work "com-
pared favorably with that done IN
the most advanced schools in the
largest towns in England. ......
This school is not solitary exception
of excellence, but is typical of some
SO similar technical schools which
have been established in Spain"
Students who attain the required
standard receive Government grant
of about $50 year, which enables
them to continue their studies at
still higher grade Technical College
in Madrid. In her delightful book,
'The Story of Santiago Mrs. Hartley
tells us of the College of Fonseca, a
school of medicine and chemistry,
where every day 300 students work,
and of the University of Santiago, one
of the most important centres of learn
ing in Spain, with departments for
law, medicine, and pharmacy, science
laboratories furnished with modern
appliances, and good observatory.
A Rector, assisted by 50 professors
and so assistant professors, all of
whom have taken their doctors de-
gree, carry on the work. ''The visitor
who sees the lecture halls of this
university, it's spacious classrooms, it's
museum and magnificent library, may
well feel surprise. / own the aston
ishment and delight at what I saw"
According to this captivating writer,
one of the most charming things in
Spain is how the secular and religious
lives overlap; Ito the ardent and SIM
pie hearts of the people all things
relating to earth merge naturally into
the things relating to Heaven. :.
The churches remain the homes of
the people" They are open every
day all day. not merely for a. few
hours weekly, and the side-chapels
are not used as receptacles for pals
and mops. She pays tribute to the
work carried on by the Sister of st.
Vincent de Paul as nursing staff of
the Hospital Real (Galicia), and says
that the hospital itself is proof that
the guardians of the city were con-
cerned with the needs of mems bodies
as well as of their souls: they
lavished their wealth, and called in
the best artist of the day that the
sick and the poor might have a fitting
and a beautiful home" She advises
the traveller to visit obscure little
hamlets; mo stranger need be afraid;
the Gallegan peasantry are splendid
people, both men and women" To
somewhat similar effect writes a con-
tributor to the same journal a fort
night or so ago, paying tribute to
the moral of "priest-ridden" Spain.
"As matter of fact" she writes,
there is no country where one travels
with less danger to person or pocket.
and guides all do their utmost to
further the wishes of travellers with
a faithfulness seldom equalled in
other countries. / never had to ques-
ton bill, nor did lose the smallest
of my belongings, nor receive any bad
three months tour in the country"
She reminds us that Spain has given |
to the modern world such leader |
in literature as Cervantes, and in |
art as VelasqueZ. "The gallery of |
Eel Prado' in Madrid, with it's splen- |
uIu oCllCO VI IlIC "OIhO vi NOloOQuCh
and his contemporaries and followers, |
is well worth the journey to Spain.
There are also many fine examples |
of Gothic architecture in the cathe |
drals of Spain, notably those of Seville,
Laon, Burnos, and Valladolid.
Until one has visited Spain and seen
the wonderful wood carvings in the |
one can form no idea of
the perfection to which wood carving |
can be brought. The cathedrals add
to the impressiveness of Gothic
arches and warm coloring of pictures |
and gliding and the gracefulness of
finely wrought screens of brass and |
iron" And those great and august |
of their ancestors faith |
and piety happily are not to the Span
iards of today only severe and elo- |
quent reproach; they are not merely |
evidences of apostacy from the coun- |
try's ancient faith, witnesses Of van |
dalism and reforming mobs" melted |
to sacriligious fury. This writer |
agrees with others in acknowledging |
the good manners of the Spaniard. |
"All classes have the manner of the |
cavalier" she says, whilst Mrs. Hart |
ley describes a fair as "a scene of |