The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-19

vidual only by reading and reputation. l take it that am not unlike many others in this respect, and when l approached Madrid for the first time. the tune of "old Madridn kept continually running through my brain. It was the same way when I came near Saragossa for the Maid of Saragossa' was ever present and as l drew near to Seville so unim- portant a creature as the Barber of Seville" was constantly before my minds eye
 And yet there were much more impor- tant things in connection with the city to dwell upon. Three Emperors. Hadrian, Trajan and Theodosius, were born here. To art it gave Murillo and Velasquez and the immortal Magellan was native of the place. It was from Seville that Co., lumbus started to discover America and from here Cortez and Pizarro set out to conquer Mexico and Peru. Still I dwelt upon that flippant tonsorial artist.
 Situated upon the Guadalquiver and sur rounded by high Moorish walls. Seville resembles Cairo. and it is delightful city for there is never a day in the entire year that the sun does not shine upon its roofs. It's gem is the cathedral and my readers must not tire of cathedrals for 1t was to see them that we came to Spain. Outside of the Alhambra and the Escorial there is nothing in that country but cathedrals to look at, but having once seen them you will have laid up treasures in the storehouse of memory that will delight you for a lifetime. Built upon the successive temples of Astarte, Salambo and Mohammed. the cathedral of Seville is one of the largest and most magnificent that the world has to offer The best hour for visiting it is at the Ave Maria when the sun is low and its rays tremble on the walls in rses of gold hAra iu faaaH .-s.-
 though he were transported to another world. As l stood there I reflected upon the influence that such gories of archi- lecture must exercise upon the youth who was raised amid such an environ ment.
 Here he learned the revealing DOW CTS of archictecture, here he first heard the entrancing music and grew to love painting; here also in feasts made doubly solemn by incense. subdued lights and the sob of the organ he dreamed of poetry and saw in imag- nation a world different from that one beyond the portals and under the spell Of the influence in his soul were united faith and beauty, religion and inspira- ton, ambition and piety. Did I live in Spain l should become a Catholic
 The cathedral is the third largest in the world and is seemingly thing alive. After surveying it's imposing SiaHueur, the COLOSSAL ptllarS, massive beyond description, and then gazing up Into the lofty vaults of the temple one experiences sudden strengthening of Faith, If he has any, and burst of soul toward faith if it be lacking It seems impossible that such an immense pile of stone could be vain work of superstition accomplished by men; it seems as if 1t affirmed proved and commanded something; it has the ef- feet of superhuman voice which cries to earth, "I am and raises and crushes one at the same time, as a promise or a threat, as ray of sun light or a clap of thunder. Then one feels the need of revivifying in the heart the dying spark of divine love; the sensation that he Is stranger be- fore the miracle of boldness genius and labor humiliates him.
 Americans who are familiar with the Form Of the tower in Madison Square Garden. New York. will know the Cir aida, for 1t is a duplicate of the ob- servatory attached to the cathedral at Seville. It was the first observatory in Europe and was built by the Moors in 1196. The Spaniards, however, were ignorant of its real purpose and con verted 1t into bell tower. The name signifies faith" of which the figure