The Washington herald., 1915-09-26

IN INC "A&Aty Btfu8Gle which now con-
vulses her neiEhbors, and draws . les
SON from the downfall Of . s.ce great
empire.
II the warning Emperors Of Europe
would only make a little excursion
into neutral Spain and go up into
the belfry of the Giralda Tower at
Seville. they could see at a glance
fhither the path OF war and empire
ever leads. Their imperial majesties
Of Germany. Austria. Russia. and Brit
ain would not fnd it hard to climb.
Indeed. they would not need to dis
mount from their war horses but could
ride them in ease along the smooth.
concerted roadway which winds it's up
ward way within the beautiful and
lofty tower. And at the top they would
behold the most sadly impressive view
in the world Of the folly OF warfare
and Of military conquest.
The Giralda itself is the common
tombstoae of three martial empires
that fell by the sword For the con-
quering Moors erected it to Allah 700
years ago, partly from material that
they had gathered among the ruined
temples which the conquering Romans
had raised to their gods 1000 years
before and next the conquering Span
iards hurled down the crescent to make
place for the cross.
From the gallery that encircles the
tower ] have looked out over the sun
baked plain and seen. only five miles
away, the ruins of city built oy the
Romans more than 1000 years ago
and within those now leveled walls
three great Emperors of Rome were
born. Beneath me, by the curvlns
hanks of the Guadalquiver, rose the
Tower of Gold. where the galleons OF
Spain dumped upon the shore the gut
terins wealth of Mexico and Pefu. Di-
rectly below me was the vast somoef
Cathedral of Seville, which holos tne
dust of Columbus. And dust Is the
empire he gave to CASTLE and Leon.
The very people saw sravely saun-
terinr in the old lanes that twist about
the foot of the Giralda seemed but the
stubborn unlaid ghosts or the Spain Oh
1872 could easily fancy that win
their cloaks-and their mantlllas-tney
had wrapped themselves in the oead
past. when the Spaniard was the frus-
sian of the land and the Briton OF the
sea and ruled an empire wider than any
is simply petrified. ---
The Spa paniard.
Africa begins at the Pyrenees. salo
Dumas But a visitor from the Ne"
World makes the discovery that the
Orient begins at the Pillars of Hercules.
The shores of the Straits OF Gibraltar
with their crumbling Moorish castles
and watch towers. are hardly less ORR
entail in their aspect than the Aslauc
borders of the Mediterranean, l,50o miles
10 the east.
And the Spanish nature is like those
straits There you see the waters OF
the west rushing into the Mediterranean
from the Atlantic. But far below the
surface the current from the east flows
unseen.
spain is neither western nor eastern.
northern nor southern. neither in Europe
nor in Asia. She belongs to all ana
to none, and is entirely Spanish. Eu-
rope is on her tongue. but Asia dreams
in her soul and Africa shines in her
eyes Darker skinned than any of her
European cousins, you may md closer
family resemblance to her by crossing
over into Morocco and going among
the Berbers, those majestic barbarlans
of White Africa.
A people always tell their secrets
in the stones they set up and in the
earth they tread. They do not conflde
them so freely to their books and their
newspapers. And you may read the
story of Spain in her architecture and
her landscape.
The bare Spanish countryside is un-
like any other in Europe. Its drear,
unsmiling mood haunts the traveller and
tinges his thoughts with melancholy
longing for something, but he hardly
knows what. l only discovered what
.Ia, 7 70 Gra, ,1la aud
saw the rows of noble elms on the hill
of the Alhambra. These supplied the
mysterious want. But they are not
Spanish. On the contrary, they are
English having been planted by Wei
ltngtons army in the Peninsular cam
paign.
For the Spaniard. particularly in the
south, is an Arab in his Indifference
to shade trees. You may see his ha-
cienda covered with an immense olive
or orange orchard but with never
tree in his dooryard to shelter him |
from the fierce rays Of the FURNISHED |
sun. His umbrella serves him instead. |
and you may see him Loldins 1t over |
his head as he jogs along on the back !
of his pony. Nor do the town dwelling |
Spaniards of Andalusia line their ]
streets with trees as their French |
neighbors DO. but often cover them with |
an awning which stretches over them |
from side to side and from end to end !
The architecture Of Southern Spain |
Is OF the same blend as ths people. The |
great, sprawling Cathedral Of Cordova I
is the best among hundreds Of exam |
pies of that strange composite which !
every Spaniard is. There the walls OF |
a Moorish mosque rise on the ruins of |
Z Roman temple of Janus and above 1t |
CLEANS the cross of Christian Spain. |
Inside. amid a bewildering forest of |
Moslem columns and long vistas of |
horseshoe arches, the Christians have |
built their church. And devotees Of /
the saints kneel on the very pavements |
followed by the knees of the followers |
of the Prophet as they salaamed to
Mecca
After the manner of that old church |
in Cordova, one civilization Is piled /
upon another in the character Of the
Spaniard and he remains a part of all !!
no has met. If his fandago Is Afri-
can. its'.castanets are Greek. The de-
lightful manapa with which he post
pores everything till tomorrow Is a
thoroughly Oriental trait It is not q
symptom of his decadence For his
manana was already proverbial when
he kept a subject world waiting on
him Lord Bacon, 500 years ago and
more. quoted this italian saying: Let
my death come from Spain. for then
1t will be long time coming"
The Gatekeeper.