The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-07-28
A New View Of Don Qulxote.

DR.. JOHNSON tells us that he knew
every adventure In almost every book
ryou could name and quotes him rs
saying: ALIAS, Madam. how few
books there are of which one con
possibly arrive ut the last page. Was
there ever yet anything written by
mere man that was wished longer by
its readers, excepting Don QuIxOte,'
Robinson Crusoe' and The Pilgrims
Progress After HoMER's Had"
adds Mrs. THRALE. "Dr. JOHNSON con-
fesSed that the work of CERvANTEs
was the greatest in the world, speak
ing of It, | mean, as work of en-
tertnlnment."
Considering the number of volumes
that bave been written on the immor-
tai work Of CERvANTEs In the three
centuries since he died on that memo
rable 23,i of April, 1919, on which
SHAKEspEAnr also died. it would seem
impossible for any one to say any
thing new upon that theme.
But this seeming impossibillty has
been accomplished, apparently, and,
very properly, by Spnnlard.. In
recent address by Don RAMIRo DE
MAETzU on Don QuijOte Y SUI infu-
encia Ell Espaila," delivered before
the Anglo-Spanish Society in Kings
College. London. Seior DE MAETzu eN-
plMned that 1t was his object to con-
slider Don QuiXOte" and its influence
on Spain from the moral and politi-
cal point of view. In his opinion the
work belonged to the period when
Spain was tired out by exertions the
greatest any nation ever made. which
he recapitulated according to the
London Times rs follows:
THE Moors. after 2 struggle of nearly
eight centuries. had been expelled from
the Peninsula national and rel!sious
unity had been accomplished Spanish
| banners were planted all over Europe {;
America had been discovered, conquered
and colonized: the world had been cir
cumnavigated by Spaniards: the Turks
had been finally defeated at Lepanto.
The practical result OF these great efforts
was the impoverishment. exhaustion and
disappointment Of the Spanish people.
The moment was ripe for the warm
pense Of ideallsm run mad. The Spa nish
people saw 10 the misfortunes Of the
noble hidalgo its own misfortunes. But
1t raised the mood of the moment to the
| category OF a universal philosophy.
The decadence OF Spain during the
following centuries the rising Of ma
lions with a more matter OF fact policy.
made still stronger in the Spanish heart
the conviction that one must not be
quixotic.'"
To charge the decadence of Spain
upon the head of CERvANTEs and the
immortal knight of La Mancha will,
we think. be regarded by most stu
dents of literature and history as an
Indictment that will scarcely be al
lowed to stand. In welcoming Senior
DE MAETzU atSths meeting referred
to the chairman, Mr.. FITzMAURCE-
KELLY, himself perhaps the highest
living English authority on Spanish
literature, referred to the speaker as
"a mastery journalist with more
philosophical equipment than is vouch-
safed TO most knights OF the quill"
And certainly If Spaniard of such
qualifications does not understand the
Spanish people and their greatest
achievement in letters 1t would seem
presumptuous for anybody else, ex-
cept perhaps the German critics who
have appropriated SHAKESPEARE, to
make the attempt.
Nevertheless we cannot agree In
the first place with the premises upon
which Senor DE MAETzU bases his ex-
ceedingly broad generalization and de-
ductiOn in regard to the influence Of
CERvA MESS great story on the deca-
dence of Spain. In the first place,
CERvANTEs did not live In AN age
which was tired out and In an impov-
erished, exhausted and disappointed
country. The greater part of his life
was coincident with that Of Spain at
the height of its power and its wealth.
MACAULAY tells us that there Is rea-
son to believe that In the season Of
the greatest power of PHILIP III. his
annual revenue amounted Ito q sum
near ten times as large as that Eng
land yielded to ELIZABETH"
CERvANTEs was contemporary of
SHAKESPEARE and the great age of
PHILIP H.. In which he lived the
greater part of his life, correspondent
in many respects to the great Elizn-
bethan age in England. which in liter
allure came TO it's flower in SHAKE
sPEARE. just as the age Of PHILIP III.
may be said to have come to Its
flower in CERvANTEs's great book.
One need only refer to the opening
pages of MAcAULAY's brilliant review
War of the Succession in Spain" to
get glimpse of the splendOr OF the
Spanish age in which CERvANTEs
lived. The great wave that had car
ried Spain to an emlnence such as
even France scarcely reached in the
zenith of NApoLEoN's fame had, it IL
true, begun to recede after the defeat