W CENTS n k WORLD - AND WHAT IS GOINO QN IN fT fflE GRE\T ROUND WRLD PUBLCO t-N?3**5WEST 18^51 NEW YDRfCCrTY- great Round (Uorld Quarterly No. 1. April, 1898. PUBLISHED QUARTERLY Subscription Price 35 cents a year e^ SHORT HISTORY OF SPAIN BY MARY PLATT PARMELE ^mo NEW YORK: THE GREAT ROUND WORLD PUBLISHING CO 5 WEST 18th STREET ^l at the Post Office, Nev Yor^ City, ap CUBA I IN iA£KR TITV^E By RICHARD HARDING DAVIS FREDERIC REMINGTON A complete review of the situation in Cuba, showing what we are fighting for, together with new war map and flags for marking the position of the American, Cuban, and Spanish armies. " There have been no such contributions to Cuban war history as those furnished by Richard Harding Davis." —Pittsburg Poft. 144 pp. Deckle Edge Paper, Gilt Top, Boards. Price, $1.25. Also NEW EDITION, Paper Covers, Price 50 cts. Going to War in Greece By FREDERICK PALMER A graphic story of the recent war between Greece and Turkey, with Csrer sixty illustrations reproduced from photograp* taken by the ^ itkor. Decikfe Edge Paper, Attractively Bound. Price, $ •^ The above books are for sale by all booksellers, or sent by the publisher on receipt of price. R. H. RUSSELL, PUBLISHE mztiinth. Street, :: :: :: w ALFONSO XIII., King of Spain r^ A SHORT HISTORY OF , SPAIN BY MARY PLATT PARMELE No. I. The Great Round World Quarterly April, 1898 SECOND EDITION New York : THE GREAT ROUND WORLD PUBLISHING CO. 5 West 18th Street <^ Copyright, 1898, by THE GREAT ROUND WORLD PUBLISHING CO. New York liAR 1 I 19W SHORT HISTORY OF SPAIN EUROPE is like a garden which has been planted at long intervals with different kinds of seeds ; all alike brought from that same Aryan garden in Asia, but widely differing from each other in quality. None ever bore such blossom and such fruit as those first choice seeds which were scattered in Greece. In fact, none bore any fruit or blossom at all until they were grafted with the first marveiloifs growth from that classic land.: The rest sent out great outspreading branches, and grew into rank forests ; and their deep, strong roots became at last so interlaced and intermingled that the original character of the growth was some- times lost. Such was the case in Spain. That SPAIN 8 Sbort Ibletov^ of Spaim sunny corner in Uie European garden was in the early ages thickly planted with Keltic Aryans. They were not gifted like OLD the Pelasgians. They built no temples, created no civilization; but for ages con- tinued to be simple, rude barbarians, wor- shipping the sky, the sun, the stars, the ocean, the thunder, and the bird, in groves of sacred oak, where they offered sacri- fices to these terrible powers of nature. This religion was called Druid, It pre- vailed in Gaul (ancient France and Spain), in Britain, and in most of the lands peopled by Aryans, and meant ''Sons of We read that the people of ancient Tyre and other Eastern cities used to sail to Tarshish, and come back laden with treas- ure. Now, do you know that that distant land was the southern coast of Spain just west of Gibraltar? The poets and prophets of the Bible have much to say of this Tarshish, showing the communication then existing between the Sbort 1bf6tor^ of Spain. 9 Spanish coast and the world of Isaiah and of Job! wmMm THEN a century after Homer, when the young Greek nation was expanding^ BIBLICAL they too sent ships to Tarshish , and founded TIMES cities and colonies on the Spanish coast. And when they returned to Greece they told of the two pillars which had been set up by the great god Hercules at the en- trance to the sea (Gibraltar) . These Pil- lars of Hercules were intended to mark the end of the habitable globe, beyond which none might dare to venture. For it was a region of horror and of mystery ! But it was not until after Greece had run its course, and been swallowed up by the growing republic west of her, that the Spanish peninsula came to be really known. 10 Sbort fbietox^ of Spalm It was the mailed hand of the Koroan which dragged it out of mystery and ob- scurity ; and it came about in this way : The ancient Phoenicians had long ago built the city of Carthage on the northern coast of Africa, and these Carthaginians, who had become a great people, were the one powerful rival of the young Roman republic, which had just swallowed Greece and felt a strong desire to absorb every- thing within her reach. The Carthaginians had also long ago PUNIC built cities in Spain; and when, in a war WARS with the Romans, they lost their islands of Sardinia and Sicily, they found the Span- ish peninsula a convenient place from which to direct their operations against Rome, and they destroyed Saguntum, the one Roman city in Spain, and claimed the en- tire peninsula as their own. So in those great " Punic Wars" (as the wars between Rome and Carthage wete called) the Romans first learned the value and the beauty of this Spanish peninsula. And Sbort 1bt0tor^ ot Spain. il after they had conquered Hannibal, and had destroyed his great city of Carthage, and ploughed it, and sowed it with salt, they turned their eyes upon the fair His- pania (as they called it) and adopted it as their own. So in time the Romans covered Spain, or Hispania, with their own civilization (which, as we have seen, was borrowed from the Greeks !) . Their speech and their customs effaced the old barbarism and Druidism. They founded great cities — Cordova, Cadiz, and others; built roads and aqueducts, and temples, and amphi- theatres for their games and festivals, and for four hundred years Spain was com- pletely Romanized, and the original Keltic Aryans were merely the soil out of which the transplanted civilization grew and flourished. But after a time the great Roman empire became old and feeble. The Goths had been tormenting her for four cen- turies. They had sapped her vitality and broken her spirit; and now a stream of 12 Sbort 1bt0tor^ of Spain* that dreadful people had long been setting toward the southwest— few in numbers at first, but with increasing volume — until Kome in her helpless old age discovered that her beautiful Hispania was overrun by her own terrible destroyers, the Goths. _ There were two branches of this invad- GOTHIC . ^ ^ ^ ■ ^ INVASION ^^S host: the Ostrogoths, or Eastern, and the Visigoths, meaning the Western. The Ostrogoths were in Italy, and it was the Visigoths who had been surging over the Pyrenees. By the year 415 a.d. there was a Gothic empire in Spain, and the rule of the Visigoth kings had commenced. It seemed a great misfortune to have a civilization four hundred years old trampled under foot by barbarians. But no better thing could have happened to Spain. Each needed what the other pos- sessed. The luxurious, effeminate Romans were recreated by the manly vigor of the Goths; and the rough, untutored but in- telligent Goths hungrily absorbed refining art and culture from the Romans. Sbort Ibtetor^ ot Spain. 18 The result was a vigorous government in the hands of the Goth, who in turn sur- rendered his own habits and speech and submissively adopted those of E-omanized Spain. So the conquerors were con- quered by the higher civilization! They ceased to be barbarians, and were partly merged with the weaker race, whom they ruled with a strong hand. The Goths brought with them into Spain a simple form of Christianity. A Christian boy named Ulfilas, whom they had captured off the coast of Asia Minor in the fourth century, told his cap- tors the story of Christ. They had no written language, so this wonderful youth invented an alphabet of twenty-two letters, and translated the Bible into the Gothic speech. This simple Christianity which the Goths had learned from Ulfilas and his Bible told nothing about the Trinity, nor any of the mysteries which the church had been puzzling over since Eome had adopted EARLY CHRISTI- ANITY 14 Sbort 1bl6tori2 ot Spain. her, and which had been finally explained by great church councils. So the childlike religion brought by the Goths into Spain was considered by the learned and converted Eomans very wicked heresy, because it knew nothing about these sacred dogmas of the church. And the Goths in turn hated those strange doctrines of which Ulfilas had said nothing, and of which their Gothic Bible said not a word ! Then Spain was deluged with the blood shed by these opposing factions of the church of Christ, fighting to the death over dogmas which neither understood. Two centuries earlier, it was the blood of the early Christians with which Eome was drenching the soil of Spain. But in the fourth century the wicked old Boman Empire had been converted to Christian- ity; and now, she undertook to decide what that Christianity meant and what it did not mean. And disagreeing with the decisions of her church council meant heresy. And heresy meant death! Sbort IDlstori^ ot Spain. 15 The Gothic Empire had at first extended beyond the Pyrenees. But another Ger- man race, the Franks, had snatched that land from the expiring empire, and now all of eastern Gaul was becoming France. These Franks had also become Chris- tians. It was a poor sort of Christianity, as you have seen, after the Roman Empire had adopted it and decided what it meant ! But it was better than Greek paganism, and far better than Druidism, and with all its imperfections it was the hope of the world. So for three hundred years the Visigoth kings ruled Spain with a strong hand and fought the battles of their simple faith. They compelled the people to speak the Latin language, but in doing so, there was placed upon it the Gothic form of speech. The Spanish language is the result of this strange mingling of Latin and Gothic; and it is for that reason extremely easy for English-speaking people to learn. The words all have Latin roots ; but, like our own, they are put together in simple ORIGINAL SPANISH LAN- GUAGE 16 Sbort 1bl6tor^ of Spain. Gothic fasliion. In the year 709, while Eoderick, the last Visigoth king, was sit- ting at his capital in Toledo, a strange host began to arrive on the southern coast of Spain; armed men, swarthy and tur- banned, unlike any ever before seen in Spain. This was the beginning of that great Mo- hammedan invasion, the results of which we are witnessing to-day. From that ill- omened hour in 709 to this March of 1898 the Mohammedan has been in Europe ; for centuries threatening to overwhelm it, and for other centuries refusing to be dislodged from the territory he has blighted and made his own. From that distant day to this a battle has waged between the two civilizations — Mohammedanism and Chris- tianity. One the creator of darkness and the other of light ! And it was a strange sight we beheld recently when Greece, the smallest kingdom in Europe, was the standard-bearer of one and the Sultan of Turkey of the other 1 Sbort 1bl0tori2 of Spain* 17 The dusky host which poured into Sjjain in 709 and overturned the Gothic Empire, SARACEN were called Saracens. They had come from Arabia, conquering as they came, and had colonized the north coast of Africa. From that point they had formed their plan to conquer Spain, and thence, all of Europe. The first Arab chief who landed on Sjjanish soil was named Tarif, and after him that spot was called Tarifa. This was later the place where duties were levied upon incoming ships. Hence it is that our word is tariff, a strange memorial of ilie first Arab Moslem who set foot in Europe ! As the Yisigoths had for three centuries ruled Romanized Spain, so now the Sara- cens for three centuries more ruled that land through their caliphs at Cordova, and for four centuries after that had their own Moorish kings in southern Spain. As the Visigoths had brought renewed strength to an enfeebled race, so now the Saracens 18 Sbort 1bi0tori5 ot Spatm brought learning and the art of beauty to a race which had become semi-barbarous. THE extinguishing of the old Roman civilization by the Goths was followed in Europe by a time of darkest night; and it was during these cen- turies of darkness that the Spanish Arabs illuminated Spain with a splendid civ- / ilization. They converted desert places into verdant gardens. They created fairy palaces, and mosques, and built aqueducts, and had vast libraries (one at Cordova of 600,000 volumes), and all this at the very time known in Europe as the Dark Ages I The ruins of the mosque they erected at Cordova give us to-day some idea of its fabulous magnificence. On entering this ruin to-day with the remains of its four thousand pillars of colorjed marbles, it looks like a pine forest, with overarch- ing branches at the top; and in the time Sbort Ibistors ot Spain. 19 of its glory it must have been of dazzling splendor. The Spaniards mixed as little as pos- sible with these Asiatic invaders, and proudly kept themselves aloof in the northern provinces of Spain, cherishing memories of their vanished kings and greatness. One of the earliest symptoms of decline in a poiver is its loss of unity. The decline of the Moors in Spain commenced when they began to quarrel among themselves. Then the Spaniards began to recover little by little their lost territory, the power of the Spaniards in the north increasing as that of the Moors in the south declined. For centuries the Christian kingdom and the Moslem kingdom lived side by side, the Spaniard encroaching farther and farther upon the Moor, until at last the Moorish Empire, which had once held sway over all of Spain, was narrowed down to the little province of Grenada, two hun- dred miles long. And there, in the city of DECLINE OF MOORISH EMPIRE FERDI- NAND AND ISA- BELLA 20 Sbort Ibtator^ ot Spain* that name, the kings of Grenada reigned in that wonderful palace of the AJhamhra^ which travellers visit to-day and where they gaze in wonder at its labyrinth of corri- dors, halls, and apartments all filled with legends of snltauas, and stained with the blood of treacherous assassinations; its subterranean vaults and passages burrow- ing into the mountain depths, and, it is said, still containing treasures of vanished kings. In the fifteenth century the Spanish provinces of Castile and of Arragon had absorbed the other smaller kingdoms of Spain. The Spaniards were rich in pride and in memories, but very poor in money. And when the young Isabella, Princess of Castile, was married to her Cousin Ferdi- nand, Prince of Arragon, she had to bor- row money to pay for her marriage ex- penses. Isabella's soul was filled with one lofty - purpose. That was the expelling of the Moors from Spain and the restoration of Sbort 1F3t6ton2 of Spain* 31 the empire of the cross in her entire country. And it was under her powerful influence that Ferdinand embarked in the final struggle against the Moors. So it is not strange that in 1484, Colum- bus with his great project of discovery had to wait long years before his sovereigns would listen to him. But in 1492, Gre- nada, the last stronghold of the Moors, had fallen, and Boabdil, the last Moorish king, extended to the Spanish king the great keys of the Alhambra, saying: "These keys are thine, O king, since Allah has decreed it. Be not unmerciful to the van- quished." So the Arabian empire in Spain, after seven hundred and eighty-three years, had expired. Fragments of the conquered race lingered in the country, but in less than a century the last of these were forcibly driven on board galleys and conveyed to the African coast. Then the Moors were extinct in the land of their adoption, which they had brought to a prosperity COLUM- BUS^ VOYAGE 22 Sbort Ibietot^ of Spafn* and intellectual greatness never since sur- passed. It was Isabella who accomplished this great end for Spain; and it was Isabella who won for Spain her new empire in the West, which brought untold wealth into the royal treasury — wealth so fabulous that the queen must have smiled as she re- called the time when she had to borrow money to pay for the expenses of her mar- riage with Ferdinand. Isabella had a powerful mind and great nobility of soul and of character. It was a great moment for Columbus, and for the world, when in the face of opposition from Ferdinand and her court, she proudly arose and said: "I undertake it for the crown of Castile. I will pledge my jewels for this voyage of discovery !" And great must have been her satisfaction and joy when the news came of land beyond the Atlantic ! And for Columbus — no moment ever exceeded that in which he was royally received by the queen who had trusted , Sbort 1bi6tori2 ot Spain. 23 him, and upon whom he had bestowed a new empire ! Although Spain loaded him with chains and broke his heart after that, she could never take away the memory of that hour. This great queen and woman had heavy sorrows. Her only son, heir to the com- bined thrones of Castile and Arragon, died just after his marriage with the daugh- ter of Maximilian, Emperor of Germany. Another child, wife of the King of Por- tugal, also died, and was soon followed by her infant, who would have united the crowns of Portugal and Spain. Another daughter, who married the son of the Em- peror of Germany, became insane, while still another had a fate scarcely less unfor- tunate. She became the wife of that ter- rible King of England, Henry VIIL, and was known as the unhappy Catharine of Arragon. So all the queen's hopes were centred in her grandchild, Charles, the son of her crazed daughter. How she would have 24 Sbort 1bi6tori2 ot Spalm been consoled had she known that as Charles V. of Germany and Charles I. of. Spain this child was to become the greatest sovereign in Europe. But she did not know this. Nor did she ever know the grandeur of the discovery she had enabled Columbus to make; nor that she was the innocent means of bringing destruction and awful miseries upon a helpless race of beings whom it was her dream to Christianize! Nor did she realize that in zeal for her adored religion she had created the most awful instrument of cruelty that ever ex- isted. The unbelieving Jews in Spain were a source of grief to Isabella, second only to the infidel Moors. To her devout soul heresy was the greatest of alhevils, because it led to death eternal. Torquemada, her spiritual adviser, convinced her that the cause of the holy faith required either the conversion or the extermination of these infidel Jews. With this end in view a court of inquisi- Sbort 1bi6tox^ ot Spain, 25 tion was established; that is, a court in- tended to inquire into the religious belief of suspected persons, who if found guilty of heresy were punished with horrible severity. ^ TOKQUEMADA was ^.^ the creator and ifc^Cl^^A inquisitor- general ^^W^'T of this awful tri- ^^Q]^^^' ' bunal to which Isabella gave re- ■^ ^ luctant consent, even as a mother might consent to the punishment of a child for its own good. And so while the Spaniards were practis- ing their first cruelties upon those innocent natives of the West Indies, the Jews were beiDg hunted out of Spain by this terrible Inquisition. But it was Isabella's hand which guided Spain into the path of national greatness at this time. From being the most ob- scure of the European states, it suddenly took rank among the great kingdoms. 26 Sbort 1bi6tors of Spain. The alliances planned for her children were wise and far-reaching, although all failed of the great ends she intended ex- cepting that of her insane daughter, Charles, the son of this Joanna, was the CHARLES L heir not alone to the Spanish crown, but to the larger and heavier crown of Ger- many, for which he and Francis I. (of France) fiercely contended. The wearer of that crown would rule all of central Europe; and if awarded to Charles, his dominion would extend besides over Spain, and over all her new and vast possessions in the West. The electors of Germany preferred Charles to Francis, and so it was that Isabella's grandson, when only nineteen years old, was the greatest sover- eign in Europe, and ruled an empire upon which the sun never set. What had been in Isabella simply an ardent longing to save souls from destruc- tion and a devout belief in her own sacred religion, reappeared in Charles, her grand- son, in the form of intense bigotry. Just Sbort 1bl9tori5 of Spain* 27 as ardently as she had fought against Moslem Moors and heretic Jews in Spain, he spent his energies and his reign in try- ing to destroy another and a new form of heresy. Protestantism was born the year after Charles assumed the crown (1517), and the Inquisition had a larger and richer field for its horrible work. After thirty- nine years of fruitless struggle with this growing Protestantism; after the wheel, and the rack, and the stake had failed to check this greatest of all heresies, the weary Charles was ready to lay down his crown. He abdicated in favor of his son Philip and retired to a monastery, where he died. It is a strange fact that Isabella, that admirable queen and woman, uncon- sciously created the two conditions which gave the keynote to Spanish character and policy. She bestowed upon Spain those sources of fabulous wealth in the New World, and she created the Inqui- PHILIP 28 Sbort 1bl0tor^ of Spain. sition! The first developed that cv.pidity, or love of gold, which became the ruling passion in Spain, while the Inquisition, in the name of religion, extinguished the very sentiment of pity in the Spanish heart. So when cupidity became the rul- ing passion, side by side with it grew that twin demon, cruelty. The messengers of Charles V. had been in the New World extending his empire farther and farther toward the West—Cor- tez in Mexico, Pizarro in Peru, and cruel discoverers wherever gold glistened, carry- ing into a new hemisphere misery which can never be measured. From the em- peror on his throne to the humblest Span- ish adventurer in America the word mercy was unknown, and cupidity and cruelty were the end and the means ! But the reign of Charles was tender and gentle compared with that of his son Philip. Never has civilized and Chris- tian monarch perpetrated such cruelties over such an extent of territory, as Sbort Ibtetor^ of Spain. 29 did this unscrupulous, fascinating, death- dealing son of Charles V. It is consoling to remember that he married that terrible daughtei' of Henry VIII. and Catharine of Arragon, known as Bloody Mary, which was some slight retribution. But he did not let her make him very miserable, as he lived almost all the time far away from his English queen ; who, it is said, was vainly striving to win his love by burning heretics in England. Of course the object of this marriage with Mary was the greater glory of Spain in the union of Spain and England under one crown. But the death of Mary, fol- lowed by the accession of her Protestant sister Elizabeth, put an end to that dream. So Philip determined to get by conquest what he could not acquire by marriage. But the defeat of the Spanish Armada by Elizabeth's ships forever put an end to these ambitious designs upon Protestant England. At this time Spain had reached the 30 Sbott 1bt6tori2 ot Spafn. height of her splendor. She was the en- HIDALGOS vied of Europe. Kings bowed down to her and humbly asked for her infantas and princes for their sons and daughters. No nobles in Europe were prouder than the Spanish grandees, or Hidalgos; and the very name Castilian caused a thrill of admiring wonder — and does yet! Castile was the centre of the old Spanish life and traditions during all the dark centuries of the Moorish occupation. And the word Hidalgo was originally three* Spanish words — Hijo de algo ; meaning son of somebody. And just as our ''Sons oj the Bevolution'' take pride in being the sons of American patriots, so these Hidalgos gloried in being descended from the an- cient heroes of the days of the Visigoth kings. They never ceased to pray and hope for the restoration of their race, and when the time was ripe, they splendidly re- claimed the throne of their ancestors as I have just told you. Is it strange that they Sbort 1bt6tor^ ot Spain. 81 took pride in their past? But greater glories awaited tliem. -It was Spain which equipped the fleets and sent out Columbus, Magellan, Balboa, De Soto; and it was Spanish daring, cour- age, and adventure which unlocked the mystery of a new hemisx-)here. Her viceroys in Mexico, Peru, and the West Indies ruled over lands fabulous in size and in wealth, and a stream of inex- haustible riches was flowing back across the ocean pathway which they themselves had made. The imagination cannot conceive any- thing more splendidly romantic than the history of Spain at this time, and the wealth and the glory she swiftly attained between the day when Ferdinand and Isabella received the keys of the Alhambra from Boabdil, and the dav when she was annexed to the empire of Germany, and was at the head of Europe ! The shadows in the picture, deep and terrible, mingle with lights dazzling and 32 Sbort Ibietot^ of Spain* magnificent. But the shadows were going to spread and deepen, and the lights with- in a century were to grow dim. Other na- NORTH tions were in the New World. There was AMERICA ^j^ English colony in North America, not COLONIES , . . .... eagerly wringing treasure out of the soil, but putting treasure into it. That priceless treasure, character and manhood, was be- ing thickly planted in New England, and laying foundations deep and wide for an empire which was going to crowd the Spaniard out of the New World he had discovered. Nations cannot live on past glories, any more than men. A mantle, however mag- nificent it may be, grows shabby with time, and needs to be renewed. Two cen- turies after Isabella, Spain produced no more heroes, and her kings were feeble and incompetent. She still proudly wore her mantle of glory, but it was getting old and tarnished. The other nations no longer feared and flattered her. They were no longer afraid she would absorb Sbort Ibietors ot Spain. 83 them, but began to think of absorbing her. You know how quickly the vultures find out when an animal is dying, and how they hover over it impatient for the feast. Well, the very same thing happens to great kingdoms. You remember how swiftly the Saracen vultures scented from afar the dying Roman Empire ! Another old empire is perishing to-day in the southeast of Europe, and you have seen how eagerly the vultures are watching and waiting, each fearing the other will get to the banquet first. And when one hujigrier and stronger than the rest, unable longer to wait, nibbles around the edges, the rest fly at him in a frenzy and drive him away. And they do so only because they are so sorry for the poor sick creature, who, they declare, shall not be disturbed, but just left to die comfortably ! Well, when Spain's glory had departed, the nations which had once been afraid of her began to think of devouring her, and 34- Sbort 1bt0tori5 of Spafm every time her throne has been vacant (and it has had a habit of getting vacant !) there has been a scramble for it; all her great neighbors having princes claiming to be related to the royal house of Spain, and in this way having a claim to the succession. When other nations decide who shall and who shall not occupy a vacant throne, that country's greatness lies far behind it. Such a moment arrived for Spain in the year 1700. The greatest power in Europe at that time was the kingdom of France, and Louis XIV. was the sovereign before whom all the others were bowing down. One would have supposed that the great Louis had had glory and conquest enough to satisfy a mortal king. But he wanled more; and he always wanted Spain, and thought the Pyrenees were a mistake! That is, that there should be no barrier between France and Spain, which should be one country. Early in life he had married the infanta, or daughter, of the Sbort 1bt6tor^ of Spain. 35 King of Spain; but he had been obliged before doing so to renounce for his heirs all claim upon that throne. Now, in 1700, the King of Spain had died, and there was no heir in the regular succession. There were several young princes in Europe, more or less nearly connected with the royal * line in Spain, but none more closely than the grandson of Louis XIV., whose grandmother was the infanta. There was everything to make him the most eligible and desirable candidate, the only obstacle being that renunciation years before. So the oppor- tunity had come to the ambitious king, and between him and the long coveted throne of Spain there lay only a little promise. Finally the matter of succession, which was to be decided by the Pope, was all comfortably arranged. The Pope and Louis, after "prayerful deliberation, "fixed up the little trouble about the promise, and Louis' grandson, nineteen years old, 86 Sbort 1bl0ton^ ot Spain, SPANISH BOUR- BONS was proclaimed King of Spain. The great Frencli king, in the fulness of his satis- faction, exclaimed, "The Pyrenees have ceased to exist !" meaning that his grand- son would one day be sovereign of both countries. But the Pyrenees have stood solidly ever since, and Spain and France have never been united under one crown. With this event the reign of the descen- dants of Ferdinand and Isabella, the real Spanish sovereigns, was at an end. The Spanish Bourbons, beginning with this young Philip, were, as you can see, in reality French, with only a Spanish strain in their blood; and, excepting for a few intervals of time, that house has ruled Spain ever since and does so to-day. In the mean time there was a large group of Spanish provinces in the northern part of South America and in the West Indies leading a miserable existence. They were ruled by viceroys sent from Spain, and were in fact little more than slaves toiling not for themselves, but for a cruel and Sbort 1bl6tor^ of Spain. 37 avaricious master. Three hundred j^ears of this sort of servitude had made of them a humble, submissive race, hopiug and expecting nothing better. But in the year 1776 something hap- pened in the New World which caused a thrill like an electric shock. The nations of Europe were stupefied with amazement. A little handful of English colonists re- volted against the tyranny of their mother country, and declared their purpose to be- come a free and independent people. Unhappil^^ for England she had a king and a minister, who supposed that British EFFECT OF manhood in America was something differ- qan REV ent from British manhood in England; OLUTION and that she might after the manner of Spain use her prosperous colonies for the benefit of herself. It was a fatal mistake. But it led to one of the most momentous events in history. Not for America alone, but for the world a new epoch commenced, when the United States of America took its place among the nations of the earth. 38 Sbort 1bl0tot^ ot Spalm In looking rapidly in this way over the history of centuries, we see that great kingdoms are no more permanent than the clouds in the sky. There is incessant change. While we are looking at them they dissolve and change in shape; great masses breaking up into fragments and little ones piling up into great shining moun- tains. A time was now approaching when these overturnings in the European sky were going to be more complete and rapid than ever before. France had made a terrible experiment in trying to be like free America. She had passed through her awful " Eeign of Terror," and then had been held in the firm grasp of her new master. Napoleon Bonaparte. This man was not content with ruling France; he aspired to be a world-con- queror like Alexander, Caesar, and Charle- magne. And it looked at one time as if he might succeed. He overturned most of the thrones in Europe and placed upon Sbort 1bl6tori^ of Spain, 39 them members of liis own liouseliold. You know in playing chess, if you get your pawn into the king row, it becomes a king ; or a queen, which is the same thing. So this wonderful player pushed up his pawns one after another, and finally his brother Joseph was in the "king row," and the crown of Spain was placed upon his head ! But the great Napoleonic storm-cloud which had suddenly darkened Europe dis- solved as quickly as it came. In less than ten years the man who had threatened to be the master of Europe was a prisoner in the distant island of St. Helena, and King Joseph had ignominiously fled from Spain with one little gold piece in his pocket. The Spanish Bourbons were restored to the miserable and now distracted country. That prosperous free republic in America (the United States) was having a mischie- vous effect upon the Spanish colonies in South America. Several were already in 40 Sbott 1bi6tor^ of Spain* revolt. It began to look as if, instead of one, there might be several young repub- lics across the sea, and that Spain would lose a great part of her splendid trans- Atlantic possessions. So three of the king- doms of Europe formed a sort of " Euro- pean concert." They called it the "Holy Alliance." Its purpose was the putting down of this mischievous spirit of free- dom, and the defence of what they called the "divine right of kings." That sort of thing would have done very tJr^T %r w^U i^ *^^ seventeenth or even the eigh- ALLIANCE teenth century — but this was the nine- -^^^ teenth ! There was a new and very differ- DOCTRINE ^^* spii'it in the air. In spite of the Holy Alliance, and in spite of the resistance of Spain, in 1826 James Monroe, President of the United States of America, acknowl- edged the independence of five South American states, and one after another the governments of Europe were obliged to do the same. For over three centuries Spain had ruled Sbort fbistov^ ot Spatn^ 41 one of the richest and most beautiful por- tions of the globe. She had shown her- self perfectly unfit for the responsibility and undeserving of the great opportunity. The loss was terrible and humiliating, but it was richly deserved. YOU know that losses in property _^ and in position sometimes make ^ people cross. The people in Spain were very cross. They were asking why their once r great country had dwindled into insignificance? Some thought f it was because she had too much freedom; and others that she had not enough. So two political parties arose, a liberal, and a reactionary party. The one desired a freer constitution in keeping with a new age, and the other believed that the good old despotic way of ruling with a tight rein was the safe one. They claimed that the Holy Alliance had shown the true way to deal with new- fangled theories about human rights and 42 Sbort IbiBtot^ of Spain* freedom. And some even recalled the fact that it was in the days of the Inquisition that their country had been so glorious ! Just at this time (1830) there was trouble about the "Spanish succession," that is, about who should occupy the throne in case of the death of King Ferdi- nand, who had succeeded Joseph Bona- parte. Ferdinand's only child was an DON 7 CARLOS infant daughter. The party of extreme views about monarchy and religion in- sisted that Don Carlos, brother of the king, was the proper heir, because at one time the " Salic law" (or the law excluding females from the throne) had prevailed in Sj^ain. The liberal party insisted that that law was no longer in force and that the little Isabella was the rightful heir. Party feeling ran very high. The advo- cates of Don Carlos were called Carlists. From that time until our own, there has been always a Don Carlos to represent these extreme views. And in all times of trouble or uncertainty the Carlists have Sbort 1bt0tori5 ot Spatm 43 been watching and scheming to get into power and are an ever-present source of danger in Spanish politics. But the liberal party was triumphant, and the crown of Spain passed in 1833 to the little Isabella. A queen should be all that is glorious. Unhappily for Spain, Isabella developed qualities which would have disgraced the humblest station in life ; and in 1868, so great was the indignation at her conduct that she was obliged to flee from the country, taking with her her son and daughter. So again there was a vacant throne in Spain ! Sick and weary of their own Spanish Bourbons, the people resolved to try a new experiment. They offered the crown to Amadeo, a younger son of Humbert, King of Italy. But after three years the young Italian prince was glad to lay down the uncomfortable burden; and the people were quite as glad to have him go. And now again there was the ever-returning problem of a vacant throne ! CASTE- LAR 44 Sbort 1bt6tori^ of Spaim The republican idea had in the mean time, under such leaders as Garibaldi and Mazzini in Italy, and Kossuth in Hungary, taken a deep hold in Europe. France had apparently forever broken with kings. She was a great and powerful republic and a dangerous example for discontented European nations. CiASTELAE, a pure and saga- / cious Spanish statesman, led a movement at this critical time toward establishing a republic in Spain. But such a cause needs more than leaders. It needs a power- ful, intelligent, and patriotic following. This Castelar, with all the ma- gic of his eloquence and the force of his own character and convictions, could not create. The Carlists of course were busy schem- ing to carry out their long-delayed hopes. So between them and the Republicans, the people were driven to an immediate decision, which proved a very wise one. Sbort Ibietore of Spain* 45 The fugitive Queeu Isabella had a young son Alfonso, who was at this time (1874) ALFONSO just seventeen years of age. The young prince was recalled from exile and proclaimed King Alfonso XII. Some of us can remember the romantic marriage which quickly followed with the lovely Mercedes, granddaughter of Louis Philippe. The young cousins had always been deeply attached to each other, so it was like the conclusion of a charming love story when they were married. But in five short months Mercedes died. Peo- ple wept as they read of the awful grief of Alfonso, when he spent the night in the gloomy Escurial, watching over the re- mains of his dead bride. But kings cannot cherish such griefs. Another bride was sought for him. Chris- tine, a fair young- Austrian princess, was brought to Madrid and they were married with great splendor. Alfonso showed no great kingly quali- ties, but he had warm, human affections 46 Sbort IbiBtot^ of Spatn^ and manifested a desire to rule justly and kindly. It would probably have been well for Spain if his life could have been pro- longed, but in 1885, after a reign of eleven years, he too lay in state in the gloomy Escurial where he had wept over Mercedes. His son, who was born after his death, is now under tutors and governors, being trained to be King of Spain. He is eleven i?„ years old, and a frail, delicate boy. Until .2x111 he is old enough to reign, his mother, Christine, is Queen Regent— that is, she represents him on the throne. It is prob- able that when this boy is crowned Alfonso XIII. Spain will have lost Cuba, her last great possession in the Western Hemi- sphere. Maey Platt Parmele. ^ Great World #1.50 a year 5 cents a number is the boys' and girls' WEEKLY NEWSPAPER For grown-up people, too . . Do you Know it ? If pot, seod for a sarople copy ADDRESS ! 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