Spain and Cuba,

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXIX, Issue 9061, 9 June 1898, Page 3

Spain and Cuba,

' ''There is no more interesting r'ikl) 'f all the nations of Europe thau ihi itudy of the history, of Spain," re marked Sir Robert Stout in the courai if a lecture delivered at Wellington the other evening. Taking the earlius mention tf Spain, he said, they would Und that that nation was almost regarded as a mythical country imd ai the end of the universe Sir llobp.vt »1 uded to the invasion of Spain by the Phoenicians, the Carthagenians, the i Romans, the Goths and the Moors, the latter establishing the /Mohammedan Church, which was at the [outset exceedingly tolerant, end under their regime agriculture iras encouraged; schools and univeraHu founded, and they were able to mnin tain peace, The Crusades were touched upon, then the discovery by Columbus of America, and the period when Spain was in the heyday of her glory. Slk> then had the Moors and Jews; the southern parts of Spain were highly cultivated, all kinds of cereals being produced, and agriculture generally very well developed. She had great possessions, the majority of which she had lost'since, including America, and «-as one of the 1 first Powers in Europe To-day she was hardly a second-iate power What was the reason of. her decadence ? It was only by studying the rise and decline of nations thai (his could be ascertained. A country might adopt a certain policy, and it would be centuries before i'.s results would be made manifest. It was after the 16th century that King Philip ordained that all Moors and Jews should leave Spain under penalty of death, he consequence.was that when they were driven forth agriculture declined because the. Spaniards had become 'exceedingly, wealthy owing to their colonies being responsible for a large ;muiial revenue, and the industrial arts were I considered of no moment. After agriculture sank the population dwindled materially. There was only oue religion, the Catholic, and no other was tolerated. This religious intolerance cost Spain Holland, where there was a revolt, and Java, Ceylon and other possessions went from her grasp alsc/ Spain took part in the great 30 years' war, two things inducing her to do so. She wanted a slice of central Europe, and .she joined the, Catholic League, being desirous of putting down what was called the Evangelical Union then existent in Prussia. The Inquisition was at that time in force in Spain, and it was practically this: that no person could live in Spain unless he joined the Eoman Catholic Church. When Cuba was discovered there were 600,000 Indians, but the Spaniards made slaves of them and treated them so brutally that they had entirely disappeared. It was now apparent that this policy had reacted upon the whole of the Spanish nation, there, being a partiality for the shedding of blood as an outcome of this brutality, and life was not held sacred. Spain's condition to-day was an example of what the uniformity of religion in a nation , was likely to lead to. Sir Robert then touched upon the Garlists' outbreaks evenrince Ferdinand iu 1833 decreedthe rescission of the Salio law relating to succession to the throne. Cuba nad ] beeu heavily taxed, and tyranny and , oppression had been practised throughout. Inhumanity, intolerance and mis* government had lost Spain North and ' South America, and it was on the , grounds of humanity that America intervened now in the interests of Cuba. Spain's history should be a lesson to other countries, the gruesome results which were at present being chronicled being the outcome of an • imprudent policy in the past. . J'

It's quite enough to make you weep, The things cne buys, both bad nnd cheap? But here's a hint—if ever you would Get hold of a thing that cheap and good, Just.purchaso "Woods' Great Peppermint Cure; For colds or toughs. You'll, lose them, sure!: .