The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1931. EVENTS IN SPAIN.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 112, 14 May 1931, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1931. EVENTS IN SPAIN.

-|’HK reported destruction of the Seville Cathedral will arrest world attention for the Cathedral of Seville is, or perhaps was, the largest Gothic Church in the world. Not only noble in architecture but it was beautiful in adornment. It contained beautiful paintings by Murillo, the founder of the Seville School of Painting, whose picture conception Marshal Soult looted during the Peninsular War and which was eventually sold in 1852 for £24,000. The Cathedral was also rich in other masters, including those of Valdes, Leal, and De Vargas. Many of the windows are of Sixteenth Century Flemish stained glass; the organ is one of the largest in the world, it is rich in beautiful bronze work, wood carving and sculptured work, and it was reputed to have a valuable treasury. The Cathedral also contains the tombs of King Ferdinand 111. of Castile, of Christopher Coloinbus and of his son Ferdinand. Here is a treasured pile bespeaking the genius, the artistry, and the religious education of the people. True, the Cathedral was damaged by the earthquakes of 1884 and 1899, but the fabric remained, a testimony to splendour that was Spain. How comes it that to-day the Spanish people in the full Hush of their enthusiasm at the overthrow of a regime which was not working well and can be written down as a failure, have turned their wrath against their own historic piles? Can it be imagined that after a political upheaval of magnitude that the English people would permit the mob to smash the treasured things where “the Abbey’s Great High Altars forever makes us we.” It is unthinkable. Nevertheless, we must not mistake the situation. In Spain, according to the 1920 census about 50 per cent, of the total population was illiterate. In 1860 the proportion was 75 per cent. The progress of education has therefore been slow and ineffectual seeing that primary education has been compulsory since 1857. It is claimed that the better status and pay of teachers since 1920 has improved the position to some degree but that may be discounted because of the turbulent times, and the inability of the Government to function properly. Mussolini has been effective, De Rivera certainly was not. The attack upon the Church and its possessions appears to have been anticipated by the monks and nuns who acting with commendable foresight withdrew many of the treasures from the fury of the mob. This antipathy to the Church does not, however, proceed from ignorance alone. Monarchist and clerical have been popularly regarded as so closely associated with each other for a long time now. This is but natural for the Crown possessed a prerogative respect of the higher offices of the Church in Spain. This creation of a definite nexus between the Crown and the Church endured for a long period and may have continued right down to our day. At any rate the clericals were charged with dominating the Monarchy and the Government. When Francisco Ferrer, the founder of the “lay schools’’ was shot after being accused (without evidence) before a court martial in Barcelona in the year 1909, a fierce debate followed in the Cortez when the Government was charged with having sacrificed Ferrer to the resentment of their clerical taskmasters. Nothing has happened since to dissipate the the popular conception of the union of Monarchist and Clerical, hence with an ignorant populace which is possibly still 50 per cent, illiterate illogical acts of fury against the Church and Church property, while to be deplored, are to be expected under the circumstances.