Such was Spain."
Such is not Spain to-day. A quite recent writer, speaking of Spain
before the war, said, that although Spain in extent holds the sixth
place in the European states, "it really now subsists merely by the
sufferance of stronger nations." Thus has that nation, which three
centuries ago dominated the world, lost both its position and its
energy.
Without attempting to sketch chronologically, either this rise or this
decline, let us rather direct our efforts to an inquiry into the
causes of both the one and the other.
In attempting to explain the greatness of Spain we must give first
place to the vigor of the Spanish race. The great Spaniard was a
mighty compound. He had the blood of Rome mingled with the awful
torrent that gave birth to the soulless Goths and Vandals. In him also
flowed the hot blood of the Moors. He was both sturdy and fiery; he
had the fervor of the South with the tenacity of the North; the pride
of the Roman with the passion of the Moor. The Spanish race was
emphatically a rich race.
And then we must remember that this race had been forged in war.
Century after century, from the earliest times, they had lived with
their arms in their hands. First came the long war between the Arian
Vandals, and the Trinitarian natives; then the seven-hundred-year war
with the followers of Mahomed.
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