Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Volume VIII, Number 30, 24 July 1869 — English Columu. [ARTICLE]

English Columu.

R(volution and Kelonmaiioo in ' Spaiß. ,

:Tr-?i Ūx CJLriU<xd-«.; In ®pit« of many adverse influence« and many dep]orablc cvents t it » olmoua tba:ihc t caus« c.l cjvil and re«igiOu« nberty »s n-.&krftg" jtcady m the wor>d. Wuhin idc ; la*; tcn yc<:rs< c.spociaily. the cutrent of frec- : Wom lia£ sci ia v. jUj a force an<i v€i&cuy that i R3tt?t hnve arre?!ed thc attenUori of the most : c*b*erver. it seems but as ye*terdav ' uhen the grestest portion of Europe t eom-; pn*mg soiue oi her rnost impc>rtant £tates, < was hcrnricticaiiy sea!ed agaiin?tthe introduc-) tson of new religioos ideas or the ] of 50 mueh as a reiigiou« discussioo. Ooe | hy one these rejtncuons have giveo «ray — 5 thete Ujniers bave been l»rokpn do\rn. ftaiy ; ied the ran, twt Auhtna foilowed close in; her W3kc ; and jf she lagged ?lightiy in poict; (i titne, s!;e h"is sur, r >a&bed her m the system | ai;-l cornpieteness with whieh her rei'gious| »:or!ce.*s:ons have heen frarned. And now.; last nml raost sīgnai trioroph of ali. we havel to adii S;>ain totheiisi. In Sf»iin. too,thehit-1 t!c of reiig»ous freedom bas beein fought and won. For i:enerations Spain has beenregardcd n? tiie v«ry citadel of inloieninee—the Ust , nrsd ftrortge. fc t rf tr»:3t of rtijgjuus bigotry., I'on-:)- ,'o rlo.sely interwoven witn nation:«i iiie and wiih ineii associations m a Spin?ard, that the friends of freedoni harJiy cxpe:tcd that lievoiution ilself wou:d ait»:r tlie n.itional«!esire-forreii{riousexciusive-; ne~--\ Tne .Spariinrds. il \va!t thought, might ; IA-eome JJcīoocntii: Kepubiicar.is, but that! u'ouid not interfere witn their desire to pre-; *>:rv<: tlic Catho!ic unity. Even the seizure! t>f r v »nr:h iands, whieh wn» m«de from time I to iuue, the ex»gencies of the Xtaleseemed j to r> 4'iire, did not interfcrc with the nationai iill* rHOM for tr;e C!iurch ; it rather induced : ;i dcMre to inake up to the Church in honour' /or whrit u depnved her cf \vealth. I3ut! wha'AV'.r cx;>cctations might have been en-j t(<ruii)cd. the evcnt has sur}>assed thcin aii.! The Church iia.s been doposcd :from her oid • pi;ice of .supr» ti»ncy. Thc t>jviniards havel ken lung m seftimg ihe articies of theirj con*-titution, but the very del»b;'ration \vith i whif*h tiiey proceed i« o g-iKintritec for the I |H-rin;inence and stabiiity of v.hat they fmaiiy | n.'M)lvc ou ; and they have rcsolved that it j shnli Ik; u fund.imcntal nrticle in theirconstitution that no foreigner residcnt in Spain' l>e moiested on oeeouni of his professing a diilerent reiigion, and that the same l»oofi shaii l«e accorded to native Spaniards, " if nny of tiiese iatter happen to beiong to any other persuasion thari lo that: of the vast msjority of their countrymen." Theconcession, it wili be observed, is couched in eautious iangunge. but there is no possibiiity of inisunderstandmg its meaning. VVhat popular or priestiy bigotry may do henceforth is «nother t|uestion, but in the eye of Spaaish iaw n1 i rehgions are e«[uai. It wouid have been extremeiy gratifying if we were abie to record that this decisive >lep in {;ivour of reiigious -freedom had been laken by men who were tiiemse]ves thoroughiy petu'!rattd \vith n conviction of the supreine importance of reiigion or tho rights of conseieuee in ail matters th«it iie bet\veen God and tī»e soul. Unfortunateiy, it is not so, Keiigious treedom has been granted, not from anv vaiue of tiie i>oon, but from ei contemptuous inditlercnce to 'he question. Of the m:ijority who voted for the toiehition of a s\>teni of nat»onal dissent. many unblushmgiy dcclared their aversion lo aoy form of rei;gion \vhatever. Somo of the spenkers proi-eedeti so far in their biasphemousscoffing nt names and thinjjs whieh Christians of all vlcnominiitions hoiu to be sacred and diviue, tiiat the l'rcsidcnt was constained to eall ihein to order, on whieh a iarge body of their adhcrcnts rose and left the hall. Others, who wcre more inoderate, tooi( care to avow that tliey had no sympathy with the dissenticnt crccds \vhose cause they \vere advocotO!oznga, the most iiberai ot ail the ieadt rs who look jiart in the revolution, hintcd ihut whiie the toienvtion they were about to cnact woukl look well upon ))aper, they nced not fear tiiat it \vouid ever t»e brought inio pmcticui excrcise. Spain, he hintcd, \vould nevcr heeoine Protestant. The reason ho tjave was n curious one, and unconsciousiv, pcrhaps, reveals the inelancholy depth of relipous ignorjtnce into whieh his couotrvmeii iiavc sunk. " Protestantism," he said,

" a roligion o»ly fit for a bi.chly | fuu\ and prosperous people. ror his own j oountryment, the idea ol God ithe Father j \vas uhno>t incouiprehensible; thaC ol God | t!io Son nlso vwgue nud misty. Thel rv.\il ol'ject of the Sp»niards' worship, and oeu idotutry, was the V r irgin Mary, and she noī ns an al»tnct bcing, but os typefied in liio various images whieh were iooked upon :»s eiuh wid wnh iniracu!ons powers in diftcrcnt !ocalities. M A inore open eonfession ol natiunal ido!atry was never made in a protc?scdiy Chnstwn land ; and it is profound'y sad thnt it should true f in ttiis ninctccnth i cntury of the Christian era, of a people that calls itseif the most Christiat! naticm in the worUi. Anoihcr speaker. an orator ot great powcr a«d weight in ihe Cortes, Ssenor Casttclar, whiie ndvocating the right of the ot thc Protestants to the free es.erc;ise of their j rcligiou t took care to repudiatc, for bimseif| in iiie most emphatic inanner a 11 suspicionof[ a liking for the alien fmth. Proi[estaiilism \ was too icy and cold for his iempera»nent, he said; and he noi only was not T but ncvcr wouUi Ikco«\c a PwieilanU Another elo- i «j».icnt aud ctlcctire orator, Senor Echegaray,i dwclt on the same topics. This you(ig oru« tor. however, hod the merit of giving a pnieticaī turn to the discus.<ion, whieh was worth more than ihe most sub!ime Uights ol* rhetoric, aud is iikely to produce more eU"ectupon Sj»au»ards in favour of religious liberty ihan ; t*je most logtcftl arguments. It is thu? re-1 portcd bv the correspondent of the leading | journal: *• By a strange coiocidet>ce, while icvclliug the ?round for the new square of the LK>> de Msyor the labouren? have hit npon ihe vestiges of the oid Quetiaadero de la t 'n./ iho { iaee \vhere the bodies of heretics •in*l other puhhe enemies, by huodr«ds, \vere l»unu iii olden times by ihe tribunais of the l..»pi!»aiou. Layers of biack <l«»t, with leuiiiums i*f and other relics, turned j op ;ti everv strok<» of the spade, and the | whole scroll of that darkest reconi in huinan j hi-fory >tood unfol<Ud «ud broadfy revealeti, ;■< !.trt- ihe of the pre*i»nt gt neratio». Peopie repaireti to the spot as iii a pi!griaisge, and tbc grnu Qucmadero.

iriUiitsghaMly , becamethetheine of tbe wor«d"s Ulk. Senor Echegar«v, a yooog man cf g*osas, wrho-?e voice heard for the fir?t liioe in ihe Chamb?r onT««day !ast, took ho!d of *he fearfo! top:c. «nd dweit uf*>n it wuh a viridn*is and minutenea-3 whieh brcoght the ven* ef the crii!ed bones and the «te»irfa ef tbe *īnged hair to fhe ears ar»d r»c.s*ī of his «tartled «u-' dien:e. The iucky ducovery e! that her?ticai duft has strack a hca¥Īer and more decistve blow opon intoterar.ee »n Sp?»in th?.n eouM eome from any argument foandcd on L«ere rea«on. No man, woman, cr chiid >n thu« countrv coa!d, of coorse, have heen >ignoraot j of the fact that raisbeiievers used to be borot| aiive at Madrid ( as at Sevi)ie. VaiJ3dolid, | and everywhere eise. But one thir.g it is to j koow; another to see and to feei. The | Spanards have heen made fur one day acto-! ally, as it were, to live over again the worst \ times of Philip 11., 111., and IV. What bet- • ter securitv could we have ag*»nst the repro-: duction of those horrib!e times for the futurer* I