already been redeemed, all possible haste being made to prepare the
Philippines for a similar responsibility and destiny.

The quickness with which cordial relations have been re-established
between Spain and the United States is most gratifying; and too much
praise cannot be bestowed upon that proud, high-spirited people, who
have accepted the results of the war in a spirit so admirable. In the
loss of her American colonies, Spain has been paying a debt contracted
in the days of her dazzling splendor--the time of the great Charles
and of Philip II.,--a kind of indebtedness which in the case of
nations is never forgiven, but must be paid to the uttermost farthing.
If history teaches anything, it is that the nations which have been
cruel and unjust sooner or later must "drink the cup of the Lord's
fury," just as surely as did the Assyrians of old. Another thing
which is quite as obvious is that the nations of the earth to-day must
accept the ideals of the advancing tide of modern civilization, or
perish! A people whose national festival is a bull-fight, has still
something to learn. Much of mediaevalism still lingers in the methods
and ideals of Spain. In the time of her opulence and splendor these
methods and ideals were hers. So she believes in them and clings to
them still. She has been the victim of a vicious political system, to
which an intensely proud, patriotic, and brave people have believed
they must be loyal.

In no other land--as we have seen--is the national spirit so strong.
Certainly nowhere else has it ever been subjected to such strain and
survived. And this intense loyalty, this overwhelming pride of race,
this magnificent valor, have all been summoned to uphold a poor,
perishing, vicious political system.

But the _Zeitgeist_ is contagious. And at no time has its influence
in this conservative kingdom been so apparent as since the
Spanish-American War; soon after this was over, Alfonso ascended the
throne of his fathers. The important question of his marriage after
long consideration was decided by himself, when he selected an English
Princess, niece of Edward VII., for his future Queen. The Princess
Ena is the daughter of Princess Beatrice,--youngest child of Queen
Victoria,--and Prince Henry of Battenberg, who was killed some years
ago during one of the Kaffir wars in South Africa. A royal marriage
uniting Protestant England and Catholic Spain would at one time
have cost a throne and perhaps a he