The Colored Regulars in the United States Army

by T. G. Steward

The limits of the present purpose do not permit an exhaustive presentation of her material strength in detail, nor are the means at hand for making such an exhibit. We must be content with a general picture, quoted directly from Motley. He says:

"Look at the broad magnificent Spanish Peninsula, stretching across eight degrees of latitude and ten of longtitude, commanding the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with a genial climate, warmed in winter by the vast furnace of Africa, and protected from the scorching heats of summer by shady mountain and forest, and temperate breezes from either ocean. A generous southern territory, flowing with oil and wine, and all the richest gifts of a bountiful nature—splendid cities—the new and daily expanding Madrid, rich in the trophies of the most artistic period of the modern world; Cadiz, as populous at that day as London, seated by the straits where the ancient and modern systems of traffic were blending like the mingling of the two oceans; Granada, the ancient, wealthy seat of the fallen Moors; Toledo, Valladolid, and Lisbon, chief city of the recently conquered kingdom of Portugal, counting with its suburbs a larger population than any city excepting Paris, in Europe, the mother of distant colonies, and the capital of the rapidly-developing traffic with both the Indies—these were some of the treasures of Spain herself. But she possessed Sicily also, the better portion of Italy, and important dependencies in Africa, while the famous maritime discoveries of the age had all enured to her aggrandizement. The world seemed suddenly to have expanded its wings from East to West, only to bear the fortunate Spanish Empire to the most dizzy heights of wealth and power. The most accomplished generals, the most disciplined and daring infantry the world has ever known, the best equipped and most extensive navy, royal and mercantile, of the age, were at the absolute command of the sovereign. 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. The whole mission of life to them was to fight.

Naturally there was developed in the people at large the most complete unification and subjection. Individualism gave place almost entirely to the common weal, and the spectacle was presented of a nation with no political questions. Maccaulay maintains that human nature is such that aggregations of men will always show the two principles of radicalism and conservatism, and that two parties will exist in consequence, one composed of those who are ever looking to a brighter future, the other of those who are ever seeking to restore a delightful past; but no such phenomena appear in the ascending period of Spain's history. The whole nation moved as an organized army, steadily forward, until its zenith was reached. This solidity was a marked element of its strength.

Mr. Buckle recognizes this, and accounts for the harmonious movements of the nation by the influence of two leading principles, which he is pleased to call superstition and loyalty. The Arab invasion had pressed upon the Christians with such force that it was only by the strictest discipline that the latter had managed to survive. To secure such discipline, and at the same time supply the people with the steady enthusiasm necessary to support a war from century to century, all the terrors and all the glories that could be derived from religion were employed. The church and the state, the prince and the priest, became as one, and loyalty and religion, devotion to the standard and to the cross, were but different names for the same principles and actions. Hence Spain emerged to greatness without the least dream of liberty of either person, conscience or thought. Her rallying cry was: For the Prince and the Church; not, For God and Liberty. She went up to greatness the most loyal and the most religious of nations; but Liberty, Justice and Truth were not upon her banners.

Look over the territory settled and conquered by her, and what do we see? Columbus, sailing under Spain, names the first land he discovers San Salvador; the first settlement made in this country is St. Augustine; the second, Sante Fe. Look down over the southern half of our continent and such names as Espirito Santo, Corpus Christi, San Diego, San Juan, San Jose, San Domingo attest the religious zeal of the conquerors. They were missionaries of the Cross, robbing the people of their gold and paying them off with religion.

Steadfast in the faith and sturdy in her loyalty, Spain resisted all innovations with respect to her religious beliefs, and all insurrections against her government. Her Alva and her Torquemada but illustrated how strong was her conservatism, while her Isabella and her Philip II show how grand and comprehensive and how persistent was her aggressiveness, under the idea of spreading and upholding the true faith. She not only meant to hold all she had of wealth and power, but she aspired to universal dominion; already chief, she desired to be sole, and this in the interest and name of the Holy Church.