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Granada and the Alhambra
S the great majority of those who visit
the Alhambra are enthusiastic in their
admiration and loud in their praise of
its splendors, it may seem rather dar
ing for one to throw in a discordant
note. Certainly he would be counted
reckless should he venture to say that,
in design and in execution, it was not
worthy of great praise, but this writer
A
does venture to modestly suggest that the note of
praise has been set too high, thereby some have
been led to expect too much, and have had the
pain of disappointment. Such was recently the ex
perience of half a dozen Americans who claim to
have average intelligence as to such things. The
members of this party, as they approached Granada,
were unusually stirred at the thought of visiting
that place and the Alhambra, which were associated
with historic incidents of such thrilling interest.
There was a spirited rivalry among them as to
who should get the first sight of the far-famed
palace of the Moors, the Alhambra —the only Al
hambra in all the world. The distant view was
not disappointing, and only made the members of
the party anxious to see more.
There was no lack of enthusiasm when it came
to climbing up to the heights on which the Al
hambra stands. All were eager and were stirred to
the highest point of expectancy, and this helped to
make the disappointment the greater, for there was
disappointment. The most reasonable explanation
for this must be sought in the following: The
glowing descriptions of its splendors had led them
to expect too much; they had recently seen the
Alcazar (at Seville) which, since it has been re
stored, is truly a rival of the Alhambra, and were
made to expect a structure of vaster proportions;
then, the commercial spirit, now playing such a
prominent part in the world, has been permitted
to invade the Alhambra precincts, much of the
space once devoted to beautiful gardens and charm
ing retreats around the buildings being now appro
priated to stores, hotels, stables, etc., the stores
displaying numerous pictures, among which are
seen those of many smooth-faced foreigners in
Moorish dress, in positions not only ridiculously,
but shamefully, out of keeping with what they pre
tend to represent. A Moslem Moor young man, sit
ting by his lady-love, would be shocking to a de
gree beyond description to any true Moslem’s idea
of propriety.
It may be that this party of six did not remain
long enough to study the palace and its decora
tions in detail, for they were made only too anxious
to get away by the tormenting persistence of the
venders of curios, by the mendicancy of the po
lice appointed to keep watch over the grounds, and
by the unbearable insolence of the other beggars
who wait to pounce upon the visitors. Anyhow,
they were disappointed, and some of them almost to
the point of wishing they had not come. Still no
one must conclude irom this plain speech that
Granada and the Alhambra are regarded by this
writer as unworthy of a visit. He does not seek
to defame what has aroused the admiration of
nearly all w 7 ho have had the privilege of seeing
it; but common honesty, to say nothing of his
duty to such as may contemplate visiting the Al
hambra, demands that he warn such not to expect
too much. The majority of visitors may be (as it
was with this part' ) unable to find in the Alham
bra that “Court icceeds court and hall follows
hall with bewilde .ng loveliness of sculpture quite
indescribable, and which, though endlessly varied,
is perfectly harmonious,” and to see that “a pet-<
rifled veil of the inost delicate lace covers every
wall, formed partly by flowers and geometrical pat
terns,” whatever that may mean; still the Alham
bra is doubtless the greatest example now in the
world, of the peculiar and interesting Moorish ar
chitecture.
In the very midst of the remains of the Alhambra
are. the ruins of the royal palace which the wicked
Sy Reb. P. L. Stanton.
The Golden Age for February 6, 1908.
conceit of Charles V. led him to have erected, much
of the Moorish palace having to be destroyed in
order to make room for it. It is utterly diverse in
style of architecture from the Moorish palace; its
circular walls looking more like those of an arena
for bull fighting than those of a royal palace. This
hideous structure had much to do with causing the
disappointment felt by the party of six.
In and around Granada there are other things
of interest to the visitor. In the city, now num
bering only about 75,000 people against the 400,-
000 in its best days when capital of the Moorish
kingdom in Spain, are several old churches which
deserve a visit, though the visitor may not be able
to believe in the wonder-w T orking power of the
images of saints which some of them possess. It is
rather provoking that these images uniformly de
cline to work their so-called wonders in the pres
ence of the Protestant visitor, and still more pro
voking to him to be accused of being in league
with Satan, and therefore the cause of their fail
ure to perform. Among these churches the most
important is the old cathedral, pronounced “one of
the finest churches in Europe. ’ ’ In its royal chapel
are the fine tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella. Side
by side, on the magnificent sarcophagus, are splen
did reclining statues of the king and queen. That
of the queen is especially remarkable for its beauty.
Isabella is greatly honored in Spain, and "well she
may be, for she was one of the greatest rulers, if
not the greatest, that the country ever had.
Shakespeare calls her “the queen of earthly
queens,” and Lord Bacon describes her as “an
honor to her sex and the corner stone of the great
ness of Spain.”
A short distance from Granada is the town of
Santa Fe, w’hich Isabella had built in eighty days
to replace her army camp which had been accident
ally destroyed by fire while she was besieging the
Moors in Granada. It was during that same siege
that Columbus, having grown weary with fivn years’
waiting and petitioning at the Spanish court, was
departing to offer his service to Henry VII. of
England. At an old bridge, not far from the town,
is the spot where the messengers from the queen
overtook him and brought him back, and arrange
ments were made which led to the discovery of
America. That was a triumph for the wise queen
just as much as it was for her, some time later, to
receive the keys of Granada surrendered to her by
the “luckless” Boabdil, the commander of the
Moors.
Whatever else may be said of the Alhambra, it
is splendidly situated on a lofty hill overlooking
the city. Then the surrounding scenery, culmin
ating in the lofty snow-crowned Sierra Nevadas, is
a fine display of nature’s grandeurs adorned with
charming touches of the beautiful.
Jerusalem, Palestine.
Among the Workers.
The Atlanta pastors and churches are perfecting
their plans for another simultaneous movement in
line of battle order upon the forces of sin. In old
times we used to get two or three or a dozen
churches to combine in a protracted meeting. That
was economy. It saved lots of trouble and time,
and it was “so fellowshipy” and social, and all
that, and everybody had such a good time. But
this new way of having all the churches in the city
at the same time move out into an active, soul
saving campaign is better. It does not save so much
time and trouble, but it saves more souls. And it
does not cost any fellowship, either. Atlanta has
never seen the day when there was half the real
Christian affection and fellowship between the ser
vants of the Lord that there is today.
The Baptist Times (London) closes an editorial
reviewing the acts of Parliament and showing that
in nearly everything the present Liberal govern
ment, “though supported in the House of Com-
mons by the largest majority recorded in our con
stitutional history, has found itself checked and
thwarted by the House of Lords. . . . After
all, the chief result of the past session is to be
found, not in the list of measures passed, but in the
deepening of the conviction of the Liberal party,
and in the country generally, that the immediate
duty is to effect such a readjustment of the rela
tions between the two Houses as to make the will
of the people really prevalent.”
That is very significant. And the underlying fact
is that in England, as it is in America, the religious
conditions of the people are impressing themselves
upon the legislatures and the courts.
In the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel
there occur the w T ords: “Let me go, for the day
breaketh.” George Matheson says: “I understand
this to mean that Jacob found it easier to be good
by night than by day. He formed fine resolutions
under the stars, which he tended to break in the
sunshine. ’ ’
We take this reference from The Baptist Com
monwealth. We do it to express our surprise to
find that a paper so well informed should seem
to accept the entirely fanciful interpretation which
Mr. Matheson places upon those words. Jacob’s
finding out that he could be good easier at night
than in the daytime, had nothing to do with the
angel’s demand to be “let go because the day was
breaking.” Usually, men whose deeds are evil
love the darkness rather than the light. There is
no reason to think that Jacob was different from
ethers. The notion that he made good resolutions
under the stars which he “tended to break in the
sunlight,” is absurd. Besides, those words were
not the words of Jacob, but of the angel. Jacob
was holding him. The angel demanded to be re
leased, and reminded Jacob that the day was break
ing, in all probability, merely to show to Jacob how
long they had been engaged in the wrestling con
test. There is no profit in reading into an incident
like that, absurd fancies, that serve only to mystify
and mislead. The Holy Spirit has given the story
as we find it in the thirty-second chapter of Gene
sis, and the fact that it was an all-night struggle
is very forcibly put by giving us those "words of
the angel: “Let me go, for the day breaketh,” and
then follow those memorable words of the patri
arch: “I will not let thee go except thou bless
me.” These words show indeed that Jacob had
learned how to pray, but nothing is said about
good resolutions.
Here are some things put together by Claud E.
Holmes, in The Youth’s Instructor:
One magazine has this to say about their results:
“We deny that science has demolished a single
one of the articles of faith put forth by the chief
religious Protestant denominations in the seven
teenth century. ’ ’
The Sunday School Times expresses itself in an
other way:
“The story of Biblical criticism is a story of
Biblical triumph .... The world delights,
now, to render homage to the Scriptures.”
The editor of the Ohio State Journal, in com
menting on some of the recent archeological dis
coveries at Rome, that have been upsetting Roman
history, and destroying even the “precious myth
of Romulus, Remus, and the she-wolf,” makes the
following remark:
“But, seriously, isn’t it strange that these deep
archeological researches —these deep burrowings
into the crust of the earth —play so much havoc
with profane history, but never run directly against
the records as given in the Bible?”
One editor aptly replies: “It is passing strange;
but some of us think we know the reason.”
Prof. A. H. Sayce writes: “I believe we are on
the eve of great discoveries in the East. The
‘ciitics’ were premature in announcing their con
clusions. They should have waited till the spade
had done its work!”
The first of January, 1908, has gone to its record
and the legalized drink traffic in Georgia, and in
much of Alabama, has gone with 1907, we joyfully
hope never io return.
