The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America - Percy T. Magan

seventeenth, Spain enjoyed great repute for the
manufacture of gloves, which were made in
enormous quantities and shipped to many parts,
being particularly valued in England and in France,
and being also exported to the Indies. But Martinez
de Mata, who wrote in the year 1655, assures us
that at that time this source of wealth had
disappeared, the manufacture of gloves having
quite ceased, though formerly, he says, it had
existed in every city in Spain.
“In every department all power and life
disappeared. The Spanish troops were defeated at
Rocroy in 1643; and several writers ascribe to that
battle the destruction of the military reputation of
Spain. This, however, was only one of many
symptoms. In 1656 it was proposed to fit out a
small fleet; but the fisheries on the coasts had so
declined that it was found impossible to find sailors
enough to man even the few ships which were
required. The charts which had been made were
either lost or neglected, and the ignorance of the
Spanish pilots became so notorious that no one was
willing to trust them. As to the military, service, it
98