Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1870-05-12
The Country of Lopez Its Misfortune,
ana Iyrants


| Paraguay is very small country III
estimate of its area, which was given h.,
Colonel Du Gratz, aud has been adontaiss
THE statesman's Yearbook" is to be re.
duced, on the authority of Captain Burton
by Ii, 537 square Spanish leagues. That
extent is added by Du Gratz for the part Of
the Gran Chaco belonging to Paraguay
but this possession is purely fancifql y"
The population might be taken before tba
war at $50, 600, of whom about 200 GOO
have persisted since 1866. There remain
| then, say 230, 900 women and children ana
30, 600 men. 1t is almost inconceiyabla
that, with such population and such a
territory, accessible as it Is through its
large and navigable streams, Lone
should have been mad enough n
take the initiative in war against such an
empire as Brazil, with force of regular
troops and national guards amounting to
GAG, 600 men, assisted by the Argentine
Confederation and Uruguay republics
which could dispose of another $4,000
soldiers No doubt the very audacitv
oil the Paraguayan President excites SYM.
patty, but it must be remembered that he
sacrificed peaceful and contented people
not in defense of their country and their
homes, but in support of his own aggression,
Captain Burton divides the war into three
periods. The first is the offensive portion
in which Lopez raised an army of so, 900
men, in consequence of the invasion of the
Banda Oriental by Brazilian troops, and
marched a corps ddrmee 20, 900 strong I'm.
der General Robes and another u 900
strong, under Colonel Estigarripia, down
the rivers to Parana and Uruguay, intend
ing them to unite at Concordia, and then
occupy Buenos Ayres. The second period
the defensive commenced with the end of
October, 1865, when the survivors of the
defeated corps returned to the President
and it lasted till the battle of Iona Valen.
tina, on December 25-27, 1868, when
Lopez fought and lost decisive battle
The third, or guerrilla period, has lust
ended with the disappearance of Lopez
beyond the Apa river; and it is hoped the
wilderness has swallowed up the scapegoat,
with all the sins of this carnage of five
years upon him.
Captain Burton, as is well-known. has
been transferred to the Consulate of Damas-
Gus. But he WAS three years and a half in
Brazil, and during that time he made two
visits TO the seat of war. The first. from
the 18th of August to the 18th of Septem-
Der, 1868, led him to the mouth of the Te-
bicuary river, when the Paraguayan batter
les of San Fernando were being stormed.
The second lasted from the 5th to the 2Stb
OF April, 1869, when the drama was near
its end. He had, therefore, the best op.
portunities Of studying the subject. and
being personally acquainted with the
leading officers Of the allied army, and
having seen the private documents taken
from Lopez, we may fairly assume that bis
Judgment is correct OF course, the chief
interest of the volume centers on Lopez
himself, chief of very remarkable char
acter, who exercised despotic power over
a valiant and submissive people. 1t is in.
structive to see how, IN such q position, a
man with the best aspirations and OF
kindly nature is driven in spite of himself
to play the tyrant and to deeds which he
himself must regard with adherence. 1t is
the story of Theodore over again the story
of every one who having risen to absolute
power, finds himself compelled to sacrifice
the lives of others in self-defense.
Blood once shed indifference grows apace.
In the papers taken from the carriage of
Lopez are the death warrants of many a
soldier for such offenses as repeating the
sayings of the enemy. Worse still, ''the
mothers or wives of the bravest officers,
who were compelled by the fate of war to
yield themselves prisoners, were forced
publicly to disown their sons and husbands
as traitors, and, failing to do so, we're i'm
prisoned, exiled or logged to death |" "Yet
amidst the papers of sternest import the
instruments of tyranny which riveted
chains upon free people, are others which
show heart of a softer stuff :"
In the midst of the horrors of retreat,
after incessant disasters, Lopez writes q
long affectionate letter to his mother which
ends with--"Please convince yourself,
mamma, of all the love with which your
blessing is begged by your most obedient
son." The moral Of all this is one which
ought to have been well learnt by this
time-that absolute power is twice cursed.
1t curses those who give it and those who
takes it. The elder Lopez was no less
despot, though wiser than his son. Fran
cia who preceded him, 'the dark Dcta-
tor, at the age of eighty-three, rushing to
sabre his currandero, or doctor, fell into
fit, and died because tho sergeant OF the
guard dared not enter to assist him without
orders London Atleauua.
A SINGULAR and tragic circumstance oc-
CURED recently in Kentucky. A white man
living near Hopkinyille, who, it appears,
was anything but neat in his habits, un-
derwent an attack of smallpox, which was
prevalent at that place, and when he be-
came convaloscent gave the shirt he had
worn during his illness to negro woman,
with strict injunctions to bury it deep in
the ground to prevent its communicating
the contagion. The colored lady's ideas
took too prudent turn to admit Of her
wasting good shirt in that manner, so
she washed the article and gave it to her
husband, who appeared at church the next
Sunday in oil the rare glories ofa clean un-
dergarment But the next day he was
down with the loathsome disease, and died
soon altar The widow did moi t,rotit nv