Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1870-01-12
YE CUBAN PATRI0T--A CALM
INSPECTION OF HIM.
by MARK TWAIN.

wrenchcd with sympathy for the
Cuban "patriot," and with hatred for
his inhuman oppressor. Our journals
are filled with the struggles, the suf.
ferings, and the noble deeds of this
patriot, and nothing on earth can get
onr attention for a moment unless it
has something 20 do with him. The
tears that are shed over his misfor-
tunes every day would float a navy;
ihe daily ink that is lavished upon
'sss thinning Of his virtues would float
another one and u u1Outu Or tnc
prayers that are offered for his lifting
up, il concentrated upon the worlds
dead, might precipitate the final
resurrection. We are bound up, heart
and soul, in our Cuban patriot. p
We live but for him, we should die if
he werc taken from us. Daily VIC cry,
"Holy, holy, holy, and perfect and
beautiful, is Heavens beloved, the
sublime Cuban 'patriot ~
And how grand character he is J
How gallant, how lofty, how magnan-
imous His career from the moment
his heart is first stirred with patriotic
emotions till that heart ceases 10 beat,
is chivalrous romance. He begins
by shouting, "Down with the Span
lard !" in the streets of Havana
Then he and hundred of his fellows
are captured by handful of soldiers
and thrown into prison. Here they
take the oath 10 the government, hire
out to il as spies upon other patriots,
and finish by denouncinga hundred Of
their personal friends to the govern
ment ut so much head. Those
parties are duly shot, garroted, or
hanged in the public plaza, or other
wise made away with according to
the peculiar taste OF the commandant
in the matter of executions.
Next, the patriot escapes to the
country and resumes patriotism once
more. A few hundred Of them band
together, and then we hear of gallant
deeds They pounce upon deserted
plantations and burn up the sugar
crop and the negro quarters, aud
forthwith our great Journals shriols
the tidings Of "Anothcr grand patriot
victory :"
Then the government troops cap
ture half the Snightly gang and shnt
them up in barn and burn them
alive. And Immediately our great
journals, and our Congressman. and
ourselves, rage about the brutal in
humanity OF Spain-nnd with all our
hearts we hate those Spaniards for
burning up those pure patriots, and
standing ESae 5cSahi6h'o6fc Somehow help
feeling rather glad they did it.
Pretty soon the great journals tell
us, in laundering display lines, how
the patriot warrior Don Agullar Jesus
Maria Josey John the Baptist Busia-
mcnte, made a brilliant dash upon the
great plantation of Scnor Madre de
Dois el Calderon Gewhilikens de
Valladolid, and burned up the whole
concern, considering il best on the
whole to do this, inasmuch as Scnor
Nallndolids political opinions were
exactly Of the universal Cuban pat
tern, and could never by any posi-.
bility be depended upon to remain in
ono shape two hours at time, unless
the holder Of the same were asleep or
dead. And further, the papers tell
us how the patriot Bustamcnie and
his six hundred followers next marched
Valladolid and his family down the
road some thirteen miles. on foot,
and with ropes around their nccks for
convenience Of steering them, and
then. while the helpless parents and
children knelt and pleaded piliously
TOR life, bodily carved them TO pieces
with bowie-knivcs And all America
shouts, "Hurrah dor gallant Cuba =
down with her hated oppressor ~
And ficrcely We bcsiege Congress to
''recognize" the struggling patriots
and reward their single hearted virtue
with our appreciative protection.
Right away we hear that the Span.
ish troops aud Bnstamentes army
have met and fought n tremendous
battle We gloat over the particulars
We thrill from head 10 heel as We read
how that the battle ragged furiously
from eight in the morning till six in
the evening, resulting ia the complete
destruction Of eleven barns, two
plantntions. three saw mills, one hos.
pital and its patients, and the total
route Of the enemy, with loss oI
sixteen wounded, and also one killed
BY being run over by wagon. But
We rrievc sore TO hear that the nntrioi
instruments was taken prisoner by
the brutal Spanish horde, and oui
hearts sink. and suffer, and break
whom we hear that his captors lassoed
him and dragged him three miles tC
tho military prison at the heels Of q
galoping horse, and then decided
that il was Just ns cheap 10 confinJ
what was left Of him in a coffin. And
how we do abuse the uncivilized sort
Of warfare those Spaniards wage
But soon We rejoice once more
when VIC hear that The unconquerabl,
patriots from n safe hiding place IL
the hills, have sent out omissaries ant
fomented conspiracy among th,
slaves, which has resulted in a gentl,
midnight massacre, by the blacks. o.
cbuple Of dozen slumbcring families
Of white people, accompanying th'
deed with the usual Cuban impariialit,
ms TO whether the families woiV
"pttriols" or friends Of the govern
ment
And while we are still rejoicing
over this victory, We learn how tha
! tho patriot instigaiors OF il, being
close pressed, laid down their arms
} took the oath TO serve Spain, an,
then for n consideration informed an,
, helped TO capture all those slaves an,
furnish each of them with twelv'
J hundred tfifing lashcs on TIE bar
! back with OK whips. in the course q
which entertainment somo Of th
! slaves died, aud the rest followed sui
The next day. But all, they died in
! glorious cause. They died 10 ire
. ! h.t. ,.,.,,..t ,.,- f,aa~,, ttn opt.rocoot