Middletown transcript., 1873-11-29

the Spanish civil wars during the last cen
,ury-shat is, II 10 languid. dssultosy. f.
rociess. snd indscisivs. Civil and rslig-
ious tyranny has 20 debaushsd shs sPsn-
ish people that though individually brave
they have lost the capacity for combined
aud protracted effort even in military Gu
terpriscs, y hich 10 one Of tho highes, marks
Of civilization. 1t is ono hundred and a.
y years since Spanish army counted for
anything among military aen. Fihy
thousand Frcnchmen or Germans could
any day during tha. time have marched 10
Madrid, and would bo sure to dissolve any
largo force tha. attempted to bar their pas
sage. But then they would find them
solves necessarily harasssd. as in all bar
baross countries. by guerillas, The ooun-
try people and the soldiers would BUSH
whack" them, as the Circassians or Greeks
or kaby!ss would do. There would bs
plenty Of fighting, but. on the Spanish
side. it would be by individuals and small
bands from behind rocks There would
be found neither tho capacity for obedience
nor tho mutual confidence, nor tho stall
war. courage, out Of which great armies are
made and by which grea, fields aro won
and national self-rsspec, preserved and per-
petuated. There would be found the re.
morsccss cruelty which has characterized
the operations in Cuba. Tie shos.ing or
torture Of prisoners is process with which
every Spanish officer is familiar. II took
place all through the war Of Independence
against, the French. and all through the
Caris; war Of 1887 aud il takes place in
the two civil wars nov waging on Spanish
soil. All these wars, too, were and ara
characterized By the languor which marks
the Cuban war The first Carlst war
lasted six years, though wagvd agninat the
whole Spanish army, aided by 9 British
Legion. > There appears to be no good
reason Why the present operations against,
Cartagsna, both by sea and land. should
not lss, indefinitely. The Spauiards Of
the Now World, too, appear to have both
the tralitionary virtues aud vices Of the
mother country. They are perpstually al
war, though their war is never en- great
scale, ana victory is invariably, or all
bu, invariably. followed BY wholesale cx.
eeu'ious Tho Cuban creoles. long-suf-
faiing patriots though ileY be, arc just as
cruel a, the men they war against. There
has been no atrocity committed in tho
present struggle by the spauiar.ls which
they hayo no, matched. Why should they
be nny better than the spaniards. We
wish some Of our rhetorical friends in this
country would, after having bathod their
own heads. ask themselves this question.
aud answer IL: Wha, reason have We for
supposing that tho descendants Of Span
iards. bred to u tropical climate. under the
teaching of tropical Catholicism, in contuc,
with negro slavery. aud undor q military
government. have become the sober. .chaste
sef.restrained. brave. aud humane patriots
who are usually held up for popular ad.
niratiou at Indignation meetings? II ought
10 BE- asked just now with moro than usua
solemuity, aui answered with more ,hau
the usual sense of responsibility. because
when va talk of annexing Cuba, US som,
of our orators do most glibly. We mean til.
admission to share in this government 0
a motley million and a half of spaniarls
eubaus, and negroes, to whom our rslig
ion, manners, political traditions and hab
its. aud modes of thought ars. 10 tell til,
homes, truth, about us familiar a. they ar,
TO the king Of Dahomey II over iher
was step which the nation needed to tax
with cool head i. is tho step of med
ding in this Cuban matter = The Mutton