Litchfield enquirer., 1873-08-07
From i:ackwood's Magazine THE CURE SANTA CRUZ AND THE
 CARLiST WAR.


 Guipuzcoa, one of the three Basque provinces-anl the most picturesque of them-consists, with the exception of . few valleys, such as those of Aspaitia, Real de Leniz, Lagaspia, :he eega or rich plain lying between Lescano and Beasain, of hills covered with orchards, and of of-shOOts of the great Pyrenean chain. On the slope of one of these, call ed Mount HerniO, about half a league from TOlosa, the old capital of the prov ince, and close to the shaded spot where the Oria receives the waters of it's little tributary, the Berastegui, stands Her. niale, which, though it's population does not exceed 360 souls, claims to rank as a citta, taking precedence of the lugar. and coming immediately after the ci,tdad or city. With pardonable vanity. 1t more over displays on it's shield the device, ''Noble y leal Villa" which in truth IS hardly a distinction, as there are few towns in the peninsula that do not bear the same designation. The ground slopes down to the Oria, with which the stream let just mentioned mingles it's waters, and is usually clothed with soft and tender verdure. or planted over with frait-trees and with Indian corn, which constitute the chief agricultural produce of the prov ince. The village church is of the sim plest architecture, and is proportioned to the requirements of the population, many of whom, on the great festivals, resort to the more sumptuous structure of Tolosa, remarkable for the colossal statue of it's patron, St. John.
 One morning, in the month of June 1870. the parish priest, young man of eight-and-twenty, was celebrating mass at the usual hour. The attendants were few, for it was not Sunday nor holiday of obligation, and the majority of the par ishioners were employed in the field. The ceremony was more than half over when party of soldiers, led by an officer, en- tered the building with fixed bayonets. advanced to the steps of the altar. and there took their stand. When the mass was said and the priest about to retire. the officer announced in loud voice that he was his prisoner, and ordered him Gin the name of the law" to follow him there and then. The priest, thus rudely inter- rupted, manifested no surprise or irrita- ton; he merely requested to be allowed time to lay aside his vestments. The par ty followed him to the sacristy, where he disrobed. "Am I really to consider my self your prisoner?' he asked, looking fix edly, but with no indication of alarm, at the officer; "and if so, may ask what of fence l am charged with? It must, 1n- deed, be serious, to justify your intrusion into this place, and to arrest minister of religon at the foot of the altar, and in the act of performing his sacred functions. Of course must submit-but once more; hot G ri hear," said the officer, Gin the proper place. and from competent authority; my duty is simply to execute the orders of my superiors, before whom you will soon appear, and who will, doubtless, give aiii the explanation you desire" "Very good, sir" said the priest, in a gentle and re- signed tone; ''but have not yet broken my fast. It wants but half an hour to noon. I have been up since daybreak, and on foot, attending to the wants of my people; and presume, and hope, that your orders do not compel you to take me to prison half famished. My house is but few steps off, and sl.aH be satis- fled if you give me few minutes to swal- low cup of chocolate" 'sCertainly, |" answered the officer, Q young man of about ive-and-twenty, and of courteous manner. The guard followed him, and drew up at the door. 'I shall detain you but very short time. You will do me a favor by coming upstairs to my room; and share my refreshments. "Many thanks; but we remain here" The priest appeared so quiet in tone and manner, so utterly unconscious of having done any thing to merit harsh treatment, that the officer, ant probably his men, thought that, towards person so inoffensiYe and so jealous, 1t was an act of wanton tyran- ny. This favorable opinion was strength ened when a young man, the sacristan of the parish, brought out on small tray SIX or seven cups of thick chocolate, with the indispensable glasses of sparkling cold water, azucarillas, and cigarettes. Twenty minutes, half an hour, soon pass ed by; three-quarters;- s;-and the officer was growing impatient. He was about to summon his prisoner to descend, and had mounted q few steps, when he was met by a peasant on the staircase, bearing on his head large basket of apples and maize stalks, who stepped aside respectfully to make way for hlm. Ten minutes more elapsed, and the officer called out to the priest to come down. There was no an- swer. He called still louder; still no an- swer. He made sign to two of his men to follow. They ascended the creaking staircase, and entered the little room where the prisoner was supposed to be taking his tepast. On small round ta- ble there was indeed Q cup of chocolate, fanked by bit of dry toast and glass of water, but no one was there. The officer darted into the next room;-it was emp ty. He searched every hole and corner of the house-which was a small one-but in vain. The windows were shut, and there was no sign on the balcony of any person passing that way. The officer came to the conclusion that the peasant with the fruit-basket, who had made way fo, him on the staircase, and the priest, were one and the same. The peasant was he whose name is now so we'll known in the north of Spain, among the foremost and most daring of the Carlist chiefs, Manuel Santa Cruz, Cure of Hernialde.
 Santa Cruz was born in 1S42 in Eldua- yen, 8 village of Guipuzcoa not much more populous than that of which he was parish priest. It is four miles from To- lossa, and half that distance from the Navarrese border. Like Gil Bias, he was indebted to his uncle, an ecclesiastic, fol tAo tuu1Atc4ts uA 4I1blui AAA aS Qe 6Y1nC- ed a vocation for the Church, he was plac. ed in seminary at Bergara, and, by the generosity of the same relation, was ena- bled to complete his studies. He receiv- ed orders at the usual canonical age. He said his first mass in 1866, and two years afterward was appointed Cure of the par. ish of Hernialae, By those who knew him while a student, lie Is said to have been quiet and unassuming, of blame less life, and even austere in morals, "a fanatic, if you will, in what he believed to be the cause of religion and the cause of legitimacy, but sincere and disinter. ested. Next in love for the Prince whom he regards as the true heir to the crowr of Spain, is his admiration of Zumalacsr. regny, the famous champion of the Carl ists in the former var, and who, like him self, was g native of Guipuzcoa. The com panions of his sehooI-days tell how ht used to pore over the story of his com bats and the triumphs of the man whom he looked on as hero; and how his palt features flushed and his eyes glowei when he read of 'sJudas, as he called | L |,