National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-18

cUBzH IHDEPENDEyeE.
fFron the New YORK Hersid-1
z Senator Carpenters resolution calling for
the recognition Of Cuban belligerency Deserves
special attention from the Congress Of the
United States. It Is now well nigh six years
since the people Of Cuba rose in arms against
. hateful rule, and, during that period, they
have gallantly sustained the struggle for inde-
pendence against all odds. Public opinion has
time s1d again spokep IN favor Of the recogni-
ton Of Cuban Independence.
The war carried on by Spain in Cuba will
end, as all her wars In America have ended, by
the final withdrawal OF the Spanish forces.
Had Spain the power to suppress the insurrec-
ton 1t would long since have been suppressed;
but, so lar from this being the case, the power
and influence OF the insurgents grow stronger
every day. II they were allowed. to supply
themselves freely with arms and ammunition
the end Of the conflict would not be remote.
The interests Of humanity demand that the
struggle be brought, as soon as possible, to q
close, and the best way to do this is to ac-
knowledge Cuban bslligerency. The Spaniards
might then recognize the hopelessness Of their
efforts TO conquer the island, and consent to
make peace on such terms as would be profit
able and honorable to them.
a FOX HUNT ~ TIE ETERNAL CITT.
A fox hunt bodily transplsnted out of the
English shires to the Campagna around Romel
As'view-haIloo" within hearing of the, Cata-
combsl The mere idea Is enough to make each
separate saint of all the tens Of Thousands who
lie there, and have lain in pc ace for some six
teen hundred years, turn in his narrow rock
hewn bed. or all the transplantations Of bits
Of English life to foreign soil, this establish
ment Of fox hunt ct Rome Is the most won
derful and the most sudacious. Think Of lis
tening to the music Of the. hounds under.t
shadow Of the tower-tomb Of Cecilia Metellsi
Think Of Reynard ''stealing away" between
the sepulchres which line the Via Appia. Yet
IL has taken root in the soil TO- which IL has
been transplanted, and has become an institu-
ton. A- 49, -
Many of eRoman jesaesss doree have taken
to the sport-kindly. and would find great gap
In their winter amusements If the English hunt
were no longer In existence. But 1t would as
suredly cease to exist II It were wholly cut of
from the parent stock. A continuous supply
of English riders, English horses, English dogs,
and, above all, English ways and ideas, is
needed to cause the exotic plant to flourish.
Possibly American patronage might keep up
the hunt, even If Old England had sunk be-
meath the sea, for it is at the present day as
much supported by Americans as by English
men; but Il may be safely affirmed that If the
Italians we're left to manage 1t by themselves,
the institution would not last long. They are
not "to the manner born" though, as have
said, some among them take to it kindly. The
prince royal Is great supporter Of the hunt,
and is very constantly present at the meets
And he does not ride badly. Prince Sciarra Is
also very regular attendant, and does the
thing, as far as Il Is possible for one of Latin
race to do II, in good English style.
But let us suppose, not that Chanticleer has
proclaimed . hunting morning, !" In the words
ere. Nimrods Of the Eternal City do not dream
cseurning out TIL near midday-but that the
'italica Nclps has proclaimed 1t in It's columns,
and betake ourselves to mark "the humor" OF o
meet in the Campagna.
The meet on this occasion shall be at the,
tomb of Cecilia Metella-perhapst the prettiest,
most characteristic and most picturesque of all
the spots at which the Roman hunt Is IN the
habit of assembling. This celebrated tomb Is
situated by the side Of the Via Appia, about
two miles from the gate Of St. Sebastian, on
the southern side Of the city. Via Appia-
'slongarum regina viarum," as the old Roman
poet calls twas the great means Of commn-
nication between Rome and all the south Of
Italy and the port Of Brundusium, the modern
Brindisi.
r The Via Appia was therefore also the high
way leading to all the Roman settlements and
colonies In the Levant, as well as to Egypt and
to Greece. For the first ten or twelve miles of
its course AFTER leaving the city the road is
lined by an almost continuous succession of
ancient sepulchres, and Immediately after pass
ing the Catacombs of St. Sebastian Il plunges
into the full desolation Of the Campagna. The
peculiar and unspeakable sadness which is the
special characteristic Of the Roman Campagna
and also, it may be said, its special charm.
has often been remarked. And that portion of
the vast and wonderful prairie which the trav-
eler enters on who leaves Rome by the Via APP
pia bears impressed on 1t this special character
istic perhaps more strikingly than any other.
Certainly, whether considered with reference
to the immediate foreground or to the features
Of the distant view, It Is the most beautiful.
In front, as he faces south, the wayfsrer on
the Via Appia has the Alban Hills, cul ninat-
ing in Monte Cavo, and shutting In the plain
of the Campagna before HIS eyes. They are
studded with towns and villages, which show
like white spots OF light amid the darker color
ing of the surrounding woods, or retire into
shadow scarcely to be distinguished from them,
according as the southern sun touches them
with his guiding or feeting cloud shelters
them from his eye. But these distant evi-
dences Of the presence of human life are too
far of 10 mar the absolute and impressive soil
tude of the scene. Immediately around are
the silent but eloquent memorials of ths pastl
such dim and ever DINNER abysses Of the pasti
vistas of dark centuries, barely rendered visible
BY twinkllng light Of history or tradition, seen
ct the farther end Of other even darker vtstas
Of barbarous MEDIEVAL generationsi They are
all represented. They have all left their mark
on that triply palmpsest surface.
Even as the geologist shows us the strata
of the globes crust, one bepeath the other,
differentiated by the characterizing fossils each
contains, and formed at epochs far distant
from each other, so on this wondrous Roman
plain may be traced the different eovehss Of the
works Of by-gone generations superimposed
one upon the other, and celebrating one the
other. Tombs, from the princely structure
which has given Its name to the locality in
question to the humble roadside slab bearing
q half-obliterated name; temples, from the
pagan fanes of deities whose names are forgot
ten on the lips of the people, though the raison
detre of them still lives In their hearts and fash
ions their lives, to the wretched lath- and -plas-
ter saints inches Of the present day; lettering
walls and vaults Of imperial pleasure-houses;
huge esrthworks, the purpose and meaning Of
which not even the archeologist can guess; foun-
dations, shattered arches, aqueducts-these
are the characters, in which history writes her
Wondering records around. And the present
utters no sound to distract from them the at
tention Of the reader. Utter, utter solitude is
the characteristic, and seems TO be the appro-
pirate characteristic Of the region:
Possibly before your eye and the horizon the
solitary figure of q horseman may be seen
crossing the wide surface Of the plain, or per-
haps passing beneath one Of the arches which
are as the giant strides Of the squeduct as II
stalks across the far-stretching extent of brown
grass-felds. He Is doubtless smassaro," as
the men are called TO whose care the vast herds
that roam over the Campagna are entrusted;
and he looks, with his gun slung behind his
back, his long goad-whlch may do duty IN the
picture Of him for lance-his steeple-crowned
brigs1d hat, and his easy and free seat upon
HIS horse, as picturesque q figure and one as
appropriate to the scene as an Arab on the
desert. And his silent passage across the field
Of your vision has IN nowise the effect of
diminishing the solitariness of the scene.
These are the surroundings among which we