The Opelousas courier., 1885-04-11
ma Defeat Of Gen. Barrios.
No. picayune, April 6.

tNM a 1M44GA NVNA -.
spr1le that the joy which will be
sslt throughout Central Ameri-
Il At the defeat Of the tyranni-
eal dictator, Rufno Barrios,
Will be tempered by his death
N the field of battle. If the
first imperfect reports of the af-
fair prove correct i'll the main
there has rarely been q more sud-
den or more complete collapse
Of a military adventurer than has
befallen the man who made
himself President Of Guatemala
and practical dictator OF Hon
duras by the hard rule of the
sword. His career Of about if
teen years has been cut short
by his own fault, for there is
not room to doubt that he could
have served as President of
Guatemala uninterrnptedly till
the conclusion Of the present
six years. term, and possibly
have secured an additional
lease of power without having
to fight for it, had he not taken
the field voluntarily at the head
ofhis armies for the purpose of
subiugating the sister Repub-
lies. Since he did appeal to the
sword, his defeat before the
armed entrance of Mexico upon
the scene is a fortunate circum-
stance, glorious for the brave
Republican forces which have
compassed his DOWNFALL, and
merciful to the Republics them
selves, since. they would else
have been subjected to the hor-
rors of a devastating war for an
indefinite period. The wars of
the Latin are peeu-
liarly devastating we could
better survive'a hundred years
Of war than they ten. Vene'
suela is afearful example, aud
all the Spanish Republics have
poured out their blood like
water in defense of their liber-
ties whose enemies never cease
from the land.
The best thing that could
happen to the republics of Cen
tral AMERICA would be union
with Mexico, which is. after two
generations Ut warfare, at last
Just settling down to the quiet
and peaceful enjoyment of re-
publican institutions aud the
consequent progress. II this
union is impossible, the next
best thing would be Il union
with each other ; not forced, rs
Barrios contemplated. but en-
tered into. They might do
worse than TO make such a
union under the immediate aus
pieces of the United States, aud
With our guarantee OF their per-
petual freedom contained in a
treaty of offensive and defensive
alliance. If such a union could
ba thoroughly established, i
would have no wars to fight,
because no enemies would ever
IA strong enough TO force the
issue
the present we suppose
the mild administrations Of
Costa Rica under Gen. Don
Pr0spero Fernandez, and Of
Nicaragua under DR.. Cardenas.
will be Initiated by zaldivar IN
Salvador and Soto in Honduras
DIR. Soto, by virtue of his abili.
ties and long service tliereln
belongs almost as much TO Qua.
temala to Honduras, and the
task of renovating the admins.
tration Of Guatemala could moi
be confdsd to safer or more
patriotic hands. He would
doubtless, be assisted to the ut
most by DR.. Zaldiyar, whose
gallant defense Of Salvador ha'
now elevated him to the proud
est position lii Central America
One of the most remarkable
peoples with whom missioiia
ries have I'd deal are the Falas
has oil Ethiopia. They are blacl
Hebrews, about 100000 IN rum
Der, living west of Jordan, VIII
have as their holy writings th'
Old Testament in All Ethiopi,
version, who still rigidly adfer'
to the Mosaic ceremonies ant
laws. They are the children 9
Hebrew immigrants, who, ID tn
time Of the great Dispersion
settled iii Abyssina and marrie'
wives of that nation. Effort
made during the last 200 year
To convert them to Christianit,,
haxva ,,rovnd unavaiIiMU-BOs