The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-15

Drained e initiate st the time ~n.r -,
mnrarys Nas under the sway Of confused
81 But when zee Frenchm.n Of the ,;h
i;s ~ .ssPuoiic, an Engiishman Of the mar ar
confe,,s ~ monarchy, or Spaniard of the
his canins I'm democracy; who has used
Tas. ous though . radical and q reformer
,,,s, vald not restore him to his place in the
4. .. -. world. I remember, as instanc-
the ny thought, how when lamentinr At
.n ne LINE the harm was done to the French
- ~ the resignation OF Theirs. for
forrJ government l felt the most pro-
4Iunu aumiration, consoled myself with
tne reflection that 3 friend Of his conntrv
i ~ Jerome Napoleon, could neverthe.
France. o'asosions oi
IN political ideas Bradlaueh appeared To
aJ 70 @ very barren, but extraordinarily
roat.n Iotmeo on all economic and social
nss< though exceedingly radical.
ous mere have q little story with
simple moral which Twill relate. SO that
you may learn what difference there is
ue!ween radicals of Latin and Of Saxon
origin, especially when the Saxon radicals
understand 50 little international politics
g dio bradlaugh. The management of
plush home politics is quite different
DESTROYS of honorine him assembled a
republican committee in my district and
asked them to organize great banquet in
nonor OF our guest. They did 80. and
moreover, like true Spaniards. my friends
ana partisans,. though republicans, enter
tanned him like king. An English re-
pnnhcan was too rare sociological speci-
men for us not to regale him.
The guests at the banquet looked upon
MN az Revolutionary Titan, fresh from
the scene Of Cyclopean strifes, whose ex-
cessive ardor would inspire us with q spirit
Of emulation. They were tremendously
disappointed when he stood up. He was
toasted with the sobriety in drinking and
WITH the garrulity Of speech which is
in that mood which fayors display Of our
proverbial dignity and courtesy.
bradlaugh rose and made q speech in
English. His stature, almost gigantic as
compared with ours, his voice, which
would have drowned the voices of Rios
Rosas and Leon y Castillo, and his ora
toricai attitude and gestures enthralled
his audience. His speech was declared to
be great success, though the majority of
his hearers had not understood one single
word of it.
But unfortunately for my piece of mind
It occurred to me to request Professor
Benot, a linguist of great repute, who was
present ct the banquet, to translate into
Spanish those portions of the English ora
tors speech by which he had been most
struck, thus acquainting us with the gen.
eral sense of the discourse. must say
frankly that l thought we should hear
some grand political speech from a man
who had had the advantage over us of
having been born again and of having
educated himself to the love of revealed
liberty. However. Benots who was fully
competent to do SO, faithfully rendered
the leading points of the English speech
into Spanish.
This is what he said: ST am Republic
can, but my countrymen are not Republi-
cans. And, as they are not Republicans,
1t is impossible to force them violently to
declare themselves in favor Of Republic
AS our monarchy opposes no progress,
gainsays no liberty and does not endeavor
to exalt itself above parliament, no one in
England so far as know, thinks seriously
of overthrowing it. I am a Republican
and young one che was at that time
scarcely more than 80 years old), but I do
not expect, however long l may live, that
time. We are preparing the way, but we
shall retain the existing institutions In
future times the generations to come will
have to decide for themselves what is best"
The translation threw q wet blanket
over the audience. or, as we say in Span
ish, threw jug of cold water over them.
1t called forth no signs of appreciation.
When the banquet was ended the guests
dispersed with great alacrity, exclaiming,
And CASTELAR, described him to us as q
great radical!" They could not UNDER
stand what radicalism is among free peo-
ples--that is, how little radical it is.
What l never pardoned in Bradlaugh
was his mad firmness in maintaining. and
propagating atheism. l distrust all those
systems which knowingly and through
really systematic prejudice and miscon-
ception ask for the reasons which deter
mine exalted mysteries and whick ask how
intuition accepts rationalistic emblems.
Faith lives in the supernatural and in
the divine, which cause the ecstatic rap
lures of poetry and art. The truth is, that
while philosophy in its distractions and
apophthegms denies the indispensable
necessity of the religions sentiment, the
heart wounded by the death of the beings
it loves looks all the time beyond the
grave and finds inexpressible hope and
1t is for this that / so much admire
those great minds, who, like Gladstone,
are capable of religious belief and yet
whose religious creed does not pre-
vent then from favoring Chris
tian federation. The proposition
he made in the house of commons
that Catholic might be appointed lord
chancellor Of England or lord-lieutenant of
Ireland crowns Gladstone with glory.
This proposition of Gladstone crowns a
gigantic edifice-the suppression of that
Protestant church which Catholic Ireland
bore like the chain of slavery, whose last
links the god-like old man will be per-
mitted, by the just and well-merited favor
of Providence, to cut asunder before his
death.
And we must hope also from the God of
Liberty that Gladstone will dissipate athe-
list sophisms. such as those preached by
Bradlaugh, j ust as the sun dissipates the
low-lying clouds. EMILIO CASTELAR,.