The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-28
SAGASTA.
The willy Old Fox Uncle Sam Must
Meet In Diplomatic Arrav.

Meet In Diplomatic Array.
From the London Sum-
Sagasta, the present Spanish prime min
lister, IS stifly built. frog-faced man, with
strong jaw, wide, insincere smile and
black, hlmy eyes, as Of Arab or a gypsy.
he mas the glib word, the expansive manner
ana the exuberant gesture Of the South.
mere Is one charge which his most ge1nbit
tered enemies dare not bring against him
that OF cowardice His convictions NAV ba
centered upon himself, but most emphat
lcaliy ne has the courage of them. Over
anu ABOVE MS vast astuteness Of thought.
no ID man OF action. If for many years
ne has proven himself as supple as se-
pent, his earlier history showed him to he
as brave as lion. He fought again o'Don-
nell IN the streets Of Madrid in 1856 at the
head of regiment OF militia.
Before that, as lad of eighteen. when q
student at the College Of Engineers at To-
groio' his native place, he hesitated not IN
Withstand the behests Of the dreaded Nar-
yaez. Whenever the time came for fgbt;no
ne was ready to take his share. vet without
lmpeaching that undeniable physical MUCK
OF which he has given many proofs. it is
not surprising to find that he made r. his
nrst duty as a soldier to prevent himsaf
from being unnecessarily killed, Hence in
the summer of 1865. while many Of his col
leagues stuck to their barbados in the
streets OF Madrid and were maesacred So
sasta underwent the much more convent. nt
iate OF pe1ng condemned to the uncomforta
Die death of the garrotte-in his absence.
InenceforWard, for two years. london
Paris and Ostend were the centers Of his
ACTIVITY, and If walls could speak a certain
restaurant OF Bishopsgate street could tell
Soihe strange stories. He engineered the
and
from the throne. and this time fortune "a
vored him. When Topete and the fleet had
peen won over and most of the army VINO
squared the signal was given. Sagasta and
Acrllia las pure a patriot as ever lived but
TOO honest and consistent to be a suecess-
fui modern politician), with Prim as q sarv-
ant in livery, sailed under assumed rona,
in the steamer Delta from London tn Gil
raltar, early in the September of thirfy wears
ago.
cannot be surprised at our American
COUSINS ioatnlhs the very name of Sagasta
with the keenest Of hatred-second only tn
that which they have for Gen. Wevler r.
was because of his direct action in 1879 thai
the Infamous Gen. Burrill shot eight Ann
leans in one day, and four days afterward
shot Capt. Fry, Gen. Ryan and ffty-eieht
more. Indeed, OF all prime ministers that
Spain has ever had, Sagasta has bean tho
most merciless and unreliable. He is a Tai
leyrand- Bismarck, with astrong flavor Of
Torquemada. -
Even now the old mans astounding good
luck may be depended upon to bring him to
the surface again, although he has Just ex-
ceeded mans allotted span. But thera 10 a
more patient and logged enemy than tba
paltry politicians who are in opposition to
Sagasta. This is no less a person than Ge,
Weyler himself. The two men have clashe6
for years. and when Sagasta dismissed his
enemy and put Blanco In his place as CAP
tain general of Cuba he made a most IN
wise move for his own interest and for the
peace of his closing years. Weyler has to,
much of the slow-moving Dutch blood of
his father to act without discretion. So he
watches and waits.