Phoenix weekly herald. [volume] (Phoenix, Maricopa County, Ariz. Territory) 1896-1899, 1898-09-08
Sagasta.

SagaSta. the present Spanish prime
minister. is a stiffly built, frog-faced
man, with a strong jaw, a wide, insin
cere smile. and black, fllmy eyes, as
of an Arab or a gypsy. He has the
glib word, the expansive manner and
the eXuberant gesture of the south
There is one charge which his most
embittered enemy dare not bring
against him-that of cowardice. His
convictions may be centered upon him.
self. but most emphatically he has the
courage of them. Over and above his
vast aStuteness of thought he is a man
of action. If for many years he has
proved himself as supple as a serpent,
his earlier history shows him to be as
brave as a lion. He fought in 1856 at
the head of a regiment of militia.
Before that, as lad of IS, when a
student at the College of Engineers at
Logrono, his native place, he hesitat-
ed not to withstand the behests of the
dreaded Nervaez. Whenever the time
was ready for fighting he was ready
to take his share, vet. without i'm
peaching that undeniable physical
pluck of which he has given many
proofs, it is not surprising to find that
he made it his first duty as a soldier
to prevent himself from being unneces-
sarily killed. Hence, in the summer
of 1866, while many of his colleagues
stuck to their barbados in the streets
of Madrid and were massacred. Sa-
gasta underwent the much more con-
venient fate of being condemned to the
uncomfortable death of the garrote-
in his absence.
Thenceforward, for two years in
London, Paris and Ostend were the
centers of his activity. and if walls
could speak a certain restaurant of
strange stories. He engineered the
revolution of 1866 and drove Isabella
II. from the throne, and this time for
tune favored him. When Topetc and
the fleet had been won over and most
of the army was squared the signal
was given. Sagasta and Gorilla las
pure a patriot as ever lived, but too |
honest and consistent to be a success
full modern Spanish politician). with |
Prim as Il servant in livery, sailed IN
der assumed names in the steamer |
Delta from London to Gibraltar early |
in the September of thirty years ago.
I cannot be surprised at our Ameri-
.an cousins loathing the very name of |
Sagasta with the keeneSt lhatred-sec-
md only TO that which they have for
General Weyler. 1t was because of
his direct action in 1878 that the in
,amous General Burrill shot eight
Americans in one day. and four days
Ifterward shot Captain Fry. General
Ryan and fifty-eight more Indeed. all
prime ministers that Spain has ever
Iad Sagasta has been the most merci-
ess and unreliable. He is Talley-
and Bishmark, with strong flavor of
Even now the old mans astounding
oOd luck may be depended upon to
ring MIN to the surface again. al
bought he has just exceeded mans
Dotted span. But there is more pa
lent and logged enemy than the
altry politicians who are in opposi-
on to SagaSta. This is no less a per ,
Dn than General Weyler himself The
NO men have clashed for years. and
hen SagaSta dismissed his enemy and !
ut Blanco in his place as captain-gen- ,
raj of Cuba he made Il most unwise
love for his own interest and for the !
7ace of his closing years Weyler has :
No much of the slow-mOving Dutch .
God of his father to act without dis :
elton. SO he watches and waits.-i ,
OndOn Sun.