Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-08-31
SAGASTA.
The willy Old Fox Uncle Sam Must Meet
In Diplomatic Array.


In Diplomatic Array.
London Sun.
Sagasta, the present Spanish prime
minister, is stifay built, frog-faced
man; with a strong jaw, a wide, insin.
cere smile, and black, filmy eyes, as of
an Arab or Gypsy. He has the glib
word, the expansive manner and the
exuberant gesture of the south. There
is one charge which his most embitter-
ed enemies dare not bring against him
that of cowardice. His convictions
may be centered upon himself, 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 pro-
ven himself as supple as a serpent, his
earlier history showed him to be as a
brave as lion. He fought against
O'Donnell in the streets of Madrid in
1856 at the head of regiment of
militia.
Before that, as lad of 1s, when a
student at the college of engineers at
Logrono, his native place, he hesitated
not to withstand the behests of the
dreaded Nervaez. Whenever the time
came for fighting he was ready to take
his share, yet, without impeaching that
undeniable physical pluck of which he
has given many proofs, it is not cur
prising to find that he made it his first
duty as a soldier to prevent himself
from being unnecessarily killed. Hence
in the summer of 1866, while many of
his colleagues stuck to their barricades
in tbs streets of Madrid and were mas
sacred, Sagasta underwent the much
more convenient fate of being con-
demned to the uncomfortable death of
the garrotte-in his absence.
Thenceforward, for two years, Lon
don, Paris and Ostend were the centres
of his activity, and if walls could speak
q certain restaurant of Bishopgate
street could tell some strange stories.
He engineered the revolution of 1866
and drove Isabella II. from the throne,
and this time fortune favored him.
When Topete and the fleet had been
won over and most of the army was
squared the signal was given. Sagasta
and Gorilla (as pure patriot as ever
lived, but too honest and consistent to
be a successful modern Spanish politi-
cian), with Prim as servant in livery,
sailed under assumed names in the
steamer Delta, from London to Gibral-
tar, early in the September of 80 years
ago.
I cannot be surprised at our Amer
ican cousins loathing the very name OF
Sagasta with the keenest of hatred
second only to that which they have
for General Weyler. 1t was because
of his direct action in 1873 that the
infamous General Burrill shot eight
Americans in one day, and four days
afterward shot Captain Fry, General
Ryan and So more. Indeed, OF all
prime ministers that Spain has ever
had, Sagasta has been the most merci-
less and unreliable. He is Talley-
rand Bismarck, with strong favor OF
Torquemada.
Even now the old mans astound-
ing good luck may be depended upon
to bring him to the surface again, al
though he has just exceeded mans al
lotted span. But there is more pa
tient and dogged enemy than the pal
try politicians who are in opposition
to Sagasta. This is no less a person
than General Weyler himself. The
two men have clashed for years, and
when Sagasta dismissed his enemy and
put Blanco in his place as captain
general of Cuba he made q most un-
wise move for his own interest and
for the peace of his closing years.
Weyler has too much of the slow-mov-
ing Dutch blood of his father to act
without discretion. So he watches
and waits.
p6F The New York Elevated rail.