The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-14
Aguinaldo In a New Light.

I aldo sure enough. Take him all
in all, We shall never look upon
his like again-not in this day and gen.
GRAFTON. To his laurels as sprinter, to
MS glories as general. to his halos as
statesman, to his golden whistles and
purple tassels as chief executive of the
Filipino nation, Aguinaldo is adding the
lustres, the dignities and sublimities of
a literary genius. 1t is not uncommon
| for military leaders of the first emil
nence to plunge into literature Caesar
| wrote his commentaries, Xenophon his
anabasis, Alexander the Great his dis
patches. Napoleon his codes, Toussaint
L'Ouverture his free trade proclama-
tions, Grant his memoirs, Roosevelt his
round robbins, Otis his bulletins: and
Aguinaldo his speeches and editorials
for the Filipino independents.
There is poetry In what Agunaldo
writes-no sweet girl graduate in nuns
yelling and satin slippers ever looked
deeper beneath the surface to the
sources of human action and feeling
and expressed the romantic and the
mystic, the picturesque and the exotic,
with more brilliant power and grace.
Take single sentence from Aguinal-
dos "Tarlac" speech, as it was cabIed
in the associated press dispatches from
Manila yesterday morning-it occurs in
his apostrophe to the Filipino nation:
Delicate flower of the East, scarcely
eight months weaned from the breast
of thy mother, thou hast dared to brave
great and powerful nation, such as is
the United States, after bravely organ
izing and disciplining thy little army"
Was there ever a daintier more ex-
quisite metaphor? Never mind the cav
ling critics who swear that it is viola
tive of all principles of botany for a
delicate flower, or even the most hardy
garden vegetable, to be weaned from
its mothers breast--1to say nothing of a
flower Immediately after such hasty
and premature weaving process organ
izing and diSciplining a small army.
Ordinarily, tt is true, flowers are not
weaned from their mothers breasts, As
Shakespeare puts 1t, perhaps with more
force than delicacy, a young, modest
and timid flower is generally found
'mewling and puking in it's mothers
arms" But in this instance, it should
be remembered, there was a forcible
separation of mother and flower, and the
flower found it had to shift for itself I'M
der the guidance and guardianship of
Aguinaldo in the capacity of nurse.
And this particular delicate flower
thrived so well that it went right out
and organized and disciplined an army,
braved a great and powerful nation,
slapped President Mckinley in the
face, made a monkey of General Otis,
and otherwise succeeded in raising a
vast quantity of fin de steele hell.
The capacity of delicate flowers seems
to have been underestimated. Perhaps
early weaving is the best thing in the
mothers breast in it's veriest infancy
and left to bottle and it's own re-
sources, see what this Filipino passion
flower has accomplished. 1t does indeed
seems that the forcible separation IS
harder ON the mother than the delicate
flower. 1T rs true" says Aguinaldo,
Spain sought to crush the aspiration
for independence, as a loving mother
opposes separation from the daughter
Of her bosom. This but proves the ex-
cess of love and affection Spain feels
for the Filipino
"Spain's love and affection for the
Filipino" is one of Aguinaldos happiest
hits. When he has time he should am
plify that idea into a volume Meta
phorically speaking-but let us not
speak in metaphors, Aguinaldo has the
bulge on us there. But going into de-
tail, he should favor mankind with
few chapters on the tender mercies of
Weyler and the broad charity and phil
anthropy of the bishop of Manila An
exceptionally inviting field is open to
| Aguinaldo as literateur. Combining
| the historical instincts of a Grote. the
rhetorical facility and briliance of a
Macauley, the passionate gethereative-
ness of the sweet singer of Michigan,
Aguinaldo, old boy, may yet be a valued
and shining contributor to the Helena
| Herald.