of this great and
glorious republic. But, alas, they were not, and it is a memory embalmed
that nails a man to the cross.

I was in prison when the war with Cuba was inaugurated, a war that will
never pass from memory while hearts beat responsive to the glory of battle
in the cause of humanity. How men turned from the path of peace, and
seizing the sword, followed the flag! As the blue ranks of American
soldiery scaled the heights of heroism, and the smoke rose from the hot
altars of the battle gods and freedom's wrongs avenged, so the memory of
Cuba's independence will go down in history, glorious as our own
revolution--'76 and '98--twin jewels set in the crown of sister centuries.
Spain and the world have learned that beneath the folds of our nation's
flag there lurks a power as irresistible as the wrath of God.

Sleep on, side by side in the dim vaults of eternity, Manila Bay and
Bunker Hill, Lexington and Santiago, Ticonderoga and San Juan, glorious
rounds in Columbia's ladder of fame, growing colossal as the ages roll.
Yes, I was in prison than, and let me tell you, dear friends, I do not
hesitate to say that God permits few men to suffer as I did, when I awoke
to the full realization that I was wearing the stripes instead of a
uniform of my country.

Remember, friends, I do not uphold war for commercial pillage. War is a
terrible thing, and leads men sometimes out of the common avenues of life.
Without reference to myself, men of this land, let me tell you
emphatically, dispassionately, and absolutely that war makes savages of
men, and dethrones them from reason. It is too often sugarcoated with the
word "patriotism" to make it bearable and men call it "National honor."

Come with me to the prison, where for a quarter of a century I have
occupied a lonely cell. When the door swings in on you there, the world
does not hear your muffled wail. There is little to inspire mirth in
prison. For a man who has lived close to the heart of nature, in the
forest, in the saddle, to imprison him is like caging a wild bird. And
yet imprisonment has brought out the excellencies of many men. I have
learned many things in the lonely hours there. I have learned that hope
is a divinity; I have learned that a surplus of determination conquers
every weakness; I have learned that you cannot mate a white dove to a
blackbird; I have learned that vengeance is for God and not for man; I
have learned that there are some things