John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

[498] turn for a Democratic republic in France, for a free and united Germany, for the independence of Hungary, for home rule in Ireland, and for the consolidation and enfranchisement of Italy, and naturally, when he sent greetings to the Cubans, they hailed him as a friend who would stand with them to the last. They looked confidently to him for guidance and assistance, as well as for the creation of a sentiment in their behalf throughout the United States, without which they could not hope to win. Such of their leaders and agents as came to this country hastened to make his acquaintance and to invoke his counsel and advice, which never failed them. One of the first and most admirable of their number to lay down his life for the independence of Cuba was Jose Marti, and the news of his death aroused in no one greater regret than it did in Dana. It called from his pen a noble and touching tribute of admiration and respect, which will be found in the Sun of May 23, 1895. It runs as follows:

We learn with poignant sorrow of the death in battle of Jose Marti, the well-known leader of the Cuban revolutionists. We knew him long and well and esteemed him profoundly. For a protracted period, beginning twenty-odd years ago, he was employed as a contributor to the Sun, writing on subjects and questions of the fine arts. In these things his learning was solid and extensive, and his ideas and conclusions were original and brilliant. He was a man of genius, of imagination, of hope, and of courage, one of those descendants of the Spanish race whose American birth and instincts seem to have added to the revolutionary tincture which all modern Spaniards inherit. His heart was warm and affectionate, his opinions ardent and aspiring, and he died as such a man might wish to die, battling for liberty and democracy. Of such heroes there are not too many in the world, and his warlike grave testifies that even in a positive and material age there are spirits that can give