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AND
THE CUBANS;
COMPRISING
A HISTORY OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA,
ITS PRESENT SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND DOMESTIC CONDITION;
ALSO, ITS RELATION TO ENGLAND AND THE
UNITED STATES.
BY TIlE AUTIIOR OF "LETTERS FROMZ CUBA."
WITH AN APPENDIX,
CONTAINING IMPORTANT STATTSTICS, AND A REPLY TO SENOR SACO
ON ANNEXATION, TRANSLATED FROM TIE SPANISH.
NEW YORK:
SAMUEL HUESTON, 139 NASSAU STREE'T.
GEORGE P. PUTNAM, 155 BROADWAY.
1850.




Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1850, by
SAMUEL HUESTON,'
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern Distiict of New York.
STEREOTYPED BY BANER AND PALMER,
201 William st., corner of Frankfort, N. Y.




PREFACE.
No excuse is deemed necessary for publishing a volume
on Cuba, at a time when the attention both of England
and the United States is directed toward that island with
eager interest. Political events have transpired so rapidly
within the last two years, that
" That of an hour's age doth hiss the speaker."
We are borne onward by a force which seems hastening
some great consummation. If all do not agree as to the
result which these changes are to bring, no one can shut
his eyes to the changes themselves. They have multiplied
within the year; they are multiplying; they will continue
to multiply. The conservative and the radical-the ultra
whig and the ultra democrat-are all overwhelmed by the
resistless course of things, if they stop even but a moment
to contemplate it. What is to be done? Shall we attempt
to stay this irresistible progression, and be swept away by
it; or shall we rather do what we may to control and
direct it?
As to Cuba, a word only need be said. With or without the United States, she will soon be free from Spanish
dominion; and-which is of greater consequence to this




1V                    PREFACE.
country-if free without our aid or influence, she falls to
England. How will the United States relish the possession
by that nation of a point which commands the Gulf of
Mexico and the mouth of the Mississippi?
The analysis of Cuban taxes in these pages is believed
to be the first of the kind ever attempted; and it is hoped
the chapters on the social and domestic manners of the
Cubans, on religion and education, will interest the reader.
The Appendix contains much important statistical information, together with a translation of a pamphlet from the
Spanish in reply to Don Jose Antonio Saco, on the subject
of the annexation of Cuba to the United States. This last
is given to illustrate the feeling among the Cubans themselves, and to show the opinions held by the leading Cuban
planters.
It should be stated that the larger part of the first
chapter of this work is abridged from the historical notice
of Cuba in i" Turnbull's Travels in Cuba."
New York, March 1st, 1850.




CUBA AND THE CUBANS.
CHAPTER I.
Cuba discovered by Columbus.-Names of the Island.-Character
of the Natives.-Town of Baracoa.-Havana burnt in 1538.-Seat
of Government transferred to Havana.-Succession of Governors,
— Cultivation0 of Tobacco and Sugar introduced about 1580.Slavery introduced at the same time.-Depredations of Pirates.A Commissioner of the Inquisition comes from Carthagena to reside in Havana.-Jamaica taken by the English.-Apprehensions
of the Cubans.-The English repulsed.-Walls commenced round
the City-of Havana in 1663.-City of Santiago destroyed by an
Earthquake.-Invasion of the Island by the English in 1762. —
Morro Castle taken by them July 30th, and the City of Havana on
the 14th of August.-Distribution of the Spoils.-Peace concluded
with England in 1763.-The Island restored to the Spaniards.Results of the wise Policy of Las Casas.-Great Fire in 1802.News of the Proceedings of Napoleon in Spain.-Its Effects in
Cuba.-Negro Conspiracy.-Different Captains-General.
CUBA, the finest and largest of the West India Islands, was discovered by Columbus himself, on the 28th
day of October, 1492, and was named by him  Juana,
in honor of Prince John, the son of Ferdinand and Isabella, the sovereigns of Aragon and Castile.
Upon the death of Ferdinand, the island was called
Fernandina. It afterward received the name of Santiago, as a mark of reverence for the patron saint of
Spain, and still later, the inhabitants, to illustrate
their piety, gave it that of Ave Maria, in honor of the
Holy Virgin.
Notwithstanding these several titles, the island is
still principally known by its original Indian name of




8                   CUBA AND
Cuba; a name which it bore when the great navigator
first landed on its shores, and which in all probability
it is destined to retain.
* With regard to the character of the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, it is universally admitted by
all the Spanish authors who have written on the subject, that they were disinterested and docile, gentle
and generous, and that they received the first discoverer, as well as the conquerors, who followed in his
track, with the most marked attention and courtesy.
At the same time they are represented as being entirely given up to the enjoyment of those personal
indulgences, and. all the listlessness and' love of ease,
which the climate is supposed to provoke, and which
is said to have amounted in the eyes of their European
conquerors- to positive -cowardice and pusillanimity.
They seldom spoke until'first addressed by the strangers, and then with perfect modesty and respect.
Their hospitality was unbounded; but they were
unwilling to expose themselves to any personal fatigue
beyond what was strictly necessary for their subsistence.  The cultivation of the soil was confined, as Columbus had observed, to the raising of yams, garbanzos, and maize, or Indian corn, but as huntsmen and
fishermen they were exceedingly expert.  Their habilimerits were on the most limited scale, and their laws
and manners sanctioned the practice of polygamy.
The use, of iron was totally unknown to them, but they
supplied the want of it with pointed shells, in constructing their weapons, and in fashioning their implements for fishing and the chase. Theit' almost total
want of quadrupeds is worthy of notice.Although the island was divided into nine principalities, under nine different caciques, all independent of
each other, yet such was the pacific disposition of the
inhabitants, that the most perfect tranquillity prevailed
*Turribull's Travels in Cuba.




THE CUBANS.                   9
throughout the island at the time of the arrival of the
invaders.  The several governments were administered in the simplest form, the will of the cacique
being received as law by his subjects, and the age he
had attained being in general the measure of his influence and authority, and of the reverence and respect
with which he was treated.  Their religion was limited
to a belief in the immortality of the soul, and to the
existence of a beneficent Deity —un Dios remunerador.
But their priests were cunning, superstitious, or fanatic, pretending to intelligence with malignant spirits,
and maintaining their influence over the people by
working on their fears, and practicing the grossest and
most ridiculous extravagances.  No sanguinary sacrifices were resorted to, however; still less could the
gentle race be chargeable with the horrid practices of
the savage anthropophagi; and, according to the earliest Spanish authorities, they distinguished themselves
beyond any other Indian nation, by the readiness and
docility with which they received the doctrines of Christianity.
The town of Baracoa, which was called de la dAsumpcion, was the first that was founded, and was for some
time considered the capital, until, in the year 151.4,
the whole of it had been overrun and examined. In
that year, the towns of Santiago and Trinidad, on the
southern side, were founded for the purpose of facilitating the communications of the new colonists with
the Spanish inhabitants of Jamaica. Near the centre
of the island also were established, soon after this
period, the towns of Bayamo, Puerto Principe, and
Santi-Espiritus, and that of Baracoa was considerably
enlarged. In the sequel, as there was no town toward
the north, that of San Juan de los Remedios was
founded; and on the 25th of July, 1515, at the place
now called Batabano, on the south side of the island,
was planted a town with the name of San Cristobal de
]a Habana, in deference to the memory of the illustri



10                  CUBA AND
ous discoverer; but in the year 1519 this name was
transferred to the place where the capital now stands.
The leaning of the Spaniards toward the southern side
of the island appears to have arisen from their previous. possession of Jamaica and the Costa Firme; as
till then they had no idea of the existence of the Floridas, or of New Spain; the expedition for the conquest
of which, as well as the steps toward their first discovery, having been taken from the island of Cuba.
The town of Baracoa having first been raised to the
dignity of a city and a bishopric, was declared the capital of the island in 1518, and remained so till 1522)
when both were transferred to Santiago de Cuba. In
1538 the Havana, second city of the name, was surprised by a French privateer, who reduced it to ashes.
This misfortune brought the governor of the island,
Hernando de Soto, to the spot, who lost no time in laying the foundation of the Castillo de la Fuerza, one
of the numerous fortresses which still exist for the
defence of the city.  With this protection, combined
with the advantageous geographical position of the harbor, the ships already passing, charged with the riches
of New Spain, on their way to the Peninsula, were
induced to call there for supplies of water and provisions.  In this way the Havana began to rise in importance by insensible degrees, insomuch that.in 1549,
on the arrival of a new governor, Gonzalez Perez de
Angulo, he resolved on making it his place of residence. His. example was followed by subsequent governors, and in this way the city, although without any
royal or legal sanction, came to be silently regarded as
the capital of the island, until in 1589 it was formally
declared so by the peninsular government, at the time
of the nomination of the first captain-general, El Maestre de Campo, Juan de Tejada, who was positively
directed to take up his residence at the Havana.
In the annals of the island the names of the first
governors and of their lieutenants have not been re



THIE CUBANS.                 1
corded with a degree of accuracy that can be altogether
depended on.  All that is known with certainty is,
that the early chiefs resided at Santiago de Cuba, from
its being the place where the largest population was
collected, from its- proximity to Jamaica and St. Domingo, and from its being the seat of the ecclesiastical
jurisdiction. For the Havana and other towns of inferior importance, lieutenants were appointed.  This
system continued until the year 1538, when Hernando
de Soto, who to the rank of.ddelantado of the Floridas, added the office of governor of Cuba, having arrived at Santiago, passed a few days there, and then
proceeded to the continent.  In his absence he left
the government of the island in the hands of a lady,
Dona Isabel de Bobadilla, and gave her for a colleague,
Don Juan de Rojas.  This Rojas had previously resided at the Havana, in quality of lieutenant-governor;
and it is from this date that the gradual transference
of the seat of power from Santiago to the Havana may
be said to have arisen.  It was not till the year 1607
that the island was divided into two separate governments.
In 1545, Don Juan de Avila assumed the. government, and to him in 1547 succeeded Don Antonio de
Chavez, to whom the Havana is indebted for its first
regular:supply of water, bringing it from the river
called by the aborigines Casiguaguas, and by the
Spaniards Chorrera, a distance of two leagues from
the city. At that period the trade of the -place was
limited. The largest and wealthiest proprietors were
mere breeders of cattle; as yet agriculture was very
little attended to, and any actual labor performed consisted in exploring the neighborhood in pursuit of the
precious metals.
To this governor succeeded Dr. Gonzalo Perez de
Angulo, who, according to the historian Urrutia, was
the first who resided at the Havana during the greater
part of his administration.  At this period the number




12                  CUBA AND
of cattle and the practice of agriculture had so much
increased that the expeditions from the neighboring
continent obtained their supplies at the Havana, and
from thence also large quantities of provisions were
sent to the Terra Firma. - For some time large profits
were made by means of these exports, more especially
in the sale of horses for the troops; but the continental settlements, having at length been able to provide
for themselves, this source of profit was dried up.
Inii the year 1554 the government was assumed by
Don Diego de Mazariegos, and, during his administration, the Havana was again attacked and reduced to
ashes by the French, notwithstanding the protection
supposed to be afforded by the Castillo de la Fuerza.
The other towns of the island were also insulted, insomuch that the bishop of the diocese was compelled to
leave Santiago and take up his residence at Bayamo,
causing a serious misunderstanding between the ecclesiastical authorities and the civil governor.
To Mazariegos, in 1565, succeeded Garcia Osorio,
and to Osorio, two years afterward, Don Pedro Melendez de Avilez, who at the same time held the office of.idelantado of the Floridas, administering the affairs
of the island for a number of years by means of a series of lieutenant-governors. At this period, the hospital of San Juan de Dios, and a church dedicated to
San Cristobal, were erected at the Havana. This
church was built on the spot now occupied by the residence of the captain-general. Don Gabriel Montalvo
was the successor of Melendez, and assumed the government in 1576.  In his time the Franciscan convent
was erected, in spite of the opposition of the bishop;
and preparations were made, by the building of suitable vessels, for the extirpation of the pirates by whom
the coasts of the island were infested.  Don Francisco
Carreno, the successor of Montalvo, assumed the command in 1578. In his time the weights and measures
of the island were regulated; and vast quantities of




THE CUBANS.                 13
timber were shipped to the mother-country, to contribute toward the construction df the convent and
palace of the Escorial.
During the administration of Don Gaspar de Torres,
the successor of Carreno, who arrived in 1580, not
only Cuba, but the neighboring islands of Jamaica and
St. Domingo, were more than ever annoyed by piratical
incursions. The expense occasioned by the attempts
to suppress them was so great, that it became necessary to impose a special tax, called la sisa de piragua,
to cover it.
At this period was begun the cultivation of tobacco
and the sugar-cane, the labor of which was found to
be too great for the indolent aborigines, whose numbers
had already been materially diminished by the state of
slavery to which they had been reduced. It was to
promote the production of these new luxuries, that a
royal license was first obtained for importing negroes
from the coast of Africa.
The continued presence and increasing numbers of
the pirates began to give a factitious importance to the
castellanos of the fortress, which protected the harbor
of the Havana, and sheltered the lanchas and piraguas
and the guardacostas themselves. A military power
thus insensibly arose, which, coming into collision with
that of the civil governor, caused a great deal of disturbance and confusion.  The next governor, Don
Gabriel de Lujmn, who arrived in 1584, came to such
a serious rupture with Don Diego Fernandez de Quinones, the Castellano de la Fuerza, that the real audiencia of the district, at the instigation of Quinones,
took it upon them to suspend Don Gabriel from his
administration of the government, but some time afterward restored him. On the application of the ayuntamiento, the two offices were afterward combined and
vested in the same individual.  During Lujan's administration, several hostile demonstrations were made
against the island; but none of them  were seriously




14                 CUBA A.ND
prosecuted. The attacks - of a diminutive enemy, the
ant, became so alarming, however, that it was thought
necessary by the -Cabildo, or chapter of the diocese, to
elect a new patron saint, and to confer that dignity
on San Marcial, the bishop agreeing to celebrate his
fiesta, and keep his day yearly, on the condition of his
interceding for the extermination of the hormigas and
vivijaguas.
The successor of Lujan, Don Juan de Tejada, was
the first governor who arrived with the rank of captaingeneral, in which was included the same powers -and:
jurisdiction enjoyed by the vireyes of the continental
possessions of the crown. Tejada was directed to
commence the construction of the two fortresses now
known as the Morro and the Punta, and for this purpose brought with him the Engineer Don Juan Bautista Antoneli; and he was authorized to negotiate
with the provinces of New Spain for obtaining contributions, by which to support the garrison, which at
that time was limited for all the three fortresses to 300
men. After the building of the Morro was begun, it
is said that Antoneli having ascended the heights of
the Cabana, remarked to those about him, that from
that point the city and the Morro itself would be commanded. This opinion having been communicated to
the government, the construction of the present fortress of the Cabanas was immediately determined on.
During Tejada's government the Havana received the
title of Ciudad; the ayuntamiento was increased to
the number of twelve regidores; and a coat of arms
was given to it by Philip the Second, bearing on a blue
field three castles argent, in allusion to the Fuerza,
the Morro, and the Punta, and a golden key to signify
that it was the key of the Indies; the whole surmounted by a crown.
Tejada was succeeded as captain-general in 1602
by Don Pedro Valdes, who made strong representations to the court on the subject of the excesses corn



.THE CUBANS.                15
mittede by the pirates, by whose incursions Santiago
had been almost depopulated. The bishop, on returning there from  Bayamo on a temporary visit, was
seized, tied, stripped, and carried off by the pirate.
Giron, and detained for eighty days on board his vessel, until he was ransomed by the payment of 200
ducats and five arrobas of beef by Don Gregorio Ramos, who, after rescuing the bishop, succeeded in destroying the pirate. From the insecurity of Santiago,
this bishop attempted, but without success, to establish
his cathedral at the Havana. The supreme government, however, to stay the progress of depopulation at
Santiago, resolved on establishing there a subordinate
governor with the rank of capitan a guerra, and appointed to the office Don Juan de Villaverde, the Castellano of the Morro, who was charged with the defence
of his new jurisdiction against the pirates.
The successor of Valdes was Don Gaspar Ruiz de
Pereda in 1608; and that of Pereda in 1616 was Don
Sancho de Alquiza. This last had been previously
the governor of Venezuela and Guiana, and he is recorded to have applied himself with energy to the
working of the copper mines at Cobre in the neighborhood of Santiago; the superintendence of which was
for some time annexed to the office of captain-general
of the Havana, although it was afterward transferred
to the lieutenant-governor at Santiago. The annual
produce of that period was about 2000 quintals, and
the copper extracted is represented to have been of a
quality superior to any thing theti known in the founderies of Europe. Alquiza died after having enjoyed
his office only two years; and by a provision of the
real audiencia, he was succeeded in the temporary command by Geronimo de Quero, the castellano of the
Morro, whose military rank was that of sargento
mayor. From this period till the year 1715 it appears that, in the nomination of captains-general, a
declaration was constantly introduced to the effect that




16                 CUBA AND
the castellanos of the Morro, on the death of the
captain-general, should succeed to the military command of the island; but since the year 1715 an officer
has been specially named with the rank of teniente
rey or cabo-subalterno, whose functions acquire an
active character only on the death or incapacity of his
chief.
Doctor Damian Velasquez de Contreras succeeded
Alquiza in 1620, and Don Lorenzo de Cabrera, the
next captain-general, was appointed to the command
in 1626.'A charge was brought against Cabrera, that
he had sold a cargo of negroes in the Havana without
a royal license; which being backed by other complaints, the licenciado Don Francisco de Prada was
sent out to inquire into them, and by him the captaingeneral was sent home to the Peninsula, when de Prada
assumed the civil and political jurisdiction, and assigned the military command to Don Cristobal de
Aranda, the alcaide of the Morro. During the joint
administration of de Prada and Aranda it was resolved
to shut up the entrance of the harbor by means of a
chain drawn across it, a resolution which is described
by the historians of the period as having been exceedingly extravagant and absurd.
The next captain-general was Don Juan Bitrian de
Viamonte, who began his administration in 1630, and
projected the construction of two strong towers, the
one in Chorrera, and the other in Cojimar, but the
plan was not carried into effect until the year 1646.
At this period a certain good woman, known by the
name of Magdalena de Jesus, established a sort of
female sanctuary, called a beaterio,which gave rise to
the establishment of the first female monastery of
Santa Clara.
Fears of an invasion of the island by the Dutch
now began to be entertained in the Peninsula; and as
Viamonte's health was infirm, he was removed to the
presidency of St. Domingo; and, in 1634, Don Fran



THE CUBANS.                 17
cisco Riano y Gamboa was sent out to replace him.
Gamboa introduced important reforms in the collection
of the revenue.  He established a court of accounts at
the Havana, to which was afterward referred the examination of all public disbursements, not only for the
island of Cuba, but for Porto Rico, the Floridas, and
that portion of the Spanish navy called the windward
fleet, la./rmada de Barlovento. At first, a single
accountant-general was named.; but a second was
afterward added, with instructions to visit alternately
the various parts where the colonial revenue was qollected or disbursed. During the government of Gamboa, also, a commissioner of the Inquisition came from
Carthagena to reside in the Havana; to provide for
whose support one of the canons of the cathedral of
Santiago was suppressed. The bishops had for some
time acquired a taste for residing in the capital, and
other members of the ecclesiastical cabildo began to
follow their example, soon degenerating into an abuse
which loudly called for a remedy.
The successor of Gamboa was Don Alvaro di Luna
y Sarmiento, who commenced his administration in
1639, and in the course of it completed the castle of'
Chorrera, two leagues to leeward of the Havana, and
the Torreon'de Cojimar, one league to windward.
In 1647, Sarmiento was succeeded by Don Diego de
Villalva y Toledo, who, in 1650, was replaced by Don
Francisco Gelder. During Gelder's administration,
the establishment of the Commonwealth in England
gave rise to serious apprehensions for the safety of the
Spanish possessions in America; especially when it
became known, that, in 1655, a squadron had sailed
by order of the Protector, the ostensible object of which
was the reconciliation of the English colonies to the
new form of government, but with the real design of
capturing Jamaica. It is scarcely necessary to add,
that this design was successfully executed; that the
Spanish defenders of Jamaica were dispersed, and the




18                  CUBA AND
governor killed, and that many of the inhabitants removed in consequence to Cuba. An attempt on the
Havana was also made by this expedition, but the
assailants were successfully resisted.  The failure is
ascribed by the Spaniards to a sort of miracle performed in their favor. The invaders having landed
on a very dark night, they became so terrified, according to the Spanish authorities, by the noise of the landcrabs and the flitting light of the fire-flies, which they
took for an enemy in ambuscade, that they fled to their
ships in the utmost disorder and confusion.
The next captain-general was Don Juan Montano,
who arrived in 1656. During his time the Spaniards
of Jamaica continued to defend themselves under two
distinguished hacendados, Don Francisco Proenza,
and Don Cristobal de Isasi; who, for their exertions
in preserving the island to the Spanish crown, received
thanks and honors from the court.  Orders were also
sent out to the other Spanish settlements in America
to lend their assistance to the Jamaica loyalists; and
a strong expedition was prepared in the Peninsula,
having the same object in view. In the end, however,
in consequence of the sickness which prevailed on
board the ships, the expedition never sailed, and the
Spaniards were compelled to evacuate the island.
Montano having died within a year after his'arrival,
was succeeded in the command, in 1658, by Don Juan
de Salamanca, in whose time the incursions of the
pirates became more troublesome than ever, on all the
coasts of Spanish America. As many of them had
the audacity to sail under the flags of France and
England, the court of Spain addressed itself to these
governments on the subject, and received for answer
that, having no countenance or authority from either,
the Spaniards were at liberty to deal with them as
they thought fit. At this period the French, having
established themselves in the island of Tortuga, began
from thence by slow degrees, first on hunting parties,




THE CUBANS.                19
and afterward more permanently, to make encroachments on:the neighboring coast of the island of St.
Domingo; until, in the end, they had completely taken
possession of the western part of it, and created there
a respectable colony. According to the Spanish authorities, the French colonists of St. Domingo formed
an alliance with the English in Jamaica, and, without
the sanction of either of their governments in Europe,
made piratical incursions in the Spanish territories,
and at length became so formidable, that the Spaniards
found it necessary to fortify their possessions, and to
combine together for their mutual protection. The
most remarkable of these piratical leaders was the
Frenchman Lolonois and the celebrated Morgan.
In 1663, arrived as captain-general Don Rodrigo de
Flores y Aldana, who in the following year was relieved by Don Francisco Orejon y Gaston, previously
governor of Gibraltar and Venezuela. Fearing the
neighborhood of the English in Jamaica, Gaston applied himself to the construction of the walls of the
Havana; and to meet the expense he was authorized
to levy half a real on each quarter of an arroba of
wine, nearly equal to a gallon, which might be sold in
the city; but this having given rise to complaints, the
Spanish government by a royal cedula directed that
$20,000 a year should be raised for the purpose in
Mexico; and that as much more should be procured
as the captain-general could extract by other means
from the inhabitants of the Havana.
The next governor was Don Rodriguez de Ledesma,
who assumed his functions in 1670, and prosecuted
the work of fortification with the greatest ardor. He
also prepared a naval armament for the protection of
the coast. It was at this time that the working of the
copper mines near Santiago was abandoned, and that
the reconstruction of the cathedral in that city was
begun; but the greater part of the slaves employed in
the mines were sent to the Havana to work on the




20                 CUBA AND
fortifications. During Ledesma's administration, a
French party landed in the eastern part of the island,
to the number of 800, under the command of one
Franquinay, with the intention of plundering the city
of Santiago, but they withdrew without doing any
damage, alarmed, according to the Spanish accounts,
by hearing the mere cry of " al arma."' In 1675 the
city of Santiago was destroyed by an earthquake, a
calamity from which the Havana and the western parts
of the island appear to be exempt. Ledesma complained bitterly to his government that the English
authorities in Jamaica countenanced and encouraged
the attacks of the pirates, and applied for leave to
make reprisals. He was succeeded by Don Jose Fernandez de Cordoba Ponce de Leon, who began his
administration in 1680, and continued the work of fortification with energy.
In 1687 Ponce de Leon was replaced by Don Diego
de Viana e Hinojosa, and to him in 1689 succeeded
Don Severino de Manzaneda y Salinas, during whose
administration the city of Matanzas was founded, the
first lines of it having been traced on the 10th of October, 1693, in presence of the captain-general, and
many other persons of distinction. The etymology of
the name Matanzas is much,disputed by the antiquarians of Cuba, some ascribing it to the slaughter of
Indians at the time of the conquest of the island, contending that the supposed Indian name Yumuri, that
of one of the two rivers between which the city stands,
is in fact a synonym in bad Spanish for this general
massacre.  Others contend, with equal pertinacity,
that it was the natives who killed the Spaniards, while
passing from one side of the bay to the other, having
mutinied against their masters and used their oars
successfully as weapons of offence. Seven of the
Spaniards are said to have attempted to escape, but
were carried prisoners to a neighboring Indian town,




THE CUBANS.                 21
where they were all put to death except one, who
escaped to tellthe tale of the.Matanza.
The next captain-general was Don Diego de Cordoba Lazo de la Vega; to him in 1702 succeeded Don
Pedro Nicolas Benitez de Lugo, who died soon after
his arrival. The next captain-general was Don Pedro
Alvarez de Villarin, who arrived in 1706, and died the
same year.  After him, in 1708, came the Marques
de Casa Torres, ex-governor of the Floridas, who having had some dispute with the auditor Don Jose Fernandez de Cordoba, was suspended from his office by
the real audiencia.
The foundling hospital, or Casa de Juinos Espositos,
vulgarly called La Cuna, was founded in 1711 by
Don Fray Jeronimo de Valdes, an institution which
still exists, and, like that of St. Pierre in the island
of Martinique, is only resorted to by the white inhabitants, the presentation of a colored infant being a
thing unknown. This fact, whether it arise from the
sense of shame being stronger in the white mother, or
from natural affection being stronger in the colored
mother, is not unworthy of investigation.
Don Vicente Raja arrived as captain-general in the
year 1716, bringing with him a royal cedula, declaring
that in the event of his absence, illness, or death, the
civil and military government should be transferred to
the teniente rey; in case of his absence, illness, or
death, to the castellano del Morro; and failing the
castellano, to the sergeant-major of the garrison; and
failing him, to the senior captain of infantry, so as
that in no case the civil and military jurisdictions
should ever afterward be divided.
In the following year Raja returned to Spain, and
in 1718 Don Gregorio Guazo arrived as his -successor.
Nothing material occurred during his administration,
and he was replaced in 1724 by Don Dionisio Martinez de la Vega. In his time a serious difference
arose on the occasion of an appointment to the office




22                 CUBA AND
of lieutenant-governor of Santiago. On the 10th of
May, 1728, Lieutenant-Colonel Don Juan del Hoyo
took possession of the local government, and a few
months afterward a royal cedula arrived prohibiting
his admission. On this the captain-general required
his removal; but the ayuntamiento opposed it, saying
it was one thing to remove an officer, and another not
to admit him. Lawyers were consulted on the point;
and the court of chancery of the district was referred
to, who decided that the ayuntamiento were in the
right, and the captain-general in the wrong. At this
juncture the windward fleet, la AIrmado de Barlovento, arrived under the command of Don Antonio de
Escudero, who, in his zeal for the royal service, and
without any authority but that of force, laid hold of
Del Hoyo, removed him from his employment, and
carried him off to Vera Cruz. No sooner had he regained his liberty than he returned to the island; and
having visited the town of Puerto Principe, which at
that time formed part of his jurisdiction, the people
rose against him, and having once more made him
prisoner, sent him in irons to the Havana, from
whence the captain-general had him carried to Madrid.
The next captain-general was Don Juan Francisco
Guemes y Horcasitas, who arrived in the year 1734,
and to him, in 1746, succeeded Don Juan Antonio
Tineo y Fuertes, who died in the following year. He
was the first captain-general who thought it necessary
to establish a separate hospital for the reception of
dissolute and incorrigible women; for which purpose
the revenues of vacant ecclesiastical offices were to be
applied. The date of the termination of the government of Martinez has not been very clearly defined:
he was succeeded provisionally by Don Diego de Penalosa, as teniente irey de la plaza, and was replaced
in 1747 by Don Francisco Cagigal de la Vega, who
had previously been lieutenant-governor at Santiago.
On leaving the command in 1760, the government was




THE CUBANS.                 23
assumed provisionally by the Teniente Rey Don Pedro
Alonzo; and he was relieved, in 1761, by Don Juan
de Prado Porto Carrero, whose government was made
so memorable by the capture of the city by the English.
The Habaneros themselves seem desirous to commemorate the event by retaining English names for
the points of the coast where the landing of the expedition was effected, and for the fortresses which were
occupied preparatory to the descent on the Morro. In
the Memorias de la Real Sociedad Patriotica there are
also some interesting notices of the event.
The captain-general, according to some accounts,
was apprised of the fact that the English were preparing an expedition for the invasion of the island;
but although he had made certain arrangements for the
reception of the enemy, it is said that he never seriously believed that an invasion was about to take
place. He made it his business, however, to ascertain what number of men might be relied on for the
defence of the island; and even the proportion of
slaves to whom arms might be safely intrusted. Juntas were frequently assembled for the discussion of
these matters during the three months which intervened between the first rumor of the invasion and the
actual descent of the enemy. At length, on the 6th
of June, 1762, when a fleet of at least 250 sail had
been reported as off the coast, the captain-general still
refused to believe that this was the hostile expedition;
insisting that it must be a homeward-bound convoy
from Jamaica. On the morning of that day, he is said
to have gone over to the Morro for the purpose of observing in person the movements of the fleet; and
when he found that the garrison of the fortress had
been called out under arms by the teniente rey, Don
Dionisio Soler, he expressed his disapprobation of the
proceeding-declaring it to be imprudent, and desiring
that the troops might be sent back to their quarters.




24                 CUBA AND,
After mid-day, however, he received notice from the
Morro that the ships of war were approaching the
coast, and appeared from their manceuvres to be preparing to effect a landing. Confounded by his own
previous incredulity, the governor at length gave orders to prepare for a vigorous defence. The consternation produced by the ringing of alarm bells and the
moving of artillery was extreme. Such of the inhabitants as possessed arms made haste to put theivin
order, and those who were not so provided presentedthemselves at the sala real to ask for them; bui there
were only 3500 muskets to be found, the greater part
of them unfit for service, together with a few carabines, sabres, and bayonets. These were soon distributed; but in the end a great number of people remained unarmed for want of the needful supplies.
The juntas were again assembled, consisting of the
captain-general, the teniente rey, the marques del real
transporte, general of marines, and the commissarygeneral, Don Lorenzo Montalvo, to whom were added
the Conde de Superunda, as viceroy of Peru, and Major-General Don Diego Tabares, as governor of Carthagena, who happened to be then at the Havana on
their return to Europe.  Orders were issued by this
junta to Colonel Don Carlos Caro to resist the landing
of the enemy on the beach of Cogimar and Bacuranao,
which they seemed to threaten; adding to his own
regiment, De Edimburgo, the rest of the cavalry then in
the city, together with several companies of the infantry of the line, and a few lancers, amounting altogether
to about 3000 men.
The expedition sailed from Spithead on the 5th of
March, 1762. Its chief object was, after seizing on
the French possessions in the West Indies, to make a
descent on the Havana, which was justly considered
as the principal key to the vast possessions of the
Spanish crown in the two great divisions of the American continent; the possession of which would effectu



THE CUBANS.                 25
ally interrupt all communication between the Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico, and thereby give the
court of the Catholic king a distaste for the alliance
with that of St. Cloud.  The first rendezvous of the
forces to be combined with the original expedition was
at Martinique, and Sir James Douglas was ordered to
unite his squadron, stationed at Port Royal, Jamaica,
with that of Sir George Pocock, at the Cape of St.
Nicholas, in the island of St. Domingo.  From this
point of union the expedition had the choice, of two
courses in proceeding  toward  the Havana.  That
which would have been the more easy of execution was
to sail down the southern side of the island, and doublinig the western cape, present itself before the Havana.
Butras this would have occupied more time, which the
imaintenance of secrecy rendered valuable, Sir George
Ppcoek resolved on following the shorter and more dificuit as well as dangerous course of the old Bahama
channel, on the north side of the island.  This resolution had the double effect of taking the enemy unprepared, and of obstructing the only course by which the
French could send relief from St. Domingo. On the
27th of May the admiral hoisted his flag, and the
whole convoys, consisting of 200 vessels of all classes,
were soon under sail for the old Bahama passage.
The Alarm and Echo frigates, sent in advance, discovered, on the 2d of June, five ships of the enemy,
the frigate Tetis, the sloop of war Fenix, a brig, and
two smaller vessels. An engagement immediately
took place, in the issue of which one of the light vessels escaped, the other four being captured. On the
evening of the 5th the Pan of Matanzas was visible;
and on the morning of the 6th, being then five leagues
to the eastward of the Havana, the necessary orders
were issued for the commanders of the boats of the
squadron and the captains of the transports, with regard to the debarkation of the troops. This duty was
intrusted to the Honorable Commodore Keppel, at
2




j26                CUBA AND
whose disposal were placed six ships of the line, several frigates, and the large boats of the squadron. The
admiral followed at two in the afternoon, with thirteen
ships of the line, two frigates, the bomb vessels of the
expedition, and thirty-six store boats. On presenting
himself at the mouth of the harbor, for the double
purpose of reconnoitering the enemy and making the
feint of an attack to cover the operations of Commodore Keppel, he ascertained that twelve ships of the
line and a number of merchant vessels were lying at
anchor within it. On the following morning the admiral prepared his launches for landing a body of sailors
and marines about four miles to the westward of the
Havana. At the same time Lord Albemarle effected
the landing of the whole of the troops, without opposition, between the rivers Bacuranao and Cogimar, about
six miles from the iMlorro. A body of men having
appeared on the beach, Commodore Keppel directed
the Mercury and Bonnetta corvettes to disperse them;
but a much greater number having soon afterward presented themselves with the evident intention of disputing the passage of the Rio Cogimar with the main body
of the expedition, Captain Hervey in the Dragon was
sent to bombard the fort, which afforded the enemy
protection, but which very soon surrendered, leaving a.
free passage for the advance of the invaders.
From the prisoners taken on the 2d of June in the
Tetis and Fenix, the presence of a naval force in the
harbor became known to the English, together with
the fact that most of the enemy's ships had completed
their supplies of water, and were nearly ready for sea.
Till then the governor, as has been stated, was almost
wholly unprepared. The first notice he had of the
actual approach of the expedition was obtained from
the crew of the small schooner, which escaped from.
the pursuit of the Alarm and the Echo. As soon as
he became convinced of the fact, the governor, as we
have seen, assembled a, council of war, composed of the




THE CUBANS.                 27
chief officers under his command.  At this junta de
guerra. the plan of defence was arranged, and a firm
resolution was taken to resist the invasion to the last
extremity. The defence of the Morro, on the possession of which the fate of the Havana in a great measure depended, was intrusted to Don Luis de Velasco,
commander of the Reyna ship of the line, to whose
gallantry and perseverance Sir George Pocock, in his
subsequent report to the admiralty, pays a just tribute
of commendation.  His second in command, the Marques de Gonzales, commander of the Aquilon ship of
the line, followed in all respects the example of Valesco, dying sword in hand in defence of his flag. The
defence of the Punta Castle was in like manner assigned to a naval officer, Don Manuel Briseno, who
had a friend in the same branch of the service for his
second in command. This arrangement gave deadly
offence to the officers of the army, who thought themselves unjustly superseded in the post of honor and of
danger; but it was urged in excuse, that naval officers
were better acquainted than those of the infantry or
the cavalry with the use of artillery; and as the naval
squadron had become useless by being locked up in
the harbor, this was the only way in which they could
be advantageously employed.
Before the governor could assemble the militia of
the island under arms, he thought it necessary to declare war by proclanmation against Great Britain.
When his whole force was at length assembled, it was
found in gross numbers greatly to exceed that of the
invaders.  It consisted of nine squadrons of cavalry,
including in all 810 men; the regiment of the Ha.van 7T00; two battalions of the regiment de Espana
1400; two battalions of the regiment de Ara~gon
1400; three companies of artillery 300; seamen and
marines of the squadron 9000; militia and people of
color 14,000-making a grand total of 27,610.  The
greater part of the Spanish force was stationed in the




28                 CUBA AND
town of Guanabacao, on the side of the bay opposite
to the Havana, between the points where the invading forces had landed, in order to prevent them from
turning the head of the harbor and attacking the city
by land.  The British force was divided into five
brigades, amounting, with detachments from Jamaica
-and North America, to a total of 14,041 land forces.
At daybreak, on the 7th, the troops were already on
board the boats arranged in three divisions-the centre commanded by the Honorable Augustus Hervey;
the right wing by Captains Barton and Drake; and
the left, by Captains Arbuthnot and Jekyl. The first
brigade was also the first to land; and as soon as the
troops had formed on the beach, Lord Albemarle
took the command, and marched in the direction of
the city, which he did without further molestation
as soon as the Cogimar batteries had been silenced.
His excellency established his head quarters in Cogimar for the night; the troops were served with rations
under arms; and several pickets were advanced to the
eminences overlooking the Havana.  After a succession of attacks on the part of Lord Albemarle, and a
continued bombardment of the castle, the Morro surrendered on the 30th of July, and the town itself on
the 14th of August, succeeding.
The spoils seized by the captors were of great value,
and the distribution was a subject of much discontent;
and it must be admitted that the partition, which gave
three or four pounds to a soldier or a sailor, whose life
was equally exposed with that of his superiors, and
100,0001. to an admiral or a commander-in-chief, was
far from being impartial. In the distribution of the
prize-money Sir George Pocock was placed on the
same footing with Lord Albemarle, and Commodore
Keppel with Lieutenant-General Elliot; the shares of
the two former having amounted to 122,6971. 10s. 6d.
each, and those of each of the two seconds in command
to 24,5391. 10s. 1d. The whole spoil was, in fact,




THE CUBANS.                  29
equally divided  between  the two  services, having
amounted altogether to 736,1851. 3s., or 368,0921.
Ils. 6d. each. But although the services and the
chiefs were placed on an equality, the same rule could
not be observed with the officers and privates.  The
share of a major-general was 68161. 10s. 6Wd.; that
of a brigadier-general, 19471. 11s. 7d.; that of an
officer of the staff; 5641. 14s. 6d.; that of a captain,
1841. 4s. 74d.; that of a subaltern, 1161. 3s. 0-d.;
that of a sergeant, 81. 18s. 8d.; that of a corporal,
61. 16s. 6d., and that of a private soldier, 41. is. 8Wd.
The share of a captain in the navy was 16001. 10s.
i0d.; of a lieutenant, 2341. 13s. 3id.; of other commissioned officers, 1181. 5s. 11id.; of warrant officers,
171. 5s. 3d., and of ordinary seamen, 31. 14s. 93d.
The peace having been concluded in 1763, the Conde
de Ricla arrived at the Havana on the 30th of June,
bringing the powers conferred by the treaty for the
restoration of the British conquests in the island of
Cuba, and accompanied by General O'Reilly, with
four ships of the line, a number of transports, and
2000 men for the supply of the garrison. On their
arrival they were received by the English with every
demonstration of respect.  On the 7th of July the
keys of the city were formally delivered up to the
Conde de Ricla, on whom the government had been
conferred, and the English garrison was embarked on
its return to Europe.
The restoration of the island to the Spaniards is
regarded by the native writers as the true era from
whence its aggrandizement and prosperity is to be
dated. It was during the administration of the first
governor that the new fortresses of San Carlos and
Atares were erected, and the enlargement and rebuilding of the Morro and the Cabanas were begun.  The
old hospitals were placed on a better footing, and new
ones were built. The. court of accounts, and the whole
department of finance, received a fresh impulse and a




- 3O                CUBA AND
distinct form; and an intendant was named, who,
among other arrangements, for the first time established the aduana, and created a custom-house revenue, the duties having been first levied on the 15th of
October, 1764.
The Conde de O'Reilly, as inspector-general of the
army, succeeded in organizing and placing on a respectable footing the regular troops, as well as the militia
of the island. The city of the Havana having been
divided into districts, the streets named, and the
houses numbered, the truth came to be known, that
the capital contained materials for the formation of a
battalion of disciplined white militia. Beginning with
the formation of a single company, the governor appointed lieutenants, sergeants, and corporals from the
regular troops of the garrison, and, after a personal
inspection, he followed the same course with the other
companies. Adopting this principle in the other towns
of the island, he soon succeeded in realizing his ideas,
and creating a considerable force on which the government had every reason to rely.  When the two white
battalions of the Havana and Guanabacao were completed, it was still found that, with the addition of the
stationary regiment of regulars and the other troops of
the garrison, there would not be a sufficient force for
the defence of the capital, so that the idea of forming
two other battalions presented itself, the one of blacks,
the other of people of color, and was immediately carried into effect.
Don Diego Manrique assumed the supreme command in 1765, but died within a few months after his
arrival. He was succeeded in 1766 by Don Antonio
Maria Bucarely, who prosecuted with energy the construction of the fortifications begun by the Conde de
Ricla. Bucarely paid great attention to the due administration of justice, and was distinguished by the
affability of his manners, the facility he afforded of
access to his person, and the readiness with which he




THE CUBANS.                 31
heard and redressed the grievances of the people;
making it a boast that he had succeeded in adjusting
differences and compromising lawsuits which had been
pending for forty years. When afterward appointed
viceroy of New Spain, the minister for the department
of the Indies announced to him, by command of the
king, as an unexampled occurrence, that during the
whole period of his administration not a single complaint against him had reached the court of Madrid.
Another of his merits with the people was the gentleness and address with which he effected the expulsion
of the Jesuits, who had come to the island with Don
Pedro Augustin Morel, and had acquired there large
possessions. The church attached to their seminary
is thatw"hich is now the cathedral of the Havana.
-On the promotion of Bucarely in 1771, the Marques
de lai Tbrre was named his successor, and became one of
the o:ist popular captains-general who have ever administered the government., He was replaced in 1777 by
Don Diego Jose Navarro, who introduced great improvements in the administration of justice, and the
police of the tribunals, and in regulating the duties
and functions of the abogados, escribanos, procuradores, tasadores, and other officers and dependents of
the courts of law, in which the greatest abuses had
previously, and have since prevailed. The base and
deteriorated coin, which had been for some time
in circulation was also called in and abolished in the
time of Navarro. In the course of the war which had
again broken out between England and Spain, an expedition was prepared at the Havana for the recovery
of the Floridas, which produced the surrender of Pensacola, and the submission of the garrison. This gave
rise to a belief that the English would make reprisals
on Cuba or Porto Rico, and led to the dispatch of reinforcements on a large scale to the garrison of the
Havana. The peace of 1783 soon followed, on which
Lord Rodney prepared to return to England; and




82                  CUBA AND
taking the Havana in his way, Prince William Henry,
afterward William IV., having obtained leave from
the admiral to go on shore, was so delighted with the
city and the entertainments that were offered him, that
he remained there three days, and did not return, if
we may believe the Spanish writers, until Lord Rodney sent to his royal highness to say, that if he did not
re-embark immediately, the squadron would set sail,
and leave him behind. The Spanish general of marines, Solano, is said to have given the prince a breakfast which cost him $4000.
During the years which immediately succeeded the
peace there appear to have been other changes in the
colonial government besides those already noticed, beginning with Don Luis Gonzaga, followed by the Conde
de Galves, Don Bernardo Troncoso, Don Jose Espeleta, and Don Domingo Cabello. In the time of this
first Espeleta there was again a great outcry as to the
number of lawyers in the colony, and particularly at
the Havana, where there were already no less than
eighty-five abogados with an equally liberal proportion
of the inferior classes of the profession. Steps were
taken to prevent their increase, and a regulation was
enforced on the 19th of November, 1784, prohibiting
the admission of candidates and the immigration of
professors of jurisprudence from the other colonies;
and no lawyer who had studied his profession in Spain
was to be allowed to practice it in the courts of the
island until six years at least after he had been called
to the bar in the Peninsula.
Don Luis de las Casas arrived as captain-general in
1790, and the period of his administration is represented by all Spanish writers as a brilliant epoch in
the history of the island. To him it is indebted for
the institution of the Sociedad Patriotica, which has
ever since done so much to stimulate the activity, and
promote the improvement of education, agriculture,
and trade, as well as literature, science, and the fine




THE CUBANS.                 33
arts, combined with large and liberal views of public
policy. To Las Casas, also, is the island indebted for
the establishment of the Casa de Beneficencia, having been begun by a voluntary subscription amounting to $36,000. The female department was at
first a separate institution, situated in the extramural portion of the city, but was added to the other
on the completion of the buildings in 1794. In
place of a monument to Las Casas, which he undoubtedly deserved as much as any of his predecessors, an inscription has been conspicuously engraved in the common hall of the school for boys,
declaring that on its erection it had been expressly
dedicated to the memory of the founder of the institution; reminding the young pupils that he had not only
been the founder of the Casa de Beneficencia, but of
the first public library, and the first newspaper which
had existed in the island, and of the patriotic and economical society.
To increase the commercial prosperity of the island
he had the sagacity to perceive that his object could
not be better accomplished than by removing as far as
his authority extended all the trammels imposed upon
it by the old system of privilege and restriction. During his administration, also, large sums were expended
in the construction of roads, especially the great Calzada del Horcon and the Calzada de Guadaloupe; but
since then these highways have fallen so completely
out of repair, as for the greater part of the year to
have become next to impassable. It was Las Casas,
also, who introduced the culture of indigo; and during
his time the long arrear of causes on the rolls of the
courts of justice was greatly reduced. The hurricane,
which desolated the island on the 21st and 22d of
June, 1791, afforded Las Casas a fresh opportunity
for displaying the great resources of his mind in the
promptitude with which he brought relief to the sufferers. In some districts the sudden rise of water in the
2*




CUBA AND
rivers was most extraordinary, when the limited extent of land from sea to sea is considered. On the
bridge then just finished across the Rio del Calabazal
the water rose to the height of thirty-six feet above
the parapets; and in the town of San Antonio, where
the wells are sunk into, the bed of a subterraneous
river, the water rushed up through the artificial openings, and inundated the whole country.
The French revolution having communicated its
irresistible impulse to the western parts of St. Domingo, the cabinet of Madrid took the alarm, and from
the Havana and Santiago, Vera Cruz, the Caracas,
Maracaybo, and Porto Rico, collected a force amounting altogether to 6000 men, the object of which was to
suppress the insurrection. The sanguinary struggle
which ensued, and the reverses which befell the Span-_
ish troops, belong to another place. Suffice it here to
say, by way of memorandum, that the interest of the
Spanish government in the island of St. Domingo was
definitely terminated by the treaty of Basle, soon afterward concluded with the French republic. It was
to the energetic measures of Las Casas, at the time of
this revolution in St. Domingo, that the island of Cuba
was indebted for the uninterrupted maintenance of its
tranquillity, in spite of the universal persuasion that a
conspiracy had been formed at the instigation of the
French, among the free people of color, to provoke a
similar revolution in Cuba. On the occasion of his
leaving the island in December, 1796, a formal eulogium on his merits as captain-general was recorded in
the archives of the Ayuntamiento of the Havana, in
which are enumerated the great benefits he had conferred on the community; among which, the most
prominent are the discouragement of gambling; the
arrest of vagrants and vagabonds; the clearing of the
gaols of greater criminals, and the acceleration of the
ends of justice in civil causes; the abandonment of a
large portion of his own emoluments for the erection




THE CUBANS.                 35
and support of the Casa de Beneficencia and other
charitable institutions; the reduction and pacification
of the maroons of Santiago; the suppression of the
conspiracy among the people of color; the prohibition
of the introduction of foreign negroes who had previously resided in other colonies, and the expulsion of
those who had arrived from St. Domingo; the relief
of the inhabitants from the clothing of the militia; the
paving of the streets of the Havana; the making and
mending of roads; the building of bridges, and the
construction of public walks and alamedas; the erection of a convent, a coliseum, a primary school, a
school of chemistry, natural philosophy, mathematics
and botany; the improvement of the Plaza de Toros,
and the rejection of the profit which his predecessors
had derived from the supply of provisions for the
troops.  In this farewell eulogium he is also praised
for the very questionable virtue of promoting the general prosperity, by the copious introduction of Bozal
negroes from the coast of Africa, which is stated to
have greatly extended the cultivation of the sugarcane, the bread-fruit tree, the cinnamon-tree, and
other exotic plants of inestimable value. It is more
easy to sympathize in the praises bestowed upon him
for the great hospitality he showed to the unfortunate
refugees from St. Domingo, and for the exertions he
made and the liberality he evinced in the institution of
the Patriotic Society, the formation of a public library,
the publication of the Diario, and of the Guia de Forasteros.
Las Casas, in 1796, was succeeded in the government by the Conde de Santa Clara, whose noble and
generous disposition, and the affability of his manners,
made the loss of his predecessor less sensibly felt. It
is admitted, however, that he gave no encouragement
to education, that he had no taste for letters, and
that in his time the'social emulation which had pre



36                  CUBA AND
viously prevailed. sunk rapidly into apathy and indifference.
It is a singular illustration of the dilatory habits of
the people, and affords a sort of national characteristic,
that for many years after the formal cession to the
French of all interest in St. Domingo, the judges who
exercised the supreme civil jurisdiction over the island
of Cuba and other Spanish settlements continued to
reside in the ceded territory, so that, in consequence
of the recommencement of hostilities with England, all
communication by sea was so interrupted as to interpose an insurmountable barrier to the exercise of the
right of appeal, and to the ordinary administration of
justice. The royal cedula, -for the removal of this tribunal to Puerto Principe, is dated on the 22d of May,
1797; but it does not appear at what precise date the
actual translation took place.
Santa Clara was succeeded, in 1799,,b:ithe., Marques de Someruelos, whose administration,otinued
for a much longer period than the five years,:to which,
by the practice, if not by a formal regulation-ofz the
Spanish government, the term of service of the captains-general of the colonies has been usually limited.
The public works which serve to commemorate the
administration of Someruelos are the old theatre and
the public cemetery; the execution of which last was
confided to the bishop, who pursued the object with
zeal, and the work was completed on the 2d of February, 1806. Its extent is not great, containing only
22,000 square yards; but the walls, the chapel, and
the gateway, are on a scale which infers the outlay of
a large sum of money. The chapel is ornamented
with a painting in fresco representing the Resurrection, with the motto, "Ecce nunc in pulvere dormiam,." Someruelos was thought by some to be stern
and severe toward the poorer classes of society, and to
reserve all his affability and condescension for the rich.
On the occasion, however, of the great fire of 1802,




THE CUBANS.                 37
which destroyed the populous suburb of Jesus Maria,
leaving no less than 11,300 individuals without a roof
to shelter them, the marques, moved by their distress,
circumambulated the town, going actually from door to
door to petition for their relief.
The belief again gained ground at the Havana, in
1807, that the English government contemplated a
descent on the island; and measures were taken in
consequence to put it in a imore respectable state of
defence, although, from want of funds in the treasury,
and the scarcity of indispensable supplies, the prospect
of an invasion was sufficiently gloomy. The militia
and the troops of the garrison were carefully drilled,
and companies of volunteers were formed wherever
materials for them  could be found.  The French,
also, not content with mere preparations, made an
actupal descent on the island, first threatening Santi-:oag  nandl aftrerward landing at Batabano.  The invat:   n:Psised chiefly of refugees from St. Domingo;
and-thoei itention seems to have been to have taken
po0sse1ssa with a view to colonize and cultivate a portion of the unappropriated, or at least unoccupied, territory on the south side of the island, as their countrymen had formerly done in St. Domingo. Without
recurring to actual force, the captain-general prevailed
on them to take their departure by a peaceful offer of
the means of transit either to St. Domingo or to
France.
The news of the abduction, by Napoleon, of the
royal family of Spain reached the Havana by a private
opportunity, at the moment when the cabildo was in
session, when every member of it took a solemn oath
to preserve the island for its lawful sovereign. The
official intelligence did not reach the city till the 17th
of July, 1808; when it was brought from  Cadiz by
the Intendant Don Juan de Aguilar y Amat, who arrived in the American ship Dispatch.  The colonial
government immediately declared war against Napo



38                 CUBA AND
leon; and on the 20th, King Ferdinand VII. was proclaimed with general applause.  The intelligence from
Spain and the resolution of the captain-general were
immediately communicated to all the colonial authorities in Spanish America. The events in the Peninsula soon began to be felt at the Havana; but the
demands of the French intruders for the recognition
of their authority were disregarded, and the public
dispatches which came from them were destroyed.
The Infanta Dona Carlota made similar pretensions,
but these, like those of the French, were firmly resisted.
The foreign trade of the island was reduced to such
an extremity by the events of the war, that the local
authorities of the Havana, the ayuntamiento, and the
consulado, began seriously to deliberate on the expediency of throwing the trade open, and admitting
foreign supplies on the same terms with those from
the Peninsula. There was some division of opinion;
but the majority were for a free competition on an
equal footing between the Spaniard and the foreigner,
on the ground that Spain alone was unable to purchase
or consume the enormous mass of produce then exported from the island; and so it was accordingly
decided.
On the 21st and 22d of March, 1809, a serious disturbance arose, the object of which was to invite the
return of the French to the island; but this popular
movement, although considered dangerous at the time,
and viewed with alarm by the captain-general, was
speedily put down by the display of firmness and resolution on the part of all who had any thing to lose, and
by the prompt offer of their personal services for its
suppression. Proclamations were issued, a respectable force was collected, and the Marques de Someruelos presented himself in person to endeavor to
pacify the discontented. Tranquillity was restored at
the end of the second day, with the loss of only two




THE CUBANS.                 39
or three lives; but not without the destruction of a
great deal of property. The French settlers in the
rural districts were, in this respect, the greatest sufferers; and it had, in consequence, the effect of driving away several thousands of laborious and intelligent
colonists, who were already deeply interested in the
prosperity of the island.
Soon after these events a young man arrived from
the United States, of whose proceedings and character,
as an emissary of King Joseph, the colonial government had been previously informed. This unfortunate
person, Don Manuel Aleman, was not even suffered to
land. The alguazils went on board; took possession
of his papers and his person; a council of war was
immediately assembled: but his fate was determined
beforehand; and on the following morning, the 13th
of July, 1810, he was brought out to the Campo de la
Punta, and hanged for his temerity.
The revolutionary proceedings in the continental
provinces of Spain were now in full career toward that
independence of the mother-country which they have
since achieved. In the mean time, the island of Cuba
enjoyed a degree of tranquillity quite remarkable under
the circumstances of the sister colonies.  This state
of things was naturally, and not unjustly, ascribed to
the political prudence and sagacity of the Marques de
Someruelos.  The colonial authorities petitioned the
cabinet of Madrid for the farther prorogation of his
government beyond the term to which it had been already extended. But the very fact of his having given
so much satisfaction to the colonists, if we may judge
from experience elsewhere, was not likely to operate
with the government of the mother-country in deciding
on a farther extension of his stay. Instead of acceding to the prayer of the municipal functionaries of the
Havana, the government of Madrid thought fit to mark
its sense of the interference by instantly recalling the
title of " Excellencia," which, on a former occasion,




40                  CUBA AND
had been granted to the ayuntamiento as a special
mark of the royal favor, and of which they were not a
little proud.
The western districts of the island were visited, in
1810, by another of those tremendous hurricanes,
which sweep away so much life and property in these
tropical regions. The city of the Havana was filled
with consternation and dismay; the hopes of an abundant harvest were disappointed; in the harbor, so renowned for its security, the ships of war were driven
from their anchors; and no less than sixty merchant
vessels were destroyed.
In the time of Someruelos the Casa de Beneficencia
was in danger of falling into decay; but in consequence of his earnest intervention, the Junta de Tabacos, which in Spain as in France is a royal monopoly,
consented to purchase 100 slaves, whose labor or whose
wages were to furnish funds for the benefit of the institution; thus by an extraordinary perversion making
the practice of cruelty and injustice toward one portion of the human family contribute to a work of charity in favor of another. The slaves were at first
employed in the manufacture of cigars, but have latterly been hired out for daily wages at whatever employment they could obtain.
A negro conspiracy broke out in 1812, which excited considerable alarm in the minds of the landed
proprietors. That alarm was attended with its usual
consequences: the negro leader Aponte and his associates were treated with unsparing severity, such as
may be supposed to have been dictated much more by
the fears of the hacendados, than by the strict justice
of the case.
The successor of Someruelos was Don Juan Ruiz de
Apodaca, afterward Conde de Benadito, who arrived
on the 14th of April, 1812; and he, for the first time,
combined the command of the naval force on the station with the office of captain-general of the island.




THE CUBANS.                 41
This unprecedented combination arose from the fear
of the authors of the constitution of Cadiz, that their
work and their representative would not be well received in this aristocratical colony. His first duty on
his arrival was to proclaim the constitution; and although it doubtless excited an extraordinary sensation,
it was not openly resisted.
The success of Apodaca in Cuba led to his promotion to the rank of viceroy of Mexico; and on the 1st
of July, 1816, he was succeeded at the Havana by
Lieutenant-General Don Jose Cienfuegos. In his time
the third census of the island was accomplished. This
captain-general made himself exceedingly unpopular at
the Havana by the severe measures of police he proclaimed and enforced for the suppression of projects
of sedition, and for the preservation of the pufblic tranquillity. He resorted to an expedient which in other
great cities would scarcely have become the subject
of serious complaint-he caused the streets of the
Havana to be lighted; but this was only a part of the
proceeding to which the citizens objected. He insisted, also, on closing up the public thoroughfares
immediately after the conclusion of the evening service
in the churches; thus from that early hour confining
the inhabitants to their own particular quarter of the
city, and giving rise to clamorous representations and
to the very disturbances which it was the object of the
captain-general to prevent.
Senor Cienfuegos was for some time disabled by
personal infirmity from the active administration of
the government, and during that period his functions
were performed by Don Juan Maria Echeverri, as
cabo subalterno; but on the 29th of August, 1819, he
was finally relieved by the arrival of his successor,
Don Juan Manuel Cagigal, in the Spanish ship of war
Sabina, with a convoy of troops for the supply of the
garrison.
The following year, 1820, from the events which




42                 CUBA AND
took place in the Peninsula, was another period of
trial and difficulty for a captain-general of the Havana; but it is admitted by all parties that Cagigal
succeeded, by the prudence and delicacy of his conduct, in avoiding the evils which might have been
expected to arise from the difficult and extraordinary
circumstances in which he found himself placed. The
extreme affability of his manners, and the perfect
readiness with which he received and listened to all
who desired to approach him, conciliated universal
good will; and it appears that the high estimation in
which he was held by the inhabitants excited in his
breast a corresponding feeling, as, on the termination
of his command, he applied for and obtained the special grace from the king of being permitted to take up
his permanent abode in the island; and having retired
to the town of Guanabacao, he died there some time
afterward a simple but respected citizen.
The next captain-general was Don Nicolas Mahy,
who arrived from Bordeaux in the French frigate
Therese, on the 3d of March, 1821; but such was the
turbulence which prevailed in these troublesome times
that he proved unequal to the task of controlling the
storm, and at leigth sunk under the difficulties which
surrounded him. He died on the 18th of July, 1822,
but retained to the last moment of his life the direct
administration of the affairs of the government.
After his death the government was assumed provisionally by the cabo subalterno, Don Sebastian Kindelan; and on the 2d of May, 1823, the new captaingeneral arrived, Don Francisco Dionisio Vives, who
was afterward raised to the dignity of Conde de Cuba.
It was in his time that the fourth and last census of
the island was accomplished. It was under Vives,
also, that the rural militia was organized, and that the
construction of the fortresses of Bahia-honda, Mariel,
Jaruco, and the Cabanas was begun or completed. It
was he who divided the island into three military de



THE CUBANS.                 43
partments; and it was under his auspices that the
temple was erected on the Plaza de Armas of the
Havana, on the very spot, where, if tradition is to be
believed, the first Christian rite was performed in the
New World. It is doubtless with the view of adding
to the solemnity of the occasion that the temple is
opened only once a year, on the anniversary of the day
that mass was first said there, in the presence of Columbus, to return thanks to Heaven for the success
which had attended his enterprise.  It was also in the
time of Vives that the two lunatic asylums, el Departamento de Dementes, were added to the Casa de
Beneficencia; and it is recorded of him that he never
failed to preside at the meetings of the institution, and
to animate by his presence the drooping zeal of his
colleagues in the direction.
On the 15th of May, 1832, Don Mariana Ricafort
took possession of the government; and on the 1st of
J.une, 1834, he was succeeded by Don Miguel Tacon,
whose administration terminated on the 16th of April,
1838, when Don Joaquin de Espeleta, who had for
some time resided at the Havana with the rank of
sub-inspector-general of the troops, and second cabo
subalterno, was promoted to the rank of captaingeneral, not provisionally, as had been usual on former
occasions, but como proprietario, to use a form of
expression in constant use, as applied to public offices
in the language of Castile as well as in that of France.
General Espeleta marked his career by a straightforward course, strongly exemplified in his putting
down all obnoxious and costly practices to obtain licenses and passports, which were favored, both by
those preceding and succeeding him, from sordid and
ignoble motives.  His uprightness could not, however,
wash out the political stain of his birth: for, by a
mere chance, Espeleta was born at Havana. He was
consequently soon removed, and before the regular
term of five years, allotted to such offices in Spanish




44                 CUBA AND
America. The Prince of Anglona, the next captaingeneral in order of time, was a gentlemanly and courteous chief who, after one year's command in 1841,
left the charge of the island to the noble-minded Don
Geronimo Valdez, a man whose whole life had evinced
a consistent love of liberty, scarcely ever met with in a
Spanish soldier, for such he was. Being informed
that there was a conspiracy on foot, and that many
young men talked in a revolutionary strain, he answered: "'I have a powerful army at my command;
let the conspirators sally forth, and I shall destroy
them, but not before." This liberality to the Cubans,
and his conciliating course toward the abolitionist
Turnbull, who had landed at an unfortified part of the
island, for some sinister purpose, among the blacks;
and more than all, his disinterested and faithful observance of the treaties condemning the African slave
trade, brought on him the unrestrained attacks of those
engaged or concerned in it as capitalists or officials of
government. He was consequently hurried from his
station in the most unceremonious manner, and the
party who vainly endeavored to injure his name, charging him with motives treasonable to Spain, found in
his successor a man better disposed to forward their
selfish and sordid purposes, though for the same reason equally calculated to alienate the hearts of the inhabitants. Valdez had the courage and honesty to
issue, during his short command, upward of a thousand grants of freedom illegally withheld by his predecessors from so many Africans who, according to
the treaty, had become free. He left the palace of
the captain-generals of Cuba in the same high-minded
poverty in which he had entered it.
In 1843, General Leopold O'Donnell took the command of the island, and never was military despotism  more successfully directed to destroy popular
franchises, to establish individual oppression beyond
the possibility of redress by altering existing institu



THE CUBANS.                 45
tions, and eminently to satisfy the avaricious thirst of
the captain-general and his family and favorites. The
bloody page of the negro insurrection, reported in another part of this woik, was the most prominent feature of his governorship.  At the close of one of
General O'Donnell's balls, his wife sent for the baker
who had supplied the entertainment, to come at 3
o'clock A.M., to take back the loaves not used!
The baker refused, saying that he could not sell them
except as stale bread, at a very reduced price.  To
this she replied that she had sent for him at so early
an hour that he might have the chance of mixing it
with the fresh bread he was to send around to his customers that morning. She was engaged in all kinds
of profitable undertakings of the most obscure and common pursuits in life; monopolies of the most repugnant character were introduced for her advantage,
based on the unbounded authority of a provincial
tyrant. The cleansing of the sewers, and the locality
fixed for the reception of the manure and dirt of the
city were among the many sources of wealth which she
did not scruple to turn to her advantage. But nothing
was so fruitful to this family of dealers, as the slave
trade which, it was publicly asserted, furnished emoluments even to the daughter of the captain-general.
O'Donnell was part owner of the marble quarries of
the Isle of Pines, whither he, by his sole authority,
sent to labor a great number of suspected or accused
persons, without judgment or sentence passed on them.
The agency for obtaining passports, and other services
connected with government, as published in the Havana papers, exhibits a degree of immorality and defiance of public opinion hardly to be found in any civilized country.
General Frederico Roncali, graced by one of the numerous titles which Queen Christina has so profusedly
and undeservedly bestowed within a very recent period,
took the command of the island in 1848. His ridicu



46                 CUBA AND
lous and perplexed action during the movement of the
Round Island expedition, show how weak the strength
of bayonets is, where it is unsupported either by the
confidence of the soldiery, or by the love of the people
for their rulers. The idea of marching out 4000 men,
and stationing them in the central department of the
island, and announcing to the soldiers that they were
to receive double pay as soon as the enemy landed,
merely because 400 Americans had taken their abode
in an island 700 miles off, is a tacit acknowledgment of
the impending termination of Spanish rule in Cuba —
that tottering column of European despotism in America. General Roncali's incapacity was never made
more manifest, however, than in his management of the
Rey affair. Don Cirilo Villaverde, author of a novel entitled " Cecilia Valdez," and other literary works, being
accused of corresponding with the editor of the Cuban,'
paper called La Verdad, was confined to the Havana
prison during his trial, which he had no reason to expect should be fair or favorable in its results to him.
While there, a fraudulent bankrupt, by name Fernandez, being on the eve of escaping, through promises
made to the jail-keeper Rey, of sharing with him the
imaginary spoils of his bankruptcy, Mr. Villaverde succeeded in availing himself of the same opportunity to
fly, and save himself, rather than trust to his innocence
or the irregularity and corruption of Spanish military
justice. The result, fully establishing the moral weakness of a government whose very agents turn against it,
served to excite the anger and spiteful revenge of
Roncali. He therefore succeeded, through the consul
at New Orleans, Don Carlos Espana, in abducting the
jail-keeper, who was thereby destined to be severely
punished, or generously rewarded should he act as
witness against such influential creoles as were suspected of dissatisfaction to the Spanish government. It
is not necessary to add any thing further on this subject. The American public are sufficiently acquainted'




THE CUBANS.                 47
with the subsequent history of this ominous, sacrilegious, and insulting act of the authorized menial of a
European monarch on the heretofore respected soil of
America.
Whatever moral qualities and honest wishes some of
the captain-generals may have possessed, they were
compelled to follow out the restrictions and spoliations
commenced by Tacon.  The path of despotism, when
justified by the national excuse of holding a distant
colony, must always be one of inevitable and progressive oppression.
The historical sketch of Cuba is here concluded.
The next chapter is designed to furnish an abstract of
its political history, including a notice of the late insurrection, with an account of the remarkable policy
which has brought the island to its present miserable
condition.




48                     CUBA AND
CHAPTER II.
Political sketch previous to the XIXth century. —Indian population.The Island a military post.-Commerce and Navigation.-Forei-gn
trade.-Restrictions on  trade.-Situation  of Spain.-Political
changes in 1812 and 1820.-The Constitution proclaimed. —Masonic Societies.-The old Spaniards.-Roval Order of 1825.-Count
Villanueva.-Dangers of the Slave Trade.-Despotic Encroachments.-Rejection of the Cuban Deputies at Madrid.-General Tacon.-His Tyranny and Venality.-His Removal effected by a Cornpromise.-Fear of a servile Insurrection. —Cruel measures taken
against the Creoles and free people of Color.-The work of the
Countess of Merlin.-Anecdotes.-Insurrectiolns in different parts
of the Island. Enormities practiced by the officials of Government.-Their effect upon the native Cubans.-Present distressing
Situation of the Island.
PREVIOUS to the eighteenth century, the history of
the island of Cuba is mostly occupied with accounts of
the settlements commenced by the first governor, Diego
Velasquez; the noble defence of the Cazique Athuei,
who was burned alive by order of the former; and the
usual repartimientos or distribution of the territory and
Indians among the Spanish settlers, which, through excess; of labor, hastened the depopulation of the country.
During that early period is also noticed the sailing of
expeditions to more recently discovered and alluring
regions; the beginning of the African slave trade; and
the occasional descent and depredations of the buccaneers.  The latter were so bold, from the scant population and absence of fortifications, that they carried
off at one time the venerable Bishop Cabezas Altanurano, and at another, the very bells of the church and
the cannons of the castle at St. Iago.
Soon after the royal decree of 1530, liberating the
native Indians, the remnants of this unfortunate race
appeared to have congregated in towns such as Guana



THE CUBANS.                  49
bacoa, Guaisabana, Ovejas, and Caneyes-arriba, and to
have applied their efforts to simple husbandry and grazing.
But the advance of Cuba must have been extremely
limited or doubtful, since the Bishop Almendares estimated the population of all the towns and cities in 1612
at 6700 inhabitants.
The truth lies in the fact that, after having exhausted
the Indian population, the island was only held as a
military post on the way to the mines of Mexico, with
little else to occupy its reduced population than the
raising of cattle, on lands not appropriated. Till the
latter years of the past century, commerce was not only
confined to Spanish merchantmen, but to the periodical
voyage of the fleet belonging to the privileged India
Company.  Foreign trade has only been authorized in
the present century, when the European wars, forcing
the Spanish flag from the seas, and the encroachment
of contraband trade, made it impossible to oppose it.
In the laws and municipal rights of Cuba, we notice
the same independent and liberal spirit which prevailed
in all the settlements' of Spain among the Moors, or
elsewhere, as far as the Spanish settlers and their descendants were concerned. Thus in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, public assemblies of citizens were
held to elect the members of the corporations; free and
bold charges made and sustained against governors;
and no taxation was permitted which was not sanctioned by these bodies, who exercised the same prerogatives in the Spanish peninsula, during the long suspension of representative government. As to the commercial restrictions which prevented the growth of this
beautiful garden of America, they did not originate in
any right, expressed or implied, to control the fate of
Cuba, on the part of the European provinces, but in
the peculiar notions of the age on matters of political
economy. Equally injudicious was the system observed
in the internal trade and relations between the several
3




50                  CUBA AND
Sparmsn provinces themselves, whose wealth and physical advance are to this day obstructed by antiquated
prejudices. Aside, therefore, from the measures adopted to nationalize the commerce and trade of Cuba, or
rather to direct their course by legislation, there was
not, until the last twenty years, any serious precedent
or open effort to justify a difference between the zpolitical rights of the Cubans and the Spaniards on the
soil of Cuba. Were the conquest held as the foundation of such difference, the privilege should certainly.attach to the descendants of those who shed their blood
and used their means in the acquisition of the country
-not to the recent emigration, much less to the salaried officers of the government.
The recognition of the popular principle in the Sociedad Patriotica and Consulado, established near the
close of the eighteenth century, and the vast influence
derived therefrom, and which, in after times, gave a
liberal tinge to the local administration, is especially
worthy of notice.
Struggling for her own independence, and boldly confronting the ambitious and mighty chieftain of the age,
Spain, at the opening of the nineteenth century, appeared in a noble attitude. Actuated by the most sacred impulses of patriotism, and intensely engaged in
the wars and policy of Europe, she could not and did
not refuse whatever was requested by the Cuban assemblies. Cuba, on her part, repaid the liberality of the
mother country-by an unwavering loyalty. Unseduced
by the alluring prospect of independence, and undismayed by repeated invasions from foreign powers, she
shut her eyes to the former, and boldly resisted the
latter, at the liberal expense of the treasures of the
island and the lives of the inhabitants.
This brings us to a period marked by fluctuations
in the political history of Spain and her dependencies, and it is now to be seen what were their effect
upon Cuba.




THE CUBANS.                  51;' The political changes adopted in Spain in 1812 and
-1820 were productive of similar changes in the island;
and when in both instances the constitution was proclaimed, the perpetual members of the municipalities
were at once deprived of office, and their successors
elected by the people.  The provincial assembly was
called, and held its sessions.  The militia was organized; the press made entirely free, the verdict of a
jury deciding actions for its abuses; and the same
courts of justice were in no instance to decide a case a
second time. But if the institution of the'consulado
was very beneficent during Ferdinand's absolute sway,
the ultra-popular grants of the constitutional system,
which could hardly be exercised with quiet in Spain,
were ill-adapted to Cuba, though more advanced in
civilization, stained with all those vices that are the'legitimate curse of a country long under despotic sway.'That system was so democratic, that the king was deprived of all political authority. No intermediate
house of nobility or senators tempered the enactments
of a single elective assembly. This sudden change
from an absolute government, with its usual concomitant, a corrupt and debased public sentiment, to the
full enjoyment of republican privileges, served only to
loosen all the ties of decency and decorum throughout
the Spanish community.  Infidelity resulted from it;
and that veil of respect for the religion of their fathers,
which had covered the deformity of such a state of
society, was imprudently thrown aside. As the natural consequence of placing the instruments of freedom
in the hands of an ignorant multitude, their minds
were filled with visions of that chimerical equality
which the world is never to realize. The rich found
themselves deprived of their accustomed influence, and
felt that there was little chance of obtaining justice
from the common people (in no place so formidable as
in Cuba, from the heterogeneous nature of the population), and who were now, in a manner, arrayed against




52                  CUBA AND
them  throughout the land.  They, of course, eagerly
wished the return of the old system of absolute rule.
But the proprietors only asked for the liberal policy
which they had enjoyed at the hands of the Spanish
monarch; not, most surely, that oppressive and nondescript government which, by separating the interest
of the country from that of her nearest rulers, and
destroying all means of redress or complaint, thrust
the last offspring of Spain into an abyss of bloodshed
and ruin, during the recent disgusting exercise of military rule, in punishing by the most arbitrary and cruel
measures, persons suspected of engaging in an apprehended servile insurrection.
During the second period of democratic, or what
was called constitutional government, which commenced in 1820, the masonic societies came into vogue
as they did in the mother-country. They adopted
different plausible pretexts, though to speak the truth,
they were little more than clubs for amusement and
revelry. One of them, called the " Soles de Bolivar,"
went so far as to discuss whether, in case of a Columbian invasion, it would be more expedient to avoid a
collision in the presence of the slaves, by giving way
peaceably before the invading army. Happily for
Cuba, and certainly in consequence of the judicious
interference of the United States, which foresaw in the
preservation of its tranquillity the advantages of a
fruitful commerce, the invasion did not take place.
And if the island has since had to lament the gradual
encroachments of the executive, in all the several
branches of its politics and administration, it has also
been preserved from the sanguinary results which the
premature establishment of ultra free institutions has
produced in all the numerous countries which once
formed the dominion of Spain in America. For the
difficulty of annexation, from the lesser influence the
United States then possessed among nations and the
controlling importance of the shipping interest in that




THE CJUBAiNS.               53
country, made it unadvisable for Cuba to launch into
a revolution unsustained, and in this way to experience
a severe scourge, which, at that time, would have proved
the principal if not the only fruits of independence to
the first generation of its recipients. Under any circumstances the subsequent jealous policy of the Spanish government has been altogether unwarranted.
For the discussions of the " Soles de Bolivar" were
owing to the countenance which the liberal government
gave to those very societies; a thing entirely uncalled
for among a people permitted to meet freely and name
a portion of their rulers; and where, too, for political
ends, no property qualification was required; a relinquishment which, however justified in a country like
the United States, where constitutional rights have
been exercised ever since colonial times, could not be
safely overlooked in one just emerging from a despotic
though beneficent government, and whose population
comprehended such discordant elements.
A respectable portion of the old Spaniards residing
in Cuba, were themselves desirous of upholding the
constitutional system in the island which they saw tottering in Spain. General Vives, who commanded at
that time, regarded the circumstance with anxious solicitude, and very reasonably inferred that, if the constitution of 1812 was sustained in Cuba after the
king's absolute power was acknowledged in Spain, the
consequences would be fatal to its dependence, however rational and honest the views of the constitutionalists might be considered.  Hence his strenuous efforts in 1824, after the restoration of Ferdinand, to
make the most of the wild and varying schemes which
had been proposed in the " Soles de Bolivar,"' under the
democratic institutions, and the relaxation of the reins
of government before mentioned. The greatly reduced
Spanish military force at that time in the island, and
the fact that much of it consisted of regular regiments and native -militia, are sufficient proof that to




51i~ ~              CUBA AND
the solid good sense of the inhabitants, rather than
any show of strength, should be attributed the immediate disappearance of those germs of disquietude.
Not even the weakness of General Kindelan could induce the planters to lose sight of their chief interest.
Though General Vives subsequently desired to impress
the constitutional party with the idea that they might
be carried farther than they meant to go, and with
that view took especial care that a well-concerted
scheme for throwing off the Spanish yoke should appear to have been devised, it must be acknowledged,
that notwithstanding he caused the prosecution and;'
imprisonment of many individuals, and occasionally
the ruin and misery of their families, he oftentimes"
also interfered to mitigate the appalling and unavoida-:
ble excesses of those menials of government who are:
ever ready, under such circumstances, to exceed the
wishes of the leading statesmen, and to make political
difficulties subservient -to the vilest purposes. That
which should have warned the Spanish ministry of the
inexpediency of establishing such inappropriate institutions, brought upon the island all its subsequent
misfortunes; namely, the Royal Order of 1825, which
is the existing law of the land, and which, translated,
reads as follows:
WAR Department. The king our master, in whose
royal mind great confidence has been inspired by your
excellency's proved fidelity, indefatigable zeal in his
majesty's service, judicious and well-concerted steps
taken since Y. E. had charge of the government, in
order to keep in quietude his faithful inhabitants, confine within the proper limits such as would deviate
from the path of honor, and punish such as forgetting
their duties would dare commit excesses in opposition'to our wise laws; well convinced as H. M. feels,
that at no time and under no circumstances whatever
will the principles of rectitude and love toward H. M.




THE CU3ANS. 
royal person be weakened which now distinguish Y.
E.; and being at the same time desirous of preventing the embarrassments which under extraordinary circumstances might arise from a division in the command, and from the complicated authority and powers
of the different officers of government, for the important end of maintaining in that island his sovereign
authority and the public quiet, it has pleased H. M.,
in conformity with the advice of his council of ministers, to authorize your excellency, fully investing you
with the whole extent of power which by the royal
ordinances is granted to the governors of besieged
towns. In consequence thereof H. M. most amply
and unrestrictedly authorizes Y. E. not only to remove from that island such persons, holding offices
from government or not, whatever their occupation,
rank, class, or situation in life may be, whose residence there you may believe prejudicial, or whose public or private conduct may appear suspicious to you,
employing in their stead faithful servants of H. M.,
who shall fully deserve your excellency's confidence;
but also to suspend the execution of whatever royal
orders or general decrees in all the different branches
of the administration, or in any part of them, as Y.
E. may think conducive to the royal service; -it being in any case required that these measures be temporary, and that Y. E. make report of them for his
majesty's sovereign approval.
In granting Y. E. this marked proof of his royal
esteem, and of the high trust your proven loyalty deserves, H. M. expects that in due correspondence to
the same, Y. E. will use the most wakeful prudence
and reserve, joined to an indefatigable activity and
unyielding firmness, in the exercise of your excellency's authority, and trusts that as your excellency shall
by this very pleasure and graciousness of H. M. be
held to a) more strict responsibility, Y. E. will redouble his vigilance that the laws be observed, that justice




56                  -CUBA AND
be administered, that H. M. faithful vassals be protected and rewarded, and punishment without partiality or indulgence inflicted on those who, forgetful
of their duty and their obligations to the best and
most benevolent of monarchs, shall oppose those laws,
decidedly abetting sinister plots, with infraction of
them and disregard of the decrees from them issuing.
And I therefore, by royal order, inform Y. E. of the
same for Y. E.'s intelligence, satisfaction, and exact
observance thereof. GOD preserve your excellency's
life.  Madrid, 28 May, 1825.         AIMERICH.
By this it will be seen that Cuba has been, since
1825, and now is, under "martial law," the captaingeneral being invested " with the whole extent of
power granted to the governors of besieged towns."
The sad effects of this royal order, which the king
only meant to be observed temporarily, and under a
strict responsibility, " le mas estrecta responsibilidad,"
were not immediately felt. " Truth and justice compel me to assert," says one of the most enlightened
Cubans, on being rejected from the Cortes, in common
with all the deputies from  the province, "that notwithstanding the terrible authority conferred on the
captain-general by this royal order, Vives, who then
held that office, far from putting it in execution during
his long government, discovered that its application
would be equally disadvantageous to Cuba and Spain.
Under a mild and conciliatory policy this island became the refuge of many unhappy proscripts, who
were expelled from the Peninsular territory by the arm
of tyranny."
The judicious administration of the Count Villaneuva, as intendant, which had undoubtedly an influence materially advantageous to the country, was likewise calculated to make every one forget the depressed
political condition to which the new law had reduced
the inhabitants of Cuba.  Under its fearful and com



THE CUBANS.                 57
prehensive provisos, since become the scourge of the
land, public bodies were respected. Some of them
constantly consulted together on grave subjects, such
as the rural and domestic police for the management
of slaves, the imposition of taxes and judiciary reform,
and enjoyed the privilege of printing their reports,
without applying for the consent of the executive
officers; and the press was moreover very far from
being restricted as it now is.
As a proof that the political servitude created by
the royal order of 1825 was not intended to be permanent, an extract is made from an article on the dangers of the slave trade, published in a periodical of
Havana, in 1832, under the despotic government of
Ferdinand, and seven years after issuing the royal
order above referred to. Immediately following a very
precise detail of facts, of the numbers of imported
slaves, and of the relative position of the races, we
read:
" Thus far we have only considered the power which
has its origin in the numbers of the colored population
that surrounds us. What a picture we might draw,
if we were to portray this immense body acting under
the influence of political and moral causes, and presenting a spectacle unknown in history! We surely
shall not do it. But we should be guilty of moral
treason to our country, if we were to forget the efforts
now making to effect a change in the condition of the
African race. Philanthropic laws, enacted by some
of the European nations, associations of distinguished
Englishmen, periodicals solely devoted to this subject,
eloquent parliamentary debates whose echoes are constantly repeated on this side the Atlantic, bold exhortations from the pulpits of religious sects, political principles which with lightning rapidity are spreading in
both hemispheres, and very recent commotions in several parts of the West Indies, every thing is calculated
to awaken us from our profound slumber and remind
3*




58                 CUBA AND
us that we must save our country. And should this
our beloved mother ask us what measures we have
adopted to extricate her from her danger, what would
those who boast themselves her dutiful sons, answer?
The horrid traffic in human blood is carried on in defiance of the laws, and men who assume the name of
patriots, being no other than parricides, cover the land
with shackled victims. And as if this were not sufficiently fearful, with criminal apathy, Africans freed
and brought to this country by English policy, are permitted to reside in our midst. How different the conduct of our neighbors the Americans! Notwithstanding the rapid increase of their country; notwithstanding the white has constantly been four fifths more
numerous than the colored population, and have ten
and a half millions to offset two millions; notwithstanding the importation of the latter is prohibited
from one end of the republic to the other, while Eu uropean immigration is immense; notwithstanding:the
countries lying upon their boundaries have no slaves
to inspire dread, they organize associations, raise
funds, purchase lands in Africa, establish colonies,
favor the emigration of the colored population to them,
increasing their exertions as the exigency may require,
not faltering in their course, and leaving no expedient
untried which shall prove them friends of humanity
and their country. Not satisfied with these general
measures, some states have adopted very thorough and
efficient measures.  In December, 1831, Louisiana
passed a law prohibiting importation of slaves even
from other states of the Union.
" Behold the movement of a great people, who would
secure their safety! Behold the model you should
imitate! But we are told' Your efforts are vain. You
cannot justly reproach us. Our plantations need
hands, and if We cannot obtain negroes, what shall we
do?' We are far from wishing to offend a class equally
deserving respect and esteem, including many we are




TIHE: CUBANS.               59
happy to call friends. We are habitually indulgent,
and in no instance more so than in that before us.
The notions and examples to which they have been
accustomed justify in a great measure the part they
act, and an immediate benefit and remote danger authorize in others a course of conduct which we wish
may never be generally and permanently adopted.
We would not rudely censure the motives of the planters. Our mission requires us only to remark, that it
is necessary to adopt some other plan, since the change
in politics is inconsistent with and hostile to the much
longer continuance of the illicit traffic in slaves. We
all know that England has, both with selfish and humane motives, made and is still making great efforts
against it by means of treaties.  She is no longer the
only power thus engaged, since France is also taking
her share in the enterprise. The United States will
soon appear in the field to vindicate down-trodden hunity.  They will adopt strong measures, and perseveringly pursue the pirate negro-dealer. Will he then
escape the vigilance of enemies so active and powerful?
And: even should some be able to do so, how enormously expensive must their piracy be! It is demonstrable that the number of imported negroes being
then small, and their introduction subject to uncommon risks, their cost would be so enhanced as to destroy the motive for preferring slave labor. A proper
regard to our true interests will lead us to consider
henceforth other means of supplying our wants, since
our present mode will ultimately paralyze our resources
and be attended with  baneful consequences.  The
equal distribution of the two sexes in the country, and
an improved treatment of them, would alone be' sufficient, not merely to prevent a diminution of their number, but greatly to increase it.  But the existing disproportion of the sexes forbids our indulging in so
pleasing a hope, We shall, however, do much to effect
our purposes by discontinuing certain practices, and




60                  CUBA AND
adopting a system more consonant to the good principles that should be our guide.
" Would it not be advisable to try some experiments that we may be able to compare the results of
cultivating cane by slaves, with such other method as
we may find it expedient to adopt?
" If the planters could realize the importance of
these propositions to their welfare, we should see them
striving to promote the introduction of white and the
exclusion of colored hands. By forming associations,
raising funds, and in various ways exerting themselves
vigorously in a cause so eminently patriotic, they
would at once overcome the obstacles to the introduction of white foreigners, and induce their immigration
by the guarantees of good laws and the assured tranquillity of the country.
" We may be told that these are imaginary plans,
and never to be realized. We answer that they are
essays, not difficult or expensive, if undertaken, as
we suggest, by a whole community. If we are not
disposed to make the voluntary trial now, the day is
at hand when we shall be obliged to attempt it, or
abandon the cultivation of sugar. The prudent mariner on a boisterous ocean prepares betimes for the
tempest, and defies it.  He who recklessly abandons
himself to the fury of the elements is likely to perish
in the rage of the storm.
"  How imprudent,' some may exclaim,' how imprudent,' to propose a subject which should be forever
buried in'lasting oblivion!' Behold the general accusation raised against him who dares boldly avow new
opinions respecting these matters. Unfortunately there
is among us an opinion which insists that' silence' is
the true policy. All feel the evils which surround us,
are acquainted with the dangers, and wish to avoid
them. Let a remedy be suggested and a thousand
confused voices be simultaneously raised; and a significant and imploring'Hush!'-' hush!' is heard on




THE CUBANS.                 61
every side. Such infatuation resembles his who conceals the disease which is hurrying him  to speedy
death, rather than hear its unpleasant history and
mode of cure, from his only hope, the physician's saving science. Which betrays censurable apathy, he
who obstinately rushes headlong to the brink of a
mighty precipice, or he who gives the timely warning to
beware? Who would not thus save a whole community
perhaps from frightful destruction? If we knew most
positively that the disease were beyond all hopes of
cure, the knowledge of the fact would not stay the
march of death, while it might serve but as a terrifying annunciation of his approach.  If, however, the
sick man is endowed with a strong constitution, that
with timely prescription promises a probable return
of health, it would be unpardonable to act the part of
a passive spectator. We heed not that the selfish condemn, that the self-admiring wise censure, or the parricidal accuse us. Reflections of a higher nature guide
us, and in the spirit of our responsible calling as a
public writer, we will never cease to cry aloud,'Let
us save our country —let us save our country!P"
Nothing would more forcibly illustrate the rapid
encroachment of despotism in the island than the
publication, now, of a document like the above, or
any thing discreditable, or disparaging to the slavedealers. Whoever should dare make the experiment,
would most certainly do it at the risk of his life.
Further comment on the progress of tyranny is unnecessary.
Not to lose sight of the order of events, it must be
borne in mind that immediately after the overthrow of
the constitution, and precisely at the time the persecution for revolutionary opinions commenced under the
order of 1825, the country was in its most flourishing
and healthy period. The fruits of the several acts for
promoting the country's welfare and the development
of its resources, which owed their origin to corpora



62                  CUBA AND
tions, before they had lost their vitality, had been gathered. Moreover, the judicious and liberal policy above
described was continued by the intendant, who could
then act with great independence. As chief of the
financial department, the Count de Villanueva regulated the mode of keeping accounts, corrected abuses,
introduced greater simplicity in the collection of taxes,
and established several facilities beneficial to the
merchants. By means of his great influence at Madrid, he was enabled to supersede the captain-general in the presidency of the consulado, and directing
the labors of that.body, he made them subserve the
development and improvement of the country. Availing himself of the general wealth, and of the increasing agriculture of the island, he daringly taxed its products; and it is generally believed that it was during
his administration, taxes of various kinds were imposed for the first time without the consent of those to
be affected by them. He represented " de facto" the
people of Cuba; was the chief fiscal agent; the friend
and adviser of the captain-general; the favorite of
Ferdinand's government. A skillful and mighty authority like his could, at such a period, draw abundant
resources from the country for the metropolis, and promote at the same time the interests of the former by
reforming abuses. To both these objects were his exertions successfully directed.  To his discriminating
judgment it was very evident that a vast territory,
capable of great agricultural production, could not
maintain its position, much less make progress, should
its commerce be again limited to the mother-country.
He was aware that the probable results of such limitation would be the total annihilation of the surplus
revenue, of which they were.so desirous at court; the
immediate paralysis of agriculture, the fountain of the
island's wealth; and a very extensive contraband
trade.
Villanueva had the waters of the Husille brought




THE CUBANS.                 63
into the city by a well-devised though costly plan; the
roads near Havana macadamized, and a mud-machine
erected to clear the anchorage and preserve the
wharves. He established the more modern and rational system of selling at auction to the lowest bidder
the performance of various services, particularly for
the government or the public. He enlarged the Spanish navy from the navy-yard of Havana; the regular
intercourse between the two countries by mail packets
was his suggestion, and the Guines railroad is a crowning, ever-memorable, and enduring monument of his
enterprise and genius., Amidst these improvements,
beneficial to Spain and the island, the count was enabled to make frequent and heavy remittances to the
general treasury in Spain, which was so relieved by
them  that the demands were gradually augmented
without any regard to the means of meeting them, and
the inevitable consequence was, the sacrifice of the
necessities of the island to the urgency of their payment. Thus it happened that the Bank of St. Ferdinand, the establishment of which was one of the acts
which do honor to Villanueva, had no opportunity of
doing any service to the public, as its capital was specially sent for from Madrid.  In brief, Count Villanueva's administration can in no way be better appreciated than by bearing in mind that whatever liberal
and enlightened views he carried into practical effect,
he had nothing similar to guide him or excite his emulation, in all the Spanish territory. His power in
Cuba was great, his influence in Madrid had no equal,
and his credit abroad was such that his promise and
acceptance was a source of revenue at court.  The
authority of the captain-general himself being eclipsed
by his, it is certainly no matter of surprise that public
bodies and individuals should have sunk into insignificance.
It was in such a state of political weakness and general prosperity, that the estatuto real, which was the




64                  CUBA AND
first liberal act of Christina's regency, found Cuba.
Under it the inhabitants of the island observed, as
they always had done, the laws promulgated in the
mother-country. A number of members were added
to the municipalities, equal to the number of hereditary members, and the former were by express proviso
to be individuals who were highest on the tax list.
Thus formed, these corporations elected the deputies
who represented the interests of the island at the
Spanish congress. This slight political change, which
enabled the corporations of Havana, Santiago de Cuba,
and Puerto Principe, to name three deputies in the
"estamentos" without other free institutions, was certainly not calculated to alarm the royal authority, however jealous it might be supposed. Three votes, more
or less, could not of course cause any uneasiness; but
it is ever the consequence of free institutions, in just
proportion to their worth, to diminish the importance
of individuals. Here, then, was one of the causes of
that strenuous opposition so successfully exerted to
deprive the island of deputies to Madrid. Such a refusal, where there is an immense amount of productive
capital to be -benefited or injured, or destroyed by the
enactments of government, and where the colony is not
even allowed delegates to represent its interests at
court, has no parallel in any civilized country professing
to approve of liberal institutions. The island was at
that time governed by General Tacon, whose shortsighted, narrow views, and jealous and weak mind, were
joined to an uncommon stubbornness of character.
Never satiated with power, it was through his influence that the wealthy portion of the community was
divested of the privileges conferred on them by the
estatuto. He even deprived the old municipalities of
Havana of the faculty of naming the under-commissaries of police. In his own immodest report of his
reign, as it was justly termed, he enumerated the very
extensive and costly buildings and public works he had




THE CUBANS.                 65
constructed, and from the singular manner in which
he accounts for procuring the ordinary means, we must
suppose he had the power of working miracles. To
sustain his absolute government by trampling on every
institution, was the necessary consequence of his first
violent and unjustifiable act. It was consequential
upon his own and his followers' efforts. For any power, any institution, not dependent on the palace of the
captain-general, might be the means of denouncing
abuses, of exposing the real deformity of his and their
pretended patriotism; and the numberless parasites
whose interest ever was to blind the royal eyes, magnified the virtues of their hero, while they were rapidly
accumulating fortunes at his side. In order to obtain
credit in the management of the police, he displayed a
despotic and even brutal activity in the mode of exacting from the under officers, distributed in the several
wards of the city, under personal responsibility, the
apprehension and summary prosecution of criminals.
They soon found that there would be no complaint,
provided they acted vigorously and brought up prisoners. So far from presuming their innocence, or requiring proof of their crimes, those who were once
arrested were put to the negative and difficult task of
proving their innocence. The more unwarrantable the
acts of his subalterns the more acceptable to him, since
they, in his opinion, exhibited the energy of his authority. They trembled in his presence, and left it to
persecute, to invent accusations, to imprison, and
spread terror and desolation among the families of the
land! It is but just to add, that the banditti and
thieves and professed gamblers were terrified by his
sweeping scythe, and became much-more modest than
they had been during the brief government of the weak
and infirm General Ricafort, the predecessor of Tacon.
The timid and short-sighted merchant who perceived
this reform, did not comprehend or appreciate the illegality of the system, nor its pernicious effects on the




03                  CfCUBA AND
future destinies of the country, and was the first to
justify the man who dared interpose himself between
the Spanish monarchs and their subjects, to silence
every complaint of the latter, and to say to the former,
" You shall never hear the petitions of your American
vassals contrary to my pleasure." The political servitude at that moment implanted in the country was
new, and of course excited discontent, which was not
unfrequently vented in the random conversation of
young men.
The consequence of all this was, a regular system
of espionage. The prisoners were distributed in the
castles, because the jails were insufficient to contain
them.  In the dungeons were lodged nearly six hundred persons, the cause of whose detention nobody
knew; a fact authentically proved by a casual circumstance. In the streets, in the highways and fortresses,
under a scorching sun, and during the unhealthy season, the poor Carlist prisoners, having surrendered
themselves, trusting to the faith of liberals, were suffered to sicken and sink miserably into a premature
grave. Let it not be supposed, however, that his political persecution was confined to the enemies of the
liberal institutions then existing in Madrid. The contrary may be adduced from the inconsiderate protection extended by him to the famous friar Cirilo Almeda, of whose machinations he appeared to approve,
and from the fact that events favorable to the queen
were at a certain period not permitted to appear in the
distorted press of Havana.  His creed was soon ascertained. He considered those whom he thought likely
to tear the veil from his tyranny, the veritable traitors, the enemies of the throne, and the advocates of
independence in Cuba.  He destroyed all freedom of
discussion in the municipal body, usurped its powers,
and frightened away such members as he thought would
not bend sufficiently to his will. He constructed an
enormously high, massive, level road through the




THE CUBANS.                 67
widest avenue of the city, which has since been removed, at the expense of the same suffering community who had to pay for its erection, and had to suffer
its unhealthy effects while it remained. General Tacon moreover established a privileged market for selling meat and fish, to the detriment of the public and
the public revenue, and for the profit of himself and
his nearest friends.  Those who doubt this statement,
may find a clue to the facts in the " Expression de
Agravios, ante el Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, por
el Ayuntamiento de la Habana sobre cargos en residencia al General Tacon," printed in New York by
Desueur and Company, in 1839. Among other things
it will there be seen how a man living at the table and
board of Tacon, was subsequently found to be interested in the contract for the meat and fish market,
without its being absolutely binding on him to perform
the condition of paying in his amount of stock in order
to be entitled to his share of the profits, which he did
nevertheless receive.
It will likewise be found that the party to that contract was illegally preferred to the more regular bidders. It may further be ascertained from that work
that when the contractors obtained the grant and commenced exacting unauthorized fees, to the great injury
of the public, a suit was instituted to investigate and
reform the abuse at the tribunal of one of the alcaldes,
and that the record was claimed and taken possession
of by Tacon, who still lies under the charge of having
caused it to disappear, as it is stated in his successor
General Espeleta's official answer, that it is not to be
found in the archives of the captain-generalship.
Notwithstanding General Tacon's efforts at the first
election under the estatuto, the voice of his Excellency
Don Juan Montalvo y Castillo was raised in Madrid
at the Cortes, and the, misconduct of the former partially exposed. As it continued, Messrs. Armas and
Saco were named for the second congress during his




68        -         CUBA AND
government, both very enlightened and able men, well
acquainted with the circumstances, and friendly to the
welfare of the island, and as much opposed to the
ultra-liberal or revolutionary ideas, as desirous of removing from the Spanish peninsular government the
shame and discredit of such lawless proceedings on the
part of the chief metropolitan authority. To discover
imagined conspiracies, to commence suits blindly approved by his assessor, to expatriate, to vex, to imprison the citizens, these were Tacon's noble exploits.
His artful reports found credit at court.  He was
therefore continued in his government, and the Spanish
Cortes in 1836, by a majority exceeding thirteen votes,
shut their doors, which had always been open to American representatives, against the deputies of the island,
then elected and at Madrid.  They were obliged to
return without being allowed the privilege of uttering
their grievances. This was the single but serious act
of usurpation which robbed the descendants of the island's conquerors of all interference in its administration and tributary system. Some time after the oath
to the constitution had been taken at Madrid in 1837,
the Spanish General Lorenzo, commanding in St. Jago,
encouraged by the encomiums and rewards conferred in
former times and in similar instances, on such authorities- as first followed the impulse given at the court of
a political change, thought it his duty to conform to
the plan most approved by all parties, royalist or liberal, viz.: to repeat the cry raised at the seat of government.
He therefore proclaimed the  constitution.  The
wily old general who had so successfully deprived the
country of all representative or delegate system, would
not of course very quietly allow his fabric to be
leveled to the ground. He made an ostentatious display of his authority, and though well satisfied of the
pacific views of the eastern part of the island, insisted
upon fitting out an expensive expedition, which cost




THE CUBANS.                 69
the inhabitants more than $500,000, and would have
it proceed, notwithstanding that the commissioners
sent by Lorenzo made a formal promise that the eastern part of the island should preserve their system
until the queen decided, or would obey at once Tacon's
order to annul the constitution, provided an amnesty
were granted for the single act of proclaiming the
same, their sole offence. General Tacon again made
use of his favorite weapon against the islanders,
applying it to General Lorenzo and the intendant of
Havana, by perfidious suggestions calculated to impair
their well-proven loyalty to their sovereign. Such improbable stories, the ill-disguised animosity of his passionate language, the cognizance by some impartial
Peninsular tribunals of some of his grossly-imagined
plans of conspiracy, all had an influence to force the
Spanish court to' acknowledge, without, for reasons of
policy, publicly avowing it, the irregular and disorderly
course of Tacon's administration, and he was removed
from office.  The removal of General Tacon is said to
have been effected by a compromise between the ministry and Olivar, acting as agent for Villanueva, in
which the rights of the Cubans were sacrificed to
the latter's personal ambition. It was then agreed
that no political assembly, or any rights whatever,
should be allowed the Cubans, but that Tacon should
be removed.  This discreditable compromise was the
undoubted origin of the immediate discontent and subsequent rapid adoption of the principle of annexation
through the island. Nothing was more efficient in
drawing the mask from his face than the unskillfulness
of Joaquin Valdez, his standing conspiracy-witness and
confidential agent, who in framing one of his plans got
into a strange dilemma by compromitting the intendant of Cadiz, and other respectable old Spaniards, supposed to be concerned in the plot.
It should be mentioned, to the honor of the Spanish
name, that at the subsequent sittings of the Cortes, and




70                  CUBA AND
before the removal of Tacon, as if the injuries which had
been inflicted on Cuba called for immediate redress, it
was generally admitted as a matter of course, what has
since been artfully withdrawn from the sight of the congress, that the political condition of that distant colony
should be attended to and ameliorated without delay. A
generous and high-minded Spaniard, Don Antonio Benavide, equally loyal to his country and desirous of the
welfare of its inhabitants, clearly and ably insisted
upon the adoption of any system in lieu of the omnipotence of the captain-general. But the zeal and high
sense of justice entertained by the congress could give
no relief, where the agents of the local government
were active, and the oppressed country had no delegates to maintain her rights.  The only result was a
royal order authorizing Tacon to call a junta, which:
he took care should be formed to his liking generally,:
composed of authorities named by government, in its
pay, with three or four private individuals among the:
general's pliant tools. This junta was to propose
special laws for the government of the island. The
consequence was exactly what might have been expected. The chief soon perceived that, however yielding the members might be, they must draw up some
rules ostensibly to restrain his untamed will, or excite
the ridicule of even the Spanish court. After calling
together and dispersing them instantly, under a show
of separating them into committees, he rendered the
whole attempt inefficient, and feigning fear of danger
from the plots of the white population, caused every
feeling of justice to Cuba to be foirgotten in Spain.
The only proposition which seems to have transpired
from the sitting of that strange, transitory, and expen-,
sive junta, was to make the island a vice-royalty and
Tacon vice-king.  Ludicrous as it may appear, it is
no less true.
Notwithstanding it was under firee institutions that
Spain granted the establishment of the mixed Anglo-V




THE CUBANS.                 71
Spanish tribunal at Havana, for the cognizance of
prizes taken from the African trade, it was when the
public bodies of the island were without sufficient
energy-to raise their spontaneous protest on political
questions, that the Castilian name was humbled by the
floating fortress which the English anchored in the
port of Havana, as a rallying signal for the blacks,
openly and malignantly avowed, and sufficiently evident from the fact that it was manned by black men
in British uniforms! These soldiers, distributed in
the heart of the city, the greater number liberated
from slave-ships by the tribunal, who both during and-,
subsequently to their apprenticeship were left in the
country in direct communication with their bondbrethren, were the first instruments of spreading discontent among the slave population. Very far from
independent, and from representing the interest of the
wealthy planters, must have been the public bodies of
the island, who thus patiently saw the germs of violent insurrection sown broad-cast over the land, without most earnestly assailing the Spanish ministry with
their complaints. It was not however until about the
year 1835, that the disproportion of the races became
alarming. In 1837, General Tacon received an official communication from Madrid, inclosing a copy of
a note from the Spanish minister at Washington, containing a vivid picture of the dangers to Cuba from
the abolitionary efforts making in the United States
and generally all over the world. He who had heedlessly given new life and development to the policy
which Vives had only partially unfolded, and which
consisted in separating the old Spaniards from the
natives, was now made to feel that the co-operation of
the country's bourgeoisie, in all their united effort.
was requisite to oppose the encroachments of the abolitionists.
The exposition of the minister at Washington, though
abounding with contradictory opinions, was, in the main,




72                  CUBA ATD
exact. It predicted immediate danger. No public
bodies existing which could be considered as emanating
even indirectly from the people, rich or poor, he having
discredited and crushed all such institutions, what could
he do? He contrived to call a general meeting of the
planters in the city of Matanzas, whose very judicious
report provided f6r domestic and rural government, material defence, and funds to carry their plans into effect.
The colonization of the island by white inhabitants,
which had been unlawfully terminated, was demanded
by this meeting of planters, who also insisted upon the
establishment of a rural militia.  In consequence of
these requisitions, their resolutions on the first were
not carried into execution. The immigration of whites
has been materially obstructed by an influential party,
who consider it hostile to the introduction of laborers
more consonant to their taste and interest. General
Valdez was latterly named captain-general, an honest
and generous soldier, whose memory is still dear to the
liberal party in Spain, wearing many honorable marks
of worth, gray in the service of his country, but
his capacity undoubtedly impaired by age, joined to a
general ignorance of the colonies and of political affairs,
common to all the military as a class. A person observing the progress of English pretensions respecting
Cuba, would certainly conclude that Lord Palmerston
had himself chosen such a man, who, though beyond the
reach of bribery, and incapable of willful wrong to his
country, was, from his weakness, a suitable and manageable instrument. Let it, however, be said in his
praise, that he had occasion to show that when the captain-general chooses to put an end to the slave trade, it
is in his power to do so.
Soon after his arrival, a series of by-laws made for
the government; of the slaves was published, wherein,
instead of providing for the real circumstances of the
occasion, the downinical rights of the master were suddenly attacked, yet not so much, perhaps, by their pos



THE CUBANS.                 73
itive provisos, as by the appearance of interference at
a period when the restlessness and uneasiness of the
blacks required measures of an entirely contrary nature.
The management of a slave country is always a difficult
matter. To avoid the commission of great errors, in
the condition of Cuba, would have been scarcely less
than miraculous. The actual feelings of the blacks
could not, with certainty, be ascertained by individuals
who had either recently arrived from Spain, or never
attended on the estates but for a few moments, or during excursions of pleasure. Thus it happened, that
many judicious planters, judging from the small and
gradual changes in the domestic life of the blacks, foresaw the coming storm for years, while the government
agent could not comprehend, and resolutely refuted,
such opinions as they thought unnecessarily alarming,
and decidedly against their interest in the African trade.
Mr. Turnbull, the English consul, who, from his
European reputation, would never have been allowed
to occupy the post of consul at Cuba, had the Cuban
proprietors had an organ of complaint, other than the
government agents, concerted incendiary plots, and
boldly followed them, notwithstanding the timely interference of Garcia, one of the governors of the city of
Matanzas.
Several incidents might be named, evident precursors
of an insurrection, which, for many years before the
late repeated attempts, demanded a change in the system of the whole island; a change which would have
taken place under a government having the means and
disposition to ascertain the true state of things.
For the better understanding of the subject, it must
be remembered that the ancient balance of influence
established by the Spanish law between the military
class and the judicial, or lettered part of the community,
had been altogether lost; the former having been intrusted with every branch of the administration, even
to the making of by-laws for the black slave population,
4




i74                 CUBA AND
which was -submitted to the control of government
agents, perhaps under the direction of their allies, the
slave-dealers. At the same time an ominous policy
commenced; the colored inhabitants were particularly
favored; had numerous meetings, called cabildos, and
enjoyed even greater privileges than the whites-being
formed into military bodies for public defence, whereas
the whites could not form a militia for their own safety,
even in moments of pressing danger, and in those places
where the disproportion of the races was most frightful.
Laws were enacted, purporting to alleviate the condition of the slaves; an apparent protection, calculated
more to harass the owner than to realize the improvement of the former, without any attempt to instruct
either. This was accompanied with the continuation
of the slave trade, and the barbarous political oppression of the native creoles, whose every thought. was
looked upon with jealous suspicion. It seemed evident
that the policy consisted in placing the lives and property of the inhabitants of Cuba in such imminent danger as to choke any feeling of resentment respecting the
political changes which the Spanish government adopted
for the exclusive advantage of the metropolitan part of
the community. Thus was the dissatisfaction of the
blacks fostered. How else can be explained the cause
of the progress made in the island in that respect, and
not in those slave-holding countries which surround it,
and which, having a more frightful disproportion in
numbers between the races, and greater freedom in the
press and institutions, are withal enjoying comparative
tranquillity?
The bonds between master and slave were gradually
severed; the affections destroyed; the mutual relations
of the races, for which the Spaniards had been always
distinguished, were broken; and while every one deprecated the perilous situation of the Cubans, the latter
continued unarmed; the slave trade augmented the
causes of fear; and no moral reform was adopted to




THE CUBANS.                 75
soften the harsh features and discordant views of the
subjected or of the dominant race. It seemed as if occasional ruptures, which should awaken the natives to
a sense of danger, were the most acceptable offering to
the administration. Such did come to pass from time
to time; what was the nature of these disturbances can,
perhaps, be best understood by the following extract
from the work of the Countess of Merlin, entitled' The
Slaves in the Spanish Colonies;" who, though not a
solid writer, has a style which savors of her sex, and is
quite entertaining. She wrote some where about 1840:
"The: suavity of manner of the Cuban toward his
slave inspires the latter with a respectful feeling, which
is akin to worship: there is no limit to this affection;
he would murder his master's enemy publicly in the
streets at mid-day, and would perish for his sake under
torture, without giving a wink. To the slave, his master is his country and his family.  The slave takes the
family name of his lord; receives his children at their
birth; shares with them the food which was prepared
by nature in female breasts; serves them in humble
adoration from earliest infancy. If the master is sick,
the slave watches over him day and night; closes his
eyes in death; and when this takes place, throws himself sorrowfully on the ground, cries wofully, and with
his nails rends his own flesh in despair.  But if a vindictive feeling is awakened in his bosom, he recovers
his natural ferocity; he is equally ardent in his hatred
and in his love; but very seldom does it happen that
his master is the object of his revengeful fury. When
an insurrection is not excited by foreigners (which, by
the by, is not often the case), the cause of it may be
traced to violent enmity toward the overseer. Here is
a fact which proves the moral influence of the masters
over the minds of these savages. A few months previous to my arrival, the blacks of the sugar estates of
my cousin, Don Rafael, became insurrected. The
slaves lately imported from Africa were mostly of the




76                 CUBA AND
Luccoomee tribe, and therefore excellent workmen, but
of a violent, unwieldly temper, and always ready to
hang themselves at the slightest opposition in their
way.
" It was just after the bell had struck five, and the
dawn of morning was scarcely visible. Don Rafael had
gone over to another of his estates, within half an hour
before, leaving behind him, and still in tranquil slumbers, his four children and his wife, who was in a state
of pregnancy. Of a sudden the latter awakes, terrified
by hideous cries, and the sound of hurried steps. She
jumps affrighted from her bed, and observes that all the
negroes of the estate are making their way to the house.
She is instantly surrounded by her children, weeping
and crying at her side. Being attended solely by slaves,
she thought herself inevitably lost; but scarcely had she
time to canvass these ideas in her distracted mind, when
one of her negro girls came in, saying,  Child, your
bounty need have no fears; we have fastened all the
doors, and Michael is gone for master.' Her companions placed themselves on all sides of their female owner, while the rebels advanced, tossing from hand to
hand among themselves a bloody corse, with cries as
awful as the hissing of the serpent in the desert. The
negro girls exclaimed,'That's the overseer's body!'
The rebels were already at the door, when Pepilla (this
is the name of the lady), saw the carriage of her husband coming at full speed. That sweet soul, who, until
that moment, had valiantly awaited death, was now
overpowered at the sight of her husband coming unarmed toward the infuriated mob, and she fainted. In
the mean time, Rafael descends from the vehicle, places
himself in front of them, and with only one severe look,
and a single sign of the hand, designates the purging
house for them to go to. The slaves suddenly become
silent, abandon the dead body of their overseer, and,
with downcast faces, still holding their field-swords in
their hands, they turn round and enter where they had




THE CUBANS.                 77
been ordered. Well might it be said, that they beheld
in the man who stood before them the exterminating
angel." I
It should be observed, with regard to this moral influence, which can always be more or less preserved,
that it is the source of safety for every slave country as
long as slavery is sustained, and the guarantee of order
when it is abolished. Painful is it, therefore, to see it
fast declining in the island, since the military menials
of government in the interior take pleasure in, and extort scandalous profit by, debasing and robbing the degraded, uninstructed white population.
Where a free white man can be carried publicly
through the country with his arms tied behind him (the
American citizens, Christopher Boone and others, were
thus ignominiously exposed), merely on suspicion, or
through the malignant avarice of an illiterate, ignorant
soldier, acting as sole authority in the land, the white
race cannot command that respect, and exercise the influence, which saves the southern states from continued
insurrections.
"Although the movement," the countess continues,
"had for a moment subsided, Rafael, who was not
aware of its cause, and feared the results, selected the
opportunity to hurry his family away from the danger.
The quitrin, or vehicle of the country, could not hold
more than two persons, and it would have been imprudent to wait till more conveyances were in readiness.
Pepilla and the children were placed in it in the best
possible manner; and they were on the point of starting, when a man, covered with wounds, with a haggard,
deathlike look, approached the wheels of the quitrin, as
if he meant to climb by them. In his pale face the
marks of despair and the symptoms of death could be
traced, and fear and bitter anguish were the feelings
which agitated his soul in the last moments of his life.
He was the white accountant, who had been nearly
murdered by the blacks, and having escaped from their




78. CUBA AND
ferocious hold, was making the last efforts to save amere breath of life.  His cries, his prayers, were calculated to make the heart faint.  Rafael found himself
in the cruel alternative of being deaf to the request of
a dying man, or throwing his bloody and expiring corse
over his children: his pity conquered; the accountant
was placed in the carriage as well as might be, and it
moved away from the spot.
" While this was passing on the estate of Rafael, the
Marquis of Cardenas, Pepilla's brother, whose plantations were two leagues off, who had been apprised
through a slave of the danger with which his sister was;
threatened, hastened to her aid.  On reaching the spot,
he noticed a number of the rebels, who, impelled by a
remnant of rage, or the fear of punishment, were directing their course to the Sabanas,* searching for
safety among runaway slaves.  The Marquis of Cardenas, whose'sense of the danger of his sister had induced
him  to fly to her help, had brought with him, in the
hurry of the moment, no one to guard his person except
a single slave. Scarcely had the fugitive band perceived a white man, when they went toward him.  The
marquis stopped his course and prepared to meet them;
it was a useless temerity in him against such odds.
Turning his master's horse by the bridle, his own slave
addressed him thus:'My master, let your bounty get
away from here; let me come to an understanding with
them.' And he then whipped his master's horse, which
went off at a gallop.
" The valiant'JosE,' for his name is as worthy of
being remembered as that of a hero, went on toward
the savage mob, so as to gain time for his master to
fly, and fell a victim to his devotedness, after receiving
thirty-six sword-blows.  This rising, which had not
been premeditated, had no other consequences. It had
originated in a severe chastisement inflicted by the over* The Sabanas are large open and barren plains, the last abodes
resorted to by runaway slaves.




THE CUBANS.                 79
seer, which had prompted the rebels to march toward
the owner's dwelling, to expound their complaint.
They begged Rafael's pardon, which was granted, with
the exception of two or three, who were delivered over
to the tribunals.  A remarkable truth of the love of
the slaves toward their lord, is the fact of their stopping
in the outset the engine which was at the time grinding, and preventing the explosion which would otherwise have taken place. Not only do the inhabitants of
Cuba forward the emancipation of their slaves by procuring for them the means of gaining money, but they
often make the grant without any retribution.  A service of importance, a mark of attachment, the act of
nursing the master's child, assiduous care during the
last illness, or the priority of services of an old member of the family, are all acts rewarded by the gift of
liberty. Sometimes the slave considers this benefit as
a punishment, and receives it weeping."
These are very charming ideas. It is a pity that the
countess should, by entering continually in the field of
romance, get so far from the regions of truth.  This
remark, however, applies, in the paragraphs quoted,
only to the assertion that the slaves in any case object
to being made free, or that such gifts are so common.
There are facts both pleasing to the philanthropist and
worthy of credit.  The following, from the touching
pen of the lady of Merlin, afford a happy illustration
of them:
"Though the slave enjoys the right of holding property, at his death it passes to the master; but if he
leaves children, the proprietor never deprives them of
the inheritance.  It sometimes happens that the free
negro makes his will in favor of his former master.
Here is an example.  During the scourge of the cholera, an old woman was attending the sick negroes of
my brother. She had continued in his service, although
she had freed herself many years before. Being taken
with the disease, she called my brother and said to him:




83                 CUBA AND'My master, I am going to die. These eighteen ounces
of gold are for your bounty; this piece of money for
my comrades; and this good old man, my husband, also,
if your bounty will let him have an ounce to help him
on through life, it is well.' The poor old woman did
not die, but had a most miraculous escape.
"I will refer to another anecdote, showing the lofty
and delicate feeling in the heart of a slave. The Count
of Gibacoa owned a slave, who, being desirous of ransoming himself, asked his master'how much he asked
for him?' The answer was,' Nothing; thou art free
henceforth.' The negro was silent, looked at his master, wept, and went off. A few hours afterward he
returned, bringing with him a fine bozal, or newly-imported African, whom he had purchased with the sum
intended for his freedom; and he said to the count:'My master, your bounty had one slave before; it has
now two.'
" The blacks become identified with the affairs of
their masters, and take part in their quarrels. The
captain-general, Tacon, who, during the time of his
government in Cuba, performed some few beneficent
acts in this colony, but from his harsh and inflexible
temper excited much ill-feeling, and took pleasure in
humbling the nobility by his despotism, had persecuted
the Marquis of Casa Calvo, who died while exiled.
Some time afterward, and'for the purpose of a magnificent banquet, which Tacon was to give the latter, he
solicited the more renowned cooks of the city; but the
best of them was a slave to the Marchioness of Arcos,
a daughter of the unfortunate Casa Calvo. Dazzled
by the very height of his station, the general imagined
that nothing would oppose his will; and he asked the
lady to allow him the services of the cook; but she, as
might be expected, refused. Mortified with the failure,
the general offered the negro not only his freedom, but
an additional and abundant gift, should he choose to
enter his service; but the negro answered:' Tell the




THEl CUBANS.                81
governor that I prefer slavery and poverty with my
master to wealth and liberty with him.' 
These acts, however, of devoted fidelity on the part of
the slaves are descriptive of a period in the history of
the slavery of Cuba long since passed. Though the romantic and very youthful heart of the countess would
prolong the dream, every one must be awakened to the
sad reality which now covers this land.
Not very far apart, in time, from the insurrection of
Montalvo, another took place, some where near Aguacate.  In 1842, there was one in Martiaro, for the
second time. On the last occasion, the slaves were
made bold by the impunity which, through the deranged
system of justice, and the influence of their owner, had
been obtained for them previously. In the same year,
the captain of the district of Lagunillas found an incendiary proclamation, which had fallen from the pocket of a foreign mulatto, who was employed as mason.
A monk appeared on an estate near Limonar,* under
pretence of requesting alms for the Virgin, whose image
he carried with him, and went on prophesying to the
blacks, that on St. John's day they would become free.
In July of the same year, the slaves of an estate near
Bemba committed several acts of insubordination, and
murdered a neighbor. An Italian hair-dresser was imprisoned in 1841 for receiving proclamations of an incendiary nature. The negroes of Aldama, under the
very walls of Havana, refused to work, and claimed the
right of freedom. In January, 1843, a colored man,
suspected by his companions of having revealed the particulars of the murder of an officer of government, by
the name of Becerra, was assassinated by one of his
own class, who, being afterward taken, committed suicide in gaol. In March, 1843, there happened at
Bemba an insurrection of five hundred negroes, belonging to the railroad company and others. Very soon
after, there was another movement on a large estate;
The Triangulo.
4*




C8 UBA AND
and before that year closed, it occurred a second time.
Soon after, the insurgents made a formal rally, doing
many bloody deeds, and murdering numbers of the
whites of different ages and sexes.
The above brief retrospective view of a few only of
the principal signs which were indicative of disquietude
among the slave population is very important at the
present day, when the irregularity of the proceedings
in the discovery of the plot has been the origin of an
absolute disbelief of all charges against every one of
the slave population. The information received officially at Havana from the Spanish minister at Washington, and through the court of Madrid, as far back
as 1834, in which the dangers which threatened the
island were fully shown, had been altogether slighted.
So also were these events, though marked with blood,
and showing unequivocal symptoms of a coming storm.
It gathered not in a single day, but came gradually on;
and the humbled landholder was doomed to see the
clouds of destruction hanging over his property, amid
the general apathy of the officers of government, who
alone were intrusted with the care of that in which they
felt no interest.
A rich planter, having obtained, subsequently to the
last bloody insurrection of November, 1843, by means
of a negro woman, and by hiding himself during the
night in the room where she slept with her husband,
the particulars of a plan of devastation and bloodshed
so extended as to make him shudder with horror, the
local government seemed at length to awake from a
sleep fraught with such imminent danger. One of the
immediate results was a meeting of the planters called
in the city of Matanzas for the third of December.
The meeting was held; a committee named to propose,
on the seventeenth, a report, which report being unfavorable to the slave trade, the planters were not allowed to meet again, and the military administration
went through those difficult circumstances, guided by




THE CUBANS.                 83
its own incompetent intelligence, or by the suggestions
of the ignorant.
How did they act?  What system did they adopt to
quell the general commotion among the colored population, which was so visible to every eye? The answer
to these questions will be found in the ungrateful task
which it is here necessary to perform.
Under the impression derived from some testimony
obtained by the military tribunals, established for the
occasion, and composed of officers of inferior grade, it
was supposed that the conspiracy framed by the blacks
comprehended every individual of that unfortunate
class. No one was excepted: every one must be
guilty; and those who would or could reveal nothing,
were marked as the most criminal.  Acting upon this
ground, a general investigation, or what was called'-'expurgo,  was ordered throughout the whole land,
and intrusted to the most ignorant officers, whose;system of inquiry was reduced to questions implying the
answers required, and accompanied by the most violent chastisement, often inflicted in such a manner as
sooner or later to produce death.:Suggestions were
made of the utility of employing lawyers of eminent
standing, whose ingenuity and capacity would have
advanced the proceedings efficiently; but nothing of
the kind met a hearing.  The following are a few of
the atrocious acts which resulted from conferring judicial powers upon military officers of an inferior class.
Under date of March 6th, 1844, the captain-general
addressed a letter to General Salas, who presided over
the military tribunal stationed in the interior, in answer to the dispatches of the latter, consulting him as
to the necessity of using violent means in the prosecution of: those free colored persons under indictment,
who should refuse to discover their associates, and setting forth the good effects which those means had produced among the slaves.  In this letter his excellency
authorized these same meails to be employed with the



84                  CUBA AND
free colored population, and manifested his approbation
of their chastisement in the country where they should
be taken, and of the attendance of the officer, in order
to certify the testimony!
These officers, thus raised by a power above the
laws, and above the dominical rights of the owners of
slaves, with very few exceptions, exercised their authority in a manner the most sordid, brutal, and sanguinary. Under the universal alarm raised, and extending to every hut, whoever was bold enough to
insinuate a doubt respecting facts revealed under the
most atrocious tortures, was deemed an abolitionist;
although his interests and previous conduct presented
a much safer guarantee of his opinions than the trust
which should be placed in uneducated and hungry officers of the army. It was quite common for the latter
to demand and obtain money from the accused, in order to save, their lives, or their bodies from balbarous
lashing.
One of these prosecuting attorneys, judges, and executioners, at one and the same time, namely, Don
Ramon Gonzales, ordered his victims to be taken to
a room which had been whitewashed, and the walls of
which were besmeared with blood and small pieces of
flesh, from the wretches who had preceded them in this
cruel treatment. There stood a bloody ladder, where
the accused were tied, with their heads downward, and
whether free or slave, if they would not avow what the
fiscal officer insinuated, were whipped to death by two
stout mulattoes selected for this purpose. They were
scourged with leather straps, having at the end a small
destructive button, made of fine wire. At the spot
called the farm of Soto, were butchered in this manner M. Ruiz, C. Tolon, George Blakely, and other
freemen; and their deaths were made to appear, by
certificates from physicians, as having been caused by
diarrhoea. This new minister of the law had been
formerly prosecuted for theft, extortion, and even




THE CUBANS.                 8.5
deeper crimes, committed while he commanded the
criminal's depot.
Don Mariano F-    brought on himself the execration and odium of the whole city of Matanzas for his
barbarous treatment of Andrew Dodge, a colored man,
born free, who was generally beloved and esteemed,
and was the pwner of a considerable property. He
was tied to the ladder and flogged on three different
occasions, but never avowed what he was accused of;
and finally he was executed, in defiance even of those
sanguinary laws of old, which instituted the ordeal of
torture in ages called barbarous.  He also caused a free
negro, Pedro Nunez, to be tied hand-and-foot and hung
to the ceiling of the house, keeping him in this painful
position through the night, his body having been previously lacerated by the whip. Again, by threatening
to inflict punishment, he obtained from the mulatto,
Thomas Vargas, an affidavit against a man of the same
class, called Fonten. He used to visit Vargas at his
dungeon every day after sentence had been passed on
him, to assure him sportingly that he would not fail to
receive four bullets through his body. The prophecy
was of course fulfilled.
Don Juan Costa, another of the acting officers, had
likewise his share in this work of accusation; and
there were, in the process of his making, ninety-six
certificates of an equal number of deaths of the indicted
during the investigation. Of these, forty-two were
freemen and fifty-four slaves. They all had died
under the lash; and that you may judge of the intensity of their sufferings, I will record what appears
from the process viz.: "Lorenzo Sanchez, imprisoned
on the first of April, died on the fourth; Joseph Cevallero, imprisoned on the fourth, died on the sixth;
John Austin Molino, imprisoned on the ninth,, died on
the twelfth: and so on through an infinite number.
Don Jose del Peso punished a negro one hundred
and ten years old, who died at the Matanzas jail.




86                  CUBA AND
Don Francisco Illas, the enlightened and humane fiscal
officer, who appears among those of his class as if to
redeem the Spanish name from the dark stain brought
upon it by his associate, was called to certify to the
death of this old man; but-he drew back horror-struck
from the -spot when he beheld a man so worn by age,
having his body cut into pieces by the pitiless lash.
The unfortunate victim had complained of the fiscal
Peso, accusing him of stealing from him forty-five dollars.  Del Peso, after inflicting severe punishment,
found sport in hanging the accused victims on a tree,
and then cutting the ropes to see them fall to the
ground in bunches. He had been a journeyman tailor
at Havana.
Don Ferdinand Percher presented his process, having seventy-two certificates of deaths of prisoners during the prosecution; twenty-nine freemen and fortythree slaves. "I have one hundred prisoners in
souse," said he once, before a number of respectable
citizens, " and if one escapes I am willing to have him
nailed to my forehead."
Don Leon:Dulzaides, in July, 1844, had a free negro placed in the jail in what is called " campaignstocks," which is a most distressing position of the
body, the arms being arranged so as to hold the legs;
and thus placed, ordered him to be whipped unmercifully, until he should confess. Another of the fiscals,
who was acting in his official character in, the next
room, was called by the cries of the victim, and obtained for him a suspension of punishment.  Dulzaides
demanded the;punishment of death for twenty-seven
prisoners, but the council sentenced only two. During the reading of the sentence, he used to ask money
of such as were saved from death.  Seventy prisoners
of Don Jyacinth -   died during the prosecution, of
whom thirty-five were freemen.  This fiscal was suspended from office.
Don Miguel Ballo de la Rore, being on the estate..




THE CUBANS.                 87 -
of Oviedo, extorted from the negroes affidavits accusing their master, who being absent, was apprised
through his administrator or econome, that he was a
lost man, but that the fiscal would save him, provided
he paid two hundred ounces of gold.  The administrator wrote several letters on the subject, which were
handed to General Salas, president of the tribune, who
wrote to the fiscal, ordering him not to continue the
prosecution on that estate.
Don Manuel Siburu, fiscal of the prosecution against
the English and American machinists, had demanded
in his accusation the sentence of death upon an Englishman named Elkins.  The members of the military
tribunals, however, being intimidated by the consequences that might follow, and at the same time well
aware that the testimony had been extorted by the lash,
consulted respecting the case with General O'Donnell.
The latter answered, that they should proceed from
what they found in the process, and look well to what
they did; which, as there was no mention of the torture in the proceedings, meant that they should crown
by their sentence the system of barbarous cruelty commenced by the fiscals. The consultation was repeated,
and a similar answer obtained. At the same time, Mr.
Crawford, the English consul at Havana, officially informed the captain-general that he was aware that the
British Majesty's subjects were being indicted and
judged at Matanzas in a manner different from that
adopted toward Spanish subjects; that as the testimony had been obtained by forcible means, whatever had
been done was null; that there existed a treaty between the two nations, wherein it was stipulated that
no Englishman should be judged in the Spanish dominions by special tribunals or committees, but by the
regular order of the Spanish laws for Spaniards. The
consul was persevering in his demand, and the captaingeneral, embarrassed also by the consultations aforesaid, was obliged to give up; and he consequently or



88                 CUBA AND
dered that the prosecution against foreigners should be
placed in the hands of Don Francisco Illas, to be made
anew. This able officer soon perceived that nothing
was to be met with in what had been done but falsehood, infamy, and calumnly, disconnectedly thrown together by the stupid Siburu. Within two months afterward the prisoners were declared innocent, and liberated. It was in the presence of this same Siburu,
that another of his prisoners, the aged and respectable
mulatto, Ceballos, well known and esteemed by the
merchants of Havana, suddenly expired on being shown
the place of torture.
Don Pedro Linares had three old Indians whipped
in Cardenas, two of whom died, who lived in that neighborhood, and had resided on the island since the acquisition of Florida by the United States, whence
they had come, from their attachment to the Spanish
nation. Don Pedro Acevedo, fiscal of the proceedings
against the negroes on the coffee estate of Domech, who
had been accused of possessing poison (which, by the
by, was never found) for the purpose of killing their
master, so contrived it as to throw the guilt on a young
white man, a native of the Canary Islands, aged between nineteen and twenty-one, who was executed, declaring his innocence to the last moment of his life.
On being exhorted by the priest to pardon his enemies,
he complied with the request, excepting the fiscal, Acevedo, whom he could not pardon.
Don Pedro Llanes, another of the fiscals, filled up the
measure of his crimes, which cried so loudly for punishment, that he was at length accused of numberless robberies, extortions of money, and all kinds of wickedness,
and at last was stopped in his dark career, and imprisoned in the Havana jail. There, under the stingings of
conscience, he placed in the hands of General O'Donnell two hundred and fifty ounces of gold, which had
been the fruits of his rapacity; and soon after committed suicide by cutting his throat. Don Manuel




THE CUBANS.                  89
Mata, lieutenant-colonel of the Carlist ranks in 1834,
another of the fiscals, was imprisoned at Havana for excesses and robberies committed in his official character
during these disgraceful proceedings.
The remaining fiscals, Gala, Gherci, Flores Apodaca,
Cruces, Custardoz, Marcotegui, Maso, Llorens, Sanchez,
Rosquin, Baltanas, Alvarez Murillo, and Dominich, traversed the country in every direction, and strictly obeyed
the orders they had received; some whipping or torturing free colored or slave individuals, and extorting
false testimony and accusations, and others seizing
horses, cattle, furniture, and whatever was owned by
the free colored persons, all which they sold and converted into cash. It is hardly necessary to say, that
the fiscals took from their victims every cent which
they possessed.
It is but justice to add, that the fiscals named Mendoza, Arango, and Illas are honorable exceptions to this
host of miscreants. Signor Illas, above all, has called
forth the approbation of all the feeling part of the community, and of the friends of justice and humanity, for
his able, judicious, disinterested, and impartial conduct
and deportment in the cases of the French coffee-plan'
ters and the English and American machinists, as well
as of all who fell under his control. In the cases under the direction of the fiscal Ballo, this officer did not
demand that sentence of death should be pronounced on
any of his prisoners; the tribunal nevertheless sentenced two. The fiscal Lara demanded death for only
one, and the tribunal sentenced four. The sergeant
intrusted with the custody of the prisoners in the military jail at Matanzas is said to have collected twenty
thousand dollars in cash for prison-fees and other arbitrary charges exacted from the prisoners.
In the city of Matanzas, the general persecution of
the colored race was converted by the fiscals into means
of gratifying their lewd passions upon the distracted
daughters, wives, and sisters of their male victims. So




90                  CUBA AND
far did they carry their barefaced impudence, that a ball
was given by several of the fiscals, and attended by the
consulting lawyer of the military tribunal, where none
but women of color appeared. At a late hour of the
night, the doors were closed; and all the inmates being
in a state of disgraceful nudity, one can imagine what
scenes of revelry and debauch followed. Acts of such
low and stupid infamy serve to show how the several
channels of civilization are interwoven, and how easy it
is for man, when once authorized to trample on any of
the salutary restraints of society, to mock and despise
whatever comes in the way of his most sensual appetites.
And now, in order justly to estimate the trust placed in
the hands of these agents of military justice, the nature
of their duties should be stated. They had separately
the jurisdiction of a tribunal, with power to imprison
and call before them whomsoever they would interrogate. The testimony which they obtained was received
privately, no one being present except the fiscal and
the witness. The fiscal would write down and sign the
declaration, the blacks and the majority of witnesses
knowing neither how to read nor write. Not even the
notary, who is required to be present at the affidavits
before the ordinary tribunals, appeared on these occasions to check the arbitrary, malicious, or blind impressions of the fiscal. Officers of the army were named
to act as counsel for the individuals indicted, whether
colored or white, free or bondsmen. These counselors,
incapable through lack of talent or learning, were not
allowed to read the proceedings regarding the persons
whom they were to defend. All the instruction they
had must be derived from a hasty and general abstract
of facts made by the same fiscal, whose last duty was
to demand the sentence which, in his opinion, should be
imposed on the criminal.
Too much blame should not be attributed to the
chief who, commanding the island at this delicate period, could not be approached by the wisdom and inl



THE CUBANS.                  91
telligence of the land. The invariable and jeaious policy which, for many years, has directed the administration of Cuba, drew away from the absolute military
authority whatever was enlightened and spirited. Mien
of vulgar habits and little education were the natural
upholders of a barbarous system; and it was not easy
to find officers of superior worth to act under a cruel
impulse, and to execute sanguinary orders; so that this
strange course was unavoidably placed in the most incapable or polluted hands. It is, therefore, manifestly unjust to charge upon the chief authority of the
island the faults which were due to the political jealousy, or the institutions, if such a name can be applied to the despotism established. But on the other
hand, it would be an embarrassing question for those
who have professedly enhanced acts of the same high
functionary, to analyze and point out minutely the
measures by which the island has been saved, and
wherein the high capacity of the chief magistrate has
been made manifest.
With regard to the truth of the conspiracy, and
whatever ground it originally had, it has been so much
embroiled and connected with incoherent, false, and improbable testimony, adduced by the fear of punishment,
that a general opinion is fast gaining ground at the
present day, that it never existed, and that the few reports and conversations of a rebellious nature, mentioned with some plausibility in the course of the investigations, are the constant and latent workings of the
slaves, which, in all ages, have accompanied the institution of slavery. This would be a difficult matter to
decide. The events which preceded the general and
scourging inquisition lately gone through with, together
with the simultaneous and visible impudence of the free
colored race, are certain indications of a disturbed state
of mind in at least some sections of the country. On
the other hand, the indictments followed up by different
fiscals, and the use of the torture without obtaining




92                    CUBA AND
satisfactory evidence to dispel all manner of doubt as
to the existence of a plot, speak against its credibility.
It can also be alleged that the very ignorance of the
prosecutors, and the irregularity of their mode of procedure, were calculated to hinder the discovery of a
plot, without deciding that it had positively no foundation. It is more likely that the conspiracy was in its
infancy; and that when the avenging storm which swept
over the land was heard from afar, it increased the
number of the discontented, who, through despair, prepared for some last acts of devastation and blood.
There is one painful reflection, which fixes itself upon
the considerate observer of events.  While foreigners,
after long delay, obtained a hearing of their cases, and
after being paraded through the country, tied hand-andfoot on horseback, and kept in a filthy dungeon, were declared innocent, the white creoles, who had been imprisoned with equal injustice, remained still incarcerated, and their cases undecided, because they had no
consul to claim for them the rights of civilized man!




THE CUBANS.                     93
CHAPTER III.
Geographical Situation of Cuba.-Its Beauty and Fertility.-Different Names of the Island in illustration.-Notice of " Notes on Cuba,
by a Physician."-Trip to Guines.-Beautiful Farms.-Hedges of
Aloes.-Plantain Fields.-Sugar and Coffee Estates.-Tropical
Trees.-Singular way of distributing Milk. —Life in Guines.The Valley of the Yumuri.-The Bay of Matanzas.-The Ceiba
and Jaguey-marcho.-Subterraneous River.-Robbers.-Storm in
the Rainy Season.-Errors in the "Notes on Cuba."-The Author's ludicrous Mistakes.-False Notions of Slavery.-Oppressive
Acts of the Officers of the Law.-Bad Influence of the Slave-Trade
Party.
IN the two preceding chapters have been given a short
historical and political sketch of Cuba, in which it
will be seen that the island is at present in a most
degraded and oppressed condition, and apparently
without prospect of any favorable change on the part
of its rulers. Before going into a detail of the wrongs
which Cuba now endures, and the grievances of which
her inhabitants complain, and before considering her
present position with Spain, and her prospects for the
future, it is advisable to give some idea of the island
itself, and the character-social and domestic-of its
inhabitants.
Cuba is about 780 miles in length by 52 in mean
breadth, and has a superficial area of 43,500 square
miles, being nearly equal in extent to all the other islands taken together. It is traversed throughout its
whole extent by chains of mountains, whose highest
peaks, Potullo and Cobre, attain an elevation of more
than 8500 feet; and the plains beneath are copiously
watered, and rendered fit for producing in the highest
perfection all the objects of tropical culture. The climate, particularly in the western part, although trop



94                  CUBA AND
ical, is marked by an unequal distribution of heat at
different seasons, indicating a transition to the temperate zone. The mean temperature is 700, but in
the interior and eastern part 73~. The hottest months
do not average more than 84~-85~, and the coldest
present a mean temperature of about 700. Ice sometimes forms at night after a long continuance of the
northers, but snow never falls. Hurricanes are of
much less frequent occurrence than in the other islands.  The situation of Cuba, commanding the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico and the communication
between North and South America, gives it a high
commercial and political importance. Indeed, such
designations as, " The Queen of the Antilles," " The
Key of the Gulf," " The Sentinel of the Mississippi,"
" The Beautiful Antille," " The Gem of the American Seas," indiscriminately bestowed upon this enchanting island, are sufficiently significant of its advantageous commercial position, and its remarkable natural beauty and fertility.
A work published some four or five years since, entitled "Notes on Cuba, by a Physician," contains such
correct descriptions of the country, and such faithful
delineations of the landscape and the several phenomena of nature, while in other respects it abounds with
mistakes, that it is thought best to make some use of
its contents in this work, both to afford very interesting descriptions of the island, and to point out the
errors of the author in more important points.
The following is from the account of his trip to
Guines, on the railroad:
" We were thus carried by well-stocked farms, surrounded by hedges of aloes, their dagger-pointed and
stiff long leaves closely interlaced, bidding defiance to
either ingress or egress, while from the centre of these
clustered lances, erect flowering stems, with twined
branchlets and cup-like blossoms, raised their candelabra forms a score of feet high, in their primness look



THE- CUBANS.                 95
ing more like the work of art than nature.  Then
came the square-trimmed lime hedge, with its small
clusters of white flowers yielding their perfume to the:air, equally impenetrable to man or beast; and next
long lines of uncemented stone fences, built of the jagged honey-comb coral rock that abounds throughout the
country. These often inclosed whole acres of luscious
fragrant pines, each sustained by a short footstalk
above the circle of thorny leaves compassing the plants
that were spread low over the ground; some were still
small and blue with the half-withered flowerets that
blossom all over the fruit; others were ripe, large, and
of a golden hue, while a few of the hardier kind, but
less esteemed, were of a reddish green tint.
"Now we passed by fields of plantains growing
thickly together, bearing above their frail trunks heavy
bunches of green fruit, with their terminating: cones of
unfructified flowers, their long, tender fan-like leaves,
torn in shreds by the winds and drooping around, ragged and bruised, giving them the appearance of a crowd
of slatterns in dishabille.  Surrounding us on every
side, many other valued treasures of our hot-houses
springing from the rich soil, arrested the attention by
their foliage, or flowers not wearing moreover the
sickly look of pampered care, but fresh and vigorous,
tended by nature's skillful hand.
" But the trees of the tropics alone are an inexhaustible source of admiration and wonder to the
stranger. We were soon beyond the immediate neighborhood of the city (Havana), its gardens, its farms
and its hamlets; and their places were supplied by
extensive sugar and coffee estates, with their large
potreros and woodlands. Here the royal palm, queen
of the forest, met the eye on every side. Sometimes
isolated and irregularly scattered over fields of sugarcane with their tall straight trunks and their tufted
crowns of long, branch-like fringed leaves, waving and
trembling in every breeze, and glistening in the rays




96                  CUBA AND
of the sun, they stood like so many guardian spirits of
the land keeping watch over the rich verdure, stretching far in the distance beneath them. Now in long
avenues of turned Corinthian columns, their long
leaves, reaching across and intermingling, forming one
continuous high-sprung arch, and their trunks glossed
with white lichen as with paint, they led the eye to the
country mansion of the planter with its cool verandahs
and its back-ground of neatly-thatched negro-houses,
while in the adjoining potreros large clumps of them
sheltered with their shade the cattle grazing peacefully
at their feet."
And again when in Guines:," Slowly promenading
under the porches of the houses, I could not refrain
from occasionally peeping into the parlors and chambers as I passed their large iron-grated windows. But
the inmates were all up, and although now and then a
fair senora might be seen in dishabille, the whole
household was generally engaged in the duties of the
day, for the creole is always an early riser. Several
were engaged in sweeping the pavements; others were
clustered around the milkman's cow, which had been
brought to their doors, and were waiting their turn to
have their pitchers filled from the slow stream; while
a calf tied just without tasting distance looked piteously on, and at times showed signs of impatience, as
he saw his morning meal borne off. When all had
been supplied he was muzzled, and his halter tied to
the extremity of the cow's tail. One rush to the bag
was triid but the cruel netting frustrated all attempts
to taste the bland fluid, and the poor animal quietly
followed in the rear as the man drove his cow to the
houses of his other customers.
" At other doors the malojero was counting out his
small bundles of green fodder, each containing a dozen
stalks of Indian corn, with the leaves and tassels attached, the common daily food of the horse. On their
pack-horses were bundles of small-sized sugar-cane,




THE CUBANS.                  97
neatly trimmed and cut into short pieces, and selected
small on account of their superior richness, offering to
the creole a grateful refreshment during the heat of the
noon. Others carried large matted panniers slung over
their clumsy straw saddles, filled with fine ripe oranges,
the favorite and healthy morning repast of the native
and the stranger, the well and the invalid.  As the
day progressed, mounted monteros were seen galloping
through the streets, just arrived from their farms; each
with his loose shirt worn over his pantaloons, its tail
fluttering in the breeze, while his long sword, lashed to
his waist by a handkerchief, dangled at his back. Then
there was the heavy cart laden with sugar, for the railroad depot, drawn by eight strong oxen, the front pair
some twenty feet in advance of the rest, its freight of
boxes bound down firmly with cords, and covered with
raw hides. By its side the driver stalked, dressed in
a loose shirt and trowsers, which once may have been
white, but now closely resembled the soil in their hue,
and a high-peaked straw hat, with a wide rim, on his
head. He held in his hand a long pole, armed with a
goad, with which he urged forward his slow-moving
team, often striking the sharp nail at its extremity repeatedly into the flank of an ox, until the poor animal,
in his endeavors to escape, seemed to drag the whole
load by his sole strength.  Other carts were returning
to their distant sugar estates, laden with planks cut
into proper sizes and fastened in packages, each'containing all the sides to make a sugar box; thus put up
by our ingenious northern friends for the Cuba market.
" The arriero with his pack-horses, eight or a dozen
in number, was also urging them on by his voice and
the occasional crack of his whip, while they staggered
under their heavy loads of charcoal, kegs of molasses,
or aguardiente (rum), and the halter of each being tied
to the extremity of the tail of the horse before, moved
in single files, carefully picking their wa y. Suddenly
one of the hindmost would stop/:- to survey the path,
5




98                  CUBA AND
when there would be such a general stretching of tails
that bid fair to leave some of them in the state of Tam
O'Shanter's mare after her hard-won race. The whip
of the arriero would, however, soon remove the difficulty, and the long line would again move forward."
The pictures of the country in the vicinity of Guines;
the negro pranks on Twelfth-day, and their dances;
the cock-pit and cock-fighting; the madruga baths and
scenery; and above all, the detailed accounts of the
Carlota coffee estate, are accurate, and leave true and
vivid impressions.
" There are several beautiful drives near Matanzas,"
says the author; " but those which no stranger should
neglect are that to the Cumbre, the ridge of the high
hill rising north of the city, and that to the valley of
the Yumuri, which it separates from the sea. Accompanied by a friend at whose house I was staying, I left
the city in a volante before sunrise, and following a
road of the roughest kind, which, passing behind the
handsome barracks and the airy, large hospital situated
on the slope of the hill, wound up its steep acclivity, I
gained the narrow ridge of the Cumbre. Here, as I
walked along the level road, I knew not on which side
to fix my eye, so beautiful were the landscapes that
surrounded me. Seaward, the widely-extended ocean,
with numerous vessels on its great highway, the Gulf
Stream, and more thah thirty miles of the shores were
included in a single view. Then there was the long,
broad bay of Matanzas, dwindled in size, and looking
like a majestic river with its fleet of vessels riding at
anchor, and the city at its head covering the level plain
and creeping up the hill beyond it. On the other side
of the ridge, far down below our very feet, lay the
lovely valley of the Yumuri, with its grounds now
broken into sharp peaks, now gently undulating; its
cane-fields, with their pea-green verdure, and the dark
green foliage of the tall palms scattered irregularly over
them; its orange groves and luxuriant plantations with




THE CUBANS.                  99
broad waving leaves; its cocoas, its almonds, and its
coffee, with here and there a gigantic ceiba spreading
out its massive arms high -in air. As the mist, which
in different parts hung, ovir the scene, rose in fleecy
masses, or gradually dissolved in the increasing heat of
day, and farm after farm, and cottage after cottage, became lit by the bright sun's rays, throwing into bold
relief the illuminated portions, while the rest still lay
in the deep shade of the Cumbre, a landscape was presented that I had never seen rivaled even amid the
picturesque scenery of Switzerland.
" The valley is very small, which, indeed, adds to
its beauty, and is so completely hemmed in on every
side by high precipices, that it seems entirely cut off
from the rest of the world; while the oriental and quiet
air it presents is in strong contrast with the busy city
-just by it, and the long extent of mountainous region
stretching far in the distance beyond.  At the foot of
the height on which I stood, a small cottage was
perched, on the very summit of a small conical hill,
and with all the appurtenances of a farm-yard, lay like
a picture below me; the objects were much diminished
in size, but the crowing of the cock and the bleating of
the kids came distinctly on the ear, and heightened the
interest of the scene. The whole formed a lovely, secluded nook, and one could not refrain from envy of the
happy lot of the montero whose home it was.  But the
heart was pained on recurring to the past history of the
vale; and while fancy sketched the scenes of murder
and carnage which this place had witnessed, of its once
peaceful people, it seemed well that the name of the
neighboring city should be so significant of the event.
It was here that, in 1511, numbers of the aborigines
were cruelly massacred by the Spaniards, and the remnant, driven by bloodhounds to the surrounding heights,
were forced in despair to throw themselves over their
brinks into the river below, crying out' Yo moir,' I
die; whence the name of the vale and river.




100                 CUBA AND
"On the ridge were several private residences, into
one of which we were invited by its owner, who gave
us that scarce article on a Cuba farm, a glass of fresh
milk. In our descent to the city, several varied and
beautiful views of it, and of the harbor and shipping,
were presented; and when we reached the base of the
hill, a short but rapid drive brought us into the gap,
through which the Yumuri escapes from the valley.
High precipices rose on each side, their summits
crowned with a luxuriant growth, while, from the overhanging walls of the southern side, immense stalactites
of various hues hung in irregular and grand festoons,
amid which the entrance to a large cave was plainly
visible. At its base the little river had expanded into
a placid miniature lake, and beyond, through the cleft
mountain, was seen the vale itself."
The following is a very picturesque description of the
ceiba and the jaguey: "'Soon after entering a coffee
estate, I passed by one of those giants of a tropical
forest, a powerful ceiba, with its large, tall trunk fixed
to the soil by huge braces projecting from it in different
directions, and rising branchless and erect sixty feet,
where it threw out immense horizontal arms of massive
timber.' The extremities of these only were subdivided
into branches and twigs, which, covered by foliage,
formed an umbrella-shaped canopy over the whole.
But although themselves free from leaves, these stout
arms supported on their broad surfaces a luxuriant garden of air-plants. There were the wild-pines in close
set hedges, with gutter-shaped leaves and cup-like cavities filled with the condensed dews of night, serving as
cisterns -for the winged tribes during the long drought
of winter. Other species in branches of strings hung
pendent, or in fan-like shapes spread close to their foster-parent; while some, as the night-blooming ceres,
with hairy coats, like long creeping insects, clung to
the sides and under surfaces of the branches, or wound
around the trunk itself. Nor was this garden devoid




THE CUBANS.                 101
of beauty.  A partial glimpse could here and there be
had of flowers of the brightest scarlet, of the richest
brown, and of a delicate pink, exciting vain longings in
the beholder to explore their aerial beds. Not far
from  this tree was another as large, inclosed in the
deadly embraces of the jaguey-marcho; it was a mortal struggle for mastery between the two giants; but
how powerful soever had been the ceiba, it was evident
from the size of the other, the multiplied folds of its
arms around the trunk of its foster-parent, and its
luxuriant branches and foliage already overtopping it,
that the victory would soon belong to the parasite.
Near was a jaguey-marcho standing alone; the death
of its victim had long been effected; and it pompously
raised its distorted trunk, and spread its irregular foliage, where once before its noble-looking parent had
stood in all its beauty."
The writer should have mentioned that the poets of
Cuba have adopted the jaguey as the emblem of ingratitude.  Equally true is the following: " I had now
gained the foot of the hill, and commenced ascending
its winding path amid irregular masses of jagged coral
rock, of which the whole range seemed composed, and
which, from the sharp points it presents over its whole
surface; has received the very significant name of' dog's
teeth.' It was every where perforated by round holes
of various sizes, traversing in every direction, the whole
looking like some thick paste that had been suddenly
petrified while in a state of violent ebullition. Here
the ingenious Liebig could see his theory verified in forests of  heavy timber springing from beds of barren
rock, their roots penetrating into the holes and fissures, fixing the trunk firmly to the earth; while on
the soilless bed rank air-plants, covered with their interlaced roots the petreous surface, or in clumps suspended in the air, clung to every tree.
"'rhe foliage above was so thick that the rays of the
sun penetrated only here and there through the almost




102                 CuBA AND
twilight-shade that shed a softness on all below, where
the dews of night hung in pearly drops on every leaf.
Nothing could exceed the air of solitude reigning
throughout this primeval forest.  Scarcely a bird was
seen amid its foliage, or a sound heard, save the faint
mnurmur of the east wind through the thick canopy over
head, and the boring of the worm penetrating the fallen
timber. Even the solitary whistle of the small dayowl, and the occasional and distant clacking of the arriero, tended only to increase the sense of loneliness.
It is in forests like this that the hutia loves to dwell,
the wild-cat to hide her young, and the wild-dog to
build his lair.  Amid its deep recesses the runaway
negro also seeks a home in some secret cave, spending
his days in sleep and his nights in prowling about the
borders of the neighboring estates."
" The creole," the author remarks in another part
of his work, alluding to the countrymen " or monteros,
is a finished orator, graceful in his actions and in his
expressions.  While talking, his whole frame is in motion; and one ignorant of the Spanish, could almost
guess the drift of the conversation by his pantomime.
I once listened to a most graphic description of William
Tell's shooting the apple off his son's head by a magoral (overseer) of a sugar estate. In one of my excursions I dined at the same table with him, and had been
relating some anecdotes of courage, when he in his turn
told that story.  He was seated when he commenced,
but warming with the subject, he arose from his chair,
and, as the story proceeded, presented in succession the
anxious crowd of spectators, the patient, unconscious
child, the firm father, and the stern tyrant, in tableaux
vivants that I had never seen excelled. At the moment when he had shot the arrow, and placed his hand
on the other, ready to send it to the heart of the tyrant
if the first pierced his son, the intense agony of the
father, more intense because half-subdued and mingled
with his deadly resolve, was so well depicted, that I




TETM  CUBANS.              103
gazed with unfeigned astonishment at the actor, when
the cries of the crowd, joyful at his success, burst from
them.  Then came the daring response to the tyrant,
that the second shaft was for his own heart, at which
point his story closed, and I was revolving in my mind
how a stranger to liberal institutions could depict the
indomitable spirit of liberty dwelling in the bosom of
the Swiss, when he said that all this happened to an
Indian and his king in Mexico."
The description of the subterranecus river in the
village of San Antonio is worthy of perusal: " On
reaching the spot, I found the deep ravine, leading
into the cave, dry; but the river which in the winter
season disappears close by the town, would be heard
rushing in its underground course near the opening.
XThe ceiba, nearly a hundred feet high, rested the base:of:its immense trunk on the very edge of the rock
6overhanging the entrance; the huge braces common to
-this tree projecting a score of feet from it on the land,
and firmly fixing it to the soil. It stood like some
-giant guard over the yawning cavern below, which
seemed well suited to be the fabled residence of the
terrible Ceme, worshiped by the Cuban Indian. The
moon-beams lit up every object without, making the
dark cavern still more dreary; numerous tree-frogs
were piping their bird-like notes from the bushes covering the sides of the ravine, and bats were flitting
down into it, while ever and anon a large wild owl
swept across the chasm, hastily beating the bushes on
its margin, and emitting his grinding cries. The
whole spot was extremely picturesque; but one could
not help fancying the stream, when swollen by the
rains, thundering down into the wide mouth of this
cave, and carrying with it whatever it bore throughout
its subterranean course, depositing bones of animals,
perhaps of men, of birds, reptiles, and land shells; and
at its submarine outlet, ejecting some amid those of
the finny tribes of the ocean and its shells; and when




104                 CUBA AXD
these shall have been upraised by the heaving earthquake, puzzling the future geologist by the incongruous mingling. The river is again seen deep down,
through an opening in the rock about half a mile
from the cavern, and pieces of wood thrown into the
stream have appeared on the coast several leagues distant."
As a specimen of the once distracted state of the
country, the " Notes on Cuba" contain the following
story: " The short road of six miles between this
place (Havana) and Regla, now so safe, was during
the days of piracy much infested by robbers, bands of
whom then roamed with impunity through all the surrounding country. A smart little Frenchman, who
practiced the healing art in this city, was one night
waited on by one of them, with a command to accompany him to a wounded man. Fearing the result of
a refusal, he mounted a horse that the robber had
brought with him, and rode some distance from the
city under his guidance, when the two were suddenly
surrounded by a band of armed men. The doctor now
repented of his journey; nor were his fears lessened
on their blindfolding him and leading him off on foot,
although they assured him that no harm should come
to him. After a long walk they reached a hut, where,
the bandage having been removed from his eyes,' he
beheld a strongly-built man covered with wounds and
exhausted by loss of blood. He was told to attend on
him; and having dressed his wounds, and informed
them that they were not necessarily fatal, his eyes
were again blindfolded, and he was given in charge of
his guide; a double handful of doubloons having been
first offered to him as a fee, which he positively declined accepting. He was conducted safely home, and
on the days appointed for his future visits the man
and horse were found each night at his door. His
patient got well, but the doctor would accept of no
pecuniary recompense. In several of his rides after



THE CUBANS.                105
ward he was stopped on the road, but on being recognized was not molested; and on some occasions he was
even accompanied by some of his robber friends to his
home, when other bands, who did not know his worth,
were prowling about the place."
The next extract is a picture of the daily storm during the rainy season: " For several consecutive days
was the whole canopy of the heavens each noon hid by
the heavy masses of clouds rapidly formed on the horizon, and over head presenting in their storm-like appearance a strong contrast by the clear blue of the
noon's unclouded sky. About two o'clock began the
gathering to one broad focus: and the black thundercloud, condensing in its frigid bosom the ascending
vapors, and blending with its own immense mass the
smaller ones in its course, with gathered and still increasing power, rose majestically against the opposing
verge; its jagged edges apparently resting on the hills,
and its pendent centre threatening destruction to all
beneath.  Then came the deep calm; and each leaf
was motionless, while the scuds above rushed madly
together, and curled and intermingled as if in fierce
contest. And now the sudden blast burst through the
still air, and the stout tree groaned, and the tender
plant lay prostrate beneath its power.  The long, pliant leaves of the tall palm, like streamers, fluttered in
the rushing wind; the frail plantain's broad, tender
foliage was lashed into shreds; the umbrageous alleys
of mangoes waved their long lines of dense verdure,
and all nature did homage to the storm-spirit; all but
the powerful ceiba, whose giant trunk bended not, and
whose massive arms and close-set foliage defied its
utmost wrath; amid the turmoil it stood unmoved, a
perfect picture of conscious strength. But the whole
scene was soon hid by the torrents of rain that fell
from the overcharged clouds.  The atmosphere seemed
converted into a mass of rushing waters; and mingled
with its rattling gusts, was the lengthened crash and




106                 CUBA AND
reverberating roar of the more distant thunder and the
sharp shot-like report of that close by; while vivid
streams and broad flashes of lightning played rapidly
through the aqueous shroud. In less than an hour
the storm  had passed by, but fresh masses of clouds
rose from different quarters, and their circumscribed
showers often fell heavily within a few hundred yards,
while near by not a drop descended."
Thus was the rainy season ushered in: "In the
afternoon the clouds separated into banks, which hung
about the horizon; and before evening the sun shone
brightly through the transparent ether, and at length
sunk into a gorgeously-colored and golden bed. A
refreshing coolness pervaded the evening calm; the
tolling of the different estate bells sounding the oracion,
came sweetly on. the ear; and when the shades of night
set in, myriads of cocullos left their hiding places, and
darting through the air, lit up the gloom with a thousand streams of lurid light, while the stars shone with
a-brilliancy not surpassed in the frigid zone."
And now, after enjoying these animated and vivid
sketches, from  the pencil of a correct, although at
times a careless painter, would not one expect a similar excellence in his moral pictures?  Would not one
at least suppose his information to be judiciously obtained from reliable sources? It has always been supposed there was a near relation between a clear understanding and an artistical talent.  It would seem
natural that whoever is able to describe the beauties
of the material world, must feel their harmony, and by
consequence, possess superior intellectual faculties.
How happens it, then, that the author of the " Notes
on Cuba." should so incessantly err, when economical
disquisitions take the place of his graphic representations of the external world?  When the country's
moral condition is the topic, he at once shows himself
to be badly informed, and his judgment so partially
and disparagingly exercised, that he constantly contra



THE CUBANS.                107
diets himself. His hasty views upon the gravest subjects indicate a weak intellect, easily led astray, even
in opposition to the nobler and better feelings of his
nature. Not to impute to the author, however, any
unworthy motive, as the cause of the very serious and
unaccountable mistakes in his work; for the ingenious
acknowledgment of his inconsistencies at the close of
the volume, excludes so severe an inference. It is
both more charitable and reasonable to find their true
cause in that inconsiderate manner of pronouncing on
facts imperfectly known, so common to travelers, who,
not wishing to appear deficient in their researches, are
prone to adopt the most extravagant statements and
opinions.  Giving to the author's case the kindest
construction, it must have been by mere chance, and
certainly not from choice, that he generally happened
to be thrown into company not the most select, and did
not sufficiently test his opinions by inquiries among
the better and more enlightened class of the community. How else could he have so exaggerated the devotion of the attendants at church,- compared with the
observance of sacred things in the United States? How
could he have lavished enthusiastic praises on the disorderly habit of the country curates, whose vow of celibacy,
voluntarily gtven only as a means of obtaining a livelihood, is perpetually broken, to the discredit of all Christian belief? The priests in Cuba are not respected;
on the contrary, they are despised; and as their conduct
belies the doctrines they have sworn to propagate, they set
themselves quietly down to enjoy the bodily comforts of
this life, without troubling themselves at all about their
own or their flock's spiritual welfare. The superstitious credulity and faith in miracles of the monteros,
or country people, is another of the subjects on which
the author of the "' Notes on Cuba" indulged his
fruitful fancy. Just so also as to the fact that the
Bible was zealously and devoutly studied.  Would to
God it were so! as it would evidence a concern f6r




108                 CUBA AND
a future state, no where to be met with in the island. The tracts distributed with impunity, which the
physician " notes" with exceeding pleasure, will certainly not excite wonder, when the reader is given to
understand that the most celebrated works against
Christianity are publicly and unrestrictedly sold
throughout the country.
How far it can be said, consistently with truth, that
the learned and enlightened Bishop of Havana was a
perfect Tacon, let any inhabitant of the island
decide, whatever political opinions he may entertain. Their actions did not evince any similarity
of character; and it was reserved for the author
to discover it in men who always created very different impressions.  Bishop Espada and General Tacon, in times far removed from each other, owed their
nomination to the liberal party of Spain.  When absolute sway was re-established in the mother-country,
the former continued to profess liberal views, and
made successful efforts to extend the sphere of learning and education. The latter was ever active in
crushing public spirit, in organizing a military government, and ruining public institutions, as far as lay in
his power.  The former was persecuted as an insurgent.  The latter persecuted those who disapproved
his omnipotence, and charged them with treason. It
was of this same man that the author of the " Notes
on Cuba" says, " he was a noble instance of the power
of mind over brute force," and asserts with an air of
triumph, that on his condemnation "'he referred his
judges to the records of the court as a proof of his
mild administration."-'    The records of the tribunals
under his control, with none to publish the most
common facts without his approbation, like the criminal statistics, are of little value. But the several
processes against the objects of his hatred in Spain
and Cuba, wherein his real character is revealed, and
the sentence, which from motives of policy was not




THE CUBANS.                109
published in Havana by his successor, as the law required, might illustrate the point.  " Men were sometimes taken suddenly from the midst of their families,
where they lived in fancied security," (see the " Notes
on Cuba,")  were shown the indisputable proofs of
their guilt, and at once exiled from the island, as inimical to its government." What manner of procedure
is this, by which Tacon was enabled to obtain proofs
of guilt, and to sentence the accused without his knowledge? That such a panegyric, in itself revolting,
should be volunteered by an American writer, is the
only apology for such acts on the part of those who
had not, like himself, enjoyed the advantages of a free
country.  So intent was he on exalting the moral reformer, as he is pleased to term him, that he mentions
Tacon's macadamizing the streets of Havana, and candidly avows that the side-walks were buried by the
structure, so that, he adds, "it is no wonder the ladies are not inclined to walk."
It is amusing,-to those acquainted with the habits
and customs of Cuba, to read of wonders in the country which no one except the honest doctor has had the
good fortune to discover. Young ladies visiting burying-grounds to enjoy the sight of a funeral, as a matter of amusement.; Indian agents, monteros, riding
with muskets, or taking their sweethearts before them
on the same saddle; a sacristan, or sexton, becoming
a prominent character through his knowledge of the
law, in a village where no law business is transacted;
a country officer of justice chanting the church service
at his wife's funeral; a marquis winning and exacting
a dollar from his own slave at a, cock-fight; another
young lady riding sixty miles on horseback, in a day,
to dance all the evening; the stare of women, whose
total freedom from prudery did not prevent them from
throwing a furtive glance at this wandering Esculapius,
who might be sadly and undignifiedly confounded with
the " barber-surgeon practitioners" of the land; the cel



110                CUBA AND
ebrated and favorite " olla podrida," a dish so rare and
exquisite, and of which Spain may well boast, freely
served in the lunatic asylum of HavanIa; and one of
the patients of the institution handing a petition to
the learned traveler, which the latter, from his knowledge of the Spanish (of which there are abundant specimens in his book), is pleased to commend for its pure
Castilian. Happily though, in his wanderings through
the island (which by the way, it may be observed, was
made to widen for his comfort), he was not very difticult to please: he was tossed about in rather a shabby
accoutrement, judging from the horses which dragged
him along; and he actually began to relish the dinners in the country shops, or what he styles Spanish condiments. Rather than do violence to the customs of the land, he gayly joined in a drink of water
with a porter; and probably from the same motive,
accepted and did honor to the delicate morsels furnished by an unknown creole, a fellow-passenger on
the railroad to- Guines, who, an accident having detained the cars, generously provided him and others
with an abundant luncheon. It is therefore singular
that the author should be the first to observe, that the
creole was not only economical, but parsimonious to an
uncommon degree. " The Irishman," he says, " will
empty his purse when the creole will hesitate to spend
a medio.  
When among country inn-keepers of the lower class
of Catalonians, and their associates, and the captains of
the partido, who, according to his own account, do not
wash till noon, hearing himself called a Jew (which,
even as a practical joke, is no sign of good-breeding),
and animated by practical jokes, it is no wonder that
the writer should have formed strange notions, and acquired a very imperfect knowledge of many important
facts. He is made to understand that Guines has been
increased by the construction of the railroad, and that
foreigners are looked upon with envy,




THE CUBANS.                111
IHe mistakes some of the above described class for
the lofty Castilian hidalgo, a true specimen of whom
he probably never met; and the unmeaning look of ignorance for an expression of contempt of the creoles.
The ward of Puebla Nuevo, in the city of Matanzas,
which has been stationary for many years, he cites as
an instance of rapid advancement.  He is made to believe in the existence of a young men's debating society,
where subjects are discussed which in old Spain would
not be named. The ludicrous kings of the negro tribes,
who preside at their dances, he imagines to be engaged
in directing their moral habits. He gives a glowing
account of the products of a coffee and of a sugar-plantation, asserting that in common times the profits of
the molasses produced on the latter would cover its current expenses. Unacquainted with the frauds committed
in the reports manufactured for private purposes, and
with the carelessness with which the statistics of the
country are taken, by reason of the indolence or incapacity of the agents, he wonders at the marvelous results in the reports of mortality on the estates, and
which are almost sufficient to make one wish himself a
slave.
In fact, there seems to lurk about the author of the
" Notes" a decided partiality for slavery, an evil which,
in this age, is lamented even by those whose interest
and safety require them to uphold it. He describes
the slave as gay and happy; enumerates the laws in
his favor, acknowledging at the same time that they are
not enforced; attributes this mismanagement to the
planters, whom he knows exert no influence in public
enactments; and states that baptism and burial is all
the negro receives in the way of moral and religious
government; still maintaining that his condition is better than that of the European peasant and the manufacturing and mining class of England.
The author of the "' Notes on Cuba," whose opinion appears vacillating, says that the slave trade is a




112                 CUBA AND
source of wealth to the island, as it formerly was to
Liverpool and Boston; that only two thousand blacks
are imported annually; and that the whole country is
in favor of its continuation. As the author in these
particulars seems to have blindly adopted the slavedealers' cant, it may not be amiss to show the gross
delusion under which he labored. That Cuba has acquired her vast agricultural importance by means of
imported negroes, is an undeniable fact.  That by following another course, she would have attained her
present extensive though precarious production, remains
to be proved. To insist, however, at this late period,
that her wealth is increased by the traffic, is more than
absurd; it is absolutely false. It is well known that
her real estate is, and had been for some time before
the " Notes on Cuba" were written, fast declining in
price, notwithstanding his report of its high value. It
is also well known that the continuation of the slave
trade has a direct tendency to jeopardize every kind of
property, and to depreciate more especially the value
of slaves in the island.  It is, moreover, a most pernicious calumny to assert that the country is in favor
of its continuation, and is as little to be relied on as his
statement of the number of the imported, which he
greatly underrates. Neither are the rich and enlightened planters, who see the fabric of their fortunes tottering before them, desirous of sustaining it, however
the voice of public opinion may be assumed to be in
favor of the selfish views of the few. An estate which
eight years ago might be sold for $100,000 would not
at this day command $25,000.  A negro who could
then have been purchased- for $500, is at the present
time to be had for $300. What, then, can be the sentiment of an intelligent community, had they the means
of expressing it (which the author of the " Notes"
grants they have not), other than in opposition to an
economical and political error fraught with incessant
danger?  The Cuban planter is aware that while a




THE CUBANS.                113
stream of barbarians continually rushes in and mingles
with their more civilized brethren, the work of civilization must be much obstructed, and that a restless race
will ever be ready to second the machinations of wily
plotters.  The increase of the race by marriage is not
feasible, and the warfare of the abolitionists will be
most perseveringly prosecuted. They will not be deluded by the pretended humanity of the trade, such as
we find on page 263 and others. The conviction of
this truth has driven the more enlightened class from
the markets, and lessened the price of a commodity,
unfortunately so abundantly profitable, that it can bear
great depression in price. The pretence that the slave
trade betters the condition of the bondmen, by rescuing
them from the hands of cruel African masters, who enslave their conquered enemies, is an argument which
the author was taught by slave-dealers, and is too barefaced to receive countenance from reflecting men, even
in Cuba. If there were no purchasers and no demand,
the object of making prisoners of war among a barbarous people would be removed. Nay, the wars themselves, without their tempting and profitable pecuniary
results, would cease, and the missionary be enabled to
proclaim the gospel in the wilds of Africa.
Had the learned physician consulted the more respectable class of inhabitants, whom he certainly would
not meet where practical jokes are allowed, and who,
long before his excursion to the island, had presented
petitions to government, together with statements of the
perilous crisis which awaited the country, he never
would have ventured the following singular prophecy:
" Cuba has-now nothing to fear from her slaves, whatever influence her increasing free colored population
may hereafter exercise on her safety." He would not
have been forced to add an appendix, even before the
publication of his work, wherein his superficial view of
the most serious matters is clearly exhibited. So unlucky was he, that he presumed to foretell that the free




114                 CUBA AND
blacks would in any movement join the whites. And
it is reasonable to suppose that while he wrote, the machinations of the free-colored of all shades, which have
since come.to light, were actually in progress. Had
he drank at purer fountains, his blunders would, nevertheless, have been amusing; among which, his discovery of two represented classes is not the least-a veritable enigma. For it would be impossible to name
any class of Cubans which is represented in the land.
The town of Cardenas has been denied direct commerce with foreign or even Spanish European ports.
The production of sugar and the maintenance of all
classes, so dependent on imports for most articles, were
made to bear the additional expenses of a forced coasting shipment, because the administration considered it
both expensive and favorable to contraband. The author of the " Notes on Cuba," though confessing at
times the absolute nullity of the inhabitants as to all
public measures, boldly asserts, in relation to removing
the burdens imposed on the Cardenas trade, that " the
merchants of Havana and Matanzas, who now export
all its produce, have as yet had influence to defeat every movement for that object." It was in order to do
away the alleged objections to this arrangement that the
population of Cardenas built the custom-house, and not
as an evidence of their readiness to pay its dues, as the
author would have it. The convenience of the bay, the
distances to other towns, the vision of the drunken
Irishman charging the insurgents, and, in fact, all the
information he obtained in the neighborhood of Cardenas, may be classed among the numberless fancies of
his book. He erroneously estimates the duty on sales
of real estate, called Alcabala, at $4,000,000, and,
perhaps inconsiderately, and certainly with injustice,
stigmatizes all the predecessors of General Valdez, by
asserting, without an exception, that it was usual for
captain-generals to receive a doubloon for every negro
landed in Cuba. On the other hand, he draws an un



THE CUBANS.                115
couth picture of the police, as much at variance with
itself as with truth. When in a flattering mood he
represents it as so active and excellent, that if it had
any system, or were any thing else than a perpetual
miracle, and could be described, he would surely propose its adoption in the United States.
Let the work speak for itself: " A country store had
been broken open, and two or three men had been eased
of their purses on the public road. The whole partido
was aroused like a hive of bees against which a mischievous urchin had thrown a stone. The hitherto
quiet inhabitants went about armed to the teeth, and
there was great danger of their killing each other
through mistake. The captain of the partido meanwhile was not idle. Visiting every dwelling in his jurisdiction, he compelled those who could not give a good
account of themselves, and had not domiciliary passports, to quit the partido. Others on whom suspicion
rested he sent as prisoners to Matanzas, there to prove
their innocence; a mode of administering justice quite
in vogue here, but which would depopulate many a
section in other countries, and, I would add, that must
have perfectly satisfied those robbed on the highway.
"These petty judges," he adds, with great truth,
"are with very few exceptions, from Spain, a creole
being scarcely ever intrusted with the office, and being
without salaries, like so many vultures they prey upon
the unprotected within their jurisdiction."
Is it credible that it is of the same country we read
elsewhere in his work:
"- Intoxication is very rare; the dormant passions
are not aroused by it, and the laws are enforced.  With
all the corruption of the bench in Cuba, the murderer
very seldom escapes from punishment; and -so well is
justice administered, in certain cases, that that foul
excrescence on civilization, and most deliberate defier,of the laws of God, the duellist, receives no mercy, and
the crime is now unknown on the island." 




116                  CUBA AND
Make a law to expel every person who cannot give a
good account of himself, on the commission of a crime;
name vultures for police agents; place corrupt judges
on the bench, and a country will probably be free from
excrescence, i. e., murder and duelling!
Even in the appendix, written after the recent insurrection, which would never have extended so far had the
island not been> ruled without the concurrence of the
landholders, the author of the "' Notes,' seeing that his
prophecies had wholly failed, still adheres to the dark
banner under which he had enlisted, and still seeks the
means of palliating what has and can have no excuse
among civilized nations. In extenuation of the acts
committed in Cuba during the judicial proceedings, he
cites the punishments inflicted by the English in Dublin half a century ago, and adds, that if greater excesses were committed in the Antille, it was because
they could be committed with greater impunity. Whatever horrors it has been the fate of the latter to witness,
let not the abolitionist ascribe them to slavery. The
author has his answer: " Abandoned to the caprice of
the sub-commissions that visited the plantations, the
whole population, afraid to utter one word against their
acts, in despair saw their property sacrificed, and were
compelled to witness the most revolting scenes of cruelty."
To the violent and powerful slave-trade party must,
nevertheless, be ascribed, in a great measure, the errors
and excesses committed in the investigation of the negro plots. This fruitful source of future danger, like
all the other evils which threaten Cuba, must be attributed to that sordid class who, regardless of the welfare
of the country, are wholly intent upon the acquisition
of wealth.




THE CUBANS.                  117
CHAPTER IV.
Habits and Customs of the Island.-" Letters from Cuba."-Visit to
the Estate of Don Santiago. —The Quitrin.-The Calesero.Roads.-The Tavern of "' La Perfecta."-Hard Fare.-Manuel's
Distress.-Interesting Account of Himself.-Sugar Estate.-Don
Santiago's Patriotism.-The Sugar Master.-Anecdotes.-Musical
taste,of the Cubans.-The Cuban Press.-Story of Maria del Rosario.-Evils and Abuses of the Administration of Justice.
PURSUING the plan first to give a correct idea of the
creole inhabitants of Cuba, in the several relations of
life, before setting forth an account of the grievances
and oppressions under which they now groan, several
extracts are here made from  a series of papers entitled "Letters from  Cuba," which first appeared in
the Knickerbocker Magazine, about 1845. The first
contains an account of a visit to a sugar estate, including the incidents of the journey.
I told you in my last, that I was just starting for
Don Santiago's estate, and in his company. Our conveyance was a two-wheeled vehicle, very much like
our "gigs," although larger, and set upon leather
straps, which make it quite easy over the uneven roads
of the country. It was drawn by three horses harnessed abreast; the one on the right side guided by
my friend from his seat next to me in the " quitrin,"
the middle one tackled in the shafts, and the left one
for the " calesero," or driver, to mount. The calesero
had on well-polished leather boots, buckled all the way
from the feet to the knee, thence open and stiff to the
hip; a straw hat about nine inches high, with a moderate brim, and handsome colored ribbon, a black cravat, and a livery with silver ornaments. His knee
buckles, his large heavy spurs, and the handle of his




1i18                -CUBA AND.
long whip, were of fine silver.  After three hours?'
swift travel in the vicinity of the city (where the turnpike roads, which are kept in fine condition at a great
expense, by the careful attention of the junto de fomento, presented an easy path), we gradually began to
notice the uneven and broken way, which appeared to
have received its improvement rather from continual
travel than from  any intended human agency. In
some of these irregular avenues the soil, which is very
soft and black, and rendered pliable by the heavy
rains, would sink beneath the wheels of the " quitrin,"
while the heavy carts, with wheels seven feet in diameter, which we occasionally met on the way, cut deep
and continuous trenches all along the road. My friend
made me notice particularly that the peculiar ability
of a calesero consisted in driving rapidly along the
margin of these trenches, sometimes more than three
feet deep, and extending several miles, without ever
allowing the carriage-wheels to drop into them on
either side. He likewise shows his skill in avoiding
the stones, loose and fixed, which are scattered in the
road.  As I beheld the monstrous carts, loaded with
two hogsheads of nearly two hundred gallons each, or
eight boxes of sugar, constantly destroying by their
large thin wheels the few repairs occasionally attempted, in addition to the several obstacles that re —;
quire the ever-vigilant eye of the driver to avoid collision or excessive jolting, I was convinced that no other
mode of conveyance would be better adapted to the
condition of things.
Travelers are very much disposed to find fault with
whatever may differ from their preconceived notions,
or the standard to which habit has fashioned their
opinions. It often happens, however, that further
consideration furnishes some very good reasons for notadopting what, in other circumstances, would be the
height of perfection. I will give you an instance.
You may frequently have heard that manuring land is




THE CUBANS.                119
not practiced in Cuba. In the staple production,
sugar, the price of land is but an inferior item of the
heavy capital to be invested; and so long as the distance of the new lands from market does not make the
transportation of cane by carts too inconvenient, it will
be more advantageous to work the new soil and obtain
its virgin growth, than to manure the old fields, where
manual labor is the most expensive. The ready market for vegetables raised near the city of Havana,
affords great encouragement to the farmer's assiduity;
and you will accordingly perceive that the soil is subjected to a very elaborate and skillful system of cultivation. Some of the planters, who have no new lands
near them, are unwilling to abandon the costly buildings required on their estates, and. consequently give
very particular attention to improving their lands by
manuring and the use of the plough.' Our black calesero drove around numberless small
and large stones, up and down hill, and along the
trenches made by the carts, and more than once approached close upon the verge of a precipice, but without diminishing the rapidity of his motion.  Occasionally he would meet an acquaintance of either color, to
whom he bowed with a courtly smile. Although my
friend Don Santiago did not usually stop for any meals
on the road, to gratify my desire of seeing every thing,
the calesero drove gallantly up to the tavern of " La
Perfecta,'" in the village of.  Under the shelter
of a wide shed, which ran round it, a number of horses
were standing-some tied to the posts, others with
their riders on them, who, without dismounting from
their large straw saddles, were making purchases, or
conversing with those standing about them.  We were
shown into:a small room, a little more cleanly than
the rest of the house, and in a, short time were served
with some very tough beef, strongly seasoned with garlic, some fried eggs, a bit of very salt ham, coffee with
dirty sugar, and no milk.




120                CUBA AND
The tavern-keeper, who seemed delighted that he
was able to supply us with such inviting fare, asked us
at times how we liked the service, adding that it was
lucky for us that we had come on Wednesday, because
Sundays and Wednesdays were the days for killing.
" But your beef is rather tough," said Don Santiago.
" And how could it be otherwise?" he answered. "In
the first place, old oxen are the cheapest article to be
found. They are the heaviest also, which is another
advantage, as the duty is just the same on large as on
small cattle. When the butcher happens to kill a twoyears'-old calf, he is sure to lose by it, as the duty disproportionably increases the cost." Don Santiago also
remarked to me, that as the treasury agents sold the
privilege of killing to the highest bidder, without any
particular regard to the wishes of the public, the only
point they considered was the increase of the revenue,
the provision for the benefit of the community being observed as mere matter of form; and that a petition was
never made or expected to be made on the part of individuals, who found it always more to their interest to
to endure abuses than to complain of them.
We were thus far beginning to discuss matters of
importance, when, the inn-keeper having retired, Manuel, our black driver, in the uncouth accoutrement I
have described, somewhat bespattered with mud, holding his whip in his left hand, and his hat in his right,
entered our room, swinging like a sailor, in order to
avoid the embarrassment in walking caused by the
large ears of his boots.  "Child," said he, addressing
his master, who was certainly much older than himself,
"I want to speak privately with the child;" and he
looked toward me. Don Santiago told him that I was
a foreigner, and he might speak without reserve. I
was so anxious to pick up any interesting matter regarding the country, that I gladly availed myself of the
opportunity, and remained in the room.
"The child knows," added Manuel, " that ever since




THE CUBANS.                  121
I came to this country, ever since I was a mere baby,
I have been with your bounty, and in the child's family. Your bounty is my father and my mother. I
have nothing in the world besides. When I have my
sorrows, to whom shall I tell them but the child? And
if the child reject me, what shall I do? Oh, my God!"
"But, Manuel," interrupted Don Santiago, "what
is the matter? what ails you? have you been whipped?
have you been in want of any thing? are you ill? do
you wish to have another master?"
" Another master!" continued Manuel; " it is well
for the child to suspect one of that wish after being so
many years in the house! Alas! what would the good
old gentleman say, were he to rise from the hole, if he
saw and heard the strange things that have happened
in these days!  The negro name, how it has gone
down! And after passing all our life in the service of
such good masters as the child, no matter what we do
(because there are some bad slaves, who have acted improperly), we are all doomed to lose the confidence we
enjoyed.  If I say, me, Manuel, the old calesero of the
family of Cisueros, that I love my master, or his children; if the child is sick, and I inquire, as I always
have done, why, I am only making believe."
Don Santiago kindly reproved Manuel, wishing him
to be more precise in his expostulation.
"Very well, my master," said Manuel; "I know
this is not a suitable place; but at home I could not
speak, and my heart was so low, I could not wait."
" But, Manuel," said Don Santiago, "have I ever
accused you?"  " No," answered Manuel, " you have
not. But I will tell you all, right away. You know
how much I have tried to please the %nina.'* My
* By " nina," the feminine of child, Manuel meant Don Santiago's
wife. A distinguished Spanish writer observed to me, that the term
"-child" was a delicate flattery (since it implied youth), invented by
the negroes to avoid the more humiliating expression, "Sumerced,"
which signifies " Your bounty."
6




122                 CUBA AND
business always has been to have the volante clean and
ready. But if your nina wishes me to go of errands,
to help the cook on some holidays, let any one say if
Manuel refused; let any one say if he put a bad face
to it, as would have done the caleseros of the Montalvos, the Charones, or the Herreras, or any of those
great families, who are no better than the family of the
child. No such thing: always at hand, always to be
found, always cheerful; and now the nina says I am
surly; I want to shake off her authority!' Well,' says
I to myself,'the nina is not pleased with me, but if I
go tell my master, in these hard times for the black
color, he will, perhaps, think bad of me. Ah, Manuel!
have patience!' says I; and then I go and purchase a
wax candle with the same money the child gave me last
week, and which I always spend in lottery tickets at
the grocer's store at the corner,* and right before the
image of the Virgin of Mount Carmelo, which I nailed
in the room of the harness of the volante, I lighted it
all day and night until it wasted away. I am a little
ashamed to tell these things, because I know you gentlemen laugh at them. But pardon me; for the poor
slave, when his heart is made so very small, has no help
but to go to prayer. Then I thought things were going
to right again; when yesterday morning, because the
wheel of the volante went once over a stone, which certainly seldom happens, when I am mounted on the horse,
the nina said I did it on purpose; that I was as great
a conspirator as any; and because I staid late at the
street-door last night, playing on the'tiple,'t as I have
always done, your nina said your bounty ought to get
me a place in the opera-house, and have one enemy less
near her person. Alas, child, I cannot help it; I can
no more bear it; the child knows my heart."
As the scene was becoming too pathetic for the place,
Don Santiago urged Manuel to be consoled, adding,
* The negro spends nearly all the money he can get in this way.
t A favorite negro instrument.




THE CUBANS.                123
that he would remind the lady of his good services, and
do away any unfavorable impression she might have respecting him. Manual appeared relieved, and walked
to his horses, carefully balancing his body as he went
along.  We followed, jumped into the volante, and
hurried from the tavern.
On arriving at the estate, we stopped at the dwelling-house, which, as the don was not expected, was far
from being properly prepared to receive us.  He apologized, and explained that he preferred all these inconveniences to giving previous notice of his coming. He
calculated too much, perhaps, on the idea of taking his
operarios, or workmen, by surprise; and observed to
me that he once found all the white persons employed
on his plantation gone to a ball, and the negroes left by
themselves; and that an estate was not unfrequently
made the rendezvous of gamblers. We walked over to
the square of buildings, which are generally placed in
the centre of the plantation, and found them in the invariable respective order observed here: the mill and
the boiling-house in the west part, the baggage-house
still farther west, and the purging-house and dryingdrawer in the north, so that the latter may receive the
rays of the sun from morning till night.
During our short absence the house had been comfortably arranged.  We found two or three black damsels, just dressed in new and shining calico frocks, with
silk shoes, worn slip-shod, red shawls, and hair arranged in very fine tresses, and very tight on the head.
The table was set, our rooms neatly disposed, and our
beds ready to receive us, should we feel disposed to
take before dinner what the Spanish call the prebendary's or canonical nap. I preferred a small room where
I found some old books covered with dust, which appeared not to have been disturbed for years.  Don
Santiago, divining my intention, ordered one of the
black girls to dust them off; and, sitting down, awaited
what I should say of the assortment, which I was de



t121                CUBA ANDtermined to examine. I read aloud the title of the first
pamphlet I laid my hand on: " Expediente de las Cortes Extraordinaria, Sobre Trafico, y esclavitud de Negros;": 1811.
"' Quite other days than the present," said my friend;
"pread that single phrase;" and he turned over the
pages until he found it; " read it, and be astonished
at the change. That was the way our public bodies
addressed the government when they had dignity, and
were not spurned as they now are." The phrase which
seemed to have fixed Don Santiago's attention was the
following: " And we would conclude by saying on these
subjects, what our fidelity and honor require, that Spaniards should be Spaniards every where, especially in
those countries which, moist with their blood, or the
sweat of their brow, acknowledge them conquerors and
founders; and that if we were loyal under sufferings,
we could not be less so, enjoying the splendors and advantages which now encircle the Spanish name."
" How changed! how changed!" continued Don Santiago; "nobody can speak so now; and, if he did,
he would be obliged to lament, as the calesero did
this morning, that no one believed or dared acknowledge
he believed him.  The moneda-corriente, the password of all the government people, is to assert and
maintain, whether they really think so or not, that we,
the creoles, are all insurgents.  We have been placed
in Manuel's case, you see."
Don Santiago's burst of indignation, like all such
emotions with the Cubans, soon subsided; and adjusting his rather loose vest over his ample stomach, he went
out to meet the sugar master, whom he had been for
some time expecting. The latter was a pale, thin man,
about five feet six inches in height. This being the
season when those of his occupation have no employment, he appeared in full dress: a wide-brimmed strawhat; blue striped breeches, fastened to his waist; a
white embroidered shirt hanging loosely over them; a




THE CUBANS.                125
very large straight sword, made at the factory of Guanabaioa, with a silver handle, ornamented with precious stones; his shirt-collar and sleeves confined with
gold buckles; an embroidered cambric handkerchief
tied loosely round his neck; pumps cut quite low; and
heavy silver spurs. Were it not for the finery above
described, you might fancy, from his mode of wearing
his shirt, that he was not altogether dressed. I have
often thought what a figure a man thus attired would
make on the sidewalks in Broadway! But you may
be assured, that were he placed there, he would be perfectly at ease; for you can have no idea of the bold, independent manner peculiar to the " guageros," or
country people of Cuba.
" How has it fared with the Senor Don Santiago?"
said he, as he presented his hand to his employer, in
the most cordial and easy manner.
-' Very well, Perez," said the former; " as well as
it can fare with the planters now-a-days, with such terrible occurrences, and such small crops and low prices."
" Ah! the Senor Don Santiago has no reason to com-plain.  He fares better than many; and as for the
quality of the sugar, he must be aware that there is
none better in the market."
"You are mistaken there," replied the planter; " for
many better sugars than mine have gone from the port
of Havana.;"
" You say so," continued Perez, sitting himself down
-as Don Santiago had done, " and so it may be too; but
considering the quality of the cane, and the materials,
and the fuel, I am sure that the man is not yet born
who could improve my sugar."
"Remember," answered the don, "remember my
near neighbor, with the same quality of land, and, I am
certain, with no better help than I give you, what a
superior article he makes."." So have I, ever since the Senor Don Santiago turned
away the impudent ox-driver, who used to throw sour




126                 CUBA AND
juice from the ditches into the juice-gutter, in order to
spoil my sugar.  But as for any man's improving my
work, that cannot be. The Senor Don Santiago must
know that I was born in the boiling-houses, was brought
up in them, and my hair has grown gray in them. The
senor should likewise bear in mind that I do not wear
a hat* in the boiling-house.  No, sir, no hat. Why
should I?  That will do for those who are new in the
trade. I can smell the' guarapo' at one league's distance.  The senor may perhaps remember -the old
Count of. He it was who made me follow the
trade; and never did that estate produce a better article than while I was there; and so the count used to
say, and make me presents, and call me when he had
company; and we went along very well. He used always to take me along with him to the cock-fightings,
and say he did not care for two or twenty boilers-full
lost, for the pleasure of having me at his side on these
expeditions. At that time he had an Indian cock, the
most sprightly and sure bird I ever saw; and the count
would have nobody touch him but myself. But I perceive the senor has a visitor, and I can come another
day."
" No matter for that," said Don Santiago, who noticed how delighted I was; "' tell us how you came to
leave the old Count of."
" Leave him! why I should have left him a thousand
times, if he had been my own father. I had just worked
the old cane-fields, and coming to a new one, which was
overgrown and mostly decayed, the sugar, of course,
did not look like the rest in the boiling-houses; although, had the clay been laid on it, I am sure it would
have given the very best result. I remember it was
the countess' birthday, and just after dinner there
comes a large party of- gentlemen and ladies into the
boiling-house, all gay and lively, while I was cursing
* The hat is used to attract the vapors over the kettles, in order to
smell and judge how the sugar is.




THE CUBANS.                127
the cane. They all looked at the sugar, and made faces
at it; and by and by, who should come to me but the
countess herself, and before every body, even the overseer's wife, who came peeping in, to rejoice in my
trouble, tells me,'Why, Perez, I see you know how to
manufacture dirt as well as sugar!' 
" Was that all the cause of your leaving the count?"
inquired Don Santiago.
" No, sir; it did not end there. The senor may remember how devout the old countess used to be. She
had always gowns for the Virgin and Saint Francis to
make; and she was proud of it, too, the sweet lady!
Well, I turned to her at once, and said:'My lady
the countess would do quite as well to attend to the
dressing of saints, which she understands, than to the
making of sugar, which she does not.' If you had seen
what an uproar was raised then! All I can tell the
senor is, that I heard the countess tell her husband,'Pancho, do not let this man sleep here this night!'
But I had the pleasure, many years after, to be recalled
to the old count. Twenty sugar masters had been
tending his boiling-house.  All lost; not one grain of
sugar fit to be looked at.  At last the count sent for
me,'Well, Perez, you see how I am,' said he.'But
the count has been permitting himself to be ruined,' I
answered,'because he wishes to do so. Now from here
is nearly one league, yet I can without hesitation say
that they are burning the juice with too much lime.'
Two hours after the best sugar ever made was drawing
from the kettles.  They had been using twelve cocoanuts of lime; I at once reduced it to three.  My nose
could not fail me!"
It is on account of this use of the olfactory nerves,
Don Santiago informed me, that his utmost care with
the sugar masters during " crop season" is required
to prevent their taking cold.
Before dismissing the sugar master, I must tell
you an anecdote, which I heard from Don Santiago.




128                 CUBA AND
The latter had given him a short elementary treatise
on the manufacture of sugar; and having asked him
several times whether he had read it or not, Perez,
after saying that he had a tiple; that he understood
the trade: and repeating all the praises of himself
with which I have favored you, finally broke out with:
"The Senor Don Santiago must excuse me; but what
could a man like me, brought up in boiling-houses,
learn from any of those foreigners, or their foreign
contrivances?  I am in nature's way, which is always
the best, and am no child'to begin my A B c now!'
Among the various means of spending my time, I
have occasionally read some of Don Santiago's books
and pamphlets, endeavoring to obtain from them some
information upon the political situation of this island
in latter years. If you would have exact ideas take
the subject as patiently as I have; for there exists in
the United States, a lamentable ignorance of the po-w
litical system of government in Cuba, and very erroneous opinions of its nature.
From the following extract some idea can be gained
of the musical taste of the Cubans, and the hyperbole
and fiction which are necessary characteristics of the
Cuban press:
4" I was presented not long ago at the tertulia, of
St. Cecilia, one of the three very respectable philharmonic societies, which are the constant resort of the
fashionable world of Havana. By means of a small
stipend the members of these communities are enabled
to have concerts and two hours of dancing every week,
which in a great measure take the place of the agreeable parties we enjoy so much at home. Of late, complete operas have often been performed, altogether by
amateurs. The Lucia di Lammermoor, the Pirata,
and the Barbiere de Seville have repeatedly called forth
the applause of crowded audiences. Indeed, we must
admit that there is throughout this country a very




THE CUBANS.        -        129
general and delicate taste for music, which is not to
be found in our colder region. I do not however consider the higher latitude the sole cause of this differ-ence. Where the genius of man is crushed, and'forced from its natural channel, like the waters of the
fountain it will rise to the level of its outlet in another.
Take from American society the exciting interests of
political ambition; restrain their bold  mercantile,
manufacturing, and agricultural enterprise by unwise
legislation; shackle and repress their free spirit, and
they would instinctively seek other spheres of exertion, and consequently become greater proficients in
the fine arts.  Give free institutions to Italy, and her
dazzling musical superiority would gradually sink to
an equality with the rest of the world.
C" In most countries you would naturally conclude that
by taking up a newspaper a correct knowledge of all
the interesting events of the day might be obtained:
not so here; and the reason is to be found in the strict
censorship exercised over the publication of the most
trifling article, the, grant depending upon the mere will
of the censor.  This state of the public press originates a conventional emphatic style of writing, which
every body reads without surprise in all the periodicals of the city, and every body translates into the
veritable meaning, as a matter of course. To a foreigner, however, unaccustomed to this everlasting hyperbole, extending its poetry and fiction to the most
common acts of every-day life, it is difficult to get into
the habit of translating. It is, withal, very important
that the newspapers of the United States should be put
on their guard; for it often excites a smile with those
who are here, to see the apparent or real candor which
they exhibit in repeating the fairy dreams of the Cuban
press. But I am occasionally amused with the efforts
of some able writers, who give interest to the periodicals by an airy, delicate style, which, though characterized by great enthusiasm  and warmth of feeling,
6*




130                 CUBA AND
vented in exaggerated expressions, is still pleasing to
the reader.  The editor of the "' Diario de.Avisos,"
Don Ramon de Palma, is a remarkable specimen of
this kind; a distinguished literary character, and both
as a poet and a prose writer, excelling in that lively
and graceful, I had almost said ethereal, manner, for
which the French are distinguished. His introductions
to the periodical reports of the fashions, of the public
amusements, and various little incidents which entertain the fashionable world, affect one almost like the
perusal of an oriental tale; and yet how melancholy to
behold such a waste of genius, such a perversion of
mind, and of intellectual effort, arising solely from the
tyranny of a government whose intent appears to be to
encourage every thing that can render the inhabitants
forgetful of their own interests."
Here is an extract illustrating the peculiar method
of administering justice in Havana:'I have some how or other become quite attached to
a little neighbor of mine, a colored woman, who every
morning is to be seen at the vegetable market, sitting
near the corner of the Calle de la Cuva, in the Plaza
Vieja; surrounded by sweet potatoes and plantains,
and little piles of beans, turnips, tomatoes, egg-pears,
dried corn, and so forth, set upon several coarse straw
mats; animated and. cheerful, and turning round in her
large, easy leather chair, to talk to her numerous acquaintances, or to persuade her customers into a bargain, and occasionally answering some flattering, and
but too significant, though public, insinuation of her
enamored gallants, as naturally and coolly as if it in
no way concerned her. I have often wondered, while
observing her at her usual station, so active, so busy
and pleasant, and so perfectly agreeable to every one,
how the apparent art of a coarse, but withal grateful,
politeness had been acquired by this woman. There
she would sit for hours and hours, in her very loose
calico dress, with a yellow-and-black shawl, a clean




THE CUBANS.                131
Madras handkerchief on her head, green silk shoes,
no stockings, a fat, fresh, happy face, beautiful white
teeth, rings of all kinds on her fingers, ear-rings, bracelets, and a coral necklace, brilliant on the black surface
of her smooth skin. Why I should feel any more interest in' Maria del Rosario' than in any of the other
dealers in the market, I know not; but certain it is,.that I was agreeably attracted by her manner, and
thought I read in her looks evident demonstrations of a
feeling soul within.
" Having got into conversation with her one morning,
when I was tempted to buy some of her really beautiful
Avocado pears, I soon after had a fit opportunity to be
convinced of the truth of my surmise. At ten o'clock,
having paid the commissary a tax for the privilege of
selling in the market, she would retire to her dwelling,
which was a small wooden house, away off in the Barrio de San Lazaro, facing the boisterous beatings of
the ocean at the Punta, and looking as desolate and
dreary as the countenance of the inmate was invariably
cheerful and calm. There she would commence a new
task, that of washing and ironing, which kept her in
constant labor until late in the evening.  As her industry appeared to me so unavailing and endless, I was
induced to question her particularly about her private
affairs.  Thus I became acquainted with the following
facts: Poor Rosario had come from the country of the
Mandingoes, in her early youth; had been sold to a
wealthy family, where she had enjoyed many hours of
leisure, which she so employed as to obtain the means
of purchasing her freedom. But since the patronage
of her former master was no longer hers, the petty exactions of the commissaries and sub-commissaries of
the police ate up nearly all her earnings.  On a great
festival she had not complied with the order of having
a lighted lantern at her street-door, and was obliged to
pay a fine for the infraction. One of the female servants living with her had let her license run five or six




132                 CUBA AND
days beyond its time without renewing it, which brought
upon poor Rosario the charge of keeping unlicensed persons of color at her house.  There was a number of
similar unfortunate unavoidable little committals, which
caused her incessant trouble and expense.  But her
most serious source of misery arose from her determination to obtain from a captain of a regiment, stationed
at Havana, her long-standing bill for washing. All her
endeavors, through the under-menials of justice, with
whom she was in constant contact, having proved fruitless, she appeared one morning at the audience of the
captain-general, to establish her claim against her
debtor.  From  the moment she stated at the lower
bureau her object, she was evidently an unwelcome
visitor, and was looked upon as a most daring woman.
She lost the whole of one morning to get the order to
appear; she could hardly find any one to execute it;
and was harassed and kept waiting for a number of
days, until her perseverance overcame all obstacles,
and she had the satisfaction of appearing at the tribune with the representative of her debtor, a shrewd,
diminutive, sly, dapper, old man, abundant in words,
scant of ideas, and as little concerned in the clearing of the case as she was desirous of making it
distinct. Her heart nearly failed her when she saw
that -instead of the imposing presence of the captaingeneral, she was only heard by a beardless officer, verbally commissioned by his excellency.  The latter,
nevertheless, took special care to sign all the judicial
acts, as if he had been present at them, so as to receive
the fees. It was alleged, on the part of the debtor, that
though the instructions received from his party were not
perfectly satisfactory, there had at least been what the law
styled plus petitior, the bill having been overcharged;
that it was subject to a liquidation, and that the case
should be written down and followed through the regular order of-proceedings. There was no one to answer
for her, that the amount being a small one, it should be




THE CUBANS.                133
decided at once, and Rosario had the sad alternative, of
abandoning her claim., or throwing herself in the ocean
of a Cuba law-suit, with the additional cause of dread
of her antagonist, who was a European officer in active service.
" On the evening of her appearance at court, I called
on my poor friend, whose fate became interesting to
me; and soon after my inquiries had been answered,
the same little man who acted for the captain at the
court, came in.
"'Well,' said he, at once, with the air of most profound indifference to her sorrows,'I have come to see
you merely for your own sake, for I would not have
you get into trouble. You are yet in time: it will be
my business to press the suit hereafter, and you will be
obliged in three days' time to name your own procurador, or law-agent, and supply him with about as much
money for expenses as the debt amounts to. I propose
to you to reduce the eighty-two dollars. you claim, to
thirty-four, which will be paid by me in a reasonable
time; and you pay.the charges of the suit as far as
they go, now, and:thank me too; for you do not: know
what it is to get yourself into trouble with the army.'
" During this conversation, Rosario occasionally
looked at me, as if to seek advice; and whether she
read in my countenance decided marks of indignation,
or not, she mustered courage, and in spite of the threats
of the agent, and of the under-commissary of police,
who came to stand by him, and to censure the steps
she had taken, she insisted upon going on with her
suit.
" From this time, it was no longer in Rosario's power
to appease, with comparatively trifling gifts, the insatiable avarice-and ill-nature of the commissaries. Just
as the law-agent had threatened, the suit was followed
on in writing, with more activity on the part of the defendant, who represented himself as very indignant;
and the wretched and disconsolate washerwoman was




134                CUBA AND
obliged to borrow money in order to carry it on. She
had of course named an agent for herself, such as she
could find, who would take charge of so troublesome
and unpromising an affair; and though now and then
soothed with the hopes of obtaining one favorable resolution, there was nothing very positive in the result,
excepting that time, money, and patience were lost.
At last, I was so moved by her distress that I resolved
to do something for her; and, having secured a respectable friend among the lawyers, I prevailed upon him to
see into her case. Immediately after this, my friend
had the woman's agent called to him, so as to obtain
and peruse the proceedings, so far as they had been
advanced; and I saw such a change in the manner of
the commissaries, and the little contemptible set of
agents employed in the business, that I began to feel
as if I had done a great deal for the woman. To sat
isfy myself on the subject-for Rosario was already
overpowering in her thanks, and in the fullness of her
heart, begged me to allow her to do my washing for
nothing-I hastened one morning to my learned friend
of the law. Behind a rather high table, literally covered with processes, or'autos,' my friend was negligently seated, in a huge, Spanish easy-chair. He
was surrounded by a few business men, who seemed
waiting for their turn to speak with him; and altogether taken up with the brief instructions of notary
clerks and agents. At times he would place his signature at the bottom of some petition or writing; and
invariably sustained the unmoved countenance of an
old warrior, no matter what ponderous or dreadful tale
or information was communicated to him. On seeing
me come in, he for one moment looked as if he were
going to rise from the drudgery which surrounded him,
and as if he could smile over it with me; but the next
instant he sank back into his usual tone, bowed slightly
to me, and turned unconsciously around on the anxious
circle which pressed about him.




THE CUBANS.                135. " I have seen the process of your proteg6,e said he,
at last, when an opportunity offered to attend on me,
and am afraid that nothing can be done for her. In
the first place, the act of comparescence is enacted in
such language as best suited the party of the captain.
She appears herself more desirous of having her account
approved of, than of collecting the sum. Then, in the
numberless petitions of her own agent, this seems to
have been the principal point of his requests. On the
other hand, the protests of the captain, from the veryfirst act, as to his readiness to exhibit the sum, provided it be ascertained, are calculated to make the expenses bear on the poor woman. This is probably an
explicit or instinctive combination of all the law-agents,
assessors, and lawyers in the case, who generally endeavor to stamp some weak point on the party who is
more ready or able to pay, so as not to lose their fees
by giving all right to the innocent.' My friend added,
however, that he would call upon the captain-general.
himself, and have some conversation with him, and
would then see me again. The uncommon circumstance of a respectable lawyer appearing privately to
demand attention to a case like this, produced some
useful effect. The general ordered instant payment of
the sum; but what he could not interfere with, as he
said, was the expenses, which were far beyond the
amount sued for; so that, upon the whole, it was understood and settled that poor Rosario should neither
claim her bill nor pay any charges, and endeavor thereafter to be as amiable and generous to the little set of
menials of justice as she had been previously.
" This little history is every day repeated in a thousand different shapes; and surely no one who sees
occasionally in the city of Havana the appearance of
comfort and civilization, the pompous records of reforms, and the annual speeches of the judicial courts,
glowing with equitable principles of justice and humanity, could imagine that the society which seems thus




136                 CUBA AND
prosperous and lofty is devoured by a cancer so destructive to their fortunes, ease, and repose. Speaking
on this subject, the Revista de Espana once expressed
itself thus: " Were you to withdraw the brilliant mask
which hides the state of the country, a lacerated and
deformed skeleton would present itself to our sight.
* * * Other evils, other abuses, may chiefly fall on
interests and classes better able to support them; but
those coming from the administration-of justice, prey
upon every class and condition in life, impairing and
absolutely ruining the most indigent and helpless."




THE CUBANS..137
CHAPTER V.
Visit to the Country Residence of a wealthy Marquis.-Singular Occasion of it.-The Marquis and his Creditors.-The Spanish Judge
and the Advocate.-The Marchioness and her Guests.-Her Children.-Mode of bringing up a Family.-Easy way of dealing with
stubborn Creditors.-The unfortunate Potrerero.-Early Dawn in
Cuba.-The Morning and Evening.-Tacon's Opera House.-Insolence of the Soldiers.-Anecdotes.-Beauty of the young Cubanese.-The married Women.- Their Habits and Customs.Shopping. —Exercise in the Volante. —Children.-The lower
Classes.-The Guagiro.-His Courtship.-Obsolete Customs.The hours of the Oracion.-Conclusion.
THE epistolary style is continued in the present chapter in order to present more vividly the social habits
and customs of the native Cubans. In this way many
things can be introduced and described of which no
proper conception can in any other manner be afforded.
The following, then, may be considered as taken from
an unpublished letter:
You desire me to describe the social condition of the
Cubans, and as the request is coupled with an intimation that this must be done forthwith, I have concluded, under the urgent necessity of the case, to
throw. aside forms, preambles, and introductory remarks; and report- quite- abruptly the result of an invitation I had lately to the country residence of a
wealthy marquis. At one of the stations of the railroad we found  several empty volantes, with  their
mounted drivers and gaudy liveries in attendance for
our party.  The marquis was a man of easy and amiable manners, though not particularly clever in conversation. He seemed to attend on his friends as if by
starts, and unconsciously relapsed into an habitual




138                 CUBA AND
revery.  His dress, of clean, colored linen, constituted
the regular traveling habit of a Cuban gentleman. In
singular contrast with this, but one quite peculiar
to the country, he wore an immense diamond-pin at
his breast.  This little insignia might, in the present day, when railroads are depriving tourists of their
descriptions of solitary and dangerous scenes and localities, be a substitute for'the ornamented uniform,
which, with the honors of an army officer, not long ago
was regularly purchased by men of rank, to secure to
them the right of traveling unmolested by petty officers
of justice, or fine-gatherers, as they may well be
named.  But to return to my company.  The marchioness, a fine-looking woman, of about fifty, wore
a dress of the thinnest cambric; her still small and
pretty feet were encased in delicate satin slippers;
while a bonnet of transparent texture, more appropriately trimmed for an opera-box than suited to the
heavy. red dust of the Cuban roads, completed her
traveling attire. She seemed all activity; to the several gentlemen who formed our party she had continually something to say; she gave her orders to the drivers, determined where we were to have breakfast, ordered the several stoppages, and even seemed to whisper now and then to her docile husband what was best
for him to say or to do. I observed that her attentions were especially divided between two rather remarkable members of our party, with whom she had,
alternately, long conversations, which were at times very
private. One of these persons was a native of Castile,
in Old Spain, a man of about forty, though from his
rather bulky figure, one would have judged him to be
considerably older. He appeared to be fully impressed
with his own dignity —when he spoke, he seemed to
listen to his own remarks, which he could do to perfection, as no one presumed to interrupt him, while all
heard him with deep attention. His complexion was
dark, his eyes jet black, and in his speech, the clear




THE CUBANS.                139
Castilian pronunciation, in which even the commonest
of that province appear to delight, was evident to the
most careless ear.  With all the deference paid to this
important guest, whose attire, with the exception of a
rather shabby discolored ribbon in the button-hole, was
similar to that of the other guests, he did not always
retain the manner of one quite at ease; on the contrary, it seemed as if it were more natural for him to
court those by whom he was surrounded, than to receive
their homage. I soon ascertained. that he was one of
the judges recently sent from Spain, elevated to the
office, though ignorant of the country, and its habits and
usages, from his fortunate relation to members of the
cabinet or Cortes. The other gentleman engrossing the
attention of the lady marchioness, was a young lawyer,
full of activity, and with the money-making spirit of a
true Catalonian; his particular influence with courts
of justice, was owing to his Spanish birth, and was the
origin of his great practice and profits in the profession.
"Una flor," said he, picking a flower and presenting
it to the marchioness, "a flower that will appear as
beautiful on you, as your bountiful gifts will in my
purse."  I was struck with, and have since remembered, this remark, which in its very insipidity and coarse
allusion, gave an idea of the aping, at what is gallant
and graceful in the Spanish gentleman, on the part of
the upstarts of the present military administration in
Spain; and at the risk of being charged with digressing, I cannot resist the inquiry, whether the Spanish
gentleman of days gone by, is a character now altogether
historical?  The intermixture in the best society, for
the last half century, of men risen through party influence, especially from the Carlist ranks-the utter annihilation of that faith in his church which gave a serious
cast to the natural dignity of the native Spaniard-the
mercenary motives which from the throne have penetrated down to the humblest cottages-every thing has
conspired to efface the simple but haughty and noble



140                 CUBA AND
minded Spanish gentleman, both from the Peninsular
and from Cuban society. Let me, however, be just;
the class does exist, and Spain may yet boast of the
distinguished " caballeros," whose manners may have
become even too polished to reflect the plain Castilian
courtesy, but whose truthfulness and uprightness of
character would excite the envy of more advanced nations. I could point out as a specimen, Don Miguel
Rodriguez Ferrer, whose recent visit to Cuba, apparently
to report the physical condition and historical reminiscences of the island, produced the most able and impres-sive political sketches, which, privately communicated to
the court as they were, would have brought about, under
an enlightened administration, immediate reforms and
concessions. But so great is the habit of acting the part
of conquerors, which has become almost intuitive in the
old Spaniards, that even Rodriguez Ferrer manifested a
tinge of haughty arrogance while in America, of which,
as a native of Spain, he could hardly divest himself.
To a foreigner, the object of the party assembled at
the estate " Santa Gertrudis," which I had accidentally joined, would have appeared incongruous and extraordinary. The Marquis of Santa Gertrudis, through
the reckless extravagance of his wife, had become entangled in his affairs; and were it the practice for men
of wealth to pay off their debts at once, he would very
likely have become a bankrupt.  This, however, is not
the custom in Cuba; but such matters are managed on
this wise.* The creditors are assembled; yearly installments are agreed upon; the extravagant living of
the noble family is considered a necessary expenditure,
and the majority, usually made up of family or Jictitious creditors, force the rebellious claimants to lay
down their arms, and enter into private compromises.
The effect of this course is to set the family at ease;
the lady returns to her habits of luxury; the sons to
their dissipation; the daughters to their careless waste
*See Appendix.




THE CUBANS.                141
of finery; while they spend their time in love-sick fancies; the poor relations and parasite friends to their
customary dependence on the old trunk, raised from the
ground for a few more years; and the head of the family to fresh undertakings of new estates. And all this
is carried out with as much indifference as if, in place
of an extorted compromise from clamorous creditors,
payment in full of every debt had been promptly made.
The lady who, on the occasion, had the management of this important domestic matter, was the daughter of the Count of M  -. She belonged to what
may be called the staunch nobility. Nature, and
the teachings of her noble-minded parents, had made
her a modest and virtuous woman. But the habits of
her new home, and the circle surrounding her, were
calculated to impair her superior qualities. The universal custom of the country, rather than indolence, influenced her, from the very first years of her married
life, to give into the hands of her slaves the nursing
and early training of. her children. The recollections
of her father's home now and then directed her attention to books and foreign literature.  But she found
none to sympathize in such tastes; the ball-room, the
"sociedades," the operas, her visits, the tedious and
loquacious shoppings, the " paseo," the correspondence
which she found it necessary to maintain with the country-estate clerks, and, what is more than all calculated
to, destroy the freshness of modesty and beauty, the
gambling-table, to which she gradually became habituated, not only deprived her of time for more intellectual
and domestic enjoyments, but destroyed by degrees her
original taste for them. "Mamma," said her son, a
boy of fourteen, dressed like a small gentleman, and
with all the nonchalance and airs of a gallant, " I don't
know how you or papa are arranging your business with
the creditors, but you must recollect that my own private property, now in your hands, must be so left that
I may have all the necessary resources for living, and




142                 CUBA AND
for my customary pleasures; and as to my carriage, I
cannot give it up on any consideration, for there is not
one of my cousins who is without this convenience."
He went on at this rate, until the poor mother, conscious that she was reaping the fruits of her own errors
and neglect, sighed in despondency.  I must add, with
pain, that this specimen of filial coldness and depravity
is by no means the exception; the too fond and overindulgent mothers, who are themselves the direct cause
of such examples, are far more to be pitied than condemned.  What teaching or light have they enjoyed to
guide them in their incipient path when starting in life?
The magistrate is corrupt, and his misconduct is the
subject of every-day anecdotes and scandal; the minister of the gospel teaches neither by example nor from
the pulpit; the husband has no idea of performing what
would elsewhere be considered the most ordinary duties;
the society is frivolous; books are looked upon with
aversion; the press is an instrument of oppression; and
the mainspring of civilization and civil liberty, faith
in Christ, is unknown.
In what able manner the marchioness succeeded in
exciting the energy of her lawyer, by the offer of ample
reward, what secret understanding went on between
him and the unintellectual Castilian judge, how each
creditor was coaxed or frightened into acquiescence, I
cannot say. I will only add, that some of them obtained favorable arrangements through the cunning arguments of the judge, which were the more ludicrous
from contrast with his reasonings with other creditors,
Whom it was his policy to discourage in their claims.
It was painful to see how poor neighbors had to yield
to these influences out of utter incapacity to counteract
such disgraceful combinations.  Among the company
of c reditors, I was much amused with the appearance
of a potrerero (cattle grazier), who was particularly urgent on the occasion.  The fact is, the daughters of the
potrrero, whenever they appear in public. dress most




THE CUBANS.                 143
extravagantly, quite after the style of the wealthiest
ladies of the island.  To satisfy this thirst after finery
of the female portion of his household, the potrerero has
invariably to contract debts for the paying of which the
earnings of the year are hardly sufficient. What wonder, then, that the poor cattle grazier urged his claim
with a desperate but unavailing earnestness.  He, with
the other persevering creditors, were overruled, and the&
marquis was thereupon left to his new projects, his wife
to her accustomed routine of folly and of fashion, the
sons to their pleasures, and the daughters to the enjoyment of new dresses, new finery, and new fancies.
Have I not drawn a revolting picture'?  Alas! it is
absolutely a true one.
I had intended before this to allude to the climate
and atmosphere of this enchanting island. It is quite
impossible, however, to give to one who has never enjoyed it, an idea of the delicious fragrance of the early
dawn.  The exquisite freshness of the morning, the
soft, cool breeze of evening, when the very soul is refreshed and purified, and the pulse of life beats fuller
and clearer, produces a sensation to be enjoyed only,
but never to be described to those living in the forbidding north. An intense gratitude to the Giver
of all these beauties fills the heart of the stranger,
and the human voice rings through the early morning air with such a clear freshness, that one would fancy
the inhabitants would instinctively raise their first notes
in thanksgiving or hymns of praise; but alas! how
does the heart of the good man thrill with anguish, as
he sees the rich beauties of this lovely island perverted
to the wicked uses of more wicked men.  The first
beams of its glorious sun light upon the wearied souls
of worn-out and exhausted slaves, and serve but to
render more visible the degrading bondage of their masters; while too often the clear light of the heavenly
moon reveals sights of infamy and vice which make the




144                 CUBA AND
soul shudder.  One feels at times almost afraid to be
happy in a country upon which the judgment of God
seems to have fallen in wrath. The absence of all refinement, religion, education-in fact, of decencyamong the lower classes, is a contemplation painful
enough to mar all enjoyment of society in Cuba.  The
invariably idiotic faces of the women and children make,
the heart ache; for an humbly pious or modest young'
face, I have never seen among the poor. What is not
vice or bold recklessness, is generally stupidity or sickly
indifference. I do not think this is prejudice or exaggeration; I am sure it is not; for I love Cuba, I pity the
poor oppressed Cubans, and I look with loathing upon
that infamous government which has systematically destroyed all moral and social good among them. When
I see the half-naked women-the all-naked children —
the desperately bad (when not too lazy) men-I look
away from these to their mother-country, and feel my
heart stirred, in spite of me, with a desire of revenge.
As these and similar thoughts were disturbing my spirit
this morning, the elegant-looking and lordly young Bishop of Havana, in his gorgeous robes and costly jewels,
swept past me from the altar, amidst a train of ignorant
and servile priests. Not one gleam of piety or grace
could be discerned in his vain, worldly countenancenot one single mark or sign to denote him a follower of
the meek and lowly Jesus.  I feel a wonder that there
are none around whose hearts do not burst forth into
audible expressions of disgust; I marvel that Spain
and her infamous government have one voice left to
defend them in Cuba.
A stranger in this island will be vividly impressed
with the contrast between the insolent hauteur of the
Spanish official, and the cringing deference of the prostrate Cuban. The commonest Spanish soldier assumes
the impertinent swagger of his superior, as a creole
passes the point of his bayonet, while just as surely his
cowardly eye falls before the independent glance of an




THE CUBANS.                145
American citizen. I remember to have been struck
with an illustration of this, upon going one night into
the beautiful opera-house of Tacon, in Havana, where
guards of soldiers and dragoons are regularly stationed,
as it appeared to me, for no better purpose than to annoy
ladies, by the freedom of their gaze and their half-whispered insults. A young man, while hastily making way
for half a dozen beautifully dressed girls with their fat
mammas, placed himself too near this imposing array of
military, and within forbidden limits. The gentlemanly quiet of his manner deceived the officer on guard
into the belief that he was "only a creole," and he
arrogantly, with lowered bayonet, ordered him aside.
" Come, come, my famous soldier," was the reply, "if I
have done wrong by standing here, inform me of it with
respect; I am a gentleman and an Englishman, not one
of your poor Cubans."  I turned to observe the effect
of this reproof, which to my surprise was evidenced by
an humble salute, and a courteous wave of the goldlaced hand in the direction to be taken by the young
Englishman!
Now that we are here, let us enter the opera-house,
where we may, indeed, be surprised to see no external
evidence of all this degrading tyranny. Elegantly
dressed and polished men crowd the boxes and seats;
while the beautiful repose of countenance and figure,
characteristic of the ladies are expressive of dignity and
content, to say the least.  Their noble outline of feature appears to great advantage in the retired light of
an opera-box, while their full busts and rounded arms,
contrast finely with the richly plaited, dark hair and
simple white dress, rarely ornamented by more than
a fall of soft lace or a natural flower; and one is
tempted to overlook the absence of intelligence and
brightness in those magnificent eyes, in consideration
of their almost bewildering depth and softness. The
vivacity of the Spanish lady is lost in the creole; but
in its stead, we find a charming gentleness very pleas7




146                 CUBA AND
ing, and an amiability of manner absolutely captivating
to the stranger. One dare not, however, raise the eye
above the third tier of boxes, for there again are only
met the depraved countenances and loose manners of
the lower classes, unrestrained by either good taste or
shame.
The outward decorum of the better and upper
classes may be, to a great extent, only in appearance,
as is often asserted by prejudiced foreigners, for it is
hard to understand how the fresh cheek of a young girl
can retain its ordinary color, as I have often witnessed
in the public paseo of Havana, under the bold and free
-.I may not hesitate to say licentious-gaze of the
young men assembled to render this tribute to their too
generously exposed charms. Indeed, there seems little
reluctance to be thus admired, for no change in the
expression, no falling of the long and lovely black eyelash, ever indicates a shrinking from it.  With all
this, in no part of the world has it been my fortune to
see more devoted wives and mothers than in Cuba.
There are few, indeed, who could teach their sons to
becW:e great men; but their deep, abiding love, untiring care and devotion, many a northern mother who
never allows a new publication to escape her, and who
laments in elegant English the ignorance of the Cuban
ladies, may, with advantage to her own nursery, emulate. Literally speaking, however, there are no children in Cuba: men and women, they descend from
their nurses' arms, Little girls of three years old are
dressed in long dresses made in the extreme of fashion;
artificial flowers and jewels are quite common; and the
little debutantes sit gracefully opening and shutting
their tiny fans with perfect incipient coquetry. Very
funny little men, too, are manufactured at five or six
years, after the complete toilette of a Parisian exquisite, not omitting diamond-pins and a wonderful variety
of cravats and canes.:-:We hear a great deal of Cuba as the land of gal



THE CUBANS.                 147
lantry and love. The former it may be, but for the latter, the sentiment, or holiness, which should hallow the
union of hearts, is scarcely understood; the wives too
frequently degenerate into mere household drudges,
scolding their servants and petting their children all
day, and sitting at night, when the former are quiet and
the latter asleep, in their luxurious butaque or easy
chair to play with their fans, the use of which is often
the only grace left to them. A creole girl before marriage is a beautiful object, graceful, gentle, and loving;
but a creole woman after forty is very generally quite
the reverse. The ravages of time are never concealed;
gray hairs are not considered worth adorning, and old
age is made disgusting.  Instead of the "nice old ladies" and elegant matrons of our American homes, we
too often find in Cuba only fat scolds with voices loud
enough to frighten a regiment of men into submission,
and faces so brown, so wrinkled, and so ugly, and with
so evident an absence of all feminine softness, that we
listen in wonder when we are told that they have been
the beauties of their day. Delicacy of habit, and even
of feeling, are in my opinion smothered in their infancy
by the constant association with negroes; the loud,
coarse laugh and low jests, they imbibe with their first
milk from the same source; the habit of command and
arrogance, also acquired in their childhood, appears in
after life to destroy all tenderness of manner, and increase that harshness of voice so universally remarked
upon by foreigners and ascribed entirely to the effect
of climate.
The daily life of a Cuban lady is monotonous in the
extreme. It is utterly devoid of intelligent exercise
of mind or body, and as a natural consequence both
deteriorate sadly. A host of nervous diseases attest
the truth of this. Early rising is a virtue common to
all ranks; but the manner in which they contrive to
kill time without reading, household occupations, or,
in fact, any employment except, perhaps, a little em



148                 CUBA AND
broidery, is indeed a mystery. Shopping, which is
generally confined to the morning, is, to be sure, a
great resource; hours are consumed in passing from
one shop to another, bargaining for goods, and chatting
with the very polite, but extremely familiar shopkeepers, quite elegant-looking men, who do not hesitate to
address ladies by their Christian name, and to pay
them  most elaborate compliments upon their beauty
and grace. Still, I can scarce find fault with this,
there is so much amiability of manner, such an entire
absence of intention to offend, so much cheerful alacrity in complying with every whim of a lady, and,
above all, such an exhaustless, untiring patience in
running back and forth from the volante to the counter, that one finds it quite natural to smile at the flattery, and return, at parting, the salutation " a los pies
de usted, senora, an " adios" with gracious good humor.
Many a foreign lady has been deluded by this exquisite politeness into the belief that she has made a very
great bargain; and one which " none but so charming
an JImericana as herself could have made;" in a fan,
at fifty dollars, which a Habanera would have passed
an hour in reducing to half the price.
Eating fruit, and the routine of the bath wtile away
many a morning and after-dinner.  Happily, for the
Cuban girls, the sun is ever shining, the volante, with
its easy motion, ever ready; the negro maid, living
only to plait and pomatum their beautiful hair, and
the good mamma patiently waiting to escort them to
the public drives, or "paseos."  Operas, and visits
of interminable length, pass off the evening, and by
ten all are again at home, the massive house-door
turns on its hinges, the lazy porter goes to sleep, and
the young maiden to dream of the few whispered words
she may perchance have caught from some one of her
admirers. I reject all the scandalous accounts given
by most foreigners here, of the immorality existing
among the better classes. I have seen no little of




THE CUBANS.                149
good society in Havana and the surrounding cities, and
within my personal observation have witnessed the
highest degree of womanly devotion and virtue; the
reverse I have very rarely seen pass without severe
censure. The surveillance exercised over women possessing the least pretensions to youth or good looks, is
the argument generally made use of against them. In
Spain, where much more freedom exists, the wives and
daughters are less pure. I would venture the assertion of an impartial and quick observer, that entire
fidelity and high domestic virtue exist among the women of Cuba, especially when one considers that the
many irksome restraints imposed upon them, with the
lack of mental resources, are calculated to produce
indifference, or a mischievous frivolity of character,
even where the neglect of the husband does not induce
a reckless despair. Among the lower classes, as I
have before mentioned, this is all very different, and
the very meaning of the word virtue is lost. This disgrace, with countless others, Cuba now flings back
with reproaches upon the mother-country, whose representative, General O'Donnell, dared even to suppress the incipient organization of Sunday schools for
the poor, lest, through the little children, a faint glimmer of light might awaken their parents from the dark
night of their ignorance and superstition. In towns
and villages where, as in most civilized countries, one
would expect to find some softening, at least, of the
vices of the city, we see the people, young and old,
sunk still lower in stupid ignorance and in an immorality of life too revolting for me to dwell upon. A little romance perhaps remains among the country lovers. The Guagiro, with his wild, dark eye, wonderfully expressive gesture, and usually imperturbable
self-possession, becomes ridiculously silent and shy in
his courting. In a richly-worked shirt of fine linen,
worn upon the outside as a sack; a long, and often
elegantly embroidered cambric sash-fastening to his




160                 CUBA AND
side, the silver-handled sword, or "machete," silver
spurs, and low slippers, he will sit for hours opposite his
lady-love, only venturing now and then a word of reproof, to be interpreted in affectionate playfulness, and
to which she retorts in the same style; yet, now and
then, at a glance, and when unobserved, they do venture to exchange some very tender word. But gestures, shrugging of the shoulders, little dashing airs of
coquetry in the lady, and bashful approaches on the
part of the gallant, fill up the measure of the wooing
of the Cuban peasant.
There are many customs in the island nearly obsolete, which have had their origin in a most simple and
true spirit of religion.  One particularly struck me in
a fine old Cuban family at Havana, the mother of whom
would grace her position in any country. I paid her a
visit at the hour of the " oracion," announced at sunset by the convent bells throughout the city. In past
years, as in Spain, at that moment every voice and occupation was suspended, and every knee bent in silent
prayer; but now the only observance of it I have
any where seen, was (in the family I have mentioned) the quiet dropping in, one after another, of the
children of the donna, to ask her blessing, and affectionately kiss her hand. The action in itself, though
not intended to produce the least effect, was most
touching, as she, placing her hand gracefully and feelingly upon each young head, replied, " Dios te haga
bueno hijo"-God make you good, my child. Among
the slaves in another family I have known the same
custom observed, and I found it peculiarly touching to
see a large, coarse African slightly bending his knee to
his master and mistress to ask of them the evening
blessing. This too would be asked for and received
with a sincere and marked affection on both sides.
The above, however, are instances which I am sorry to
say now stand nearly alone. By degrees, religious observances and true piety have given way to a careless




THE CUBANS.                 151
indifference or an open disbelief; and unless a change
is speedily effected in the general administration of the
island, it will sink still lower in the scale of humanity.
Heaven forbid that this should be.  Is it not time that
philanthropists every where should awake to the fearful
condition of Cuba, and use every effort to free her
from her present degrading bondage?




152                   CUBA AND
CHAPTER VI.
State of Religion in Cuba.-Contrast with the same in former times.
-The " Angelus."-Flirtations carried on in the Churches.-Infidelity universally prevalent.-Absence of all Religious Feeling in
Families of every class.-No piety among the Piiests.-Their disgusting Debaucheries and Excesses.-Horrible instances of this in
the priest Don Felix del Pino.-Roman Catholicism.-Why many
of the Cubans desire Annexation with the United States.-An appeal to the Christian philanthropist.
AMoNG the many reasons for sad reflection afforded by
the present situation of the beautiful Queen of the
Antilles, there is none so appalling as the low and
wretched. condition of religion. The seeds of infidelity
which were so widely diffused through the world at the
close of the last century, have been greatly checked
within late years; and the Christian observer now rejoices daily more and more at the general extension of
the Gospel influence. But in unhappy Cuba those
fatal seeds seem to have found a more propitious nurture under the influence of depressing and deteriorating government; and nowhere therefore is presented
a more dark and distressing picture of unbelief; corruption, and immorality.
Twenty-five years ago, if one happened to be an inmate of any respectable Cuban family, one would be
sure to meet with religious practices and feelings which,
even to a foreigner of a different creed, appeared cheering and grateful.  At the hour of twilight, a church
bell rung through the city would create every where a
sudden  and simultaneous  excitement.  It was the
" sngelus," and at its sound all persons, of all classes,
would at once rise to say their evening prayers;
children and servants would, at its conclusion, ask a




THE CUBANS.                153
blessing from  their parents or masters; while every
carriage and passenger would pause in the street, every
workman would suspend his toil, and a general manifestation of religious reverence would be exhibited.
In those days frequent sermons, from pious and eloquent preachers, would awaken the congregations that
filled the churches to the solemn truths connected with
their spiritual welfare; slaves and free blacks were
instructed in the precepts of the Saviour, and the service of the temple was attended with devotion and
decency.
At the present day, in all the churches of Cuba, a
brief mass, scandalously hurried through, and witnessed by a very small portion of the inhabitants, is
all that attests the Sabbath of the Lord. And even
this poor and meagre performance of the solemn services of the church whose creed bears sway in the
island, by whom  and how is it attended?  By few
others than those who resort to it as a public place of
meeting, gayety, and flirtation.  The ladies ply the
telegraphic fan with the same airs of coquetry and
playfulness as they may have done the evening before
at the theatre, or as they will probably do the same
evening at the opera. The young gentlemen attend
at the doors for the interchange of glances with their
fair friends, and perhaps for a glimpse of the pretty
ankles ascending the steps of the volantes, in waiting.
All seem intent on showing, by their smiles and their
undisguised disrespect, that they are neither believers,
nor ashamed of their unbelief.  In the church itself,
are no expounding-no reading, even of the Gospel-no
visits of the pastors-no consolations carried to the
dying-none of the charitable communities that abound
in other countries, both Catholic and Protestant.
Among the shopkeepers and artisans, is manifested
the same utter disregard, not to say scorn, of the
Christian Sabbath and the Christian faith; for with
wide-open doors and windows, and on the public street,




154                 CUBA AND
they pursue, without even the affectation of a difference,
the customary employments of the week in labor or
traffic.
But to explore further the moral results of the state
of things thus imperfectly described, go to the aged
head of a family, and behold him incapable of exercising any influence over his own offspring, who have
never been taught the divine mission of Christ; to the
neglected wife, who weeps over the cruel and mortifying treatment experienced from a depraved partner,
and see her endeavoring to forget her griefs at public
amusements, at cards, or elsewhere, ignorant of, because never taught, the only balm that can restore
peace to the most embittered soul; to the injured husband, and there witness a similar hollow wretchedness
of the heart, searching vainly for the relief he knows
not how to search for aright; or, what is more probable, behold him plunged in the most deadly course of
debauchery and vice.
Leaving the cities, go to the country, and see the
poor African, condemned to a toil not less incessant
than severe-doomed to remain forever sunk in the imbruted ignorance in which he was torn from his native
and distant land-adoring a serpent-and encouraged
to suicide, by the superstition which he believes, of the
immediate return of his body to Africa after death.
Few of them are baptized; scarcely any married; but
they live together for the most part in the most disgusting habits of promiscuous intercourse; while none are
ever instructed in the consoling and humanizing truths
of the Gospel. Look farther around to the white la-borer who commands the negro as overseer or mayoral,
or who tills a piece of land, or who moves along the
road with his cart or draught horses; look, too, at the
countryman's family-and every where will be found
the same indifference, and in general worse than indifference, the same sneering contempt of all that their
ancestors revered as holy.




THE CUBANS.                155
The gentry also-the masters of estates-the officers
of government-nay, the very priests themselves-exhibit the same painful picture of an all-pervading, alldemoralizing infidelity. The country curates may, in
general, and as a class, be set down as an example of
all that is corrupt in immorality, all that is disgusting
in low and brutal vice.  Of the number there is oneDon Felix del Pino-too notorious, too illiterate, and
too shameless to care for even this publication of his
name, whose career presents so shocking and frightful
an example of vice that I will mention a few of its
characteristic traits, as a proof of what is possible in
the island of Cuba at the present day. This man,
who is the curate of an interior town, is in the habit of
exacting $200 for an insignificant pretended attempt at
the great ceremonies of a funeral. On one occasion, at
a meeting of his low associates, he announced that he
was preparing for a pleasure trip to the city of Havana,
and in reply to their inquiries as to the pecuniary
means on which he relied for that object, he simply
answered, that a certain respectable old woman, whom
he named, was on the eve of death, and that her
funeral expenses would supply him the means. Having
afterward ascertained that she was unexpectedly improving, he vowed that she should die, and hastened to
her bedside, where, prostituting the rights of his sacred
ministry, he labored to dissuade her from any hopes of
recovery, and harassed her mind with such agonizing
and terrible pictures, in such a tone, and with such
evidently evil design, that the friends of the poor
despairing sufferer felt compelled to interfere, and
rescue her from his guilty hands.  On another occasion
he informed a couple who wished to marry, but whose
family relation of consanguinity required a dispensation
from Rome, that he could obtain the grant for that
purpose at Havana. He therefore went to that city,
and shortly afterward returned with the full license, as
he pretended, to perform the marriage; to which, how



156                 CUBA AND
ever, he insisted on naming the attesting witnesses, or
the godfather and godmother of the ceremony. He
accordingly married the parties, and received six hundred dollars as his reward. When the couple, at a
later day, discovered that no such authority could be
procured at Havana, and that they had been made the
victims of a foul deception, they called on him and were
met by a cool denial of his having had any thing to do
in the matter; in support of which he exhibited his
books, where he had carefully omitted to set down the
case. He was, however, arrested for a time in consequence, but no more serious penalty ever ensued.
His last act was one which, indeed, can hardly be
credited, though its truth is beyond question. In a
letter coarsely written, in the most obscene and revolting language, to his brother in Havana, he expatiates on the violation of a young white female, for
whom he had paid to her own father, and says that on
the occasion of his first possession of her, he had ordered the bells of his church to be rung! The signature of the letter he acknowledged to be his; and the
young girl, only thirteen years of age, was found at his
house, and the truth of the case so fully proved by her
testimony, and other corroborating evidences, as to
cause the imprisonment of the father, and the suspension of the priest from the. office so foully scandalized.
Of course, it must not be understood that there are
many priests in Cuba who have reached such a depth
of corruption as is exhibited by this revolting and hid-.
eous instance; but the general degradation of the clergy
and the church, and the deep demoralization of the
country where such a monster is not at once visited
with signal punishment, must be sad indeed. This
wretch may, on the contrary, be seen even now, though
suspended from his parish cure, attending in his clerical robes on the public ceremonies of the Church at
Havana!
The responsibility of this dreadful state of things,




THE CUBANS.                 157
in reference to the religious and moral condition of the
island of Cuba, should not be considered as resting
upon the Romish Church or creed.  It would be illiberal indeed to carry to so unjust a length those prejudices of Protestantism which are doubtless founded in
reason, and which cannot but be stimulated to a great
degree at the exhibition of Roman Catholicism in Cuba.
Yet in the United States no one can deny that it is a
very different institution, both in its spirit and its practice, from that which is presented to the eye of the
most superficial observer in Cuba. The Church proper is not the responsible cause, but the corrupt political
government which has invaded its domain, paralyzed all
its good energies, corrupted its entire organization, and
poisoned its very fountains of spiritual purity. The
central military despotism, in the hands of the Spanish
officials, clustered in and about the palace of the captain-general, may be said to have absorbed to itself the
Church, with every other good institution possessed by
the island in its better days. Its influence has been
destroyed, its revenues and property, together with all
the patronage of ecclesiatical appointments, appropriated by the government. The nominations to all religious
offices are made, directly or indirectly, by the creatures
of the government, and given, directly or indirectly, to
the creatures of the government.  The very members
of the chapter of the cathedral at Havana are now
named at Madrid, in disregard of the canonical proposals from the board according to law. Day after day
and year after year have been suffered to pass without
an appointment to fill the long vacant bishopric of
Havana, and thirty years have elapsed since the sacrament of confirmation, as it is termed by the Roman
Catholics, has been administered in the several districts of the diocese, which should be regularly visited
once a year.
In short, the principal reason given by the serious
and reflecting Cubans for desiring annexation to the




158                 CUBA AND
United States, is derived from the present condition of
religious and moral degradation of the island. It only
requires, say they, the fresh air of liberty and light of
free truth to be let in upon it, to secure that reform
and regeneration which should be the.object of the hope
and desire of every Christian observer. With annexation to the United States, will come the free Bible, the
free Pulpit, and the free Press; the healthful and
stimulating influence of Protestant competition in the
labors of the spiritual harvest; the infusion of a new
spirit, a renovated vitality, into the moral being of the
population of Cuba, now corrupt with disease and palsied well nigh beyond recovery. Surely the Roman
Catholic clergy and community of the United States
cannot but unite in the desire, which must be to
Protestants an anxious one, to witness the termination
of this miserable and scandalous condition of a neighboring community-a community with which this country
is already connected by so many ties of interest and
intercourse, and which, all know and feel, must at no
very distant day become an integral portion of it.
Ought not, then, the Roman Catholic clergy of the
United States, alive to the dignity attached to their
ministry in America, to speak out in the name of those
of their brethren who, by the corrupt and corrupting
interference of civil power, have become careless of the
holy cause which they do not even profess to sustain?
Ought not the Pope, whose course of reform brings back
the Catholic Church to the earlier period of her career,
when she was the natural ally of the poor and the
oppressed, to be made to know that there is a portion
of his wide-spread flock, purporting to obey and follow
his Christian standard, who are yet sunk deep in the
abyss of infidelity and vice? When in that beautiful
island, so bountifully favored by God, the family circle
shall once more be comforted by the cheering peace of
Christianity-when the master shall learn to cherish a
Christian care for the slave who is now treated by him




THE CUBANS.               159
as a brute beast of burden and labor-and when the
latter shall be rescued by Christian instruction from
the superstitions and practices of his present state of
heathen destitution, and taught the precious lesson of
Christian hope for the future, and Christian comfort in
the sad present, then what grateful and fervent hymns
of praise shall arise from hearts now ignorant of their
own immortal nature and destiny, mingled with prayers
in which will not be forgotten the names of all such as
shall now bestow on them one look of sympathy, and
extend a helping hand to bring them out of their present bondage.




160                  CUBA AND
CHAPTER VII.
Public Education.-Attempts to falsify Statements.-Official Items
from the Census of 1841.-Schools pillaged by the Treasury.Saco's Parallel between the Spanish and British Colonies.-Degradation and Ignorance in the Country Regions.-Frightful Pictures of Vice.
THE organs of the Spanish administration may boast
of progress in the island of Cuba, and endeavor to
hide the deficiencies of public education by tedious and
sophistical reasoning. Of late this has been attempted
with an earnestness which bore evidence on its face of a
conscious desire to produce an untrue impression. But
why not silence, in the face of the world, the complaints of the Cubans with statistical numbers, and
the report of facts which come naturally within their
reach?  It is true that the census has not been taken,
or at least published, since 1841; but whose fault is
it? It is also true that the committees lately appointed by the government, are ignorant and lukewarm
-whose fault?  It is also a fact that the officials
authorized for the purpose, are not furnished with
adequate supplies to carry out the object of diffusing knowledge among the poor; but again, whose
fault?
The condition of education in the island is here exhibited by appealing to the official items. It must at
the same time be borne in mind that an intimate
knowledge of the country and people, would bring to
light many facts of daily occurrence, which, with the
open immorality of the multitude, and the ignorance
stamped upon their countenances. must strengthen the




THE  CUBANS.                        161
conviction that however erroneous these official items
may be, a correction of them would present a still
more revolting picture.
The census of 1841 gives the following results as
regards the free and slave population:
Wrhite inhabitants................ 418,291
Free mulattoes      -.  88,054
Free black......................  64,784
Total free.................               571,129
Mulatto slaves...................  10,974
Black slaves.. —..........  425,521*
Total slaves    -          -.........     436,495
Transient population......................          38,000
1,045,624
The number of schools, according to the most
recent and certainly the most favorable accounts,
amounted to
Of white male children.........................  129', "   female.........................  79
Of colored male.........................   6
"   "    female....                              8
In all........-.-......-.         222
Those receiving instruction in them were
White boys...................... 6025'"   girls.....................  2417
Colored boys.....................  460
" girls.....................  180
From this data, it results that through the whole island 222 schools existed, and that 9082 free children,
of all classes, were instructed in them. Of this num" There is little doubt that this number should be augmented by
one third to make it correct.




162                 CUBA AND
ber, it is all-important to observe that 5325 paid their
schools, and that 3757 was the pitiful number under
gratuitous tuition. Of the latter, 540 were supported
by the branches of the once comparatively flourishing
" Sociedad Patriotica," whose resources were derived
from personal subscription of the members or voluntary
taxation of the citizens; 2111 by local subscriptions or
taxes; and 1106 gratuitously taught by the professors,
through the suggestions of the society, or other functionaries, whose request might almost be considered as
actual command.
The census also shows the number of free children
between the ages of five and fifteen, to be 99,599; of
whom, as before stated, 9082 are only educated, and
that chiefly by private means and efforts. Scarcely ten
per cent. of those requiring instruction receive it, four
per cent. of whom by public contributions, and not any
by appropriations from the general treasury. On the
contrary, so far from receiving aid from the treasury,
the schools have been pillaged by it; for when the custom-houses have taken charge of collecting the local
taxes established for public instruction, ten per cent.
commission has been deducted for the service, and large
sums imposed on commerce and trade for this object,
have been, and are to this day, withheld and unaccounted for by the treasury. When the enormous amount
of Cuban taxation, as explained in another part of this
volume, is considered, who can restrain his indignation
that with at least twenty-two millions of dollars of imposts-an equivalent to $38 77cts. to each free soulthe first duty of a civilized government should be so
dishonorably neglected.
By referring to the above items, and those found in
Mr. Saco's " Parallel between the Spanish and British
Colonies," the following discouraging comparison is
drawn:




THE CUBANS.                     163
Number of children educated in proportion to the whole free population.
In the Bahama Islands.....1831...... 1 to every 16',, St. Vincent's.......... 1830......1  "    19
"  Jamaica............... 1827          1."    18', Antigua............... 1830..1 I "          5
" St. Christopher's*............  1   "    11
"  Lower Canada......... 1832...... 1   "    12
"  Nova Scotia........... 1832......     "    10
Prince Edward's....... 1832...... ] "   14
Terra Nova........... 1834.....1   "          8
M" auritius............... -  1  "    11, Presidency of Madras.. 1834..... 1   "          5
And the island of Cuba........       1   "    63
By withdrawing from  the Patriotic Society, established under the most favorable auspices, first, its
very name, that the word patriotic might be erased
from the colonial vocabulary; then, the care of watching over, and directing public education; and, lastly,
the resources voted by the citizens from the origin of
the corps-the most sacred cause, one always commanding the noble excitement and enthusiasm of philanthropy, has been placed in the sordid and debased
hands of the officials of a venal and corrupt administration.  Were  this the  sole grievance inflicted on
Cuba, by Spanish despotism, no greater motive could
inspire the bold cry of her indignant sons against tyranny so oppressive.
Let not the traveler, from whatever land he may
have approached that island, even though he be a native of the beautiful Spanish peninsula, discredit the
sad truths which are here recorded. But should the
enormity of the evil induce a momentary doubt of its
existence, let him visit the comfortless home of the
village poor, and there witness the most convincing
proof of what is here affirmed. He will find the villager, like all his humble associates, continually called
to do public duty, for which not even thanks are exY There is a slight inaccuracy regarding this island.




164                CUBA AND
pected; while there is no individual service he demands of society for which he is not made to pay
dearly. His children, in the mean time, wander
around amidst vice and filth; both parent and child
exhibiting a benighted ignorance which is absolutely
unparalleled. Not a feeling calculated to ennoble his
nature, finds a place in the heart; vice, in no instance,
is regarded with aversion, for its deformity is not even
perceived. Alas, for the community affording pictures
of human degradation so revolting. And what shall
be said of a government on which the awful responsibility rests of causing, of promoting, and of perpetuating so much moral hideousness and desolation!




THE CUBANS.                 165
CHAPTER  VIII.
Cuban Grievances.-Personal Liberty.-Personal Security.-The
Right of Property.-Instances of exercise of despotic Power.Senor Saco.-Number deported and banished by Tacon.-The
same System continued.-Taxation in Cuba.-Details.-Summary
of Grievances,
THROUGHOUT the preceding chapters continued allusion has been made to the wrongs and grievances
which the Cubans are forced to endure, and the despotic sway with which the island is governed.  It is
proposed, in the present chapter, to enter more in detail upon these wrongs and grievances, that the world
may judge between the island and her rulers. This is
a subject that can no longer be shirked by Spain.
Either Cuba has a right to redress, or she has not;
and that question cannot properly be settled by the
voice of mankind, without a fair investigation of the
causes of complaint.
In the Declaration of Independence of the United
States of America, the right of life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness, is claimed for all men. A less
rhetorical, but a more definite, proposition is laid
down by the great English commentator, in his division of rights, into the right of personal liberty —the
right of personal security —and the right of property.
The Cubans are deprived of all these.
The liberty of the person is constantly violated, and
often with no other warrant than the arbitrary order of
the meanest official, and from which no redress can be
obtained, except by means of heavy bribes.
During and since the time of Tacon, the seizure and
immediate deportation of persons of respectability and
distinction. were, and have been, of common occurrence,




166                 CUBA AND
and -this without a hearing of the party accused, and
without granting any opportunity for defence.
Individuals, for the slightest possible causes of offence —often, indeed, without any cause whatever-are
seized and banished from the island, or, what is still
worse, are incarcerated in loathsome prisons.
One of the most flagrant acts of despotism was the
deportation, by Tacon, of Senor Saco, a man universally known and esteemed in the island for his high
character and unblemished reputation, for his benevolence and philanthropy, and for his attachments to Cuban interests. All these, however, were of no avail
against the tyrannical exercise of arbitrary power.
Within a period of little more than eighteen months,
about 200 persons were deported, and about 700 banished for life, from the island by Tacon. These acts
of despotism are continued, with more or less frequency, to the present time.
Innumerable instances might be named to sustain an
assertion which no one will venture to contradict.
So far from affording personal security to the Cuban,
the government has taken every method to endanger it,
under the pretence that it is necessary to keep the native inhabitants in a state of constant apprehension in
order to insure their continued allegiance.  To this
end, every kind of judicial enormity prevails, and every
description of imposition is practiced upon the helpless
creole. If he commits a wrong he is punished without an opportunity of being heard in his own defence,
or, what is the same thing, he is tried before a prejudiced tribunal. If he has suffered an injury, he finds
the means of redress so tedious that endurance is preferable to the formidable task of obtaining justice.
There is but one means of avoiding persecution-but
one way of escape when persecuted —but one method
to obtain justice when seeking ordinary redress. It is
by bribery. Gold will open prison doors, procure dispensation for falsely imputed crimes, obtain a tardy




THE CUBANS.                167
decree of long-sought justice. Thus personal security
is only to be enjoyed at the expense of the right of
property, which brings the third division of rights to
be specially considered.
The plan of robbery and plunder-it can be called
by no milder name-has been reduced to so complete a
system, and that system has been brought to such a
state of perfection, that it will be more satisfactory to
undertake the subject in its details.
Without enlarging upon the difficulty of obtaining
legal remedies, and the insecurity attending the possession of property when claims are made against it by
those in favor with the government, it is proposed to
examine the method of taxation now adopted in Cuba,
and also its extent and operation.
Whatever may be the cause of the mystery in which
the gross amount of taxation is involved, it is a fact
that the publications which are made by the local administration neither comprehend the whole range of
taxes, nor do they generally affix to each head any thing
more than the balance subject to the control of the general treasury.  We commence the list by the official
statement of 1844, which is mainly composed of balances of different taxes, the chief names of which are
the following:
Alcabala (or six per cent. on sales of real estate, of
slaves, on auction sales, on sales in shops).
Bulls of the Pope.
Brokers' tax.
Cattle tax.
Shopkeepers' tax.
Tax on mortgages.
Tax on donations.
Tax on cockfighting.
Tax on grants of crosses, or uses of uniform, etc.
Tax on promissory notes, or bills of exchange.
Tax on the municipal taxes, yearly tribute of the
counts, marquises, and other titles.




168                   CUBA AND
Tax on all deaths of non-insolvent persons.
Tax on investments in favor of the clergy, sale of the
public offices, sealed paper, penalties in favor of the
royal household.
Tax *on the property of the Jesuits, sales of public
lands.
Tax on establishment of auctioneers.
Tax (four per cent.) on law expenses.
Water canal tax, royal order of Charles III., etc.
To this must of course be added the custom-house
duties on imports and exports, and tonnage on vessels.
The proceeds of the revenue for the year
1844, comprehending the custom-houses, maritime and inland, of the Provinces of Havana,
St. Jago, and Puerto Principe, and net proceeds of lottery tax, and balance of tax on
religious orders, are, according to the beforenamed official statement................... $10,693,626 01
To the above must be added the amount
expended on smuggled goods which have been
paid to those concerned in the act without any
material relief to the consumer. In the official
statement above referred to, $7,364,005 is the
amount given for maritime duties; and deducting one fifth for tonnage, charges, we have left
$5,891,~04 for duties on imports and exports.
As a moderate calculation, add one fifth of this
sum fobr what is paid on smuggled goods......  1 178,240 00
The lottery tax, though called voluntary, is
no less a burden, and the greatest incentive to
idleness and dishonesty amongst the poorer
classes, and especially among the slaves. The
ancient custom of purchasing freedom is becoming almost obsolete among the latter-their
hopes being exclusively fixed on the fieaks of
fortune, which, as it may well be supposed, do
not always favor the most worthy, and therefore the most capable of enjoying the rights of
freemen.  35,000 tickets at $4, in sixteen
drawings, and 20,000 tickets at $16, in one
$11,871,866 01




THE CUBANS.                    169
$11,871,866 01
drawing, make the whole sum drained from
the public in one year.......... $2,560,000
There being a scandalous connivance to prevent the public from
obtaining tickets from the offices,
6Q per cent. additional must be
added.... 160,000
2,720,000
Less the amount included in the
official statement............... 761,000
1,959,000 00
The post-office expenses, which left, in
1843, a balance to the treasury of $5734 01A,
amounted to $997,341, according to Sagra, in
1830. Since then the population, which in
1827 was 730,562, according to this writer,
who was officially employed, and is a native
European, has increased to 1,045,000. The
country surrounding Cardenas, Jucaro, Sagua
la Grande, and San Juan de los Remedios,
and Nuevitas, has also greatly increased, and
correspondence as well; new branches have
been established to convey the mails, so that
it will be quite safe to calculate upon half a
million increase, calling it now....... 1,500,000 00
Census on land, according to the same
Sagra...................................  4,000,000 00
The 4 per cent. on law expenses in the
statement commencing this calculation, gives
the sum of $62,240; but as 10 per cent. is
deducted previously as a commission in favor
of the revenue, the amount received in the
treasury is really $69,155, which
by 25 is................... $1,728,875
Deducting the sum included in the
statement..............           62,240
1,666,635 00
The municipal taxes received by the corporations from those who purchase the right of
collecting them, amounted, according to the
memoirs of the Economical Society and the
$20,997,501 01




O170                 vCUBA AND
$20,997,501 o~
Fare Industrial of the 5th June 1847, with
reference to the year 1843For the Province of Havana,... $552,577 75
"      6"       St. Jago...  101,063 00'"     "        P. Principe   76,997 25
730,638 00
To this, in order to cover expenses
of collection, and profit to the speculator, add 25-per cent..........  182,659 00
$913,297 0')
Apart from these municipal taxes
received by the corporation, there
may be others received by the very
contractors who supply the object
Qf its creation. There is one called
the " limpieza," or cleaning of the
city, which the same Faro Industiial values at-... 53,400 00
This gives for municipal taxes, at
least........966,697 00
The next tax, is that in favor of the alguazils-mayor, as far as it weighs on cattle and
animals.
This charge was originally allowed by the
crown in compensation of certain pecuniary
services. In the course of time those services
have become insignificant, and more than paid
by the country. For large cattle, $1,25 each
must be paid to him, and $4,75 to the crown;
and more or less, in the same proportion,
for smaller animals.  The true items not
having ever been published, the amount of
$652,408 is adopted, which the above quoted
Faro Industrial fixes as the government tax in
the island on cattle. and for the.proportion as
follows: As the duty, $4,75, is to the $1,25
alguazil-mayor charge, so is $652,408 to the
whole amount of charges of alguazils-mayor in
the island.......  171,475 00
The licenses given by the captain-general,
$22,135,673 01




TIE CUBANS.                      171
$22,135,673 01
governors of towns, and captains of county districts, is another subject of heavy taxation.
The negro slaves, or their masters for them,
are frequently subject to it; but to simplify
the estimate, take the amount of the firee
population, which, in the census of 1841,
ranges thus:
White,............. -.-    418,291
Free Colored,.................  88,054
Free Negroes,...............  64,784
571,129
Supposing one fifth of this number
to be heads of families forced to have
a license, the number will be...   114,225
50 cents for the certificate'of the commissary
of the ward, and 31j: for the signature of the
magistrate, viz., 814.:...................      92,807 81
But as'the above does not comprehend the
whole of the licenses given for separate excursions, suppose that only one fifth of the number
before accounted for shall make one single trip
in the year, say 22,845 individuals, at only
314 cents.-......... -7,139 06
Another charge of this nature is that on
passports, for which take the amount of
38,000 individuals, given in the census of 1841
as garrison and transient population, and deducting 18,000 for troops, there will be left
20,000; of which, firom the number of crews,
and other causes, suppose that only 6000 passports are given.  The charge made is $1,50
for the captain-general, or other' subaltern
governor, $1 for the warden's report and
sealed paper, and $2,75 for the certificate of*
the judge of property of absent heirs; in all
$5,25; amounting to, for the 6000
mentioned......................  $31,500
But out of this number, 2000, it is
fair to suppose, will apply for the passport to the 1" agencia," an office kept
by military officers who have remark$22,235,619 88




172                    CUBA AND
$22,235,619 88
$31,500
able advantages in procuring readymade passports for $8,50 apiece,
which, less than $5,25, leaves $3,25.   6,500
38,000 00
The crown derives another source of revenue
from the sale of offices, vendibles, and renunciables, that are subject to being sold or renounced in favor of another person. In the
statement of inland customs and revenue for
the year 1843, the sales of the kind were stated to amount to $92,737; but whatever the
sum of the present year may be, it is supposed to be included in the official statement or
first item commencing this estimate. Among
the many offices of this kind, are the alguazilsmayor, whose various fees are counted in the
law expenses and in the slaughter of cattle,
both herein estimated. Another of them is
the fiel executor, also a member of the corporation, whose duty is to examine the weights
and measures of all retail and wholesale dealers, visiting the different stores. It is assumed
that the one holding this office in the city
of Havana, which gives a handsome income for
a family, renders $8000 net, which is equal to
$12,000 on the country, to pay clerks and other
expenses; and judging that the corporation
taxes of Havana, $384,000, will bear to $730,000, and the taxes of similar nature of the
whole island, the same proportion, it follows
that all the fiel executors will amount to.....    22,812 00
The government has also sold archives for
notaries, where deeds are entered and recorded. There may be presumed to be about
fifty in the whole island, and to be sold from
3000 to 50,000 dollars apiece. Although the
latter price is nearer the general one than the
former, the majority may be much beneath
it; adopting the price of $15,000 as the true
rate for the whole, it gives $750,000. They
are very productive, and must be so, on ac$22,296,431 88




THE CUBANS.                    173
$22,296,431 88
count of the peculiar conditions of all offices,
vendibles, and renunciables, which, whenever
they pass firom one possessor to another, or
even to the lawful heir, leave a portion of their
price in favor of the crown. They are also
subject to confiscation, when a monthly injunction of a renouncing deed is neglected;
and there are even days each month in which
should the death of the proprietor take place,
the crown takes back its grant. This also applies to the alguazils-mayor, fiel executor, etc.
Great profits must be the recompense of such
disadvantageous conditions.  It is not therefore an exaggeration to suppose these archives to produce forty per cent., of which
sum we consider ten per cent. the just price
of the service; and the remaining thirty per
cent. is the penalty which the community pays
in extra charges for the resources anticipated
to government at these monstrous sales. —
$750,000 at thirty per cent.................   225,000 00
Fines which are constantly imposed by subaltern officers of justice in Cuba will continually strike the eye of a foreigner, on
looking over the Havana newspapers. The
infi'actions of the by-laws are the pretexts;
but the menials of government are guided often
by a thirst for money, which excludes a just and
impartial exercise, since they are interested
by having a portion assigned for their benefit.
It is fair to compute the amount of fines at
$25,000 publicly avowed, and $25,000 privately
exacted and not accounted for. That the above
calculation may not appear altogether arbitrary,
it may be added, that the fines of the royal
household, which are the most insignificant
in the island, amounted, according to the statement of 1843, to $10,881..................   50,000 00
Fees in the captain-general's tribunal are
likewise another tax not included in any other
calculation. The present captain-general has
designated two days in the week to hear actions
$22,571,431 88




174                    CUBA AND
$22,571,431 88
verbally established and decided in his presence, or in that of officers whom he appoints
in his lieu. Persons having difficult claims,
who do not find in the usual course of proceeding, the easy attainment of. their object,
apply there, and orders of immediate, payment
issue often in utter disregard of law, or thoe
state in which the case may be in another
court. No pleadings, but the order of payment, under threat of imprisonment, constitute the course of this strange, all-powerful
judge. Calculating on 100 days of audience,
in which he or his delegates hear ten suits
each, and estimating his fee at $8,50 fbr each,
though the sum may not publicly be acknowledged, it will give.........................  8,500 00
The fish and meat markets, monopolized by
General Tacon, according to his own report,
published in 1838, have had the effect of elevating the price of these commodities at least
thirty per cent. The yearly consumption of
large cattle, being 86,000, gives, at
this estimate................... $1,500,000
Suppose smaller animals and service
one sixth of this value...........   250,000
1,750,000
The fish consumed can be at least
estimated at one eighth of the
meat, viz......................   218,750
$1,968,750
And thirty per cent. on this sum will render..  590,625 00
N. B. The sellel of cattle obtains only $2,50
for each arrobe of 25 lbs. of meat, while the
consumer pays really, whatever may be published to the contrary, $5,50. Here, then,
is a measure for the weight of the monopoly.
There is another official data which is subjoined. It is a statement published by General
Tacon, as an appendix to his report of his own
acts, containing estimates of the buildings by
$23,170,556 88




THE CIUBANS.                       175
$23,170,556 88
hlim reconstructed, the revenue they produced
previously, that which they prloduce now, and
that which they would produce to the copolration after the time should be elapsed for which
they were bound to the contractors.
Old  Present Future
Valuation. Revenue. Revenue. Revenue.
Fish matrket     $34,031 06Y  $864  $864 $7,000
Chriistina meat mkt., 115,521 007    3 8,712  11,100 38,100
do.     do.    67,876 03    712 11,100 38100
Slaughter at Tacon Sq. 47,780 06          7,800
r"    the Jail,'480,640 04     18,600 18,600
At Governm't Palace, 102,434 04   2,400   13,900
$848,282 24 $11,976 $30,564 $85,400
In the present case, this exorbitant rise in
the rent is only the expression of the forced
monopoly, unheard-of petty renting of apartments of sale, and strict severity in preventing
the sales elsewhere, in the city and its suburbs.
In' the general statement are not counted
$4,25 per death, and 75 cts. per christening,
and generally what are called RENTA OVENCIONAL, which Mr. Sagra calculated, for 1830,
at............................        250,000 00
Private extra fees demanded for marriages,
under various pretences...................          15,000 00
The charge for renewing what is called the
apprenticeship of emancipated slaves, an authority de facto exercised by the captain-general, is $1.02 apiece.  Since General Valdez,
whose honorable conduct reflects honor on his
nation, granted about 3000 patents of freedom
during about one year. it may be supposed that
at least one thousand become due every year.       102,000 00
The custom of extraordinary and expensive
services on the death of a relative, imposing a
ruinous tax on the survivors, is another source
to the priesthood, which may be appreciated
from  reading the by-laws of General Valdez,
regulating the prices of the use of the scaffolding, carpets, etc. A mortality of five per
cent. on the 418,000 white inhabitants, will
$23,537.556 8S




176                    CJUBA AND
$23,537,556 88
give- 20,900 deaths, of which one fourth we
may suppose capable of doing something to
save apparent neglect of their deceased friends;
and this number, 5225, if only calculated at
the minimum rate of $10 each, is..........    52,250 00
Tolls on the bridge of Marianao..........   56,000 00
Private gifts for nominations of captains of
districts, city ward commissaries, watchmen,
etc.....................................      10,000   00
Permits for gambling, etc. (private).......  50,000 00
Tithes. In the general statement which
is taken as guide, summing up the amounts of
the revenue in 1844, two main divisions are
found-the maritirne and the inland taxes.
There is no specification of the latter corresponding to that year; but in the year preceding, the only sum belonging to tithes as a
deposit, was $19,831 03.
From the memoirs of the Economical Society, are subjoined the following statements,
which were also published in the Faro above
quoted:
Four years from 1833 to 1836Jurisdiction of Havana..1833..       $227,780 00~
1834....  247,036 04j
1835...     262,653 01
1836....  246,102 04i
$973,571 10i
Jurisdiction of St. Jago.
1833          ~..  $50,260 04
1834....   50,260 04
1835....   37,822 051
1836....   37,822 053
$176,164 19.
Four years from 1837 to 1840$23,705,806 88




THE CUIBANS.                   177
$23,705,806 88
Jurisdiction of Havana.
1837.... $220,438 07i
1838....  21.7,928 06j
1839....  190,164 00O
1840....  186,555 06
$815,085 20i
Jurisdiction of St. Jago.
1837....  $37,822 051
1838....   37,822 05H
1839....   49,547 00
1840....   49,547 00
$174,738 ].1l
Province of Havana, first four
years,.. $973,571 104
Province of St. Jago, first
four years,.176,164 19k
$1,149,735 291
Province of Havana, second
four years,..       $815,085 20k
Province of St. Jago, second
four years,                    174,738 11i
989,823 32
Total..   $2,139,558 611
This by 8 years, gives.  $267,444 82k
The above result, having been obtained under the law which only required the tax on
sugar fiom estates founded previously to 1804,
is no criterion to what the tithe on sugar estates will be from the year 1847. To endeavor to fix on some items by which its
present product can be calculated, it is necessary to know what is the relative importance of sugar estates compared to other agricultural pursuits subject to tithe. For this pur$23,705,806 88
8*




1T8. CUBA AND
$23,705,806 88
pose, take fiom Ramon Sagra's " Breve Idea,"
published in 1836, the following estimates:
Capital employed.
For raising cattle,...   $2,767,977
Pastures,...        21,691,610
Sugiar estates.              83,780,877
Coffie  "..               85,825,000
Farmlls  "                    1..111,861,984
Tobacco vegas (valleys),..  6,532,420
$336,459,868
Sugar consequently represents one fourth
Therefore out of the $267,358 tax of a comimon year, $66,839- should be deducted, as corresponding to sugar, and the remainder will be
the tithe on all the other articles....-..-.. 200,519 00
Now, as regards the tax on this article,
which according to the new law has commenced
to be exacted, and is 24 per cent. on the
gross products of all estates not having had fifteen crops (the latter being exempted during
that period, provided they have not been erected on woodlands), take the crop of 1834,
which, being thirteen years ago, may be supposed to constitute the quantity now subject
to pay, though it will certainly be greater
fiom the increase of each individual estate.
In that year the chief imports were
8,408,231 arrobas of sugar.
1,817,315    "    coffee.
104,213 hogsheads of molasses.
In the year 184113,082,288 arrobas of sugar.
1,998,846. coffee.
119,138 hogsheads of molasses.
And in 1843, the official balance gives 889,103
boxes-equal to 14,225,648 alrobas, adding to
which the enormous quantity of Moscavado
sugar in the districts of Sagua, it is safe to
call it, with the subsequent increase, twenty
millions of arrobas.  The coffee of the said
year was 1,631,782 arrobas, and 191,093 hogs$23,906,325 88




THE CUBANS.                       I79
-$23,906,325 88
heads of molasses.  The sugar crop is now,
therefore, equivalent to 1,253,000 boxes of six
teen arLobas; and that of 1834, say 8,500,000
arrob.as to 531,250 boxes. Tile increase which
ilths taken place firom 1834 to 1847, in fburteen
years, is 70),750, or 51,482 boxes a year; of
wllich tile two and a hilllf pler cent. will be
1287 boxes; which, at fifteen -dollars apl)iece,
will give a yearly advance of $19,305 to tile
sugar tithe.  Twoo and a lhalf per cent. on the
crolp of 1834, will be  13,281 boxes at $15.....  199,215 00
Tlle above will be yearly increased with.
$22,305 more, until the' whiole sugar crop wvill
be subject, which, not.counting the p;ogrlessive
extension of culture; Wiill give: on the l)lesent
pi'oduction of 1,250,000 boxes, $468,750.
N. 13. Against alny suggestiohns calculated to
impair the exactitude of the above infeiences,
it is to be noted- that the prolportion of sugar paying taxes wias much less under the old
law, and tlherefilre the fburth deducted, as if
all sugzar were subject to it, in order to obtain
the tithe on other articles, was' much' beyond
its real inlportance.  As a general rule, great
caution has been exercised in adlnitting data
not official.
Spoliations of Taxgatherers. The exemption
froin this tax being founded in-the number of
ciops made by an estate,- and on the filct of its
being erected on woodlands,-the fbrmula to establish these fiacts, and the right of exemption,
was decreed by the Board of Authorities to be
a sulnmmary course, Without law expenses, or
any tedious proceedings of the kind.  Under' a
spirit of corruption, this safeguard has been
broken through, and whole aparttments have
been hired in Havana to store the enormous
and numerous packages of processes unjustly,
and under various pretences, issued to threaten
the pllantels, and force them  in spite of their
rights, to a private compromise.  There is no
doubt it is much under the real sum, snatched
$24,105,540 88




180                     CUBA AND
$24,105,540 88
in this manner from tlhe country, to estimate it
at twenty per cent. of the whole sugar tax, say   40,000 00
Passengers landing to and friom steamboats,
where the latter come near -the shore, are
forced, in Havala, to pay twenty-five cents for
each person, and sometlhing additional for fireightor excessive baggage.  Calculating that the
number either going or coming from the buetta
abijo, or Matanzas, by steamboats is 64
in a day, at 25 cts..................16 00
One fifth for baggage.................  5 20
$21 20
Corresponding to a year.................  7,738 00
In the present administration there is a monopoly of manure, which, by compelling it to
be thrown on one spot, and preventing its being
carried even to farms, secures a profit which,
weighing on the city, is computed at........      5,000 00
The custom which forces the poor often to
be suddenly deprived of their horses in the
midst of their excursions, in order to convey
military baggage, which being paid for by the
treasury of the island might as well be contracted for beforehand, added to the gratuitous
conveyance of troops by railroads, is a tax equal to  5,000 00
Port charges of vessels paid to captains of
the ports, health officers, etc., on 2586 vessels,
at an average of forty dollars...............   103,440 00
Tax on coastwise seamen................        10,000 00
Subscriptions. Notwithstanding the taxes established for building and support of churches,
those of Monserratte, Cardenas, Matanzas, the
cemetery of Bejucal, and of every country place,
the old theatre, and whatever public work or
dispensation is undertaken by any one chief of
town, is always carried through by means ot
subscriptions obtained by the coercitive influence of those in office; the barracks for
Roque, Matanzas, Coliseo, and Cardenas, the
support of veteran guards for the country,
bridges, repairs of roads, public subscriptions
$24,276,718 88




THE CUBANS.                    181
$24,276,718 88
and entertainments, are thus capriciously taxed.
The very military hospitals are built by such
means. In fact, there are no objects, however
sacred, exempt from liability to subscription,
not excepting even those entitled to an extensive support fiom the'public treasury. The
amount derived firom  this constant source of
taxation cannot be less than................   25,000 00
Error of 10,000 less in calculation of lottery,
in sixteen drawings, as per note.*..........    160,000 00
The tax on the mineral ore exported of 20
per cent. on its value, say $2,013,543, will
give....................................    402,708 60
$24,864,427 48
The detail of Cuban taxes is here concluded.  When
it is considered how small a portion, comparatively, of
the sum collected is applied to the legitimate object of
taxation; when it is considered that for variety and
extent, for amount and oppressiveness, they exceed
any taxation imposed by any government in any country
upon the earth; when the enormity of the whole subject is regarded in all its features, no one can repress
a feeling of abhorrence at such acts of tyranny, and of
wonder that they have been so long endured in silence.
So much for taxation in Cuba. For grievances generally, the following may be considered a correct and
faithful abstract.
On the death of Ferdinand VII., Cuba was included
in the constitutional reform published in the Estatuto
Real.
In 1837, the democratic constitution of 1812 was
proclaimed, and when General Lorenzo repeated its
promulgation in St. Jago, General Tacon sent an armed expedition to put down the system authorized by
law, which act was rewarded by the court.
* The number of tickets advertised lately being 37,500 instead of
35,000, makes $10,000 for each drawing, which, for the sixteen drawings for the year, makes a difference of $160,000.




182                 CUBA AND
The Cuban deputies, legally elected, were refused
admittance in the same year at the Spanish Cortes, and
a resolution was then passed establishing that Cuba
should be governed by special laws.
The organs of government in Spain and in Cuba
have since declared, that the civil laws, as they are
executed, and the paramount authority of the agents
of government, are all that is required in the island;
while arbitrary rule and rapacity are the known results.
Besides representatives in Congress, Spain has deprived Cuba of all means of redress. The press, under
the most infamous and servile censorship, is a weapon
only wielded against their rights. A petition, signed
by more than two, is condemned as a seditious act.
The corporations have no longer a representative
character, besides being under.the immediate control
of the captain-general, who appoints their members,
and dictates at will their resolutions. The Board of
Improvement has become a mere arm of the government, to sanction despotic acts, to support additional
taxes, and to introduce mixed races into the population.
All good and enlightened patriots are forced into obscurity, or persecuted, or expatriated.
Martial law, since 1825. The captains-general have
increased their encroachments until they now exercise
the legislative, judicial, and executive power.
No trade can be followed, no shop opened, no goods
sold in the street, without a license.
The creoles are excluded from the army,. the judiciary, the treasury, and customs, and from all influential
or lucrative positions; private speculations and monopolies are favored and established with a view of
taking from the former their means of wealth.
Services are extorted from the. poor in the country,
to serve in the precarious police sustained therein; fines
are imposed, and forced aid for the repairing of the
roads, all according to the will of the officer in command, or the pliancy of the individual.




THE CUBANS.                183
More than twenty millions of regular taxes are collected by the order of the Spanish government, the
captain-general, the lieutenant-governors, and of the
country district judges.
These taxes are employed in supporting an army of
twenty thousand men to intimidate and oppress the
peaceful inhabitants of Cuba; and likewise the entire
navy of Spain, unnecessarily stationed in the ports of
the island for the same purpose; in the paying of a
vast number of officers residing either on the island
or in Spain; and in remittances to the court.
In spite of the enormous tithe collected, it is only by
subscriptions that the inhabitants can secure to themselves temples for their worship, or cemeteries for their
dead; and for a baptism or a burial, or to obtain anyofi
the consolations of religion, the care of which is indirectly under the all-absorbing power of military rule,
it requires a large additional sum to be paid.
The military government has taken from the other
political and administrative branches the control of education, in order to restrict, to limit, and to embarrass
The tributary system has drained many sources of
wealth.  The flour monopoly has put down the cultivation of coffee; and the grazing of cattle has become a
sad speculation from the tax on its consumption.
The heedlessly supported slave trade-which carries
with it additional danger to the existing slave property,
from an increased number of the savage Africans, and
the entanglement of diplomatic relations with Englandthough rejected by the enlightened portion of the community, is kept up because of the clandestine profits it
brings to the captain-general.
The farmers have to pay 2- per cent. on sugar, and
10 per cent. on their other harvests, when gathered;
the same is paid by all engaged in raising live stock,
for all their cattle, exclusive of the charges arising from
an exportation.




184                 CUBA AND
There is a tax of $1,25 cents upon every fanega of
salt (about a hundred weight), which causes the price
of that. article to be raised to an immoderate sum.
The Cuban pays 6 to 6t per cent. of the value of
any slave, or any property in town or country, that he
may sell; besides all other charges of notaries, of registration, of stamped paper, etc., etc.
There is stamped paper, for a special purpose, the
use of which is enforced by the government, and sold by
it at the price of eight dollars every sheet; and it is
necessary on solemn oath to prove one's poverty, in
order to be admitted to the use of cheaper paper, a
sheet of which costs six cents.
No one can have in his house any company or amusement of any sort, if lie does not solicit, obtain, and
pay for a license ($2,50), or he must submit to be
mulcted for an infraction of the regulations.
Every inhabitant is compelled to ask for a license,
and pay for the same, when he wants to go from the
place of his residence.
No citizen, however peaceful and respectable he may
be, is allowed to walk through the city after ten o'clock
in the evening, unless he carry with him a lantern, and
successively obtains leave of all the watchmen on his
way, the infraction of which law is punished with immediate arrest, and a fine of eight dollars.
He is not permitted to lodge any person in his house
for a single night, either native or foreigner, be the same
his friend or a member of his family, without giving
information of the same, also under the penalty of a like
punishment.
He cannot remove his residence from one house into
another, without giving notice previously to the authorities of his intention, under the penalty of a heavy
fine.
An order has been made which in effect prohibits
parents from sending their children to the United States
for purposes of education; and such parents are driven




THE CUBANS.                185
to the expedient of proving ill health, or feigning it, in
their children, in order to obtain passports for them.
In the whole island a most brutal spirit of despotism
is strikingly prevalent in all officials of the government,
from the captain-general down to the most abject of his
hirelings, without even excepting the municipal and other local authorities.
A diabolical scheme, concocted in the chambers of
Alcoy, exists for perpetuating the importation of African slaves into Cuba, the primordial cause of her present hazardous position.
In that scheme enter not merely some members of
the royal family of Spain, but all its dependents, favorites, and satellites, including the captains-general of
Cuba, and their subordinates.
The " gratification" of half an ounce in gold, which
was formerly received by the captains-general for every
sackc of charcoal (the nickname given by those engaged
in this infamous traffic to the African slaves brought
over), has risen to the large sum of three doubloons in
gold.
The colonial government and its confederates, not
being able to elude the vigilance of the cruisers of the
nations efgaged in the suppression of this traffic, in order to continue the same, have had to appeal to a forced
interpretation of existing treaties, pretending to show
that such slaves are imported into Cuba from Brazil.
These machinations are carried on by some members of the royal family in concert with the colonial
government; and the cabinet not only has full knowledge of the same, but authorizes and protects them, or,
at least, winks at the practices.
Within these last months various cargoes of African
slaves, amounting in number to more than 3000, were
imported into the island of Cuba, and there sold almost
publicly; and in gratifications set apart for the captain-general, Senor Alcoy has already received the




186                CUBA AND
sum of 12,000 doubloons in gold —about 200,000 dollars.
The sons of Cuba are persecuted, imprisoned, buried
in dungeons, banished, sentenced to fortresses, and condemned to death for calumnies, for imaginary crimes of
disloyalty, on no better foundation than flimsy suspicion,
or false denunciations by infamous spies.




THE CUBANS.                  187
CHAPTER IX.
What is to become of Cuba.-Spain and her American settlements.Cuba cannot be held by Spain. —Progress of Events.-Right of
Cuba to Revolutionize.-Must ultimately belong to England or to
the United States.-Reasons why it will fall to the latter.-Conclusion.
HAVING presented briefly the past history and present
situation of the Cubans, the inquiry naturally arises,
what is to become of Cuba?
Spain was the first to plant her colonies in the new
world. Taking the lead in European civilization, she
became possessed of the entire extent of the American
continent which lies between the forty-third degree of
south, and the thirty-seventh degree of north latitude,
a region possessing every variety of climate, capable of
yielding every variety of vegetable product, abounding
in mineral treasure, remarkable for the richness of its
virgin soil, and promising inexhaustible wealth to the
European adventurer.
Compared with this magnificent range of country —
exceeding the whole Russian empire in extent-England occupied a meagre and barren shore, the possession of the greater part of which had to be disputed
with the French and Dutch.
Three hundred years have elapsed, and how stands
the account? Spain has not a single foot upon the
mainland of the American continent. Cuba and Porto
Rico alone, of all her western possessions, have been
preserved to her by the force of circumstances. In
view of past history, with reference to the peculiar state
of things in the island, as they now exist, considering the
advance of the age in liberal sentiments, and in free
institutions, regarding the inevitable progress of events,




188                 CUBA ANDit cannot be held an unwise affirmation that Cuba must
soon be lost to Spain. Much has been said, of late,
about " manifest destiny," and the term has got to be
a sort of watchword in the mouths of patriotic orators
and political speech-makers.  It is, however, a poor
excuse for the unlawful seizure of the territory of a
friendly power, or for the unwarrantable interference
with their rights, to raise, in avoidance of the charge
of robbery or oppression, the plea of " manifest destiny;" for the same plea is as good in the mouth of the
highwayman as in that of a power who shall take to the
high road of nations, and, armed to the teeth, prey upon the weaker. But for all that, there is a sense in
which " manifest destiny" becomes no longer a byword;
for when the reflective observer of events endeavors to
form an opinion as to the future, and from past examination, and from all that he can see in the present, a
result presents itself which is not to be mistaken, and
which tells, with unerring certainty, what is to be; he
is content to say that it is the manifest destiny of a
nation to do, to become, or to achieve this or that.,It has not been owing to the good management of
Spain, or to the loyalty of Cuba, that up to now the
former has retained her colony. Rather has it been
the good fortune of the one, and the misfortune of the
other. It has always been understood that the United
States would never consent that any European power
other than Spain should hold that island. Important
as the possession of Cuba was, Spain was supposed to
be too powerless and inert to render her presence dangerous to the United States. But the island has, notwithstanding, been watched by this government with
jealous interest. This country interfered in 1826 when
the invasion of Cuba and Porto Rico was resolved
upon by the combined forces of Mexico and Colombia,
not because it was desirous of opposing the extension
of liberal principles, but because it was apprehensive
that independence would not result from the proposed




THE CUBANS.                189
invasion, and that Cuba might in consequence fall into
the hands of some other European power —which on
no account could be permitted. As a proof of this,
the following extract is made from the message of John
Quincy Adams, who was then President.
1" The condition of the islands of Cuba and Porto
Rico is of deeper import, and more immediate bearing
upon the present interests and future prospects of our
Union. The correspondence herewith transmitted will
show how earnestly it has engaged the attention of this
government. The invasion of both those islands by
the united forces of Mexico and Colombia, is avowedly
among the objects matured by the belligerent states at
Panama. The convulsions to which, from the peculiar
compositions of their population, they would be liable
in the event of such an invasion, and the danger therefrom resulting of their falling, ultimately, into the
hands of some European power other than Spain, will
not admit of our looking at the consequences, to which
the Congress of Panama may lead, with indifference.
It is unnecessary to enlarge upon this topic, or to say
more than all, our efforts, in reference to this interest,
will be to preserve the existing state of things."
It is a sound proposition to put to the civilized world,
that no nation shall, at this period, oppress by any arbitrary or tyrannical despotism, a dependent country or
colony.  Although the means of redress may not
always be at hand, no one now disputes the right of the
oppressed to seek for and to use them.
If a true statement has been given of the situation
of Cuban affairs, Cuba has a right to attempt her freedom.  Taking what has been said for truth, a case is
made out which shall justify Cuba, by the unanimous
voice of mankind, for the act of revolution. In the
struggle she will be entitled to the sympathy of all
Christendom. How far nations should adhere to the
doctrine of neutrality remains, as yet, unsettled.  A
deviation from it is a dangerous departure; for although




190                 CUBA AND
there is not one rule of morality for a nation, and another for an individual; and although, as individuals,
the wvhole world should sympathize with, if not assist
in the:effort of an oppressed people struggling with despotism, still, in such an instance, a nation cannot be held
to the same rule.  The reason is plain enough. If one
man beholds another inflicting blows and wounds upon
a weaker and unresisting fellow-creature, he does not
hesitate to interfere in his behalf, without stopping to
inquire whether or not he may be committing a technical assault. But a nation cannot interfere in the same
way. The individual who comes forward to protect his
fellow is amenable to the law of the land in which he
lives, and he must answer to it if he has done a wrong.
But a nation is amenable to no constituted earthly authority. How far is this forbearance to be carried'?
Is there any limit to it? It is certain that the government of the United States did not hesitate to sympathize with the Greeks in their struggle for liberty, and
were only prevented by a constitutional objection from
granting them substantial national aid. To preserve a
settled state-of things, the United States, as has been
shown, promptly interfered to prevent the invasion of
Cuba by Mexico and Colombia. How far the same
government ought now to interfere, again to preserve
things from change, or how far it ought to forward the
change, it is not necessary to discuss here.
Spain is too weak much longer to hold her Cuban
possessions.  It needs but to strike the blow, and independence is achieved to the island. In this instance
the first step is emphatically half the journey, and that
step will not long be delayed.
Cuba has the power, as well as the will and wisdom
to be free.  She cannot be kept forever in bonds, endowed as she is with a population of 1,200,000; with
a revenue of $20,000,000; with the intercourse and
light attending $60,000,.000 of outward and inwvardtrade; -with a territory equal to that of the larger states;



THE CUBANS.               191
with a soil teeming with the choicest productions; with
forests of the most precious woods; with magnificent
and commanding harbors; with an unmatched position
as the warder of the Mlexican Gulf, and the guardian
of the: communication with the Pacific; Cuba, the
queen of the American islands, will not consent always
to remain a manacled slave, and when the chains are to
break, the United States can no more say, " Cuba is
naught to us," than Cuba can detach herself from her
anchorage in the portals of the American sea, or her
sentinelship over against the entrance of the thousandarmed Mississippi.
Then arises the question, what is to become of Cuba?
She will remain independent; she will come under
the protection of England; or, she will form one of
the confederated United States.
So far as the interests of Cuba are concerned, a connection with England of the advantageous character
which that country would inevitably grant to the
island, or annexation to the United States, would be
more for its welfare and prosperity, than for her to
maintain the position of solitary independence. It is
rational, then, to suppose she would adopt one of the
two remaining positions.: That Cuba shall ever fall under the power or influence of England, is a thing simply out of the question.
The United States cannot permit any European power
to erect a Gibraltar which shall command both north
and south, and which can at any moment cut in two
the trade between the Gulf and Atlantic states, and
break up at pleasure the sea communication between
New Orleans and New York. In a military point of
view,: Cuba locks up in a closed ring, the whole sweep
of the Mexican Gulf. Its seven hundred miles of
coast is one mighty fortress; each one of its hundred
hill-crowned bays is a haven of shelter to an entire
navy, and an outpost to sentinel every movement of
offence and to bar out every act of hostile -import.




192                 CUBA AND
Standing like a warder in the entrance of the Gulf of
Mexico, yet stretching far to the east, so as to overlook
and intercept any unfriendly demonstration upon either
of the great thoroughfares to South America or the
Pacific, it is in a position to overawe the adjacent
islands, and watch and defend all the outside approaches to the Isthmus routes to the Pacific, while it
guards the portals of the vast inland sea, the reservoir
of the Mississippi and Mexican trade, the rendezvous
of California transit, and, what has not yet been duly
heeded, the outlet of an immense though new-born
mineral wealth, which is yet to control the metal markets of Christendom.
In short, it makes the complete bulwark of the Mexican Gulf, and only leaves to it two gates; one between
Cape Antonio, the western extremity of the island, and
Cape Catoche, which advances from the coast of Yucatan to meet it, and forms a strait less than 100 miles
wide; and the other between Hicacos, the most northern point of Cuba, and Cape Sable, the southern extremity of Florida, but a little more than 100 miles
apart, and between which passes the " Old Channel"
of the Bahamas.
Half a dozen steamers would bridge with their cannon the narrow straits between Yucatan and the west
point of Cuba, and between Florida, and Matanzas on
the north, and seal hermetically to every aggressive
stranger the entire coast circle of the American Mediterranean. This simple geographical fact constitutes
Cuba the key of the Gulf, and it would be felt if it
passed into the grasp of a strong and jealous rival.
England, firmly resting on Cuba, and with Jamaica and
the Bahamas to flank her steam operations, would have
full retreat and succor for her fleets, and would be able
at need to concentrate the force of an empire against
the coasting trade. With such a firm and convenient
cover as that island, with its self-defencled coast and
secure harbors, -she could face, Janus-like, in every




THE CUBANS.                193
direction.  With Canada and the Bermudas-raised
for that purpose into a strong naval station-opposite
-our centre on the Atlantic, and half way between those
strong extremes, she would present a dangerous front
to the whole northern coast, while she executed the bold
threat of her minister, to " shut up the Gulf of Mexico,
cut in twain the commerce between it and the Atlantic
states; and close the mouth of the Mississippi and its
hundred tributaries to the trade and assistance of the
shipping and manufacturing states." But strike Cuba
-the central and noblest jewel-from this diadem of
power, and her broken circlet of American strongholds
is no longer formidable.
England —controlling Cuba on the north as she
claims to control the Mosquito shore on the south, and
mistress of Balize on the west as she is of Jamaica on
-the east-would be the arbitress of the Caribbean Sea,
even now almost her own, and well guarded by her
long array of Leeward and Windward Islands from
other intrusion.
The same steam fleets that watch, and the same
island key that locks and unlocks the Gulf of Mexico,
with the long chain of rivers and states depending on
it, also watches the inlets of the Caribbean and locks
or unlocks the gates of the Pacific. Cuba, the queen
of the Antilles, unrolls her long line of coast exactly
in the path to the Pacific, whether by the Gulf or Isth
mus; and whoever holds her, commands the great
highway to Mexico and South America, to Oregon,
California, and the Pacific.
In view of all this, can the United States permit
England to control Cuba? As well might England
give up to the United States the command of the
entrance to the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
In short, it is a question about which there can be no
argument. It is settled by the mere statement of the
case.
But, in conclusion, what, inducements has Cuba,
9




194                 CUBA AND
when independent, to become one of the states of the
A merican confederacy; and what advantages will the
United States reap in admitting Cuba into that confederacy? Enough has been said of the geographical
situation of Cuba, when speaking of the tremendous
power the possession of the island would give to
England.  Cuba seems placed, by the finger of a
kindly Providence, between the Atlantic and the Mexican seas, at the crossing point of all the great lines
of an immense coasting trade, to serve as the centre
of exchange for a domestic commerce as extensive as
the territory of the Union, and as free as its institutions.  It is only after a careful study of the incredible
extent and variety of the products of thirty states,
with all their grades of climate, and in the whole circumference of their natural and manufactured wealth,
and then only with the map of North America distinctly before the eye, that the importance of Cuba as
a point of reception and distribution can be fairly
understood.
From the moment Cuba becomes an integral portion
of the United States, all the exactions and oppressions
which now weigh so heavily upon it, will be at an end.
The island would enter at once into the enjoyment of
civil and religious liberty; and with her ports open to
the commerce of the world-her inhabitants educated
and religiously impressed-her soil cultivated to its
full capability-her products sent to an unrestricted
market-and under the influence of the moral and
political force which are the vital elements of the
American Constitution-she would become the most
prosperous of the states.
On the other hand, the advantages to be obtained by
the United States by the annexation of Cuba, are incalculable.
If annexation was fully and freely established, Cuba
would be as valuable to this confederacy as New York
itself.  As an outpost, Vital-to American trade and de



THE CUBANS.                 1 95
fence, and as a centre of transit and exchange, Cuba
would grow in importance to the whole family of the
confederation, in even measure with the growth of the
states on the Pacific, and the rising tide of the oriental
business which the flag of the Union is about to lead
from Asia across the Isthmus.  She lies exactly in the
track of the, golden current, and none of the states
are, like her, in a position to watch and defend every
inlet and outlet.
In the circle of production, essential to a home supply, always sure, and independent of foreign interference, Cuba can fill nobly the remaining gap, with her
coffee, cocoa, and tropical fruits.  In this, too, she
would serve all her sister states, for she would sell to
every one, and buy of every one, which is not true of
the special product of anytother state. She would also
add as much as the Union really needs of sugar lands,
and would make that, henceforth, a strong and distinct
feature in the national balance of interests.
A new sectional interest always implies another mediator in the councils of the confederation-a proved
truth in favor of the permanent equilibrium of the
Republic, which the opponents of annexation refuse
to take fairly into account. The manufacturing east,
the wheat and cattle-raising west, the commercial middle states, the cotton-growing southwest, the rice and
sugar-planting south, and, last and latest, the newborn and gigantic mineral power starting up on the
great northern lakes, and seaming the continent, down
to the far Pacific, with its sudden influence- have each
and every one their independent sectional weight and
representation, as well as a diffused reciprocal dependence on each other, and on the Union as a whole.  In
the perpetually recurring —but under these balance
checks never fatal-state opposition, every distinct interest is a distinct guarantee for the general equity of
adjustment. It has been seen in the slavery discussions how far sectional bitterness can go, when the




196                 CUBA AND
whole Union is reduced to two parties, with no disinterested and intermediate powers between them to urge
peace, and teach conciliation. Yet even in this stress it
will be found, at last, that the counsels which open the
way, and the votes that compel moderation and compromise, will come from almost a third interest. The
states that lay along the line of division, and that are
themselves, in transition from slave-holding to emancipation, will come to the rescue and forbid extreme
measures. Cuba may suffer from the dispute between
the free and slave cultivated states; but apart from
this, she wants to come into the Union without offence
to any, and to the absolute profit of every partner in
the confederation. In bringing to the commonwealth a
class of luxuries which every state largely demands
and consumes, and which are not produced by any, she
also brings to the Union fresh elements of mediation,
harmony, and stable equipoise.
The money value of this circulation of natural pro-.-ducts would be more conspicuously evident if Cuba
could trade with the United States on family terms,
unembarrassed by the heavy and wasteful hindrance of
the Spanish tariffs. Official documents show that out
of the twenty, or twenty-two millions of dollars of annual exportation into Cuba, fifteen millions are in provisions, fabrics, lumber, and materials which one or the
other of the United States could better supply than any
other country, but through the multitude of taxes and
restrictions imposed by European policy, not more than
a third of it comes from the fields and factories of this
country. The industrial classes here lose by this systemn the stimulus of ten millions a year-sufficient to
employ and support forty thousand laborers-while the
Cubans only obtain, under these exorbitant imposts,
about one half as much for their money as they would
get in a free, fair market.
Provisions for example, such as flour, salted meats,
butter, and all the etceteras of American abundance,




THE CUBANS.                197
are imported into Cuba to the amount of nine millions
of dollars annually, and all are loaded with duties that
average 34 per cent., and what with delays, high appraisals, tonnage duties, local exactions, and retail
taxes, cost more than double the just market price by the
time they reach the table of the consumer. American
flour from American ships pays a duty of $10,50 a barrel to C" protect" the inferior article from Spain, and in
consequence, none but the rich in Cuba can afford to
eat good wheat bread; while in open family reciprocity,
American agriculturists would yearly be called upon to
supply a million barrels of flour to its 1,200,000 inhabitants.
New England is not less concerned in unbinding this
trade, for besides the nine millions which should be paid
to the farmers of this country, and the two millions in
metals, implements, and machinery, which of right
should float to her from down the Ohio and Mississippi,
Cuba annually requires cotton and woolen fabrics, and
ready-made furniture and apparel, to the invoice value
of three millions more, all of which New England
looms and mechanics should create. Fifteen millions
are therefore imported into Cuba which the citizens in
the mining, manufacturing, and agricultural states
should supply, and which the ships of the commercial
section should convey; and this mass of needful food,
raiment, furniture, and implements for house and land,
when broken up in detail, and overwhelmed at each step
with fresh impositions, do not cost the Cubans less than
thirty millions of dollars.
By reason of this system of preventions, the shipping interest can only employ 4.76,000 tons in a yearin this trade, for which it pays $1,50 a ton duty to Spain
-while it would find advantageous service at once for
a million of tons, if the ports of the island were free to
this country.
This brief outline of the domestic and pecuniary inducements to annexation is based on official data, and




19'8               CUBA AND
it is kept within the mark for the convenience of using
round numbers. From this it may be deduced whether
the United States would gain or lose by the accession
of Cuba.
On the other hand, with a multiplied population,
with all her fountains of wealth open, with all her elements of prosperity developed, who can fix the limits
to the benefits which will arise to Cuba, to America, and
to the United States?
In conclusion, it must not be understood that the annexation of Cuba to the United States is advocated,
without regard to thesrights of Spain, merely because it
would be advantageous on both sides. As between Spain
and Cuba, the former has forfeited every right to her
supremacy over the latter.' This, however, does not justify an unlawful interference on the part of the United
States. But this country must look to it, when the
island shall become free from Spanish dominion-an
event to take place speedily-that, in the words of the
late distinguished ex-President, John Quincy Adams,
" Cuba does not fall into the hands of any other European power.J"
It is the natural right-it is the solemn duty of the
United States to watch over the interests of Cuba. The
present captain-general has threatened to emancipate
and arm the African slaves in case of the least movement
on the part of the Cubans. Who can regard with any
thing but horror this most outrageous, most fiendish avowal? Would the United States permit this? Dare the
United States permit this? Who can look back to the
enormities and awful excesses of St. Domingo, and hesitate for an answer? What, then, is to be done? Cuba will undertake her freedom, and that speedily; the
captain-general will be proud to make good his threat,
and what then? It is with a shudder that this picture
is contemplated; but the struggle is close at hand, and
cannot be delayed.
There is one method by which all the difficulties and




THE CUBANS.                199
perplexities attending the Cuban question can be avoided; by which Cuba shall be free, and Spain content;
by which Cuba shall join the United States, and England have no cause to complain; by which an entire
revolution shall be effected in the island, and no blood
be spilled.
One method there is by which all this may be accomplished, viz., the purchase of Cuba from Spain by
the United States. Applying carefully what has been
said in the preceding pages; as to the advantages resulting to the island and to the Union by the incorporating
of the former into the latter, and the inadequacy of
Spain to hold her colony longer in subjection; to the
question whether it is not best for Spain to sell, and
the United States to purchase Cuba, no one can hesitate
for a decision.
On the cabinet at Washington, with the President
at their head-on Congress assembled there-a heavy
responsibility rests. It is in their power by a firm but
prudent, a just but conciliating course, to save a people from the conflict of a revolution, which is certainly
close at hand-a revolution bloody and desperate from
the nature of the elements which shall compose it-and
place them on an equal footing with the states of the
confederacy, while, at the same time, they protect Spain
by paying for a colony which would otherwise be absolutely lost to her.
That negotiations may be successfully carried through
which shall have this consummation for their object,
should be the devout prayer of the philanthropist.








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APPENDIX.
APPEND I X.
No. I.
CUBA, the largest of the greater Antilles extends
from Cape Mayzi on the east to Cape St. Antonio on
the west, in a curved line of 790 miles.  It is 117
miles wide, in the broadest part, from Cape Maternillos
Point on the north to the western point of Mota Cove
on the south, twenty-one miles east of Cape Cruz.
The narrowest part of the island is twenty-two miles,
from the mouth of Bahia del.MJariel on the north to
the Cove of Mayana on the south. From Havana to
Batabano it is twenty-eight miles. Near the centre of
the island, the breadth north and south is about seventy-five miles.
The periphery of the island, following a line the less
tortuous, and cutting the bays, ports, and coves at their
mouth, is 1719 miles, of which 816 are on the north,
and 903'on the south.  Its area is about 55,000 square
miles;:and taking into the estimate the adjacent islands
or keys which belong to it, it is 64,000 square miles.
The form of the island is exceedingly irregular, approaching that of a long, narrow crescent, the convex
portion of which looks toward the arctic pole.  Her
situation in regard -to said pole is nearly from east by
south, to west by northwest. It is the most westerly of
the West India Islands, and her western part is placed
advantageously in the mouth of the Mexican Gulf,
leaving two spacious entrances. the one to the north



204                     APPENDIX.
west 124 miles wide, between Point Hicacos, the most
northerly of the island, and Point Tancha or Cape Sable, the most southerly of East Florida.  The other
entrance into the Gulf to the southwest is ninety-seven
and a half miles in its narrowest part, between Cape
St. Antonio of Cuba, and Cape Catoche, the most salient extremity of the peninsula of Yucatan. From
Cape Mola or St. Nicholas in the island of St. Domingo, the eastern extremity of Cuba, or Mayzi Point,
is separated by a channel forty-two miles wide.
From Mayzi to great Enagua, the nearest of the
Lucayas or Bahama Islands, the distance to the northeast is forty-five miles.  From  Point Lucrecia, in
Cuba, to the most easterly point of the great Bank of
Bahama in the old Bahama channel, called Santo Domingo's Key, thirty-four miles.  From Punta del Ingles, on the south of Cuba, to the nearest point of the
northern coast of Jamaica the distance is seventy-five
miles.
Cuba contains the following ports on the north,*
viz.: Guadiana, Bahia Honda, Cabana, Mriariel, Havana,  lMatanzas, Cardenas, Sagua la Grande, San
Juan de los Remedios, Guanaja,t JV'uevitas, Nuevas
Grandes, Manati, Puerto del Padre, Puerto del Mangle, Jibara, Jururu, Bariai, Vita, JV'aranjo, Sama
Banes, JVpipe, Leviza, Cabonico, Tanamo, Cebollas,
Zaguaneque, Zaragua, Taco, Cuyaguaneque Navas,
Maravi, Baracoa,$ and Mata: thirty-seven in all.
On the south, Batiqueri, Puerto Escondido, Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Mota, Manzanillo, Santa
Cruz, Vertientes, JViasio, Casilda, Jagua, Ensenada
de Cortez, and Ensenada de Cochinos: thirteen in all.
* Those marked with italics are spacious bays, affording anchorage to ships of the line.
t This was the first place on the island visited by Columbus, October 28th, 1492.
~t'his was the first town built on the island by the Spaniards,
under Diego Velasquez, ill the year 1511 and till 1522 was reckoned
the capital...




APPENDIX.                   205
There are besides some other anchorages, good for
small vessels. It must be observed with astonishment,
that a great many of these fine harbors are deserted,
without a single fisherman's hut.
The climate of the island cannot be more pleasant,
as well in spring as in winter. In the latter prevails
what we call la seca, dry weather. The rainy season
begins in May, and continues until November.
The annexed tables of the rates of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, will afford an illustration of the almost
uniform temperature of the climate of Cuba.
MEAN TEMPERATURE.
deg. min.
Mean temperature of the year at Havana and northern
part, near the sea,               - 77 00
"      "'     at Havana the warmest month,   - 82 00
"      "          "    the coldest month,    - 70 00,,,,         in the interior for tile year, where
the land rises firom 600 to 1050
feet above the level of the sea, - 74 00
"      "      in the coldest month,  -   -   - 62 30
cc"    "      for the year at Santiago de Cuba, - 80 30
"-     "      for the, warmest month,    -   - 84 00
cc"    "      for the coldest month,     -   - 64 00
EXTREME TEMPERATURE.
deg. min.
At Havana it is cold when at  - 70 00
The coldest day at Havana has been -   -   -   - 60 30
The warmest day    "             -   -   -   - 92 00
In the interior, the thermometer many times has sunk
to                                             53 00
And even to                                    - 50 00
In the grottos and caves near St. Antonio and Beitia, and
on the Chorrera Creek,  -.71 30
In a well at the depth of 300 feet,   -   -   -   - 77 00
The vegetable soil of the island may be said to rest
almost universally on one great mass of calcareous
rock, of a porous and unequal character.  (Seborucos
or Jlucara.'   Near the middle of the northern coast,




206                 APPENDIX.
a slaty formation is to be seen, on which the calcareous
rock seems to rest.
As to the fertility of the land in Cuba, little can be
said which may be new, it being so well known that it
is almost proverbial. An area of 65,000 square miles,
equivalent to nearly 34,560,000 acres, the greater part
of which are of the first quality for cultivation, and a
great portion of them still remain uncultivated, are
circumstances which offer to every emigrant fond of
labor, a vast field to exert his efforts in, and the prospect of a very brilliant reward.
With respect to the salubriousness of the country,
it is usually remarkable, and particularly so in the interior of the island.  It is certain that in the largest
towns situated near the coasts, during the intense heats
of the summer season, it is usual for the yellow fever
to make its appearance; but besides this being not, as
it formerly was, a mortal disease, thanks to the actual
improvements in medicine, its attacks are almost surely
avoided by observing a good hygienic regimen.
The population of Cuba does not correspond to its
area, nor to the infinite advantages offered by its climate
and its riches, nor to the time since which it was constituted a colony.
The statement on the following page was made out in
accordance with the official accounts and census of the
government of Cuba.
From that statement it appears that the white population of the island has only increased in five years,
in 7476 individuals, while that of the colored people
has decreased, in the same space of time, in 116,348
individuals, of which 3612 belong to the free class.




POPULATION OF CUBA IN 1846
DEPARTMENTS.' WHITES.                     FREE PERSONS OF COLOR.            SLAVES. 
GRAND
TOTAL.
Males.  Females.   Total.    Males.   Females   Total.    Males.   Females.   Total
WESTERN  - 133,968  110,141  244,109   28,964   32,730   61,694   140,131   87,682  227,813   533,616
CENTRAL  -  62.262   52,692  114,954   17,041   17.074   34,115   32,425   14,560   46.985   196.054
FASTERN   -  34,753   31,951   66,704   26,646   26,771   53,417    28,475   20,506   48,981   169,082
Total - 230,983  194,784  425,767   72,651   76,575  149,226  201,031  122,748  323,779   898,752 
POPULATION OF CUBA ACCORDING TO THE RETURN IN 1841.*
WESTERN  - 135,079  108,944  244,023   32,726   33.737   66,463 || 207,954  113,320  321,274   631,7601
CENTRAL  -  60,035   53,838  113,873   15,525   16,154   31, )79 I34 939   15.217   50,156   195,608
EASTERN   -  32,030   28,365   60,395   27,152   27.344  54,796   38.357   26,708   65,065    180,256
Total - 227,144  191,147  418,291 1 75,703 1 77,135  152,838   281,250 1 155,245  436,495  1,007,624
* Vide 1" Resumen del Censo de Poblacion de la Isla de Cuba.-Habana, 1842."          l.




208                   APPENDIX.
Population of some of the principal cities and towns on the
island, according to the census made in 1841 and in 1846.
1841.   1846.  Increase.    Decrease.
Havana  -   -   - 137,498  106,968          30,530
Puerto Principe       24,034   19,168        4,866
Santiago de Cuba   -  24,753   24,005          748
Guines  -   -   -   2,515    2,612             912
Matanzas          -  18,991   16,986         2,005
Cardenas     -   -   1,828    3,103  1,275
Cienfuegos   -   -   2,437    4,324  1,887
Trinidad     -   -  12,718   13,222   464
Villa Clara    -   -   6,132    5,837          295
Santi Spiritus -   -   9,484    7,424        2,060
St. Juan de los Remedios 4,313    4,106        207
Nuevitas     -   -   1,352    1,222            132
Manzanillo    -   -   3,299    3,780   481
Bayamo       -   -   7,480    4,778           2,207
Iolguin      -   -   4,199    3,065          1,132
Baracoa      -   -   2,605    1,853            732
The natural riches of the island are immense, many
resources of which still lie unexplored. Sugar, tobacco, and coffee are the three principal branches
which have hitherto absorbed, and will continue to
command, the united efforts of industry and capital, as
long as the increase of population shall require no other
veins, which though less important are still rich and
productive.
In her vegetable kingdom she need envy none. The
catalogue of her indigenous alimentary plants is large,
to say nothing of exotics. In grains, excluding coffee,
she has rice, corn, and wheat; also, every variety of
vegetable; in roots, the name, the yuca, the boniato,
the malanga, the sagu, the ararut, etc. (all indigenous), besides potatoes, onions, and garlic; and others
of the horticultural class.
The different varieties of fruit-trees are very numerous, as in all tropical climates. Plantains, orangetrees, pines, and lemons, in great variety, cocoa-nuts,
all these are well known and esteemed in the United




APPENDIX.                 209
States; but could the following reach this market, they
would be no less appreciated, the anon, the zapote, the
mamey, the guanabana, the guyaba, and other varieties, not including wildings. The pasturages are extensive, abundant, and perennial.
Cuba is well provided with the best qualities of
building timber; among which are the acana, the jucaro, the oak, cedar, etc. In valuable woods the island no less abounds; fustic and brazil-wood for dying,
is a principal source of wealth, in the eastern division.'With regard to other varieties of the vegetable kingdom, the following paragraph from a recent number of
a periodical of the island, will throw some light:
" Many persons believe that various natural productions imported into the island of Cuba (and for
which we pay so exorbitantly), could not be raised
here to advantage. It is an error, since we now have
before us a piece of a cinnamon-tree which has the
same smell, color, and taste as the imported, and yet
is the product of a plantation in the jurisdiction of
Santiago de Cuba. On the same soil may be seen
nearly all the fruits of Europe and Asia, including
cloves, oregano, and pepper."
The medicinal plants also are in great abundance,
and are very efficacious.
The riches of the mineral kingdom have hitherto not
been sufficiently explored, to make known their extent.
Copper mines are now being worked to great advantage, in the Eastern Department; they are also found
in all parts of the island, as had been proved by researches in the neighborhoods of Matanzas, Villa Clara,
Cienfuegos, etc. Only a few months ago, a rich mine
of lead with silver was discovered which promises to
be very profitable. In the Western Department there
are rivers (such as the Arcos or Cuevas de San Antonio), which deposit on their banks that same sand of
native gold, in search of which thousands are now
flocking to the distant shores of California.




210                 APPENDIX.
Coal is also found in the neighborhood of Havana
and in other parts of the island; and with the produce
of Guanabacoa, steamships have always been supplied.
On all the coasts of Cuba, principally on the northern, are found immense deposits of salt, which would
open a profitable fountain to labor andl industry, were
it not for the exorbitant duties imposed by the government, levying a tax of $2,50 per fanega (200 lbs.)
There is also an abundance of sulphur, loadstone,
granite, clay, flint, crystal, and marble. This latter
is one of the principal branches of wealth, in the Isle
of Pines, where the quarries of O'Donnel have been
worked to great advantage.
The animal kingdom is not less prolific. Exquisite
fish abound on all the coasts, rivers, and streams; an
endless variety of wild fowl people the groves and
lakes; the luxurious vegetation of the soil affords ample nourishment to immense flocks and herds, which
multiply abundantly in the meadows and inclosures.




APPENDIX.                     211
No. II.
The following statement comprehends the details
relative to those articles of commerce which by their
value as branches of the public wealth in the United
States, and by their large consumption in the island of
Cuba, are of the highest mercantile importance, and are
of great interest to all the industrial classes, agricultural and manufacturing as well as commercial.  The
details are given of the duties with which each of these
articles are burdened by the tariff of the government of
Cuba, the mode of valuation so exaggerated as to double
and triple the amount of the duties, etc., etc.
Summary of the importation of certain articles that have a
large consumption in Cuba, produced by the United States;
to which is added a classification of the prices on which they
are valued by the tariff of Cuba, and the duties charged on
them:
per cent.
Joist or scantling, per 1000 feet,    - $20      27J
Tar, per bbl. -    -   -    -             3      do.
Ploughs, each     -    -    -   -   -   6        do.
Rice, per qq. -    -   -                  6      33J
Morocco, per doz. -           -           7 50 do.
Codfish, qq. lbs.    -3 50   27J
Plaids, Scotch, not exceeding 38 inch., per yd. 0 25   33
Trunks, leather, each    -   -            8      33,, covered with hide        -  4        33.
Flannels, coarse, 6-4 yd., per yd.   -   -   0 31   do.....  to 58 in width, per yd. -   0 50   do.
Hogsheads, each   -   -                   2      27J
Hogshead shooks -             -           1   do.
Half boots, pair                          3 50   33J
Boots,     "     -    -                   5      do.
Brass, manufactured, qq.                 37 50   33
Mackerel, per bbl. -4 50   27 
Geldings, each                          150      33J




212                    APPENDIX.
per cent.
Copper boilers, qq.                     $37 50   274
Settees, wood, each                      10       33A
Negro cloths, per yd.                      3      do.
Preserved meats, per lb.                   0 50   do.
Salt beef, per bbl.                        9      do.
Pork,             -    -    -    -    - 14        do.
Willow wagons, each                       12      do.
Cai'ts,         ".100                       do.
Straw wagons,,       -          -.  4      do.
Hogs, live,     "                         10      do.
Baskets,,,                           1      271
Copper nails, per qq.                    25       do.
Copper, manufactured, per qq.         - 37 50   331
Russia sheeting, ordinary, per yd.         0 064  do.
Cabs, gigs, etc.  -  -    -        -    400       do.
Bureaus, each     -     -    -     -      25      do.
Small bureaus,    -    -    -    -    -  12 50   do.
Cotton rope or cord, per piece -0 064  do.
Staves, per 1000                       - 25       do.
Floor matting, per yd.   -    -    -    -   0 25
Oakum, per qq.                            4       331
Fringe, cotton, per piece -                1      do.''  silk, per yd.                       0 25   do.
Flannels,              -    -  -   0 21   do.
Blankets, each       i —          -          25   do.
Corn meal, per bbl.                       5       do.
Flour,       "'  duty, $10 50
Sugar moulds, per doz.                     6      do.
Soap, per bbl. —         —.               2      do.
Cordage, per qq.   -      -              12       do.
Pianofortes, each   -          -        300       274
Bricks, per 1000   -    -                  6      33A
Valise, leather, each  -                   6      do.
" for horsemen, each                    2       do.
Cotton shawls, per doz.    - -    -       4 50   do.
Silk    4"   ordinary, each -    -    -2          274
Stockings, cotton, per doz.    -    -    -   3 50   334
"     wool,     "        -    -    -   4       do.
Merino, not exceeding one yard wide    -   0 37   do.
Tables, card, one leaf    -    -       - 10       do.
("    "  two leaves, -              - 12        do.
Candlewick, per arr.    -        -    -   6 25   do.
Cotton handkerchiefs, per doz.      -      1 75   do.
Potatoes, per bbl. -2 50 271




APPENDIX.                     213
per cent
Ruled paper, not exceeding 26 inches    - $6     33
"6     white, "    "'        -  5       do.
"           " "    30   "        -   8      do.
6"    letter                     - 2 50   do.
Shot, per qq.                       -    5       27Powder,           -     -             - 18       do.
Oatrs, per 100 ft.                 -      6 25   do.
Bags, per doz.                    -       2 25   do.
Silk sewing thread, per lb.    -          3      do.
Napkins, per doz.                         0 75   334
Mahogany chairs, per doz.             - 50       do.
Maple       "      "        -      - - 31        do.
Ordinary    "      "        -      -    15 50   do.
Saddles                               - -17      do.
Hats, each                            -  3        do.
Boards, pine, per 1000           -       20      27A
"    maple,    "          -            25      do.
Shingles,        "                 3 75   do.
Sperm candles, per qq.    -              32       do.
Tallow   "                -              12      do.
Shoes, men's or boys', per doz.       - 15       33A
Summary qf the articles of importation charged with duties,
the way in which they are taxed, and those which are free.
The duty of 33, per cent. is imposed on   824 articles.
"1     274    " "                   1908  1"
"   2 to 7     "       "              13 "
Free from duties                           25   "
1  The articles not valued, nor precisely taxed by the tariff,
are appreciated discretionally, and charged with duties according to the prices assigned to them.
This document alone, if examined with attention,
will be sufficient to demonstrate plainly the innumerable
and grave injuries which the producing classes of the
United States, and the consumers of Cuba, suffer by
the colonial system  of Spain, which can find no better
means for filling the royal coffers than multiplying the
impost with which it fetters, if it does not annihilate,
the commerce of its rich colony.




214                APPENDIX.
No. III.
Reply to a pamphlet, entitled, " Thoughts on the Innexation of Cuba to the United States, by Don
A/ntonio Saco," addressed to him  by one of his
friends.
Preceded by applause from a quarter whence the
productions of Saco had never before obtained it, we
have seen a pamphlet entitled " Thoughts," etc., the
work of the distinguished Bayamere, who is the honor
and pride of his country. It would be needless to dissemble the pain experienced by the truly Cuban party,
on seeing voluntarily and spontaneously separated from
their ranks a man of so high value, and still more
painful must it some day be to Saco, to find that the
prophetic part of his paper is marked by the same
fallacy which more than once has accompanied his political annunciations. Happily for the eventual fate
of Cuba, it is not dependent on the opinions of any
one man, howsoever high his authority may stand, and
least so of those of one who, notwithstanding his genius
and acquirements, is controlled by blind fanaticism.
Linked, as the fate of Cuba is, with that of the fortunate people who surround her, relying on the progress of republican institutions, and on the philanthropic cosmopolitism of the neighboring commonwealths,
and on the American beneficent policy contrasted with
that of Europe, which is tyrannical in its exercise in
this hemisphere, she will fulfill her destiny notwithstanding the only obstacle, exercising a moral influence, as yet presented in its path, which is the pamphlet of Mr. Saco.
Before continuing in this ungrateful task, I wish to




APPENDIX.,                2151
acknowledge the embarrassment I experience on account of the inequality of a contest with one enjoying
a European name as a writer; the strength of my convictions, and the urgency and gravity of the subject,
must be my excuse.
Of a certainty, the friends of the unfortunate Saco
will not be the ones to accuse him of receding in his
views through apostasy, or of staining his honorable
career by being sold to any party. The explanation
of his conduct is much more natural and in harmony
with himself, and it will appear altogether so if we
first examine what constitutes ultra radicalism in Europe and democracy in America.
During the past twenty years the political passions
of the European countries being calmed, and they all
enjoying uninterrupted peace, the extreme ultra liberal banner, of a nature speculative rather than active
or profound, adopted for its own in Europe the cause
of the emancipation of the negroes; and to this school,
whose errors had always their origin in its fanaticism,
Mr. Saco belongs.  Its followers assumed, as a fact,
the want of good faith on the part of the slaveholders,
who demanded time and preparatory measures for a
change in the condition of the slaves; and in order to
surmount their opposition, they always resisted the
idea of colonial independence, because they understood
that to secure prompt emancipation nothing could be
more expedient than an authority distant, European,
free from the influence of the colonists, and subject to
that of the British government, and abolitionary disturbers of the Eastern Continent. Experience has
shown the precision of this calculation; violent emancipations have already taken place, or are expected in
the several colonies governed from Europe, and in
them property, the value of which depends on slavery,
is constantly suffering from uncertainty and depreciation. In the United States, on the contrary, the moral
progress of the enslaved race, and of the legislation




216                  APPENDIX.
which regulates the same,* is slow but certain, and the
property of this nature does not exhibit in the market
the absolute impossibility of being sold, or the unexpected depression of value which affects them with us
at each political transition of the metropolis.
Let us now see what constitute the banners of progress in the North American Republic.
The democratic majority of the United States supports political, religious, and commercial freedom, and
believes in the philanthropic mission of their country
to extend the same throughout this hemisphere; and at
the same time acknowledge that slavery is constitutional
and beyond the reach of abolitionary cabal, but not
beyond the moral influence of civilization which slowly
prepares its peaceful termination. Such is, in my view,
the expression of public opinion in the United States,
of that opinion which, being the result of the contest of
of parties, guides the acts of the government.  The
democracy of the South is distinguished by their wisdom,
their daring, and the tenacity and address with which
they exert their influence in the counsels of the nation,
and defend their rights over their slave property.
I would have wished to have succeeded in drawing
the above sketch so as to explain the position in which
Mr. Saco appears at this moment, and why he dislikes
annexation to a government which does not assign an
absolute importance to his negrophitism.  We will
now go on to examine his pamphlet. His opposition to
annexation is founded on his regret for Cuban nationality, which would become extinct, and on the dangers
attending the change, although he acknowledges the
material advantages which would result from the act.t
The Hispano-Cuban nationality should be adorned
The greater part of the asperity of the Code Noir has disappeared.-Debon's Miagazine, 1846.
t This concession is very important, -and quite distinct from what
we read in the official gazette of Havana, wherein it is stated that
thefobuntains of wealth would be dtied up by annexation.




APPENDI.                     7
with the characteristics of Spanish. It should love its
origin. It should reproduce its habits, glory in its
historical remembrances-in the institutions and deeds
of their people and of their government.  As long as
Cuba be a colony, can the spirit of national unity be
aroused without laws, or institutions, or public life,
or political dignity? Can we glory in any thing similar to that which despoils and oppresses us? Can it
be that the establishment of a Cuban nationality for
the future, requires of us to preserve the dependence
which is physically and morally ruining us?-that is
to say, the present political system! Can we expect
from an ignominious school of progressive degradation
noble and generous effects? Will it be said that Spain
will follow the impulse of the age-granting, in imitation of the other European powers, institutions to Cuba,
and that by this means another sentiment of Cuban
nationality will be nourished? I answer that this is
morally impossible.  Spain, or rather the cabinet, of
Madrid, will ever keep the only order of things advantageous for the ministers.  To give institutions to
Cubao is to put a limit to fiscal demands, to the inexhaustible mine of grants and monoplies; to the security
of favorite claimants on the treasury; to the monopoly
of flour, and of the Spanish flag. To give institutions
is to invite emigration of the white population of other
countries, to establish militia, and to put a stop to
that uninterrupted outpouring of forced recruits, who
impoverish Spain at home without insuring her dominion here. To give institutions is to open the eyes of
the Europeans as well as of the Creoles, and to inform
the industrious and honest class, no matter where they
are from, that the fruit of their labor disappears under
the:irresponsible rule of the officials of government.
To give institutions is to do away with: the economical
obstacles which impede the agricultural development
of Cuba.  It is thereby to give her the means to colmpete with all countries producing sugar, and to raise
10




218                 APPENDIX.
her to that position which is her due in this hemisphere.
To give institutions is to secure slave property, and to
improve the condition of the slaves which is the immediate consequence of that security.  Lastly, to give
institutions to Cuba is to substitute relations of reciprocal advantages for the tyranny of the strongest, thereby
making the metropolitan court indifferent in holding
the reins of the government.
Is there any one of these effects of institutions which
is not opposed to the policy on which Spain grounds her
dominion? When all the officials employed, or, if you
please, the participators in the spoils of the island,
unite in praising the liberality and the advantages of
the present system, is there any sense in anticipating
change or reform? What less could be expected from
a government having some self-respect, not merely for
the weal of the American subjects, but to preserve the
unity of the administration of distant provinces, and
to consolidate their dependence, than the establishment of a colonial ministry? This was the only request of the Cubans in their paper published in Madrid,
under the title of the Observador (de Ultramar), edited,
with courtesy and talent, by Senor de Armas. Was
the object attained?  If this demand, which was useful
to the Spanish nation, was not granted because it was
opposed to the personal advantages of the several members of the cabinet, what can be expected with reference to such as are solely to benefit the colonies, however equitable and just they may be?
Were it possible to give birth to a Hispano-Cuban
nationality, the first step to be taken should be to blot
out the past, above all, the most recent, acts of the
Spanish administration-those from whence can be inferred what is to be expected in future. To forget the
policy which subjects, the administration which destroys, the barbarous cruelty which despoils and insults,
and then to bring to mind the glories of ancient Spain,
and awaken the love to our ancestors innate in the heart




APPENDIX.                 219
of man, would be the true, the only course.  Without
the previous separation, there is no hope of political reform, and while oppression is weighing upon us, the
patriotism of the Cubans will only dwell upon grievances and bitter recriminations. To preach another philosophy, is not to know the spring of the human heart,
"Because the eternal laws written by nature in the
heart of man (Mr. Saco's own words)prohibit that we
should love the tyrant that oppresses; no, not even if
he be our own father.~" But take away from the
Spanish creole the weight of his political degradation,
and the obstacles curtailing the fruits of his industry,
and he will be observed, as it has happened in South
America, to turn his eyes to the land of his forefathers,
and to press to his heart sacred ties which, on the basis
of equality, cannot vilify him. Spanish America after
her independence, and Louisiana after her annexation
to the United States, gave testimony to this yearning
of the Americans toward the European races from
whence they derived their origin.
The last-named country has so many points of resemblance and contact with our island, and its history
so fully contradicts the inferences of Mr. Saco, that it
has seemed to me the most victorious refutation, to lay
before him facts which are something more than groundless prophecies.  Forty-five years are now elapsed
since the First Consul sold Louisiana.  Has her French
nationality been forgotten? Have French habits, customs, and tastes been lost? Has even the trade with
their ancient metropolis become diminished?  We read
in Marbois' history, written twenty years after the
purchase, that the commerce between Louisiana and
France had swelled to ten times what it had been with
the colony.  " Our commerce of import," said the minister of commerce, in his report to the French chambers
in 1838, " however satisfactoryi'h its development,
ought to be more important yet, VIth a country where




220                 APPENDIX.
two thirds of the population have preserved French
habits and tastes."
In our day, the domestic customs of Louisiana; the
manners of her inhabitants; the public amusements on
Sunday, which take place on that day in no other state
in the Union; the French theatre and opera, all testify to the origin, and fondness for their ancient habits,
of those citizens of the republic who are still French.
Their laws, which have gathered the good of those
of Spain and France, accommodating it to the type of
the new institutions, written in French, and the whole
sessions of their assemblies and courts, with the speeches
uttered alternately in either language, all of which is
published in French, equally testify. Louisiana's very
history has just been given to the public by Monsieur
Gallard (1846), in the language of their fathers; on
which subject the author says, " Je dirai done que
sachant que la plupart de nos Louisianaises ne lisent
guere l'anglais, j'ai pense qu'en ecrivant la langue qui
leur est familiere, elles seraient tent6es par un sentiment de curiosit6 de jeter les yeux sur les pages de
cette histoire, et peutetre de les lire jusqu'aux bout,"
etc., etc.
What else is this than the preserving of nationality,
or at least of that part of the feeling which moves and
satisfies the heart.  Can it be said that the result will
be different in Cuba? Is it the intention to alarm the
Spanish race with the word absorption? Why will the
Americans absorb a population of one million two hundred thousand inhabitants, when they did not do so
with the seventy-six thousand inhabitants who peopled
Louisiana in 1810? Can the circumstances of the
time and of the soil be different? Let us see: scarcely had Louisiana become a part of the American confederacy, when she was freed from the colonial ties
which embarrassed her progress, and the quantity and
fertility of the lands which the new government placed
within the reach of speculators and settlers, and the




APPENDIX.                  221
instantaneous appearance of her productions in the
sugar market, make it evident that there existed great
stimulants calculated to call American emigration,
which are not to be supposed in Cuba in case of annexation; first, because Oregon, California, New Mexico,
and other free states, offer greater inducements to
white emigrants, without the competition of the slave,
nor the obstacles of the climate; second, because we
are not in possession of the immense tracts of land not
appropriated, which were in abundance in Louisiana;
third, because Spanish emigrants would naturally find
better reception among those of their race than foreigners; fourth, because among the various signs which
Cuba has of constituting in herself a nation, not to be
found in the early history of that state, one is, the
possession of vast capital of her own; and scarcely
would the rise be foreshadowed which the new institutions would give to landed property, when the resident
capitalists of the Spanish Main would be the first to
compete with foreigners in speculations of this nature.*
Mr. Saco supposes that the peninsular Spaniards would
abandon the soil of Cuba immediately after annexation.
What took place in Louisiana, with the French?
The latter were in want, in America, of an asylum
with the type of their nation, where the industry of
man should be unfettered by legislation. The magic of liberal institutions, therefore, produced its inevitable effect. So far from abandoning their new
country, the French settlers of the colony shared the
advantages of the new rule, and when the insurrection
of St. Domingo took place, a large number of the fugitive colonists, in preference to other dependencies of
their government, found shelter and wealth in that
reflection of their distant country.
"k a If I were to adjust the conditions," said Napoleon, while treating for the sale of Louisiana, " on the value which those immense
territories will have for the United States, the indemnification would
be without limits."




2~22               APPENDIX.
The Spaniards on both hemispheres are, perhaps,
the people who more seriously suffer from having begun their political reform in a selfish and speculating
age, which sneers at warm enthusiasm and patriotism.
Corruption and discouragement seem to be the inseparable concomitant of the useless attempt at self-government of the large Spanish family, both in Europe
and in America.  When a nation, like the island of
Cuba, governed by its own laws, sheltered from the
scourge of intestine commotions under the mantle of
the American confederacy, were to present itself to
the Spanish people, with their customs and habits,
peaceful, prosperous, and free, who can doubt that
from all America, and even from Spain, the sons and
descendants of the latter would flock to the island, and
that in the concurrence of European races, which constitute the emigration from the United States, the
Spanish trunk would preserve the supremacy which
appertains to it. America is the asylum of the oppressed of all Europe, and the government of the
Union, that which approaches most to perfection, by
indefinitely diffusing enjoyments: her nationality is the
practical realization of cosmopolitanism. The expansive views of her policy find no obstacle in the origin
of her citizens. The Dutch peopled New York, the
Swedes New Jersey and Delaware, the Germans Pennsylvania, the French flew to South Carolina after the
revocation of the edict of Nantes, and in Louisiana
and Florida the French and Spanish still preserve the
usages of their ancestors.  The American  citizen,
therefore, signifies the participator, the admirer, and
defender of free institutions, and this democracy propagating its principles, which has commenced to diffuse
its breath through Spanish America, is chiefly composed of Europeans. Under the shade of the splendid
tree of liberty, planted. in the last century, by the persecuted of the old world, all nationalities have flourished. Can it be that the Spanish race are the only




APPENDIX.                 228
one incapable of expansion, and regeneration, far from
the vices, the exactions, and the privileges of despots?
Such is the extension that in these states has been
given to the right of citizenship, and such the consequent
political importance acquired by foreigners, that not
many years ago a party came into existence called the
Native Americans, who attempted to restrict the rights
enjoyed by the former. This useless attempt, after
having created great excitement, had to be given up,
and the liberal policy became, if any thing, better
established and secured, which had so much raised
that people in the scale of nations.
But Mr. Saco expresses fears on account of religious belief, which we cannot comprehend, coming from
him. Is Saco ignorant that the Catholic, Apostolic,
and Roman religion has always existed in the United
States, and is diffusing itself to a great extent? Is he
ignorant that the Catholic institutions of education and
beneficence shine throughout the American Union?
Does he not know that the Catholic clergy presents in
these states an example of unction, of wisdom, and of
evangelic charity, which produces the most salutary
effects on public morals; or, peradventure, in order to
preserve the national type, would he wish to preserve
the scandal and the ignorance which are the distinctive
traits of' the priests in Cuba, and even in Spain? Infidelity, absolute indifference to the truths of Christianity, and looseness of the passions constitute the
morality of which we take pride in boasting. Can it
be that liberty of worship should appear foreign and
in bad taste to Mr. Saco?  If that liberty has purified Catholicity, and raised it to the noble station
which it occupies in the neighboring republic, well
might these advantages compensate the want of that
exclusiveness in a religion without faith, having no
object but the pecuniary advantages of its ministers.
Does Mr. Saco imagine that foreign absorption would
be the consequence of annexation?  Let him reflect




224                 APPENDIX.
that this important act has in itself no attraction to the
emigrant; outlets to be opened to the exertions and
natural scope of the human mind, institutions, liberty
in its various applications; these are the stimuli which
would induce the coming of the citizens of the neighboring republic.  Let Cuba become a free republic
and in that character open her doors to the whole human race, and then such as would look for a home in
her territory annexed to the United States, would equally
ask for an asylum in her as an independent and free
state. Can it then be objected that deprived of American-support, she would offer less security, stability,
and, therefore, less inducement to the contemplated absorption by the latter? In that case, our better judgment would surely guide us not to sacrifice the peace
and tranquillity of a people to the worship of nationality,
to an idea which the tendencies of the times are fast
blotting out for the benefit of humanity. The absorption which so much harasses Mr. Saco, will take
place, he asserts, by the peaceful workings of the majoritics, because the Americans will form a majority
when we shall appear at the electoral urns. Let us
examine what happened in the neighboring state, and
every body may judge for himself on this fixed and sure
theme.
Eight years after the acquisition of Louisiana, its
constitution was framed by a convention composed of
forty representatives, of whom  twenty-two were of
French origin, and in the meanwhile the Louisianians
had been sustained and protected in the enjoyment of
freedom and their religious worship and property, and
the laws in existence under the preceding governments
had continued in force, all in conformity to the treaty
of the 30th of April, 1803.
That constitution established the legislative power
in two houses, senate and assembly. Every white
citizen twenty-one years of age, and with property worth
$500, and two years' residence in the state, could be




APPENDIX.                 225
elected representative. Every citizen twenty-one years
of age, paying taxes, had a right to vote after one year's
residence. For senator, four years' residence in the
state, twenty-seven years of age, and property worth
$1000 were required.  Under a similar constitution
would the inducements raise foreign over native or
Spanish influence? But the political importance of
Cuba, and her present mercantile relations with the
civilized world, would call for her instantaneous settlement and quiet, and the immediate formation of her
constitution without even the short respite which intervened in that of Louisiana.  However great the intermediate emigration, it is idle to fear any other influence
than that of our race would prevail in the establishment of the new government and the administration of
the state.,
Mr. Saco says he would not fear the absorption if we
had a million and a half of white population, instead of
500,000.  Let him consider that out of the 76,000
inhabitants which Louisiana possessed, only 42,000
were white, and, withal, that in the elections for the
state department of 1843, the preponderance of the
names of the ancient French families was yet preserved,
while the whole population had swelled to six times
their original numbers.
Well may he therefore vote for annexation in the
case which he alluded to, suffocating in his breast, as
he says, his national regrets. And in order to allay
the intensity of his feelings, I will endeavor to revive
before him some of the innovations which have been
imposed upon Cuba since his absence from his native
country.  General Tacon, who, as Mr. Saco knows,
commenced a series of encroachments-on the rights of
the Cubans, did not launch himself in that course
which places the despotism of the sovereign in the
hands of an irresponsible subaltern without some species of modesty, or some respect for public opinion.
Not counting on the support of the ancient corporations
10*




226                 APPENDIX.
of the country, he convoked meetings of proprietors,
where measures of safety were discussed, and where
the establishment of new taxes was solicited, and only
obtained on conditions which he did not accept.
To commence from  this one act, how great is the
number which have followed, tracing the gradual usurpation of authority and contempt of Cuban rights.
Not long since, with the single advice of one of the
lieutenant-governors, the chief magistrate created a tax
on the plantations for the support of jail prisoners, and
this monstrous power, so varied in its attributes, was
not at all embarrassed at having monopolized about the
same time a profit on slaves judicially embargoed, which,
had it been made available to the community, would
have obviated the new impost in the very district where
it was enacted.
The junta of six individuals named by the cabinet
to enact the special laws for Cuba, suspended their
labors, which were never recommenced, because at
whatever time they should act, they would be obliged
to limit the authority of the chief. As time passes,
and the class of officials become more accustomed to
justify their encroachment, and the opportunities of
being heard and attended in their requests are taken
away from the colonists, does Mr. Saco see greater
chances of the reforms coming from Spain?
The faculties of the corporations have been restricted, and the filling up of their vacancies gradually
made more dependent on the will of the captaingeneral. This has been done by means of royal orders,
of secret requisitions, and of despotic acts.
The Royal Court of Justice declared itself incompetent to take cognizance of the complaint made by the
corporation of Matanzas of the depredations committed by the troops during a fire, and the members of
that body were fined and suspended from office by the
captain-general,
The new tithe recently imposed without the advice




APPENDIX.                      227
of the corporation of the country, as was the case with
former taxation; the malice which has allowed a suit
to be commenced against every owner.who had to prove
his exemption from the same; and the dark and corrupt
dealings of the tithe gatherers, who enrich themselves
on the sweat of the poor, on the economy of the wealthy,
frequently defrauding the public treasury as a price of
their report, allowed to play a singular unjustifiable part
in the regular proceedings of the law, these are some
of the astonishing signs of progress.
The liberality of the tariffs, since the ancient Consulado or Junta de Fomento has no consultive vote in
the matter, is fast disappearing.*
The monopoly in the localities for the sales of meat
and fish, established by Tacon, of his own will, and
which at once raised the price of those necessaries of
life to eighty per cent. of their value, is still in existence notwithstanding  occasional conversations on the
subject of their removal.t
On the occasion of the perspective want and misery,
announced in consequence of the hurricane of 1844,
the local authorities ventured to reduce  the import
duties on American rice and corn, not meddling with
wheat flour, in dread of the all-powerful interest of the
commerce of Santander; and these reductions were
only granted for six months. A minister of finances
was found who, before the expiration of the appointed
time, ordered the suspension of the concession, and
good faith toward foreign commerce was broken, and
* In comparing tariffs of different epochs, we cannot judge by the
rates alone; the regularity and security of the contraband trade in
times past, made their valuation and per centage duty in fact very
moderate, and their effects very similar to that of free trade.
t Mr. Olozaza, the leader of the progressive party in Spain, proved
in his defence of the corporation of Havana, that in the transaction
of these sales, Tacon was moved by interested or pecuniary motives
of a mysterious nature, never cleared befoie the public by that general. I intentionally quote the source, on account of the favorable
prejudice in favor of the latter among a certain class of the Americart
public.




228                 APPENDIX.
the sympathy toward the afflicted colonists was met
with a sneer.
The tedious course of obtaining personal licenses,
and their price, have raised the charges on the citizens; have added to the insolence of the subaltern
officers of the police, while the revenue of the latter,
and of the only legislator in the matter, has been
greatly increased.
The lottery which consisted of 17,500 numbers, has
been raised to 37,500, and the drawings have likewise
been increased.
On General Valdez (who is generally acknowledged
to be both liberal and enlightened in his views) being
apprised that the Junta de Fomento were going to
make a report on the depressed state of the island, he
commanded the board, through the commissioners who
had called to ask his approval of their purpose, that
they. should abstain from so doing!
That part of the revenue drawn from the products
of the industry of the country to cover the salaries,
fees, and perquisites of the military, political, and civil
officers of government, has been slowly and forever
taken away from the native Cubans, and passed to' the
Europeans, who, by this cunning measure, deprive the
families of the land' of one of the most important
sources of wealth and of influence in any community.
If MlVr. Saco could, by himself, examine the effect of
this policy, in which the several rulers have united
unhesitatingly, and if he would then compare the social
importance that the creoles had when he was on the
island with that which they now possess-even those
who from their hierarchy he supposes might lose by
annexation, how well he would understand what constitutes a true absorption, founded on the injustice
and despotism of the conqueror!
The prudence and skill of the rural by-laws are at
an end, as well as their observance, since the consulado
has no hand in the enacting of the same, nor do the
planters look after their execution.




APPENDIX.                 229
The reports of the above-mentioned board having
been remarkable for their opposition to the African
slave trade the influence of the despotic chiefs, by artful efforts and threats easier to be understood than explained, succeeded in introducing among the members
speculators in the trade, and the result has been the
first report decidedly opposed to white emigration which,
in the present times, has emanated fiom that body.
From the want of police, disquietude was introduced
and increased among the colored race.
Conniving at crimes and insubordinate acts of slavery, the venality of the officials and judges has been
slowly nourishing the germ of servile insurrection.
The atrocious method of investigating and repressing
the slave conspiracy in 1844, the horrors and inefficacy
of which is now acknowledged by all, demonstrated,
beyond any possible doubt, how absurd it is to deprive
the class of proprietors from participating in the administration and government of a slave country.
The witchcraft and:superstitious practices of the
worship of savages, developed in the course of that
frightful prosecution, discovered the hideous fact that
not even the scant religious instruction which our fathers gave to their slaves, do our own receive, at present, at our hands.  In truth, hardly can it be said that
baptism is practiced; marriage is daily becoming more
scarce, and the heart of the wretched slave does not
even receive the comfort of faith.
The enactments regarding the colored people, contained in the by-laws of General Valdez, dangerous inasmuch as not consistent with a system in which the
proprietors are excluded from the administration and
defence of the country; the by-laws which, for the
same class, were published by the last governor of Porto
Rico, breathing cruelty and blood; the subsequent laws
of the same nature recently published by his successor,
announcing freedom and emancipation, and, generally
speaking, the relaxation of discipline in the manage



230                 APPENDIX.
ment of the free and enslaved blacks, which has been
remarked in Cuba as either preceded or followed by
excessive severity or cruelty, are so many means of
keeping us alarmed, with which the abolitionists would
desire ever to haunt the slave-owners, and which would
not exist were the interested parties able to provide by
themselves for the quiet and safety of both.
Without religious teaching, or political education, or
the excitement of political ambition-without the light
obtained by the interchange and freedom of thought,
sordid motives of gain or a reckless routine has guided
the actions of the agents of production; and while the
slave trade supplied, at a low rate, the hands demanded by industry, it was found to be an insupportable weight to accompany, in the assortment of slaves
on a plantation, a corresponding number of women, or
to give additional care to the latter during their pregnancy,- and their offspring after their birth: it has
been also as bad business to take care of the sick, to
prevent sickness, and to facilitate to the slaves the comfort which the most miserable of them obtains for himself as soon as he becomes free. It is by such a course
that the friends of the African trade have succeeded
in discrediting all essays of free labor, however partial, which have been heretofore attempted. Thus it
is also that we may explain by what means the agriculture of Cuba has been productive. Reducing the
price of labor, encouraging the neglect of the most
sacred duties of the master, the African slave trade
has in reality been the source of wealth, and the remedy which the planters found to withstand the excessive burdens which press on our productions. If they
lent a sympathizing ear to the impulses of their own
heart, they failed to prosper; cruelty and fortune they
saw on one side, pity and ruin on the other. Let the
responsibility of the results fall, not on the traders or
cultivators who imported or acquired the slaves, but
on those who over-taxed enterprise and industry, and




APPENDIX..                231
sanctioned that trade which demoralizes the people,
and removes farther off the regeneration of the negro.
Here, then, lies the secret of the prosperity and progress of the island of Cuba; here the ability of the
administration.  The island  might have prospered
much more without building its fortunes on piles of
African victims, by preserving and augmenting the
number of her slaves, by natural increase, by improving
their morals, and enlarging the range of their comforts
under a more liberal government, and with lighter taxation. These are the advantages to be expected from
annexation.
The efficacy of laws which are formed and executed
under the eye of public vigilance, and the advantage
of a militia which, without the expense of an army,
prevents disorders, gives to slave property in the
United States a security unknown in Cuba, as easily
seen in the contracts, and purchases of landed property in both countries, which is a true basis for judging, not dependent on the principles or prejudices of a
writer.
From so well regulated an order of things follow, in
a slave country, the care of the mothers, of their offspring, and of the sick; the greater amount of individual liberty and comforts enjoyed by the slaves, and
the mutual relations of confidence and affection between the master and his bondman, which have thus
far disappeared in Cuba. By the suppression of the
African slave trade, during nearly half a century, the
neighboring republic has obtained a rare exemption
from superstitious, and ungovernable, and ferocious
habits; and, because more intelligent, they are less
disposed to launch in insurrectionary attempts, which
could, in the end, be mere vents of vengeance, always
subject to inevitable and certain punishment.
From what has been said it can be proved that it is
impossible to regenerate and prepare the slave gradually for any change in his condition, without the sup



tiot)t of'the o! w wters.    Al.olitioisit   sttch   as  we  tta se
st511, tla.kintsg   va      n l    prOl)crlSti ltY,   ily itrce  a rlilnos
cthtat-2ec't vaili   t i selfy   f othe level' oft thef des}potis,f i a
t-retiq'1itols;   butt it. i1  oily g ive  n  to lthe q:iti t Ilvt  is,
turbtcd  a.ttlhoitv tt      of  I soxel viln state to  r'oditce  grad.l.
tual   iOit 1.11 t tiavcev,  wit- 111          I        IOtr(:'t isi ii t thl.e ex i.t
(.cn e  ofr s.cicet.    f t lis cor' tr aprpesar  too  tvardy l  fhr
th     te t d.it t.. 1  eof the  nicrtophfilitt  of Etloti. t  po.... et 
(t11ce osgtt  tt to  lavte  cot 1in 01 td     etlt.ar   e 0 l, er  ti  ithe
Obstt lc   wtic thhe  co't. lyttatx'    Syste!ml h brintgs     t(;o  if.th
twtealth,  ptc.it c,   md t: nl ra..tlty  of a1 ity   onitttitit.As
to Cnt..    wle e    tlte ila.eQc   potlpttiont    is tefly At f rtic ian)
nod tt: hr-N  tt tt w the   wl'tit)t prtio   is not pIt i:ttCt e   to  h)'
aIt41iedt1 a tti {:amied      toiti a   iit: fi  t:.tt irt' dolft,'.tt{'   gtne.lt,atl stf'eltYv is   co:tsc',ttl-'  itestt. rctd  ttv.o tt1I:~t   tha  i... ttd
pt'ivatti onl  i}ttposdt 4on, t:C sla tes who,:V   s it lts i   ta ( ltre d
1b0   ieeiA.  n.r(kctm kdt,  ay nott fiX vo&rctd  with} a.tt' rol oigiot n t r,il.)'ar  illnstfdit i oo' o'.Ifco  is  thereore o-        (ot cliltnt x
wsi e, prepatred.:   br cver.t the  rino           dist -i;tt  titao'ttce
mtcntt o;f t actt.1.ncipationt,   evtn iin t}'.e  opinit~ l:f" a tbotitio):.l
ists.
ItFre     trade,   whtich  is an  th.etr  of, the  elcment-s- requie:tui  t to    ilifttat c    rc.tt te.    cwoimt'orts to thie  sltave, lind.
mlt'thod  and  ittplltoents   1t.r laht or,            adv    atlo3     idt1vt', tt s
ad(  eco toe..'lt' is:th cutrecnr;a,    tltot  t'y  r}cci.)n  t.otlSomtloc
lW'"tW'ies t to which  t}      I tlav  igs tt bsubjcted..t.......bj.. i. lio'  ant fIte
trade  I saay, I    es tatfittlshed  while  all St:in:p    antd  AM' r.
Sa  ht: t t         ri.l }tt'te e' l  t till  vt'coiu'ilti':iitia.g   Spt'nislt itd ts~i tt;y atnl tirahd e  ]by toa'ns  of'the. corntiero   (f n.Itt,  xix.
by prfotectrc dt                 til         t n    by enh. n lced pr ices, s
Baut  tlte  isla'trtd  of (utlta:, aitoxel.-d to  thtt  A     e1icatt!'.ttio, 1 ti.mt;'h.t a:dopit c Ou tt'rse of decided pes'tl s''(,  c(Il1i'ih)111     the  x t:nstion  tof be't aiertaltnure a:ndt C(ot-tiiiit't't,
(f-and th}t. efftJlttttt'leotil' tefolltlys  t'1i; tlted t' the'ae,  wit:t
a sactre  respect. to ptr)  ope)t'i t.Wrtey't  i h e st  it t.le0.
latter dat.ys, tflhe officitl   press of lftivaaa,   erndc.l rt'llng to
stketch}t  a dairk  fittutre  f r sla'ieryt   int tflnt  t hitt'lde',
on thOe occasnior  of 0   ite x ceitnm. tt created by  tite Iqttos




APPENDIX.                  233
tions'of introducing the institution in the territories
recently acquired. Doubtless, it is attempted to impress on the Cuban public that the principle of noninterference in the domestic affairs of the several states
is either attacked or threatened in this contest.  It is
therefore proper that the truth should be known as to
what is contended for. The South, or the slave-holding
states, hold that each one of these at the time of.
forming their constitution had the right to admit or
reject the principle of the special institution, and that
the General Congress cannot anticipate, guide, or oppose
this future act of a new sovereign state. To be sufficiently courageous, therefore, to raise a cry against the
very general desire of limiting slavery, in spite of the
tendencies of the times, is it not a proof of the vigor of
the South, and of the fact that there is no country in
the world where slave property is better sheltered from
the assaults of abolitionism? That which has been
quoted as proof of the dangerous position of slavery, is
it not what more decidedly proves the contrary? Cruelty and mystery (such as employed by the Spanish
administration) are the weak arms of the pusillanimous
-openness and energy, fronting our enemies, are the
characteristics of a defence inspired by intelligence and
conscious power.
In order to appreciate better the advantages of annexation, I will continue to avail myself of the example
of Louisiana. The primitive constitution of this state
granted at once to the inhabitants of it the important
right of habeas corpus, the judgment by jury in civil
cases at the request of either of the parties, the privilege of giving bail in all prosecutions not involving
capital punishment, and lastly, the judgment by jury
in all criminal cases.
" Twenty years of good government,' said the distinguished and first historian of Louisiana in 1829,
" have effected what could not have been accomplished
in centuries under the previous prohibitory system.




234                  APPENDIX.
General and local interests have sprung up, and advanced rapidly. The population, stationary, under an
absolute government, has been trebled after the cession.
*'*  *  After the last century, the Louisianians
have better understood the wealth of the soil they
possess.  *  *  *  New Orleans, founded in 1707,
after dragging a languid life during almost a century,
by possessing a liberal system  for twenty-five years,
has already become one of the most flourishing cities
of America.  The great facilities in her intercourse
*with Europe have reduced the price of all merchandise
which the colony receives from thence, and pays back
in her crops of corn, cotton, and sugar.*
"'The lands of the interior," continues Marbois,
" which were sold at the lowest rates under the French
and Spanish rule, acquired a considerable value immediately after the cession.  Ancient titles, forgotten
during an age, were searched for with anxiety; and
then it was that in the archives of the French colony of
Illinois, the descendants of Philip Renaud, found the
documents of the large donation which the Mississippi
Company had granted to their ancestor."
Such is the vital impulse given by institutions, that
the sugar lands of Louisiana, though exposed to a destructive frost, though requiring periodical replanting,
and alternate rest and manuring, still have a real
value in The market superior to those of Cuba.
The Louisianians, convinced of the immense advantages which annexation had brought to them, in February, 1825, expressed, by a unanimous resolution of the
house of representatives, " their veneration toward Mr.
Monroe, and their gratitude for the part he had taken
in the acts which united Louisiana to the American
confederacy."
This was written twenty years ago; what could be said now,
when the Mississippi river brings to the Louisianians manufactures,
grain, dry goods, and merchandise of all kinds, without a customhouse, or any other intermediate cost than a moderate freight?




APPENDIX.                 235
In the essay on the constitution of the United States,
which precedes the history of Louisiana, already so
much quoted, the author alludes to the formation of
new settlements in the deserts, where families, assembled of their own accord, take the incipient steps in
the infancy of their sovereignty.  " They name their
magistrates by themselves," he says, " and from districts and afterward from territories they become states.
Until. they acquire sufficient strength, it is necessary
that Congress should guide and instruct these new communities and guard them against their own errors; and
as this authority is exercised solely for their good, it
is very seldom that it meets with any obstacle. The
new states which are formed exist by themselves) and
for themselves.
This independence and sovereign authority of the
state is what Mr. Saco gives no indication of appreciating. Rarely is it that a stranger who has not observed closely the theory and practice of the American
system, gives full value to the federal principle on which
it rests, and which, while it unites all the states for determined objects, few in their number, and carefully
explained in their nature, leaves untouched the equal
and independent sovereignty which belongs to each, as
also the absolute power to govern itself in all matters
of internal administration and government, without interference on the part of another state, or even of the
federal government. As a member in every respect
equal to the rest in sovereign authority and independence, Cuba, admitted into the confederacy, would at once
take the rank which belongs to her in the political
world, on account of her geographical and natural advantages. From an humble and oppressed colony,
trampled upon by oriental despotism, she would rise to
be, like her sister republics, a nation within a nation,
and for the first time would Cuban nationality, essentially Spanish in character, have an existence; while
she would unceasingly draw to herself, as we have al



236                  APPENDIX.
ready intimated, the best class of Spanish emigrants,
both from the metropolis, and the great Spanish family
elsewhere. Giving to this principle of state independence, strictly adhered to in the United States, its true
importance, could not Mr. Saco find, in annexation, the
sure course to inspire life, activity, and character of its
own, to the Cuban society?
I believe I have demonstrated that love toward our
ancestors can be preserved, and, in fact, better preserved, purer and more noble, where it does not call
for the sacrifice of our well-being; and also with the
precedent of Louisiana, that there is no ground to fear
annihilation of Spanish influence, by the.mericans,
through annexation. From what has been said, it is
also definitively established that, as a European dependence, Cuba can hope for neither quiet nor progress;
and lastly, that both can be reached by entering in the
neighboring confederacy.
If the sketch herein traced of the posture of things
be true, if the dangers surrounding Cuba are to cease
with annexation to the United States, does Mr. Saco
suppose that the European residents on the island will
wait till it be too late to save her? They have given
proofs of comprehending the danger on several occasions, one of them very recent.' It is true that late
events in Europe, comparatively of a peaceful tendency, have served the views of our rulers, who take advantage of the love of their country to keep the old
Spaniards in uncertainty and anxious wavering. But
pictures of security, oftentimes confidently drawn, to
be as often suddenly effaced, have excited misgivings
and doubts, which are deeply rooted in the minds of
the former. The industrious majority of them, which
is not made up of the few who are conspicuously seen
" In 1841, when the agreement was proposed by the British cabinet to fiee the slaves; later still, on the intended sale of the island
by a progressive cabinet; and lastly, at the time of the emancipation
of the slaves in the French colonies.




APPENDIX.                    237
surrounding the authorities, is identified in their interest with the creoles. Both parties are aware of their
relative position, without daring to breathe the truth;
they foreshadow the bond which is to bind them together in the future.  A day does not pass by without
thoughts flashing through the minds of the sensible
portion of either band, as to the necessity of being
united, and placing themselves under shelter against all
vicissitudes, by becoming annexed to -the American
confederacy. Perhaps love of free institutions has a
deeper hold in the heart of the Spanish European; perhaps a prejudice, a bare, frail wall is now separating
their common interest and inclinations.
But when the rulers of a land have no other reliance
for support than what is founded on error,. their position is a false one.  When the only thing wantedfor a
whole people to take a determination is the propitious
opportunity, this soon presents; and what is in the
minds of all, soon finds vent from thought to words and
from words to action. The European Spaniards residing in Cuba know, just as well as the writer of these
lines, that the sway of a distant metropolis is incompatible with the free-trade principle and the well-being
of the citizens; that it must soon meet its terminus;
and that the advocates of despotism and monarchy are
daily losing their number and enthusiasm.  They know
that when free trade is established, if their commercial
privileges come to an end, the sailor monopoly and
other restrictive laws will also cease, and the shipowner will be the gainer, being enabled thereby to man
his vessels with greater economy; and the crews themselves will be exempted from forced services to tile
crown.* They know that with this and similar advan* England has likewise been obliged to disregard the clamor of her
ship-owners-elevating by such means her mercantile marine in proportion as she took away privileges. " Protection," said her prime
minister, "' is the scourge of agriculture." We know that protection
was the scourge of the manufactures of Spitalfields; that it ruined




238                      APPENDIX.
tages of liberty, and their previous connection with the
population, the mercantile class now settled on the
island will flourish more than under the protection and
restrictions of the present legislation.  These restrictions, and not the want of activity and natural skill, as
Mr. Saco thinks, are  the  cause of the backwardness
of Spanish industry and commerce. What is wanting
to those laborious and prudent men who, from Navarre,
from   Catalonia, from   Arragon, from   Galicia, from
Andalusia, and from the whole of Spain, have come to
this island, for their own advantage and that of their
adopted country? What is wanting in them in order
to extend and raise their commerce on a level with
those who, with less toil, prosper on the borders of the
Mississippi? What else than the political influence
within the reach of the obscurest individual in the
neighboring republic? What but to feel the worth of
our sugar colonies, and has given to Ireland misery in lieu of prosperity. In a word, protection has been the destruction of objects
to which it has been granted. Like a tree, it shelters from the tempest those whom it protects, but brings down on their heads the
thunder of heaven. And why should our mercantile navy be the
exception to this universal law?  Competition is the soul of skill.
Those who never bear it are lazy and wanting in energy. They can
neither avail of the example nor gain by the knowledge of others.
To liberate men from competition, is to nail them on the ignorance
of their fathers; to subject them to it, is to place their capacity to the
test-it is to breathe into them energy and life, and to inspire them
with ability. This should be equally applied to captains and sailors,
and to ship-owners and other individuals.  During the last seven
years-which terminated in 1823-while the English navigation laws
were in full vigor, the increase of the shipping amounted to five per
cent. Then commenced a period of greater freedom; and the year
1842 shows an enormous increase, with this peculiar circumstance,
that the shipping employed in the colonial trade, still enjoying protection, only augmented 67 per cent., while that engaged in foreign
trade, under the reciprocity act, rose to 164 per cent.
1823.    1842.    Increase.
Tonnage employed in commerce
with British possessions   - - 746,822  1,250,937   67 p. ct.
Tonnage employed in commerce
with foreign neutral countries  802,686  2,124,333  164  "
[Economist, Nov. 27, 1847.




APPENDIX.                 239
man and the respect due to every individual not actually
convicted of some crime, even by the supreme head of
the state.  That democracy, independent and jealous
of its own dignity, which the Biscayans practically
possess, which the Arragonese hold consigned in their
ancient laws, and which the Catalonians and Valencians carry stamped in their faces; that democracy, the
key to all the blessings of a nation, the path of which
is quiet in America, because unobstructed by monarchical and retrograde ambitions  that is the ark of salvation for Cuba, and the bond of union for its inhabitants. Whenever it shall spring up and be understood
there, the eloquent orators who shall better sustain its
rights and immunities, will awaken the noble enthusiasm and the applause which is now only bestowed on a
Steffanoni and a Marini.  How far more elevated will
the place occupied by the Cubans then be among civilized countries!
Had Mr. Saco, when discussing the dispositions of
the peninsular Spaniards, taken into account the
annexation symptoms manifested by them on the different occasions to which I have alluded, his opinion
might command greater credit; as it has reached us
now, it too forcibly tells how long he has been away,
and even now how distant from his country.
The manifest conformity, however, existing between
the material interest and secret opinions of the several
parties in Cuba, temporarily smothered though it may
be, based as it is on the undeviating and victorious
progress of democracy in America, convinces me that
to obtain annexation it will not be necessary to resort
to arms.
Peaceful in their habits, the Europeans, like the
creoles, will not launch into a fratricidal war, injurious to their prosperity, solely to serve the class of officials or the prejudices of commercial monopoly. An
order of things only supported through injustice and
an armed force, is naturally on the eve of overthrow.




240                 APPENDIX.
Good sense and the intercourse with our neighbors
are doing wonders in the work of gaining partisans to
pacific annexation, notwithstanding the ridiculous restrictions put to the press, and to individual liberty
and action. There is no excess of credulity, therefore, in imagining that the Europeans, belonging to
the industrious classes, will, on the first favorable opportunity, advocate what is their interest in common with all.  The desire after freedom, impossible
to satisfy white military despotism, exists; and a hope
to give security to slave property, and to dispel, with
one blow, the dangers attending on the actual, forced
dependence, have influenced the minds of the peninsular -Spaniards, and if the portion who speculate in
offices' and office-holders, were not among them, they
would have consummated the act of annexation themselves ere now.
As to the feeling among creoles, Mr. Saco is sadly
informed; perhaps it is in the territory where he imagines annexationist views to be less advanced, that
they are more extended.  We cannot say now-a-days,
that there is a political conspiracy in Cuba; what is
to be met with is one common and universal idea.
Some are ready to shed their blood for the banner
which is to elevate them to the rank of men; some
appreciate its advantages, and fear and hope to obtain
the same results by convictions and treaties.  Some,
ill at ease with the law that might put a stop to the
abuses on which they live, would oppose its course;
but public sentiment advances daily, and all divine by
an instinct, true messenger of the age,* and feel that
the colossus of America is coming toward us, diffusing
wealth and happiness in its path. It has been even
asserted by a Spaniard, that the important act of annexation would have already taken place had it not
been for the want of energy on the part of the creoles.
* Mr. Saco had called himself the messenger of the age.




APPENDIX.                241
But Mr. Saco would prefer that Cuba were first
independent.  Would he not dread to launch her in
all the attempts at self-government which have been
the constant reef of destruction to the Spanish family?
Does not the picture of Spanish America, torn asunder
by intestine dissensions, inspire him with sorrowful
forebodings?  Or would he deny the protecting shield
which the government of the Union would lend to an
incipient republic?
Informing Mr. Saco that even free-soil journals have
shown themselves not averse to the acquisition of Cuba, and reminding him of occasional proofs given in
the senate of a favorable disposition toward the same
object, I sufficiently establish, I think, how strangely
erroneous his information is regarding the opinions of
the political parties in the United States. The northern states in defence of their manufactures and provisions,: the eastern states of their shipping and lumber
trade, the west of their grain and growing manufactures, and the south from the communion of slave interest, have but one voice-they all feel the want of
Cuba.  Polk, attempting negotiations at once, Cass,
the candidate of the south, and Taylor, the President
elect, are equally the servants of the popular will; and
with regard to the latter's views,?Mr. Saco must have
heard, ere now, what was expressed in the senate on
the subject, something like two months ago (written in
December, 1847). It is but too well known that the
annexation of Cuba is held as a national object, which
cannot be made to serve as the banner of any one party. The masses who wish for it there, and who tolerate with displeasure the individual oppression suffered
at the very threshold of the soil of freedom, do not,
perhaps, busy themselves with the means of acquiring
Cuba; but the states where slavery exists, aware of
the political importance it has for them, do not slumher, and their prudence, their wise measures, and their
enthusiasm in the cause, are sure guaranties that the
11




242                 APPENDIX.
annexation will take place at an -early date.. The
pearl of the West Indies, with her thirteen or fifteen
representatives in Congress, would be a powerful auxiliary to the South, and her value as an immense outlet for American manufactures, and a source of vast
tropical productions in exchange, and also as a military
post, would surely make the attainment of Cuba a bond
of peace and union for all the states. With regard to
ourselves, who can doubt that it will be a course calculated -to develop the fountains of wealth, and at once
dispel the clouds hovering on our future.
Now, then, the physical and moral wants of mankind must be granted, particularly in America, where
democracy prevails, and obstacles arising from rights
of conquest or possession, are settled by compacts
at the risk'of penalties or outbreaks more harmful to the parties opposing. If citizens can be oppressed under a tyrannical administration, when brutal
force supports it, democracy may likewise use its might
and strength to take off the irons from the victims of
despotism. The power of the American confederacy
lies in the number of resolute freemen who cover the
surface of their territory-in the fact that their industry does not bear heavy taxation to pay debts -contracted by preceding generations, nor to support menials, office-holders, or princes, useless to the land; or
armies, only necessary to perpetuate wrong. More,even than all this, does their power spring, especially
in foreign countries, from the certainty that the cause
of the Americans is the cause of individual liberty.
Who, even though only partially enlightened, does not
love this cause? What soldier, forcibly drawn from
his country and home, would oppose an enemy in
whose victory he sees his own and mankind's freedom?
What  parent, on leaving this world, would not prefer
that his children, and the inheritance he bequeaths to
them, remain under the guardianship of the laws of
the Union?




APPENDIX.                 243
If Texas had the advantage that her population consisted chiefly of American citizens, it had to beat
against marked opposition, instead of the unanimous
voice with which Cuba will be hailed by all the states
and parties. The former had not the outlets and
markets which the latter can offer, and when her cry
of annexation sounded, France and Spain, still under
dynastic influences, dared yet, the one to awe with her
fleets, the other to concert pitiful combinations or expeditions for the restoration of monarchy in America;
while England intrigued, and did every thing but
launch into war, to prevent the annexation. What
will France undertake, henceforth governed, as she is,
by the law of popular majority, against American republicanism?
Without entering into a detailed examination of the
aid which Cuban annexation may receive from the
United States, it suffices my purpose to set down1. That there is not, in Cuba, the faith and determined will in favor of the statu quo, which Mr. Saco
attributes to a part of the population.
2. That we would not consider any moral aid as
such, coming from our republican neighbors, were it
not based on the determination of the masses to make
it real and effective.
3. That precisely when American democracy has
given more proofs of energy, Mr. Saco's attempt to
excite mistrust in the promises even of the President,
were there any such, seems singular and unaccountable.
4. That so far from demanding twenty-five or thirty
thousand men* of the government of the United States,
were it a question of begging in such quarters, I would
ask for fertile lands in abundance, situated no matter
where, in order to give profitable occupation to the
individuals of the Spanish army, who, instead of offer* Mr. Saco's ingenious system of annexation.




-21:4               APPENDIX.
ing support to the government, as Mr. Saco supposes,
are actually suffering the penalty of military service
which the queen's' party imposes on the prisoners in
the civil war; and as the discontent is shown among
them by simultaneous desertions and executions beyond what had ever before been noticed, Mr. Saco's
remark that Spain has a respectable army, faithful
under any circumstances, may very possibly be taken
as ironical.
Whenever Mr. Saco shall appreciate, in its proper
worth, the omnipotence, in this hemisphere, of the
Great People, he will understand why it is that I rely
upon them to watch and prevent attempts calculated
to revolutionize the slaves. English interference in
opposition to the United States, is a dream. A nation
living on credit, whose masses are deprived of labor at
the slightest threat of war, and whose capital and commercial business are so interwoven and confounded
with those of the American people, cannot run the risk
of even a temporary suspension of friendly relations
with them. The denouements of the questions of the
northeastern boundary-of Oregon-of Texas-and of
the Mexican war, in all of which the republic gave the
law, are the. practical demonstration of this peculiar
situation. England, even before the show of power
and military skill exhibited in the Mexican war, had
reconciled herself to the unlimited aggrandizement of
the United States. On the other hand, the considerable consumption of English manufactures in Cuba, can
but increase under the more liberal regulations of the
federal government. Peace and markets for her manufactures are matters of life and death for England;
the minister, tory or whig, who forgets these truths,
would bitterly weep his error; because the mind of
man is not able to compass the disasters which a war,
especially with her ancient colony, would bring upon
herself and the commerce of the civilized world. How
can we then read, without wonder, the picture drawn




APPENDIX.                 245
by Mr. Saco, of England, intriguing to indispose and
injure, involving in servile and sanguinary insurrection
the nation whose peaceful relations are her first element of existence. The American people are too
strong, their policy too open, their mission too noble
for England to cause them, indirectly, the least harm,
without suffering the consequences of her treason.
And such is the respect which manufacturing and commercial wants have created for the United States,
among the English, that Cuba will obtain the surest
guaranty of the pacific views of Great Britain, whensoever the American cabinet shall openly enter into
negotiations for her annexation as a new state. While
this is not done, the crater which, owing to that kingdom or its American colonies, Mr. Saco noticed under
our feet fifteen years ago, and which has suddenly disappeared to his sight, remains more dangerous than
ever, for we have the misfortune not to ground hopes
or faith in the cabinet of Madrid, or their agents, who,
to judge from the men who have come in power to
the island for many past years, will always be at the
disposal of cabal and bribery. From the thoughtless or
perfidious conduct of the Spanish ministers, who have
tolerated the African slave trade, notwithstanding the
danger it brings on Cuba, Saco infers that their successors in office, whatever party they may belong to,
will have the wisdom to resist all advice or inducement,
political or personal, calculated to emancipate the
slaves in the Spanish West Indies. Surely, the administration has given proofs of being very systematical and consistent, for us to trust to the natural
separation which ought to exist between the suppression of the slave trade and the emancipation of the
slaves, as to a barrier, not to be leaped over by corruption, fanaticism, or incapacity. Did we see any
signs that the local government, in Cuba, understood
the true position of the country, and the changes that
have:been operated in what surrounds them, it would




2116               APPENDIX.
be some excuse for the confiding assertions which are
in Mr. Saco's lips, both novel and contrary to his
usually irresistible logic.
I will repeat once and again that so far from considering with this gentleman, that the demand of Cuba
by the cabinet of Washington will induce the court of
St. James to set at work sinister measures, I believe
it to be the most efficient means of disarming the latter,
who will always submit every other consideration to
England's first essential wants of peace and markets.
Yes, without any hesitation we must assert, that to
save slavery from a bloody crisis, and give to the institution the security which it should possess, as property,
and which is not only compatible, but indispensable to
its available reform, there is no other road than annexation.
" Spain dreams not," says our absent countryman,
" of emancipating the slaves."  Let us lay quietly to
rest on this assurance.  But on what is it based?
Has she not withheld this assurance, that our anxiety
might awe us, hanging over our heads like the sword
of Damocles? On what circumstances is so important
a key to the wealth of the island made to depend?
May not the mere signature of a secretary of state, in
an evil hour, rob the Cubans of their wealth, the commercial world of a market, and the Spanish family of a
country? That Mr. Saco should be the one to qualify,
as imaginary, the fear of the emancipation of the slaves,
after the recent attack on the institution in other European colonies, is a matter of wonder; that he should
think a war possible between Great Britain and the
United States, evinces how little he has given his attention to the events herein noticed, and to the conciliatory policy of the latter government, or else that
he sees every thing with the eyes of an abolitionist.
It would seem as if the ancient editor of the Cuban
Review, precisely in the manner in which he appears
unacquainted with the present backward political con



APPENDIX.                 247
dition, of the island, as contrasted with the remote
period when the press was permitted to publish his
writings, is equally unconscious of the influence and
mighty power which the army and navy of the United
States have acquired in this hemisphere-particularly
on these seas, in sight, if I may be allowed so to speak,
of their navy yard. In speaking of open war between
England and the American Union, he says, " England,
commanding the seas with her formidable fleets, will
blockade our ports, will prevent the aid which we
might expect from the confederacy; our produce would
then not be exported, and as the climax to our misfortune, she would throw upon our coast an army of
negroes. "
Is not this a picture drawn to the taste of the painter?
Are the results of the last war between those countries,
and England's anxiety to terminate it, forgotten? Is
no account to be taken of the subsequently acquired
greatness of the American people? And with regard
to the suggestion of employing negroes in the contest,
the stain stamped on the British character, according
to the powerful expression of Lord Chatham, by the
enlistment of savages against their brothers, will not
again be exhibited on the part of that great nation, who,
after more than a half century of progress, is a model
at this present day of whatsoever is noble and philanthropic.
It has been asserted before now, that the AngloSaxon family, divided as it now is into two great portions of American and English, from their own superiority and activity, are destined at some future day to
come into conflict with one another in a most destructive manner; but experience, which often brings to nothing human foresight, is exhibiting on the contrary so
many indications of the peaceful tendency of modern
civilization, and particularly of those two nations, that
I am really shocked at finding Mr. Saco anticipating
hatred and war between them. At any rate, the care




248                 APPENDIX.
with which every subject of disagreement has been arranged among them during the past ten years, is an
evidence that, at least during our generation, no change
will take place in the harmony heretofore preserved
for the weal of mankind.
Before closing this hurried, ill-concerted, and incomplete refutation, I must request the former advocate of Cuban rights to tell us, where lies the limit
which should be marked to the forbearance and quiet
submission to political degradation of his countrymen.
I look around to the people of various countries, and I
see none where, with so many interests, industry, and
trade at stake, capital is so utterly without influence,
direct or indirect, in the administration; I see that
while despotism and its encroachments are disappearing
elsewhere, we are pressed down with more tenacious
grasp; I see the creoles put aside, oppressed, vexed,
and personally and shamefully trampled upon as they
never were before.
One only blessing —one only, but radiant, like the
sun of Cuba —has come out of so much oppression and
contempt: the consciousness of our dignity and selfrespect.  The Cubans have at least learned to suffer
in silence, and to despise the tyrants who place themselves in the path of their rights. Spain will not find
again the majority of the Cubans prostrated in an ingratiating attitude before their oppressors.  If the
rulers have the aid of an army of demoralized and
constrained soldiers, the citizens may rely on the justice
of their cause, on the moral support of the age, and on
the democracy of the American Union. If the former
are encouraged by the forebodings of an enlightened
Cuban (Mr. Saco), the latter confide in the prophecy
of a far-famed Spaniard, which is even now being fulfilled.  " This federal republic," said the Count de
Aranda, in his secret memoir of 1783,~' is a pigmy at
its cradle, if I am allowed so to speak; she has needed
the support of two states powerful like France and




APPENDIX.                 249
Spain to obtain her independence.  The day will come
when she will be a giant-a formidable colossus even
in these parts. She will forget the services received
from those countries, and will only think of her own
aggrandizement.  Freedom of conscience, facility in
settling new emigration in vast territories, jointly with
the advantage of a new government (he meant free) will
draw to her the- artisans and laborers of all nations,
because men go after fortune; and in a few years we
shall see the tyranny of this same colossus of which I
speak."
It was ever the prerogative of minds of a high order
to anticipate great events.  Thus the Count de Aranda
while judiciously estimating freedom of conscience and
popular institutions in the United States, as causes for
the future growth and annexation of neighboring states,
and Chatham while recommending in the British parliament, notwithstanding the scant population of the incipient republic, that British power should not be
enforced to oppose her-both acknowledged that moral
influence superior to all other influences in this age,
which Mr. Saco appears not to understand.
Would to God that this distinguished Cuban-disregarding the whisperings of his self-love, which may
give bitter fruits to his country, should it keep him in
the course he has chosen-would not battle against the
march of the times, nor disavow the true progress
which is being extended to the human race under the
propitious flag of American Republicanism.
The United States increase in wealth, civilization,
industry, and power, in a manner unknown in the
annals of the world. Their population doubles every
twenty-five years; and a progression so stupendous
foils human calculation as to what will be their power
and influence in times to come among the nations of
the earth.  What monarchy, what empire, what confederacy or league, can so much as raise their eyes to
measure such boundless power? What arm is strength



250                 APPENDIX.
ening, and where, to subdue at some future day this
proud and living expression of political and industrial
freedom! Twenty millions of souls now, forty in 1873,
and so successively on, till we come to 320,000,000 in
one century.  Make to this estimate, founded on the
past experience, what reasonable deductions you please,
and what splendid results may we not expect yet?
Those are now in existence who will see this vast confederacy holding a population of 200,000,000! Where
is the model, the precedent, the resemblance to this
great spectacle, in the history of all the nations of the
world?
In the presence of a standing reality like this, which
strikes our eyes, which our hands touch, and which fills
our hearts with raptures, because it is the triumph of
humanity, how little must the reasonings, the views,
the trivial and pompous declamations of the subdued
press of Havana appear! Shall the great Milississippi,
after mingling with its own the waters of the Missouri,
the Ohio, and thousand other tributary streams-after
impelling onward along its margin in majestic course,
productions of all kinds, wealth, commerce, and population, so many signs of the mighty. approach of a new,
great, and enterprising civilization-shall the Mississippi, I say, while expanding its waters in the wide
gulf, announce to the democracy of the world that the
advantages and the glory of the American institutions
will not pass forward-that the Queen of the Antilles,
fertile, and great, and capable of presenting similar
development of productions and well-being, will stand
in the way as a check to the powerful impetus.
It is sufficient to look over the extensive valley of
the Mississippi to understand that the natural direction
of its growth, the point of connection of its prodigious
European commerce, and of its rational defence, is Cuba.
Situated as it were on the very path, in other hands,
and with'different institutions, Cuba is a wall that
divides and interrupts their manifest growth; corn



APPENDIX.                251
manding as she does the narrow channels of Yucatan
and Florida from Cape San Antonio and the Mayzi
Point, were she to belong to a nation strong in the seas,
what disaster and ruin would it not be in her power to
inflict on the American Union in case of a war! The
Americans know it, and the efforts of their government
will multiply and become more energetic to obtain her
annexation in proportion as their own greatness increases and approaches the extreme South with their
settlements, their arts, their wealth, their wants, and
their glory.
LEON FRAGUA DE CALVO.
THE END.








CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Cuba discovered by Columbus.-Names of the Island.-Character
of the Natives.-Town of Baracoa.-Havana burnt in 1538.-Seat
of Government transferred to Havana.-Succession of Governors.
-Cultivation of Tobacco and Sugar introduced about 1580.Slavery introduced at the same time.-Depredations of Pirates.A Commissioner of the Inquisition comes from Carthagena to reside in Havana.-Jamaica taken by the Einglish.-Apprehensions
of the Cubans.-The English repulsed.-Walls commenced round
the City of Havana in 1663.-City of Santiago destroyed by an
Earthquake.-Invasion of the Island by the English in 1762.Morro Castle taken by them July 30th, and the City of Havana on
the 14th of August.-Distribution of the Spoils.-Peace concluded
with England in 1763.-The Island restored to the Spaniards.Results of the wise Policy of Las Casas.-Great Fire in 1802.News of the Proceedings of Napoleon in Spain.-Its Effects in
Cuba.-Negro Conspiracy.-Different Captains-General.  PAGE 7
CHAPTER II.
Political sketch previous to the XIXth century.-Indian population.The Island a military post.-Commerce and Navigation.-Foreign
trade.-Restrictions  on  trade.-Situation  of Spain.-Political
changes in 1812 and 1820.-The Constitution proclaimed.-Masonic Societies.-The old Spaniards.-Royal Order of 1825.-Count
Villanueva.-Dangers of the Slave Trade.-Despotic Encroachments.-Rejection of the Cuban Deputies at Madrid.-General Tacon.-His Tyranny and Venality.-His Removal effected by a Compromise.-Fear of a servile Insurrection.-Cruel measures taken
against the Creoles and free people of Color.-The work of the
Countess of Merlin.-Anecdotes.-Insurrections in different parts
of the Island.-Enormities practiced by the officials of Government.-Their effect upon the native Cubans.-Present distressing
Situation of the Island.                                48




254                     CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
Geographical Situation of Cuba.-Its Beauty and Fertility.-Different Names of the Island in illustration.-Notice of " Notes on Cuba,
by a Physician."-Trip to Guines.-Beautiful Farms.-Hedges of
Aloes.-Plantain  Fields.-Sugar and Coffee Estates.-Tropical
Trees. —Singular way of distributing Milk. —Life in Guines.The Valley of the Yumuri.-The Bay of Matanzas.-The Ceiba
and Jaguey-marcho.-Subterraneous River.-Robbers.-Storm  in
the Rainy Season.-Errors in the "Notes on Cuba."-lThe Author's ludicrous Mistakes.-False Notions of Slavery.-Oppressive
Acts of the Officers of the Law.-Bad Influence of the Slave-Trade
Party.                                                  93
CHAPTER IV.
Habits and Customs of the Island.-" Letters from Cuba."-Visit to
the Estate of Don Santiago. —The  Quitrin.-The  Calesero.Roads.-The Tavern of 6" La Perfecta."-Hard Fare.-Manuel's
Distress.-Interesting Account of Himself.-Sugar Estate.-Don
Santiago's Patriotism.-The Stugar Master. -Anecdotes.-Musical
taste of the Cubans.-The Cuban Press.-Story of Maria del Rosario.-Evils and Abuses of the Administration of Justice. -   117
CHAPTER V.
Visit to the Country Residence of a wealthy Marquis.-Singular Occasion of it.-The Marquis and his Creditors.-The Spanish Judge
and the Advocate.-The Marchioness and her Guests.-Her Children.-Mode of bringing up a Family.-Easy way of dealing with
stubborn Creditors.-The unfortunate Potrerero.-Early Dawn in
Cuba.-The Morning and Evening.-Tacon's Opera House.-Insolence of the Soldiers.-Anecdotes.-Beauty of the young Cubanese. -The married Women.- Their Habits and Customs.Shopping. —Exercise in the Volante.- Children.-The  lower
Classes. —The Guagiro.-His Courtship.-Obsolete Customs.The hours of the Oracion.-Conclusion.                  137
CHAPTER VI.
State of Religion in Cuba.-Contrast with the same in former times.
-The " Angelus."-Flirtations carried on in the Churches.-Infidelity universally prevalent.-Absence of all Religious Feeling in
Families of every class.-No piety among the Priests.-Their disgusting Debaucheries and Excesses.-Horrible instances of this in
the priest Don Felix del Pino.-Roman Catholicism.-Why many
of the Cubans desire Annexation with the United States.-An appeal to the Christian philanthropist.    -   -   -   152




CONTENTS,                       255
CHAPTER VII.
Public Education.-Attempts to falsify Statements.-Official Items
from the Census of 1841.-Schools pillaged by the Treasury.Saco's Parallel between the Spanish and British Colotnies.-Degradation and Ignorance in the Country Regions.-Frightful Pictures of Vice. -160
CHAPTER VIII.
Cuban Grievances.-Personal Liberty.-Personal Security.-The
Right of Property.-Instances of exercise of despotic Power.Senor Saco.-Number deported and banished by Tacon.-The
same System continued.-Taxation in Cuba.-Details.-Summary
of Grievances.                                         165
CHAPTER IX.
What is to become of Cuba.-Spain and her American settlements.Cuba cannot be held by Spain.-Progress of Events.-Right of
Cuba to Revolutionize.-Must ultimately belong to England or to
the United States.-Reasons why it will fall to-the latter.-Conclusion.                                               187
APPENDIX,    -   -.                           203








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4
Just Published,
SAINT LEGER;
OR,
et ictvahi uf Lifr.
" Qulcquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas,
Gaudia, discursus, nostri farrago libelli."
NEW YORK: GEO. P. PUTNAM.
LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY.
FROM THIIE AMERICAN JOURNALS.
" The author is entitled to the gratitude of all thinking and seriov.einds, for
the very plan and leading idea of his book. A young soul anxir (/, agitated,
and distressed with the mighty problem of our present human lifeb as connected with our future destiny; a thoughtful spirit on the shore of the great ocean
of existence, dubitanzs, circumspectans, hesitans —tamquam in mari immenso vecturus, multa adversa secunda revolvens-seeking rest, yet finding none, because unsatisfied with respect to the ultimate, and perfect, and absolute rest of the human spirit-ektracting no substantial enjoyment from the'seen and temporal,' while in darkness with regard to the'unseen and eternal'-finding, in
short, no happiness in any lower good while the great question remains unanswered-who, or what will show us the good, the absolute good, that summum bosnum for which'a mean should straightway sell all that he hath;' that
good which humanity lost in Adam, and which it hopes to find again in Christ?
"A religious weekly periodical,* of high standing, says of Saint Leger:' It
is a book we cannot recommend. Its want of definite moral purpose is the more
noticeable in consequence of the manifest power of the writer.' With all defer.
ence we would say that, such a definite presentation of such a definite moral
purpose, in the outset, would have entirely defeated any true moral purpose
the author may have had in view........The author is evidently one familiar
with his Bible. This, in these days, is not commonly true of any man, unless
he really loves it, and it reveals the secret of much of his power. It is this
which reveals to him a chapter in the human heart unknown to such writers
as Dickens and Bulwer, for it is evident that, in the delineation of certain traits,
and the power of certain emotions, he strikes a chord which never thus vibrates to their touch." —' The Inner Iife, a review of Saint Leger, by Tayler
Lewis, LL.D."'-Literary World.
"St. Leger is without a prototype in English literature. It is not to be read
for the interest of its story, but as an accurate and subtile delineation of the
workings of a deep, inner experience, and the rich blossoming out of character
in a skeptical and fermenting age. In this point of view it is a work of originality and undeniable power. The style is exquisitely adapted to its subject.
There are passages of rythmical, melodious sweetness, which belong to the best
days of English prose, and reveal both the ear and the hand of a true artist."VNe York Tribun e.,* New York Observer.




"No manl who has everc asked himself the three startling questions-where
am I? what am I? whither go I? can fail to sympathize.with the hero of our
author's story. Our chief interest in the hero lies in tracing the progress of
his individual mind from its consciousness to maturity, and in noting the effects
which are produced on his moral and intellectual nature by a life full of passion
and adventure. We see all passing circumstances from the centre of his spiritual being. We seldom feel like lending him an arm to protect him from outward troubles, but often like dropping into his mind a thought to save him from
the evil influence of doubts engendered by the workings of such troubles on his
inner nature. This manner of telling a story is, certainly, a bold and novel one;
but, at the same time, one which rivets our closest attention, and attaches our
warmest sympathy.
" In the darkest part of the hero's career, the profoundest point of the whole
lesson is taught through the partial instrumentality of one of the most beautiful
womanly creations in the whole range of English fiction. Theresa, the embodiment of the spirit of intuitive and simple faith-a type of uncorrupted humanity-and Wolfgang Hegewisch, the embodiment of desperate philosophy, and
hopeless skepticism-a type of humanity suffering through its own sins, and
through the sins of others-are the two opposite agents of St. Leger's salvation...
"Around the central character of Saint Leger, during his mental struggles,
there is continually passing a series of rapid and startling events, which seem
to arise, like the chain of circumstances in the doctrines of the Necessitarians,
for the purpose of hurrying the hero to some fated end. The manner in which
Saint.Leger's inner nature, and the course of outward events, act and re-act on
each other, is managed with a masterly hand.
" So subtile and intimate is the union of the two states of existence, and yet
so distinct is the preservation of each, that the reader turns from one to the
other with equal pleasure, never becoming so absorbed in the hero's mental
movements as to lose sight of the story, nor so carried away by the story as to
forget his sympathy with the silent workings of Saint Leger's mind......... Its
strong good sense, its firm sentiment, its deep, subtile, metaphysical reasoning,
its healthful morality, can only be passingly noticed.!'-Sartain's Magazine.': There is a vein of deep sentiment pervading the book, which raises it far
above the level of ordinary works of entertainment. The author is both poetical and philosophical; he writes with perspicuity, grace, and elegance; and
the minute revelations of feeling, faith, mental processes, sensation, and superstition; the peculiar picture of the inward life of the chief personage, combined
with the incidents and descriptions interspersed, render it one of the most attractive books of the season.'.-Home Journal.
"Saint Leger has many touching points; sometimes it touches us by its
simplicity, sometimes by its eloquence, at all times by its truthfulness The
poetry of young life is portrayed with enthusiam, and the cares with which its
future is shadowed the author does not turn away from, with irresolution of
judgment."-New Orleans Bulletin.
"A novel sui generis in the annals of American literature. Saint Leger solves
the problem of human life, while it accurately sets forth the sufferings and
strivings of an acute philosophical mind, and presents to the perplexed and
wearied in the search of truth, the simple panacea of faith."-Philadelphia
Drawing-Room Journal.
"Full of thought and sentiment, and of a thoroughly original cast, it will
make a permanent impression on the public mind. It bears the marks, too, of
scholarship, and fine taste, and of an eclectic cast of mind." —New York Commercial Advertiser.
"One of the very best books that has fallen under our notice, for a long
time."-Scott's Philadelphia. Weekly.
"Abounding in the most thrilling interest, in narrative, and in maxim."-Me.
topolitas.




"The -truth is, it is a peculiar production....... There are not many men ill
this country, known as authors, from whom it could have come........ A young
Englishman, of a noble Warwickshire family, with a devout and gentle mother
(he says of her, finely,'Morning and evening did I lisp my infantile prayers
to her, and it seemed as if she sent them up for me to God"), and with a highprine pled, stern, and taciturn father, goes out. early, into the world, to see it,
to tate of it, to master it, or to be mastered by it. The story runs in the first
person singular; the hero is the narrator, and, mirabile dictu, he does not once
fall in love, ride horseback, kill his man, nor commend himself to women as a
rake. Perhaps these defects ought to take him out of the category of romantic personages. But he has his adventures, nevertheless.... He is educated,
at home, by a private tutor-a cold-blooded, stoical, intellectual Pantheist-who
drives an entering wedge for infinite mischief into the young man's faith. Saint
Leger contends, all along, with a traditionary superstition, suffers from it, has
his existence shadowed by it, and illustrates the wicked folly of dark predictions........ Instigated by his speculative preceptor, Saint Leger travels to the
Continent, and takes up his abode at Leipsic........To give the true termination to his unhappy internal struggle, we cannot but hope the author of Saint
Leger will run the' Threads" of his "Life" a little farther."-Boston Christian Register.
" The author appeals only to the moral sensibilities. He is a thinker, andhas
not only the power to set others a thinking, but of uttering for others the
thoughts for which they have never found a tongue. Many will find in this
book the history of their own mental struggles."-Newark Daily Advertiser.
"A mystical, metaphysical novel, written with great power and beauty; original in its character, and deeply interesting. By the thoughtful and reflecting
reader, it will be regarded as a work of rare merit."-Washington Union.
" This work, which has attracted so much attention, is in the form of an autobiography, and abounds in the most beautiful ideas of life and happiness, while
a vein of elevated morality runs through the volume."-Providence Journal.
"The book is a strange one-neither a romance, a biography, or a love story,
but rather a blending of them. Yet the occurrences are a part of the great
book of eventful life. No one can read the first chapter without wishing to go
on, and the interest is heightened at every step."-Philadelphia City Item.
" The author is one who has looked beneath the surface of things, and to
whom the heart of man, in all its windings, seems familiar."-Middletown Oasis.
"A book of great strength, containing vivid and artistic limnings of human
nature in its darkness, and in its spiritual brightness."-New York Evening Post.
"Under the drapery of fiction, the author inculcates the purest morals, and
the highest, and most ennobling of Christian faith. The language is polished,
and even elegant, and it abounds with passages of great fervor and beauty. The
work has a peculiar fascination about it."-New York Journal of Commerce.
"Who is the author of this powerfully written work? We have read it with
more absorbed interest than has been awakened by any work of fiction that has
come within our notice for a long time."-Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.
" It may be called a diary of the human heart, its purposes, and its impulses 
yet it inculcates a true Christian philosophy. No one can rise from its perusal
without a satisfied feeling that his destiny is wisely ordered, and that the pursuit of truth is the surest path to happiness."-Philadelphia Sun.
"It is a book of power. Its author has genius; genius for description, for
character, and for dialogue."-Boston Post.
" The book is of the highest order of English literature.'-.. T e Metropolis.




7
There. is thought enough, learning enough, invention, passion, power enough,
in Saint Leger, for the best half-dozen fashionable romances of the time. It is
perhaps wanting in continuity of interest; but its very deficiency in this respect
makes it but more true to the general experience........ It is altogether profoundly philosophical, and must be classed among the finest of those fictions
which illustrate the development and establishment of whatever is beautiful
and true in human character.-" Review of Saint Leger, by R. W. Griswold."
" A very singular production, written with great power, and unusual ability."-Germantowa Telegraph.
"A book exhibiting great power and genius."-Boston Times.
"A brilliant book, full of suggestions of wisdom."-Tribune.
FROM THE ENGLISH JOURNALS.
"A very extraordinary book. It is the' Tremaine' and'De Vere' of the
metaphysical student. There is the same force, the same knowledge, the same
originality of thought and expression; and we shall be disappointed if Saint Leger does not rival the fame of those two justly celebrated works."-Morning
Post.
"The moral purpose of Saint Leger is to warn against vague and dreamy apprehensions in childhood; the substitution of Rationalistic and Pantheistic notions for Christianity later in life, and their concealment-in the case of the
hero from his mother. The first point is illustrated by the peculiar disposition
of William Henry Saint Leger, his peculiar training at the family country-seat,
and an old prophecy touching the Saint Leger race, which the rest (cf the family
wisely disregard, but which the hero nourishes in secret, and which causes him
to regard himself as a doomed mortal, or child of destiny.
" The heresy is produced by a German tutor, who is himself infected with
the singular ideas of religion at that time (toward the close of the last century)
springing up in this country.......... The descriptions have force and picturesqueness the reflections strength and rhetoric."-Spectator.
A powerfully written work, which unveils the baseness that underlies the
loftiest pride, the doubt that ever haunts the struggling faith, the impetuous folly
that mingles with wisdom's high resolves, the ignorance and blindness thatlurk,
ill-disguised, beneath the free-thinker's boldest speculations, and the emptiness
and deadness of heart which succeed the satiety of a self-gratified life.........
" The variety of characters introduced, all sharply chiseled, their varied fortunes and destinies, all contribute to impart to Saint Leger a character of originality, and high moral and intellectual interest."-John Bull.
"Here, there, and every where, the author of Saint Leger gives exhibitions
of passionate and romantic power."-Athenaum.
GEO. P. PUTNAM, Publisher,
155 Broadway.