Cuba Past and Present

ings of th

o the Hispano-Cuban question, and takes the Spaniards for a set of damnable inquisitors, who harry, torture, and starve the angelic Cubans out of sheer devilry, precisely as the unlucky Abd'ul' Hamid is supposed to have given his personal s

ods which, successful as it may have been in the earlier periods of her history, has proved ominously fatal in our times, and especially so in Cuba, where, since the end of the last century

ed, was still in force, and unmodified, as yet, to suit the exigencies of a newer civilization. In 1766 there had been a distinct movement against the then Captain-General,-so the Governor of the island was called,-who had taken upon himself to levy a tax on all slaves imported, which tax he was accused of applying to his own benefit. Then came the incident in the reign of Charles III., when Spain afforded active assistance to the American insurgents, and a number of Spanish and Cuban volunteers started from Havana, where they had assembled, to join the rebellion against Great Britain. The words "freedom and independence" were thus early rendered familiar to Cuban ears. A little later, following the example of the gre

tunes of the island. I have said that, until 1800, Cuba had been dependent upon the Vice-royalty of Mexico, which was bound to pay all the expenses of the maintenance of her public institutions, ports, and roads. As the Spanish power in Mexico declined, the island, as may be imagined, suffered; her ports soon fell into a deplorable condition, and, owing to absolute monopolies imposed upon her trade,-held partly by the Mexican Government, and partly by a chartered company established at Seville,-the visits of merchantmen to her harbours grew few and far between. The Revolution, which set a Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, temporarily removed this incubus, and in 1805 the Cuban ports were thrown open to general commerce, with the result that, whereas in 1804 less than a dozen ships, all belonging to the Seville company, passed the Morro Castle at Havana, in 1806 over a thousand vessels from all parts of the world cast anchor in the harbour. And further, the French emigrants who had fled, twenty years earlier, from the San Domingo massacres, had persuaded their Cuban hosts to devote their attention to the

is even said that when the Spanish ladies wore their hair long, the Cuban Senōras cropped theirs short-whence the name of pelonas (croppies) given them by their rivals to this day. Well would it have been for Spain had she availed herself of this outburst

ily governed people. The renowned Guicciardini, Florentine ambassador to Ferdinand the Ca

nobody consents to obey. The soldiers are better than their officers. Every Spaniard knows how to fight, but none knows how to command either himself, or others." Whereupon the Florentin

of the Indies at command, we may easily conceive what they must be now, when they ha

spagne, Cuba, et les Etats-Unis, "this natural tendency on the part of the Spanish population in Cuba has been, if anything, augmented by the influx of emigrants from all parts of the world, who have brought with them all kinds of ideas and theories on the subjects of morals and politics, and have thereby rendered the existing confusion tenfold greater than in the

the opening of the century, soon showed a distinct disinclination to submit to this process. The era of prosperity already alluded to had attracted numbers of emigrants to the island, from every quarter of the world,-more especially from the United States; and constant contact with different races and varied religions, added to the influence of the secret societies previously menti

disciplined troops. The Havana of that period was by no means a safe place of residence. It had become the gambling hell of the Americas, and it was dangerous to walk its darksome streets at night, without a considerable escort. Tacon availed himself of the opportunity created by the great fire of 1802 (April 25-26) to rebuild the quarter of the city then destroyed in a more regular style, and prohibited the future erection of wooden houses, as dangerous to the public safety. He lighted the city, suppressed the gambling saloons, prohibited the national game of Monte, and established a well-organized police force and a fire department. To sum it up, he proved, even in those far-off times,

ting down a revolt among the slaves in the neighbourhood of Bayamo, captured Aponte, the rebel chief, and hanged him, t

ways-enlivened by palace scandals and military Pronunciamentos. The series of governors who succeeded Tacon were, with but few exceptions, a worthless set, and the crowd of minor officials who accompanied them were mere leeches, whose sole object was to seize every possible opportunity, legitimate or illegitimate, for lining

s utterly severed the Cuban population from its Spanish brethren. Ties of blood have been torn asunder, and the sad truth that a family feud exceeds all others in bitterness, has received fresh and inevitable confirmation. The earlier insurrecti

violent action on the part of the Spanish authorities, was profound, and the feeling soon reached such a pitch that no native-born Cuban would be seen speaking to a Spaniard. The Carnival gaieties were suspended, and the city was thrown into deep mourning. The Spaniards, resolved to mark their contempt for the islanders, gave a ball at the Filarmonia. Groups of young Cubans forced their way through the terrified dancers, and proceeded to insult and disfigure a portrait of Queen Isabella II. The confusion was terrible, and many ladies were severely hurt. Yet the incident was allowed to pass without any attempt being made to discover and punish the offenders, who, by-the-way, were masked. A few weeks afterwards, a Cuban lady of high rank and great wealth, hoping to cast oil on troubled waters, hired the same hall, and sent out invitations for a tertullia, to which she bade representatives of both the belligerent parties. The consequences were ghastly. The Spanish officers

almost forgotten episode of this period was brought to light, but the other day, in the pages of the Fortnightly Review. In a most interesting article, Mme. Colmache, the venerable and distinguished widow of Talleyrand's last secretary, gives a terse and singularly interesting account of an intrigue, all the details of which are in her personal recollection. It seems that fifty years ago, Louis Philippe, seized with a desire for territorial aggrandisement, took advantage of Spain's poverty to make overtures for the purchase, not only of Cuba, but of Puerto Rico and the Philippines. As a matter of fact, the deal wo

pressed as follows, although, to be sure, the matter was not quite so plainly couched, but the inference could not be misunderstood. "Circumstances and destiny absolutely require that the United States should be masters of the island of Cuba. That we should take it by filibustering or violence is not in accordance with our national genius. It will suit ou

chased from Spain by the United States, and Texas had been annexed by filibustering incursions. There can be no question that both these States, though peopled by Spaniards, precisely as Cuba was, had flourished exceedingly under the star-spangled banner. Mr Trollope gives us a picture of the public mind in Cuba in 1860, which convinces us the local opinion has undergone very little change since his day. That which he wrote thirty-eight years ago reads exactly as if it had been penned yesterday. He says-"From such information as I could obtain, I am of opinion that the Cubans themselves would be glad enough to see the transfer well effected. How, indeed, can it be otherwise? At present they have no national privilege, except that of undergoi

d his taxes alone unrestricted, but he must have other than Hispano-Creole blood in his veins if he do more than stand and feel. Indeed, wishing is too strong a word to be fairly applicab

ionable management of the Banca Espanōl, the only bank in the island. In answer to this petition, the Junta created a body of twenty-two Cuban commissioners and twenty-two Spanish, which original number, however, was unjustly increased by the admission of a perfect army of Spanish nobles and officials. The Cuban members, thus left in a minority, were not very hopeful of obtaining much benefit from the Commission. They made a sensible proposal for the gradual diminution of the taxes, especially those connected with the export trade, and submitted a plan for the gradual emancipation of the slaves. One of their principal schemes for diminishing taxation,-by the substitution of a direct tax on the total revenue, instead of the existing vexatious system of indefinite and capricious taxes on the export and import trades,-was rejected, or rather it was turned against their real interests. The Custom House duties were cunningly diminished, and the tax on the total revenue of the island raised from five to ten per cent,-a clear case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, which exasperated the island population beyond measure. The arrangement of the question of the abolition of negro slavery was also eminently unsatisfac

rkable character, Carlos Manuel Cespedes. He was no penniless adventurer, but a Cuban gentleman of large means,-one of the wealthiest planters in the island. He was not at first inclined to sever the island from the mother-country, for he was, by nature, essentially loyal. Even before embarking upon his undertaking he warned the Spanish Government of his intention, and of the danger it ran by persisting in its old methods. A sincere Catholic, he refused to join in any of the overt anti-relig

tion. The first step taken in this direction was the burning of the vast plantation owned by Cespedes himself. This was the signal for a series of massacres and reprisals all over the island. As if by magic, the absentee Spanish grandees' great plantations were set ablaze. Then the Spaniards fired the Cuban plantations, and in a few weeks a quarter of the island lay in ashes, and thousands of slaves and workmen wandered about idle, homeless, and starving. The insurgents, who were almost without arms, were obliged to take refuge in the interior of the island, where they raised the Cuban flag-the American stripes with one solitary star-and were soon joined by men, women, children, and slaves, all flying before the Spanish soldiery. The rebels installed themselves in the city of Bayamo, which for several weeks they contrived to hold against the enemy. A conspiracy on the part of certain Catalans, who had joined their forces, being discovered, the traitors were put to death. On learning this the Spaniards, who had encamped some miles from the city, suddenly appeared before its walls. Seeing resistance was hopeless, Cespedes, with the consent of the inhabitants, set the city on fire, rather than see it fall into the hands of the enemy. An awful massacre ensued, in which the Spanish soldiers spared neither man, woman, nor child. On the other hand, the rebels, it must be confessed, were guilty of the most horrible atrocities. In vain did Cespedes and his lieutenant, Ignacio Agramonte, implore their followers to remember that those who fought for liberty and progress must set the example of mercy. The rebel bands were not men like unto their leaders, gently born and carefully educated, but a horde gathered together out of every social class and every race, indeed, for thousands of plantation

. Slavery was formally abolished. Freedom of worship was established, and equality of all in the eyes of the law affirmed. The young Republic even ventured to send envoys to the three countries which had shown her most sympathy,-England, France, and the United States. The Envoy Extraordinary of Cuba to the United States of America, Morales Lumus, was, however, received with great coolness by General Grant, who steadfastly refused to recognise the new Government. As a matter of fact, whilst Cuba had been fighting for her independence, Spain had dethroned the kindly Queen Isabella, and replaced General Prim at the head of the Iberian Republic. The great Republic of the New World had naturally hailed the chief of a revolution which had driven Isabella II. from one of the oldest thrones in the Old World; while Prim, who was anything but the visionary he is generally supposed to have been, had arrived at the conclusion that Cuba cost the mother c

filibustering vessel, which was proceeding from the United States to assist the rebels with arms, ammunition, and men. The Virginius was taken to Havana, and sixty-one prisoners, including several Englishmen and twenty-two Americans, were ultimately shot. On November 5th, 1869, the leaders of the adventure, Navaro, Ryan, Jesus del Sol, and Pedro Cespedes-the President's brothers-were put to death by the Spaniards, and their heads carried in triumph through the streets. All this is far-off history nowadays,-interesting, nevertheless, if only as a record. The indignation excited throughout the Unite

ut for some Catholic prince to place upon the vacant throne of the Bourbons. Choice fell upon Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen-a most luckless selection, since, by offending the susceptibilities of France, it led to the Franco-Prussian war. King Victor Emmanuel's son, Amedeo, was now offered the crown of Spain, and accepted it, swearing to observe the Constitution over the body of Prim, who had been assassinated on December 28, 1870, by an unknown hand. How Amedeo failed to satisfy his new subjects, and finally was compelled to resign his ill-fitting crown and return-to Italy; how an abortive attempt to establish a Re

feet; but still he battled on, slaying seven of his opponents with his own hand, and wounding many others. At last, seeing all hope was lost, he fought his way through the Spaniards, and, mortally wounded as he was, flung himself over the rocks, and thus escaped his hated captors. His mangled body was recovered, carried to Santiago, and there secretly buried. The dead man was mourned, and is mourned even to this day, by all tr