Retrospective thoughts--The bright side and dark side of the
picture--Cuban institutions contrasted with our own--Political
sentiments of the Creoles--War footing--Loyalty of the
colony--Native men of genius--The Cubans not willing slaves--Our own
revolution--Apostles of rebellion--Moral of the Lopez
expedition--Jealousy of Spain--Honorable position of our
government--Spanish aggressions on our flag--Purchase of the
island--Distinguished conservative opinion--The end.
It is with infinite reluctance that the temporary sojourner in Cuba
leaves her delicious shores, and takes his farewell look at their
enchanting features. A brief residence in the island passes like a
midsummer night's dream, and it requires a strenuous effort of the mind
to arrive at the conviction that the memories one brings away with him
are not delusive sports of the imagination. Smiling skies and smiling
waters, groves of palm and orange, the bloom of the heliotrope, the
jessamine, and the rose, flights of strange and gaudy birds, tropic
nights at once luxurious and calm, clouds of fire-flies floating like
unsphered stars on the night breeze, graceful figures of dark-eyed
senoritas in diaphanous drapery, picturesque groups of Monteros,
relieved by the dusky faces and stalwart forms of the sons of Africa,
undulating volantes, military pageants, ecclesiastical processions,
frowning fortresses, grim batteries, white sails, fountains raining
silver,--all these images mingle together in brilliant and kaleidoscopic
combinations, changing and varying as the mind's eye seeks to fix their
features. Long after his departure from the enchanting island the
traveller beholds these visions in the still watches of the night, and
again he listens to the dash of the sea-green waves at the foot of the
Moro and the Punta, the roll of the drum and the crash of arms upon the
ramparts, and the thrilling strains of music from the military band in
the Plaza de Armas. The vexations incident to all travel, and meted out
in no stinted measure to the visitor at Cuba, are amply repaid by the
spectacles it presents.
"----It is a goodly sight to see
What Heaven hath done for this delicious land!
What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree!
What goodly prospects o'er the hills expand!"
If it were possible to contemplate only the beauties that nature has so
prodigally lavished on this Eden of the Gulf, shutting out all that man
has done and is still doing to mar the blessings of Heaven, then a visit
to or residence in Cuba would present a succession of unalloyed
pleasures equal to a poet's dream. But it is impossible, even if it
would be desirable, to exclude the dark side of the picture. The
American traveller, particularly, keenly alive to the social and
political aspects of life, appreciates in full force the evils that
challenge his observation at every step, and in every view which he may
take. If he contrast the natural scenery with the familiar pictures of
home, he cannot help also contrasting the political condition of the
people with that of his own country. The existence, almost under the
shadow of the flag of the freest institutions the earth ever knew, of a
government as purely despotic as that of the autocrat of all the
Russias, is a monstrous fact that startles the most indifferent
observer. It must be seen to be realized. To go hence to Cuba is not
merely passing over a few degrees of latitude in a few days' sail,--it
is a step from the nineteenth century back into the dark ages. In the
clime of sun and endless summer, we are in the land of starless
political darkness. Lying under the lee of a land where every man is a
sovereign, is a realm where the lives, liberties, and fortunes of all
are held at the tenure of the will of a single individual, and whence
not a single murmur of complaint can reach the ear of the nominal ruler
more than a thousand leagues away in another hemisphere. In close
proximity to a country where the taxes, self-imposed, are so light as to
be almost unfelt, is one where each free family pays nearly four hundred
dollars per annum for the support of a system of bigoted tyranny,
yielding in the aggregate an annual revenue of twenty-five millions of
dollars for which they receive no equivalent,--no representation, no
utterance, for pen and tongue are alike proscribed,--no honor, no
office, no emolument; while their industry is crippled, their
intercourse with other nations hampered in every way, their bread
literally snatched from their lips, the freedom of education denied, and
every generous, liberal aspiration of the human soul stifled in its
birth. And this in the nineteenth century, and in North America.
Such are the contrasts, broad and striking, and such the reflections
forced upon the mind of the citizen of the United States in Cuba. Do
they never occur to the minds of the Creoles? We are told that they are
willing slaves. Spain tells us so, and she extols to the world with
complacent mendacity the loyalty of her "_siempre fielissima isla de
Cuba_." But why does she have a soldier under arms for every four white
adults? We were about to say, white male citizens, but there are no
citizens in Cuba. A proportionate military force in this country would
give us a standing army of more than a million bayonets, with an annual
expenditure, reckoning each soldier to cost only two hundred dollars per
annum, of more than two hundred millions of dollars. And this is the
peace establishment of Spain in Cuba--for England and France and the
United States are all her allies, and she has no longer to fear the
roving buccaneers of the Gulf who once made her tremble in her island
fastness. For whom then is this enormous warlike preparation? Certainly
for no external enemy,--there is none. The question answers itself,--it
is for her very loyal subjects, the people of Cuba, that the queen of
Spain makes all this warlike show.
It is impossible to conceive of any degree of loyalty that would be
proof against the unparalleled burthens and atrocious system by which
the mother country has ever loaded and weighed down her western
colonists. They must be either more or less than men if they still
cherish attachment to a foreign throne under such circumstances. But the
fact simply is, the Creoles of Cuba are neither angels nor brutes; they
are, it is true, a long-suffering and somewhat indolent people, lacking
in a great degree the stern qualities of the Anglo-Saxon and the
Anglo-Norman races, but nevertheless intelligent, if wanting culture,
and not without those noble aspirations for independence and freedom,
destitute of which they would cease to be men, justly forfeiting all
claim to our sympathy and consideration. During the brief intervals in
which a liberal spirit was manifested towards the colony by the home
government, the Cubans gave proof of talent and energy, which, had they
been permitted to attain their full development, would have given them a
highly honorable name and distinguished character. When the field for
genius was comparatively clear, Cuba produced more than one statesman
and man of science, who would have done honor to a more favored land.
But these cheering rays of light were soon extinguished, and the
fluctuating policy of Spain settled down into the rayless and brutal
despotism which has become its normal condition, and a double darkness
closed upon the political and intellectual prospects of Cuba. But the
people are not, and have not been the supine and idle victims of
tyranny which Spain depicts them. The reader, who has indulgently
followed us thus far, will remember the several times they have
attempted, manacled as they are, to free their limbs from the chains
that bind them. It is insulting and idle to say that they might have
been free if they had earnestly desired and made the effort for freedom.
Who can say what would have been the result of our own struggle for
independence, if Great Britain, at the outset, had been as well prepared
for resistance as Spain has always been in Cuba? Who can say how long
and painful would have been the struggle, if one of the most powerful
military nations of Europe had not listened to our despairing appeal,
and thrown the weight of her gold and her arms into the scale against
our great enemy? When we see how--as we do clearly--in a single night
the well-contrived schemes of an adroit and unprincipled knave enslaved
a brilliant and warlike people, like the French, who had more than once
tasted the fruits of republican glory and liberty, who had borne their
free flag in triumph over more than half of Europe, we can understand
why the Cubans, overawed from the very outset, by the presence of a
force vastly greater in proportion than that which enslaved France, have
been unable to achieve their deliverance. Nay, more--when we consider
the system pursued by the government of the island, the impossibility of
forming assemblages, and of concerting action, the presence of troops
and spies everywhere, the compulsory silence of the press--the
violation of the sanctity of correspondence, the presence of a slave
population, we can only wonder that any effort has been made, any step
taken in that fatal pathway of revolution which leads infallibly to the
_garrote_.
If Cuba lies at present under the armed heel of despotism we may be sure
that the anguish of her sons is keenly aggravated by their perfect
understanding of our own liberal institutions, and an earnest, if
fruitless desire to participate in their enjoyment. It is beyond the
power of the Spanish government to keep the people of the island in a
state of complete darkness, as it seems to desire to do. The young men
of Cuba educated at our colleges and schools, the visitors from the
United States, and American merchants established on the island, are all
so many apostles of republicanism, and propagandists of treason and
rebellion. Nor can the captains-general with all their vigilance,
exclude what they are pleased to call incendiary newspapers and
documents from pretty extensive circulation among the "ever faithful."
That liberal ideas and hatred of Spanish despotism are widely
entertained among the Cubans is a fact no one who has passed a brief
period among them can truthfully deny. The writer of these pages avers,
from his personal knowledge, that they await only the means and the
opportunity to rise in rebellion against Spain. We are too far distant
to see more than the light smoke, but those who have trodden the soil of
Cuba have sounded the depths of the volcano. The history of the
unfortunate Lopez expedition proves nothing contrary to this. The force
under Lopez afforded too weak a nucleus, was too hastily thrown upon the
island, too ill prepared, and too untimely attacked, to enable the
native patriots to rally round its standard, and thus to second the
efforts of the invaders. With no ammunition nor arms to spare, recruits
would have only added to the embarrassment of the adventurers. Yet had
Lopez been joined by the brave but unfortunate Crittenden, with what
arms and ammunition he possessed, had he gained some fastness where he
could have been disciplining his command, until further aid arrived, the
adventure might have had a very different termination from what we have
recorded in an early chapter of this book.
Disastrous as was the result of the Lopez expedition, it nevertheless
proved two important facts: first, the bravery of the Cubans, a small
company of whom drove the enemy at the point of the bayonet; and,
secondly, the inefficiency of Spanish troops when opposed by resolute
men. If a large force of picked Spanish troops were decimated and routed
in two actions, by a handful of ill-armed and undisciplined men, taken
by surprise, we are justified in believing that if an effective force of
ten thousand men, comprising the several arms, of cavalry, artillery,
and infantry, had been thrown into the island, they would have carried
all before them. With such a body of men to rally upon, the Cubans would
have risen in the departments of the island, and her best transatlantic
jewel would have been torn from the diadem of Spain.
That the Spanish government lives in constant dread of a renewal of the
efforts on the part of Americans and exiled Cubans to aid the
disaffected people of the island in throwing off its odious yoke, is a
notorious fact, and there are evidences in the conduct of its officials
towards those of this government that it regards the latter as secretly
favoring such illegal action. Yet the steps taken by our government to
crush any such attempts have been decided enough to satisfy any but a
jealous and unreasonable power. President Fillmore, in his memorable
proclamation, said, "Such expeditions can only be regarded as adventures
for plunder and robbery," and declaring Americans who engaged in them
outlaws, informed them that "they would forfeit their claim to the
protection of this government, or any interference in their behalf, no
matter to what extremity they might be reduced in consequence of their
illegal conduct." In accordance with this declaration, the brave
Crittenden and his men were allowed to be shot at Atares, though they
were not taken with arms in their hands, had abandoned the expedition,
and were seeking to escape from the island.
In a similar spirit the present chief magistrate alluded to our
relations with Spain in his inaugural address, in the following explicit
terms:--
"Indeed it is not to be disguised that our attitude as a nation, and our
position on the globe, render the acquisition of certain possessions,
not within our jurisdiction, eminently important, if not, in the future,
essential for the preservation of the rights of commerce and the peace
of the world. Should they be obtained, it will be through no grasping
spirit, but with a view to obvious national interest and security, and
in a manner entirely consistent with the strictest observance of
national faith."
A recent proclamation, emanating from the same source, and warning our
citizens of the consequences of engaging in an invasion of the island,
also attests the determination to maintain the integrity of our
relations with an allied power.
No candid student of the history of our relations with Spain can fail to
be impressed by the frank and honorable attitude of our government, or
to contrast its acts with those of the Spanish officials of Cuba. A
history of the commercial intercourse of our citizens with the island
would be a history of petty and also serious annoyances and grievances
to which they have been subjected for a series of years by the Spanish
officials, increasing in magnitude as the latter have witnessed the
forbearance and magnanimity of our government. Not an American merchant
or captain, who has had dealings with Cuba, but could furnish his list
of insults and outrages, some in the shape of illegal extortions and
delays, others merely gratuitous ebullitions of spite and malice
dictated by a hatred of our country and its citizens. Of late instances
of outrage so flagrant have occurred, that the executive has felt bound
to call the attention of Congress to them in a message, in which he
points out the great evil which lies at the bottom, and also the remedy.
"The offending party," he says, "is at our doors with large power for
aggression, but none, it is alleged, for reparation. The source of
redress is in another hemisphere; and the answers to our just
complaints, made to the home government, are but the repetition of
excuses rendered by inferior officials to the superiors, in reply to the
representations of misconduct. In giving extraordinary power to them,
she owes it to justice, and to her friendly relations to this
government, to guard with great vigilance against the exorbitant
exercise of these powers, and in case of injuries to provide for prompt
redress."
It is very clear that if, in such cases as the seizure of a vessel and
her cargo by the port officers at Havana, for an alleged violation of
revenue laws, or even port usages, redress, in case of official
misconduct, can only be had by reference to the home government in
another part of the world, our trade with Cuba will be completely
paralyzed. The delay and difficulty in obtaining such redress has
already, in too many cases, prompted extortion on the one hand, and
acquiescence to injustice on the other. The experience of the last four
years alone will fully sustain the truth of this assertion.
In 1851 two American vessels were seized off Yucatan by the Spanish
authorities on suspicion of being engaged in the Lopez expedition; in
the same year the steamship Falcon was wantonly fired upon by a Spanish
government vessel; in 1852 the American mail bags were forcibly opened
and their contents examined by order of the captain-general; and less
than two years ago, as is well known, the Crescent City was not allowed
to land her passengers and mails, simply because the purser, Smith, was
obnoxious to the government of the island. The Black Warrior, fired into
on one voyage, was seized lately for a violation of a custom house
form--an affair not yet, it is believed, settled with the Spanish
government. More than once, on specious pretexts, have American sailors
been taken from American vessels and thrown into Spanish prisons. In
short, the insults offered by Spanish officials to our flag have so
multiplied of late that the popular indignation in the country has
reached an alarming height.
It is difficult for a republic and a despotism, situated like the United
States and Cuba, to live on neighborly terms; and to control the
indignation of the citizens of the former, proud and high spirited,
conscious of giving no offence, and yet subjected to repeated insults,
is a task almost too great for the most adroit and pacific
administration. When we add to this feeling among our people a
consciousness that Cuba, the source of all this trouble, is in unwilling
vassalage to Spain, and longing for annexation to the United States,
that under our flag the prosperity of her people would be secured, a
vast addition made to our commercial resources, an invaluable safeguard
given to our southern frontier, and the key to the Mississippi and the
great west made secure forever, we can no longer wonder at the spread of
the conviction that Cuba should belong to this country, and this too as
soon as can be honorably brought about. Had she possessed more foresight
and less pride, Spain would have long since sold the island to the
United States, and thereby have relieved herself of a weighty care and a
most dangerous property.
"So far from being really injured by the loss of the island," says Hon.
Edward Everett, in his able and well known letter to the British
minister rejecting the proposition for the tripartite convention, "there
is no doubt that, were it peacefully transferred to the United States, a
prosperous commerce between Cuba and Spain, resulting from ancient
associations and common language and tastes, would be far more
productive than the best contrived system of colonial taxation. Such,
notoriously, has been the result to Great Britain of the establishment
of the independence of the United States."
If it be true that the American minister at Madrid has been authorized
to offer a price nothing short of a royal ransom for the island, we
cannot conceive that the greedy queen, and even the Cortes of Spain,
would reject it, unless secretly influenced by the powers which had the
effrontery to propose for our acceptance the tripartite treaty, by which
we were expected to renounce forever all pretension to the possession
of Cuba. It is difficult to believe that France and England could for a
moment seriously suppose that such a ridiculous proposition would be for
one moment entertained by this government, and yet they must so have
deceived themselves, or otherwise they would not have made the
proposition as they did.
Of the importance, not to say necessity, of the possession of Cuba by
the United States, statesmen of all parties are agreed; and they are by
no means in advance of the popular sentiment; indeed, the class who urge
its immediate acquisition, at any cost, by any means, not as a source of
wealth, but as a political necessity, is by no means inconsiderable. It
would be foreign to our purpose to quote the opinions of any ultraists,
nor do we design, in these closing remarks, to enter the field of
politics, or political discussion. We have endeavored to state facts
only, and to state them plainly, deducing the most incontrovertible
conclusions.
We find the following remarks in a recent conservative speech of Mr.
Latham, a member of Congress, from California. They present, with
emphasis, some of the points we have lightly touched upon:
"I admit that our relations with Spain, growing out of that island
(Cuba), are of an extremely delicate nature; that the fate of that
island, its misgovernment, its proximity to our shores, and the
particular institutions established upon it, are of vast importance to
the peace and security of this country; and that the utmost vigilance in
regard to it is not only demanded by prudence, but an act of imperative
duty on the part of our government. The island of Cuba commands, in a
measure, the Gulf of Mexico. In case of a maritime war, in which the
United States may be engaged, its possession by the enemy might become a
source of infinite annoyance to us, crippling our shipping, threatening
the great emporium of our southern commerce, and exposing our whole
southern coast, from the capes of Florida to the mouth of the Rio
Grande, to the enemy's cruisers. The geographical position of Cuba is
such that we cannot, without a total disregard to our own safety, permit
it to pass into the hands of any first-class power; nay, that it would
be extremely imprudent to allow it to pass even into the hands of a
power of the second rank, possessed of energy and capacity for
expansion."
If Cuba come into our possession peaceably, as the fruits of a fair
bargain, or as a free-will offering of her sons, after a successful
revolution, we can predict for her a future as bright as her past has
been desolate and gloomy; for the union of a territory with a foreign
population to our confederacy is no new and doubtful experiment.
Louisiana, with her French and Spanish Creoles, is one of the most
reliable states of the Union; and, not long after her admission, she
signed, with her best blood, the pledge of fealty to the common country.
More recently, we all remember how, when Taylor, in the presence of the
foe upon the Rio Grande, called for volunteers, the gallant Creoles
rushed to arms, and crowded to his banner. The Creoles of Cuba are of
the same blood and lineage,--Spaniards in chivalry of soul, without the
ferocity and fanaticism of the descendants of the Cid. We are sure, from
what they have shown in the past, that liberal institutions will develop
latent qualities which need only free air for their expansion. They will
not want companions, friends and helpers. A tide of emigration from the
States will pour into the island, the waste lands will be reclaimed, and
their hidden wealth disclosed; a new system of agricultural economy will
be introduced; the woods of the island will furnish material for
splendid ships; towns and villages will rise with magical celerity, and
the whole surface of the "garden of the world" will blossom like the
rose.
"Rich in soil, salubrious in climate, varied in productions, the home of
commerce," says the Hon. O.R. Singleton, of Mississippi, "Cuba seems to
have been formed to become 'the very button on Fortune's cap.' Washed by
the Gulf-stream on half her borders, with the Mississippi pouring out
its rich treasures on one side, and the Amazon, destined to become a
'cornucopia,' on the other,--with the ports of Havana and Matanzas on
the north, and the Isle of Pines and St. Jago de Cuba on the south,
Nature has written upon her, in legible characters, a destiny far above
that of a subjugated province of a rotten European dynasty. Her home is
in the bosom of the North American confederacy. Like a lost Pleiad, she
may wander on for a few months or years in lawless, chaotic confusion;
but, ultimately, the laws of nature and of nations will vindicate
themselves, and she will assume her true social and political condition,
despite the diplomacy of statesmen, the trickery of knaves, or the
frowns of tyrants. Cuba will be free. The spirit is abroad among her
people; and, although they dare not give utterance to their thoughts,
lest some treacherous breeze should bear them to a tyrant's ears, still
they think and feel, and will act when the proper time shall arrive. The
few who have dared 'to do or die' have fallen, and their blood still
marks the spot where they fell. Such has been the case in all great
revolutionary struggles. Those who lead the van must expect a sharp
encounter before they break through the serried hosts of tyranny, and
many a good man falls upon the threshold of the temple.
"'But freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft, is always won.'"
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