Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/305

 The Black Warrior Affair 295 If the administration have any heart left, if there be among them one spark of American spirit, let them take up this matter in the tone which befits the gravity of the case, and the chronic character of the Cuban dis- ease. Xo ambassadors, or diplomatic notes are needed. Let them simply fit out, in a week at farthest, three or four war steamers, and despatch them to Cuba, with peremptory orders to obtain satisfaction for the injury done to the Black Warrior. Let Governor Pezuela be allowed twenty-four hours to release the cargo of the steamer, and make full compensation to the owners, and in default, we shall see whether our navy contains but one Ingraham.' That the Spanish authorities of Cuba had had no intention of insulting the American flag was of course carefully emphasized by Cueto. - The Spanish premier characterized the afTair as an incident which, exploited by malice and by the spirit of hostility to Spain which is fostered by certain evil-intentioned parties, assumed an importance which it could never have had, had it been investigated in the beginning with cool deliberation, and had an attentive ear not been turned to the impassioned reports of those who sought to pass as the aggrieved parties and to exaggerate the extent of their injuries. At Madrid, Soule was beginning to become more moderate in his behavior and showed himself hopefully tractable in a conference with San Luis, the president of the Council of Ministers. The time had arrived, it was thought in Spanish circles, when Cueto might be instructed to lay stress upon the well-known fact of the almost brutal insistence of the American claimants and the gen- erosity and fairness of Her Majesty's government. Cueto was in- structed to make a direct appeal^ to the President's sense of justice and to prevail upon him and Marcy to lay the vexed question for- ever aside. ^ Though the release of the steamer Black Warrior, the remittal of the fine, and the grant of special royal privileges to the owners of the boat put the minister at a loss to imagine any pos- sible paint d'appui in reason for new claims, it was recognized that the general situation was far from being reassuring. Quitman in the Southland Slidell in Congress might be successful in their purposes. What then ? . possible contingencies must be carefully considered. If passion prevails against reason [came the word from the old Castilian]. if the repeated assurances of our purpose and sincere desire to preserve peaceful relations with the Republic are vain. Your Excel- lency will labor for delay and to obtain the acceptance of arbitration, which is the means to which good faith turns and which cannot be ^ Neic York Herald. March ii. 1854. 2 Cueto to the Secretary of State. June 24. 1854. ' Calderon to Pezuela. May 10. 1854; also Calderon to Cueto, same date. «CaIderon to Pezuela. May 7, 1S54. ' Same to same. May 10, 1854.