Page:The Collected Works of Theodore Parker volume 6.djvu/197

184 ticians that there is a regular agreement entered into between Spain on one side and England on the other, that at a certain period within twenty-five years every slave in Cuba shall be set free. I believe this is known to men somewhat versed in the secret history of the two cabinets of England and of Spain. England has the same wish for land which fires our Anglo-Saxon blood. She has islands in the West Indies; the Morro in Cuba is only 100 miles from Jamaica. If we get Cuba for Slavery, we shall next want the British West Indies for the same institution. Cuba filled with fillibusters would be a dangerous neighbour.

Then there are two other ways: one is by fillibusterism; and that Mr. Slidell and Mr. Dean want to try; the other is open war. Now, fillibusterism will lead to open war, so I will consider only this issue.

I know that Americans will fight more desperately, perhaps, on land or sea, than any other people. But fighting is an ugly business, especially with such antagonists as we shall have in this case. It is a matter well understood that the Captain-General of Cuba has a paper in his possession authorizing him discretionally to free the slaves and put arms in their hands whenever it is thought necessary. It is rather difficult to get at the exact statistics of Cuba. There has been no census since 1842, I think, when the population was estimated at a million, I will reckon it now at 1,300,000—700,000 blacks, and 600,000 whites. Of the 700,000 blacks, half a million are slaves and two hundred thousand free men. Now, a black free man in Cuba is a very different person from the black free man in the United States. He has rights. He is not turned out of the omnibus nor the meeting house nor the graveyard. He is respected by the law; he respects himself, and is a formidable person; let the blacks be furnished with arms, they are formidable foes. And remember there are mountain fastnesses in the centre of the island; that it is as defensible as St. Domingo; and it has a very unhealthy climate for Northern men. The Spaniard would have great allies. The vomito is there; typhoid, dysentery, yellow fever—the worst of all—is there. A Northern army even of fillibusters would fight against the most dreadful odds. "The Lord from on high," as the