uits in the United States. But again the cause was
betrayed by its members, the leaders were arrested and imprisoned, and
Spain was secure for a time in the control of the island.

As an illustration of that country's course against suspected citizens,
it may be said that in 1844 a rumor spread that large numbers of the
slaves on the plantations near Matanzas were making secret preparations
to rise and slay their masters. Investigation failed to establish the
truth of these charges, but many were put to the torture to compel them
to confess, and nearly a hundred were condemned and shot in cold blood.

[Illustration: GENERAL CALIXTO GARCIA.

Hero of three wars for Cuba's freedom. Died of pneumonia in Washington,
D.C., December, 1898.]

Naturally the affairs of Cuba from its proximity were always of great
interest to the United States, and a number of filibustering expeditions
landed on the island and aided the Cubans in their futile revolts
against Spain. These attempts at their best could only keep the island
in a turmoil, and give Spain the pretext for using the most brutal
measures of repression.

In 1868 a revolution occurred in Spain itself, and Queen Isabella, one
of the worst rulers that sorely accursed country ever had, was driven
into exile. Cuba had not forgotten the lesson of the opening of the
century, and, instead of proclaiming her loyalty to the deposed dynasty,
she seized what promised to be a favorable opportunity for gaining her
own independence.

One of the fairest and most impartial publications anywhere is the
_Edinburgh Review_, which used the following language in giving the
reasons for the Cuban revolt of 1868:

"Spain governs the island of Cuba with an iron and blood-stained
hand. The former holds the latter deprived of political, civil, and
religious liberties. Hence the unfortunate Cubans being illegally
prosecuted and sent into exile, or executed by military commissions,
in times of peace; hence their being kept from public meetings, and
forbidden to speak or write on affairs of State; hence their
remonstrances against the evils that afflicted them being looked upon
as the proceedings of rebels, from the fact that they are obliged to
keep silence and obey; hence the never-ending plague of hungry
officials from Spain to devour the product of their industry and
labor; hence their exclusion from the art of government; hence the
restrictions to which pub