human butcheries and the
insults to the flag.

But it must be remembered that the government had a very hard task to
deal with. There was little or no doubt but that the Virginius, at the
time of her capture was intended for an unlawful enterprise, in spite of
Captain Fry's words in a letter to his wife just before his execution:

"There is to be a fearful sacrifice of life from the Virginius, and, as
I think, a needless one, as the poor people are unconscious of crime and
even of their fate up to now. I hope God will forgive me, if I am to
blame for it."

The clamor of the American people for revenge was fiery in its
intensity, but the government did not yield to it, in which it was
right. There has been more than one time in our history when if public
opinion had been allowed to rule, the results would have been fatal;
and the very men who were most abused, in the light of future events,
have been praised for their wisdom and moderation.

Murat Halstead sums up the whole matter in a clear and just manner. He
says in his admirable book, "The Story of Cuba:"

"It is not, we must say, a correct use of words to say that the United
States was degraded by the Virginius incident. In proportion as nations
are great and dignified, they must at least obey their own laws and
treaties. When Grant was President of the United States and Castelar was
President of Spain, there was a reckless adventure and shocking
massacre, but we were not degraded because we did not indulge in a
policy of vengeance."

CHAPTER VI.

AGAIN SPAIN'S PERFIDY.

Before proceeding further, it is necessary to call attention to one very
important matter which was the direct result of the Ten Years' War. If
the insurgents accomplished nothing else, they may well be proud of this
achievement.

Their own freedom they failed to obtain, but they were the cause of
freedom being bestowed upon others.

We refer to the manumission of the slaves.

The Spanish slave code, promulgated in 1789, is admitted everywhere to
have been very humane in its character. So much so that when Trinidad
came into the possession of the English, the anti-slavery party resisted
successfully the attempt of the planters of that island to have the
Spanish law replaced by the British.

Once again, however, were the words of Spain falsified by her deeds.
Spanish diplomacy up to the present day has only been another name for
lies. For, notwithstanding the mildness of the c