least lack of
sympathy with the Church which then and thereafter prevailed among the
men of Cuba. The women, even the most patriotic, largely remained
faithful to the Church and subject to its spiritual influence, but the
men renounced it because of what they regarded as its unfaithfulness to
the cause of Free Cuba.

There were at this time happily no racial nor partisan differences among
the patriots of Cuba. There were white men, there were negroes, and
there were those of mixed blood. But the same spirit of independence
animated them all, and they fought side by side in the field, and sat
side by side in council, with never a thought of prejudice. Antonio
Maceo, one of the most honored and trusted patriot generals, was a
mulatto, but he was regarded as the peer of any of the white commanders,
white men gladly served under him, and we have already seen how his
death was regarded by the Abreu sisters, who were aristocrats of the
purest Creole blood. It was only in later years, after Cuban
independence had been attained, that so much as an attempt was made at
the raising of race issues in Cuba, and then only through the exercise
of the most sinister and unworthy influences for sordid ends.

Nor were there partisan differences. Indeed at this time the Cuban
Independence Party was a harmonious unity. There were no symptoms of any
factional division. The rise of partisanship did not occur until after
the war of independence had been won and, if we may for a moment
anticipate the course of events, until it was realized that the United
States really meant to keep its word and make Cuba an independent
Republic. For, truth to tell, when the United States intervened in the
conflict between Cuba and Spain, in the spring of 1898, while there was
assured confidence throughout the island that the end of Spanish rule
was at hand, there was also a general belief that annexation to the
United States was inevitable. The great majority of the Cuban people
probably did not know of the pledge which was appended to the
Declaration of War, that the United States would withdraw and leave Cuba
to self-government, and they assumed that American intervention meant
American conquest and annexation. The comparatively few who did know
about it had little expectation that it would ever be fulfilled. Even if
the United States made the promise in good faith, something would happen
to prevent its being carried out. When at last it was found that the