The New York Herald Newspaper, November 12, 1854, Page 2

SPANISH POLITICS. The Cuban Question and Caban Perils, {From ee Magazine, October, rg '» or. » Dar Esoxy,—The political chionicle, since last I wrote to you, is far from offeriag such stirring in- ciden‘s aa were recorded in my July and August despatches. There has been no figh' although we were once on the brink of it, and have gone pretty quietly, and, upon the whole, satisfac- torily. After the fray comes the feast; and just as my last letter went off, a banquet was Theatre-Royal, by the press of Madrid, to the mi- nisters and a large number of notable Tue press toek an im) ments here, and has not been unrewarded, several of ite members having been under government- Afier the dinner, 4 and patriotisnt were plentifal, the next in- ident of note, was the return <o Madrid of the small vision that first, under O’Donnell and Dalce, raised the banner of revolt against the Sartorius tyranny, and fought the brief but sanguinary fight of Vical varo. But the principal event of the last thirty the only one whi h (with its consequences) is dwelling upon, is the departure—I migh’ al- most ¢ Queen Christioa from Mad: | <a paaacngsiers | Spanish “ Home Office” and the main and from Spain. nid former letters i have given you an idea of the dotestation with which erdiaand’s widow, once 30 beloved, has long been regarded. To those who re- member the affection and enthusiasm testified for hor daring. the early years of her rosidence in this country, the contrast with the storm of hatred and execration amidst which she has quitted it, is ve striking. Then she was the hope of Spain, the ido! of the jiberal party; her appearance was the signal for cheers as vehemeat and heartfelt as apy that have since been raised for Espartero. Her name was the soldier’s bat'le-cry, when combating amidst the rugged bills of northern aud eastern ‘the partisans of Ccarlea V.; it was the burthen the songs with which he enlivened his brief in- tervals of repose, and beguiled the weariness of the march. As I write, there recurs to my memory the burtaen of one of those cheertul ditties, in which Spania:ds are called upon joyfully to exclaim “Viva la Reina, Maria Cristina, she wao broke the chains that bound and oppressed us”—and more to that effect. Little more than 2 month ago, as I walked through the Puerta del Sol—the heart of Madrid, which is the centre of Spaic—blind mem and iil- favored women shouted at every corner the titles and contents of scurrilous pampuleta that recounted the misdeeds of ‘‘ Mother Corisiina.” It may truly be saic that, of the fourteen millions that people Spain, not one person (save her own creatures) could be found to raise his voice in her favor. Th? charges brought against her are numerous, and but too weilfcunded. She is zocused of gross and wilful neglect of her daughter’s education—neglect which bas been the main origin of the scandal Isabella has caused, and of the humbled aud perilous position in she now finds herself; her crown totterin, om herhead,and her ouly chance of not losing consisting in implicit obedience to her minister's directions. She is accused of having betrayed the liberties of Spain, which were intrusted to her keep- ing ; of having trampled on the laws she had sworn ~ to maintain ; of having built up a collossal fortune at the expense of a nation ; of having, by her ua- scrupulous greed and shameful politicel intrigues, by her own conduct, and by her patronage of, complicity with, some of te worat men in Spain, deatroyed all public morality, and augmented to an inconceivable extent administrative corruption. On all these charges, an immense jury, composed of, the whole Spanish nation, hus unaniiously found her guilty. And, since her departure, the general hope and prayer are that she may never again set foot the country she has so deeply injared. “ May the accursed Italian” said a newspaper the other day “ never retarn hither to make a traffic of all shat is most sacred and holy upon earth,” But, before she had lefs, the feeling con ‘ing her was in one respect different. It was the opinion of many that it was neither safe nor just to allow her to leave the country. It was remembered how, during ber three years’ exile in France, she had in- trigued aud mancenvred, and lavished treasure, eee aided by the divisions ia the liberal cam, per and ncapacity of the liberal government, she Medrid in the triumphal car of reaction. b, itistrue, she had a staunch and interested ally in the wily and unscrupulous chief of the house of Orleans, Deprived of his powerful ald and co- operation, she is manifestly much less to be dreaded. Bat a p mm of the Spanish nation, and especially of the inhabitants of the capital, well asquainted with her greatgunning and skill in intrigue, and overrating, perhaps, the elements and resources she can commend in a foreign country for the urpose of again disturving pean tranguil- ity, insisted that she should caged and not exrelled, and moreover that she should be breught to ascount before the Cortes for the peculstions and robberies attributed to ber by the voice of the entice nation. You will remember the scenes titt occurred at the palace soon after Espar- tero’s srrival kere, and the vain attempts then made to get her off in safety, whilst armed and me- naciag crowds were vigilant to prevent her passage, and oid be induced to abandon their watch over their sovereign’s palace, and thetr stations upon the roads fom Madrid, only by a promise from the gov- that the object cf the papular wrath shonld owed clandertinely to depart. Bat it acon was found that if there wasa probability fof her being Caugerous abroad, there wis a certainty of her beirg so at home. Her daughter's residence again became a focus of intrigue. This got © well known, the reactionary pa:ty, encouraged by bav ing tteir old protectress to lean upon, ‘were 80 ive, and symptoms were observed so dangerous to public trax quillity, that the chiefs of the national sent a deputation to the government, 4 strongiy the removal of Christina from the we As the cational guard of Madrid now consists of upwercs of twenty thousand men, and as they elect their own ohiefs, who wust therefore be con- sidered to represent the opinions and enjoy the con- fidesce of the msjority, the prayer of such a depu- tation noturally had weight; and at cabinet councils held on tteat and following day, the principal ques- tion discuseed wae—Wuat is fo be done with the Queen-mcther? The impossibility of preventing her intrigues, should che remain in Spain, except by confizement too rigorous to be legal, determined the council to expel her from the country, attaching her property until the Cortes should have investigated r conduct, aud decided concerning the charges brought against her. This plaa resolved upon, it ‘was’ immediately put into execution. The deter- mination was come to on the evening of the twenty- severth August. On the twenty eighth, at seven in the morning, the ministers were at the palace to witness the Queen-mother’s departure. The adiers were brief. Christina betrayed no emo- tion at parting from her daughter, who, on her part, dropped a few decorous tears but was not very atly sfflicted. Thore has never beon much affec- fon between the two queens, although the elder of them, by her astuteness and superior strength of charecter, bas exercised great influence over the younger. The Queen-motier then took leave of the Ministers, whom she must heartily detest; recom- mended ter daughter to the care and watc3fal guardianship of Espartero, and entered a large tra- veliog vehicle, accompanied by her husband, who looked gricvously dejected, snd attended by an ec- olesiast:c of high rank, and by several persons of her household. Her children’s departure had pre- ceded hers. Some were in Portugal, others in I’rance. Escorted by two squadrons of cavalry, under the commatd of the we!l-known General Garrigo, she reached, by short etages, and without moleaiation, the frontier of tho former country. - Few persons were presen’ at Christina’s depar- ture, although it was stated in the French papers, whose blunders conceruing Spanish affairs are inces- sant avd smusing,that the windows of the palace were ith ladies waving hacdkerchiefs, and that its ‘ded with national guarda. The truth is, that bardly avyboly in Madrid knew of the queer-mcther’s going until she had actually gone. ‘Ke the news sproad,.a ceriain excitement was mani- fested, and towards eleven o'clock a crowd of men, many of them armed, thronged tte small square in front of Espartero’s reside: with menaciug shonts of “dowa with the ministry,” and oud demands for the return of Christina. An de-camp preseat- ing himself at a window to address thea, Areata i re ‘were jevelled at him, and he was com tire. The fermentation each moment increased. Deputations from various public bodies waited upon the premier to exprees thelr dizapproval of the step taken. The general impression abroad was, that a trick had been played on the people that faith had been broken with them, and the government was eee not to sufler the departure a. Cortes aS woe concerni: a ver! ven partero to a ° tation, at in time ‘whens it was a great pbject toget rid of the bodies of armed men who beset the palace, and infested the envirens of Madrid, makiog it their business to cuard sgainst the escape of Mie Queen ether, Sin Seat > roe ae depart furtively, ¢ yy, day or by n! depar- fare, therefor af ight in tho noraing, when the gazette centalning its annonucer: .t had been but an hour — 4, was held to be a violation of this aa Mabe national guard lai {usta Sirough AG , that Christina should begets wes Saha 30 the tranquillity of Mad- she continued re; het propetry in Spain, pension of thirty thousead nds & year, which was ded, offered considerable for the Geaneldl Asaprope! oties of which she might be found to -have been . Tolet her leave the mauifestly wisest course, and it was Saopicd. fs had beer urged that it would have been more straightforward of the government, and would have ,revented even the fmputation of a breach ‘pt faith, 0 have summoned commissions of the — nation guards, the « corporation, an5 others boo c+ ondtrom them to have obtained, Beloge) ot sl of the measure Which was at to thema fow be the caeos of this king Waeee wh we wets eee belore aad alien, en at the | peraons- ¢ part ia the recent move- | pointed to high posts | at which | ) will have already geen accounts. Fora short time | things looked menacing, and many expected a fight. | | The council of ministers assembled in the lar, wi peel. might have a sae consulted in advance. Moreover, by , by deferring on every occasion voice, whether it spoke words of wis- ords of folly, the ministers could never to gain strength, which was what they most needed. In short, iitmight have have been a very difficult and danger 4 business to get Christina out of Madrid, had intention been published the day before; aud doubtless the government preferred risking the unfounded imputation of a deception, to incurring the responsibility of fresh celli- sions. In my opinion, 28 an eye-witness of all that parsed, it would have been hazardous to have acted otherwise than the ministers did.. As it was, tad We Bret, ie rene eens and three days after the every! wet con- vinced that the best had been done. “ {hail not dwell upon the incidents of the after. | noon aud night of the 28th August, of which building on the Puerta del Sol, which is at rps the | 80, received numerous delegates from the corporation, the provincial deputation, and from other‘public bedies, ex; to them their views and reasons, and received promises of sup) Mosnwhile the | National Guard—a portion of it somewhat sulky and dissatisfied—took up arms and prepared to maintain order. A considerable number of barri- cades bad been thrown up. The presence and exhortations of Gen. San Miguel iced for some of these to be removed by their makers. Batina mall section of the town Lhey were maintained; and a few hundred malcontents busied themselves in strengthening them, and declaring their intention of | defending them. Over their uneven summits were | to be seen the barrels of muskets and fowling:-pieces; and a few familiar faces which had often crossed my sight during the revolution of July. It was not cer- | tain what the barricaders wanted; in fact, there was a strange combination of elements; but the chief | demand they put forward was, the dismissal of the ministry, whom they declared to have betrayed ths | people. AsfarasI could observe, Espartero was excepted from this verdict; but only by of the | insurgents who, however en im the course | they pursued, acted in good faith, and in support of | their own political views. There were many others who A ridaspene geese om page The reac and adsolutist iy. fepresen- | tatives at the barricades; fo inflaenoe was | also at work; and it has been supposed | by some that Christina had supplied funds | —not, haps, in anticipation of the out- | break (although even that she may have foreseen), but to be in readiness for any occasion of mischief that zal gh present itself. It was clearly for her in- | terest, the revolution having gone so far, to see it | carried farther. If the ultra democratic party, aided by the rabble of the low districts of Madrid’ could gain the ascendant, the ce:tain result was anarchy. Then would come reaction, and Christina and her friencs might hope to resume their places and recommence their spoliations. Accor aly, there can be no doubt—indeed, it were easily , proved—that agents of the expelled pai sae Pa- lacos, as they are called—stimulated and assisted in the disturbances of the 28th August. Their ef- forts were of no avail against the steady attitude of the National Guards, who remained for eighteen henrs under arms in the streets, obedient to their officers, and turning a deaf ear to the perfidious in- sinuations of agents who svught to set thém against the government, and to divide them amongst themselves. The insurgents, seeing that their cause was . hopeless, and having the pro mise, from Espartero’s own lips of a brisk cannorade at daybreak, adandone: their barricades in the course of the night. Many of them left their arms behind them; a considerable number were taken prizoners; more escaped by concealing them- felyes in houses until such time as the national guard, all danger being over, retired to their homes. On the 29th Madrid was as quiet as if nothing had occurred. A foreigner, lately resident in this capital, and who, within little more than a year, has acquired a tatker unenviable celebrity, is here general be- lieved to have had a hand in the outbreak of the 28th ult. I refer to the Minister of the United States st Madrid. A Frenchman by birth, but rele to abandon his country previousto the ravolution of 1830, in consequence of certain political Viti 7 M. Pierre Soulé settied on the other side of the At- lantic, and became heart and soulan American. A man of great energy, vigorous intellect, and con- | siderable astuteness, he attained to high prac- tive at the bar, to a seat in Congress, and to the leadership of the which seeks, without much regard to the means employed, to an- nex Cuba to the States. With that PECK cee | party, his open profession of the most distorted | views on quections of international right made him highly popular. From his seat in the Senate, early in 1852, he bitterly attacked the government of Mr. Filimore for not taking up the cause of the adventu- rete under Lopez, some of whom had been executed, and others sent to prison, for their piratical attempt on the island ot Cuba. In 1853, shoitly before appointment as minister at Madrid, he made a 1 and Con ea E ed in which be lauded Lopez and hi compaxions as heroes, indulged in stinging sarcasm on Spats and Spaniards, and, speaking of Cuba, urged the government, in metaphorical phrase, to delay too Jong to pluck the frit from the tree, lest it shou'd rot upon the stem. This is the man whom Mr. Franklin Pierce thought proper to send as eny2y to Spain. You will remember that, on his arrival at New York to embark for Europe, a was tkeld in that city, composed of the Lone Star Bociety, of fugitives frem Cuba, and of other isans of an- nexation, who proceeded to seren: him, bearing banners on which were inscriptions Go Mr. Soulé’s name with the rescue of Cuba from the Se yoke. A member of the procession made a high flown speech, in which he expressed a hope tbat when the honorable envoy returned to his own country with fresh claims upon the esteem of his fellow citizens, a new star would shine in the celes- tial vaujt of Young America. Mr. Soulé replied to this es, referring to Cuba asa suffering peo- ple, and d g that as an American minister he did not ceage to be an American citizen; and that, as an American citizen, he had a right to attend to the sobs of anguish of the opprossed. Taken in connectién with his harangues in the Senate, and with the address to which it replied, his 5] was , certainly most significant, indiscreet, and offensive to Spain. It canged great scandal, not only in Ha- rope, bat amongst the right thinking portion of the people of the United States. ir. Pierce was loudly censured for the appointment, and American newspapers declared that it was his any, as soon as he knew what had passed in New York, to send a steamer after Mr. Soulé to bring him back, sinee he had proved himself completely unit to fill the office of American Minister in Spain. I believe it to be a fact that the United States did not-expect thir envoy aes received as such at Madrid. But they underrated the meanness and pusillanimity of the 6pamish Ministry then in: power. After some éclay at Paris, employed, as it was said,in ascer: u what sort of reception awaited him at the capital, Mr, Soule proceeded to his destina- tion. He had been but a shert time there, when an unfortunate affair brought him into bad odor. Ata ball at the French Ambassador’s, the Dake of Alba, referring to Mra. Soulé’s dress, which strack him as | culisr, compared her to Mary of por hed Pro. | ably the comparison was nst very apt; posibly the grandee who mace it wasrot particularly conversant With the costumes of the middle ages’ there certaisly | dots not appear to have been any offensive intention of perce persons, but merely of criticising 3 cos- tume. Mr. Soulé’s son, howevét,a very young man overheard the remark, took it in bad part, and ee. voked the Duke of Alba, The result was a blood éuel, fought with very long swords, ieaiing a very | lorg time, and followed np by a very long letter to | the papers, which Mr. Soulé, Jr., bad, for his own sake, much better have left unwritten. Ont of this affair grew @ second ducl, more serious in is charac- | ter and reenits, between Mr. Soulé and the French | mixisier at Madrid. They fought with pistols, and the Marquis de ot received an unfortanate wound in the Jeg, which, to this day, compels him to uee crutches.. whole details of these unplea- sant circumstances were at the time placed before the public by the English and French press, and the neéral opinion certainly seemed to be that the Bouics had _unnec commenced, and af- terwards wilfally aggravated a foolish quarrel, which, as new comers to the country and con- sidering the diplomatic character of the senior, and ¢ imputations of hostility to Spain under whfch he labored, they ought to have done their utmost to avoid. Be this as it , and with- | out entering into the that are litical animosit! said to havemingledin the affair, the Spaniards naturally took the part of their countryman and of M. Torgot—the case of the latter exciting particu lareympathy, since he had been Grsaged into and sualived in a quarrel with which he not the least concern. ‘Thenceforward the society of Madrid avoided that of the Sov)é family. ‘These unpleasant incidents had scarcely ceased to , arrest the public attention, when the affair of the Black Warrior again brought Mr. Soul's name pro- before a This affair has been so | much that its main facts must be ally and well kaown, and I will use the utmos' brevity in here recapitulating them, which | do for the aske of adding a few comments, and of relating one or two circumstances in the dispute to which they gave rize that I believe are not | widely known, On the 28th of Febraary last, | the “Black Warrior steamship, a regular | trader between Mfovile and ew York, ar- place in thé port of Havana, ‘ mm house as in bal/ast, vicd was oopformable with rovisiond being the ani wh. that éc only cargo fet learance was then appird , ber; Wes, ou searcher from the ovsiouy Sou | goods that may have been omitted Init shall” | seized; and, moreover, menifest, shall have expired, - the rep shall be fined to the amount of their value, alwaysthe amount of duty which would have to be paid on the contents of the package or packages do not exceed $400; be- cause, if it excee: Satpal, if the goods belong, or are con! owner, captain or gupe! a the fine shall not be imposed, but, instead of it, vessel, together with its Frights and everything else available, shall be seized.” This ig explicit enough; and it is to be moted that a copy of the Custom Honse regulatiobs, printed in English, was handed to Captain Bullock, commanding the Black War- tier, as soom @8 he entered the port. By order of | the authorities the was landed, and found to of der the mat'er, with a view to ite reduction Eien cee | hata Sea aes aa €1 e8 im} at the discretion | ct. of the Captain-General to reduce the latter if he | that Mr. Sonlé was about to leave Madrid thought Proper. He congulted the Attorney General | pe She lalaad who racommanies their Teduction to | n thc urani cuned in dischargin; Pezuela finally d ualty to six thousand dollars, including all | nantly seat ard charges. Inthe meantime the con- | safety, and signces had made various ap; pleading ignorance on their own that the vessel might be allowed to de; di the pe- | Taking this forafext, the Diario Es indig- means inatading Faaked if Mr. Houle feared for personal A = io gegen ven od niards. bd ications to lap-*| wor ve nO cause for gu nsion, tain General, yay fault, declaring the , paper continued, “even if he bad wanting in captain’s omission to have arisen from ignorance, | the respect due to the nation, and had by part also, begging | Spats of ber to favor projects tending to rive upon | 8 of ber most pr lony; even if it were ship laden as she was; and, Snalig, wi of six thousand dollars was defin’ ap go upon, entreating its further reduction. , however, the Captain General, who had officially announced his decision, refused to grant: but he forwarded a tition from the consignees to the Queen of Spain, in which it was set forth that there could have been no fraudulent intention— cotton rot being an article of consumption in the island of Caba—in which the heavy loss arisizg from the detention, dis :harge, and reloading of the vessel was urged, and the re- mission of the fine craved. This Beate Wa ea pene granted; but before that was done the dispute between Spain and the United States had sssumed menacing proportions. This statement of jwell-ascertained fasts shows tte Cuban authorities have acted strictly within the | consist of 957 bales of cotton. The amount of seiz- | ure end of fines incurred was very lerge, and the | usually one of the best written and best in- Marquia of Pezuela, Captain-General of the Hava- | formed of the Madrid journals, which sppporta the | BB, desired the supericr board f administration to | present government, and is believed be the dollars, exclusive of all ynses in- | capitat when news should arrive of a piratical inva- g the cargo; but General | sic, of Cuba by citizens of the United States. law throughout the whole business, and with great | clemenc; the persons who had it. If, it suited American vessels trading between Sronite and New York to call at the Havana to take in coals or for other objects, they. were bound to comply in every respect with the laws and regulations of the sony ee could not crpect to get off scot free if the wagressed them. But there is a circumstance to be taken into consideration which somewhat modi- fics this view of matters in the case of the Black Warrior. It appears that, owing to the remissness, indulgerce, or—it has been Suggested, but I have not seen it proved—the corrupt authorities, the Black Warrior had been In the habit of entering the port with a cargo, exhibiting a ma- nifest that stated her to be in ballast, and bein, entered and cleared accordicgly, end that she ha Ne at than thirty vo) in that man- ner without let or impediment. It is scarcely pos- sible that this should not have been known to the Cuban custom house, and if go, it must be admitted that the course pursued on the occasion of the voy- age made in February, 1854, was, although doubt- less strictly legal, harsh and injudictous, ‘The neg- lect to enforce the law on more than thirty previous voyages might not suffice to abrogate it; but it should have induced the authorities—though it had been but from considerations of prudence— to re-inforce it less suddenly. It is easy to under- stand that the new captain.general, and one or two other newly appointed and high functienaries, who had gone out with him to Havana only a few weeks before the occurrence of the difficulty, were fired with zeal for reform; and it is stated that, during the firet few months of their admininstration, the revenue of the island increased. But they should have I Neer to work mofe coolly and ually, In consideration of the long impunit; larities of the Black Warrior had enjoyed, it woh heve sufficed, on the 28th February, to have warns tee Pasta hy Se re igre such could ae longer permitted, an +, on her next voyage, the law ond be rigidly enforced, should occasion be given. Towards a country of equal or inferior power, thia would have been the fairest and most proper course te pursue; but towards so potent and Gggressive a neighbor as the United States, it was most unwise to adopt any other. But although nu- bpecrorag omer ‘thave heen circ! on the subject, this fault of judgment is the only one in the affair of the Black Warrior trat can fairly be bare to General Pezuela and his subordinates. f courte, the business wasa godsend to President Pierce and the. annexation States. The former forthwith sent a strong—I might almost say a violent—message to the House of Representatives, declaring the seigure of the Black Warrior to present “ a clear case of wrong,” attributing habitual migconduct to the authorities of Cubs, and stating that he had already given in stro: tions for the d of an it ® in the event of the refusal of which. he declared, in menacing terms, that he would “‘vindicate the honor ofthe American fisg.” Now Mr. Soulé appears a ugon the scene. The demands addressed to the Spanish it were an indemnity of £60,000 sterling, the diamissal of all those Cuban authorities that bad been concerned in the proceed. ings against the Black Warrior, (this would of course include General Pezuela, al Sony — note, tris not to have been mentioned acd finally, that, in, future, the Governor of Cuba should have power to settle disputes with the Uni- ted States out reference to the home govern: ment—sn ohne eno directly opposed to the colo- niai policy of Spain. As may he sup; , the Spanish ministry demurred to such exorbitant and upreasorable demands. Calderon de la Barca, the feeble and timid foreign. minister of the Sartorius cabiret, was no match for Mr. Soulé. He even suf- fered himself to be bullied by the American Secre. tary of Legation, who, on conveying to him a com. munication, took out his watch and stated the exact time he would allow him to answer it. And al though Sartorius came to the aidof his aged and incapable colleague, he quickly disgusted Mr. Soulé by bis double-dealing evasions and procrastination. None of the communications that have passed du- ring the discussion of the Black Warrior affair have as yet been published in Spain, or, that I am aware of,in America. All the correspondence that passed in Cuba is before us, eo that we are enabled to form an opinion on the merits of the case; but there our documentary information stops: What is positively known from ctker sourees is it there seemed so little chance of the affair being settled with Mr. Soulé, that the Spanish government directed Senor Sueto to try to arrai it at Washington, and sent after him, soonafter his departure, by Senor Galiano, notes and instructions to aid him in the task. Fora considerable time after that scarcely thing was heard of the matter, and there {s strengreason to believe that Mr. Souls was himeelf lett witheut communications from his govern- mentfor a len, haps bt him. This naturally awakens a doubt whether his procoedings have been alto- gether approved at headquarters. His trionds here Toaintain that they have. It is presumable that the; derive their information from himself. On the let of A last, in compliance with the desire of the United States Senate, President Pierce sent to ita messsge with respect to the state of American relations-with Spain since his former me- nacin, seers ofthe 16th of March, All that he said thst directly referred to the Bi Warrior af- fair was that Spain, instead of granting promt re- ration, bad justified the conduct of the Cuban au: horities, and thereby assumed the responsibility of their acts. The tone of the whole message was threatening to Spain, and the probability of war at 10 distant period was plainly indicated. It never- theless excited little apprehension here, where it was generally considered to be merely an unprinct- pee se Moy Cn of Lis Mpa tose, an appeal to the paseions e teople, * lant e lost, and at the seme Filme see ap op a kines wear out the energies at last, disheartened intimidated, a Spanieh government would be found willing to sell the island. Itis doubtful, however, whether any Spanish minister would dare to entertain proposals for its purchase, Mr. Soulé has declared himself, in bis place in Congress, decidedly opposed to that mode of acquiring Cuba, en the ground that it must, at no distant date, fall {nto the lap of the Union without costing a dollar. This declaration is nearly tantamcunt to saying thet it Is less expensive to take a thing by ian to buy it with money, and conveye pT tuch the eentiment for the practical carrying out of which ona small scale men used. to be hung, ond are now transported. Mr. Soulé is an- qnesticoably a man of talent—eloquent, wary, rkilfal in adapting himself to the ns wi whom he comes in contact ; but he is de is deficient in good taste, as be has move than once shown tines he came to Madrid, acd his patriotiem ond pbitanthropy with respect to the island of Cuba smack too strongly of piracy to obtain much res- pect in Europe, however acceptable they may prove, and however loudly they maybe applanded, in a lodge of the “Lone Siar,” or ata N public meeting. Bat although “Cuba without cost’ may be the device inscribed on his banner—a black one it is to be proeames ~when he csm2 to Spain as the representative of his government, he was bound to obey his instruc d these, there can scarcely be a doubt, were large sum of mo for the much coveted ivlan Koowing what too y w ess of tre Cuban | in the United | contsibute his aid to that germination of regenera- of time that annoyed and per | vasion of payment of the trassit duties, ri gg ing. Loa | 0 1e ior been comparatively little 9; in Madrid, the genezal opinion pak raph that it had ‘been amicably adjusted at Washingtom, or was in way to beso, when the O’Donnell insurrection and the July revolution concentrated the public thougat on home politica. aahas bad scarcely begun to settle down, whem, on the 21st ane the arrival | of the President’s message of 1st omce more drew attention to Cubs, and to the state of affiirs | between Spain and America. Just a week later, on the 28th, cccured the outbreak I have described | in the early part of this letter. On that same aay befcre the revolt was suppressed, it was said Madzid that the American minister was concerned in the OAL pear aed Pil or, pest were quiet, the par was ve | was attr of Common conversation, and then the news pers took up the matter. ‘The Diario Es- panol , jal organ of Ge! O'Donnell, published on been sta before with eons lor nm bad been added France, and the suppositio: Tp avoid being in the Spanish that he did so in order certsin that he had sought to profit by the days of degradation of the Spanish government (under Sar- tortus), and to take advantage of the insatiable vo- actty of high and low influences; even if it were certain that he had endeavored to profane the sanctity es the legac ya ‘to sow paces smongs: people, sedu unwary, eng! 54 in a vile intrigue, giving Snene and ‘pronase arms to destroy the power of the honorable atrictic men who now direct the destinies of pain; even if he had succeeded in gaining overa few deluded Vp who had failed to discern, through the cloud of his{honeyed and flattering words, latent idea of keeping up agitation and discord in the Peninsula, and eo of depriving Cuba of te suc- cors the mother country might otherwise send hith- | er,even though the people knew that he had at- tempted to take advantage of a moment of efferves- cence traitorously to excite ita indignation, and to hurry it to revolt.” This was u pretty pisin speaking. | On the same day that the article appeared, Mr. le addressed an sng letter to the Diario Espanol, which did not pul it. The letter afterwards ap- footed in a French frontier newspaper. The follow- ing is a translation of its sontents,.as given in the Bayonne Messager of the 9th August:— % MADRID, August 30, 1854. A Moysrevr tz Directeur Dv Diario Espaxon:— Sir—Tho tone and character of the article concerning | me, published in your she¢t of to-day, too plainly prove the influences that haye inspired it for me not to honor it by a word of reply. Lleave Madrid because it pleases me to leave it, and be- cause Ihave no account to render to anybody, either of wy Proceelings or of the motives that determine them. will never absent myself from any place through fear of being insulted, or put in peril by those whom my pre- sence may displease. 1 do not fear impertinence, or even assassins. And especially, sir, I do not fear the people. The people respect’ what deserves to be respected; it brands only the iniserable men who flatter and deceive it, * © ® Tt Sghts—but it does not assassinate. i As to the perfidious insinuations of which your article | is full, they are beneath my contempt. I leave to you the merit of the varnish with which you have covered them, and, to those who dictated them, the infamy of their invention. I am, sir, your servant, _ PIERRE SOULE, ‘The charges: brought by the Diario Eqpanes, and to which the above characteristic epistle was the reply, were endorsed to 8 greater or less extent | by public opinion in Madrid. On the 12th of Au- | ust, Mr. Soulé, unable to attend the banquet given | fy the prees, bad addressed to the committee of | management a letter, in which occurred the follow-'| ing passage:—“The heart of Young America, doubt | it not, will palpitate with joy and delight, at the | breath of the perfumed breeze that shall waft to it Se ‘has te peut fey ta ie he 5 10 88 mine 5 toxicated with felicity by the hope that Europe, | apathetic though it seem, will not suffer those | germs of regeneration, which the sublime sacrifice | of some of her sons has just so miraculously. caused | to become debilitated, and todie.” It is | charitably rupposed, by those who credit the Ameri- participation 8 in the events of the 21h Avgust, that the intoxication referred this flowery and figurative parsreph haa not entire- a away at that date, and that the writer of e letter to the dinirg committee thought it his duty, as the representative of Young America, to tion which apethetic 9; showed herself tardy in promoting. At the antag! there certainly are not wanting evil-disposed persons who affirm that ‘Mr. Soulé has ae concentrated his vision on his adopt- ed country, that he can scarcely discern any other; that he looks with contempt rpon the herd of alaves who ag about arte, mat it to him it would be oa 80 that New Wor an ambition. it has further been sald that, neither illegitimate infi court. It has been declared, and believed by that Mr. Soulé that the government Eeportero and O'Donnell was not one that he intimidate or , and beholding in ita cha- Tacter an insurmount obstacle to the attainment | of the ol of his desires, resolved*to work | for its downfall by every means in his power, and that, notwithstanding his fervent sympathy with io welfare and liberties of Spain, he would have roe gig WV ia agent ae rear ye rendered more and more remote the prospect of realization of that cherished project, whose accom: plishment would introduce a new star “ into the celestial vault of Young America,” and at the same | time vastly add to the importance and popularity | in the States of the American minister at rid. All these things have been ssid, and have found wide credence in this capital and elsewhere. Enough, however, on this branch of the subject.. | The sum of ten million dollars, demanded Mr. Pierce to make head against the poasible contingen- | cy of a war with Spain, having beem refused him by | the American Senate, the probabilities of such a | war occurring ore greatly diminished, and the | Spanish government entertains little apprehension | on that ecore. Upon the other hand, notwithstand- ig Mr. Pierce’s declaration in his Message of the 1st August that the whole of the means which the constitution allows to the exccutive power should be employed to prevent the viola- tion of law, treaties, and international right,‘ con- templated by certain citizens of the United States, who, as the government was offi and positively informed, were fitting out an expedition for the in- Cuba—notwithstanding this assurance, I say, there sppear grounds for fearing that, owing | He to the weakness of the executive arm in | ¢ States, the expedition in question wil! yet sail for the coveted shores of the Pearl of the Antilles. | ow Orleans | Whether; if attempted, it will meet the fate of that | under Lopez, or whether it will succeed, not only in landing, but in holding its ind until it can receive those reinforcements which would prob: ficck to it from the Southern States, as soon as it became known there that it had occupied, and was maintaining, a position, is a matter of anxions un- certainty. ‘The island ‘is strovgly garrisoned, but American 1iflemen are formidable opponents. Tae | Syanish government feels confident of the result, and fully reckons on the fidelity and valor of the two or three and twenty t! troops cow in Cuba. Where the Ameri be most deficient will doubtless be in cavalry and artillery. The Spaniards bave @ thousand drazoona, several batteries of field artillery, and numerous large Paix- han guts garnishing the forte and batteries of the island. And althowgh Spanish cavalry, judging from what we see Lere, is generally but tly mounted, it is abundantly able to cope ih corel infantry, and indeed would prove most fo: to the invaders, if they ventured forth from the shelter of forests and hedges, or from the broken ground favérable to shar ers. As to the cout of | the men, when well led, there is no doubt of that. Good leading, which they bave rarely had, is all that | FBope 0 want to beas valiant troops as any in RK . Only the other day, at Vicalvaro, with Gen. 0 and otber’ brave and determined officers at thelr head, re iments of dragoons repeatedly gal- loped up tothe very mouths of batteries, which received them, at a few yarda distance, with volleys of grape. Men who would do this would hardly fiiach from charging irzegulsr riflemen, however accu- rate and deadly their fire. The 8 artil. | a fortnight ago. net the interval probal | past and present history of the world to see that, | Heed, of ultimate succor from poworful allie lery is considered the best arm the ser- vice--it is certainly the one with which the most pains are taken, and which instructed officers. The infantry now in Cubs is | about twenty thousand strong, Well disciplined, in Rood condition,, and acoustemed to the climate, | Were these forces, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, | concentrated in the field against the American pi- , rates, it is diffleult to believe that the latter could snocecd in getting together, or at least in landing, a force capeile, of bem ed their ona oy speak sitively on » he wever, it won! 2.086 + Ry. to be somewhet ia the confidence of the divas. ferda, or at least to know more than is postively buown of their resources, plans, aad places of ren- dcazvous. But even soppoving tlat they muster @ know of the Sartorious ministry, we are . Buse than we, im ous laperfect lafvetmation, think 8 the best | numerous -volunt ison must be detached the An intelligent Spanier’, in Cuba, avd recently me as bis opinion that from men could be employed as twenty thousand mou etvetive for the wenty thousand men ve field, which is somewhat less than the a The E an Spaviards in the isiand he be about fifty thousand, a lar, snd Catalans, and who selves as volunteers in case of peril, would formidable antegonists, and fight rately fr their homes and p! . As tothe re 5 many of them would be y to join the Americans if these were strong, and gained advantages at starting: but if the invaders were bavs would fly to arms and vaunt their fidelity to Spain. The regroes, who have no wish toexchange 8 for American masters, and who are aware of the, in the States, all to fight if arms were given to them. The mode of fighting, as described to me by who are well acquainted with it, is pe and dan- erous. They fire a volley, receive the enemy’s fire, muskets, and rush in with cutlass fenders, since i nvading force. Concha's arrival takes place previously to any attack. He is the man to command under such circum- stances. Quick of eye and ready of resource, he will nspire the troops with noe, and raise the courage of the Cubans. Amongst these he has, what no captain-general of Cuba in our time hashad, a strong ag > score who are attached to him, like his mode of administration, prefer him to any other captain-general, and will stand by him to the utmost with all the influence and power they may 5 This is a principal reason why he and gladly accepted the destination towards which héis now steaming, if indeed he has not arrived there, since his deporture from Corunna Geet une upwards of Spat government, and indeed Spaniards generally, as far as my means of belief that, with the 8 at his co! id, and with the moral and ee support of majority of the dwellers on the id, ‘Cancbe will so handle the intin annexationists as to make them hear tily repent their unprovoked and unjustifiable ag- gression. There are other points to be taken into con- sideration when we discuss the probable issue- of the anticipated conflict. One of these, on which ‘such a conflicting testimony has been given that it is scarcely possible to form a leci¢ed opinion with respect to it, is the amount of support the Americans would find in the island itself. The Spaniards, as I have above inti. mated, think it would be unimportant. Ask a Yankee annexationist, and he will tell you that the whole island, with the exception of the European Spaniards resident in it, pines for release from the intolerable yoke of Spain, longs to hoist the stripes and stars, and to ig to the proud neck of the Americaneagie. I have been told by Amsricans of the numbers of letters received from inhabitants of Caba, expressive of these sentiments, and imploring sym- pathy and assistance. Butit must be observed that 8 few malcontents, or American settlers in the island, would suffice to circulate an immense num- ber of such complaints and prayers. One ma: imagine, for instance, the consignees of the Blac! Warrior, after inditing their submissive and penitent letters to the Governor-General, and their petition dipping thelr aharpent iron pes into the Ink bottle P} iron le, and re! tue aficted” sous by throwing off peep, Hevea op to their friends in New York and New Orleans, inveighing against the deaf of Spanish rule, and long! 8 for the day when Cuba should join the Union. By those to whom such let- ters were welcome, they would ly be made the most of; they would be handed about, talked of, until it would nd their eroien Wie aia mt seem as if a hundred letters one. The oeygehe themeelves admit that a ay of Creole population would z oe to see the island detached from pain. To those I su we may safely add, as partisans of Cuba's: becoming. a State er the Union, sll the Anglo-Americans resident in the island. Be this, I am in ion of no trust- worthy 3 and when ey eat only a emall Bis ie Spat gremmtad oa ae 3 8 te it, as you will observe, on Spada author te time, on the authority of §; long resident in he island, ry, ng startin, , ofthe ml lads in Gio Bahama channe Be a ent were entirely worsted, and cut off ‘or com to reembark. How long atime lapse before a third expeditionwere got ready? Would ee eaen tos cote tween the Lopez expedition and the date? The ed tenacity of a certain ot Ameri- cans, Wl bent 4; acquisition, is well known, And is it not probable that each expedition would exceed the preceding one in strength, until ono went forth h to triumph ? ‘the passage of the island from the feeble hands of bankrupt crepid Spain into the strong ones of the young and vigorous Union, is a mere question of time, - er nations interfere. Are any prepared to do so? | England and France are of course only powers to which Spain might look for aid to prevent her being robbed of her last valuable colony. And would she not look to them in vain, at least under present circumstances ? I do not believe that the Spaniards reckon on such assistance. The reflecting portion of the nation—those who think upon the subject at all--seem convinced that the island must sooner or later them. to sell it, whilst it still Americans feel so certain of Lee by will, no lon; 5) @ for ing it to the Jaet, burning the last cartridge before giving in, and, as a last de: resource, emanci- pating the slaves, The rational and profitablé of the two courses would, doubtless, be the sale; yet, owing to the ignorance and conceit of a large number of is—who believe that the yalor of Spanish troops must always auflice to guard Cuba, and who have not sufficient knowledge of the E = the course of nature, they must lose it—it would be difficult for any ministry to brave the storm of in- Gignation that would here bo raised by the salo of the island. It could, of course, under the present tegime be done only with the sanction of the Cortes; and perhaps the wisest thing the Espartero ministry could do would be to brirg forward the subject when that body meets in November. To give advice to Spain is, I am aware, a delicate thing for foreign governments to do, but the men at present st th© head of affairs here are not likely ‘o mistake the motive, or to take offence at a wellintended counsel. If England and France be quite decided to take no steps to- Bote the peeean of co, beat ond if ernment te wae ofthat dasaon, Yo rand be bet gt ive formation, 80 irl fally appreciate its ition and chances, an: not dein 4 if with ais, heneie never to be rea: LS Assuredly no sh government was ever more in ant tion is eet eer one of the supplies which the sale of Cuba would . at its disporal. The state of the finances of the country is lementable, and ministers are the more to be pitied, since their embarrassed position is the conse- quence of na fault of theirs, but of the scandalous mnisrule and malversation of several preceding rpments, and especially that of Sartorius. The — and oa newspapers have already su] plied many details on this head. I will content miysait with throwing together a few of the principal mest aed facts, When the present government assumed office, it found an omplytres: tury, and, even worse than that, the resources ‘on which itmigh$ bave reckoned for advances were already anticipated. Thero was no money ‘any- where. The Sartorius Domenech Collantes mini hed made a clean ewcep of everything. The losn decreed on the 1th May, and waich was to be psid duing the months of June and July, had not flowed in with that gratifying rapidity announced by the organs of the Polaco cabinet; but nevertne- le:3 ghout four hundred and seventy thousaad Matera J sterling had been cclipe ent of near! WO millions, which it was estimated that it ahoul yield. Of the 0 abont £140, or thirteen thousand reals, remained in the treasury. The con- fosion in the public accounts rendered neces the intment of commissioners to vestigate them, the real state of the finances, The Commissioners brought te liges ar ap) end to repoth lahore of ene observation extend, entertain a sanguine | ved instead of . negro |- spair of the improvement sonable to suppose that when is cole le took office, under as difficult circumstances cel as any set of men that ever acce) ‘cd it, eve here, they would be allowed to give ir whole time and undivided attention to the ities of the count:y—to the getting rid of > asee—to the ’ rupted. work before the usual hour | accepted, 03 soon as due, in payment of custome house cusics, and an acrngeneah the promise of ap early one, being et same time mads with . introduction of proper economier:v the adoption of measures calculated to improv: the wretched financial situation. Not so—‘h: idea of their sup- porters evidently was that th: : fit duty was the pesning out of places, not «17 to old friends, but many new ones—libéraua’ :/xdendemain. From the day they took office cow? resent date, mimis- tera have been besieged , overwhelmed Paty ce « gee a - er partero, a] an ment was the chief victin of thewe corinorante, a] Fors ve long time hi- anterooms were thronged from carte morning till tate at night, by persons whe. could not go awsy, who wee general, al- though ps the request they had to make haa no connection with his department, and shot have been. addressed to some other minister, to the intendant of the palace, the captain-general of} the es or civil governer of Madrid. the remonstrances there were thirty or forty the door of his cal , all deat of weary aides-de-camp, he would come ont himself as if in despair at ever obtaining re; Fe plang me them all, one after the other, as quickly as mig! and then retreat with his secretary into his room, giving orders that nobody should be to try to get two or three hours’ Fi cf sitting of the council arrived. And them the host of letters—nearly all prayers and petitions, setting forth the services and sufferings of the writers, and their strong claims to place or patron- age! The supplicanta were Of all kinds and clases from the colonel who thought his merits would be over-rewarded by a, peantier « embroideries, from the aspirant to some ‘fat of many thousand reals a-year, down to the suitor for a porter’s place nae eant’s ee, and even indivi- alii a inv and seateteteot the anaes athena ane a strong doubt as to whether a can possibly be avoided. I have exposed misery of the treasury, as left by the ministry of ag pence ie ressing necessities of ne: Dp f the sone difficulty, and by. the the San Forands Bank, btained about fifty to be effected, on an notice. It is probably in reduction, if mage, would most said to be the intention ofthe the) reduce it; and no o) than the presont; for when tue of the boon of ly be felt. I¢ ter of War gre: rtanity can be better the men who, in vir two years’ remission of service oe fc ecaraae a eee Theee toa sure would not be just, nor is it reform of the tariff is an obvious and most effectud means of improving the financial position. Lot the ro reduce the duties on foreign manufac- ured cottons to twenty per cent ad valorem. importation (chiefly contraband) of that class of merchandise rt present amounts, as I am informed, to about three millions sterling, A twenty per cent duty would demclish the smuggler, and yield the revenue six bundred thousand pounds @ year. Would it not then be possible for Spain to get a ¢maill loon on reasonable terms, the cou] bei yespect to the amount of coupors which Brave Munillo laid upon the ehe! It t@, however, uno Waray 1 paawes tha queation pall we bare