New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-07-11
Cespedes to CASTELAR,.

| 0A "'AoA Will cOumanO the attention o
!ne American public, and OF the democrac,
in other lands, not only on account of tn,
IDEAS which it presents, but of the pen from
which 1t emanates and the person to whom
it 10 addressed:
GENERAL HEADQCARrERs IN GIvA
Republic of Cuba. May ID. 1873
Don Emilio CASTELAR,:
| SIR-l was yet but young when I opened
one Of your books / remember it wal
| The Slaves Redemption" then groaneG
| under the weight of the greatest of despot
isms. felt upon my spirit the weight O.
tyranny, on my heart and body the chains
that outraged my country. Your ideas
luminous with revelation from God
opened before my eyes an immense horizon
reared myself on the wings of your arden,
| imagination, on those of your admirable
talent. to the elevation of right. You,
splendid and sonorous style claimed
| more ear than celestial music Some
thing that had not experienced
lnhdmed my breast and gave to my heart a
temper for hitherto unknown feelings. Il
seemed as if they had taken me BY the
hand to introduce me to a new world,
where justice ruled, and where all oppressed
peoples asked an account from their op-
pressOrs for their tremendous iniquities
Yours were the mysteri; u, genius, and in
the heart OF tyranny you took the bandage
from my eyes and taught me the way that
could conduct me to the end OF my nOblest
aspirations.
Later on studied works of yours. I fol
lowed you through the press and on the
rostrum, always admring your colossal in
tellect and profound eruditiOn. Demcc.
racv has given to your word the force of
the tempest and the light OF the lightning.
You illuminated history and showed to the
present generation the ways that the hui
man race has left bloody on the earth.
You cursed all tyrants, shO wing their evil
deeds In asking justice for the unfortu-
nate you consoled humanity. You had
been, in fine, the great propaganda of
those new ideas which have powerfully
contributed to purify mOnarchics in the de-
cline where they are placed by the spirit of
the age, raising between the victories Of
the multitude the glorious ensign Of liberty
for the nations.
But day arrived when the society among
whom | was born became agitated by the
conclusions contained in the revolutionary
thought. The expiring hour tor oppressors
in this great Antille finally vibrated from
the alarm bell Of passing deeds. The eman-
cipating sword of this unfortunate people
was brandished in the heavens Of America;
and l, surrounded by the whirlwind of the
combat and the din of arms, saw myself
separated from all contact with the rest Of
the world, and lost sight Of you.
Sir, after long days OF struggle, in which
1 did not for a moment forget your holy
doctrines, by chance I read in Spanish
journal your last parliamentary speeches.
When this happened, when I was per-
suaded-because you yourself had declared
it-that before being Republican or a
Democrat you were . Spaniard, and a
Spaniard supporting national territorial
integrity; when I saw you in power,
~ nc Of <o1o
you had reached, with others OF your party
an accomplish to the atrocities perpetrated
here, to the scandal of civilization and
OF humanity: when l knew that the
slave who in you had a hope of emancipa
tion-because you had condemned slavery
wherever your word irradiated-here, in
this unfortunate country, the slave grOans
under the lash of the taskmaster, and that
you contemplate the spectacle from the
height of your triumphs, in odious league
with the sellers of human flesh, with the
sustainers of the Statu quo, do not know
what gusts of darkness passed my eyes,
and l determined to address you this
letter as an expression OF my dread
surprise at SO strange and incon
sstent an apostacy. l, who have for more
than four years cOmbated in an unequal
struggle to sustain aloft, where it has been
placed by heroes, the banner of the repub-
Iic-I. who have suffered the cruelest pains
and sacrificed the dearest affections OF my
heart for the advancement of She ideas
which your books and your speeches in
spired mel tell you, sir. that your actual
political conduct has produced in my spirit
a sense of the most intense deception, and
has wrested from my mind ono OF my most
valued convictions.
I thought you invulnerab,e, sir. Hooked
upon you as one of those geniuses whom
the Eterna! Power sends from time to time
on earth to enchant by his words and re-
generate by his ideas. Perhaps | was not
entirely mistaken; perhaps this apostacy is
only apparent; perhaps you have had to
subserve the exigencies OF painful policy;
peradventure you tempOrize to-day with
the unreasonable and the unjust to raise
Yourself tomorrow on their ruin and to ce.
ment forever the establishment OF right and
liberty; perhaps yOn contribute TO
drown in Cuba the republican idea I'M
der the pretext of badly understOO
patriotism, so that as you reason II
Spain, that same idea should take root and
grow A bad path you have taken. sir.
Permit me to say that your conduct is wor-
thy of censure. If you were a propagandist
YOU should know how to be martyr, and
not put yourself in places Of convenience,
that discredit the cause which you defend.
Only thus could you continue being dis
tinguished representative OF the great idea.
You had feared the work of yOuE own
hands because the enterprise is gigantic.
and now, nearly at the moment OF finishing
it. you wish to soi! your device by false
and criminal charge. You preach emanci-
patton of the slaves when it was not realIza-
Bile. and to. day there are bondmen in Cuba
and Porto Rico, notwithstanding that you
and your copolitiCians are at the front OF
affairs in Spain.
You condemn the perverse policy OF the
men who preceded you in power. and. IN
stead of diminishing. have augmented here
the barbarities OF war without quarter.
What matters it if the end be laudable
when the means employed are clioEs.
Think you that the tears and the blood OF a
people who have struggled for their indie
penGence weighs so little in the balance
of conscience. IL it necessary that
YOU sacrifice for the happiness OF the
Standards that of the Cubans! Ia the
blood shed by the sons Of the Peninsula
not sufficient for their own political ana
social regeneration without its being ndis'
,ensable for Cuba to suffer horrible mar
tyrdom on the altar Of a metropolis tina: SO
much has tyrannized over her.
Well NAV a successful exit crown your
efforts Well may the Spanish republic
prop itself up and become stable. But
tell YOU. sir. thar above all the giofies
which could illuminate the ranks OF your
party. the spirit Of humanity. the spirit OK
Justice and of right vii! always prevail.
showing to all nations in the pages OF the
republican democratic history OF your
country that the completely Of vour actual
policy with the inquisitorial policy OF the
tyranical domination in the Antilles Is an
Incompatible consort of opposing opinions,
to produce. by deception and falsehood as
auxiliaries, q fruit, which perhaps may be
ephemeral. at the cost OF continuation OF
tremendous and unqualified doctrines.
foregoing thoughts are expressed. otfsprin!ss