The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1897-12-10
READ BY HIS DAUGHTER.
The Late Admiral Meade's Lecture
the Caribbean Son


the Caribbean Sea.
In the navy yard armory last eyenin.
Miss Annie Paulding Meade entertained
company of officers and ladies res,icn
| at the yard and invited guests by rea.lin.
a lecture OH '"rhe Caribbean Sea" writ
| ten by the late Rear Admiral Meade. he
father, soon after he retired from IN
command of the North Atlantic squad
ron. Admiral Meade was an America
| to the marrow and wrote in a simple bu
torclble style: Through years of studiou
observation he came to be noted au
thority on many places and things. Fl,
| knew the Caribbean by heart.
1t is understood that Miss Meade is t,
| give public readings on this discourse ;.nt
two others, all unpublished. She has a,
agreeable presence and a pleasing voice
and her effort last evening was well an
plauded.
The first part Of the lecture, which wa
Illustrated with many fine lantern views
has to do with the history of the Carlb
bean region, briefly, and with it's seogra
| scribed as paradise of tropical wealth
| and climate, and the sea as a magnti
cent sheet of water 1000 fathoms deep
From a political, geographical and .vel
racial standpoint, the Caribbean Is lik,
| the Mediterranean. Eight hundred con
| tinuous years of its history are filled Will
ini4uities.
''that the deadly scourge of these sh ores
the dreaded yellow fever, came from
Africa to the islands of the Caribbean
with the horror of the slave trade an(
the middle passage
ALAS! that the history of this beautiful
Caribbean sea should be only one Ions
tale of crime and bloodshed. And it il
sad to reflect that the fends incarnate
who dealt in these horrors should fine
ready apologists in some of the romancer>
of this day, who apparently think thai
when viewed closely"
A little farther on in the lecture there
is this interpolated thought: "What
power today dominates this great sea
Is it the Spain of Ferdinand and Isa
bella, or Charles v. or Philip H.? The
blood-red cross of St. George is every.
where! 1t holds, or will hold, if this ma.
ton allows it to do so, every coign OF
vantage from the east to the west from
the Orinoco to Honduras, and will DOS
sess itself. sooner OR later, of the great
canal at Nicaragua when that canal is
built. | believe i'll the manifest destiny
of the United States of America, and |
think that this nation of 7O.OOO,OOO OF
freemen, and not Great Britain, should
be the residuary legatee of any territory
that may be lying around loose on the
American continent
Later, after describing the political con.
dition of the Caribbean region, the ad.
miral touches again on the concern of
Great Britain, and commits himself in
these words: For the next shot fired
III anger between us means the death
knell of the British empire"
The lecture gives England full credit
for what she has done in civilizing
British management of the islands has
been very good. In regard to methods
of government. the Dutch colonies come
next to the English. the Danish and
French next, then the Spanish proper
and last, the Spanish-American ana
Haytien.
John Bull has dealt out even-handed
justice to the negro and the Indian
After ALL the lecture goes on, 1.-THE
Briton and the Yankee are of the same
race and language. We regard ourselves
as graft on the old stock, which ought
to be AN Improvement on the original
plants
In closing, after commenting on the
strategic value Of the Caribbean, there
is this poetic thought on Cuba: 'Cuba
land of the cocoa and the palm, land OF
great forests and gloomy shadows, of
beautiful sunny valleys and awful noun.
tains, land of the hurricane and the tor,
deat Cuba, ever faithful ISLE as the
loyal Spaniard fOndly calls it-'Cuba
libre,' as the patriotic Cuban fondly
wishes it, there is magic in thy name
and under a just, wise and humane rule
what golden possibilities of wealth and
power and happiness untold would be
thine.'-Boston Herald.