Year: 1878

New York Times.


The visit of Judge Leonard to Havana was
purely personal and private, and was of a
peculiarly interesting, delicate and romantic
character. Some time ago, at the city of
|. New Orleans, he met a young lady, native
of Cuba, who was visiting this country with
her parents, and between whom and Judge
Leonard a warm attachment sprang up,
which ripened into love. marriage en-
gagement was the result, but the parents of
the young lady, in consequence of her youth,
opposed the match, and Judge Leonard was
not permitted to see the object of his affec-
tons except in the presence of her parents.
When the time arrived for the departure of
the Cuban and his family from New Orleans,
the young lady manifested some reluctance
to return home, but an arrangement was
finally made by which she and Judge Leon
ard were to be permitted to hold free and
unrestricted correspondence through the
mails.


After her departure Judge Leonard wrote
her several letters, to which no answers we're
received, which naturally annoyed him very
much, and gave rise to the suspicion that his
letters had been intercepted and the young
lady prevented from communicating with
him. After long interval, he received a
brief letter from the lady, which simply
stated that she had not heard from him since
her return to Cuba, and that she could not
hear from him. This brief letter bore evi-
| dence of having been hurriedly written, and
| its broken and soiled condition led Judge
Leonard to suspect that it had been carried
some distance by negro, to be secretly
mailed. After writing other letters and
waiting anxiously for replies, he became con-
vinced that the parents of the lady were not
acting in good faith, and he determined to
visit Cuba. A week or two before his de-
parture he called on the President, and, in
forming him of his trouble, requested the
President to write q personal letter to the
! Consul General requesting him to ascertain,
if possible, the situation and whereabouts
of the lady. The President did SO, and in
due time Judge Leonard received cable
dispatch from Havana which informed him
that ''Maria had been sent to plantation in
the country This dispatch was not signed
by the consul general, but bore the name of
party unknown to Judge Leonard. This
added to his perplexity, and he determined
at once to set out for Cuba. He CALLED on
Senor Mantilla, the Spanish minister at
Washington, and making known to him his
| trouble, Obtained a leJCer IRON CnaC O1nclal,
to the captain-general of Cuba, recommend
ing him to do whatever was proper to aid
Judge Leonard in his delicate mission. The
sympathies of Mme Mantilla were enlisted in
behalf Of Judge Leonard, and that lady wrote
such letter as a lady would write in such q
case, urging the captain-general to do every
these letters Judge Leonard sailed for Ha-
| w f3nl A frip iv
Washington received letter written by him
from Havana on March Z, in which he said
he had seen the lady in presence of hel
parents. No details as to the success of his
mission were furnished, but from the gen
eral dependency pervading the letter, his
friend believes he failed to obtain the con
sent of the parents to his addresses to theil
daughter.