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ancestors, has made a law so inexorable that no one dares to break it. Their religion also inculcates the principles of passive obedience with- out objection, It teaches them that they were born to be slaves, that they were destined by God to a state of servitude, and that to suffer the yoke is not only a political obligation but also a religious duty, and consequently, that any attempt on their part to destroy their chains and better their condittons would be as much a rebellion against God as against those who tyrannize them. What a beautiful condition for liberty! A similar state affects not only the Cubans but also the inhabitants of all nations in which the Church and government unite in their attempt to deceive and barbarize the people by dominating them and robbing them of their pleasures. I do not blame the inhabitants of Cuba as much as I pity them. It is her fate. Superstition has blinded her reason, clouded her mind and deprived her of the faculty of seeing things in their t_rue light and as they really are. Servile through custom and education, they do not know the first principles of liberty, nor have they the least idea of what constitutes a good and liberal government. They believe that the law- ful and sole purpose of the government is to impose taxes, enrich the favorites, and punish the poor, and with respect to religion, they be- lieve that it consists in obeying the priests, in maintaining them in leisure and luxury, and in kissing the ground they walk on. They esteem as the most precious of all privileges the giving of free rein to the physical pleasures common to brutes, and if they are allowed pleasures of this 'kind, they consider themselves contented and happy, without desiring anything more. Inured to their hard fortune, they scarcely know that a better one exists, and as the nightingale flits and sings in its. cage without desiring freedom, so they dance to the sound of chains, without craving any change in their condition, or at least, without wishing to run any risk to better their fate. Such is not the character of the entire population. I have said before that Cuba does not lack illustrious men whose wisdom, integrity and valor do them honor, and I duly appraise them for their virtues; nevertheless, it is my opinion that if the Cubans en masse were asked the question whether there should be established in Cuba religious tolerance, granting to each person the right and faculty of worshiping his .Creator as his conscience dictates, the majority of them would certainly reply in the negative. And why? Simply because the priests have made them believe that the religion which they profess is the only true religion, .and that the toleration of any other would be a crime against the Pope and against the Godhead-a crime too enormous for their re- demption. The political emancipation is longed for by many, but none wants to shake off the ecclesiastical yoke which is not only the most in- tolerable of all oppressions, but also in reality the soul and primal cause ,of nearly all the evils which afflict that unfortunate country. Without the help of the church, with its tendency to sell the people, [thus] leading them toward evil, the despots of Spain could never have op- pressed and enslaved that beautiful Island. The clergy rob the people in the name of God, and the government with the sword and with chains. And which is worse? As much as the Cubans profess to hate their political tyrants, it is very evident that they adore their religious -oppressors, and that they would be horrified at the mere idea of dis-
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