DOI issue:
July to December, 1851
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16608#0127
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
115
THE FIGHT FOR CUBAN FREEDOM.
•£>UST now American views of
3 Cuban affairs are very contra-
dictory. According to recent
Transatlantic news at a "mass
meeting" of 18,000 persons
held at New York, to sympa-
thise with the Cuban invaders,
it was resolved, amid tremen-
dous enthusiasm,
" That in the opinion of thia meet-
ing it is consistent with the peace,
neutrality, and honour of our Govern-
ment for the people to assemble to-
gether, and express their sentiments
upon the subject of Cuban independ-
ence ; that such an expression not
only comports with the magnanimity
and feelings of a free people, but is
more particularly honourable to the
character of a nation who were the
first to declare and establish the prin-
ciples of freedom"
Also,
" That our Cuban brethren . . .
have proved tit- . « not unworthy
of tlie lihrrfv » i our example has
taught the.., to lung for."
Likewise,
" That the appeals so frequently
made by the downtrodden inhabitants
of Cuba for aid and assistance in the
holy cause in which they are engaged
are worthy of being responded to by
the American people."
Now, "Mr. Asheel Smith,
oi Texa?," in a letter to the Times concerning the movement in Cuba, thus writeth:—
" The main cause of the Cuban movement is the uncertainty of their property, and the insecurity of their
social and political condition, and even of their lives, arising irom the mischievous intermeddling of British
abolitionists with the Slave institutions of Cuba."
And thus :—
" It is a conviction of the truth of this charge of intermeddling that has roused the sympathy and enlisted the
co-operation of numerous American citizens."
So the " mass meeting " at New York sympathises with the Cuban revolutionists because
they assert "'the principles of freedom" because they have proved themselves not unworthy
of "liberty" and because they were "downtrodden" and engaged in a "holy cause"—the
cause of that same liberty.
Not a bit of it, says—or seems to say—Ashbel Smith, of Texas. The Cuban movement,
and the sympathy of American citizens therewith, has been occasioned by the attempts of
certain officious Britishers to procure, in Cuba, the abolition of slavery.
Further declareth doughty Ashbel Smith, on behalf of his compatriots :—
" Nor will we suffer the institutions of Cuba to be destroyed by secret fraud or by open violence. The
attempt to do so by the first means is the true cause and origin of the present convulsion in Cuba."
He has already explained that the institutions he means are slave institutions, and these
he declares his countrymen will defend; whilst sympathising as well as himself with the
Cuban insurgents, they profess to be actuated by a zeal for freedom.
Can the large intermixture of Irish with Yankee blood, which has been occasioned by
emigration lately, at all account for this confusion of American ideas?
One fact seems certain. The " sympathy " of the Americans is most eloquently repudiated
by those among the inhabitants of Cuba who are most interested in the "holy cause" of
liberty. Four hundred and fifty gentlemen, zealous for Cuban freedom—the model freedom
of American citizenship—headed by General Lopez, and Colonels Pragay and Clen-
dinnin, landed near Cabanos, had a battle with the Spanish troops, were beaten, and some
fifty of them captured. Having gone to war on their own account, unsanctioned by their
Government, from no motive intelligible to their captors, but the desire of pay or of plunder ;
the prisoners were—not unnaturally, though rather severely —treated as brigands taken red-
handed, and forthwith shot. And then—but let the New York Herald conclude the tale:
" After they were shot they were dragged by the feet by negroes, who commenced stripping them of their
clothes, which they carried on sticks through the streets, yelling like so many wild demons."
Very horrid this; barbarous ; disgusting; revolting. The atrocity, however, on the part
of the negroes, clearly shows that the Cuban slaves have rather a" strong detestation than
any love of the propagandists of Yankee freedom. Strange—is it not ?—that they should
evince such savage, furious hostility to the "holy cause."
A Real Nut to Crack.
Mr. Dunup has, in order to encourage ingenuity, resolved on offering a very handsome
reward to any one who will pick his pocket so effectually as to get anything out of it. The
learned gct.tieman states, fairly enough, that he has tried the experiment frequently on his
own pocket, and has never yet succeeded; but, that if any one else should prove more
fortunate, he will be most happy to share the produce with the lucky individual. The profes-
sional pickpockets have, it is understood, long ago abandoned the hopeless task, so that
amateurs have now a fair opportunity.
A CHALLENGE TO MR. HOBBS.
" Sir—Mr. Punch—Old Fellow—
"Will you be kind enough to print
my challenge to Mr. Hobbs ?—
"I challenge him to open a lock—for £500
a side—or £50—or a box of cigars—or a dinner
for a dozen—or anything he pleases. It isn't the
money 1 want, but merely the principle of the
thing. I am so confident of winning.
"Mr. Hobbs boasts of having opened a
Bramah's Lock with twenty tumblers!
"This was done in the day-time. Can he do
as much at night ?
" I don't wish to boast, old fundi, but I
mean to say that I have been in the habit, for
the last three years, after going home from the
Coal Hole, or Cider Cellars, of opening a lock—
a patent Chubb—with at least 25 Tumblers !—
Tumblers of Gin-and-Water !—hot! ! mind you
—and this I have done, not with a set of instru-
ments, but with a simple latch-key! and I am
proud to say, my hand has never failed me once !
" Now, my dear Boy, if Mr. Hobbs will under-
take to do as much for three consecutive years,
I will promise to pay him the £500—or the £50—
or the box of cigars—or the dinner for a dozen
—or the anything he pleases—in the event of
his being the winner, which I doubt very strongly;
for very few men, I flatter myself, are equal to
the task of opening a lock with five-and-twenty
tumblers of hot gin-and-water !
" This is a fair challenge. In proof of which
I have the pleasure of subscribing myself, to the
extent of three-pence every week,
" Your constant admirer,
"Felix Fastboy, D-D.
" I and my money—or my dinner—or my cigars
—as the case may be—are to be heard of at any
time, between the hours of 4 and 12, at the Albion
and afterwards, first at the Cider Cellars, and
then at the Coal Hole."
An Old Fogey's Grumble.
Most things that are to be bought are obtain-
able by young men upon credit, excepting Expe-
rience, which, as a young man buys it, he must
pay ready money for it. This may be one reason,
perhaps, why the young men of the present day
show themselves possessed of such very little
experience ! They spend their money in other
things, and refuse to buy the only thing worth
paying for. But only let a shop be opened
to-morrow, where Experience could be had upon
credit, and the doors would be blocked up by the
crowds of young men rushing to buy it!
The Congress at Verona.
We take the following from the Daily Neics:—
" The imperial, royal, and ducal gaolers of Italy are about
to be gathered together at Verona, to consult and to confer,"
Verona has a poetical mausoleum. The
"gaolers" having, as they believe, given a
sleeping draught to Italian liberty, would fain
bury it alive in the tomb of the Capulets.
don't hang out your banners.
A Gentleman, who, from his position in
society, ought to have known better, has just
insulted us by asking whether the Standard of
Natural Sherry was destroyed among the flags
recently burnt in the Invalides.
A Difficult Question.
Her Majesty, the Queen op Naples—(so
writes the correspondent of the Daily News)—
" considers political offenders should suffer death,
instead of being tortured in idols." Given, the
Qoeen op Naples and the King. Which is the
better half of the other ?
115
THE FIGHT FOR CUBAN FREEDOM.
•£>UST now American views of
3 Cuban affairs are very contra-
dictory. According to recent
Transatlantic news at a "mass
meeting" of 18,000 persons
held at New York, to sympa-
thise with the Cuban invaders,
it was resolved, amid tremen-
dous enthusiasm,
" That in the opinion of thia meet-
ing it is consistent with the peace,
neutrality, and honour of our Govern-
ment for the people to assemble to-
gether, and express their sentiments
upon the subject of Cuban independ-
ence ; that such an expression not
only comports with the magnanimity
and feelings of a free people, but is
more particularly honourable to the
character of a nation who were the
first to declare and establish the prin-
ciples of freedom"
Also,
" That our Cuban brethren . . .
have proved tit- . « not unworthy
of tlie lihrrfv » i our example has
taught the.., to lung for."
Likewise,
" That the appeals so frequently
made by the downtrodden inhabitants
of Cuba for aid and assistance in the
holy cause in which they are engaged
are worthy of being responded to by
the American people."
Now, "Mr. Asheel Smith,
oi Texa?," in a letter to the Times concerning the movement in Cuba, thus writeth:—
" The main cause of the Cuban movement is the uncertainty of their property, and the insecurity of their
social and political condition, and even of their lives, arising irom the mischievous intermeddling of British
abolitionists with the Slave institutions of Cuba."
And thus :—
" It is a conviction of the truth of this charge of intermeddling that has roused the sympathy and enlisted the
co-operation of numerous American citizens."
So the " mass meeting " at New York sympathises with the Cuban revolutionists because
they assert "'the principles of freedom" because they have proved themselves not unworthy
of "liberty" and because they were "downtrodden" and engaged in a "holy cause"—the
cause of that same liberty.
Not a bit of it, says—or seems to say—Ashbel Smith, of Texas. The Cuban movement,
and the sympathy of American citizens therewith, has been occasioned by the attempts of
certain officious Britishers to procure, in Cuba, the abolition of slavery.
Further declareth doughty Ashbel Smith, on behalf of his compatriots :—
" Nor will we suffer the institutions of Cuba to be destroyed by secret fraud or by open violence. The
attempt to do so by the first means is the true cause and origin of the present convulsion in Cuba."
He has already explained that the institutions he means are slave institutions, and these
he declares his countrymen will defend; whilst sympathising as well as himself with the
Cuban insurgents, they profess to be actuated by a zeal for freedom.
Can the large intermixture of Irish with Yankee blood, which has been occasioned by
emigration lately, at all account for this confusion of American ideas?
One fact seems certain. The " sympathy " of the Americans is most eloquently repudiated
by those among the inhabitants of Cuba who are most interested in the "holy cause" of
liberty. Four hundred and fifty gentlemen, zealous for Cuban freedom—the model freedom
of American citizenship—headed by General Lopez, and Colonels Pragay and Clen-
dinnin, landed near Cabanos, had a battle with the Spanish troops, were beaten, and some
fifty of them captured. Having gone to war on their own account, unsanctioned by their
Government, from no motive intelligible to their captors, but the desire of pay or of plunder ;
the prisoners were—not unnaturally, though rather severely —treated as brigands taken red-
handed, and forthwith shot. And then—but let the New York Herald conclude the tale:
" After they were shot they were dragged by the feet by negroes, who commenced stripping them of their
clothes, which they carried on sticks through the streets, yelling like so many wild demons."
Very horrid this; barbarous ; disgusting; revolting. The atrocity, however, on the part
of the negroes, clearly shows that the Cuban slaves have rather a" strong detestation than
any love of the propagandists of Yankee freedom. Strange—is it not ?—that they should
evince such savage, furious hostility to the "holy cause."
A Real Nut to Crack.
Mr. Dunup has, in order to encourage ingenuity, resolved on offering a very handsome
reward to any one who will pick his pocket so effectually as to get anything out of it. The
learned gct.tieman states, fairly enough, that he has tried the experiment frequently on his
own pocket, and has never yet succeeded; but, that if any one else should prove more
fortunate, he will be most happy to share the produce with the lucky individual. The profes-
sional pickpockets have, it is understood, long ago abandoned the hopeless task, so that
amateurs have now a fair opportunity.
A CHALLENGE TO MR. HOBBS.
" Sir—Mr. Punch—Old Fellow—
"Will you be kind enough to print
my challenge to Mr. Hobbs ?—
"I challenge him to open a lock—for £500
a side—or £50—or a box of cigars—or a dinner
for a dozen—or anything he pleases. It isn't the
money 1 want, but merely the principle of the
thing. I am so confident of winning.
"Mr. Hobbs boasts of having opened a
Bramah's Lock with twenty tumblers!
"This was done in the day-time. Can he do
as much at night ?
" I don't wish to boast, old fundi, but I
mean to say that I have been in the habit, for
the last three years, after going home from the
Coal Hole, or Cider Cellars, of opening a lock—
a patent Chubb—with at least 25 Tumblers !—
Tumblers of Gin-and-Water !—hot! ! mind you
—and this I have done, not with a set of instru-
ments, but with a simple latch-key! and I am
proud to say, my hand has never failed me once !
" Now, my dear Boy, if Mr. Hobbs will under-
take to do as much for three consecutive years,
I will promise to pay him the £500—or the £50—
or the box of cigars—or the dinner for a dozen
—or the anything he pleases—in the event of
his being the winner, which I doubt very strongly;
for very few men, I flatter myself, are equal to
the task of opening a lock with five-and-twenty
tumblers of hot gin-and-water !
" This is a fair challenge. In proof of which
I have the pleasure of subscribing myself, to the
extent of three-pence every week,
" Your constant admirer,
"Felix Fastboy, D-D.
" I and my money—or my dinner—or my cigars
—as the case may be—are to be heard of at any
time, between the hours of 4 and 12, at the Albion
and afterwards, first at the Cider Cellars, and
then at the Coal Hole."
An Old Fogey's Grumble.
Most things that are to be bought are obtain-
able by young men upon credit, excepting Expe-
rience, which, as a young man buys it, he must
pay ready money for it. This may be one reason,
perhaps, why the young men of the present day
show themselves possessed of such very little
experience ! They spend their money in other
things, and refuse to buy the only thing worth
paying for. But only let a shop be opened
to-morrow, where Experience could be had upon
credit, and the doors would be blocked up by the
crowds of young men rushing to buy it!
The Congress at Verona.
We take the following from the Daily Neics:—
" The imperial, royal, and ducal gaolers of Italy are about
to be gathered together at Verona, to consult and to confer,"
Verona has a poetical mausoleum. The
"gaolers" having, as they believe, given a
sleeping draught to Italian liberty, would fain
bury it alive in the tomb of the Capulets.
don't hang out your banners.
A Gentleman, who, from his position in
society, ought to have known better, has just
insulted us by asking whether the Standard of
Natural Sherry was destroyed among the flags
recently burnt in the Invalides.
A Difficult Question.
Her Majesty, the Queen op Naples—(so
writes the correspondent of the Daily News)—
" considers political offenders should suffer death,
instead of being tortured in idols." Given, the
Qoeen op Naples and the King. Which is the
better half of the other ?