A portion of this amazing document is as follows:
"His majesty, the king our Lord, desiring to obviate the inconveniences that might, in extraordinary cases, result from a division of command, and from the interferences and prerogatives of the respective officers: for the important end of preserving in that precious island his legitimate sovereign authority and the public tranquility, through proper means, has resolved, in accordance with the opinion of his council of ministers, to give to your excellency the fullest authority, bestowing upon you all the powers which by the royal ordinances are granted to the governors of besieged cities. In consequence of this his majesty gives to your excellency the most ample and unbounded power, not only to send away from the island any persons in office, whatever their occupation, rank, class or condition, whose continuance therein your excellency may deem injurious, or whose conduct, public or private, may alarm you, replacing them with persons faithful to his majesty, and deserving of all the confidence of your excellency; but also to suspend the execution of any order whatsoever, or any general provision made concerning any branch of the administration as your excellency may think most suitable to the royal service."
For over one hundred and seventy years these orders have received little or no change, and they still remain practically the supreme law of Cuba.
This was the way that magnanimous, grateful, chivalrous Spain began to reward "The Ever Faithful Isle" for its unparalleled loyalty and devotion.
And Heaven save the mark! this was only the beginning.
"That precious island," says the royal decree. Precious! There was never a truer word spoken. For Spain has always loved Cuba with a fanatical, gloating passion, as the fox loves the goose, as Midas loved gold, and as in the case of Midas, this love has eventually led to her destruction.
CHAPTER III.
CUBA'S EARLY STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY.
It was in 1813 that the Bonapartist regime came to an end in Spain, and Ferdinand VII. reascended the throne. In the very beginning he paid no attention to the Constitution; he dissolved the Cortes and did his best to make his monarchy an absolute one.
Again, as has been said, Cuba felt the yoke of his despotism, all previous promises, when the aid of the island was to his advantage, being as completely ignored as if they had never been made.