In 1894 Senor Sagasta laid before the Cortes a project for reform in Cuba; but the sense of this project was confused in the extreme; there was little hope that a reform planned with such little method could meet with any degree of successful realization. In fact there was little or no possibility that the abuses under which the island groaned would be removed.
At last patience ceased to be a virtue. The present rising in Cuba was begun toward the close of 1894. The leader was Jose Marti, a poet and orator, who was then in New York. He at the outset, was the very soul of the revolutionary movement, and he held in his hands the threads of the conspiracy.
He was a man of charming and captivating personality, strong in his own convictions and devoted body, heart and soul to the interests of his country.
He was the son of a Spanish colonel and when quite young was condemned, for what reason has never been known, to ten years imprisonment in Havana. Afterwards, he was sentenced to the galleys for life.
When the amnesty was declared, after the Ten Years War, he was given back his freedom, but his resentment still continued and he vowed his life to obtaining the liberty of Cuba.
He went first to Central America, and afterwards took up his residence in the United States.
Everywhere he preached what he considered a holy war. Here and there he gathered together contributions, which he sent to Cuba for the secret purchase of arms and ammunition. He met with many rebuffs and disappointments, but not for one moment did he doubt the justice of his cause or its ultimate success. He was not a visionary man, but there were those even among the ones he had won over by his impassioned words who looked upon him as the victim of hallucinations. That this was not true, the events of the past few years have fully proven.
Marti organized his first expedition in New York, and set sail for Cuba with three vessels, the Lagonda, the Amadis and the Baracoa, containing men and war materials. This expedition was stopped, however, by the United States authorities.
Later, Marti joined Gomez, Cromlet, Cebreco and the Maceo brothers, all of whom had fought in the Ten Years War, at Santo Domingo, which was Gomez' home.
Some description of these men, all of whom have done magnificent work for the freedom of their country, may not be out of place.