General Woodford has arrived safely in Spain, and is to be presented to the Queen Regent in a few days.
He has, in the mean while, met the Duke of Tetuan, and has been very pleasantly received.
A great sensation has, however, been caused in Havana by the publication of a letter from General Azcarraga, the present Spanish Prime Minister. In this letter the minister says that the Spanish Government will not listen to any demands from the United States, that no one in Spain thinks our country has any right to interfere in the Cuban question, and that rather than submit to American dictation, Spain is prepared to declare war.
In the letter it is also said that if it becomes necessary to declare war, Spain is confident that she will have the support of the nations of Europe. It is argued that if we succeed in freeing Cuba we will be certain to try and get Canada and Jamaica away from England, and the French possessions from their mother country.
The General asserts that if the United States succeeds in freeing Cuba, European rule in the New World will soon cease to exist.
Finally, he says that if General Woodford's mission is after all merely to claim damages from Spain, he will be listened to with the utmost politeness, and then informed that Spain also has her claims against America. But if General Woodford persists in entering on the subject of the Cuban war, he will be told that Spain does not admit the right of the United States to interfere in her private affairs, and the ambassador will be politely but firmly requested to mind his own business.
Every one is most anxious to learn just what General Woodford's mission is, and how Spain will receive it.
In the mean while many people are wondering why Spain has suddenly become so averse to parting with her colonies. Many times in the last century she has ceded and sold them, and it seems strange that she should be unwilling to let Cuba purchase her freedom when it is the easiest way out of the present difficulty.