The History of Cuba, vol. 2

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

While this wholesale murder, which cost the lives of seven hundred and forty-two Frenchmen, not counting those who were drowned in flight, was going on in the streets, military conferences were held at which, after some irresolute wrangling, it was decided to withdraw to Fuerte Dolfin, about five hundred varas (rods) distant from Bayaja, in order to save the garrison from being at the mercy of a negro mob, intoxicated with the victory won over their adversaries. They succeeded in holding Fuerte Dolfin, until Bayaja itself was evacuated by Juan Francisco on the thirteenth of July. The loss of the Spanish troops, including deserters and those that died from privations, was about three thousand men. The national treasury suffered during the revolt a defalcation of some fifty thousand pesos. The negroes were at first charged with the embezzlement of that sum, but there were rumors to the contrary, which in view of the only too well-known turpitude of many colonial officials, were quite plausible.

The peace concluded between Spain and the French republic at Basilea (Basle) on the twenty-second of July, 1795, and published in Madrid on the sixth of November, terminated Spanish rule on the island, Spain ceding her part of Santo Domingo to the French Republic. The people of Spain welcomed this peace, as they would have hailed any other. To the part played in the negotiations by Manuel Godoy was due his title "Prince of Peace." In the elation of the moment the court even remembered Aranda, Florida Blanca, Cabarrus and Jovellanos, the able statesmen and faithful patriots who had been imprisoned or exiled, and granted them full amnesty. Yet this treaty of Basilea was the official admission of the decline of Spain's power. It heralded the gradual disintegration of her colonial possessions, where, as some authorities assert, British intrigue sowed the seeds of discord and discontent. When two years later, in February, 1797, the Spanish fleet, although superior in vessels and artillery, was defeated by the British in the battle of Cape St. Vincent off the south point of Portugal, the ruin of the kingdom was complete. The total income between 1793 and 1796 was twenty-four hundred and forty-five millions of reals; the total expenses, thirty-seven hundred and fourteen millions; the debt amounted to more than twelve hundred millions. The annual deficit was eight hundred millions. The paper money in circulation amounted to nineteen hundred and eighty millions. Such was the financial status of the royal bankrupt.

If the peace of Basilea had temporarily brought satisfaction and lightened the burden of anxiety, the defeat at Cape St. Vincent sufficed once more to cloud the horizon. The capture of Rome by the French in 1798 and the proclamation of a republic in place of the papal sovereignty, plunged Spain into a state of panic. Cabinet ministers succeeded one another with bewildering rapidity. Even Jovellanos, who had been recalled to restore order in the disorganized department of justice, was unable to cope with the chaotic situation. Enormous sums were being continually wasted. Of eighteen hundred and thirty-three millions spent in 1799, the royal court alone had used one hundred and five, the department of war nine hundred and thirty-five, finance four hundred and twenty-eight, foreign affairs forty-six, and the department of justice only seven! Every branch of the administration was filled with the minions of Godoy, who was now related to the royal house, having espoused the daughter of the Infante Don Luis. His annual revenues amounted to one million reals. The elements themselves seemed to be in conspiracy against what had once been the greatest power in Europe. The failure of crops, famine, epidemics and earthquakes filled the minds of the superstitious with vague terrors.

Cuba was at that time too much engrossed in the attempt to continue on the path of progress to be seriously affected by the fate of Spain. The insurrection of Santo Domingo had brought the eventuality of internal trouble so close to her door, that she did not dare to look across the ocean for more sources of apprehension. Yet the revolt of the neighboring island had also its advantages for Cuba. At the first outbreak of hostilities against the French, many French refugees had fled to Cuba. They were followed by others and after the massacre of Bayaja even by Spaniards and by colored women. This French element which settled in Santiago and Havana became a valuable factor in the population of the island. A French traveler and writer, Vicomte Gustave d'Hespel d'Harponville, says about it in his book "La Reine des Antilles":

"They brought to Cuba the remnants of their wealth, some slaves, but especially their knowledge, their experience and their activity. From that moment the two great Antilles changed rôles: San Domingo lapsed into barbarism, Cuba placed her foot in the chariot of fortune."

The French settlers were industrious laborers and skilled artisans and as such were highly valued by economists who had been anxious to increase Cuba's insufficient labor supply by the introduction of white labor. Even the women among them were workers, in strange contrast to the Cuban women, who were given to tropical indolence. Many of these French "Dominicans" established themselves as nurses, laundresses and seamstresses. In education, too, these newcomers were far above the average Havanese; a difference which foreign travelers were quick to detect and to comment upon. The French settlements southeast of Havana, in the environs of Matanzas, Santiago and Baracoa, became such centers of activity, industrial and otherwise, that the Spanish, who had persisted in their habitual indolence and indifference, became jealous, which in time resulted in some friction and unpleasant disturbances.

The definite loss of Santo Domingo to Spain caused also a great change in ecclesiastical affairs. The archbishopric was removed to Santiago de Cuba. Havana and Puerto Rico remained "suffragans," i.e. subject to the other. About that time there was established a territorial tribunal in Puerto Principe.

TOMAS ROMAY

One of the foremost figures in the great Cuban awakening at the close of the eighteenth century was Dr. Tomas Romay, physician and scientist, who was born in Havana on December 21, 1764, and died on March 30, 1849. He greatly aided the two good Governors, Las Casas and Someruelos, in their labors for the betterment of Cuba; with the help of Bishop Espada he introduced vaccination into the island; he was prominent in the Society of Friends of Peace, and did much for education, agriculture, and other interests of the Cuban people. Among his writings was a monograph on yellow fever which attracted world-wide attention. His earnest patriotism involved him in violent controversies in the troublous times of 1820-1823, from which he emerged in triumph and in universal honor.