The foregoing gives a very adequate idea, cleverly cloaked under soft and reassuring words, of the panic under which the authorities were laboring. Only too well they knew the danger of "any unusual disturbance," and of the exciting of the populace, for in it dwelt the menace that that same excited mob might turn and rend their masters.
The Captain-General soon had another circumstance brought to his attention which was a tremendous shock to his sensibilities, seeming as it were a bomb placed at the very bulwarks of his authority. Puerto Principe had been more or less a danger point, and harsh measures had been used to put down the incipient rebellion there. The people had an inkling that it was the intention of the Captain-General to deprive them of their Audiencia. This would eliminate the cost of its maintenance, and also keep the legislative or advisory power more closely concentrated in Havana, where the Captain-General could keep a watchful eye on proceedings. A petition was received by Concha requesting that they be not deprived of their Audiencia, but when he examined it closely he was shocked to observe that it was dated a month previous, and that it had evidently been sent directly to the Spanish government at Madrid, without the official sanction and endorsement of the Captain-General, and this circumstance was aggravated by the fact that the Petition bore the signature of the Commanding General. Things were coming to a pretty pass if the Captain-General, the highest official in the land, was to be ignored by his subjects. Concha made a great to-do about the matter, and obtained the dismissal from office of the offending Commanding General, at the same time securing the appointment of a close friend, Don José Lemery, on whom he could depend to do his bidding. Lemery began his tenure of office by using the most harsh and unwarranted methods of suppressing what he termed an impending uprising, and by ordering the arrest of a large number of the members of old Creole families—persons who were known to have revolutionary sympathies—on suspicion of being about to incite a rebellion. Among these were many members of the city council under the old Commanding General, and one of the number, Don Joaquin de Aguero, was later to figure as the leader of the most successful revolution which Cuba had yet known.
Meanwhile Lopez, not disheartened, was once more planning an invasion of Cuba, with belief unshaken, in spite of his discouraging experiences, in the real desire of the Cubans for liberty and in their purpose to join the revolutionary movement, if they could only be brought to emerge from the deadening stupor of acquiescence into which fear of Spanish vengeance seemed to have plunged them. This belief was strengthened by the correspondence, which by an underground method he was carrying on with Cuban patriots—men who he expected would be leaders in future revolutions. They all assured him that if he could only start a real movement for revolt, which promised actual deliverance, the Cubans would no longer hesitate but would rush to his support. The fact that a price had now been set on his head, should he set his foot on Cuban soil, and be so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the Spaniards, had no deterring power on Lopez's purposes. He was above suspicion of a personal axe to grind, and there was never any question of his courage and perseverance.
Lopez was emboldened by the support which the Cuban juntas promised him, but he did not find all of the men who had accompanied him on the Cardenas expedition as confident as he was himself. Some of the less daring spirits prepared a statement to their leader, setting forth their viewpoint, in substantially the following language:
"The people of Cuba charge us with endeavoring to create a revolution for the sake of pillage; they state that the Cubans do not desire freedom; if they did they would strike for themselves. We will not waste any more time, nor take another step until we see something more on the part of the Creoles besides promises. We took the first step at Cardenas, and gave them an opportunity to show their hands, which they did not. They must take the next, and then we will go to their assistance; otherwise we shall not budge an inch."
Naturally enough, upon consideration, this impressed Lopez and his more loyal followers as embodying some pretty sound common sense. It seemed to be logical that the Cubans themselves should make the next move, and back up their assertions by action. This ultimatum was conveyed to them, by the same devious ways in which their promises had gotten by the Spanish spies, and the effect was miraculous. They rose to the situation, and announced that they would bring about a revolution, and that the first steps would be taken sometime between July 1 and 4. That Lopez and his friends were astonished at this show of spirit in those who had so sadly demonstrated their lack of grit at Cardenas a short time before, is not beyond the realm of belief, nor is it necessary to relate how delighted they were that at last the Cubans were about to move in their own behalf. The time was then so near, and Lopez's own preparations had made so little practical progress, that there was not a sufficient period between the date on which he received this information and the day set for the revolutionary movement to enable him to send any aid, except cheering words.
On the morning of July 3, 1851, Don Joaquin de Aguero led a small band of patriots to the public square at Puerto Principe, all of them shouting in loud tones: "Liberty! Freedom for Cuba! Death to the Spaniards!" Now Aguero had been promised that at least four hundred patriots would join him on this occasion, at the place appointed, and give battle to the Spanish troops, which they well knew would be called upon to put down the demonstration. But the Cubans had not yet found themselves; it was still difficult for them to shake off the spell which the Spaniards seemed to have cast upon them, and to come out into the open and fight for their freedom. The promised four hundred were represented by a pitiful fifteen, and the little band naturally had small chance against the overwhelming forces which were sent against them immediately the alarm was given. They fought bravely, but there could be only one result, against such odds. They were routed and their leader was captured. Aguero succeeded, however, in escaping from the Spaniards, and went into hiding until the next day, when the patriots again made a demonstration for freedom at Najassa. Here, for the second time, the flag of Cuba Libre was flung to the breeze, and with shouts and cheers, the following Declaration of Independence for Cuba was read to a great multitude which had assembled in the square:
"To the inhabitants of the Island of Cuba, Manifesto and Proclamation of their independence by the Liberating Society of Puerto Principe.
"Human reason revolts against the idea that the social and political condition of a people can be indefinitely prolonged, in which man, stripped of all rights and guarantees, with no security of person or property, no enjoyment in the present, no hope in the future, lives only by the will, and under the conditions imposed by the pleasure of his tyrants; where a vile calumny, a prisoner's denunciation, a despot's suspicion, a word caught up by surprise in the sanctuary of home, or from the violated privacy of a letter, furnishes ample grounds for tearing a man from his hearth, and casting him forth to die of destitution or despair in a foreign soil, if he escapes being subjected to the insulting forms of a barbarous and arbitrary tribunal, where his persecutors are themselves the judges who condemn him, and where, instead of their proving his offence, he is required to prove his innocence.
"A situation so violent as this, Cuba has been for many years enduring; and, far from any promise of remedy appearing, every day adds new proof that the policy of the mother-country and the ferocity of her rulers will grant neither truce nor rest till she is reduced to the condition of an immense prison, where every Cuban will be watched by a guard, and will have to pay that guard for watching him. In vain have this people exhibited a mildness, a prudence, and even a submission and loyalty, which have been proverbial.