The History of Cuba, vol. 3

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

DOMINGO DEL MONTE

One of the greatest patrons of Cuban letters, Domingo del Monte, was born in Venezuela on August 4, 1804, was brought to Cuba in 1810, and was educated at the University of Havana. He travelled much in America and Europe, and then settled in Havana, where he was secretary of the Royal Economic Society. He edited a dictionary of Cuban provincialisms, and published a volume of "American Rhymes." He made his house the rendezvous of Cuban men of letters and gave to many of them invaluable encouragement and aid; and was also active in promoting public education throughout the island. He died at Madrid, Spain, in 1853.

An important literary influence was exerted in Cuba, beginning in the latter part of the Eighteenth century, and reaching its height in the first third of the Nineteenth, by the society called "Friends of Peace," of which Domingo del Monte was the leading spirit. It was this organization which gave Varela his professorship in the University of Havana. It was it that gave a prize for the best poem on the birth of the princess who was to become Isabella II of Spain; a prize which was won by a lad of sixteen. This was Jose Antonio Echeverria, who afterward edited a literary journal called El Plantel, and still later became one of the leaders of the strife for independence. Another protégé of Del Monte's—for he was a wealthy patron of letters, at Havana—was Ramon Velez y Herrera, who was born in 1808 and died in 1886. He devoted his attention chiefly to depicting in poetry the life, manners and customs of the common people of Cuba, and particularly of the peasantry. Still another was José Jacinto Milanes, who was born in 1814 and died in 1863. He was preeminently the poet of "local color" in nature. No other has quite so richly and so perfectly embodied Cuban landscapes in verse. But both these poets also wrote in behalf of Cuban freedom.

Domingo del Monte himself wrote some poetry, but much more in prose, and he had the distinction of being practically the founder of political tract and pamphlet writing, an art which was largely practised with powerful results. He wrote in 1836 a notable criticism of the despotic administration of Tacon, and an analysis of the condition in which Cuba found herself under such government. This opened the way for a veritable flood of political tracts.

JOSÉ JACINTO MILANES

Born in Matanzas on August 16, 1814, and because of poverty chiefly self-educated, José Jacinto Milanes became a noted linguist and graceful poet. Most of his writings were translated into German, and some into English and French, and he gained international repute as a man of letters. Mental derangement and failing physical health afflicted him in 1843, and he died in 1863.

Conspicuous among them were the writings of José Antonio Saco, who was born in 1797 and died in 1879. He was both a rival and a friend of Varela, and was the latter's successor in his professorship when Varela went to Cadiz and then fled to America. After Varela's arrival in the United States, Saco formed a literary and patriotic partnership with him, and together they edited the Cuban Review, a literary and critical journal of high rank, which commanded international attention. The American historian and literary critic, George Ticknor, said of it that perusal of it greatly impressed him with the amount of literary talent that existed in Cuba. The Review, he declared, far surpassed anything of the kind in any other of the Spanish or former Spanish colonies, and indeed "a review of such spirit, variety and power has never been attempted even in Madrid." Of course, Saco was exiled by Tacon, the immediate cause of offense being a pamphlet exposing and denouncing some of the more flagrant evils of the slave trade. The result was, however, that in exile Saco wrote one of the most elaborate and exhaustive histories of slavery in existence in any language, beside continuing his occasional political tracts. Nor did his influence end with his death and the laying down of his pen, for portions of his writings figured conspicuously and effectively in the literary propaganda which formed the prelude to the War of Independence.

Gabriel de la Conception Valdes was another of the protégés of Del Monte. He was born in 1809 and died in 1844. His father was a mulatto barber and his mother was a Spanish dancer, and he himself was permitted to remain illiterate in boyhood. While working as a maker of tortoise shell combs he was taught to read, and soon developed a passion for books. From reading he proceeded to the writing of poetry, adopting the pen name of "Placido" from the name of Placido Puentes, a druggist of Havana who encouraged his literary efforts to the extent of giving him pen and ink and paper, and a desk in his shop at which to sit and write whenever he felt inclined. Valdes was a voluminous writer, above most of his contemporaries, and while much that he wrote was mediocre, many of his poems were of high merit, and some of them deserve to rank among the best in Cuban literature; indeed, they would be noteworthy in the literature of any land. Especially meritorious are his poems about the slave trade and his apostrophes to Liberty. Because of these he was accused of complicity in an attempted negro uprising. He was hurried through a farcical trial, in which no real proof of his guilt was presented. Indeed, there is good reason for believing that he was entirely innocent. But he was found guilty, and was put to death; repeating aloud, as he walked to the place of execution, one of his poems on liberty.