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Count de Ophalia to John H. Eaton, February 22, 1838.
The Count de Ofalia, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Spain, to John H. Eaton, United States Minister to Spain
[TRANSLATION]
PALACE, February 22, 1838.
SIR: The progressive increase of certain societies formed in England & in the
United States of America with the view to obtain the abolition of the slavery of
the negroes, has claimed the attention of the Government of Her Majesty. The fears
which have compelled H. M. the Queen Governess to take into her high consideration
some attempts which endanger the state of tranquility are not unfounded, and perhaps
the preservation of a part of the dominions of the Crown of her August daughter.
It is publicly notorious that those Societies do not actually circumscribe the propagation
of their doctrines to the countries whence they originated, but they likewise extend
them through the Antilles contiguous to the American continent. The publicity of
their plans renders it useless for me to enter into a particular detail of their
means of action, & of the disasters which might issue, & which is known to
the world on account of the terrible example of the catastrophy of St. Domingo in
the present age. "The Abolitionist" a pamphlet, which is periodically published
in London, exhibits evidently its intentions. And disclosing the designs of the promoters
of the abolition of slavery, wheresoever it may exist, does not conceal, although
it may disguise the resources to which it appeals for the attainment of such projects.
It is positive that secret agents are sent where slaves exist, & that they openly
excite sedition, & papers, engravings & books are scattered in order to instill
by writing in the minds of the negroes, maxims which induce them to despise their
duties. Sad instances of rebellion have unfortunately revealed in the Island of Cuba
the fruits of those clandestine seductions. The first took place on the afternoon
of the 12th July 1835, and in a ward outside of the walls of the Havanna; but the
punishment of some negroes for this insurrection, altho' immediately quelled &
exemplarily repressed as these crimes demand, was not sufficient to prevent the new
efforts of those misled through the instigations of those emissaries. Three attempts
at sedition preceded that which finally was effected within the jurisdiction of Matanzas
with the object of killing their masters in a Plantation. In the same district a
mulatto from Providence was seized & arrested, with papers subversive, books
& pictures exciting them to put an end to slavery. In Santiago de Cuba it was
necessary to proceed to the imprisonment of the English clergyman, James Thompson,
a member of a Bible society; in consequence of which events, & various others
which I omit, the fatal connection that exists between the insubordination of the
negro slaves & the arrival of certain foreign Agents & their incendiary doctrines,
can be perceived.
In so dangerous a situation the Captain General of the Havanna, prompted to observe & avoid these dangers, as much through his loyalty & zeal, as on account of the repeated orders of Her Majesty, was somewhat surprised on seeing that the Consul of His Britannic Majesty interposed in the name of the Authorities of Providence his claims in favor of the Mulatto arrested in the District of Matanzas. The Government of H. M. did not hesitate to beleive [sic] that equivocal information, & the natural propensity to protect at all hazards the subjects of the Crown whose interests he represented, may have been the only inducements which have influenced that Consul to intervene, but neither can it be concealed from the perspicacity of the Govt. of the United States that the hope or probability of finding mediators would afford support to the conspirators, in the event of being detected, in persons of character, who in the opinion of the Authorities of Her Majesty are worthy of the greatest consideration on account of the ties of strict friendship which unite the Sovereign of Spain with the United States.
Her Majesty, therefore, has ordered me, through Your Excy. to claim the attention of your Government with respect to an affair of
such great importance, as are the designs which may be plotted by the aforesaid societies
in the American Continent of the United States against the tranquility which prevails
in the Island of Cuba, eminating until the present day from the benign laws sanctioned
in the Code of the Indies, which have precluded beyond all manner of doubt that in
no other country has the ever-lamentable fate of the slave population, been protected
more effectually. Her Majesty desires that the total abolition of slavery throughout
the globe may gradually be attained. It is her duty, however, whilst those desires
are not accomplished, to protect the free inhabitants of the Spanish Antilles in
the exercise of their present rights; & she hopes with the greatest confidence
that the Govt. of the United States will
be ready to concur in producing the same effect, in a manner which her wisdom, prudence
& good faith may suggest, in order to enable the Govt. of H. M. to preserve her ultramarine dominions from violent commotions,
contests and reactions the consequence of which is greater than could be calculated
at first sight, & which are usually felt even at great distances. Whereupon,
Her Majesty would wish that the Consuls of the United States be informed of the great
discretion required in their demeanor, owing to the delicate position of the Authorities
of the Island of Cuba, lest a laudable zeal to protect indiscriminately their Countrymen
in that Colony, should in some cases, and against their intentions, induce them to
protect, in a certain degree turbulent & ill-intentioned men who cannot escape
being punished according to the laws if they be seized & convinced of their perverse
designs.
Her Majesty the Queen Regent doubts not from the strict alliance and happy conformity
of political views which unite her to the United States of America, that the Govt. of the same will bear in mind the great importance
of these considerations, which, being attended to, with the same efficacy that they
are urged, will consolidate still more the harmony existing between both countries,
to which their mutual efforts concur with the most ardent desire.
I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to your Excy. the assurances of my distinguished consideration.
God preserve Yr. Excy. many years [etc.].
Source: Vol 11-Spain, Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, Inter-American
Affairs, 1831-1860. selected and arranged by William R. Manning. Washington,
[D.C.], 1939, 307 -309.
