28 humboldt's cuba. 



their livelihood and save the lives of their children, 

 if they do not previously adopt the course which a 

 state of desperation would prescribe." * * * 



* * * "There has been but one feeling or opinion 

 since the arrival of the publications in question from 

 Madrid, which is, that the island would be irrecovera- 

 bly lost by it to the mother country, and to its inhab- 

 itants, who would prefer any extreme to the calamity 

 of sacrificing their fortunes, endangering their lives, 

 and remaining in a state of subordination to the 

 negroes." 1 



This " Draft of a Convention " was sent to Cuba 

 by the Regency of Spain, for consultation, and 

 produced the most urgent remonstrances from the 

 municipal authorities of Havana, the Junta de Fo- 

 mento, and other public bodies, and from many 

 eminent citizens to whom it was submitted by the 

 local authorities. Their language was uniform and 

 bold, the Ayuntamiento of Havana declaring that 

 if the Convention were signed by Spain, it would be 

 productive of a bloody revolution in Cuba. These 

 representations induced England to forbear for a 

 time. 



In 1850 and 1851, these demands were again 



5 Correspondence on the Slave Trade, published by order of the 

 House of Commons, 1841, Class B, p. 285. 



