Important meetings, too, are held at Cooper's Institute, Steinway Hall,
and other public places, at each of which a great concourse of American
sympathisers gathers. Many eminent orators preside at these meetings,
and endeavour with all their eloquence to urge upon the Congress at
Washington the necessity for immediate recognition of the rights of the
Cuban belligerents. Annexation is, of course, suggested, and slavery
loudly denounced.

One eloquent speaker is of opinion that the present struggle of the
Cubans for independence and self-government belongs to the same category
as the American Revolution in 1776; that it should excite the sympathy
of all friends of popular progress, and that it deserves every kind of
assistance that other nations may be able to render.

Another well-known orator, connected with the church, declares that 'the
Cuban cause is just, and that the wrongs against which the Cubans have
revolted are such as should arouse the indignation of mankind, inasmuch
as these wrongs include taxation without representation, the forced
maintenance of slavery, the exclusion of all natives of the island from
public service, the denial of the right to bear arms and of all the
sacred privileges of citizenship and nationality.'

A third speaker avers, among other sentiments, that, in proclaiming the
abolition of slavery, the patriots of Cuba have given conclusive
evidence that they share the most substantial ideas of modern democracy,
and that their political principles are in unison with those which
inspire and govern the profoundest thinkers and statesmen of the age.
That while men of free minds in all countries must view with interest
and hope the uprising in Cuba, 'we, as citizens of the Republic of North
America, and near neighbours of the beautiful and productive island,
recognise a special obligation towards those patriots who are toiling
and fighting for its emancipation from Spanish tyranny.'

'It is the duty of our Government,' concludes another speaker, amidst
loud and prolonged applause, 'to recognise the belligerent rights of the
Cubans at the earliest practicable moment, and thus to show the world,
that the American nation is always on the side of those who contend
against despotism and oppression; and we earnestly entreat the Executive
at Washington that there may be no unnecessary delay in dealing with
this important subject.'

But in spite of these demonstrations of public sympathy, the might