ations; I speak of public, secular labor. The Church
must be held to some responsibility for this. Granted that Sunday is not
the Sabbath. Yet, it is a day which, by the rule of the Roman Church,
the English Church in England and America, the Greek Church and other
Oriental Churches--all claiming to rest the rule on Apostolic authority,
as well as by the usage of Protestants on the continent of
Europe--whether Lutherans or Calvinists--is a day of rest from secular
labor, and especially from enforced labor. Pressing this upon an
intelligent ecclesiastic, his reply to me was that the Church could not
enforce the observance--that it must be enforced by the civil
authorities; and the civil authorities fall in with the selfishness and
gratifications of the ruling classes. And he appealed to the change
lately wrought in Paris, in these respects, as evidence of the
consistency of his Church. This is an answer, so far as concerns the
Church's direct authority; but it is an admission either of feeble moral
power, or of neglect of duty in times past. An embarrassment in the way
of more strictness as to secular labor, arises from the fact that slaves
are entitled to their time on Sundays, beyond the necessary labor of
providing for the day; and this time they may use in working out their
freedom.

Another of the difficulties the church has to contend with, arises out
of Negro slavery. The Church recognizes the unity of all races, and
allows marriage between them. The civil law of Cuba, under the
interpretations in force here, prohibits marriage between whites and
persons who have any tinge of the black blood. In consequence of this
rule, concubinage prevails, to a great extent, between whites and
mulattoes or quadroons, often with recognition of the children. If
either party to this arrangement comes under the influence of the
Church's discipline, the relation must terminate. The Church would allow
and advise marriage; but the law prohibits it--and if there should be a
separation, there may be no provision for the children. This state of
things creates no small obstacle to the influence of the Church over the
domestic relations.

SLAVERY

It is difficult to come to a satisfactory conclusion as to the number of
slaves in Cuba. The census of 1857 puts it at 375,000; but neither this
census nor that of 1853 is to be relied upon, on this point. The Cubans
are taxed for their slaves, and the government find it difficult, as I
hav