lly sustain the truth of this assertion.

In 1851 two American vessels were seized off Yucatan by the Spanish
authorities on suspicion of being engaged in the Lopez expedition; in
the same year the steamship Falcon was wantonly fired upon by a Spanish
government vessel; in 1852 the American mail bags were forcibly opened
and their contents examined by order of the captain-general; and less
than two years ago, as is well known, the Crescent City was not allowed
to land her passengers and mails, simply because the purser, Smith, was
obnoxious to the government of the island. The Black Warrior, fired into
on one voyage, was seized lately for a violation of a custom house
form--an affair not yet, it is believed, settled with the Spanish
government. More than once, on specious pretexts, have American sailors
been taken from American vessels and thrown into Spanish prisons. In
short, the insults offered by Spanish officials to our flag have so
multiplied of late that the popular indignation in the country has
reached an alarming height.

It is difficult for a republic and a despotism, situated like the United
States and Cuba, to live on neighborly terms; and to control the
indignation of the citizens of the former, proud and high spirited,
conscious of giving no offence, and yet subjected to repeated insults,
is a task almost too great for the most adroit and pacific
administration. When we add to this feeling among our people a
consciousness that Cuba, the source of all this trouble, is in unwilling
vassalage to Spain, and longing for annexation to the United States,
that under our flag the prosperity of her people would be secured, a
vast addition made to our commercial resources, an invaluable safeguard
given to our southern frontier, and the key to the Mississippi and the
great west made secure forever, we can no longer wonder at the spread of
the conviction that Cuba should belong to this country, and this too as
soon as can be honorably brought about. Had she possessed more foresight
and less pride, Spain would have long since sold the island to the
United States, and thereby have relieved herself of a weighty care and a
most dangerous property.

"So far from being really injured by the loss of the island," says Hon.
Edward Everett, in his able and well known letter to the British
minister rejecting the proposition for the tripartite convention, "there
is no doubt that, were it peacefully transferred to the United Sta