of Death,
And Bondage taints not with its poison breath!"

The disastrous result of the last rising of the slaves--in Cuba is well
known. Betrayed, and driven into premature collision with their
oppressors, the insurrectionists were speedily crushed into subjection.
Placido was arrested, and after a long hearing was condemned to be
executed, and consigned to the Chapel of the Condemned.

How far he was implicated in the insurrectionary movement it is now
perhaps impossible to ascertain. The popular voice at Havana pronounced
him its leader and projector, and as such he was condemned. His own
bitter wrongs; the terrible recollections of his life of servitude; the
sad condition of his relatives and race, exposed to scorn, contumely, and
the heavy hand of violence; the impunity with which the most dreadful
outrages upon the persons of slaves were inflicted,--acting upon a mind
fully capable of appreciating the beauty and dignity of freedom,--
furnished abundant incentives to an effort for the redemption of his race
and the humiliation of his oppressors. The Heraldo, of Madrid speaks of
him as "the celebrated poet, a man of great natural genius, and beloved
and appreciated by the most respectable young men of Havana." It accuses
him of wild and ambitious projects, and states that he was intended to be
the chief of the black race after they had thrown off the yoke of
bondage.

He was executed at Havana in the seventh month, 1844. According to the
custom in Cuba with condemned criminals, he was conducted from prison to
the Chapel of the Doomed. He passed thither with singular composure,
amidst a great concourse of people, gracefully saluting his numerous
acquaintances. The chapel was hung with black cloth, and dimly lighted.
He was seated beside his coffin. Priests in long black robes stood
around him, chanting in sepulchral voices the service of the dead. It is
an ordeal under which the stoutest-hearted and most resolute have been
found to sink. After enduring it for twenty-four hours he was led out to
execution. He came forth calm and undismayed; holding a crucifix in his
hand, he recited in a loud, clear voice a solemn prayer in verse, which
he had composed amidst the horrors of the Chapel. The following is an
imperfect rendering of a poem which thrilled the hearts of all who heard
it:--

"God of unbounded love and power eternal,
To Thee I turn in darkness and despair!