Cuba Past and Present

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Chapman & Hall, 1898 - 284 pages

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Page 235 - All scattered in the bottom of the sea. Some lay in dead men's skulls ; and, in those holes Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept (As 'twere in scorn of eyes) reflecting gems, That woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep, And mocked the dead bones that lay scattered by.
Page 46 - ... that after this life there is another, wherein a very different portion is allotted to good and bad men. If therefore you expect to die, and believe, with us, that every one is to be rewarded in a future state according to his conduct in the present, you will do no hurt to those who do none to you.
Page 95 - ... an object of transcendent importance to the commercial and political interests of our Union. Its commanding position, with reference to the Gulf of Mexico and the West India seas; the character of its population; its situation midway between our southern coast and the island of St.
Page 28 - FRANK, the SPANIARD proud, The double SCOT, HIBERNIAN loud, And sullen ENGLISH own The pleasing softness of thy sway, And here, transferr'd allegiance pay, For gracious is thy throne.
Page 276 - ... origin of such tales is probably traceable to the legend related by Oldmixon as far back as 1708. The natives, he said, tell all strangers ... a strange Tale of a vast monstrous Serpent, that had its Abode in the before-mentioned Bottom (an inaccessible Bottom among the high mountains). They affirm'd, there was in the Head of it a very sparkling Stone, like a Carbuncle of inestimable Price ; that the Monster commonly veil'd that rich Jewel with a thin moving skin, like that of a Man's Eyelid,...
Page 277 - They affirmed that there was in the head of it a very sparkling stone, like a carbuncle, of inestimable price, that the monster commonly veiled that rich jewel with a thin moving skin like that of a man's eyelid, and when it went to drink, and sported itself in the deep bottom it fully discovered it, and the rocks all about received a wonderful lustre from the fire issuing out of that precious gem...
Page 80 - Every soldier in the island — and they say that there are twenty-five thousand — must be a Spaniard. The ships of war are commanded and manned by Spaniards. All that is shown before their eyes of brilliancy and power and high place is purely Spanish. No Cuban has any voice in his own country. He can never have the consolation of thinking that his tyrant is his countryman, or reflect that under altered circumstances it might possibly have been his fortune to tyrannize. What love can he have for...
Page 135 - Lady is seated, holding the infant Jesus in her arms. In the corner is a long inscription of some historical importance. It runs thus : — " The Admiral, Don Christopher Columbus, and the Spanish Army, being possessed of the 'Cerro de la Vega...
Page 95 - Havana, fronting a long line of our shores destitute of the same advantage; the nature of its productions and of its wants, furnishing the supplies and needing the returns of a commerce immensely profitable and mutually beneficial, give it an importance in the sum of our national interest, with which that of no other foreign territory can be compared, and little inferior to that which binds the different members of this Union together.

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