At this juncture Cuban affairs began once more to attract universal attention in the United States. The interest taken in the rebellion and the rebels by our American cousins was not, in all probability, exclusively platonic. Whether this was the case or not, they contrived to supply the insurgents, not with money only, but with men and arms, so that the insurgent army rose in a short time to 55,000 well-armed men, mainly entrenched in the mountainous districts, whence they were able to make successful raids. On the 10th of April 1869, at the city of Guaimaro, in the very heart of the island, the first Cuban Chamber of Deputies was opened by Cespedes, and the new assembly forthwith proclaimed Cuban independence and the establishment of a republic. General Cespedes was unanimously elected President, and his brother-in-law, Manuel de Quesada, who had served under Juarez, of Mexican fame, assumed the name of commander-in-chief of the Cuban army. Slavery was formally abolished. Freedom of worship was established, and equality of all in the eyes of the law affirmed. The young Republic even ventured to send envoys to the three countries which had shown her most sympathy,--England, France, and the United States. The Envoy Extraordinary of Cuba to the United States of America, Morales Lumus, was, however, received with great coolness by General Grant, who steadfastly refused to recognise the new Government. As a matter of fact, whilst Cuba had been fighting for her independence, Spain had dethroned the kindly Queen Isabella, and replaced General Prim at the head of the Iberian Republic. The great Republic of the New World had naturally hailed the chief of a revolution which had driven Isabella II. from one of the oldest thrones in the Old World; while Prim, who was anything but the visionary he is generally supposed to have been, had arrived at the conclusion that Cuba cost the mother country far more than she was worth, and had actually proposed--through Hamilton Fish, then Secretary of State--the sale of the island of Cuba to the United States Government for a sum of 100,000,000 pesetas! It is only fair to add that, by the suggested agreement, America was to grant the island its independence, abolish slavery, and proclaim an armistice, pending the proclamation of peace. Poor Lumus' heart sank within him, for he knew the Spanish character by heart, and was perfectly well aware of what Prim was driving at. If he himself remained in power, the United States would be allowed to do with Cuba pretty much as they thought fit. Otherwise, if the ex-Queen or her son were restored, the Marshal hinted an intention of securing the island for himself. With a heart like lead, Lumus returned to Cespedes. The outlook was of the darkest, for the fate of the mother country as well as that of the newly-born island Republic hung in the balance.