The political condition of Cuba is precisely what might be expected of a Castilian colony thus ruled, and governed by such a policy. Like the home government, she presents a remarkable instance of stand-still policy; and from one of the most powerful kingdoms, and one of the most wealthy, is now the humblest and poorest. Other nations have labored and succeeded in the race of progress, while her adherence to ancient institutions, and her dignified scorn of "modern innovations," amount in fact to a species of retrogression, which has placed her far below all her sister governments of Europe. The true Hidalgo spirit, which wraps itself up in an antique garb, and shrugs its shoulders at the advance of other countries, still rules over the beautiful realm of Ferdinand and Isabella, and its high-roads still boast their banditti and worthless gipsies, as a token of the declining power of the Castilian crown. FOOTNOTES: [43] According to the Spanish slave code, the slave can be kept at work in Cuba only from sunrise till sunset, with an interval for repose at noon of two hours. But this is not regarded in the manufacturing season, which, after all, the slaves do not seem to dread, as they are granted more privileges at this period, and are better fed, with more variety of meats and spices, with other agreeable indulgences. [44] The coffee-tree requires to be protected, at least partially, from the sun; hence the planting of bananas and other trees in their midst. [45] "Those horses, called by the Arabians Kochlani, of whom a written genealogy has been kept for two thousand years. They are said to derive their origin from King Solomon's steeds."--_Niebuhr._ [46] "On the fronts of the shops and houses, and on plastered walls by the way-side, you continually see painted birds, and beasts, and creeping things, men and women in their various vocations and amusements, and some things and some images not strictly forbidden by the letter of the commandment, being like nothing in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth!"--_Rev. Abiel Abbot's Letters._ CHAPTER XII. TACON'S SUMMARY MODE OF JUSTICE.