You will also remember that permission was given some of these poor fellows, and that they started out full of energy and hope, only to be shot down and killed by the Spanish soldiers as soon as they were outside the city limits. The country people have not forgotten this, and it will be hard to make them believe that this order to leave the city is intended for anything else than a general massacre. Blanco will find it no easy task to make the people believe he means well by them. Immediately on taking charge of affairs, the new Captain-General issued a proclamation to the people, in which he said that Spain had sent him to bring peace and prosperity to Cuba, and to extend her forgiveness to those who were willing to seek the protection of her flag. He stated that he had been ordered by the Queen to govern the island with kindness and generosity, but added that the rebellion must be brought to an end. He declared that while Spain would show mercy to all who submitted to her rule, she would punish with the utmost severity those who still remained in arms against her. * * * * * In the mean while the Cubans are going right ahead. The important town of Bayamo, in Santiago de Cuba, is being besieged by the insurgents, and the monthly supply-train from Havana has again been captured by the rebels. The condition of the Spanish troops is something pitiable. The true state of affairs in Cuba is becoming so well known in Spain that the soldiers there are unwilling to go out to poor pay, poor food, and a certainty of becoming the prey of some awful pestilence. Many of the soldiers who have been sent home have died on the voyage, and those who have reached Spain are so broken down in health that the fresh soldiers are afraid to go to Cuba. There have been several mutinies among the troops which were ordered out with General Blanco. A mutiny means that the soldiers refuse to obey the orders of their officers, and is practically a strike among soldiers. In this instance the men have refused to embark for Cuba. In spite of their remonstrance they have been forced to obey, and the ringleaders severely punished. * * * * * It seems that our chances of being drawn into a war with Spain have not been greatly lessened by the answer to General Woodford's message. Every one is waiting anxiously to know what the President will say at the opening of Congress, for it looks as if the time had come when we must take sides with Cuba. The former minister to Spain, Mr. Hannis Taylor, has published an article in _The North American Review_, in which he gives it as his opinion that as Spain seems unable to put an end to the war, it is our duty to interfere, and tell the Spaniards that the war must cease by a certain date or we will have to take a hand and put an end to it ourselves. This article has stirred up a great deal of feeling, and we shall probably hear more of it.