President Grant was strongly inclined to grant this petition, and in this he was upheld by his most trusted friend and advisor, General Rawlins. In consequence, he prepared on August 19, 1869, a proclamation by which he recognized the insurgents as belligerents, the result of which would have been to legalize the shipment of arms to them. Unfortunately for the Cuban cause, though doubtless fortunately for the United States, there was at the head of the State Department of the United States a man of cooler judgment than General Grant, and one whose emotions of pity were not so easily moved. This was the Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish. Before Grant's proclamation could become effective, it was necessary for the Secretary of State to sign, seal and publish it, and this Mr. Fish refused to do. He felt that to do so would constitute a grave error in diplomacy, and one which might have far-reaching detrimental effects for the United States. It was his judgment that the President had been betrayed by his sympathies, and he felt it incumbent upon himself, as chief of the Department of State, to restrain him from making a bad mistake. There was to be taken into consideration the fact that the United States, in the war so recently fought for the maintenance of the Union, had made vigorous protests against the recognition of the Confederacy by foreign powers, and Secretary Fish felt that the proclamation in favor of the Cuban revolutionary government would stultify the course of the United States government in that matter. Indeed, in sound judgment, it was impossible to deny that the Confederates of the South were more justly entitled to recognition, under all the circumstances of both cases, than were the Cuban revolutionists. Fish felt that the condition in Cuba, at that time, at any rate, did not merit the official recognition of the United States government, and he was not backward in conveying his conviction to General Grant. Then he simply pigeon-holed the proclamation and let it die a natural death in musty obscurity. Upon second thought, General Grant saw the soundness of Fish's conclusions, and not only did not register a protest, but took occasion some months later to thank Fish for his intervention, and the suppression of the proclamation. [Illustration: MIGUEL DE ALDAMA] MIGUEL DE ALDAMA A man of letters and of great wealth and social leadership, Miguel de Aldama was a native of Havana and one of the foremost citizens of that capital when the Ten Years' War began. He at once placed his fortune and himself at the disposal of his country, and was appointed by President Cespedes to be Agent of the Cuban Republic in New York. To that place he was reappointed by President Cisneros Betancourt. He served in that capacity throughout the war, to the great advantage of the patriot cause.