* * * * *

General Woodford has arrived safely in Spain, and is to be presented to
the Queen Regent in a few days.

He has, in the mean while, met the Duke of Tetuan, and has been very
pleasantly received.

A great sensation has, however, been caused in Havana by the publication
of a letter from General Azcarraga, the present Spanish Prime Minister.
In this letter the minister says that the Spanish Government will not
listen to any demands from the United States, that no one in Spain
thinks our country has any right to interfere in the Cuban question, and
that rather than submit to American dictation, Spain is prepared to
declare war.

In the letter it is also said that if it becomes necessary to declare
war, Spain is confident that she will have the support of the nations of
Europe. It is argued that if we succeed in freeing Cuba we will be
certain to try and get Canada and Jamaica away from England, and the
French possessions from their mother country.

The General asserts that if the United States succeeds in freeing Cuba,
European rule in the New World will soon cease to exist.

Finally, he says that if General Woodford's mission is after all merely
to claim damages from Spain, he will be listened to with the utmost
politeness, and then informed that Spain also has her claims against
America. But if General Woodford persists in entering on the subject of
the Cuban war, he will be told that Spain does not admit the right of