Star. — London, England, 1821-04-21 00:00:00

MASSACRE AT MANILLA. The following. extract of a letter, dated Macao, November 24, 1320, with its enclosures, communi-, cates a more minute detail than has yet appeared of this melancholy occurrence. At Manilla, on the 9th day of October last, the i Indians, in A large body, excited by the Spaniards, I rose and commenced the massacre and plunder of all the foreigners they could lay their hands on, and con tinued the bloody business until the afternoon of the Ilt.h. The following account is written by an Ame rican Gentleman, Mr. Prince, who was an eye-wit ness to the massacre, and narrowly escaped death. Never was there a more diabolical or more atrocious breach of the laws of hospitality, religion, and hu manity perpetrated ! What renders it particularly atrium ent to the rules of civilized society was its being committed before the eyes of the Captain-Ge neral, and all the constituted Military and Civil Au thorities, without producing the discharge of a single musket to save those defenceless and unfortunate strangers living under their protection! The French are supposed to have lost 212,000 dollars plundered ; aad the Chinese, who were assassinated to the num ber of 85, it is supposed, have lost a much more con siJerable sum. MIL PRINCE'S ACCOUNT OF THE MASSACRE AT MA NILLA, ON THE grit OCTOBER, 1820. The attack commenced about eleven, A. M. on Mr. Godfroi, the surgeon, in the street of Santa Cruz; they cut and mangled him in a shocking manner, and left him for dead; he was taken to the guard house, and on his coming to a little, his hands were tied behind hiin by the Spanish soldiers, and he was carried into the Corregidor's Prison, where he re mained twenty-four hours, without any assistance; he was then sent to the Hospital, and I am happy to say that when I left he was recovering fast. The re port of this act of atrocity spread fast, but it was re ported that I had been the sufferer. Captain Nicholls, on hearing it, immediately started to my assistance, leaving a note to Warrington and Wilson, informing them of the event, and requesting them to follow. Tiris note was shortly after received by Captain War rington; he and Mr. Wilson proceeded towards the quarter of St. Miguel, where 1 resided. At the apo thecary's shop, in the Escelta, they met Mr. Stewart, A merican Consul, and Captain Balston, of the Eng. lish country ship Edward Strettel. They informed them that Nicholls had ascertained it was Godfroi, who was wounded, and not me, as he had supposed ; and that he had met Godfroi the naturalist, and that both of them had gone to the Palace to demand pro tection and assistance from the Governor. Godfroi and Nicholls shortly after joined them. Nicholls said, the only satisfaction they could get from the Governor was " that he would consider of it.r The whole of the company (Stewart and Bal ston excepted) now.started to visit the wounded God froi. Warrington was called back by these two, and advised not to proceed; but he jumped into his car riage, and ordered the coachman to drive and over take his companions. The mob at this time was large, and growing outrageous, he was unable to come up with them: several attempts were made to pull him from his carriage; his coachman became frightened, turned the carriage, and drove back as far as the apothecary's. Here they rejoined Balston and Stewart. The mob was now approaching to wards them, and they could distinctly see that Wil son, Nicholls, and Godfroi, wete prisoners. To pro vide for their own safety was all they could do. Warrington and Balston entered the house occupied by some Persian merchants, and Stewart the house of a Spaniard : the two former were concealed in a back room, which they had hardly entered, when the Parsees exclaimed, " Poor Wilson is murdered, Ni cholls is stabbed in the back, and the Frenchman they are cutting to pieces, and dragging about like a dog." An attack instantly commenced on the house of Mr. Guillot, which was exactly opposite that of the Parsees ; poor Guillot was first fired at by a serjeant of the regular army, and afterwards literally cut to pieces; and an Armenian, Mr. Baptiste (who had been twenty years in this country, where he had married), escaped badly wounded. The house was stripped and plundered. The Parsees, expecting the attack now on their side of the street, insisted upon Warrington and Balston's descending into the com mon sewer, where they remained five hours, and next day, at 10 A.M. escaped into the city in a close carriage, attended by a guard of dragoons. The hotel for foreigners, kept by Bernard Hautel pan, a German, who held a commission as Lieute nant in the Spanish Marine, was the next place they attacked. The mob, which had greatly increased, now filled the street on which it fronted ; Hautelman went to the door in full uniform, thinking they would respect him, as a Spanish Officer, but he was de ceived; they cut him down, left him for dead, and rushed over his body into the house. At this time there were, luckily, only four gentlemen in the house, viz. Toulon, Gautrin, Vose, and Duperat. Vose im mediately leaped from the window into the outer yard of a house belonging to a Spaniard, and con• cealed himself under a platform, where he remained till night, when he entered the city blacked and dressed like an Indian. Duperat was instantly mur dered ; his grey hairs could not preserve him from the blood-hounds of Manilla. Toulon and Gautrin were in the same room ; they took leave of each other, one concealing himself under the bed, and Gautrin covered himself with a mat; the mob rushed into the room, dragged out Toulon, and killed him by a thousand wounds, but did not discover Gautrin.— They again returned, and again left the room, one villain excepted, who stopped, probably to look for more plunder; he discovered Gautrin, who is a stout, powerful man, and from whom he received a blow that knocked him down, but before he had given the alarm the mob returned, and Gautrin, with his fists only, fought his way through them, receiving terrible wounds at every instant, from the pikes, knives, and Globs of the assassins: just as he cleared the crowd that still pursued him, his sight failed; a Spataish civil officer seized him, tied his hands, and led him to the guard-house, when the Officers put him in 4uns, and were going to finish the work the mob had begun. He demanded a confessor ; they sent for one, but in the natantime a Spanish Officer, Senor Olire, came in, and humanely prevented the massacre ; he bad Gautrin carried to the hospital on a bier. Gau trin was recovering fast when I left Manilla. Every thing in the hotel was plundered or destroyed ; they 1' • even cat the poor horses and animals abut the hou;e to pieces. A simultaneous attack now commenced in many places on the houses where foreigners were known to reside. The following are the names of the unfor tunate men that first suffered death:— A. Shaffalitzky, T. Dunzfeldt, M. Estroup, M. Arnaud, Mr. Martin, and Justin, a French lad, servant of M. Estroup, and Joseph his cook. The head of Shaffalitzky was severed from his body, thrown from the window, and kicked about the streets ! The other bodies were also thrown from the windows, dragged about by the mob, who jumped orb, pierced, and mangled than until they hardly retained evidence of their ever having been human. The plunder of this house was immense. as was also that of the house of M.Pasquet;* 20,000 dollars- in - specie, besides a large quantity of indigo and nankins,which were thrown into the river. I resided in the quarter of St. Miguel (about two miles from the city), at the house of the Russian Consul, P. Dobell, Esq. His family were luckily with him at Macao, his nephew, Mr. Bennett, of Phi ladelphia, excepted. The house was attacked about one P.M. by the mob from the Escaita. Several of the peace officts of St. Miguel (say three or four) came to the dot?, and advised Mr. Bennett to open it, saying they would protect us. The door was opened, and the mob rushed in with the officers, who succeeded fir some time in keeping out the villains from the room we were in; but, notwithstanding their exertions, many of them entered from time to time, and at last I was driven at the point of their knives out of the window ; from thence I had immediately to swim the river, amid a shower of stones and clubs. I landed on the opposite side, at the gate of a large distillery belonging to an Armenian who had settled here. The gate was shut, and I succeeded in climb ing a wall of fifteen feet ; but no sooner had I sbewn myself on the top, than I was attacked by the people of the distillery; was knocked off the wall by clubs, feU into the yard, and was made prisoner. . *Previously to the mob entering the house, Mr. Bennett and myself had determined to swim the river for the purpose of asking advice of the Armenian, and had stripped ourselves all but a flannel shirt; and in this situation was I when a prisoner, having had no time to dress myself as Mr. Bennett had done before he opened the dour. My arms were lashed behind me so fast, that the circulation of the blood being nearly stopped, my hands swelled, and the pain became excessive : in this manner was I led, or rather dragged, through the streets (the populace beating me, and throwing mud and filth en my head at every moment) to the house of the Head Peace Officer of the village, where I found Mr. Bennett, whom they had taken from the house soon after I was driven from it. They now put both our feet in the stocks, in company with an Indian arrested for rob bery. The villains at this time began to consult re specting the manner in which they should • kill us: they settled the point, and were about to put it in operation, when the presence of mind of Mr. Ben nett saved us. 44 lam a Catholic and a Christian," he exclaimed; 44 kill.me without a Padre to confess me, and the whole of you will die before morning." Superstition induced them to believe that what Ben nett had told them- would take place, and they left us at rest a few moments longer. During the whole time (or rather till dark) the mob remained sh6uting and demanding us of the master of the house, making many attempts to burst in; and it is truly astonish ing they did not succeed, as the place was a mere hut of bamboo. About five P. m. we were suddenly alarmed by the sounds of heavy blows, cries for mercy, and the shout of " Kill them, kill them." In a moment after Monsieur d'Arbell was brought in, cut and mangled in a dreadful manner, covered with blood, his skull fractured, and one of his eyes al most beaten from the socket. He was placed beside us, as was a poor lascar belonging to the Merope, who was also terribly bruised. At six P. M. they took Mr. Bennett from the stocks under pretence of obliging him to cure a sick woman; but, in fact, they were carrying him to the house of a person who had just died (one to whom Mr. Bennett had given medicine, and, as they said, poisoned), to sacrifice him upon the dead body ; but a Serjeant of. the regular troops saved his life by proposing to the mob to carry him to the house of a sick person, who lay at the point of death, to make him cure her. This they did, telling him that the moment the woman died they would bury their knives in his bosom.— Luckily, the woman got better; and, night coming on, the mgb agreed to murder those of us they left on the stocks, and return to their houses. Bennett's presence of mind again saved us—" Touch one of my companions," said he, " and this woman shall be a corpse." They even begged of him to let them kill us; but he repeated hi. threats and saved us. To wards midnight, a family who had formerly washed for me, came to see me, and kindly gave me sou e clothes, and a cup of warm chocolate, which greatly relieved me, as I had been lying nearly eleven hours with only a wet shirt on, pinioned, and in the stocks, under an open window, with a shower of rain beating on me. About one o'clock I was taken from the stocks, and allowed to lie down on a mat in a better apartment. I supposed Bennett was 'killed, and ex pected every moment to share his fate. At eight A.M. on the 10th, Bennett was brought back, to my great joy, the serjeant having remained with him : this man swore to save us or die with ns. At nine.A.ar. we were put into canoes, and carried down the river to the corregidor's house, and put under a strong guard to protect us. 1 now felt safe: the mob at this time had assembled in the streets, to murder us as we carfie along; but were disappointed, for we came by water, and not, as they expected, by the road. There new appeared to be considerable difficulty as it regarded the disposal of us. No cor regidor was to be found. The person who held that office had got frightened, and run off, leaving every thing in confusion. At this time there were four companies of regular infantry, one of flying artil lery, with two pieces of cannon, -and a squadron of cavalry, drawn up in front of the house. A square was formed of infantry ; we were placed in the centre, when they started with us for the city. The mob at this crisis filled the streets to the number of 10,000 or 15,000 men. The soldiers had no orders from the Governor to fire in case they attempted to seize us, and we were again carried back to the house ; after. .which a square was again formed that conducted us to the prison of the corregidor (about twenty yards distance only), where we were locked up till a favour able chance to convey us into the city should offer. —Don Manuel Barrella (the former t:orregidori had' his house adjoining the prison, into which communi cation was had from the second Soo He humanely conducted us to his own chamber, gave his bed up to poor d'Arbell, and assisted in was!ting, his wounds: they were numerous and dangerous, having had likes and knives thrust into almost every part of his body. About half-past eleven there appealed a great stir outside the prison; all the guards were called off but four • and about noon, looking from the v,ind ,w, I saw ;he troops drawn up in columns in front of the city gates. We were pre,ently informed that the mob were murdering and plundering the Chinese in the , Escalta—that all the Spaniards were getting into the city with their families as fast as possible. Our friend, the former Corregidor, received a let ter from the Government, reque'ting him to resume his office, as the old cowardly Count had disappeared. He immediately mounted his horse, and read a Pro clamation to the mob which the Governor had sent him, ordering them to disperse, or the troops should attack them, and hang every fifth man they could catch. The mob immediately dispersed, and went quietly to their houses. LIST OF THE KILLED AND WOUNDED AT THE MAS SACRE AT MANILLA, ON THE 9TII OCTOBER, 1820. Names. Country. Occupation and Remarks. Thos. V. Wilson, America, Midshipman United States Navy, formerly of the frigate; Macedonia, going home on a sick certificate. D. Nichols, - English, Commander of the country ship Nlerope, of Bengal. Naturalist, sent out by the French Government to make collections. Guillot, Ditto, Supercargo of the French ship I' Eglantine. Officer of the Imperial French Guards. Merchant, formerly ship Master. Captain of the French ship Culti vateur, of Nantes. Alercha nt. Ditto ' of the house of Stevenson and Co. Godfroi, - - French, Toulon, - - Ditto, Duperat, - - Ditto, Debur, - - Ditto, J. Dunsfeldt, - Dane, A. ShalEilitzky, Ditto, F,stoup, - - French, Arnaud, - - Ditto, Martin, - - Ditto, Judith - - Ditto, Boy, - - - Ditto, Joseph, - - Ditto, A sailmaker - I)itto, D'Arbell, - Dato, -..- Capt. of the French ship Alezauder. Officer of the smile ditto. Pilot of ditto. Ditto. F.stoup's servant. Cook of the Alexander. Ship l'Orient, died of his wounds. A respi-ctahle planter, settled here two or three years since.. Hautelman, - German, Gautrin, - french, Head dreadfully cut. Godtiol, - Ditto, Two terrible wounds on his head. Baptiste, - - Armenian, Very dangerously. Ten seamen, English, at different places, not be longing to any particular ship. The bodies of these unfortunate sufferers were thrown into the streets, treated with every indignity, and were afterwards at night, by order of the Government, carried to the sea shore, and buried in a heap, without the shadow of a religious ceremony, or a sign to mark their graves. Six more persons, Europeans, names unknown. Eighty-five Chinese are known to have been mur dered': but it is supposed there were many more. Three Spaniards killed by mistake : the mob, not recognising them, and supposing them to be foreigners. Note by the writer of the letter from Macao :—This seems to be a mistake, as mit of the other Gentle men from Manila assert positively that not a single Spaniard lost his life, and no Spanish property was plundered, unless what might have been jointly owned by them and the Chinese. The sudden Proclamation from the Governor, on hearing that the mob had be gun to massacre the Chinese, proves that there was Spanish property in danger, for the murdering and plundering of the European strangers seemed to have no effect upon him whatever !!! REMONSTRANCE AGAINST PRUSSIAN AGGRESSION. EXTRACT OF A LITTER, DATED FRANKFORT, APRIL 12. The German Confederation has now to decide on a complaint of the Duke of Anhalt Coethen against the Cabinet of Berlin. The matter in dispute is im portant. The following is in substance the aUe4ation of the Duke : we shall also give the answer, which no doubt will soon be made on the part of Prussia : ' The Prussian Financial Administration has planned and executed a system of Custom-house regulations 'that, without any previous negotiation, subjects the Duchy of Anhalt, which is surrounded by the Prus sian territories, to indirect imposts of the Court of Berlin. The Houses of Anhalt regard the proceed ing as an open attack on their rights of Sovereignty, and as ade frcto meditization. Th e representations made on this subject, during two years, by the in jured party, to the Cabinet of Berlin, supported by the rights of relationship, of mutual obligation, and by the authority of various Treaties, produced no result whatever. Under circumstances so urgent, the Duke of An halt Coetben took upon himself in person the duty of attending to the interests of his House, and during the conferences which took place at Vienna, in the year 1820, repaired thither for the purpose of pro curing new guarantees for his rights from the dif ferent Powers of Germany, then assembled in that capital. Prussia pretended that she was entitled to exercise an authority beyond her boundaries, to put in action a system entirely arbitrary, without the least regard to the rights of Sovereigns surrounded by her territories, even to the extent of cutting them off at her pleasure from all communication with the rest of the world. _ _ A great question has thus .arisen in what circum stances a European State is authorized to act within its own boundaries without any other restriction than its own will, or if in its interior organization it is absolved from any responsibility with regard to its co-estates. This difficulty, which now agitates all the political world, has been yet undecided. The Dukes of Anhalt ought . ,to be convinced in seeing the relation they have to States in a powerful condition, that they ought not at once to attack the system of the Customs, however they were hurtful to them.— They ought to betake themselves, as their only re source in such a case, to treaties. The Court of Vienna had declared the navigation of the Etbe, which traverses the country of Anhalt, free and in dependent of any Ctutom whatever. It was of im portance to the Dukes of Anhalt to preserve a chan nel of communication which HEAVEN, as it were, had granted them. As they had succeeded in causing the stipulations of the Congress at Vienna in favour of the Elbe to be executed, which, besides, were found firmly and intimately connected with all the other stipulations of the Congress, and which ought not to rest on a basis less secure than those which have been already adopted in relation to territorial right, or the / - 10rt, 6 71: ..2ot rights or possession in Europe, the barriers of p • suss's, which command any of the commercials channels of communication with the German interior, ought to be thrown back, and the country of Anhalt will not then fail of resuming its proper relation to the rest of Germany. Weighty considerations impelled the Duke of Anhalt Coethen to insist upon this important object; and in consequence of his great efforts, th e freedom of the River was confirmed in the most so lemn manner, and ixpressed in the Protocols of the conferences at Vienna, in 1820, with the formal and declared sanction of the Government of Prussia...— Besides, it was Prussia herself Fho, at the time of the Congress at Vienna, in 1814., made the mag. nanimous proposition regarding the freedom of Rivers; and which already, on six several occasions, has been in Protocols and Treaties confirmed by her signature the sacred promise of the several stipula tions made at Vienna. To all these gu . arantee:, o n the part of Prussia, nothing is wanting but their execution. It is very naturally asked, will• Prussia stop the first vessel which, after the publication of the conferences at Vienna, shall descend the Elbe? Will she still demand upon this river the indirect Taxes from the subjects of Anhalt? Six months have in fact already passed since the first vessel was stopped, and the reitea ated representations of the Government of Anhalt on this open violation of posi tive Treaties, continue to be unsuccessful. The Duke of Anhalt has found himself obliged to appeal to the Germanic Confederation. All the world is curious to see in what manner the Germanic Confederation will perform this first experiment of its competency ; and if, in the year 18'21, in the centre of Europe, a State of small con sequence can maintain against a Power of the first rank, a right which is at once without doubt, and beyond all exception. The wisdom of great Cabinets will, 03 this occa. skit, be employed to make known to the world, that in the new order of Europe, the least Estate may consider itself in perfect security by the side of the greatest. But, moreover, it is the character, eminently just and honourable, of his Majesty the King of Prussia, which will receive en this occasion the most tinequixocal homage, when a neighbour, who in his circumscribed sphere might have to fear in a thousand circumstances the vengeance of the powerful, can march with a firm step in the way that its duties to its own subjects point out, and se. cure together with the honour of their family, the impresci iptible rights of all the secondary States is Germany. TRIESTE, MARCH al. EXTRACT OF A PRIVATE LETTER._ •••••• '' 4 ar .. The situation of our neighbours, the Turks, ea cites the most lively attention. The revolutionary movements of Moldavia and Wallachia happen pre cisely at the same moment that the Greeks of the Isle of Candia refuse to pav the extraordinary tribute which the Musillim, or Governor of the Isle, had or• dered to be levied upon them. Albania is far from being tranquil; the Torzides, from• which tribe the famous Ali Pacha descends, chew a disposition to maintain his son Mouctas, in the possession of his h► reditary domains. The old Ali Pacha himself, by means of his immense treasures, corrupts, succes sively, the Generals who are sent to besiege him. " The Servians are in negotiation with the Porte, to demand the extension of the privileges that the Treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in- sured to them. The Divan has granted the diminu tion of the tribute Karatch, but not the military on- Cupation of Belgrade. The inhabitants of Bosnia, though fanatical Mussulmen, have quarrels with their Pacha respecting the privileges which his troops arrogate to themselves; their minds are not alien from the desire of a sort of independence, similar to that enjoyed by the Servians. To heighten the em barrassments, the Porte has imprudently announced its intention of depriving the powerful Viceroy el Egypt, of a moiety of his Pachalick. . " In such a situation it is to be remarked that the eternal negotiations between the Divan and the Rye sian Ambassador, relatively to the fortresses of Poti and Bathoum (in Lower Georgia) are not termi nated. Those which had for their object the fixation of the limits on the side of Moldavia, were concluded some months ago, and it was not true, as was* moured, that the Russian army under the orders the Prince Wittgenstein, is 100,000 strong ; it scarcely consists of a quarter of that number, and is barely sufficient force for the ordinary garrison service. " Some Turks, who fled before the Arnauts and Wallachians, have arrived at the poAs of the Offices of the Austrian Customs in the Bannat. As they dread the infection of the plague, they were not sal fered to pass beyond the line of their Offices, Ode they remain like heaps of merchandise. P.S. It is at this moment confidently said, the the insurrection in Wallachil and Moldavia is es-j tending, and that nearly 30,000 Greeks have enrolled' themselves under the banners of Prince Ypsihinti.' Some Russian Officeis, who have followed him, hag been deprived of their Commissions by the kVA Government." Private letters from Tortola, to the 4th of FM' ary, we lament to say, represent that Island as hoof of late been very sickly. A great many deaths htr taken place within the last two months. The 2,10 from Grenada also state that that Colony was 41 and that great mortality prevailed, particularly am the white population. His Excellency the Gore of St. Kitt's had caused the ports of that Ida,' to hi opened for the impoi union of lumber, for the 5 1 1 . 2 . of six months, in comeciaence of a Petition from 1:7 Proprietors and Merchants, complaining of the log! ciency of lumber to enable the cultivators to Ito° with 'their crops. REVOLUTIONS IN ITALY.—The ACIII and Proi: b ? of the Holy Alliance relative to Italy are most exposed in a masterly pamphlet, supposed toy written by one of our great Opposition Peers; ', l ; which is just published in the PAUPHLETEER,I44O:'m in which Number is inserted M. Beajaimn C stant's pamphlet on the new Law of Elections the Chamber of Deputies, which has cam!!! • much agitation in F r ance—also the Rev. w' Bowles' pamphlet, which has call ed f o rth Byron's Letter now in circulation relative Pope, &c.—besides eight ogler pamphlets 0 1 diate interest. -