Star. — London, England, 1823-11-19 00:00:00

berator, the saviour, the fattier of a distressed and sore row fut family. Whatever fatality mar have caused him to take part in public affairs; whatever may be the errors, the crimes, which his adversaries impute to him, he has never shewn himself sanguinary or ambitious. The gratitude of all his family to the august author of his happiness would have hio limits, were the powerful intervention of your Most Christian Majesty to procure to him the opportunity of retiring to the peaceful career of a private and obscuie life. _ _ . • The brother, Dan Miguel del Riego, during twenty years a Canon of the Cathedral of Oviedo, has gained nothing by the political events of which Spain has been the theatre; he is neither a statesman . nor a politician, 'he only speaks to your Majesty as a brother and a Chi is•• tian. It is humanity—it is the all-powerful ties of blood —it is the sentiments which nature inspires, and which religion approves, th,•tt engage him in this undertaking, encouraged by internal conviction that your Majesty will freely yield to the voice of hunianiry and religion. Sire, we remain, Your 34jesty's most bumble and obedient Servants, MARIA TERI•;SA DEL RIEGO Y RIEGO. MIGUEL DEL RIEGO, Canon of Oviedo. London, Oct. 15, 1323. No. V. • The Prince de Polignac has received, with the letter 30116 tl,•r Canon Don Miguel del Riego has done him the honour to address to him, the two inclosed letters; he will hasten to transmit by this evening's post, to his Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs to his Most Christian Majesty, the letter wliich is to be presented to his Majesty; and will solicit his Excellency to forward, as soon as possible, to Don Raphael del Riego that which is addressed ta.him. London, October 17, 1823. The Canon Don Miguel del Riego not receiving any answer to the Petition addressed to the King of -France, thought proper to forward the following letter, through the medium of Mr. Canning, to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Viscount Chateaubriand. No. VI. S►n—With hearts mar in the depths of affliction, the wife and brother of General Riego, now pining in the diingeon 3 of Machid, solicit you (and they feel they shall not solicit you in vain), as a Chief Minister of this great Empire, to use your influence in endeavouring to avert the destiny which now awaits the beloved objectof their most ardent affection. They flatter themselves that the slightest interference on the part of England would save the life of General Riego. In,the name of a just and merciful GOD, they pray you to use your influence with your humane and benignant Sovereign. To his heart their tale of sorrow could not fail to make an' effective appeal. They need not urge to you, Sir—who with eloquence as forcible as it was just, denounced in the British Par liament the interference of France in the affairs of Spain —the injustice, and, indeed, gross impolicy of the pro ceedings against Riego. You are aware, Sir, that the act for which he was condemned was performed under the authority of a system of Government acknowledged by every European Power. The inclosed letter addressed to his Excellency the Viscount de Chateaubriand you will, perhaps, do them the honoUr of reading, as well as of forwarding it, as soon as possible, to that Minister.—l have the honour to be, with gicat r.sspect, your very obedient and very humble servant, NIGUEL DEL RIEGO, Canon de Oviedo. London, Nov. 14, 1323. To the Right Hon. George Cavilling. No. VII. • itlosT EXCELLENT SlR—The irresistible voice of na ture strikes the oppressed bosom of a young wife, sick, abandoned, far from the land of her birth and separated from her beloved liu,band, united to him by all the ties of blood, whcm the chances of war and the vicissitudes of the political revolution which still agitates his coun try have thrown into the obscurity of a dungeon, where her imagination, lull of grief and horror, presents him to her at every instant surrounded with dangers and af flictions. Not a single letter—nut a single word from her unfortunate husband—from a man more admired for his virtues and humanity than even for the bravery of hip actions—has conic to tranquilize her ill-fated ex istence, two months having elapsed since he became a prisoner to the French arms. Her uncle and brother in-law, the only brother of Don Raphael del Riego, whose habits, whose literary life, whose ecclesiastical character, appeared to insure to him an obscure, tran quil existence within the precincts of the temple, finds himself hurled amidst the agitations of the political world, banished from his country and repulsed from the altar as an unworthy Minister of Religion. In this situation, truly tragical and lamentable, ag gravated by their total ignorance of the fate of three younger Inothers, the eldest scarcely twenty-one years of age, and three infant sisters, all dispersed over the face of the Peninsula, without a father, without a mo ther, and without the shelter and support of their guar dian and uncle—who, giving vent to the tender senti ments of father, brother, legal protector, and natural fiiend, exclaims, on seeing the dreadful storm which threatens completely to destroy his whole family, direct ing himself to your Excellency—for what crime com mitted against heaven or earth is this unhappy brother so cruelly persecuted ? Is it an unpardonable crime in the eyes of civilized France, for the young soldier, who, • during the period of five years spent in her bosom, im bibed the truths of morality, of philosophy, and of the rights which all nations possess to endeavour to establish a system of political happiness—to have wished to assert the same principle, which he had seen displayed among the moral maxims and enchanting images of the au thor of the hllurtyr•s and of the Genius of Christianity?" Is it a crime that a valiant youth, in whose hands shone the arms of his country—that country which he had traversed from Cape Finisterre to the Columns of Hercules, horn the I3idassoa to the Tagus, hearing the cries of discontent, and seeing the misery, disorder, and, degradation into which the immorality and the insatiable , avarice of the evil counsellors of Ferdinand had unhap pily sunk her—is it an inexpiable crime, I say, that he should have raised his voice en the banks of the Guada lete, and exclaimed to his compatriots " Ferdinand is your King! Ferdinand is not.a tyrant! Fear not to re peat the echo of Lis Cabezas: ►et that sound reach his ears and Spain will be happy, and Ferdinand behold himself surrounded by his children!" Oh! shall deeds of val Our, of humanity, of suffering, of constancy, and tie sacrifice of health and of life, offered up on the altars of his country to ameliorate the condition of his fellow citizens- actions which caustiture the prominent featuie of heroism, be blotted out from among the names of the r• ct imes? and people sia, and resounded on the banks of the Ebro and the Minho, afterwards repeated with approbation on those of the. Seine, the Thames, the Danube;and the Mo— ttle patriot soldier, who thrice refused to be girded with the sash of the General, with which it pleased his Mo narch to remunerate him, as well as to nominate him his Aide-de-C./amp—the head which was decorated with the civic crowns of ,the olive and the ruse, presented to him by an enraptured people, filled kith the enthusiasm of the purest pleasure; will this sword, I ask, be con verted (as now so madly and audaciously some pretend), in the pages of severe history, into the bimsly dagger of a man-destroying rebel? Will these patriotic hymns be changed into the bitter sarcasms of ironical songs ; and will the serene forehead of a virtuous man, who de served of his King and country the title of their best ser vant, be traduced as vile and treacherous ? Let, Sir, his destiny be whatever HEAVEN may please —let it be such that may draw upon his devoted bead all the unbridled passions of a pernicious policy—of bloodthirsty vengeance, and of the insatiable hatred of fanaticism—yet never shall the virtues of Riego be con verted into crimes, and never will the Government of France be able to wash away the stain, which shall for ever cover it, should they allow a General; whom the French arms bad defeated in that field in which he fought under the orders of his King, denying to him the rights of a prisoner of war, to fall a sacrifice to ma niac passions—passions which, if not repressed, will terminate in shaking, even to their foundations, the legi timate thrones of all existing dynasties. The pen of the Canon Riego, not accustomed to write upon matters of state, delineates upon paper the senti ments which 'animate his bosom in favour of a brother, without fearing to displease a Minister, whom he cannot look upon in any other light than as a man of sense, an enlightened philosopher, and a profound writer. Were he, however, allowed, in advocating a cause which he is so much interested in pleading, - to mix some political considerations, how many could he not present to the superior understanding of the sagacious Minister, cal culated to prevail upon him to exert all his influence in the Cabinet of his Most Christian Majesty to save the French Government from such enormous disgrace, and to acquire to himself the glory of an action as just as it is humane. What greater punishment—what more cruel suffer ings can be inflicted on Rieg• than the spirit-destroying reflections which must now agitate his bosom, at seeing the conduct of those very men upon whose virtues, ex!. ' perienee, knowledge, and political foresight, he had founded the hope of seeing the throne of his King esta- . blished and respected, and the prosperity of his fellow citizens secured and promoted ? And how have his companions in arms, who on so many occasions mixed the sacred names of religion, country, liberty, and King, with his own celebrated one, behaved? How have they defended (if I may be allowed the expression) the work of Riego? Then what greater punishment—what more cruel sufferings Where then is the political rea son for considering the existence of Riego as terrible ? But if so many powerful reasons should not be suffi cient to move your Excellency to the performance of the action of saving Riego (an action as noble as it is glori ous), let the bitter tears of his distracted, exiled, heart sunken wife, fading away in the flower of her a e with a consumptive disease, excite in your heart the eelings of compassion, and urge you to a deed for wh h your name shall be blessed by generations yet unborn. Ohl why was she ever separated fi om her mother's womb! —Why did the light of heaven ever shine upon her pale cheek! Surely not that she might live so cruelly—so barbarously tormented ! Eight and twenty days have elapsed since a wife, drowned in tears, and a brother agitated with a thousand inquietudes, threw themselves on the compassion of the Most Christian King, through the medium of Prince de Polignac, who assured them that their ardent prayers, by means of your Excellency, would reach his august ears; but even tne small consolation of knowing that such has been the case, has never arrived to sooth their anxiety, or their griefs.—Louis ought to save France— Louis ought to save Spain. An afflicted wife and a disconsolate brother place their trust in Chateaubriand fur the salvation of the life of Riego. MARIA TERESA DEL RIEGO Y RIEGO. 111 IG DIM DEL RIEGO, Canon of Oviedo. 27. Alfred-place, London. Nov. 14, 11125. His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs. to his Most Christian Majesty. No. VIII. • New Burlington-street, Sitnday Morning, Nov. 18, 1523. Snt—Having received the letter which you addressed to Mr. Secretary Canning, on the 14th instant, I did not Joie a moment in forwarding it to him, though I knew that he was already on his return to London. This morning I received instructions from Mr.• Ca nning to send off your letter to the Viscount de Chateau briand by an especial messenser ; which instructions I was on the point of executing, when the arrival of in telligence . from Paris prevented me from doing so. With what intelligence you are probably too well ac quainted.—l have the honour to. be, Sir, &c. JOSEffil PLANTA. Jan. To the Canon Miguel del Riego. • Letters from klavannah, dated the 22d of September, state, that LABORDE, the Spanish Commodore, arrived there on the 20th from Puerto Cavell*, with his squa dron of five sail of vessels; viz. the frigate Constitution,• the corvettes, Ceres, Carabobo, and Maria Francisca and the schooner Aiafa, having on board 2+S emi grants, and 20 Royalist families, who, from their active conduct in opposition to the independent cause, have' been compelled to abandon thnctown. Puerto Cavello was the only place in VetiezuelOccupied by thelloyalist troops, against which. the whole of the Colombian force was directed; and as k had been left, by the sailing of 'LABORDE'S squadron, without any . naval protection, or the means of obtaining supplies, it was incapable of a protracted defence. The reasons for LABonz.z's aban donment of his station were not known, but he was supposed to have taken that step in consequence of the great number of officers and men lost on the lake of Maracaibo, where he had sent them to assist MORALES in his attack on the Colombian fleet. • Letters received from Leghorn, contradict the re ports circulated a few days ago, of Mmfaocortparo having _been torn in pieces by the Hydriots. It appears that MAVROCORDATO, so far from being forced to take refuge in Hydria, merely went there to superin- 1 , tend the sailing of the fleet, and has since returned to, his duties of Secretary-General to the Government. It is mentioned in a Paper of yesterday, that Minis ters intend to send an Admiral to command on the South AmMcan station, and that one of the Lords of the Admiralty will hoist his flag on that station. The fact is, Rear-Admiral Sir Gaonct Eytti, was appointed ikJime last, and actually sailed in the SPARTIATE, 74, 'about a month since. THE EVENING sfrAtt. LONDON. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1825. THE FUNDS.. STOCK EXCHANGE. TWELVE O'CLOCK. Consols opened this morning, at 84, 4, and got up to 4, with a good Market. The Expresses from Paris have brought the Rentes at 89f. 9.5 e. and Spanish at 274 to 28.—The monied men at Paris, as well as in this Country, are determined nor to have anything to do with the New Spanish Loan, until the King of Seam has sanctioned the Old one. We also understand that the Franck KING, at present, is not in imminent danger. FOREIGN FUNDS. Owing to the rise at Paria of Spanish Bonds, the Market opened this morning at 264, went down to 4, and got up again to 4,4, Current Prices : New Spanish 19; Old 264, Colombian 584 is 59, Old Poyais 4,4, New 5 to 4, Chilian 664. PR ICE OF STOCKS AT ONE O'CLOCK. Bank Stock 222 1 / 2 223 222% 3 per Cent. Reduced 82% 83 8278 3 per Cent. Cons. 8 3 1 / 2 % s/ 8 -3 1 / 2 per Cents. 96 % 8 4 per Cents. Old 100 9978 4 per Cents. New 104 1 / 8 103% Bank Long Anns. 21 20%8 Imperial 3 per Cents. 81%--Inclia Bonds 775. Exchequer Bills (01,000) 445. 465. 444. Consols lot Acct. 83 1 / 2 %.313. At a Privy Council held at Windsor yesterday, a Proclamation was agreed to be issued for the assem bling of Parliament on the 3d of February next. The Proclamation, which appeared in the Gazette last night, states, that- it is 6, for Me dispatch of divers urgent and important offitirs" that Parliament is summoned ; so that we may take it for granted that no farther post ponement will take We have received to-day the following advices from .Bayonne of the 11th inst. The account which they contain of the last moments of the unfortunate RIEGO will be read with painful interest. There is something alike inhuman and impolitic in the exultation expressed at Madrid on his execution. Treatment lik e t hi s affects not the memory of the victim in the judgment of man kind; but places him, on the contrary, more in the light of a martyr than he might otherwise have been re garded. Some of the French Journals take credit for the fact that 'no French soldiers were present at the horrible scene ; but it will be seen from our present accounts that it was by French soldiers that order was kept, while the Spanish rabble were hurraing the exit of a man who but a few short months ago was the object of their idolatry. social virtues and placed in die black catalogue ofcrim• The sword which became a national trophy, a which was solemnly decreed to belong to the peo, alone--the hymns which were heard by joyful Anda • BAYONNE, NOVEMBER ii. We have received our letters from Madrid up to the 7th inclusive. At one o'clock on that day, the unfor tunate Riego was executed. The details of this circum stance are really painful. The following are the parti culars which are given us:— The prisoner had been placed, as usual", in a chamber where there is a table, with a crucifix. It was there he passed the time preceding his execution, to which he was conducted, or rather dragged, on a hurdle, drawn by an ass. It was with'great difficulty he ascended the ladder, to the very lofty gibbet which had been erected, so ill was he, in consequence of the fetters which ltad been put on hiin *since his arrest. He died with great resignation and courage. As soon as the executioner made a signal that he was dead, cries and hurrahs arose from all quarters, even from the balconies, it which were Priests and Monks. The public tranquillity was not interrupted for a mo ment, thanks to the precautions taken by the French Ge neral, who caused numerous detachments to patrol the streets, which'was very necessary, as a crowd of persons was observed who appeared to have arms concealed un der their cloaks, and who would have taken advantage of the slightest confusion to do mischief. That part of the sentence which decreed that the body of Riego should be divided into five parts and sent to different places, has not been, and will not be, carried into effect. The ap prehensions that may be justly entertained (torn the ex cess of the exultation of the Royalist party, now they are the masters, may be judged of by the excesses com mitted on All Saints Day : they went to the Church yards, and after having defaced with their sabres the epitaphs of the Constitutionalists, they stopped at the graves of Sierra Pamblei and Landaburn, from which they took the bodies and tore them in pieecs. The following account, which is given as authentic, is calculated to excite the most serious reflections as well as horror. It is stated in accounts from Guadalajara, that a Colonel of the corps of the Empecinado, having been brought a prisoner, it was with difficulty he reached the prison : the people with loud cries de manded that - the Governor should deliver him up to their vengeance, if he would not be sacrificed himself, He had the cruel weakness to have the gate of the pri son opened ; the people seized the Colonel,' stripped him, and conducted him, through the streets with a rope about his neck, they led him out of the city, put out his eyes,cut off his nose and ears, and last of, all his head, It is reported, from Truxillo; that the corps of the Empecinado continues to be the terror of the country and that it is still so formidable that French troops are, marching from all sides towards that quarter. The dismissal of the Governor of Cadiz, who had ar bitraiily arrested the. Duke del Parque, gave so much satisfaction to the people, that they testified their grati tude to General Bout mont by reiterated applauseb when he appeared at the Theatre ; they also let fly pigeons adorned with ribbons, which is only done on occasions of public rejoicings.. The toads on the other side of the stPitai are infested by numerous guerillas, which traverse tlmq . in.all di rections. Those on this side are not much better, for the courier with the Mail is obliged to have an escort, and the bands push their excursions very near to t h e fiontiers. It seems that the Royalists and the Army of t h e Faith. are very angry at the Ordonnance which sup. presses all aid or payment from France. It is affirmed that the Inquisition will not yet be re-established, but will be replaced by a tribunal of a similar nature.'Ge. neral Guilleminot did not set out with the Prince, and will remain some days at Madrid. The Count of St. Chaman's has just arrived from Spain. General Molitor is going to Alicant and Carthagena, to terminate the war in that country. _ _ We received, last night, the Paris Papers of suts. day, and to-day, by Express, those of Monday.—ye s „ waxy- we quoted from the Oreamme some hints of a project "'tor restoring to the throne of his ancestors, the son of a King whom the events of the regime of BONAPARTE dethroned," and giving' BERNADOTTE, in lieu of his Swedish diadem, the sovereignty of Greece. The Journal des Debuts, referring to this paragraph, gives it the following demi-official contradiction. “ The editor of the Or name. was right in informing bla readers that it would perhaps be prudent not to give entire faith to this re. port; for the statement is a complete Isbrication.” The Comstittaionnel contains the convention for the surrender of Barcelona, liostalrich, &c. The following are the only articles of importance: " Art. 10. His Excellency the Marshal Duke de Cornegliano will interpose his mediation to get removed the sequestration placed for political reasons upon the property of militia-men, and other in. &admit' domieiliated or taking refuge in the places above indicated. " Art. 11. The Italian, and Germans who form part of the corps that may be found in the above places shall be treated she same as Spanish soldiers. Passports shaU be granted to those who may require them. Art. 12. Persons in a civil capacity, or who may have exentised functions under the Constitutional system, and all other brawl. duals, shall be free from any process affecting either their pens., or their property, on account of their public conduct, or otthe opi nions they may have expressed either verbaffy or In writing." We have received advices from Demerara to the 21st of September. The colony continued tranquil, though much gloom was observed among the Negroes at the different plantations where the revolt has! at first broken out, which, however, was only considered the natural consequence of the previous state of things. The prin. cipal ringleader of the insurrection, a negro named Quamina, had been shot in the bushes, after ineffectual attempts to take him alive. His son, another negro, named Jack, who had been acting under him, was in custody and undergoing his trial, in the course of which it is expected would be fully disclosed the origin and causes of the insurrection. The Missionaries who had been apprehended at its first breaking out were shortly to be put on their trial. We mentioned yesterday, that an attempt was again made on 'Change, to sell the new Spanish Royalty Loan, dnd that this attempt was received with increased in. dignation. The British Public will be pleased to find, by the following Letter, that two eminent English , Es. . . tablishments, who were originally interested in this Contract, withdrew from it, as satin as their Attest (Mr.. ABBOTT) was inforWied, iliSt it wits fulinded ,a o r vio: lation of national honour • TO THE EDITOE OF THE STAR. " London, November 18,181;5. " Saa—Hitherto I have abstained from intruding my name we the Public, but it baying been rumoured that a Mercantile Muse in this City has become a party privately to the Spanish llegeoey Loan just contracted for, I am requested by the two , highly Re spectable and. Eminent Houses who deputed me to set for them to this affair, to state, that as the chief condition demanded by them of the Regency, viz. That ell des Gorge Leans should be awarded and ratified by the new GownwasetW, was not deemed admissible, 1 immediately received directions, from my Constituents, is with. draw myself, on their behalf, from the transaction; and accordingly I returned to Mr. Gnassams, my Ctoulaterpin of the Preliminary Agreement.enteredintn by the Five Parties concerned, vase ow sisted of two French Gentlemen, described to me as Messrs. tie Count Acurica Jourrzor and the Marquess de Cans, Mr. Gap • HARD, M. PICTS; a Banker in Paris, and myself. " I beg it to be distinctly under stood, that I have no other so tive in this communication titan that of doing justice to the Re spectable Parties whom I represented. " I.am, Sir; respectfully, your very obedient Servant, " HENRY ABBOTT, late No. 15, Tbrogmorws.taet•" THE KING'S CO UR Yesterday, at twelve o'clock, his MAJRSET helda Court at his Palace at Windsor, which was attended - by the Lord President of the Council, the Mastur•Geaetal of the Ordnance, the Vice-President of the - Board d Trade, and Sir C. LONG. Hi:MAJESTY held a Privy Council, at which Mr. BULLER attended as Clerk. - A Proclamation was *steed upon to be issued for the assembling of Pat liament for the dispatch of business on the 3d day of February next. • The KING gave audience to the Earl of Ha& ItOWBY, &C. JOHN CHAPMAN, Esq. late Mayor of Windsor,a GRIFFIN WILSON, Esq. the Recorder of Windsor, introduced ; when his MAJESTY was graciously plesloi to confer the honour of Knighthood upon thou. Count LUSTER had a dinner party yesterdaTl!Alb' burnham House. The Marquis of CHI/LlAM:tali entertained party to dinner yesterday at Chohnondeley Howe, P la t* • Ye sderd the r yB araofi o c Baron F f Ac a z 7 t cA ,r s Netherlands, Ar transacted business at the' Foreign ' Viscount MELvtliz arril the Isle of Wight, and presided at At the Cabinet Council ()Tice 'yesterday, there were ckt.Loa, the Earl of HARI POOL, the Bail of WEST( CANNING, Earl BATHURST, Viscount Masytt.tx, Lord CHANCELLOR of the EXQUIQUJ and Mr. Husussou, who since his admission to be a Council was engaged *in o'clock. Several of he members to attend the meeting. We summoned by Mr. C&wie lip. doiandeloy House, Plead* [., the Ambassador MIS* imams, and Viscount GIAOO 3I I I•n Mee. ived in town yesterday & at the Board of It. • • ': assembled at the • , le present the Lona 1,•,, aaowsy, the Earl of 61-- -. ruont.nuo, Mr. Psi.., ~ the Duke of WA . ' , 'd Beziall, Mr. Wye! mata, ,Viscount %DIP Attended for the Imo.. member of the Cabinet., deliberation till abzio ober: came to tows _ understand the Ca. 14 1 1 .: Imo . • . ~:.