The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-04-27 00:00:00

SPAIN.

before

A rumour is current at Madrid that the Queen is
likely to add another member to her royal house. There
is again inuoh talk of an approaching ministerial crisis.

A tragic occurrence toes place at two o'clock in the
afternoon of the 14th in the Calle del Carmen, the most
frequented thoroughfare in Madrid. A person named
Ribero, plunged a poniard, or rather short sword, twice
into the holy of Colonel Verdugo. The crime was com-
mitted with the utmost deliberation, the assassin made
no attempt at escape. When the last accounts left the
victim was still alive, but there was hardly a hope of
&tying him. He was taken to a house close to the spot
where lie was struck down. The assassin, who was
instantly arrested, walked along in the most tranquil
manner. Ho held in his hand for some time the weapon,
still reeking with the blood of his victim, until, on pass-
ing by a house with an iron railing before the door, he
flung it into the area, and then, as if nothing unusual
had occurred, lighted a cigar and began to smoke. The
Military Governor of Madrid, who was one of the first
to hasten to the spot, had him taken in the first instance
to the military prison. On the way Ribero. observed,
with the greatest effrontery, "Ann I a criminal, that I
should be treated in this manner, and that my hands
should be tied?" "No," said the General, "but you
are a miserable assassin, who ought to have been shot
long ago." Ribera belongs to a respectable family at
Granada. Two of his brothers reside at Madrid, where
they practise their profession as advocates. They are
said to be very generally esteemed, as well as their
father, who had arrived at Madrid only a few weeks
before. The antecedents of the assassin himself are, it
seems, any thing but reputable. He belonged to the
military profession • while lieutenant in a provincial
regiment of Almeria le was tried on a serious charge,
and condemned to six years imprisonment. As, how-
ever, it is at no time very difficult in Spain for a person
occupying a certain social position, or possessing influ-
ence in high quarters, to baffle justice, Ribero, did not
undergo his punishment. The military career was, how-
ever, closed against him. He then entered the secret
police—an institution of • particularly odious character
in Spain, where it is often made use of to satisfy political
vengeance, and to create facilities for the commission of
crime. Ribera soon rose to the rank of Chief of the
Secret Police under the administration of Sartorine,Count
de Sim Luis. In this capacity he is said to have falsified
a warrant, with a view to the arrest of • gentleman
named Cainacho on a charge of conspiracy, but really
to revenge himself for some difference he had formerly
had with him. He ordered Caruaeho to be handcuffed,
thou drew his sword, struck his prisoner several times,
auil would have run him through had he not been pre-
vented by his own men. Ribera thereupon was
errtsteil and imprisoned. While the insurrection was
pending, and the power of Sartorins still in existence,
Rabera was set at liberty. When the Governinent of
S.atoriu. fell Ribera, fearing that he would be called on
to pay the debts he owed to justice, fled to France. It
appears lie was protected by some of the principal refu-
gees, and employed to write an account of the administra-
tion of O'Donnell in the island of Cuba, in which some
very scandalous acts were aarrated. Numerous copies
of the pamphlet were sent to the Deputies of the Cork.,
at Madrid. He returned to Spain in 1856 at the saute
time as General Narvaes, and was once more named
Chi.' of the Secret Pollee. He lest his place on the fall
of the Narvaes Cabinet, and it is doubtful whether, at
the moment of oommitting the present crime he belonged
to that respectable service. The life of the crime,
pre-
sents • contrast in every way to that of the victim.
Every one speaks of him as • man of integrity,—an
honourable and gallant soldier, and possessed of all the
qualities that entitle one to esteem. He was the
husband of Madame Avellaveda, long and most favour-
ably known in Spain se • poet and dramatic writer. It
so happens that one of her most rueoessful pieces, entitled

Balthasar, hem just had a most suomissfu run at the
theatre of the Novedades, in Madrid. The very day
before her husband's smassination she was presented by
the Queen with a valuable diamond bracelet in testimony
'of the great pleasure Her Majesty expertneed at the
performance of the piece the night befon she left for
Arsnjuex. The greatest sympathy is felt n Madrid for
the victim of this foul attempt, and the vastest horror
and indignation against the perpetrator of it. He yet
lingers in a precarious state. His wife ha written to
the Queen asserting the crime arose from political feel-
ing. Much excitement prevails in mosequenoe at
Madrid.