The Express.
London, England, 1865-05-05 00:00:00

SPAIN.

MADRID, MAT 5.

A royal decree has been issued nominating Senor
Gonzales Bravo Minister of State during the
illness of Senor Benavides.

EXPRESS FROM PARIS•

FRENCH RULE IN MEXICO.
(nox wax ow cositsmamr.)
_

PARIS, THITIMAY EnIRMO.
When a few weeks since Marshal Forey, in his
maiden speech in the Senate, said that if Marshal
Bazaine had (as was then supposed) shot the Mexi-
can general Porforio Diaz, he highly approved of
the act, • ay of indignation against the bloody
doctrine was raised by the Paris press with the
exception of the official prints. The latter at first
attempted to make out that Porforio Diaz was
a " brigand," and the evidence they brought for-
ward of this fact was that his brother(!) bad been
accused of certain atrocities a long time ago. But
when it turned out that Marshal Bazaine had
not shot his prisoner, but on the contrary,
treated him with the honours of war, they
left off maintaining the doctrine that all
Mexicans taken in arms against invaders were
to be exterminated in cold blood. It now seems,
however, that Marshal Foray bad the right diapason
of the latest orders. I have before me the textual
report of the proceedings of • French court-martial
held in the city of Mexico on the 13th, 14th, 16th,
16th, and 17th March, for the trial of Romero and
fifty-five others ; and I find in the report of the
judge-advocate, Captain N. Fontaine, of the 3rd
Zonaves, upon which the court acted, the following
astounding passage :
We have interrogated Romero, the chief of the band. He
and his fellow primates all admit that they were taken
with arms in their hands, but they say it was for the de-
fence of their country. After this categorical confession
do we need further proof I The court might dispense with
any, bemuse this fact alone constitutes an set of rebellion,
phase the prisoners out of the pale of the law, and ren-
ders them fit subjects for the penalty of death, according
to the imperial circular el Nov. 3, 1864.
Here we have, without qualification, the doc-
trine laid down that all the officers end soldiers of
the native government which an Austrian arch-
duke was sent out by the French Emperor
to displace are to be executed as felons
for the mere fact of resisting the in-
vaders of their country. The captain re-
porter goes on, however, but protesting that it is a
work of supererogation, to impute to Romero cer-
tain acts of brigandage, the first and principal of
which was the robbery of two horses from a pre-
fect in 1859, six years ago ! Of the 56 prisoners,
25 were acquitted, 90 sentenced to transportation,
and 11 condemned to death. Maximilian, whose
prerogative of mercy seems to extend to the sen-
tences of French courts-martial, was pleased to
commute the punishment of seven out of the
eleven to transportation, but Romero and
three others were shot in the city of
Mexico eight hours after the court separated.
This event produced a great sensation io the capital
of Maximilian's empire. A letter in the Temps
says that Maximilian was inclined to pardon all the
prisoners, but was dissuaded from doing so by a
"high personage," who, it is insinuated, was the
French commandant. Several Mexican journals
presumed to question the jurisdiction of a French
court-martial in the capital of an empire which
now pretends to be regularly established and
strong in the affections of its subjects ; but
these audacious writers were summoned to
appear before Marshal Bazaine's principal staff
officer, who told them for their information
that Mexico was still under martial law, and that
any newspaper editors who might speak in • hostile
tone of military judges would be brought to a court-