The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-03 00:00:00

MOST APPALLING MURDER.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
PORTSMOUTH,TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 2.—The whole
of this neighbourhood has been thrown into the greatest
state of excitement and alarm within these last few days,
by the most atrocious and cold-blooded murder which has
taken place, since that of the families of Mars and Wil-
liams, in Ratelifn-highway. These are the circumstances
which have transpired !—At two o'clock, A.M., last Satur-
day the 31st instant, William Jones, a shoemaker, of Gos-
port, returned home with his foreman and two apprentices,
from some society of which they were members, William
Jones being very much intoxicated. His wife imprudently
(considering the state he was in), upbraided him for his
conduct, and incensed him to such a degree, that he
stabbed her twice or three times in the abdomen with an
awl which was unfortunately within his reach, she expired
this morning from the effects of this is unnatural conduct.
FL! foreman healing the struggle rushed in to the wife's
assistance, when Jones, who is an immense powerful man,
seized him by the neck and dashed his brains cut. His
villainy was not yet finished, justly fearing that his crime
would be brought to light by means of his apprentices,
twins of about twelve years of age, Jones dragged both to
the hack door of his premises, and there hang them.

SPAIN.

Oar Ministry, I regret to say, is daily losing ground.
The differences of the Council Chamber are become sub-
jects of public scandal ; the acts which emanate from them
violate all law and justice, and admit of neither defence nor
palliation. it would, however, be unfair not to particu-
larise the author of ill° shameful proceedings --now
perpetrated in the name of the Spanish Govern-
ment ; for these Alaix alone is responsible, being
totally unsupported in his reckless violation of daty
by the other Members of the Cabinet. Last night-
orders were issued by him for the arrest of. the writers
of the Gairigay newspaper, and some of them, I unler-
stand, have been actually taken by the police. The prin-
cipal editor of that journal, M. Alonzo, an advocate of
much celebrity in the Spanish Courts, has made his
escape, it is said, from Madrid. The article which ex-
ci•ed Alaix to take these most unconstitutional and
steps appeared in the above journal on Saturday last, in
the shape of a dialogue between the Minister of War
(Alaix) and the widow of an officer suing for her pension.
The dialogue is, I can assure you, nothing more than the
substance of a conversation which did actually take place
between Alaix and the widow of General Monet, at the
War Office. Like hundreds of others in her condition,
she went there to demand, if not the pensicn legally due
to her, at least such portion of it as would preserve
herself and children from starvation. The painful
nature of the interview need not be described.
Female patience and suffering could no longer brook the
the brutal insolence with which she was treated, and she
burst forth into the most galling and bitter invective on
being told " that she might go and die in the streets;"
demanding, in the hearing of several persons, " how dare
the monster to treat her in that manner, whose husband
had raised him (Alaix) from cleaning his horse to the rank
of corporal in Peru ?" The sarcasm was too true • it was
the husband of this Lady, General Monet, who irst pro-
muted the present Minister of 'War from the stables to
stand at the head of a corporal's guard. I need not add
that folly like this must soon bring its own corrective, and
that the author of it must find some more fitting place for
the exercise of. it than the office of a Minister.
The expulsion of M. Borrego, the editor of the Correo I
Nacional, was also, I understand, contemplated by the
Minister of War, notwithstanding M. Borrcgo being a
deputy of Congress, but that be was persuaded by his col- ,
leagues from making the attempt.
We have received the details of the attack on Segura,
in Lower Arragon, by General Ayerbe, who defeated Ca-
brera on the 23d. He dislodged him, successively front
all his positions, but, on arriving at the gates of Segura,
he was forced to retrograde. An old tower, furnished
with artillery and repaired by the Carlists, barred his pas-
sage. He was compelled, in ccnsequence, to fall back
upon Cortes, about two leagues distant, to wait for some
heavy guns which he had sent for from Saragossa.
The Madrid Gazette contains a letter from Burgos of 1
the 22d ult., announcing that the autherities-had pub:ished
a bando, in virtue of which all the Carlists who should fall
iato the hands of the Queen's troops are to be instantly
shot, " in retaliation for a recent act of fer..city of Bal.
11
maseda, who, without any other motive than his sanguinary
caprice, had caused eight soldiers and a national guard of
Btltanas to be put to death at Oquil!as."
Elio and Zariategui hive been received by Don Carlos,
who has appointed the first Commaader•General of Na-
varre. The Infantcs, present at the reception showed
great esteem for these two re• established superior olfiers.
The Brigadier Fernando Cabanos has been declared inno-
cent by a military commission. Don Carlos transacts busi-
ness frequently with Father Cyrille and M. Erro.
According to a late return of the troops of the Army of
the North, it is stated that the Count de Lucbana has now
under his orders 80,000 men, of whom nearly three-fourths
have been at least three years in service. The rest is
composed of soldiers of the new levy, and of men enlisted
wi,hin twelve months. Espartero can bring more than
45,000 men into the field, without drawing a man from
the fortified points. As to the Csrlist forces in the pro-
vinces, they do not exceed 30,000 effective men, according to a recent estimate. Maroto has at this moment twenty-
one battalions it ith him et Dicastillo, which is nearly all the
forces he could oppose to Espartero in a general affair.
The Sentinelle des Pyrenees gives an account of an en-
gagemeet between a smuggler and the Spanish revenue felucca the Concepcion, which quitted the Bay of Algesi-
rat on the 25th ult. for Malaga, with supplies of money
and despatches for the Isabella I 1., destined for the bloc-
kade of Melilla. After an obstinate engagement of two
hours, in the course of which the officer second in ceee-
mand of the Concepcion and six of her crew were killed,
she was boarded by the smugglers, Rho closed the hatches,
took away 4,0Q0 reals from the Captain's cabin, all the
arms in the vessel, threw al2 and 8-pounder overboard, -
cut all the sails and rigging, and then retired. The
Concepcion reached the Bay of Algesiras with the greatest
difficulty. The Captain, who had been wounded in the
arm, which was obliged to undergo amputation, died
shortly after the operation.
A convoy of 3,000,000 reels, sent from Madrid to Gene-
ral Espartero, is said by the Memorial des Pyrenees to have
arrived on the 15th ult. at Burgos.