The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-20 00:00:00

THE DUKE OF MONTPENSIER'S TRIAL.

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The trial of the Duke of Montpensier was not likely
under any circumstances to present much difficulty; and
what‘legal business really existed was much simplified by
the confession of the culprit. He refused to lend himself
to the subterfuge resorted to by his seconds—namely, that
the death of Don Henri occurred through the accidental
discharge of a pistol he was trying. To the legal in-
terrogatories of the Fiscal Le replied, without eva-
sion or prevarication, that his cousin- had died by
his hands in the fatal duel of the 12th of March.
Brigadier Vargas acted as prosecuting fiscal, and gave a
lengthy exposition of the history of the case, claiming. the
" punishment " which was afterwards actually inflicted.
General Messina defended the Duke. He made a bril-
liant defence, detailing the persistency with which Don
Henri had, without cause, insulted the Duke in private
circles and in the public Press, and the patience of the
Duke under these uncalled-for insults, until he felt it
necessary, as an officer and a gentleman, to vindicate
his honour and that of his family. The old General said:

—" Military uniform among us can never consent to
offence or dishonour, and, although the law condemns
duelling, public opinion and our customs sanction it, so
much so that I do not remember any instance within my
time of sentence having been passed by any tribunal on
the survivors of the many fatal duels which have occurred
among us." He then pleaded the extenuating circum-
stances of the present case, and concluded by asking for
a complete acquittal of the Duke, shewing that both
by the Penal Code and by military ordinances the sen-
tences were designedly light where extenuating circum-
stancces could be proved, and, in fact, were left tntirely
to the discretion of the Judges.
Two declarations from the Duke of itontpensier were
then put in and read. The first was-his admission of the
deed and his justification of himself :—" For a long time
the Infante Don Henri de Bourbon endeavoured to pro-
voke me. On the 21st of December, 1868, he published
his first letter, a copy of which is annexed, in
which I don't know which he tried to insult
most, my ancestors, my family, or myself. On the 14th
of January of the present year he published his second
letter, directed to tbe Regent, in which he repeated the
grossest insults against me. Not living in the place where
he published these writings, I did not try to require expla-
nations from him respecting them, but on the 7th ult., both
of us being in Madrid, he published a fly-sheet entitled A.
los Montpensieristas, which was circulated with great profu-
sion in all parts, and was even printed in some of the news-
papers. In it, as will be seen by the copy herewith, he repeated
and augmented his insults to my person and my family,
so much so that no one who values his honour and the
good name of his family could have possibly allowed the
matter to pass unnoticed. In view of such persistence
in provocation, without my having •given any motive
for it, and desirous of avoiding a scandal, I sent to
him to ask if it was written by hlm, and he having
replied that it was, and that he ratified it and assumed
its resppnsibility, I saw myself under the neces-
sity of asking from him a retractation of such
insults. Not having been able to obtain any kind
of satisfaction, we met in the Dehesa de los Carabanche-
les on the morning of the 12th of March. My Adjutant,
Colonel Solis, accompanied me, and there appeared there
also Generals Cordova and Alaminos, who, being informed
of the question between us at my request came to an
understanding with Don Henri and three persons who
there met with him, and who I learnt were Don Federico
Rubio, Don Emigdio Santamaria, and Don Andres
Ortiz. After various fruitless attempts to come to an
arrangement in presence of the six persona just
mentioned, he refused to give me other satisfaction
than with "arms, and my offended honour and that
of my ancestors, as an officer and a gentleman, forbade me
t..)e to accept it. The preliminaries and preparations
being settled, 'v* both being placed opposite each
other, the duel occurred. The Infante fired, and I
answered, and so on successively, unti' my third dis-
charge I saw him fall to the ground with a mortal wound,
from which he died. Greatly affected by this result,
which I would have wished to have done everything to
avoid, I retired to my house, accompanied by Senor Rubio
and General Cordova, where I have been interrogated,
and where I await the consequences to which this lament-
able act may give rise."
The second document put in was the Duke's answer to
the charges the Fiscal made against him, reminding him
that the laws prohibit duelling. He observed that he
did not deny the existence of those laws 5
his allegiance to them was proved by the
patience with which he had suffered the provocations
of Don Henri— "He insulted me publicly for the
third time, not politically, for in that sphere he was freeto
think what he liked about me, but in regard to what is
most dear to every man—the honour of his person and
that of his family. Notwithstanding this I even yet took
one step more towards conciliation. I did not credit the
articles published with his name until I asked him ex-
pressly if they were his or not, expecting he would reflect
upon the matter within himself. His answer was a fresh
insult. In this situation I could not suffer in silence, red
with shame, all the insults he had for more than a year
been publicly directing against me. I was obliged to accept
the only reparation he offered me—namely, to vindicate
with arms the infamously calumniated honour of myself
and my forefathers."
After these documents had been read the court delibe-
rated, and then passed sentence of one month's banishment
from Madrid, and 6,000 dollars indemnity to Don Henri's
family.