The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-09 00:00:00

EVENING,

in Cuba; finally, of betraying by her impotence and
weakness the sacred duties that Providence has laid
upon all Gavernments. Under similar circumstances
what country has ever acted in a different way ?
"It is natural and etiki!y understood that mankind
will shudder et the blond Spilt on the scaffold for poli-
tical crimes during a civil strife. .And yet how many
more constant and numerous executions than that of
Havannah have recently taken place in the presence
of all Europe without one single newspaper raising
its voice to accuse of cruelty the countries in which
they were perpetrated?

'; But when the victims, whatever degree of pity
they may excite as unknown adventurers and merce-
nary foreigners, without a Gad, without a law,
Without a flag'—who, as the Times so sensibly says,
'hare clearly as guilty of piracy as any felon who ever
swung in chains on coast or headland, sailing to at-
tack the possessions of a Government at peace with
their own, and to divide among themselves the plunder
of the expedition'—can then appear unnatural the ap-
plica'ion of the law, and can it be considered as a
wanton act of cruelty ? Were they ignorant of the
law ? Were they not aware long ago of what sort of
punishment awaited them ? Did they not act with
perfect knowledge and most deliberately ? Or does
the cruelty consist in there being 500 invaders
instead of 20 or 30 pirates ? This would be just
a reason why it became more indispensable and ne-
cessary to act with all severity; because the greater
the number the greater was the danger, the more
atrocious and deliberate the crime, the more impru-
dent and pernicious the impunity of the pirates.
Lenity and generosity would have been in such a
case a proof of weakness and impotence which would
have brought swarms of fresh adventurers to plunder
and destroy the island of Cuba.

" And if historical precedents are consulted, where
is to be found a more lenient and clement Government
th9n that of Spain ? The English annals themselves
—do they not furnish us with many examples of more
numerous and harsher punishments? What has
England recently done with the pirates of the Chi-
nese seas ? Can the number of the adventurers that
were shot in Havannah be compared with that of
those so justly exterminated by the naval forces of
Great Britain ? And yet those Chinese pirates went
not in search of England within her own possessions;
they did not go deliberately to spill the blood of her
soldiers and her subjects, nor to rob them of their
property.
" Guidcd by these principles, Spain is determined
to follow the same course. At peace with the Go-
vernment of the United States, and respecting as she
does all the rights of American subjects, she will
treat and punish as pirates those adventurers who may
invade her territory, without inquiring whence they
come from or what country they belong to.
"If, in consequence of General Enna having di-
vided his forces, the expedition of Lopez has not been
totally annihilated within the 24 hours, its ruin was
nevertheless imminent and certain, according to the
last accounts. Pursued by the Spanish troops in
every direction, the 200 men that remained with him
were marching on the 16th towards Artemisa, the
only road that the well-concerted measures of the
Captain-General had left him open ; and in order to
meet Lopez there he had already sent a part of the
garrison of Havannah, while three columns that
were formerly in Las Posas harassed him in every
direction.

" Being now sure of the issue, the Captain-General
had ordered the troops commanded by General Enna,
and those of B,igadier Rosales, to remain in observa-
tion from Marie' to the mouth of the Rio Blanco,
while those under the orders of Colonel Elijalor were
to return to Pinar del Rio with the purpose of oppos-
ing► any new expeditions that might be sent from the
United States. The next steamer will most probably
bring the news of the total destruction of Lopez and
his band, against whom the spirit and the feelings of
the country hare shown themselves mcsst decidedly
hostile. Nowhere have they found the slightest sup-
port nor sympathy ; on the contrary, wherever they
have arrived the inhabitants have abandoned their
homes and their occupations to join the troops and
fight them.

—"
The Spanish Minister has deemed it his duty to
submit these observations, and to present an exact
narrative of the facts to the Editor of the Times, and
he sincerely trusts that in his impartiality and sense
of justice he will bear them in mind, or will have the
kindness to give them room in the columns of his
well credited and widely circulated journal.
" Sept. 8." " XAVIER A ISTURITZ.