The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-15 00:00:00

GENERAL PRI&T,

Although the name of Prim is sure to be suffi-
ciently familiar to English readers, it may, perhaps,
be in my power to give some particulars respecting
his life and character which may not be generally
known out of Spain, and which may prove of some
interest at the present moment.
Don Juan ',rim, as his biographers relate, who is
now lieut.-general in the national army of Spain,
Viscount del Brusch, Count de Reus, Marques de
Los Castillejos, and Grandee of Spain of the First
Class, was born in Reus, a town in Catalonia, near
Tarragona, on Dec. 6, 1814. His father was a
colonel of infantry, grown old in the service, but of
scanty income and limited resources.
Born with a strong inclination for the career in
which he has highly distinguished himself Juan
Prim was at an early period admitted as a cadet,
and had barely entered the army when the civil war
broke out, which lasted from the death of King
Ferdinand VII., in 1833, down to the Peace, or
" transaction," of Bergara in 1839. In this struggle
Prim ranged himself under the Constitutional stan-
dard, and against Don Carlos ; but although we
read that he took service with the rank of a lieute-
nant, I am told that it was not in the regular army,
but in one of the Catalan Free Corps, that he won
his first spurs, and he came to Madrid at the head
of some of those wild and rather lawless bands,
which astonished the more sober Castilians by their
fierceness of look and bearing no less than by the
strangeness of their attire—their red caps and vel-
veteen jackets, their long fowling pieces, and war
cries and songs, which won them at the time the
equivocal appellation of the " Marseillais of Spain."
His own valour and the fortune of war so befriended
Prim as to win him promotion to a captaincy in his
22d year, and to the rank of colonel three years
later. By this time also his breast was laden with
military decorations.
At the close of the civil war Prim made his first
start in a political career ; he was elected as Deputy
to several successive Parliaments, and made up for
any deficiency in his early education by a course of
private studies, no less than by a constant practice
in the management of public affairs, such, at least,
as may be gained by assiduous participation in the
work of clubs and circles and every variety of po-
litical association.
His services to the State, or rather to the various
parties which successively gained the upper hand
(for although Prim was a professed Progresista and
devoted to the cause of Espartero, it would be idle
to look to himfor anything like political consistency)
were of such importance that before 1843—that is,
by the time that Espartero was driven an exile to
England—he was made Brigadier, then Mariscal de
Campo (Major-General), and created Viscount del
Brusch and Count de Reus.
In 1844 he is said to have been seriously impli-
cated in a conspiracy against Narvaez, then at the
head of the Government, the upshot of which was an
attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister as he was
driving to the opera one evening, by firing at his
carriage in the Calle de Ballesta. It is well known
that Narvaez himself and the present Minister of
State, Bermudez de Castro, who sat in the front seat
with him, escaped with their lives. Not so Narvaez's
aide-de-camp, Rasetti, who was in the back seat,
and was shot dead on the spot. Prim was tried with
others, convicted of participation in the murder and
condemned to death ; but Narvaez, either out of a
very extreme magnanimity or possibly from some
intimate conviction of Prim's innocence, induced the
Queen to cancel the sentence. He, however, deemed
it expedient to remove Prim by an appointment to

the office of Captain-General and Governor of Porto
Rico, sending him to his new destination before the
close of that same year 1844.
Prim was in command at Porto Rico, when a
negro insurrection broke out in the Danish island
of Santa Cruz. Moved by a feeling of natural sym-
pathy at the peril of • the Government of a friendly
nation, Prim went to the rescue of the Danes, and
played so brilliant a part in the subjugation of the
rebels that he was rewarded by the King of Den-
mark with the Order of the Dannebrog. This bril-
liant conduct, however, was not altogether satisfac-
tory to the Colonial Minister at home, who, blaming,
him for his rashness in removing the Spanish gar-
rison from Porto Rico, and thereby exposing that
valuable possession of the Crown to the attacks of
the negroes who were as ready for a revolt as their
brethren in the Danish colony, recalled him to his
country, and there tried him for dereliction of
duty. No Spaniard of any spirit, however, and
with any party or personal connexions, need long
remain under a cloud in those days. Prim weathered
this second storm, and knew how to render his ser-
vices acceptable to the various Cabinets which fol-
lowed one another with such rapidity, that one of
them was called the Lightning Ministry, until he
once more became involved in a conspiracy against
Bravo Murillo, who banished him, together with
General Ortega. He came back after a short ab-
sence, however, and in 1854, thanks especially to
the friendly offices of Queen Christina, he was sent
as Spanish Military Commissioner to the camp of
the Allies, during the Crimean war. He gained
many friends among the officers of the Anglo-
French army, and was especially acceptable to the
Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish forces, who
wrote him a most flattering letter, made him mag-
nificent presents, and obtained for him from the
Sultan the decoration of Medjidie and a sabre of
honour.

On his return from the East he passed through
Paris, where, in 1856, he married a Mexican lady,
Senora Echevarria, who brought him a dowry of
$600,000, with expectations of no less a fortune
from her mother, and $1,000,000 from each of her
two uncles. The marriage was celebrated under
the auspices of Queen Christina, who was present
at the wedding, and acted as " Madrina" to the
bride. On the 31st of January of the same year,
1856, Prim was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-
General ; in 1858 he was raised to the Senate. On
his admission to this House he distinguished him-
self by a very remarkable speech on the Mexican
question during the debate on the address to the
Crown.

The war of Morocco broke out soon afterwards,
and Prim attained a high reputation by a variety of
exploits which were crowned by the battle of Cm-
...

tillejos, near Melilla, where, seeing the regiment of
Cordova broken and turned to flight, he threw him-
self on the path of the fugitives, restored their

courage by his exhortations and example, rallied
them, and preceding them with their colours in his
hand, led them with such impetuosity against the

enemy as by that single onset to secure the victory
for the Spanish arms. This heroic deed was re-

warded with the title of Marques de los Castillejos,
and the rank of Grandee of Spain of the First Class.
In 1861 the joint expedition to Mexico of Eng-
land, France, and Spain was projected, and Prim
was sent out in command of the Spanish Contin-
gent, being charged at the same time with the
duties of a Minister Plenipotentiary. How Prim
proceeded to Mexico with the French and English
contingents, and came back with the latter, leaving
to the former alone the task of a complete subjuga-
tion of Mexico and the instalment of an Austrian

dynasty there, are matters of well-known contem-
porary history. Prim's conduct at this juncture,
however severely censured by some of his country-

men, received the fullest sanction of the Cortes.

Under the Ministry presided over by Senor Mon,
Prim was again implicated in some underhand

manoeuvre which caused him to be banished or
" confined" to Oviedo. He had with him in his

disgrace the cavalry General Contreras, and others
.. _

well known for their attachment to his person
in prosperity as well as in adversity. Ile was

recalled by Narvaez during his last Administration,
and is nevertheless said to have joined O'Don-
nell in the efforts made by the latter to

oust his rival by fair means or foul. Soon after
O'Donnell's accession to power, however, Prim

seemed to recall to memory his former political pre-
dilections; he leagued himself with Espartero,

threw himself with all his influence into the interests

of the Progresistas ; accepted the presidency of

many of their committees, and although he was op-

posed to the policy of Retraimiento, and voted
against it with Madon, Figuerola, and other leaders

of the party, thinking there would have been more

honour and abetter chance of success in a manly,

straightforward struggle, still he declared himself
bound by the suffrage of the majority, and not only
did he take no part in the late general election, but
allowed his seat in the Senate to remain vacant.
It was as late as the 30th of last December, I am
told, that O'Donnell finding an arrear of $40,000
in Prim's accounts of the Mexican expedition, can-
celled the debt, thereby relieving his junior of all
unpleasant responsibility. It was on the Ist of this
month of January that Prim wrote a letter to the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bermudez de Castro,
soliciting that statesman's patronage in behalf of
one of his protege's, and it was on the 2d, as the
world knows, that he left Madrid on his " shooting
excursion," and placed himself at the head of the
mutinous cavalry regiments at Aranjuez.
General Prim declares himself bound to the pro-
gramme of the Central Progresista Committee of
November last, a programme which, although
grounded on the principles of universal suffrage,
and of all possible democratic liberties, evinces no
hostility either to the throne or to the present
dynasty. In his proclamation he utters no cry ex-
cept in favour of Espartero and the Constituent
Cortes. But the name of Espartero alone is suffi-
cient to separate Prim's cause from that of those
Exaltados who would proclaim either a Republic or,
at least, the vacancy cf the throne in favour of
another reigning family, and the unity of the
Peninsula under a single Crown. Prim is also under
deep obligation both to the Queen Mother and the
reigning Queen, the first of whom honoured with
her presence his wedding in Paris. The latter was
his son's godmother at El Pardo. Prim has besides
at all times received the highest favours at the hands
of the Bourbon family, and has invariably evinced
the most enthusiastic devotion to Queen Isabella.
I have seen General Prim lately, and had suffi-
ciently long interviews with him. He is a man con-
siderably below the middle size, with a small and
slender but apparently wiry and extremely active
frame, a bright, lively, intelligent countenance, with
a very bad complexion, the visible result of that liver
complaint under which he is well known to labour.
His eyes are large and expressive ; his features
tolerably regular, with no other marked peculiarity
than the high cheek bones. His manners are cour-
teous and winning ; he speaks fluently, and expresses
himself forcibly, and not inelegantly, both in his
native language and in French. He showed me an
English paper on the table before him, and told me
the written language was easy to him, though he
made no attempt to speak it. Whenever I went to
the General's house in Calle de Alcala, I found the
antechamber, and even his own cabinet, crowded
with gentlemen, who had apparently no other busi-
ness than that of dancing attendance upon the great
man. In the presence of these Prim addressed me in
French, when tete-a-tete he preferred his own idiom.
Notwithstanding his wife's considerable wealth,
Prim was lately said to have exceeded his means
and to be deeply in debt. He is a man of
extravagant habits, passionately addicted to the
pleasures of the chase, for the gratification of
which he has bought very extensive grounds, has
built a large house, and keeps up a most extensive
establishment. In pursuit of these pleasures, or
perhaps under pretext of them, he has made his
premises and his hunting-grounds the rendezvous
of characters of every description, townsmen from
Madrid, no less than Catalans, who are as ready to
lend him a hand at a battue as at a political
echaffourde, such as he is now engaged in. His
country house at Villarubia is said to have hiding
places where hundreds of bandits could be secreted,
and away in the woods and deep in the gorges of
the Toledo mountains he has built huts, hunting-
boxes, and all kinds of sheds as available for the
purposes of war as for the requirements of the chase.
Here, in the centre of a whole region devoted and
familiar to him, he has chosen the theatre of his
revolutionary exploits. Here, as well as in many
parts of Catalonia, he is said to have stores of arms
and ammunition. Here, or wherever else he may
go, it is supposed that followers will not fail to flock
to him.

A man of great restlessness of ambition and of
corresponding versatility of mind, General Prim has
always been unscrupulous as to the means by which
his aim could be attained. Not a little slippery as
to political principles, and too free in money matters,
he is supposed to have some of the vices that go as
far towards making a Catiline as a Caesar. Whether
his present enterprise is more in the style of the
latter or of the former, and whether it will lead to
the fate of the one or of the other, the lapse of a
few days will show us.—Tones.

THE CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND.

(BETWEEN JAMES FIGG AND TOM SAYERS.)

James Figg (Immortalised by Hogarth) 1719
George Taylor 1730
Jack Broughton (The Father of the English P.R.) 1732
Jack Slack April, 1750

_
Bill Stevens (Tho Nailer)
George Meggs (The Bristol Collier) 3 months later, 1760
Millsom
Tom Juchau (The Paviour)
Bill Darts
Lyons (Tho Waterman) June, 1769
Peter Corcoran
1771
Harry Sellers
Harris
Tom Johnson
/785
Benjamin Brain (Big Ben) 1791
Dan Mendoza
1794
Mr.JohnJackson (Gentleman Jackson), 15th April, 1795
Jem Belcher
1801
Harry Pearce (The Game Chicken) lBO4
Mr. John Gully (M.P. for Pontefract) lBOB
Tom Crib (First Holder of " The Belt") Ist Feb , 1809
Tom Spring
1820
Josh Hudson
1824
Tom Cameron
1824
Jem Ward
July, 1825
Peter Crawley 2d January, 1827
Jem Ward (A Second Time) 4th January, 1827
Deaf Rurke—(The Deaf Un) May, 1832
Bendigo l2th February, 1839
Nick Ward (Jem's brother) 22d September, 1840
Ben Caunt llth May, 1841
Bendigo (A Second Time) 9th September, 1845
Bill Perry (The Tipton Slasher) 17th December, 1850
Harry Broom 29th September, 1851
The Tipton Slasher (A Second Time)
Tom Sayers

Three of these—viz., Jom Ward, Beffdigo, and the
Tipton Slasher being twice numbered above as having
each of them twice held the bolt—it follows that between
James Figg and Tom Sayers inclusively there have been
altogether Three-and-Thirty Champions of England.

THE IRON TRADE.

DUDLEY, Saturday Evening.

The concluding meeting of the ironmasters of the
district was held here this evening ; there was a very
small attendance, and few transactions of any kind
took place, almost the whole business of this qaar-
ter-day having been transacted at Birmingham on
Thursday. At all the works in this locality they
are fairly supplied with orders for all descriptions
of finished iron with the exceptioh of sheets. The
Earl' of Dudley's extensive works at Round Oak aro
in full operation.
It was stated to-day that the price of pig iron, all
mine, is firm, as reported at Birmingham, and that
a large portion of the quarter's make is sold.
The quarter-day accounts have been promptly
paid at all the towns in the district.

OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The Hon. Henry
Edwards has been appointed an attache at the
Foreign-office. Mr. Randal Callender, her Majesty's Con-
sul at the Dardanelles, has been appointed Consul at Ma-
nila. The Consulship at the Dardanelles will not be filled
up. The Queen has appointed Henry Ernost Bulwer, Esq.,
to be Receiver-General for the Island of Trinidad. Mr.
Cridland, Acting Consul at Mobile, has been appointed
Consul to that port.

THE CAVOUR CANAL, one of the greatest public
works in Italy, is now completed. The waters of the Po
have been admitted into the channel, and now fill its whole
extent of 53 miles.

ANOTHER OF PRITCHARD'S VICTIMS —A corres-
pondentwrites—" Mr. Campbell, druggist, Sauchie-
hall-street, Glasgow, died a few days ago, it is said from
the effects of the recent Pritchard trial. It will be remem-
bered that he was examined as to the quantity of antimony
ho sold to Pritchard, when ho stated that he was surprised
at the large amount the doctor used in his practice. An
enTloyd of Messrs. Duncan and Flockhart, again, stated
that ho saw nothing unusual in the quantity he sold to
Pritchard. The apparent discrepancy—explained by the
fact that the one was in the retail and the other in the
wholesale trade—it is said has had such an effect upon
Mr. Campbell that his friends attribute his death to this
cause."—Edinburgli Evening COUrant.