The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-30 00:00:00

rife this evening that a gentleman well known in
Madrid, by name Vallin, has been shot at Baylen
by order of the cavalry colonel, Cevallos Escalera,
because he was " talking loudly in the hearing of
the colonel's soldiers," or probably, in other words,
because he endeavoured to shake the regiment's
fidelity,—we may have reason to believe that the
task of tampering with the troops is beset with such
dangers as few people will be ready to encounter.
It is added that the Colonel's deed met with the dis-
pleasure of his superiors, and that he is to be brought
before a court-martial to answer for his conduct ;
but even this ought to be taken as a symptom that
the Government has sufficient reason to rely on the
steadiness of the troops, and that its leniency is in-
fluenced rather by considerations of policy than of
humanity ; for few Spaniards of :any party shrink
from bloodshed whenever any purpose of necessity,
or even of expediency, can be furthered by it. The
Liberal party here are furious at the report, and
swear that no quarter is to be granted to the
Royalists ; and, if the contest is to be prolonged, it
is likely enough that the usual amount of shooting
and butchering will go on on both sides.
Among. the thousand wild and idle reports that
are circulating this evening, there is one that has
created the greatest stir in men's minds. It is the
alleged assassination of Gonzalez Bravo by a bull-
fighter named Suarez, at Bayonne. Long before
this letter can reach you, the news, if at all true,
will have reached England from other sources.
The death of the late Prime Minister would,
of course, in no way affect the upshot of the pre-
sent struggle ; for, happen what may, Gonzalez
Bravo can never hope, I will not say again to
attain power, but even again to set his foot iu his
country, and he seems to have been so well aware of
it from the beginning that the bills " To be let"
were stuck up in the windows of his apartments in
Calle Lope de Vega the very day after he ran away;
but the exultation at the report of the deed, if true,
or even the fabrication of the rumour, if false, must
be taken as evidence of the deep execration in
which the man was held throughout Spain, and of
the sense of " poetical justice" with which his me-
mory is pursued even in the land of refuge from
which he fancied he could laugh his enemies to
scorn. Anything like the unpopularity of that
Minister ever since the atrocities committed by his
orders on St. Daniel's day, the 10th of April, 1865,
' is not to be conceived, and nothing but the sheerest
infatuation could have prompted the Queen to trust
such a man with the reins of Government the
moment he ceased to be screened by the ascendancy
of the redoubted Narvaez.

SEPTEMBER 27.

I was willing to give the Concha Government
credit for sufficient wisdom to look upon honesty as
the best policy, but I perceive that I was guilty
of unpardonable credulity. Even to-day they
put forth claims to a reputation for veracity, but

I have the means to ascertain that the truth is no'

in them. It is said in Italy that you ought never
to be more on your guard against a Neapolitan
than when he tells you, " Non vi dico bugia,"
and, in the same manner, a Spanish bulletin
should never be more mistrusted than when
it begins with a flourish as the Government's
desire to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. To-day, for instance, the
bulletin pretends to know everything about Nova-
liches ; but it is certain that communication is not
completely re-established. It was expected that
Novaliches would give battle to-day, but most
assuredly there will be no battle, because Nova-
liches is pressing for more reinforcements. Gene-
ral Sorrano-Bedoya has left Malaga and brought
a considerable part of his forces to Cordova. It
will be long before Novaliches will dare to attack
that place, whose narrow streets would enable its
defenders to fight for the ground inch by inch.
Three hundred and sixty Spanish emigrants from
Portugal have entered the province of Badajoz.
There are bands astir in Asturias, Leon, Galicia,
Valencia, Logrono, Salamanca, Badajoz, Castellon
1 de la Plana, Calatayud, Ciudad Real, Albacete, &e.
The Governmeat informs us that three men of
war had appeared before Carthagena, and sum-
-1 moiled the garrison to surrender. The first and
1 second summons were disregarded ; but since
then railway and telegraphic communication is
nte opted, and the Government know abso-
lutely nothing about tl,e place. Bejar, the great
manufacturing - place i❑ the Province of Sala-
manca, high in the Sierra de Gredos, has been
stoutly fighting for the whole week. It first re-
pulsed the attack of four columns, and the beaten
Royal troops have been ever since waiting for rein-
forcements at a league's distance from the place.
Even the official bulletin avows the difficulty of
sending troops into that rugged region. Alcoy, an-
other manufacturing town in the midst of the Ali-
cante mountains, also holds out with u ndaunted
determination. All this comes to me ,from sources
of information on which I implicitly rely. A part
of the victorious Royal troops from Santa nder have
arrived at Madrid, but General Calonge, who was
here yesterday, has gone back to Valladolid.
Great news for the insurgents are expected from
Corunna.

S7ATE OF TRADE.