Star.
London, England, 1820-04-04 00:00:00

THE EVENINU STAR.

LONDON.

'TUESDAY. APRIL 4, 1820.
lama TUSIDAY.—HoIiday at the Public Offices.

The afilicting accounts which we gave yesterday
respecting-.the Proclamation of the Spanish Consti-
tution at. Cadiz, are more theil Sully confirmed by a
number of letters which have been received in town'

from Cadiz and other parts of Spain. The extent of
the massacre by the troops is stated, on several au-
thoritiest at about 600. killed,. .and as znaay more,
griexouklir wounded.
The Writers. of 'these accounts sesm generally to
read this mosnierolting deed of horror as the re-
sult of a meditated scheine of treachery, of which
Genelal. FREYRZ was the prime deviser; but, we
have strong hopes the fact will turnout to have beet
otherwise. The character of FREYRE has always
•
stood high for honour and integrity; and kis• con-
duct, since the first breaking out of the insurrection,
has shown that lie is not without sentiments of mo-
deration and humanity. Fazyrts is besides a man
of sense, and the scheme of treachery imputed to
him has nothing but madness in it.
The following extracts of letters furnish the. de-
tails of this melancholy event :

" CADIZ, 31ARCII 14.
." On Friday last I was witness to a scene that far
surpasses my power of description, and one scarcely
to be paralleled for horror, treachery, and atrocity,
in the annals of the French Revolution. On the 9th
iastant the Captain-General of Andalusia, who, I be-
ll:eve, is also Governor of Cadiz, arrived here from
Fort St. Mary's, and soon after a meeting of all the
Naval, Military, and Civil Authorities of the place
was convened, at which it was agreed to proceed the
same evening to the establishment of the Constitu-
tion di 1 812. It was then perfectly understood that
the Captain-General, in the coarse he was pursuing,
acted on the King's authority ; and it has been since
proved that the King's siguautre to the Constitution
was actually in his possession. On Thursday night
the whole city was illuminated by order of the Civil
Authorities; and on Friday, at twelve o'clock, the
people were invited to meet in the square of St. An-
tonio, to witness chi ceremony of laying down the'
stone of the Constitution, at which time not less than
50,000 persons of all ranks were collected in the
streets. To the horror of all, without the least notice
or crovoca:ion, between 2000 and 5000 intoxicated
soldiers were let loose upon them, who began indis-
criminately to murder men, women, and children.
To murder succeeded pillage, with every species of
excess, and the scene of horror continued, almost
without intermission, to a late hour at night. It will
be wife time, without doubt, before all the conse•
quences can be known, but we have already obtained
returns of 119 persons killed, and upwards of 500
wounded. Just before the commencement of this
tragieal proceeding, the American Consul was taking
his morning walk in the same place as myself, but
he quitted at eleven o'clock to go home and dress,
all the foreign Consuls having mceived a special in-
vitation to attend the celebration in the square of St.
Antonio. Soon afterwards I heard a number of shots
fired, which I disregarded at first, taking them for

the usual signs of rejoicing, until a ball passediVithin
a few feet of the spot where I stood, and I perceived
a poor fellow fall, wounded, to the ground. In my
alarm at this, I took to my heels, with the intention
of gaining my own house as fast as possible, and
teeny others followed my example ; but we suddenly
encountered a small party of twenty soldiers, or
thereabouts. Thar fired upon us, when all our pasty,
except myself and two others, took flight in a con-
trary direction. For my own part I stood still, and
tilting off my hat, called aloud in Spanish, " May
tl.e King live for ever, and down with the Constitu-
l:oll t" Even this did not prevent a cowardly fellow
I: em running at me with his bayonet, which, how.
eecre I fortunately warded of will my left arm.
• From that moment till I got home I continued sing-
rig out as above, and appealing to every soldier I
met. One of the two persons who followed my ea.
ample, in going up to the troops instead of running
away, was stabbed through the thigh, and his coat
and money taken from him. This infamous busi-
ness can only be attributed to Valdes and General
Campana, the tormer Governor of Cadiz, ad interim,
the latter Commander of the troops in Cadiz. During
the whole struggle they have been abusing their
power withotit reason, having at different times, and
on mere suspicion, arrested upwards of 40 of the
priecipal merchants. It is generally believed that,
tindirg their power gone and their lives at stake, they
urged on the troops, by bribery and liquor, to corn-
-377:t the excesses of which I have given but a faint
description. The King's signature to the Constitu
tier has been made public this Morning in an officiel
zr.lr.ner, but the Civil Authorities refuse to attend
any Neeting till the troops are removed from Cadiz.
The public mind is becoming more tranquil than for
several days past, but still the troops must be re-
caove4 from the City before any man can consider
his life as secure. Tile fatal consequences of the 11:th
have not been confined to the natives of Cadiz, but I
arn told that several foreign Captairs lost their lives
ie the confusion. The Captain of the Navagores re-
ceived a wound in the side, and was robbed of every
elieg. It is to be hoped the different Consuls will
seek satisfaction for the numbers of their country-
men killed and wounded, and for the risks to which
t:zei have been individually exposed. Poor ./cl:i l a 1
never pmpeily represented. Our Consul, who is
Lau :d to be in Cadiz, rniites in the couotty, and
uonsequeatly we have no one to -stand up tor our
riglys- Tee enclOse4 Prodariation WAS rUbliAlo
by U. C1.5.1.-.1-;:c:t7;41 oa thz ziwiraitig of sere day