Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-02-16
GENERAL PRIM.
His AssassInatlsE- Authtntl0 Account
bfl,-DefeHse Of The Spanish
Republicans,


assassination of General Prim. He
gives some particulars of the affair
which have not before been made
public. and which add a melancholy
interest to what we already know
He SAYS that at the conclusion of the
session Of the COrtes on the memOra.
bic 9th of December, a knot of some
twenty OF twenty-five Deputies, com
posed Of all factions of the Chamber,
were speaking together in the lobby
(DGSUO). The conversation turned
upon .f4S3es (guns). Prim, who was
passing, overheard the word fiESiIeS,
and approached, saying: ''pOeS a pOes,
SsHOr6S, que ESQ de filSiieS me tOcd a mi ~
C"Gently, gentlemen, this about guns
is in my line.n) Nobody invited him
TO Join in the conversation, yet il had
been said since his death that he had
been drawn into it merely to
dptain him, and that, too, by a
Republican Deputy SenOr Bar
cia denies that any one de-
tained him; he says he joined the
conversation spontaneously, and that,
50 far from any intention to enuce
him into it, he contributed to its hilar-
ity by asking one OF the Republicans
why he would not 90 to Cartagena to
receive the King! " Federal! why
don't YOU come to Cartagens with US
TO receive our King?' To this joking
question a joking answer was given.
What new turn the conversation took
SenUr Barcia does not tell US, but he
saws that to some remarks of a RepUb-
lican Deputy, Prim replied, Take
care. for YOU will find my hand very
hard, ," to which the other answered
with the Spanish prOverb, General,
to every hog there arrives his San
Msrtinn Five minutes after this the
assassins fired into his carriage in the
Gale TurcO. There is always a crowd
more or less large at the door Of the
COngresO, by which the members
emerge. As Prim crossed the side
walk TO his carriage, a distance Of only
two or three yards, man envelOped
in a cloak struck a lucifer match. So
saws SenOr BsrCia, and so I have
heard from Others. This is supposed
TO have been the first Of a series OF
/" "telegrams " to the assassins that he
had entered his carriage.
As the carriage started, a second
man, also ClOaked, standing at the
corner Of the building, where it abuts
on Gale FlOrin and Gale SOrdO, struck
a second match. Quickly, but noise
iessly, owing to the snow, the carriage
passed on, carrying the doomed man
10 his death. As it entered the Gale
TurcO a third clOaked villain struck a
third match. By this the assassins at
the other end of the street, some 100
or $50 yards only, knew their victim
was approaching. His carriage lights
were now visible to them. SenOr Bar
cia asks, is il possible they did not
shudder when they saw those lights?
Could il be conceived that any one for
money could commit a murder 50
vile and so deliberate? Everything
betOkened care and premeditatiOn-
the two cabs so placed as to compel
the carriage to stop for an instant,
and that instant 50 well employed.
The Adiutaut Nova turned his head
to the window to see the cause Of the
obstruction. He saw three rufians on
each side. all armed and taking aim.
He had but time to cry out, "Gen-
eral! stoOpi . they are firing on us!"
The most audaciOus of the asSassins /
was close to the window. Breaking 1
il with the muZZle Of his trGbucO /
(bluudeTbuss) and saying, 'PreDQrdts /
Egg q ulOFirt' ('Prepare thyself, /
thou art to dien') 70 the General, and /
sfuegO" ('ire") to his five cOmpan-
ions, they made their mUrderOus dis |
charge. SenOr BarCia says there we're /
six, three on each side, and so care
ful were they not TO hit each other /
that they fired diagOnaliy. The next !
instant the cOachman had cleared |
the obstruction by OvertUrning one Of /
the cabs, and the next had reached i
the foot Of the stone staircase leading
up to the Ministry Of War, the Pal
ace Of Buenavista, formerly the prop
erty. Of the infamous GOdOy. SenOr
Barcia tells Us that one of the as
sassins, who had probably stained
MS hand with powder, must
have wiped it on the wall, for early
next morning there appeared the
black impress Of a hand there, which
the police wiped out! He says the
police were wrong 70 do that, and in
this i am sure your detectives will
agree. SenOr Bsrcia says it should |
have remained there till word had
gone through all Spain that at thespOt |
where Prim was murdered there ap-
peared a black hand. He thinks that
street corner will not be the last wall
which that same hand will paint with
powder or with blood, for the ease and
facility with which the assassins got !
clear have left them open TO similar {
in the future. He con-
tends they must have been hired and / /:
paid. The malefactOrs Of the Gale {
rurcO must have been impelled by /,
who tread on carpets. No 1
crime like that is ever born in a Door I
mans house. The most stUpendOus ]
crimes are engeudered in great
houses" He says: II
We must look upward aud not {
downward for the explanation of this /
mystery. If cursed be the hand /
which fired, cursed also be the hand '
which paid! DespOts in corruption {
and luxury abOve-pariahs, slaves,
sssassins in misery, superstition, in {
.OXicatiOn, and brutality, below! {
Somebody must have paid the work {
men. The men who waited for the s
.WO carriage lights were the work I
men. VINO were the masters? Y
Cursed were the hands which received I
cursed the hands which gave!
Senor Barcia says:
Prim cOmprehended the gravity Of !
is situation in a moment. Mounting {
he stone staircase Of the Ministry Of !
Var, be held on by the handrail, ]
which remained wet with his blood. {
Arrived at his own apartments, to the 8
1uuirv Of his anxious and alarmed q
vie. he prudently and considerably s
that he was slightly wound {
d. When the first operations were I
yer, a friend asked him
Show do you teel?"
81 feel death, " replied Prim, calmly.
"Can you give any guess at the as e
1ssins?'
''No, i cannot. l don't know who
hey were, but those who killed me ,
7ere not Republicans" {
The day be died be said to General o
,regna: Il
''What day Of the month is it?' S
"The 3Oth." n
''The 80thi The King will disem- 4
ark to-day, and I shall die. Long b
We the King (El dia 3Og III Rel O
sSsDlJaroa hQy5 q go me muer0i ViUa o
Rey"' v
Sad enthusiasm. He viva'd the q
aW King and the new King killed a
i'm; not by leaden bullet or steel a
'eapon, but by his coming. II Ame- n
60 had not come Don Juan Prim | q
'Ould not now lie in the sepulchre. | D
t that night he tried to take leave ! al
( his family. The congestion Of his q
rain disturbed his thoughts. Passing "
is left hand before his ewes. as If 10 al
ear his vision, he articulated accents sC
.hich could not be understood. o "
cd Eternali Did he see the shades nj
Carvsjal, Of CULLEN, and Of Bohor- n
lez-the boy B0horquz, whose young 81
ie Was 80 cruelty snatched from a Ii