Letters from Alicant of t...
The Times, 1824-01-21T00:00:00

Letters from Alicant of the 50th of December relate a most nefarious attempt by the Governor, Alcalde, and Mi- litary Officers of that place, to interrupt public tranquillity, by ihisults to the lower orders, with the view of represent- ing afterwards to the Government at Madrid, that the town was in a state of rebellion, and of claiming the merit of havinig suppressed it. The object of the military officers is supposed to have baen that of ensuring the continuapce of the rank they then held, it hiaving been rtumoured among the garrison that all those who did not hold a commissioni from the King, ttho were by far the greater number, wvould be dismissed. The soldiery began by provokinig the peonple collected in the streets by insnltilng language, from which they proceededl to acts of violence. The plan failed in part, from a miscalculation of the temper of the' people insulted, as.the greater part of them fled immedi- ately and shut themnselves. up in their houses, and the whole was therefore teduded to a* scuffle of - few minutes with about a dozen of the rabble, who dlefended themselives wvith stones against the attacking patrol and guard of the barracks. The Governor, however, in. order to give im- portance to the aetir, ordered that no one after prayers should appear in the streets, on pain ofbeing shot, and that the gates of the city should be immediately closed. This was about four o'clock in the afternoon, and in consequence about l ,.500 persons were. loclced out, v*ho wvere not allowed to enter till near seveni, when every one was closely examined as he passed, and eithier.permitted to pro- ceed home or sent to. somep.nlace of confinement at the will of the Govcrnor or of the Alcalde. Thus a number of persons,.perfectly respectable, wvere tied together and dragged to the common gaol, the differentt guard-houses, or the damp dungeons under the town-wall. Twenty-eight persons were shut up in a stable, with no more ventilation orlight than that obtained throuigh a hole in the door about two feet square. During the night a areat imtany more were dragged from their beds to prisonl. One iner- chant, who chanced to be afflicted Iitb illness,was suffered on that plea to remain at hrome, but sentinels were sta- tioned in his bed-room. One individual, by name MA- RIANO PnQuwREs, had been releasedon submitting to a-fine of 300 dollars; a-d nine others, persons of the lowest class, had obtained the same, boon because no coutribution of thatnature couldlbe expected frotr them. lWhilst these acts of oppression .vere going on, the soldiery manifested the most violent conduct; and a lady of the name of WVARING, in the act of closing the' windows, was fired at by one of the seiinels, and the ball lodged in the wall about two feet above her head. Subsequently to the night of the pretend&Il tumuit, the alguasils lhad been busily employetd in arrest. among the citizens; aifd it was understood ihat lists 'of' proscriptionis had been prepared, in Whichl every pero Able,to pay a f.1n6of two dollgrsias included. TheI .terjdfied iiimbitauts of Alicant were actualy putting up their pTaYers for the arrival of a French garrison, as the only xneatis -fto save them from destruction. These pro- ceedings.on the part of the Governor and soldiery have not, as it is asserled in Uie privaie letters from Alicant, the smallest ground of justifi&atioii. No elements wvhatever of rebellion renained in that /place I the known exaltados, or violent supporters of-the constituti.opi,.had all gone abroad, ,and 4rms of every descript1i Wad, long. been giveir uip by the inliabitants includiisgeveu foreigners of every descrip- .tion. _ - .-._