The Sun. — 1845-01-29 (London, England)

ZURBANO. The blood of this ill-fated man's race has been shed profusely since he first stood between the wreck of Spanish independence, in the capital, and the lawless and insolent pretensions of NanvaEz. Bitterly has his own vindictiveness been atoned for in the violent deaths of brothers-in-law, brothers, sons ; and we learn, by the last intelligence received, that ZURBANO himself has been summarily shot by order of the Governor of Logrono, together with one of these, his nearest and dearest kindred! It has been recently shown, in a note appended by Lord RINELAGU to his pamphlet, that between the Ist of December, 1843, and the 13th of December, 1844, no less than two hundred and fourteen individuals have been shot for political offences in Spain. These unfortunates perished chiefly at the instigation of NARVAEZ, though we must not be suffered to except, or to forget that, of this number, no less than one hundred and twenty-nine, the prisoners of that still more detestable chief, V ILLALONG A, were murdered in cold blood in the Maestrazgo, after their capture. It was only in the month of November last that two other sons of the ill-starred ZURBANO and one of his brothers-in-law were shot in Logrono, where he himself, with, according to some accounts another son, according to others another brother, has just been slaughtered. We have ever been, and still are, decidedly opposed to all intervention with the internal affairs of other States, except as to cases wherein our arbitration may have been applied for. But we cannot help feeling that this country and the other great Powers have only to intimate, in terms sufficiently grave and distinct, their detestation of, and displeasure at, these brutal reprisals and murders—to put an end to them. Let the Court of Madrid be apprised that the example of these sanguinary punishments are viewed by the great Powers not as required for the vindication of established law and authority, but in order to satisfy the rancour of party, and private and political enmities. Let the Spanish Cabinet be made to understand that it is setting an example of violence and crime the most dangerous to the cause of peace and order in Europe ; and that it cannot be permitted by a perseverance in this career of military executions to present to the subjects of other States the hateful spectacle of executive authority trampling under foot all the laws of Gon and man, to satisfy the revengeful or malicious desires of whatever unprincipled faction may happen to be in power, upon those who have in any way thwarted or resisted their progress towards its attainment. All diplomatic relations should be suspended with a Government, calling itself the Government of a civilised country, which not merely permits, but abets, a system of political brutality that is calculated rather for the meridian of Ashantee or Pegu (where human sacrifices are congenial to the unbridled passions and savage habits of unreclaimed barbarians), than to that of one of the most ancient monarchies of Europe. a.  The accounts from Madrid are to the 21st inst. Intelligence of the capture and execution of ZURRANO had been received, and produced much excitement. A Cabinet Council was held in consequence. The Gazette of that date contains the appointment of Lieutenant-General Don JOSE PRIMO DE RIVERA to the functions of Commander of the Naval Station at the llavannah, in place of Don