The Sun. — 1844-12-04 (London, England)

NARVAEZ. Are those the men who denounced as a crime the execution of the unfortunate DIEGO LEON, who were to open to their country a new era of reconciliation and peace, and who designed to enlarge the field of political discussion ? Now, more than ever, we congratulate ourselves on having refused all adhesion to the acts of this soldier-Government, which holds itself up to universal reprobation." The following particulars respecting the fate of the unfortunate victims are given by the correspondent of the Constitutionnel : "We have related all the details of the arrest of the son and brother-in-law of Zurbano in the environs of Logrono, taken in an olive-grove, where they were found concealed, but without arms. The son, a young man aged twenty-eight, esteemed in the army, in which he held the rank of major, excited a lively interest in the inhabitants of Logrono, and even the Moderados expressed a wish that the Queen's Government would spare him. General Oribe, who holds the command at Burgos, listened to these appeals, and considering, no doubt, that the real, if not the only culprit in the eyes of the Government, was Martin Zurbano, and that the circumstances attending the capture did not imperatively prove the complicity of Benito Zurbano and his uncle, therefore, notwithstanding the general orders issued by Narvaez for shooting Zurbano and his confederates, deferred the execution, and applied to the Government for express orders. The inhabitants of Logrono, profiting by the respite, sent to Madrid a numerous deputation,. among whom were the most important men of all opinions, to lay a petition for mercy at the foot of the throne. The mother and mother-in-law of Benito Zurbano also went to Madrid, and drew tears from the eyes of the Queen-Mother, by throwing themselves in the attitude of supplication in the road by which her Majesty was passing in her carriage. Their ardent prayers and bitter sobs were of no avail. The Government remained implacable. An order was immediately dispatched to General Oribe to consummate the execution, and, on the 25th ult. Benito Zurbano and his uncle, with their two servants, were shot at Logrono. This was not all the stern rigour of the Government ; General Oribe was dismissed from his command for not having it . blindly followed his first instructions, and ,even said that he is to be brought before a court-martial., The same journal thus contrasts the conduct of EsPARTERO under somewhat similar circumstances wit that of NARVAEZ  ----- -- --- --- be compare re " Let the deplorable details of the execution of rjenito Zarbano, his uncle, and their servants, Loon, and ' it will b© seen whether the Aky' aerados with the conduct of Espartero's Government., tow-irds Diego L have not deprived themselves of the right C'-e P--xclaiming against the cruelty of the ex-Regent. D'4o.-;o Lon was taken with arms in his hands, and yet 14', was granted a trial ; his execution vras the consegt...eace of a juthrinent, partial and pitiless no doubt, but r.t least invested with the forms of justice. In the pr 1-,at an arbitrary and atroevent case, there was no the prisoners was, judgment, no trial—nothing cious act of power. The ie,entity of it is true, established, bu:t there was no proof of their criminality ; and, we 9,4 d, nothing can be further from proof than that there was any culpability inl3enito Zarbano than his being the son of his father. He was taken  almost alone, concealed, and without arms. Can we, therefore, be astonished if it be hereafter shown that he disapproved ,of the insurrection, and that he wished to avoid, by flight, participating in those sanguinary acts of reprisals which parties in Spain—even those in possession of the Government—perpetrate upon their enemies ? Prim has escaped, thanks to a species of trial which, from the very inignity of the accusation, excited a universal opinion against it. The son of Zurbano has been executed without any form or process, as if it was determined to hasten his death in order to tear him from public compassion. In civilised nations, to execute a man without trial is not punishment, but murder." The Journal des Debuts contains an article on the quarantine laws, in which it strongly recommends the Government to get rid of the false notions that prevail respecting contagion, and place French vessels on an equality with those of England and Austria. The Three per Cents. continued to advance, and closed on Monday at 84f. 15c.