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840 «!> * a^a»tfi\ [Saturday,
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THE INVASION OF CUBA. The Humboldt steam...
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THE " BARONESS VON BECK." The name of th...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Continental N O T E 8. M. 1« Docteur Ver...
china-Wolotschok . The opening of the whole line will form a new era in Russian commercial history . Nicholas , beware ! You may " mount on horseback" against the Revolution , but the train will overtake you : and , if you throw yourself across its path , it will assuredly grind you to powder .
840 «!> * A^A»Tfi\ [Saturday,
840 «!> * a ^ a » tfi \ [ Saturday ,
The Invasion Of Cuba. The Humboldt Steam...
THE INVASION OF CUBA . The Humboldt steamer arrived at Southampton on Thursday , bringing New York papers up to the 23 rd ultimo . The whole interest of the news turns upon the startling intelligence from Cuba . Events of the most important character have followed the invasion of General Lopez . It is known that he sailed from New Orleans with , about 450 men , in the steamer Pampero ; and we now learn that he has effected a landing with his forces in Bahia Honda . General Enna was instantly sent against the invading forces , called on one side " pirates , " on the other patriots . The rival bands engaged at a place called Las Posas , and for two days at least , according to the
letters , the Spanish General was held in check . The firing of the American riflemen is said to have been deadly , and to have struck terror into the hearts of the Spanish soldiers . On the 14 th of August General Enna desisted from the attack , and waited for more troops and artillery . Twelve hundred were sent on that day ; and it is said that by a concentration of the troops the Spaniards shortly afterwards mustered about 8000 men . The accounts of the military movements are still confused . The Spanish writers say that Lopez was in full retreat , closely followed by the Spanish forces . The " patriotic " newswriters represent the invaders as having made good their position , and even disposed to act on the offensive . While another account asserts
that a force of about 400 men sent into the Coscarros against the Cuban insurgents under Aguero y Aguero , had been drawn into an ambuscade and routed with great loss . The most contradictory statements are in print respecting the state of popular feeling . One party says that the people are most loyal , that volunteers follow the troops , and that sympathy for the Government of Spain is expressed on all sides . The reverse is stated by the insurrectionary partisans . We may , however , safely conclude that great dissatisfaction exists among the Creole population .
It is not , however , the movements of the troops , the small battles , ambuscades , and sharpshooting skirmishes of the contending forces which arrests our attention and awakens the deepest interest . It is the massacre on the public street of fifty American prisoners by the musket balls of the Spanish soldiery . The most intelligible account we can pick out oi the confusion of exaggeration on one side , and confused bombast on the other is , that the invaders
determined to attack the fort at Cabanos . Fifty of the most daring of the band embarked in launches to approach by sea . Hut the Spanish marine was on the watch , and Commander Bustillos coming up in the Habajiero , after a long chase , and , which is not unlikely , some lighting , the four boats and their crews were successfully captured . They were taken to llavanah , and immediately shot . The New York Herald publishes the following from Ha-\ annah , dated August 10 : —
" I am too much aficcted to write to you more than to Bay that 1 have this day boon witness to one of the most brutal acts of wanton inhumanity ever perpetrated in the annals of history- Not content , this Government , in revenging themselves in the death of these unfortunate and , perhaps , misguided men , and which , it may even be said , wan brought upon themselves , but these Spanish authorities deserve to lie most severely chastised for their exceedingly reprehensible ; conduct , in permitting the eleaecration , as they have done , of the senseless clay of our brave countrymen . This morning forty Americans , four Irish , one Scotch , one Italian , one Phillipine Islander , two llabaneros , and two ( ji ermans or Hungarians , were shot at eleven ; after which the troops were ordered to retire , and some hundreds of the very vilest , rabble ; and negroes , hired for the purpose , commenced stripping the dead bodies , mutilating ther limbs .
" I never saw men—and could scarcely have supposed it possible ; — conduct themselves at , ftueh an awful moment , with the fortitude these men displayed under such trying circumstances . They were shot six at . a lime ; i . e ., twelve were brought to the place of execut ion , six made to kneel down mid receive the lire of the soldiers ; alter which the remaining nix were made to walk round their dead comrades , and kneel opposite to them , when they also were shot . After being stripped , and their bodies mutilated ill the barbarous manner I have described .
they we're she > ve d six e > r seven together , bound as the'y were , into hearnes which were used last year lor cholera cases . No coffins were allowed Hum ; and I think the manner they were put into the hearses wan equally a . ) elisgusling aw their either acts . The- heads of noine were almost dragging on the ground , and it had more the appearance of a slaughter -earl . e > n its way to market from the Blaughter-heiuse lhan that of a hearse conveying the dead bodies of human beings . " A finer-looking set eif young men 1 never saw . They made not a single complaint , ne > t a murmur against their aontenue and decency should have been shown to their dead boel ' iea in admiration for the heroism they displayed when brought out for execution . Not a muscle wan aeon
to move , and they proved to the miserable rabble congregated to witness the horrid spectacle , that it being the fortune of war that they fell into the power of this Government , they were not afraid to die . It would have been a great consolation to these poor fellows , as they repeatedly asked , to see their consul , and through him to have sent their last adieus and such little mementos as they had to their beloved relations in the States . One handsome young fellow desired that his watch should be sent to his sweetheart . " The American consul , Mr . Owens , appointed by President Fillmore , did not interfere or attempt to do anything whatever of any kind to mitigate the severity of this penalty .
The news of this tragedy was brought to New York by the Cherokee , which sailed from Havannah on the 19 th of August . Her passengers witnessed the execution . All the accounts but one agree in stating that the bodies were stripped , mutilated , and carried off for burial heaped in carts . The one exception says that the execution was solemn and the burial of the dead decent . But the Cherokee also brought news of a different character to that of the public massacre of the fifty men , whom some call lawless pirates—news of
political importance , and affording to the American Government , it is said , a casus belli with Spain . The Habanero , cruising off Havanah , perceived a steamer with the American flag flying , and gave chase . As the Yankee did not heave to , the Habanero fired four shots wide of the ship , but the American did not stop until the Habanero had ranged alongside . She proved to be the United States' mail steamer Falcon , with the flag flying at the mainmast stating as much . Nevertheless , a Spanish officer and a boat ' s crew boarded the Falcon , and insisted on the right of search . The commander of the Falcon protested ,
but without effect . When the news brought by the Cherokee was spread at New York , on . the 22 nd of August , it excited feelings of the warmest indignation . A mass meeting was called for the same day , and in the evening many thousands assembled in the Park . The Cuban flag of independence floated beside the stars and stripes . Banners inscribed " Government , protect your Citizens , or the People will ! " " The blood of Fifty Americans cries for Yengeance ! " " The blood of the Americans cries for B-evenge ! " were borne among the crowd . The speaking was fiery and resolute . The condemnation of the non-interfering Consul at Havanah was terrible . Several strong resolutions were agreed to . The meeting lasted until
dark , and the cries of the people for vengeance were appalling . Altogether war seems inevitable , and Cuba doomed either to be annexed or independent .
The " Baroness Von Beck." The Name Of Th...
THE " BARONESS VON BECK . " The name of the Baroness von Beck is , no doubt , familiar to most of our readers , as the authoress of a book on the late Hungarian war . This woman turns out to have been no baremess , not even a " friend" of Kossuth , but a " paid spy" in the service of the National Hungarian Government , and lately a paid spy in the " recently established foreign branch of the English police force . " She was , on Saturday , apprehended at Birmingham for obtaining money under false pretences—and died in the anteroom of the court . The facts are briefly these .
A few weeks ago a woman , about fifty years old , went down to Birmingham and introduced herself as " Baroness von Beck , intimate friend of Kossuth , " her real name being all the while Uucidula , her occupation being apparently paid spy of the British Government . She succeeded in passing herself oft as the baroness , got introduced into good ( society , made acquaintance with Mr . George UawBon , and obtained , through the medium of that gentleman and his friends , some tmbsoriplions to a new book the declared she was about to publish under the title of The Story of My Life , in company with her there was a young Hungarian neible , said to be remarkably
prepossessing and insinuating , who acted as her secretary Jinel agent in getting subscribers to the ahove-uientieineel book . These two , when they first arrived in Birmingham , live ; d ut the Clarendon lleitcl , and it was during her stay there that Mr . Tyndall , the ; solicitor , called upon her , Haw her secretary , Constant Derm , who introduced her as the Baroness von lie'eik , anel it was arranged that herself ami Mrs . Tyndall should go to Euglmstoii to get in mibseriptieinH . This expedition , however , did not take place ; in consequence of the illness of the baroness , anel for the Hiiinc re-asem Mr . Tyndall invited he : r te > stay at his house . ; , where she had remained until tho 27 lh ultimo .
She ; had previously sought the acquaintance e > f Mr . Duwsem as a man known to have ; tuning sympathies with the Hungarians , anel Derra iirnt geit himsell intreiduccd , and then intrexluccel the baroness . In his evidence Mr . Dawson saiel : — - The ; representations maele ; te > him by the ; baremess respecting Kostmt . h , inelue ; ed him to give ; he-r money . He ' . siilea , he ; also knew that , the signatures of either gentle men which idle- had neeureel , we're genuine . He- knew the signature- e > f Mr . Sturgc , which she' had procured before she came to him . He ( Mr . D . iwsem ) paid her £ 1 in . as his Hubocription for the now book . He
subsequently saw Darra , and paid him four BubgcrintJn ( £ 4 16 s . ) for four subscribers who had committed ? fc " money to his care . Upon conversing with the baron he found she could not speak French , and it struck k > as very strange that a court lady , such as she had a scribed herself , could not speak French . He had si ma , de inquiries , and had now reason to believe she w G not the person she had described herself to be . Hp first invited her to his house and a number of friends t meet her , under the impression that Bhe was what sK ° had declared herself . She appeared very unwell xHa
went to her lodgings at the Clarendon . He wrote t Mr . Crompton , surgeon , who attended her , and afte examining her ca 6 e sent a message to him , sayina that her life was of very little value , unless she could be removed into a quiet place . If they had had the least suspicion that she was an impostor , they would have sent her to the hospital , even though she were an enemy She was not , however , suspected , but was kindl y taken into generous hands and provided for , and he saw very little of her after that until matters led to the suspicion of her veracity . "
During her stay with Mr . Tyndall , that gentleman said " she frequently spoke of her dear friend Kossuth , and of Hungary as her country" : — " The tears used to come into her eyes when she spoke of Kossuth . Derra was also at his house , and he acted as her friend and secretary . The book now produced contained entries of subscriptions paid on account of the baroness ' s book . He became a subscriber to her book and obtained a great number of subscribers upon her representations . It was also on Derra ' s representations that he subscribed . The baroness frequently alluded to Hungary as her country . Mr . Tyndall received aboi ^
£ 15 subscriptions for the book , ani promises for about seventy more . All that money would have been paid to the parties if she had not been found to have been an impostor . It was a very painful position for him to appear against Derra ; parties , he feared , blamed him exceedingly , and willingly would he have given the woman a hint to have been off the day before ; but it was deemed necessary , for the ends of justice and the cause which she had injured , to proceed against her . For Derra he was exceedingly sorry ; a more gentlemanly man he had rarely met with , and he believed him to be exceedingly talented . "
So much for her proceedings . In proof of the allegations of imposture , Mr . Toulmin Smith , who conducted the case for the prosecution , made tho following statement , which he sustained with strong testimony : — " It would not be necessary for him to go into details to show the extent to which the woman , who was the chief impostor in the transaction under investigation , had been made instrumental in traducing the characters
of some of the most eminent men of Hungary . And here he might add that she was not the author of the book . It was known who the writer was ; but , for certain reasons , he did not wish now to state his name . Iti several articles which had appeared in the newspapers of the town , in connection with the subject , allusion had been made to Mr . Lawrence , the American Minister , to the effect that he had given assurances of the accuracy of the Baroness von Beck ' s statements . Now he ; wished
most distinctly to deny that Mr . Lawrence had ever given any such assurance . He could also say of the book purporting to be the travels of the baroness , that it was one tissue of falsehoods . Mr . Smith read some portions of the adventures of the baroness , and said that persons acquainted with Hungary would know that it was utterly impossible that the events narrated could be true . She stated that her husband had fallen at the second barricade in the Jagerstrass , in Vienna , on the 20 th of October , whilst cheering on the friends eif popular freedom ' to resist the assaults of their bloodthirsty tyrants . Now , according to the official reports which he ( Mr-Smith ) was possesseel of , there was no such person nanud whei had ever fallen . '
The official report consisted of a letter from General Haug , who commanded in conjunction witli Bern at Vienna . General Haug stated that he /<¦ » ' ¦<" of no officer named Beck—certainly none who fell : — " Though , " he writes , " on the 18 th of Octe > be > r , 18 A I was in the Hungarian camp as Deputy of Vienna , ) '' ' it is not keiown to me that on that day an oilicer <> 1 H »<' name of Baron Beck had fallen on our side , and certain . y not at the barricades , because on that day then : «'" none . "
Yet the book ascribed to this protended barom * . positivel y asserts that she had personally met G em : M Haug at Vienna , and afterwards . In the same . ' " ti-nut ; of falsehoods , " it is stated that tho said baroness n »< received a message from Kossulh , through lleinrw , the police minister , appointing u meeting ; an . '" account is given of the meeting , " every wo > ' <| " which is a tissue of lies , " says Mr . Toulmin ^ lUlf 1 ' ; Tho name e > f the police minister was not Jletnru ' ^ but Ilajnik . A letter was reael from that gentleman , pointing out thut the self-styled buroness wan a l » spy . Mr . Paul Ilajnik wus also present , and ( 4 the ; following evielonce : —
" Paul Ilajnik was examined by Mr . Smith . 11 '' "fl ^ that he ; was a Magyar noble , anel a member e >( the ; K' > riun Diet . He filled the uitiintion of chief of the p <> ' ^ for the ; whole United Kingdom of Hungary and 1 ' '" J- > vaniu . His duty was to maintain the eiivil st » i' ty <» ^ country , and all the prisoners eif war were . "" "V . jj ' superintendence . Ho held office under Kmg * naiiel V . until the 1 st of January , 1849 . Ho was in i *¦» ¦ , the capital , on that day . The Hungarian Governi l « ft Pouth for Debrccein on the last days of Prccnij > , 184 « . Wo was left at Peoth with OsAnyl , tin om <
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 6, 1851, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06091851/page/4/
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