Crime in Spain.

An occasional correspondent of the 'Times' writes from :—'The crime committed in Spain is the crime natural to a population without religion, education, or'civilisation -very hot-blooded, with a keen sense of what is just, without any faith in the law and judge as lifcely to give them truo justice. In the first place, the wild, dangerous country—the Campo, with its grey, far-spreading hills and vales, where, for miles and tens of miles the eye ■ees nothing but the solitary herdsman tending hia goats, that browse upon the aromatic herbage, or the white vulture of the Sierra, soaring grimly and silently overhead, scanning the barren plains for » lame kid or lamb —plains where the ear hears nothing but the tinkling of the bell worn by the leader of the flock, or the shrill whistle of the plover—this country, I say, offers every facility for brigandage. There are lonely defiles, where, at every turn, overhung by rock, with no escape possible, you may come upon a dozen men in wait for your purse; there are passes and bridle paths in the Sierra Morena or Sierra de Jean, where the brushwood is so tangled that you cannot force it, and where the stag leaps into the path before he sees you, and where men are met, so savage, that they fly like arrows from drawn bows from the sight of a well-dressed fellow being! Thus it is that brigandage is favored by the natural surroundings of the country, as well as fostered and encouraged by the conscriptions, the very severe taxes, and the severity with which political offenders are hunted down. So during tbo last two years some ten or twelve rich men and one or two children (scions of rich families) out for a ride, were taken, and an enor mous ransom demanded for their release. Mr. Hesselden. of Linares, riding up into the Sierra Morena to visit one of the mines, was taken, and had to pay £6000, more or less, for his release. Only nine months ago, at a small village near Almonicea, in the province of Granada, a miller, of known wealth, was captured, and 10,000 dol. de manded were paid by his unhappy family. Because he had recognised one of the band he was shot. But they took the money ! Next to brigandage comes high way robbery. In Murcia, the diligencia, from Alicante to Murcia, was stopped and robbed so often between Elcho and Murcia, that it never starts now without three armed civil guards as passengers. We come next to offences against the person, assassinations and murders. These are not increasing, but in the wilder districts they cannot be said to be decreas-. ing. In Cadiz, Seville, and other well educated cities, the criminals have decreased in the last three years at the rate of 10 or 15 per cent., I am assured on good authority, and, if this be so, we have a striking illustration of the power and force of civilisrtion, education, and the mixing with foreigners. Of child murder there is little; but there is a fearful amount of stabbing with the ever-ready knife —a weapon which differs from the ordinary knife of the English rustic in having (1) a blade shaped somewhat like a scimitar, but running to a point; and (2) a spring, so that, once opened cannot bo shut without the use of both hands. In olden times those knives often had as many as seven springs, and to shut one of these is no light task, requiring as it does seven separate efforts* I havo now ono by me of this sort. In other days ono year's imprisonment for each several spring or ' catch' would have been the punishment awarded, A few instances of this fatal facility of stabbing may prove interesting. In a town near the Sierra Morena with which I was acquainted numbering some 40,000 inhabitants, three cases of stabbing were recorded per week. One man at large, with whom I was familiar, openly acknowledged to having stabbed three, and murdered four of his fellow men. Somo of these assassins are also robbers; one is now lying in the gaol of a well known seaport city in Andalusia, by name Miguel Jurado, alias ' the Mur ehilla,' (soldier's knapsack) for most of ' these freebooters have their nick names. He killed three men—one without -provocation. Hyena-like, he had a h»bit of laughing just "before he struck the fatal blow with the knife. This man by trade was a fisherman, and wholly uneducated ; he was sentenced to death, and the day for his garotting was fixed; but it hap pened to fall in the fair timejiand fearing lest trade and amusement should receive a check, the mayor asked leave topostpone his sentence. Leave was given. This happened last October, and 'the Muchilla/ though manacled and under sentence of death, still lives to repent, it is to be hoped, of his crimes. Another well-known criminal, robber and murderer, burner of houses and homesteads, was Ferron. This man, long the terror of south-eastern Spain, was being escorted to the presidio, where he was to be confined, by four • civiles' on foot. This, indeed, is the custQm in taking prisoners from one prison to another; those who can may pay railway expenses for themselves and their escort, and also the return fare of the escort. As he neared, at evening, a narrow defile, the guards told him to pass on in front, and, at a few paces, scattered his brains over the path in one of the wildest solitudes of the province. The pass where this occured bears the name of Molino del Sol. Another noted bandit, by name Francisco Marilla, was captured last November by the civil guards; he had, after committing one Warder, and half-a-dozen robberies, eva

ded their vigilance for two years. In the same month two noted bands, of three men apieco, were captured. The one was disturbed late at night in a cortizot, or farmhouse, in the wilds of the Cardovesse Sierra. They made so fierce a resistance that the civils shot down two, the third escaping to the hills. The other band was surprised in an empty house on the outskirts of Cadiz, and one drawing his revolver was shot dead. Speaking of cortizes, or farm houses, it may ba remarked that these lonely places form in summer the residence of tho rich family to which they belong, and in winter the resort of these bandits, who, if you meet them ' off duty,' are a most pleasant set of fellows. Another bandit, Joae Atacho, was also taken in November. He had been convicted and sentenced for assassin ation, highway robbery, &c, some half-a dozon times, but had always contrived to escape. He was leader of the band which took captive Mr. Borrell, an Englishman, in 1870. Ho was called 'El Aurita'—i.e., the little curate, or pastor, from the sleekness of his tongue and his subtle powers of oratory. He, too, was shot dead on tho march to the prison to which he was destined. Deserters, ladrones facciosos, or political refugees, and tho like, form a wild and numerous class. In the summer they may be met with shoot ing in the Sierra ; in the winter smoking cigarettes and gambling away their money in the lonely farm houses or olive lodges. Many of the owners of these lodgas give th^se men a small present when they are 'hard up,' and thus secure their goodwill. Some of the crimes committed are crimes which betoken a very low order and type of humanity indeed. Thus in a waste, about 2 miles from Alicante, last autumn, a dead body was picked vp —that of a full grown man —nearly covered with stones and bits of rock, by which ho had been beaten into a jelly. Every now and then a man will be brought into some provincial hospital on a stretcher, his face literally beaten to a pulp by blows with some jagged stones or fragments of flint or granite rock. Yet such a man, blasted for life, will constantly, with a keen but mistaken sense of honor, refuse to disclose the name of his assailant. He will rather say 41 will take my own revenge.' On the 32nd or 23rd of last November, on a road called Mount Olivet, in Valencia, tho body of a man was picked up which had received no less than thirty-one stabs. This account was headed in tho provincial paper ' Una barbaridad.,

Julia Matthews.—A Reminis cence.

It is now twelve years ago since the theatre-loving portion of the Victorian exiles in New Zealand were delighted by the announcement tjiat Miss Julia Mathews had been secured By the managers of the Princess ' Theatre, Dunedin, for a starring engagement of six weeks' duration. Gossip was busy with the most exaggerat ed stories as to tho enormous terms which had induced her to mako the jonrnoy ; and those astute gentlemen, Messrs. Claranco Holt and Joseph Wolfe, who were at that time the losses of the theatre, did not, you may bo sure, use any very violent exertions to mitigate the wildest conjectures of tho most imaginative. Be that as it may, Julia came, and saw and conquered. The engagement was an immense success for the management, and upon its expiry she was re-engaged for a further term.

But it was not altogether, or oven principally, in regard to her acting or her salary that the lovers of gossip were exercised upon her arrival. It was a matter of common notoriety—as what is not so in connection with the lives of men and women who occupy such a prominent position before the public as actors and actrc9ses do—that Julia came to Dunedin not only to fnco a friendly audionce, but also to meet her lover, as the gentleman to whom she was engaged, and whom, as we shall see, she subsequently married, was in business in that place. Mr. Mum ford himself took the chaffing which was liberally showered upon him with the easy assurance of a conqueror, and when Miss Matthews arrived he attached himself to her as if by right, and accompanied her on all occasions when it was possible for him to do so.

It is not to bo supposed, however, that this meant a succession of stolen inter views, or a series of those delicious meetings when nohono else is by, which are so dear to the hearts of lovers. No such thing was possible in their case, as Julia Matthews was never alone. Where ever she went, to the theatre or to the church, there, beside her and watching her was surely the most faithful duenna that ever lived. The fact is her parents were perfectly alive to tho treasure they had got in their daughter, and they watched that treasure with the utmost care, the while they were laying up a handsome provision for their old age out of the fruits of her talents and exertions. She had been a lucrative investment to them as a child, and now, as a woman, she was a fortune. It need not be wondered at, therefore, that the idea of her marrying, and bo depriving them of her earnings, was exceedingly distasteful to this worthy couple, and in order to keep the men away, and to prevent Julia from falling into love, her mother never left her side when she went abroad. When Julia was cngnged on the satge, Mrs Matthews occupied a chair on the prompt side, much to the : inconvenience of the scene-shifters and

others, who were in the habit of using very strong language concerning the old lady behind her back, where she sat throughout the dreariest rehearsal or the longest play, with one eye upon her knit ting and tho other on her daughter. The latter, although not a Koraan Catholic herself used to make it apractico, wherever she went, to join the choir of the Eoman Catholic Church in the place, as she took an intense delight in the musical services of that church, and interpreted them in a manner which has seldom been equalled on this side of the world. Indeed, it may be said with perfect truth that, brilliant and tuneful as she was upon the stage, those who have only heard her sinking in the fcKeafre have not heard her at any thing like her best. , In accordance with this practice, Julia ioined the choir of St. Joseph's Homan Catholic Church, and although tho choir gallery w.-is very small, and the accom modation for the singers woefully cramped three scats had to be given up lor her. First in order camo the mother, who ensconced herself comfortably in a chair in the front row, where she could see everything that went on both in the church and in the choir. A little behind her sat Julia, and behind her again sat Murnford, who, if he did not sing, was at least a pious Catholic, and thus if he could not assist in the music he supplied tho element of devotion, in which, I am afraid, the choir generally was somewhat deficient. The arrangement, so far as these two young people were concerned, was not a bad one, as while the lady as a non-catholic retained her chair during the prayers, the gentleman in kneeling brought his head over her shoulder, upon which, with the utmost nonchalance, she would turn her faca half round, and even St. Anthony must have forgdt his devotions in the presence of those laughing eyes and that pleasant face. It was a curious thing to watch this courtship in the presence of a multitude, but I suppose that the habit she had acquired from her very childhood of acting in public enabled her with the most perfect composure to face an ordeal from which most young women would have shrunk. As for Mumford, he knew himself to be the conquering hero ; he thought that every man present enviod him. and he seemed to enjoy the public display amazingly. It may be thought strange that the old folks, holdine the views they did on the subject of Julia's marriage, should have allowed all this to go on. But the probability is that they had found out how far they could safely go. Their daughter was of age long ago, and if they stretched their authority too far they might find some fine day that they had no authority ! left to stretch. Julia, although the best natured girl in the world, had a temper iof her own when it was roused, and her parents may have thought it better not to force her to put down her foot too violently: Things were in this position when her final engagement at the theatre wasjeoming to a termination. Tho bills announced hor last week, and tho benefit on the Friday of that week, and Mr. and Mrs. Matthews had intimated to their friends that they would return to Melbourne by the Aldinga, which was to sail on the following Tuesday, There was evidently no time to be lost by the lovers if they wanted to avoid anothef lengthened separation. Accordingly, Mumford sought papa, demanded his daughter's hand, and was refused point blank. The young man tried argument, but Matthews had seen too many plays not to be able to enact the role of ' stern parient' with tho utmost success. Ho was deaf to all tho pleadings and sent the anxious lover away with tho assurance that his pertinacity was thrown away, and, with a sneer, that his dtiugthor ivas wanted, not for herself, but for what •she could make.

f^This sneer came with rather bad grace from Matthews, who during so many years had been making a good thing out of her, while he paid as littleon her account as possible. The very critics who were in love with her, and who exhausted all their most enthusiastic efforts in de scribing her and her acting, cried out over and over again at tho shabbiness of her dress, declaring that she —the star — was eclipsed in this respect by second and even third-rate actresses. And this was not because she herself did not like good dresses. Julia Mathews was a woman to tho tips of her fingers, and the improve ment in this respect which she was able to effect after her marriage was notorious; and that she sighed for gorgeous dresses in those burlesques in which she was the leading figure, tho following incident, although some may think it slightly irre verent, will show. The Eoman Catholic Bishop of Wellington had come to Dune din for a visitation, and on his first appearance, walking up the aisle in pro cession, he was dressed in a gorgeous robe, covered with the most esquisite silk embroidery, the work of the nuns at, Wellington. Julia hung over the gallery watching him intently until he reached the altar, when she leaned back in her chair with a sigh of envy, although at the same time her eyes were brimming over with laughter at the ludicrousness of the idea, Oh. my !' she said, to those nearest her ' What a jolly dress for a burlesque !' Then again, as to money matters, Matthews had the reputation of being very close. Gossip said that while he drew her salary of thirty pounds a week he allowed her eighteen-pence as pocket money during that period' Therefore his sneer to Mumford came

with an ill grace, and the young man resented it ; and there is very good grounds for believing that for the few following days ho did not have a very good time of it with his daughter. The farewell benefit was an immense success, as was to be expected, the house being crammed to the doors, many being unable to obtain admission. As she had to appear again on the following night for the last time, the public naturally expected that tho attractive bill she had put forth for her benefit would be repeated, and so all who were not in tho secret were rather astonished when it was announced that she would make her farewell in one of the trashiest of stock pieces.

This also necsssitated her attendance at rehearsal, and in order to make clear what took place at that rehearsal it will be as well that I should give some description of the Princess Theatre ia Dunedin, as it then existed. Tho theatre was built at the rear of the Provincial Hotel, from which it was approached through the li->rso *>alo yard attached to the hotel. By this way entrance was made to the stage, stalls and pit, there being no gal lery; The entrance to the dress circle was from the opposite end of the theatre leading from High-street. The stage-door opened upon the O. P. side of the stage, and on this side also there was a door leading to the dress circle. On the prompt side of the stage there was no communication with the house. When therefore, Julia Matthews, accompanied by hor ever-attendant mother, came on to the stage for this hor last rehearsal, the two, as usual, walked across to the prompt side, where the old lady at once occupied her usual chair, and immediately became absorbed in a stocking she was knitting, while her daughter held herself in readi ness for the business in hand.

In the first act she had very little to do, but that little commenced very early. Almost immediately after the rising of the curtain she had to go on, speak a few words, then go off on the O. P. side, and there wait for her cue during a very long conversation among the other characters. It was noticed that she was rather nervous a most unusal thing for her, so much so that Joe "Wolfe, who acted as stage man ager, whispered some words of encourage ment as ahe went off on the side opposite to that on which her mother was sitting, Some of the company who were waiting to come on, augured well for their chances from this urbanity on the part of the manager, who was well known as a strict disciplinarian; so that when the next couple came on they began their business in an easy manner. Never were unfor tunate actorandactre^s more signally disa pointed. Joe Wolfo was gifted with a great power of very strong language, and he began to use it freely. Nothing would satisfy him; this dialogue was not properly spoken, that action was wrongly performed Let them do their very best tnere was no satisfying him. Everything had to be done a dozen times over, and still lie stormed and swore that if he had to keep them there till the house was lighted up for the performance he would have it done properly. At length, when he saw man fets sign? of mutiny, after nearly an hour nnd a half of this work, he let" the business go on, so that at last the cue was given for Julia Matthews's reappearance

1 Now, Miss Matthews !' cried Wolfe There was no answer.

4 Don't keep us here all day, please, he cried, impatiently, although it; must be allowed that his deeply-marked face showed signs rather of amusement then impatience. Still there was no answer.

The time had passed rather quickly and pleasantly with Mrs. Matthews, as she was engaged in that most interesting of operations • turning the heel' of the stocking she was knitting, while her thoughts were of the pleasantest. The Dunedin engagement and the bumper benefit had put money in their purse, and visions of further triumphs, and greater gains, in England and America floated thought her brain, and kept time to the clicking of her needles. When, therefore the cry arose for her daughter she did not feel any alarm at first, until it was reiterated without bringing the truant.

'Perhaps,' she said to the manager, ' slae has got tired, and has stepped through to the hotel, although she ought not to have done so without letting me know. Would you send someone to tell her to come back at once.

They were staying at the Provincial Hotel, so that the messenger had not far to go. By this time some one who was in the secret had dropped a hint.'and the actors and actresses were broken up into a series of groups upoa the stage, where there were whisperings and titterings, and laughing glances at the old lady who was sitting there, waiting for the daughter who was not to come. The manager was busily engaged correcting the proof of a bill which a printer's, devil, had just brought in.

In a few minutes the messenger i returned with the intelligence that Miss Matthews had not returned to the hotel since sho went out to rehearsal with her mother. That lady did not waste any words, but with a terror-stricken face she ruskfld precipitately from the stage. .Toe Wolfe, with a broad grin on his face, turned round to the company, and announced a change in the performance, by the substitution of a piece which they had played fifty times, so that it required no rehearsal. He then turned round to the printer's boy :— ' Now mind,' he said to that imp, 'these

are not on any account to be soauji" fore four o'clock, and after that as 1H as you like.' P-. ' Ail right, sir,' answered thewil and vanished. ™V The bill was an announcement W1 public that in consequence of theiiuwjjp of Miss Julia Matthews she <m^m appear that night, and so theperC^K had been altered. : The reader will remember that ma W O.P. side to which the fair J%M ;: been relegated during the long retaJ? there was a door which commut^, with the dress circle, and, further^ the circle entrance led into Higl^ 0 A.t that entrance on the motuj3; ■ question a close carriage was stul'it into which, about fivo minutes 2;" Wolfe began to make himself unpk!; on the stage, Julia stepped, havW| her escape through the circle. J^ \ be sure her lover was there waiftJtj'; her, and the coachman, who hjfi? J instructions, drove off immediately|ji j Custom House, only distant a fti W dred yards, where the happy w 1 descended, and as fast as Mr. to? Old Fogie, as he was irreverently^ could" perform the ceremony, bhtjZ i 1 made man and wife by civil procesi, iJI I have before noticed, however 41 bridegroom was a strict Catholic^ a was necessary that he should be niailS in church, and without loss of timeyf I were driven withj closed blinds to |f:i Joseph's, where Father Moreau mjj? ; readiness to do the needful. That^ plished, they started off as fasten,'."• horses would carry them to Portlk-1' mers, where they intended topj^i, honeymoon. In the meantime all unconscioniof! loss, Mr. Matthews was spending |j.; r in the manner which was toting others the happiest. Last night'il^S had been splendid, and to-day kWm going round " ' gaitherin' in therfl He was rather taken aback atdsfelS when Tom Fawcett volunteeaj jg accompany him on his rounds, WHjS disarmed him by bluff franknes^l! always found its way into the laitif ;^ the pit. He had not to play tkii^; j and so had no rehearsal to attenl, aJ having nothing to do, he mightu f£ j. have some fun going round w4i:| Tom, of course, was in the conspiiief^l I the part of the business allotted^|i 1 was to ' shepherd the old man? Hp | and many a time since has pocrh; 1 declared that that was the very Wi'| | day's work he had ever to wfc'S. The largest proportion of the ticiefeii ' been disposed of at the hotels, Md 6%f >i had all to be visited for settlement, iif |

in every case involved drinks, fi||. Tom had invariably to pay, as%< gentleman, although open to anyiiS of liquor, had a pious aversion to jb ing. ' And then,' Tom would say, reliliji story, laughter bubbling up thnsi cheery eyes the while, • there wasii T thought I should have droppsf1! were coming out of the Bank'^la Zealand, which is, as you know, m& the Custom House, at the doorofißj stood Mum's carriage. ' Eh, iy|.aj the old boy, stamping his stick B'i. pavement, ' there's a bonny c&irriig wonder wha it belangs tae.' I ginf, my word I felt as if cold water ij running down my back, for I«|*j every moment to see Mum and fe coming out at the door. But forfi^ I remembered that there was a lot pftis money at the Exchange Hotel, irKA* quite handy, and I managed to dJij?,. in there before mischief arose. IfcS? I wanted that drink. I kept hint!** ; I thought they wonld be gone, BPj crossed the street to go to the Off Before we got there however, theeJWi passed us at full speed, and Mw cried, out. ' There's that carriage^ wi, the blinds doon tae, I wad liM*i see wha's inside o't.' I caught hoP old maniac's arm, and dragged ft'; round to the window of a boot sta( began to praise a pair of boots'1 displayed so extravagantly ;w|| evidently thought I was tight. !■*■? j I was mighty glad when I »»*;, infernal carriage through the Wi- But after all it was the jolliest ldt! '■ History is silent as to what Pr when the bereaved parent returns^ and found that he was indeed W* He may be excused if loud langUS! ■ ; heard in his rooms by those dwells^ hotel who happened to pass tHJI However, a little after dusk.Jfli

entered to say that some &*M wished to see him, and before WJij find words to frame a denial, titfjwj men themselves, who had an^'f§[ rebuff, saved him the trouble bj'*f iato the room, led by their spoVft Mr. McLandress, an old Vie ton*! was always foremost either MM work or a bit of fan. The visig| a deputation bearing a joint cmi the newly-married pair, iropHi forgiveness, and promising ne^y age in after the most approve^ Whether it was his grief at theMv daughter, or dismay at the uttW his hopes of the fortune he vrUfy out of her, or whether it was f'i wiih. which Tom Pawcett had Slfc throughout the day, it wonld be^ |to inquire; but the old geH ( E slightly • incoherent, was K'H abusive, and ho applied laDfti| epiihets to the gentlemen pres^ji under ordinary circumstances, mji^ brought him into trouble, ."^f length he threatened to in«»

Evening- A-Tig^gt^ 1876r