The Assassination of the Bishop of Madrid.

Evening Star, Issue 6951, 10 July 1886, Page 4

The Assassination of the Bishop of Madrid.

Concerning the assassination of the Bishop of Madrid on April 19, an eye witness telegraphed as follows to a London paper: —" On the steps in the street before San Isidro Church we were standing looking at the people arriving with palms for the High Pontifical Mass. The carriage of the Bishop drove up slowly. Two priests first got out, then the Bishop, Mgr. Izquierdo, and as he neared the door a priest, about forty years of age, of calm and quiet appearance, got close to the Bishop, drew a revolver and deliberately fired once. The prelate staggered back. The priest fired twice more. The other, priests rushed forward to catch the falling Bishop, and bore him in their arms to the office of the church collector, the women shrieking and the men calling for doctors. The priest allowed himself to be arrested by the policemen. The crowd began to cry out " Kill him !" repeatedly. He was hurried in a cab to the nearest police station, followed by the hooting mob. The news soon spread through the capital. The Governor of the city, Count Xiquena, was the first to arrive, and then the Nuncio hastened to the Bishop, who was quite conscious, and less agitated than the physicians, who declared his condition dangerous. Hundreds of priests flocked to the scene of the crime, only to find the gates of the desecrated church closed. For hours the edifice was besieged by thousands of sightseers. So severely was the Bishop wounded that it was found impossible to remove him from the Church of San Isidro to his own palace. The Queen sent frequent messages of inquiry during Sunday night, and many members of the nobility and clergy, besides various officials, called and visited the sufferer. ,

The following particulars came from Madrid on the Monday evening :—" The Bishop died this afternoon from the terrible wounds inflicted by the priest Galeote. In dying the prelate said he forgave the assassin, and hoped everyone would do likewise. Before the Cathedral, where Bishop Izquierdo expired, a dense crowd had collected, showing signs of deep sorrow. Many women were weeping. The deceased was a gieat favorite with the people, a just, austere man, of humble birth, clever, and famous as an orator. The collapse of the Bishop was rapid. In the afternoon delirium was soon succeded by prostration, and then consciousness was lost."

Galeate is said to be of Italian origin. His case affords a parallel to that of the verger who stabbed Monseigneur Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, on the steps of the high altar at it. Etienne du Mont. The French assassin, however, had been suspended for refusing to accept a dogma which he regarded as a novelty and not binding on his conscience. Galeote was unfrocked on the charge of immoral conduct in a nunnery of which he was the chaplain. He insisted that the accusation on which Monsigreir Izquierdo proceeded against him was a false one, and that he owed it to his honer to wa3h out in the Bishop's blood the stigma cast upon him.