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"so much afflicted your country, and to the

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recovery of which your excellency's zeal "and solicitude have so much contributed. "I have the honour to be, with the highest

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consideration and respect, your excellen"cy's most humble and obedient servant, "ARTHUR WELLESLEY."- -Now, where are the liars with their "letters from the army," and their "protest"? There was nothing even remarkable, except the part to which even Cotton would not assent; and he congratulates the Bishop upon that, against which his friends here swear that he solemnly protested.-'ray, reader, bear with me, while I trace along the course of these villainous lies; while I ferret out the political vermin that are gnawing at the heart of the country.-On the 16th of September the news of the disgraceful Convention was published in an Extraordinary Gazette.

By recurring to the newspapers, it will be seen, that, as far back as the 11th, a rumour of the Convention prevailed. On. the 12th it was stated that there had been a Convention made; but, that it had been done by the Portuguese Regency; that it was a clever French trick, and that our generals were not (no, no, 'faith !) men to be imposed upon by any such device. On the 13th, the Courier had the following remark upon this supposed Convention :

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Though we have been unable to trace "this rumour to any authentic source, yet 66 we must confess that it is a manoeuvre or "trick perfectly in the French character. "Junot might hope by such a capitulation "to get off with his plunder and save the

Russian squadron, and he might think. "that, however we might object, we could "not refuse to abide by it. Nothing to be sure would be weaker in the Portuguese

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in the different papers, which paragraph stated, that, in consequence of Sir A. Wellesley having been superceded, and his advice having been rejected, the victory of the 21st was not followed up, and the enemy was enabled to concentrate his forces and to take strong positions. This is the identical lie, which has since been repeated, and which was, I trust, completely detected. and exposed, in my last, where it was shown, that Wellesley had, agreeably to Sir H. Burrard's dispatch, the whole and sole active command during, and till after, the battle of the 21st. But, observe the time of this lie's appearing. It was a day, if not two, after the ministers had received intelligence of all that had been done. Wellesley's friends had got hold of it; and they instantly set to work, with their usual activi ty and impudence. On the 16th, when the news, as communicated through the Mayor of London, made its appearance in the public prints, it came side-by-side with par graphs, stating, that there had been a mis understanding amongst our commanders in Portugal. But the best way is to take one of these, with a particular reference. The Morning Chronicle of the 16th, had this paragraph: These accounts seem to jus tify the reports which have been for some days in circulation, respecting a misun derstanding which is represented to have "taken place between our military com "manders in Portugal. Sir A. Wellesley "in particular, is mentioned, as being ei "tremely dissatisfied with the proceedings "which have taken place since he was su

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perseded in the command, and it has been "said even that he was about to return "home in disgust. But whatever founda "tion there may be for the former part of "the rumour, the high character of this "distinguished and gallant officer makes it impossible to believe the latter. We un- เส "derstand, that when the capitulation was signed, he was at above twenty miles dis"tant from head quarters. -When, however, the Gazette came out, and extibited to us the name of this same high"charactered and gallant officer," at the bottom of the most infamous of the documents, a circumstance of which his friends, even those of the highest rank, could not be aware, until they saw the documents; when the Gazette came out, it was time to change the lie; and, it was then asserted, with as much assurance as his absence had before been asserted, that he was compelled to sign the armistice; that he had solemnly protested against it; and that he was, there fore, not at all responsible for what had been

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done. Corresponding with these assertions, there were published several pretended "letters from the army," insinuating, that Dalrymple and Burrard were fools, at least; saying that their arrival had spoiled all; and praising Wellesley to the skies. But, now we have, under Wellesley's own signature again, a proof that he approved of what he had signed in the armistice, and that he considered the terms of that document, which terms have filled all England as well as all Portugal with grief and rage; that he considered those terms, which his friends take the devil to witness that he protested against at the same moment that he signed them; we have now, as if he had been resolved to raise a blush upon the cheek of even his hardened advocates; we have now, under his own hand, the proof that he regarded those terms as a matter of congratulation.

And, observe, that he

writes this letter to the bishop, before he knew that Cotton would not agree to the neutrality of the Russian fleet and of the port of Lisbon. It is the thing in all its worst light that he approves of, and upon which he presents his congratulation.And how came Wellesley to be the person to write to the bishop? Why not Sir Hew Dalrymple? This circumstance, though, at first sight, it appears trifling, is of great importance; because, it shews, that, though superceded in form, he, in fact, did keep the command of the army How came he to write to the bishop? Whence should this arise, but from that arrogance, which had prevailed over, and borne down, every person and every thing that came in its way?

In short, there remains not, in my mind, the smallest doubt of his having been the chief, nay, the sole cause, of all the mischief that has been done. There are some who ascribe à still worse motive to him than I am inclined to ascribe, and, it must be confessed that the acknowledgment of "the emperor and king of Italy" together with that of the Duke d'Abrantes," might Justify any suspicions; but, the motive I think imputable to him, supposing him not to be either a downright fool or coward, is that of a determination to gratify his own insolent ambition, and to keep all others in the shade, cost what it might to his country, to the country of our allies, or to the great cause of Europe in general-Dearly has the Country paid for this arrogance; this insolence; but, when we cast our eyes back but a little, we must confess, that, great as is the punishment, the country richly deserves it. Ah! we now feel, do we, what it is to protect, cherish, and pamper such men? We

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have not yet done with this sort of feeling. We have yet new indignities to encounter. I am told, indeed, and from what I deem good authority, that "the ministers and the king are as indignant at the conduct of our commanders as I am." It is very natural that they should be so; but, I am, nevertheless, fully prepared to witness a series of the basest arts to which villainy, backed by a heavy purse, ever yet resorted. That these arts will not succeed, I think very probable; yet, again I beseech the public to be upon their guard against them.

With respect to the consequences of the Convention in Portugal, some of them have already been pointed out; but, there is one which forces itself upon us in a way not to be denied immediate observation, and that is, the delay in sending part of the troops to the assistance of the Spanish patriots. Sir Hew told us, that the hastening off troops to Spain was, in his mind, the chief advantage of the Convention. The Convention was signed between five and six weeks ago. Is there any man who believes, that a single English soldier has yet left Portugal for Spain? Three weeks, we know, had been spent without any step being taken to fulfil the Convention; or, at least, without any of the French troops having been embarked; and, should there be no impediment from the Portuguese, it will, in all human probability, be a month from this time, before a regiment can be marched off. But, if there should be an impediment, what will, in that case, be the delay? Why four times as great, perhaps, as could have arisen from a reduction of the French army, and a sending of them to England. prisoners of war. - But, why are not the Convention-making generals recalled? Can any one affect to believe, that our army, under these men, either will or can do any thing good, in Spain or Portugal ? Spain and Portugal have made common cause against a common foe; the latter has protested against our conduct; it has, in the person of its chief commander, accused us openly of having usurped the rights of its sovereign and having sacrificed its interests to the safety and impunity of its foreign and domestic foes. This protest has, by this time, been read in every town of Spain. Is it to be believed, then, that the Spaniards will suffer the Conventionmaking generals to enter their territory? No time should, therefore, be lost in recalling those generals. For want of one to take the command, the Serjeant, who is said to have refused the watch and purse of general Bernier, as a bribe for setting that

general at liberty, would do very well. That man, I'll engage, would never have signed the armistice of the 22d of September. It is clear, that the recall of these men ought iminediately to take place; and, I repeat my astonishment, that it has not already been announced to the public, as a measure in the course of fulfilment. But, there is more besides this to be done, in order to reinstate us in the confidence of the Portuguese and Spaniards, who will hardly be satisfied with the disclaimer, however strongly and generally expressed, of the public in England. They will require a disclaimer on the part of our government; and, surely, they will not have to wait many days for a formal, a public, a solemn Declaration, in the name of the king, expressing his grief for what his generals in Portugal have done; giving the strongest assurances, that the like shall not again be done; and, to give weight to these assurances, a distinct intimation, that the parties, against whose conduct the Portuguese have protested, shall, with all the speed that the impartial administration of justice will admit of, be brought to trial. Nothing short of this will afford us a chance of restoration to the confidence of the nations in question; nations upon whom the enemy is now pouring down with immense force, and who, if they need our aid at all, must need it at this moment. What a wide difference there would now have been in our prospects; how different would they have been from what they are, if this shameful Convention had not been made; and, if our commanders had, from the first, acted with the discretion, with that respect for the feelings of the Portuguese, which the circumstances of the case rendered so peculiarly appropriate. I perceive, in the Gazette which has reached me to-day, an account of a very gallant exploit of my LORD COCHRANE, but he does not take all the merit to himself; you hear from him not a word of bragging; he talks of no wonders that he and his crew have perform ed; but he takes care not to omit the mention of the good conduct of the Spaniards. "The castle of Mongal," says he, "an "important post, completely cominanding “ a pass in the road from Barcelona to "Gerona, which the French are now be"sieging, and the only one between those

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towns occupied by the enemy, sur• ren ered this morning to his majesty's ship under my command The Spanish "militia behaved admirably, in carrying an outpost on a neighbouring hill. Lieut. Hone, with the marines, took possession

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"of the castle, which, by means of powder, "is now levelled with the ground. The "rocks there are blown down into the road, "which in many other places is rendered impassable to artillery without a very "heavy loss of rnen, if they determine to "repair them.-I inclose to your lordship a list of the prisoners and of the material 66 part of military stores; all that could le "of use to the Spanish militia have been de "livered to them."This is the manner, in which a brave, a wise, and modest man acts and speaks. He leaves his commander and his country to determine the degree of his merit and the importance of the particular service. Oh, had we had my lord Cochrane at Ramahal, we should now have had Junot and his army in England! The conduct of Sir Samuel Hood, in the Baltic; his judicious proceeding after the action; every thing that we now see of gallantry, or wis dom, or modesty, in our commanders, serves as a contrast to what has taken place in Portugal, where, more than in all other places put together, we stood in need of the practice of these virtues. To be overbearing and vainglorious is, too, so opposite to our national character; it is so to belye our country! Well, we have now a pretty good lesson upon the consequence of committing our interests and our honour to the keeping of a fighter of nabob viziers; and, if from that lesson we do not profit, we merit to be treated like the subjects of those same nabobviziers.

Here I should have dismissed this subject, until, at least, it had been seen what the ministers really intended to do; but, I must add a few words upon the conduct of the Morning Post newspaper of yesterday. It will be remembered, that, in my last, stated a fact about the proprietorship of that paper, which fact was of great importance, considered in connection with the defence which that paper has attempted to make for Wellesley. Instead of any thing in answer to that statement, what do I find? Why, a silly letter of two columns and a half in length, controverting my opinions about the Spanish Revolution, and which letter the editor acknowledges to have had in his hands for a month past; as it, by controverting those opinions, he should prove my statement, relative to his paper, to be untrue.

-In the same paper, there is a long ar ticle, the object of which is, to cause it to be believed, that the censure now bestowed upon the conduct of Wellesley proceeds solely from a spirit of party. Now, let the ministry betake them quickly to political repentance, if this be true: for, of this

party" are the whole nation, some half hundred of nabob beaters excepted; and, of course, their exit is at no great distance. But, as to the fact; is it not notorious, that all the papers, without a single exception, ve Sir Arthur Wellesley great praise for bis victories? And, as to myself, I put them, in point of consequences, upon a level with the battie of Trafalgar. I also appeal to the reader, whether all the editors did not, until they saw the Gazette, publish in some shape or other, an expression of their opinion, that he had had o hand in the Convention. Let us take one partionlar instance, however. If it be 勤。 work of party, then it must be the work

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nish mind, we may be confident that such books and public papers of England, as can be serviceable in their present struggle, will find their way thither. The best of our newspapers will be imported for the relations they contain of public events; but as they are heavily laden with advertisements, and stuffed with frivolous trumpery, which we ourselves could not endure were it not pinned on the back of public intelligence, while your Register is free from any such alloy, is wholly devoted to political discussion and state papers, and is conducted with a degree of principle to be looked for in vain in the other papers alluded to, it may be expected that it will not be overlooked by the Spanish Patriots; on which account it is to be hoped you will continue your observations on Spanish affairs; which is the more desirable, as, in the common cause in which we are now embarked with that nation, it will be difficult to imagine any discussion on government which can benefit Spain, that will not at the same time benefit England also; a circumstance which can very rarely occur, in respect of those despotic governments with which our own is but too frequently allied.

of that party, which is opposed to the party the Wellesley; that party, then, is the Opposition; it is well known, that the Morning Chronicle is the official print of the Opposition; and, in the Morning Chronicle of the 16th, the day before it could see the Gazette, there was a paragraph, as has been already seen, stating that Wellesley was dissatisfied with the Convention, and that be was "above twenty miles from head-quarters when it was signed."-Dd this lock like party work? It is a false and

base pretence. There has appeared nothing of party-spirit in the discussion; and now, as in the case of Lord Melville, an attempt is made to draw men's minds from the merits of the case by impating motives of party to those who are calling for justice upon the person accused. It is of great conse quence, that the public should be upon its guard against this sinister design. The mind of a good man naturally revolts at the idea of party persecution. This laudable feeling in the English public has often proved a shield for the guilty; ani, therefore, we should be very careful to ascertain that we have grounds for such a feeling, before we admit it as an inmate It is not, observe, pretended, that poor Hew or Burtard have been assailed from party motives; and why not they as well as their associate? This same Morning Post accuses them most boldly; aye, and it does it, because there is no other way of defending Wellesley.Let us, however, keep upon our guard against deception; let us keep our eye upon those who have power to act efficiently let us see what they do; and then let us pass our judgement.

Botley, 29 September, 1808.

MAJOR CARTWRIGHT ON NATIONAL
DEFENCE.

SIR,-Now that the press of Spain has become free, and that we see both emulation and controversy enlightening the Spa

Since my last, Sir, new and brilliant facts have arrived from Spain, in coufirmation of the doctrines laid down in the Egis, on the subject of the arms-bearing of a people, towards proving that an armed population, instead of being to regular armies an

unresisting medium," is in reality a wall of adamant. If a truth so 'founded in nature, and so apparent to any unperverted mind, be, in the defence of Spain, thus already manifested, the author claims no merit for having maintained the doctrine. All he does claim, is, not to have incurred the demerit of suffering, without resistance, truth to be beaten down by the presumptuous dogmas of the adversaries of public liberty, nor to be silenced by the votitera tions of the corrupt pancers of despotism; who, in the service of one faction or another, have not only monopolized a large proportion of our newspapers, but have well stored with their pernicious writings the shops of our booksellers.

The facts now in my thoughts are those contained in the dispatch of the Count de Caldagues, to the captain-general of Catalonia, transmitted from Tarragona, and inserted in the "Times" of the 24th instant. The French, it seems, besides having the command of the Pyrennean Pass near the Bay of Roses, were in possession of the fortress of Figueras, very near the mountains, and also of the city of Barcelona, at

the distance of about 15 or 16 leagues, with the strong fortress of Manjui by which it is overlooked; and had now laid siege to Gerona, situated in the intermediate space between those places. Under these circumstances, and keeping in our recollection the vicinity of the scene to France itself, the Count advanced for the purpose of raising the siege. "On his arrival at the town of Castilla, he found that he could muster about 6000 men in arms; and though there were among them only about 300 veterans, and but a very few more that were formed into companies of miquelots, he did not hesitate a moment to attack the enemy, upon a system adapted to the nature of his and their force." The enemy is stated to have been " from 7 to 8000 infantry, and from 8 to 900 cavalry," under General Duhesme.

Now admitting, (even against the express evidence of the dispatch), that the French might not have been superior in number to the army by which they were attacked, and admitting likewise that the besieged Geronians themselves were to be accounted as part of the Spanish force, yet, according to the doctrine of an armed population being to a regular army an " unresisting medium," the Spanish Patriots who attacked this army of accomplished regulars, in a position between two strong fortresses in their possession, and very near the French gate into Spain, and protected also by a body of cavalry to which they themselves had none to oppose, ought to have been put to a shameful flight, or, had they been mad enough to have rushed upon destruction, ought to have been cut to atoms and annihilated. But, on the contrary, these reguiars, having every advantage on their side, are borne down by "the skill and valour" of the patriots, their line of battle is broken, one part seeking their safety in Figueras and the other within the walls of Barcelona. It seems probable that the "300 veterans" of the Spanish were no part of a distinct corps, but individuals who, in consequence of the rule of the Spanish army, of enlisting for limited service, were found among the population now armed and organized; but, be that as it may, and whether serving together, or (as more probable) in the capacity of non-commissioned officers, here is an army of volunteers with as few veteran individuals in its ranks as can be supposed ever to happen, and yet, so far is it from being a mere depositary of panic," that it attacks the enemies' batteries with the bayonet, with such ardour and celerity, they haye scarce time to think of resistance; they

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are defeated, they perish, or fly under the impulse of terror."-They attempt to rally, "in order to reconquer what they had so ignominiously lost; "but it is impracticable. Although a remnant of their force is preserved by their protecting cavalry, yet, leaving behind them artillery, small arms, ammunition, wheat, and plunder, and carrying off" 30 waggons filled with their wounded," in the course of the night after the battle, which had " commenced at 7 in the morning and lasted until late in the evening," they seek for safety in flight. But here again, so keen was the pursuit, that they had to sustain "various encounters on the read to Barcelona, in all of which they proved to be in a state of complete disorder, and, at every step of their progress, many of them paid the forfeit of their lives; so that their dead almost touched each other as they fell, until their arrival at Barcelona, with a remnant of about 800, for the preservation of which a corps ad vanced from that city." Of what befel the other division which fled to Figueras, in an opposite direction, the writer of the dis patch does not appear to have been ac quainted; but he had informed us that both divisions were "pursued by Milans and Glaros, in the routes which they had respectively taken;" whence we may naturally suppose that those who fled to Figueras did not escape unpunished.-Such, Sir, are the facts: but what is the moral ?-It is that which is everywhere inculcated in the Ægis, that a regular army, necessary as it may be for invading other countries, or for foreign service of every kind, is not neces sary for a nation's defence. Nor will it be any impeachment of this doctrine, should Spain, now she has got a general Junta of Regency, increase her regular force in any degree to which her finances may extend. The raising of the siege of Gerona and the defeat of Dubesme will still remain upon record to prove, that a regular army is not necessary for the defence of a nation.

I am, nevertheless, Sir, well aware of sound reasons why Spain, under her present circumstances, may adopt the expe dient of increasing her regular force. Her militia is on a bad model; she never had such a system as the English posse comitatus. Perfect as in its own nature that system is, yet even in England a plan for restoring it to "full vigour and energy," according to the wish of Sir William Jones, has got no nearer adoption than being in manuscript, as the draught of a parliamentary bill. Meanwhile, Spain has not a moment to lose. Although armed patriots,

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