their vices amid the confusion of the capital. Already your victorious countrymen are near, crowned with laurels, which will not fade in the course of future ages. All Europe has been surprised at the progress of their rapid victories. Arragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia, La Mancha, Estramadura, Murcia, Carthagena, Castile, Leon, Asturias, Santandur, and Gallicia, have shed around them never fading glory. Already they have raised numerous armies; already they have defended the pincipal points of Spain; alreathey have secured the chief maritime ports, and captured ships and squadrons at Carthagena. We owe all to God, and our Lady, the Virgin, who have protected our cause. Let us, therefore, cast off our lethargy, and purify our manners, which were arrived almost at the pitch of complete corruption. Let us acknowledge the calamities which the kingdom and this great capital have endured, as a punishment necessary for our correction. The innocent victims, whose blood has streamed from their native soil, have implored forgiveness for us. The one immortal and omnipotent God of armies has heard their supplications, and is appeased. Will it be just that we should now commit new abominations, robberies, insurrectious, and excesses? There cannot be a being of so great ingratitude as to think this. Unite, virtuous Spaniards, to receive, as soon as possible, the reward of your heroic fidelity.

The government, and the faithful provinces, will be filled with joy, when the council exhibits before you and all Europe the constant firmness with which the men of honour, the most elevated nobility, the superior tribunals, and the chiefs of the nation, have sustained your cause, and the rights of the throne. Not a few individuals among them have been led by fraud and force far beyond the limits of Spain; and, though without liberty, and exposed to the severest insults, they have proved the inflexibility of their loyalty, and the religious purity of their opinions. Distrust even their signatures, which have been circulated among you, and wait with patience for the testimonies of their conduct. The principal author of these calamities is free, and beyond your jurisdiction; but heaven will not permit him to remain unpunished.And you, ye victorious armies of Spain ! Bly and protect this capital which longs for you. Till then it has no other defence, than in the heart of the kingdom, and the recent departure of the enemy. Let us together prostrate ourselves before the sacred altars of our God, and return him thanks for his wonderful mercy. Here your fathers, your mothers, your brothers, and your friends,

await you, to embrace you, and proclaim you our deliverers. O how happy that day! how true that joy! Wipe away your tears, you disconsolate widows, and you wretched orphans, who have lost those whom you lovved! Your fathers, and your faithful hus bands, died in the field of honour, in the defence of their country; they perished, but their memory shall not perish. Here you will meet with generous and grateful souls, who will provide for your mainte nance, as your husbands and fathers provi ded for theirs. The Spanish nobility are distinguished for their generosity and greatness of soul, and will not deny a debt as flattering as it is just. God grant that no evil-minded persons may frustrate, by their excesses and rapine, such laudable inten tions, and fill this city with lamentation and mourning. Worthy neighbours! it is for you we act: live in confidence that the council and all the magistrates of this capital will protect you, and will deliver over the guilty to the severest punishment. God grant that there be no occasion to draw the sword of justice; let it be employed against the enemies of the nation-against the op pressors of our liberty, and against those who, violating their promise, avail themselves of our defenceless state to sacrifice us. May it please Heaven to grant, speedily. the fulfilment of those desires which a engraved on the hearts of all Spaniards, those of its council! D. BARTOLON MUNOZ. Proclamation to the Biscayans.-Dat Bilboa, Aug. 6.

head

Noble Biscayans!-The bitter grief which oppressed your hearts, at seeing your native land threatened with the odious yoke of the most cruel slavery, has at length broken through the barriers which the irresistible force of circumstances had imposed upon you; yes, your sufferings are now at an end; and a generous youth, full of holy ardour, are flocking with eagerness to their standards. You called for chiefs to command you; and you now see placed at your men celebrated for their talents and military knowledge, who will conduct you as it were by the hand to victory. The creation of a presiding junta, to direct your opera tions, has been one of the principal objects of your careful attention. Here you possess it, addressing you in the language of truth. -Inhabitants of Biscay! cast your eyes back on the ages which have passed, and you will see your ancestors at one time re pulsing the Carthaginians; at another de stroying the hosts of Rome; at one peried was granted to them the honourable distinc tion of serving in the van of the army;

fat

another, the privilege of citizens. Imitate the glorious examples of your so worthy progenitors. Yet know that absolute subordination to your chief, and severity of discipline,, are the first of martial virtues, without which none can present themselves with the hope of success in the plains of honour. The junta promises itself that you will possess them in an eminent degree.-Let the unholy voice of party passions for ever disappear from among you: and let the suggestions of envy hold no sway in your bosoms. No; let a perfect and indissoluble union reign among you. Your interests are the same-the sentiments which animate you alike—and the cause which you defend, common. Will you, therefore, seek to turn your force against your brethren and countrymen, and to give the victory to your enemies? Perish so disgraceful an idea! Let the liberty and property of individuals be most religiously respected, and let the province of Biscay preserve the purity of its customs, even in the midst of the din of arms.-Biscayans! The religion of your fathers, according to whose holy maxims you have been educated-the country to which you owe your existence-the Lord (or Sovereign) which the constitution and the laws have prescribed to you-these are the important objects which claim your attention, and oblige you to march out to the glorious conflict. Can you bear to be the victims of one man's ambition who has endeavoured to enslave all Europe? No; you were not born for slavery.-Hasten then to give the most undoubted proofs of your. valour and patriotism, and rely upon all the assistance which the junta can afford you. May your temples be surrounded with laurels of victory, and your name be immortal in the annals of Biscay! Biscay! (Signed) D. MATHIAS HERRERO PRIETO D. JUAN JOSEPH DE YERMO. D. FRACISCO BORJA URTADO DE CORCUERA, &c. D. JOSE XAVIER DE GOITIA, Secretary of the Jun a Proclamation of our Holy Father Pope Pius

VII, to the Catholic Spaniards Beloved Children ;--You who deplore at the foot of the altar the wounds given to religion-You who are still mindful that we form one people of brethren, join we, the vicar of Christ; approach ye families, the remnant of vast destruction, to the throne of my predecessors, to see me, like Daniel, surrounded by lions; preserved hitherto by the, inscrutable designs of Provi dence-I see the vessel of St. Peter entrusted to my care combated by the fierce apostate, whom myself have placed on the throne, and who, like a degenerate son, pants for the destruction of his mother, the

church, to whom he had sworn fidelity at her altar. But let us draw off the veil that covers so great iniquity. The first victim that was sacrificed to his ambition has been your shepherd. Rome, the centre of faith and the shield of religion, has been prosti tuted. The idol Dagon has been united to the cruel Antioch of our days to accomplish the destruction of religion, which is the great bar to his perfidious designs. However, do not despond. The successor of St. Peter is still extant, though overwhelmed with affliction; groaning under his chains, he lifts his eyes and tremulous hands to heaven, imploring incessantly the protection of the God of hosts over his flock!-Oh! the happy effects of religion! In this fatal situation, my soul, penetrated with Christian feelings, learns with transport and surprise. that Spain, happy Spain, has remained true to her religion and king. I hasten, my be loved children, to surmount the shackles by which I am depressed, to transmit to your kingdoms the circular that will testify to you of my gratitude. you of my gratitude. Arouse, and combat, like David, the imperious Goliath of our times.-Valorous Spaniards, sons of the church, come and break the chains of your shepherd. Already my heart assures me of your sensibility; do not tarry; raise the standard of faith; victory invites you; come then to your brothers in bondage. Raise your tents, and pursue the usurper of nations. Enter into the heart of his dominions, and follow him to the remotest li mits of the earth. Shew to the nations of the North that oppression is in its agony, and let the Spanish sword strike the decisive blow on the guilty head. Compassionate the ill-fated kingdom of France, condole with its people, and they will assist you to overwhelm her traitorous tyrant. Oh, with what transport will the Catholic Ferdinand learn the intrepidity and heroic loyalty of his subjects! The streight situation to which he is, like myself, doomed, precludes the means to him of manifesting the sentiments of his magnanimous heart. I feel not the strength of saying more. If I survive the calamity, and you spill your blood for religion, your country and monarch, to whom I supplicate from heaven all happiness, the world shall be witness to my gratitude

The Supreme Council of Castile to the Capt. General of Arrogan.--Aug. 4, 1808.

SIR-Aft having laboured for four successive months under the most grievous oppression, this capital has at last been so fortunate as to be liberated from the numerous French troops, which had invaded its precincts and vicinity! The council which

has groaned under their galling yoke, would deem itself wanting to its duty, if, accrediting you and your gallant companions in arms as the deliverers of the country, it did not hasten to manifest to you its satisfaction, and the sentiments with which it hath been constantly animated, and has the happiness to express at present. From the first moment of its liberation it has taken all the measures, that circumstances have allowed, to direct to the common cause, the loyalty and ardent vows of this faithful capital and its whole district; these however, for the present, will not be such as the zeal of the council and of this city would wish; they will be insufficient to the putting them free from fresh opression.-The council doubts not but your excellency will coincide with ther in this request, and contribute to the safety of the capital and its public departments, with all the efficacy in your power; and the illustrious proofs of zeal and conduct already most amply by yon manifested, are a sufficient assurance to them that you will adopt the means to the exigency of the circumstances. To his excellency the Captain General of Arrogan, Don Joseph de Palafox y Melzi. By command of the council.ARIAS MON.

Answer of his Excellency the Captain General of Arragon, Don Joseph De Palajox y Melzi, to the Council of Castile. The notification which you, under date of the 4th instant, have communicated to me in the name of the council, and of which I had already the knowledge, has afforded me the most heartfelt gratification. Considering that the inhabitants of the capital, who have endured the most intolerable vexation, owing to their loyal attachment to their sovereign, which will eternally redound to their honour, are now freed of their invaders, it gives alike to me, and to the good inhabitants of this kingdom universally, cause of happiness and exultation The unalterable integrity of the council, the dignity of its ministers, and the wise policy of which there has been ere now ample demonstration, has rendered that court respect able even abroad. In the melancholy circumstances in which Spain has been placed by the most unparalleled treachery recorded in history, this court has not fulfilled its duties; many of the individuals of which it was composed have most satisfactorily justified themselves, whilst others, perhaps alJured by the seducive promises of the enemy, or enstrained by the perversity of their disposition, have either remained irresolute,

or even taken part against their own country: of this I have had sufficient evidence, and to my inexpressible sorrow have I known them direct the operations of the enemy, and witnessed them approach with effrontery the walls of Saragossa, write inflammatory papers, and propagate doctrines dishonourable to the Spanish name.-I am aware that the council has not been at liberty to act freely, and that they have been constrained to serve only as organs of the dispositions of that execrable government; but the general will of the nation having once been expres sed, it would have been highly important if they had transferred themselves to the provinces, and made common cause with them, were it only to withdraw their sanction from the circulation of the scandalous and deceptious writings which have made their appearance: and to this no insuperable obstacle appears to me to have stood in their way; or had there been any, the common interest and welfare of the nation ought at any rate to have risen paramount to every private specu iation. It is now nearly two months that this city has been encompassed by the enemy; by the baseness of whose conduct we discern that they make crime their study. To rapine, violence, turpitude, and iniquity, they have added ferocity, by sacrificing even infants- the sick and wounded; nay, their very benefactors. They have bombarde this heroic city in a cruel manner; though their irruption into this kingda has been well avenged, we have, neverthe less, not repulsed them without spilling the blood of many a brave and virtuous defender of the country, and without involving m ny others in distress. Regarding myself, I have been more critically situated than any other commander, being without one single soldier, and placed within' immediate reach of the enemy, from my proximity to his frontiers, and liable to be attacked at once from Catalonia, Castile, and Navarre; but in despite of all, our love for king, country, and religion, has made me contemn all dangers, considering timidity and irresolution as tantamount to the greatest crime. I have spared some assistance to Catalonia, to Navarre, and other provinces, who have cheerfully acted with me, and claimed my protection, and I have happily been enabled to repel the enemy, which I trust shortly to put to flight, if any part of the wreck shall remain. Then I shall fly to the suc cour of the capital, if needful, which I request you to represent to the council for promulgation.

481]

-There

SUMMARY OF POLITICS CONVENTIONS IN PORTUGAL.is on drksomeness in beginning to write upon a subject, which has already been fully dis cussed, more especially when the whole of these, to whom one's remarks are addressed, have mide up their minds upon it, and when there appears nothing to be offered in oppo sition to their opiniou. Nevertheless, from the consideration, that the Register may be preserved, owing to its bookish form, somewhat longer than most of the other periodi cil publications of the political kind, I sivil state my opinion of those transactions, which are recorded in the Government Gazette, inBetel in another part of this sheet, and which have excited so general a feeling of dasisfaction When we took that view of the situation of affairs in Portugal, which was exhibited to us in the official papers of Sir Arthur Wellesley (inserted at page 407 nd of this volume); when we beheld the prowiness of our soldiers, in the battles, of which We papers speak; when we were told, be that the French had, besides the advantage of a perfect knowledge of the country and is it of long preparation, the still greater advan

tage of an excellent position whence to mike, or where to sustain, an attack; when we were told, just in so many words, that, "in this action, in which the whole "of the French force in Portugal was employed under the command of the Duke of Abrantes in person, in which the ene my was certainly superior in cavalry and "artillery, and in which not more than hall of the British army was actually engaged, the French sustained a signal defeat, and lost thirteen pieces of cannon, twenty-three ammunition waggons, with powder, shells, stores of all descriptions, and twenty thousand rounds of musket * ammunition." When we were told all this, and were informed, that, immediately alter this brilliant success, our army was augmented to nearly double what it had before been, we naturally expected, that, by the next arrival, seeing that the enemy could Taxive no supplies, either by land or by

, we should be informed of his surrender andiscretion.Sir Arthur Wellesley's acCount has been praised for its clearness. I must confess, that I saw nothing like clearbess in it. I saw no where any explicit

-(482

statement respecting the positive amount of the French force in Portugal. The way, is which I, were I a commander upon such an occasion, should proceed, would be this: The enemy had, in this country, such and such forces; they were distributed thus and thus; my force was such and such, and thus and thus was it distributed. Then I should come to an account of my prelimi nary operations; next to a detail of the engagement; and should conclude with a view of the strength and situation of each party after the engagement. This is the course uniformly pursued by the French in their accounts of their military operations, which, in every quality, except that of falsehood, are well worthy of our imitation, but which, upon this occasion, we have, I am afraid, imitated in the exception and not in the rule. From such an account, which is too confused to be readable were it not for. the sake of the exhilirating substance, oue cannot pretend to say what was the exact force of the French in Portugal. Those who have taken the pains to collect the fact from scraps, here and there dispersed, state the French force at fourteen thousand men previous to our attack of them, and at ten thousand men after that attack, which ended in a signal defeat" on their part. Sir Arthur Wellesley's force was seventeen thousand men. He did not lose a thousand; and, since the battle, he has been joined by other generals and their troops, raising our army to the strength of thirty thousand men, or thereabouts. Well, then, if it be true, that Sir Arthur Wellesley, with only nine thousand men (the "half" of his army), beat "the whole" of the French force, in spite of all the advantages enjoyed by the former, of previous local familiarity, long preparation, open retreat, choice of position, and choice of the moment of attack; if this be true, had we not a right to expect, nay, had we not a right to claim and to demand at the hands of the commander in Portugal, when he had thirty thousand men, the capure, or the total destruction, of the remains of the French army in Portugal? Had we not a right to demand at his hands, the sending of Junot and his army prisoners of war to that England which they had soften threatened to invade, or the making of them food for

Q