Star. — London, England, 1809-11-02 00:00:00

stoy4 taking in with a single glance the present situation of affairs, -finds it neccssarv. to order a levy-of 35;000 vier. Tins is the purport of the Decree which is to be subrni:ttil to your deliberation, and by which the Lew 1 , ..vy is in up;in the new classes of the con. scription of the years of 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, and 1810. Your wi',dont will already have discovered the benefit of this.arrangement. You will soon be a:;:al: red that it is the result of a prudent foresight, and of the unceasing anxiety of his Majesty for the 'public' interest. " Whatever, Gentlemen, may be the issue of the ne gotiations at _Altenburg, there are strong indications that the tni-.lish, after having been di iven back from our territories, will endeavour to prOlong the war in Spain. The numerous battalions which his -Majesty opposes to them in that kingdom need only •be kept up to their full complement, in order to base all the attempts of the enemy. " If the peace be renewed. between France and Austria, it will be impossible without .great inconve nience suddenly to tr.:nisi-sort the brave troops,who will have conquered it, from the banks of the Danube to thou' the Gnadilquivir. This remark has not es czipedthe paternal attention of his Majesty ; and let us be persuaded, that after such glorious exertion's he is desirous, and with justice, that the conquerors ehoulci receive the testimonies of public gratitude and goneral admiration. " These points, Gentlemen, will be explained to you by the Orators of the Council of State, and more particularly in the Report of the Minister of War; which the Emperor has ordered him to communicate it) yon. ,‘ Tile levy required is, moreover, much less than his Majesty could draw from the classes by which it is to be supp . .ied ;, besides, it will be rendered as little burtlionsorne as posSible. “ In this crisis the Senate 1% ill be anxious, as on former occasions, to forward the intentions of our au rust Sovereign, for the honour and glory of the Vicnch peolle.” PEFO:tT NIADF. TO His MAJEIFY THE IMPEROR AND KIXG, rizoTEcTOlt OF THE. CONFEDEBATION OF THE piHNF., BY }II: ENCeELLENCY COUNT DE. HUNEBOUGH, 111NISTER OF WAR.. •' September 15, 11609. 44 Sire—lf the numerous victories of your Ma jesty, and the extraordinary successes of your armies, he :it the same time the work of your genius, the re sult ct" the most scientific military combinations—of your inherent inticpidity, and of the courage of so many brave men, these victories and successes are no less owing w your admirable foresight. • It is this which has inspired your Majesty with the idea of assembling at first in the interior of the Empire, whatever might be the complexion of affairs, the youth of France uho are successively called to serve their country, and of making them constantly pay their contribution to the safety of the State, at the same time that they accustom themselves to arms. • The temporary dereliction of this 'system would be productive of some danger to the Empire,- and it would he placing rather too great a reliance uputithe future, however flattering . appearances may be at pre sent, to sidle) the depots in the interior of France to want the regular supply of recruits, whenever a part of the young soldiers who fill them should be - called into actual service. " A short glance at the state of your Majesty's armies, will. be sufficient to spew that the levy which I feel it my duty to propose, is sufficient at present. . 1 Master of Vienna, and of more than half the Austrian Monarchy, your Majesty is at the head of the most formidable army that France ever had be yoncl_the 'Rhine ; and to judge of what it is capable of effecting, it is only necessary to mention, that it ivas hardly formed when it conquered Austria in the' fields of Thaun, of Abersberg, and of Eckmuhl.— Whether the negotiations at Altenburg terminate in peace, or whether the war continue, your Majesty has in your depot troops enough fit to take the field, to recruit your army in Germany. " In the month of January your Majesty pursued the English army in Gallicia. While you were en raged in it your Majesty was informed that the Court of Vienna intended to break its engagements. — Though such an event seemed to call the principal part of your forces into Germany, your Majesty, ne vertheless, thought proper to have your veteran army in Spain ; not that the whole of that army was actu ally necessary to complete the subjugation of the Spanish rebels, but to deprive England of the possi bility of prolonging that rebellion of which she is the cause. That power, seeing in the new system estab lished in Spain the presage of her own ruin, did not, however, despair of °vet turning it ; and her efforts upon this occasion have greatly surpassed all that we' have sect; her m .ke upon similar occasions. " General Meore had not been able to bring off from Gallicia the half c f his troops. The immense losses which ht. army s.rstained, did not dissuade the EnOish Gov r,.m nt from sending a fresh army, consisting of 4f),(10 men, to Lisbon. It penetrated to the centre of and rallied round it the vari ous corps 1.1 insurgents. The banks of the Alberche and the T.:gits itnesstd their flight and their confu sien. Curnrll, to retreat to the further side of that tiver, and putsued at the point of the bayonet, they totally evacuated Spain, and the Pot taguese saw them set urn in disorder to their territory. " At the tan:e period, , 0 army of equal force sud det ly -.:;.t0 its appeal:ince at the entrance of the Scheidt, w ith lie intenth.n of burning the dock-yards at Autwerp ; then! our enemies weft covered with contusion. At their approach, Flushing was provided with a niunert us garrison ; 12,000 picked loops marched from St. Outer, under the orders of the Se. tutor General Bamboo ; and eight deati-brigades of whisli were a: Boulogne, Louvaine, and Pa t is, prc.ceedel. p to the points ciatt were menaced. 'rhese t0.. 1 s wele sulficicat for t I.edoctue 'a Au- ;.14s.e, winch is covered y a st , (aig tatEr.,:t, and . :11..;dvanced wo: ks which y cur tn,eti ,:.tcd tour year ago , is still .1 1 3t , itr 1 roft - ct:si ity s V f:. , ive i nun d at i ons; arcci n t ;cit. ' , auk Lie f . lei•c;dt, the Put of /a Me do n oo ks, it:tiels is hie I sistrounUPC by an iauoilstioa ....3ses in &North. ish Expeditiotk was formed upon the that Antwerp was only an open city, it fortress could not be taken but after a Independent of troops of the line, your , w, at the first signal, 150,000 national gt to march, Ind at their head the Majors of yo_ur infantry, officers of the fifth battalions, and veteran Officers ; you found in their ranks a number of old soldiers. " Numerous detachments of cavalry of the line were preceded by the gens-d'armerie of France. The Eng lish were not aware that this branch of force alone cotilkat, a moment's notice, assemble at any given 'point squadrons, composed of men that had seen sixteen years of service, all equally experienced, equally well disciplined and armed as these brave Cuirassiers, who, under your Majesty's orders, have brought to so high a pitch the glory of the French' cavalry. • • " As by enchantment, the dispositions prescribed by your Majesty caused to appear at the same instant,. on she banks of the Scheldt, and at the rendezvous of the Reserve at Lisle and Maestricht, four different armies, under the command of Marshal tlx, Prince of Ponte Corr°, and Marshals the Dukes of Cornegliano, Vainly, and Istria. " The sudden developement of such a force, and the national impulse which continued to multiply its numbers, struck the enemy with consternation.— , Their enterprize, calculated upon false data, com pletely failed. • " Europe has witnessed the - realization of that which your Majesty's penetration anticipated, when you pronounced that this Efpedition originated in ignorarice and inexperience; and when, sparing of French blood, arid directing that a plan merely de. fensive should be followed, you wrote to me We are happy to find the English crowding into the marshes of Zealand ; let them be merely kept in check, and their army will be speedily destroyed by the had air, and the endemic fevers of that country.' " Whilst our troops were distributed in comforta ble cantonments in the environs of Antwerp, or sta tioned in that fortress, the English army, encamped in the midst of marshes, and destitute of water fit for drinking, lost upwards of one-third of its soldiers. But the facility which the English have of going 'by sea from one quarter to another may lead us to ex pect that all that will have escaped the disasters of this expedition will be sent to reinforce their army in Portugal. " Sire, the various fields of battle in which your armies have distinguished themselves are too remote from each other to admit of your marching, without inconvenience to the soldier, one of your armies from one scene of action to the other; and your Ma jesty, so highly satisfied with the zeal of the troops whom you command beyond the Danube, is anxious to spare them from the fatigues of the war in Spain. Besides, the French armies beyond the Pyrennees now consist of 300 battalions and 150 squadrons. It is therefore sufficient, without sendinr , any additional corps thither, to keep up at their full eztablishment those already there. Thirty thousand men, collected at Bayonne, afford the means of accoropling tail object, and of repulsing any force which the: English may cause to advance. ". In this state of things, I conceive that it corres ponded with your Majesty's views to limit the levy necessary at this moment, to the contingent indis pensably requisite for replacing in the battalions of the interior, the drafts which are daily made from them. The returns which will be laid before your Majesty will inform you, that of the conscription for the years 1806-7-8-9 and 10, there still remain more than 80,000 men, who, though ballotted, have not yet been called into actual service. This immense reinforcement might march against your enemies, should that measure be rendered necessary by any imminent danger to the State. I propose to your Majesty to call out only 36,000, and to declare all those classes entirely free from any future call. " By this weans, your armies, Sire, will be main tained at their present respectable establishment, and a considerable number of your subjects will be defi nitively released from the conscription. Your Ma jesty will also have at your disposal, the 25,000 men afft , rded by the class of 1811, upon whom I shall not propose to your Majesty to make any call, unless events should disappcint your hopes and pacific in tentions. " Your Majesty's armies are equally formidable from their numbers as from their courage. But who could advise France not to proportion her efforts to those of her enemies In giving such advice, the result of the most imprudent security, it would be necessary to forget that Austria, very lately, had on foot 700,000 men ; and that to create this gigantic force, that Power did not hesitate to expose her po pulation to almost total destruction, and to attack the very basis of her prosperity. We must equally forget, that England . has taken part in the Continen tal war, by landing, at the same moment, three dif ferent armies, on the coast of Naples, Holtuid, and Portugal. le The agitation of those who are jealous of France has been redoubled, because they arc conscious that the present crisis has for ever fixei her greatness.— Their efforts will be impotent, because France has been enabled to reach the highest pinnacle of suc cess and of glory, without making any of those rui. nous sacrifices which destroy her enemies. In fact, notwithstanding the successive calls, up to the pre sent moment, made upon the different classes of conscripts, scarcely have one.fourth of those who composed them taken the field. ‘. In considering the situation of your Majesty's armies, and the results of the English Expeditions, can we, without a degree of satisfaction, beheld England, in imitation of Austria, making efforts disproportionate to her means, and the wants of her navy f What can she expect from this contest upon land, and man to man, with France, that shall not redound to her own injury and disgrace ? Sire, the French people will have to thank your, Majesty for the inexpressible advantage and glory of a peace, conquered without maritime expeditions, from an enemy who, by his situation, thought himself free from all attack. Every serious attempt upon the Continent, on the part of the English, is a sten to wards a general peace. " The English Ministers who preceded the Mem bers of the present Government, a more able set of SHIM Lima the lat*r, were well rouviacedif ,.. Ni truth, isrewurvarr - ramttl voMITIIt unequal contest. It did not escape their observation, that to carry on a long war, it was necessary that it 'should press lightly upon the people who had to sup port it. " Within the last twelve months the war has cost England more blood than she had previously shed from the period when she broke the peace of Amiens. Committed in the battles of Spain and Portugal, whence her duty and her interest forbid her to recede, she will see those countries become the tomb of her hr avest warriors. Sorrow for their loss will at length produce in the minds of the English people a well founded abhorrence of those cruel men, whose ambi tion and frantic hatred dared to pronounce the ex pression of eternal war. It will excite in that people the wish for a general peace, which evezy man of good sense niay predict to be near at hand, if the English persist in a continental contest. I am, with respect, &c. (Signed) ds The Minister at War, Count de HUNIBURCM." Report of the Motives of the Projet of the Senatus Cansultura relative to a Levy of 26,000 Conscripts, an the Classes ei 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, and 1810, by the Count de Cessic, Orator of the Council of State. This report, after many adulations on the genius of the Emperor and King, and a high-coloured pane gyric on the loyalty and exertions of the French na tion, proceeds to explain the causes of the levy— " The enemies of France," says the Orator, " ob serving that we levied the classes of 1809 and 1819 1 before the period in which they were to be called into action, thought, without doubt, that we had recourse to that mode, because none of the resources of former years were left to us. How great was their mistake! If the French Government had adopted that line of conduct, it was because it coud never be brought to think that the English Government had determined to wage perpetual war with France ; it was because , it could never be brought to think that the Aw'trian Government, to which peace was so important, so necessary, that that Government, to which a liberal and unexpected peace had been granted, had a right to cope again with the French armies, directed by Napoleon the Great, and electrified by his presence. , " Our Emperor, therefore, calculating upon a ' speedy and long peace, was willing to divide the weight of the war among several classes, in order that it might press the lighter upon each of them. He was also desirous that the French, v, ho constituted these two classes, and who, according to the proper esti mate of public duties, might have been deprived of their share of military glory, should be furnished with an oppoytunity of acquiring it. " Disappointed In his first expectations, the Em peror had recourse to those supplies of men which he had, from principles of prudence, leit in reserve. Twice did he apply for succours, and twice were the contingents which he deemed necessary furnished with r ipidity. Our moderation had thrown a veil over our strength, but our moderation is desirous now of ma nifesting our strength. Let us put an end to an error so fatal to our enemies, and which may become still more disastrous to them ! When they shall 1:o well acquainted with our resources, they will re) doubt be convinced that a frank and solid peace is the only part, the only post in which they can find safety. " It belongs to weak Governments to seek for se curity in the concealment of their weakness, and the exaggerations of their strength. It is the duty of France to make known to her friends and enemies her true situation. That situation is such as to inspire the former with more energy, and to warn the latter, that in taking up arms they must expose themselves to certain loss. " The following, Senators, is the precise state of the conscriptional force of France, and I can pledge myself for ►ts accuracy : " The class of 1806, consisted of 423,000, ac. cording to the lists of conscription. That class comprising 1.1 moptiTs - 42n,000 That of 1907 - - - - - 145‘2,0110 1808 - - - -1: '..1,41,X) 3809 - - - 262,000 1840 - - - - :;62,000 Total - 1,867,000 Of these classes, until the present moment, there have been raised but 520,000 men. 1606 - - - - 102,500 Ifio7 - - - 102,500 • 1808 - - - - 102,501 ISO 9 - - - - 102,500 1610 - - - 110,000 520,000 There consequently remains still at home of the five classes 1,347,000 men." • The Orator next proceeds to shew the great facility with which the new levy must be raised, leaving an immense number still behind, and argues that such resources will be the most efficacious means of re ducing the English to the necessity of demanding a peace, which, however necessary to France, is indis pensable to them, because their very existence may perhaps depend upon it. 4.0 vs usr - 77rvi, rzcZNUJi PAPERS. werP with our f " The Engli; CONSERVATIAT SENATF—SITTINO OF TIIE THIRD supposition, the OF OCTOBER. whereas that fo ADDBEt-s of His iosr 31;:u.::NE HIGHNESS THE PRINCE Icing siege. ARCH CIIANZ7I.; OR OF THE EMPIRE. Majesty saw, a " Gentlemen--Hislinlwrial and Royal Majesty, guards ready to I PRIVATE LETTER.-ANTWERP, OCTOBER 242. Troops in smalP detachments are arriving here daily, and afterwards proceed to various stations in South Bevaend, Cadsand, &c. so that, though we have not now more troops in this city than usual, there is in the neighbourhood a great additional force collected within the last fortnight. This accession consists principally of the new levies, into which are introduced a great number of lads of only 16 years of age.. It is not necessary that veteran troops, respectable for their services, and revered for their courage, should be emplopd in the duties in which these recruits are engaged. They labour at the construction of bar racks,' and the erection of fortifications of different kinds, and their principal posts of duty are at Bt.r gen-op-Zoom, Biskins, Ondelanole, Gues, Bierllvet, the western point of Beveland, and several villages in that neighbourhood. At the place first mentioned, there are about 2000 of them. The English, we hear, are also continuing their improvements and additions to the works in Wal- Omen. Their sick are very numerous, and continue so, although cargoes of them have been sent off; and it is not at all likely, that in such a situation, they can be in the way of recovery. The fleet remains much in the same posicon, with the exception of a few of the ships which have beeu floated into deeper water, and have rece:ved some of their gun.; on board. TENING ST All. LONDON. THURSDAY, NOVEMExit 2 . ?RICE OF STOCKS Ti U 5 DAV AT ONF. per Cent. Cons. For money .ey Z Oinuium 1' 4 .! prem.—Ex& t 1( to.. IC% Ministers have agreed upon an order in a tirr4 for the further prohibiting the dist;:latiom of slt/ 1 i from grain, and allowing it troin 0.1 after the meeting of Parliament. A this effect will appear in Saturday n:glit'.; e. The two Houses of Parliament met ti.i7 three o'clock, pro forma. The Comm: • pointed by his•MA.re.sTv for the funher to the 12th of December were, the , •:,c; Loa, Earls BATIWAST and LIVERI'OO/.. • , r• • ;o1 We this morning received German Pj;;: ; a. , date, but their contents are uniniportAnt. 1 1 i ; t , ported at Hamburgh . that an army of "01,(„ ; to be collected inHanover, and tile B..mk s of U:e f':, by the name of the Amy of I3anover• 'l'l 4e Prl,, of I'ONTE COUVO is to command. We this day ineert, from the linstheur of th e t ! , October, three Aida' documents of some in.pr zten , —the Address of the Arch•Chanceli.z et • t‘e Aire to the Conservative Senate, on the subject of the new Conscription, the previ of he Minister of War on that nieai, , .:re, 07 : d an , lative to the projet of the Senatus Consuttum, • According to these documents, not a I,:r.^e ment of the French Army on the -Danube will marched into Spain ! The army already in :ix: 4_m of a elf: rf •,sC a uou country, with the WY . insr a bi; 3. ; men, established at Bayonne to feed it and keep up its numbers, is judged quit:: sufficient to :..ftect art secure the conquest of that kingdom ! In this measure there is much more than me?ts tl: eye or the ear. Under the prc*:t that the arnly in Germany will not be wanted in Spain, a new levy of conscripts is drawn out into the field—a force more than sufficient -for any operations that can he carricd on in the winter months. In the mean time the pea.e that was negociating on the Danube has been signed since the date of these documents, and conteqQatly the whole or .the greater part of the French army that was detained in that quarter may be remora!, and .marched gradually and without ostenta;;;.:l in any direction, and to any quarter where tLcir servlc. may be wanted. It is, therefore, exceedingly probable, notwithstan-, ding the public declarations of the French Ministers that a portion of them will be marched t(.wards the peninsula : but we are persuaded in in nil tl7at occurred since the commencement of the Spapish war, that NAPOLEON will not find it absolutely neces.. sary to march his whole German army into Spain.— Will the French Emperor disband thJt army ? he keep it idle ? He will do neither. How Wen isle to be occupied ? It is more than probable that he will employ a large force along with the artnT of ALEXANI)ER in the war in which the lattcr cast engaged against Turkey.—To promote the views cf the Russian Emperor ? In the with Turliej he is fighting his own battle, as .ILEXANVLit will find when too late. In the present crisis, what ought Great tritiiin to do ? We waste our strength if we ciary cn the contest in the Pcninsula k , or bury our ups in the swamps a Walcheren. Vi - e ought, by souse tr.e.nis or other, to prccuie convenient commercial sitLltict4 among the Greek Islands. If we neglect to b4;curo these, NAYOI,EON Will not. e ought also to buy ourselves the Island of Sicily- The rightful owner will gladly accept of an establishment in England as the price of a possession which, without our aid, he cannot retain for a singe The arrival of BONA:"AiLsii: at Pazis is now astir. tained. Letters have received from thence ot the 27th ult. which mention that he reitCht:tl his ea the preceding day. A letter has come to 'laud :loci the Bavarian capital, au,noun‘ing his progress c:. his journey four days prior to that Sate. life teii....wiLg paragraph is, contained in it : " MUNICS, UcTusita tal.-1 . 11, lrnperor . N..rcL,LoN passA through thissity ytottrday, on 11 - ., % w .. .iy so PAri.." Mr. Mui.s, a King's messenger, arrived this morn ing in Downing-au e‘t, with dispatches Iron and Portugal. tie travelled Irons k;adiz w 1.1.:i30n by laud. The dispatches are sated the I:Aii Marciais Wit,l.LE•zi.ks WAS then waking tUI Isis.tel:altULc, by way of Lisbon ; all.l IL is 110 X generally believed, that on his aiiivAliii :tai cuunt:y. lie will hut./ A With the Ktili;')Ministers. Army, by these ate oi s.Lti.tac• tury nature ; tu, burps were to peilect unucr r,.!- niailied at Oropessa isrcebispo. .NEI WAS At bui.,IIIAIICA. At CUliblUt:lauie rciicti cot ps halal ad vanced into La iltaiich.., and toe bk; Ai 111 y taken a position at the WOL 02, I.lle Weird Muletiii mountains. 1 Ile DAPHNE frigate arrived yesterday at Deal from Flushing v idi Lictitenant-Ueneriu bir COOT., and suite on board. 'They imineni.aely, and proceeded to town. The Rolla transport has arrived at Fahnouta irons Lisboa with sixty4our sick and wounded soldiers ou board. The Os ord militia marched from Gosport yesterr days and dig aroPiiiiiC saucluil is to elm tJaes. • . 1. z .• ;,. atir• r . c . Pti at is i:e e 13 • the ::.‘2d pr.:lance tie t..ne L One r. will Le in o.e: f keep up Rev_ at 'fleets tl. rnly liew levy )rce more IC carried tile peace signed imy that rod, and in any may Ministers wards t 1 h .1 6pqrish e:y LeCeS,