Star. — London, England, 1808-11-21 00:00:00

' FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. COPENHAGEN, OCTOBER 29. The following article is copied from our Court Gazette " The measures adopted by the Governments of the cant lent to cut off all commercial intercourse on the part of their subjects with England, are suffi ciently known. It has therefore been with the greater dissatisfaction that we have seen numerous mercantile fleets, protected by the armed vessels of our enemy, passing into the Baltic, fully laden, and returning in a similar state, It was easy to conceive that all these cargoes were not destined for Swedish ports ; but by what means our enemy contrived to effect their purpose of procuring articles of the first necessity from the ports of the Baltic, and of there unloading And dis piping of their _superfluous manufactures, we were, fora - long time, wholly at a loss how to conceive.-- But at length we are apprised of that system of de ception ; and convincing proofs are obtained, that by falOying invoices and ship-papers, the views of the Governments of the Continent are frustrated; the rigour of their measures being eluded by their own subjects—the first principles of commerce, integrity, and confidence, trampled upon ; and a feeling of in difference carried to such a pitch, that men have not i hesitated to deceive a Government which, faithful to its engagements, does not consult its own interests by conniving at frauds, and being ostensibly rigid, but ;secretly indulgent, " It is, moreover, equally the interest of Denmark and her allies, and it concerns the honour of the Go vernments of the Continent, to obtain the means of detecting these frauds ; and every honest merchant must feel gratified in seeing the discoveries which have been made in this respect laid before the public." To the above is subjoined in the Gazette a descrip tion of the false papers alluded to, pointing out at the same time, the circumstances by which they may be 4ztected, SPAIN. CORUNNA, NOVEMBER 12. The day before yesterday the Prince of Wales's regiment of Dragoons disembarked in this port. It is impossible to conceive a finer corps of men and horses than this regiment. NOVEMBER 15.—General Baird and kis suite left this place yesterday morning for the army. The ca valry have not yet commenced their march, the trans• ports which brought them sailed yesterday for Fal mouth. It is confidently stated, that General Blake has been superseded by die Marquis de la Rcunana. srviLLE, OCTOBER 21. The Fergign troops of the French army, who were made prisoners in the battle of Baylen, 350 in num ber, had all inlisted in one of the Waloon regiments of Spain. - - - - SALAMANCA, OCTOBER 24. The Corregidor of this city has given public notice to the inhabitants, that a corps of 10,900 .En g lish troops is to pass through this town, and invited them to give these gallant troops that cordial reception, which all good and lOyal Spaniards constaatl !verve in England, and which in every paint qt new is dte to our ;sable and generous allies. OVIDEO, NOVEMBER a. Letters from Villarcayo of the 28th of last sAtestb state, that on the 25th the army of the left, composed of the troops of Galicia and Asturia,_fougbt a very sanguinary battle, in which the enemy was .defeated with very considerable loss in killed, wotiqdtd, ant prisoners—,the latter are said to amount to O. MALAGA, OCTOBER 12. His Excellency Lieutenant-General Reding, our much respected Governor, left this town on .the 6th considerably regretted, The gallant warrior; the conqueror of Baylen, is to take the command is chief of ;he army of this kingdom, Before his departure he was presented by the grateful inhabitants with a beautiful sword, on the hilt is the following inscrip tion The grateful people of Malaga, to their Governor General Reding, the deliverer of their na tive country, and conqueror of the French in Baia." BADAJOZ, OCTOBILIt $B. The capital of Estrarnadura bad yesterday the bo-1 nour to receive the COnquercr of Junot. At two o'clock in the afternoon arrived here the 71st regi ment of English troops, commanded by General Hope. The people received their benefactors with expressions of the utmost gratitude and joy, VILLA FRANCA, OCTOBER ;$. On the 21st inst. the Regiment of Savoy from Va lencia, arrived at the head-planers here, and the day before yesterday the clirsion of the Marquis Sa zan entered Leridu, The situation of the inhabitants of Barcelona, en slaved and oppressed by the tyrannical yoke of the enemy, becomes every day more distressful. The contributions no longer are Sufficient to satisfy the avarice of their plunderers, who have recourse to do miciliary visits, and practice their robbery under the colour of policy ; of this nature is the following de cree : The General of Division Lechi, superior Com mander, decrees as follows Art. I. No person, of whatever rank, shall keep in house or any other place a greater quantity of rice and oil than shall be sufficient for the consump tion of his family alone for two months, without giv ins information of it within three days to the Com missary General of the Police. IL Such quantities of rice and oil as may he found, not having been notified so the Commissary General of the Police within the said time, shall be seized and taken from the concealers. 111. Whoever shall 2.!scover and give information to the Commissary General of the Police after the :aid term, of any quantities of rice and oil, - shall re ceive one-fifth of the quanti6es so discovered, as a !cward, and his name shall not i h r waile known. The Commissary ( 2,eneral of thd VO4 - 41211 1 f,, t he price at ; fa the said commodities shall be fUld durum tie said two months. Every person who sh.Llk te diSCovered to have sold rice and oil, and at a - :Ther price than that at which they shall be fixed during the said two months, shall suffer a fine of 4'5,0(M suelidas. Brcetimi, Oct. 11. (Signal) LICIT. iippsaved by tbs General Cosisasnoler in Chief, , APSIIIIIIII6 coma or Aretimr .0 claks24, THIRD DAY. (Cottehteied from the Sr.tx ty* Seorday het4) The next letter that was read, was dated from head.quarters, 30th of September, from Sir Hew Dal. rymple to Lord Castlereagh, wherein the General in Chief says, that after communicating with Sir Harry Burrard, he had taken no steps with the Regency, as to detaching the Portuguese troops on actual service, as in their present state no effectual assistance could be derived from them. A letter of the 28th of August from Sir Hew Dal rymple to Lieutenant-Colonel Murray was read, giving the latter authority to negotiate with General Kellerman. Also a letter from the same, and of the same date, to Admiral Siniavin, stating Admiral Cotton's ob jection to a particular condition of the proposed treaty, A letter from General Murray to the Commander in Chief, informing him that the Portuguese troops had begun to march. This letter, which was dated the 27th of August, was succeeded by another of the following day, from the latter to the former. Another from Lieutenant-Colonel Murray to Sir Hew Dalrymple, of the preceding date, contains a proposition that the writer should go in person to the British Admiral, to confer with him on the subject of the Treaty, and suggested, that Captain Dalrymple should be the bearer of the copy of the treaty to this country. Other parts of the public dispatches were then read, which were followed by a letter from the Commander in Chief to Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, of the day fol lowing, explaining the means of execution of certain articles of the Convention, adverting to the omission of a word in the third article, as to the embarkation, and stating the impossibility to comply strictlywrith the article for the removal of the French, from the defi ciency of horses. The letter then proceeds to state some proposed amendments of the articles, and some further arrangements as to embarkation of the ene my's troops, to be adjusted by the Commissioners ap pointed to neg otiate the business. It is also said, that Article 13 is inadmissible, and some comments are made on Article 17, referring to the protection of strangers in Portugal in their persons and property, and as to the time to be allowed them to dispose of the latter, and withdraw from the kingdom. A letter to Lord Proby, one of the Commissioners for the Naval Department, complained of the em barkation of property by the French, on board the Russian ships. Another from Major-General Stuart to Sir Hew Dalrymple, spoke of a • particular class of property, to the amount of 22,0001. which was carrying off, contrary to the rules of war. Tbis property consisted of the Public Museum, the Royal Library, and some other articles of the like description. A letter from General Beresford to Sir Hew Dal rymple, of the sth of September, 1808, respected the situation of the Spanish prisoners in the harbour, and other particulars of the negotiation with General 1 Kellerman. A letter from the same to the same, and - of the same date, recommended that the French troops should proceed to the South side of the Tagus. A letter from the same to the same of the 7th of that month, observes, that all the civil revenue ap propriated by the French to their own purposes, should be immediately replaced. Some other letters were read, both in French and English, adverting to topics of minor importance. A. variety of letters were then read from General Kellerman to General Beresford and other British of ficers, with the answers. General Kellerman at first intended that every thing actually in the possession of the French at the time of the Convention, ought to be considered as their private property. The Bri tish Commander, however, constantly refused toad mit such a construction of the articles of the Conven tion, and insisted that whatever had been obtained by plunder and confiscation should be restored. On this construction of the articles, they would not allow that the horses which were taken from the Royal stables at Lisbon should be considered Frenchr e oz perty, nor that any thing taken from the churches, or from individuals, which could be identified, should be considered as private property of the French undo. the terms of the Convention. The next document that was read was the Frock- mation by the British and French Commissioners who were appointed for the express purpose of see ing this article of the Convention executed according to the construction put upon it by the British Cons manders.—[This document has been already befote the Public.) Next followed some letters between General Beres ford and Sir Hew Dalrymple, informing him of eva sions of the article by the French, of their placing some of their plunder in what they called their mili tary chest, and in carrying off money concealed lit their regimental dresses. Sir Hew Dalrymple, in his answer to General B♦ resford, declared, that he was determined that no ae* tide of the Convention should be violated by French ; that their conduct, on this occasion, had been most shameful, and had evinced a want of probity and honour, which was most disgraceful to them. It seemed to be their intention to go away, leavi ng all their debts unpaid, and carrying off a cotisiderabk part of their plunder, by calling it public money, and saying it belonged to their military chest. Aso plunder that could be identified, it must be restored. He regretted, however, much, that part of their plun der, which was in money, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to identify. The next document was a copy of the letter of Sir Hew Dalrymple to Lord Castlereagh, containing a copy of the Armistice. Then followed a number of letters which passed between the Portuguese General (Frier.) and Sir Hew Dah7mple, relative to the terms of the Jinni.. tice and Convention. Immediately after the Armistice, the Portuguese General wrote to Sir Hugh Dalrymple, informing lonformity to the terms of this Armis tice, he had given orders that the troops, wh o wer e advancing from Beira,, shook! keep their positions.— He could not however avoid suitms, that there were some articles in the Armistice winch involved consi derations of the utmost importance with respect to the honour and interests of the British and Porta guese nations. He therefore sent an Officer, who was entirely in his confidence, to confer with Sir Hew Dalrymple upon those. poigts. _ • Dalrytri_ple shortly after irroto to Gintral Nem, to inform 'Am that the French General had aensplelned severely of the Portuguese troops, to the number of two thousand, having advanced beyond the line of demarkation specified in the Armistice, and requesting him to persuade the Portuguese to fall back. The French General was even mating prepa rations to attack them, if they continued in defiance of the terms of the Armistice, to' occupy that posi- • don. A letter was then read from Sir Hew Dalrymple to Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, expressing great sur. prize at hearing that the French had eau ri -off some of the stores, and declaring it should have been pre vented if he had been informed of it in time. Next followed some letters between Sir Hew Dal rymple and General Friere, in consequence of the finaall Convention, the terms of which were communi cated to hint on the 2d of September. GeneralFriere' after some expressions which shelved dissatisfaction at the terms of the Convention, stated to Sir Hew Dalrymple that he was informed that the Pooch were pursuing at Lisbon the most barefaced system of plunder, and they were robbin t i t t: T te churches, as well as private individuals, and that considered this plunder as coming under the term o " their pri vate property," which was secured to them by the Convention. • Sir Hew Dalrymple answered the letter the same day, and informed the Portuguese General that as to the latter objects of his letter, he certainly should not fail to give due attention to such a serious in. fringement of the treaty,lf it were attempted by the French ; it being his strict intention to require a strict fulfilment of it in all its articles. A memorial of General Friere, pointing out the inconveniences resulting from the Convention, followed these letters. The Convention was in several respects calculated to create distrust in the minds of the people of Portugal with regard to the intentions of their Bri tish allies, and the French would undoubtedly take advantage of these circumstances to sow distention between them, and endeavour to have it believed that the British acted not as auxiliaries but as masters. In order to destroy this Impression, it was necessary that a declaration should be made of the design of the British to restore the kingdom to the Prince Regent. ' The British only came as auxiliaries, and as such they ought to act. The treaty, therefore, should have been made in concert with the Provisional Govern ment, whereas it bad been concluded without a suffi cient deference to any of the Portuguese constituted authorities. He particularly objected to the 16th and 17th articles, and complained that no stipulation had been made as to the restoration of the Portuguese Government. It was necessary, therefore, to declare, that the occupation cf the garrisons, arsenals, &c. was solely provisional ; and that all should be deli-I vexed to the Prince Regent, or the Government re- 1 presenting him, as soon as the • danger was over. Much embarrassment, it was added, must arise in embarking the French troops, pursuant to the terms of the Convention, as the inhabitants of Lisbon, still smarting under the consequences of French oppres sion, might be apt to break through every obstacle to avenge themselves of their enemies. A protest of General Friere against the Convention, to the same Affect as the Memorial, was then read. This protest has been.already given to the public. Sir Hew in answer, said, that the General ought to have stated these objections when he had transmitted the armistice to him before the Convention had been concluded. He denied, however, that there was any foundation for such objections. But, as injurious re ports might be disseminated by the enemy, he declared that the - British acted merely as the allies of the Prince Regent, and strict attention should be paid to the se curity of the Government. As to the objection that no stipulation had been made respecting the restora tion of the Government, the French General was not a person who could be allowed to have nay authority whatever on that head. General Friere wrote a let ter to Sir Hew of the same date (6th September), observing, that he felt it his duty to make the obser vations which he had submitted to Sir Hew, but at the same •time expressing himself highly satisfied with ithe contents of Sir Hew 's letter. A correspondence was next read, between Sir Hew and the Portuguese Officer Souza, on the subject of punishing certain persons who bad been active in pro moting the views of the French during the time they were in possession of Lisbon, and of restoring the Go. vertu:rent. Sir Hew objected to such punishments, on the ground that it would be highly impolitic to keep alive animosities, by entering into an examina tion of past offences. The Regency, he said, would be restored after the French had evacuated the city. Some letters were introduced here, which passed be tween Sir Hew and General Friere, in which the for mer expressed his approbation of the resolution of Friere . not to bring the Portuguese troops into Lisbon till the French were one, and the latter referred Sir Hew to the Junta of Oporto, on the subject of the Government of Portugal. A letter from Sir Arthur Wellesley to Lord Cas tlereagh' written in consequence of an assertion in a dispatch from Sir Hew Dalrymple, as it appeared in the Gazette, was then read. The assertion was, a that the several articles of the suspension of arms were agreed ußon and signed by Sir Arthur Welles -1 ley." The letter stated that Sir Arthur had signed 1 the Armistice at the desire of the Commander in Chief; but, that he did not consider himself as re sponsible for the whole of its provisions. He cer tainly had concurred in the principle of the Conven tion. as under all the circumstances, the French had a fair claim to tarns. They had possession of the strong holds, with an army united, and might have certainly held out for a considerable time. The Bri tish army was straitened for supplies. and the diffi culty would be augmented by the increase of num bers. No arrangements could be made for the mirth of troops into Spam, till the French had evacuated Portugal, and . . tore the question, whether terms were or were not to be allowed, materially affected the future operations of the army. Sir Haw DALRYSIPLa said, that he believed there were In several instances a difference between the wordi in his dispatcher, as originally written, and as , inserted in the Gazette. In the present instance there appeare N d ef tobe the ori g inal mate ri al tralspsi tion of words.— He therefore wished dispatch and the Gazette to be compared. Upon this comparison it appeared, that instead of a the several articles were agreed upon and signed by Sir Arthur Wellesley," as Muted ma the Gnaw, the words of Qs, dupe* were Is the several articles agreed upon tween Sir Hew Dalrymple Sir Ha rr y Arthur Wellesley, and General Kell crirg n signed by Sir Arthur Wellesley." Sir ARTHUR WRILLMRT then said, that letter, he never meant to cast the upon Sir Hew Dalrymple. His merely to set Government right, upon regard to which they might have been inaccuracy bf exprecsion. An account of the number of troops wand of Sir Hew Dalrymple in Porta read, as also the copy of a letter from ray, accepting the conditions of the ' out the stipulation as to the Russian lie. Dalrymple stated, that Junot had writte n him on the subject, which seemed to negotiation for the evacuation of , French, and that respecting thl Russian go band in hand ; and that if the one' should be at an end. This did not IMurray's letter, and he had written ie him to te e . cilc the two statements. But Colonel Idurrayr,,, - swer had, by some mistake or other, been lost.- 7-1-1 instructions to Sir Arthur Wellesley and Si r R e , Dalrymple were then read, and also the copy a 4 dispatch, with instructions from the Comman‘e,,,. . Chief, the Duke of York, to Sir Harry ti 3 Buirand, ;her with Sir Harry's answer. Se. Th e rea di n g of the written doeumentsbeieg fi n i s h ed, Sir ARTHUR WELLIMIXT rose and obin ee d, dut ' having received instructions to attend the bow, he had most cheerfully complied. He had already t w ee in copies of his dispatches, detailing his promli rips during the time he had the chief command of the army in Portugal. He was perfectly willing to resthi ; case on these dispatches, and to leave it to the Coun t° form its opinion from them. But as it was the wi s b o f the Court that he should give a narrative of his proc ee d. ings he had no objection. He then, from a paper ebid i he held in his hand,read a narrative of his proceedin g ,. 'from the time that he first took the command( 1 the army. It stated, that he sailed in the Don Ita o l ri from Cork on the 12th of July, and arrived I t 1 nna on the 20th. He landed there ; and hd frequent conferences with the Supreme Junta of ell, licia. He was then informed, that the army ;I fib tile and Gallicia, under the command of Ganda i esta and Blake, had been defeated at Rio Seco, bile French, under the command of Marshal Bessienek offered the Junta of Gallicia the assistance of idtet i under his command, but was told by them rep*, • that they did not want men,but only money, ;na me ; ammunition. They at the same time expressed cheat. • most anxiety that the French should be driven f lea !Portugal, and declared that this would be the nen 1 valuable service which the British troops could render l to the cause of Spain. They also recommended lir Ito go with his troops to the north of Portugal, order to assist, as much as possible, the insurr 1 which had taken place in the neighbourhood of C. After these conferences had Mien place, he lei runna on the 22d, and joined the next day his Beet Cape Finisterre. They then went to Oporto, lie ' he landed, and had several conferences with theßishre The Bishop informed him that the Pertuguen fee consisted of about 5000 men, regulars and OA besides about 1500 Spaniards, atid nearly lee* Portuguese, scattered over the coantry. *lei promised, to furnish mules fbr tat conveyesatdia artillery and ammunition waggons. After huise received all the informaeion be could get at OP" he left his forces off that fit, and sailed on the 2M to join Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, and croak Ind him about the means of entering the Tips, end at+ tacking the forts in the neighbourhood of I.isksee When he was off Lisbon, he received a letter from O. neral Spencer, who waited his orders, but it was at tie same time uncertain, whether in the situation the Andalusia was (Dupont not having they sone dead) he would not act more for the comma wee in ' ' in his situation: off Cadiz. The ha of Saville, wever, did not consider the poems of Genoa' spencer es abSOltltelY necessary for 41 operations then forward in Andalusia. It ere his (Sir Arthur 'W 's) opinion that the fril object was to drive the French out of Portugal; t neither of the two corps could do much good, Ft% separately, and that it was necessary that they dog be united. He therefore gave orders to Genesi Spencer to join him. The first information which le had received of the strength of the French is Pceti was, that they amounted to about sixteen or senates thousand men, of which about fourteen thousand tee in Lisbon, and the forts in the neighbourhood, and dui the remainder were dispersed in serail garrisons iliii different strong places. He had heard that thereelo about 600 in garrison in Almeida, and about an 44 number in the forts of Elras and Evera. Pled. ever, afterwards learned that there were near Ohlij Under these circumstances, he conceived that it ova be extremely dangerous to attempt a landing as" j of the small bays to the north of the Tagus, whel I would be immediately exposed to an attack fral main body of the French army. He Menke o solved that the landing should be effectedat WOO Bay, where he could speedily coo orate with the to to near force, which had advanced to Coimboo he was off Mondego Bay; he received a lese from Lord Castlereagh, suiting that 5000 ma OM proceeding to join him,r-under General AiltsZ and that above 10,000 more were to arrive. Sir John Moore. He also received an act? Castanos's victory over Dupont, and also of Loison having been detached with four or five sand French, to the province of Alentejo, to tor ,_. an insurrection in the South of Portugal. o de these cirounstances, he thought a diseabelb. might be safely effected at Mondego Bet, i , binding was, however, attended with c a difficulties, on account of the surf. His force VT! on the sth and 6th, and Geperal Spencer landed , the 7th and Bth. As soon as the necessary meats were completed, he determined to ward to Lisbon. Having then ascertained the of the enemy, he wrote a letter to Sir Harry _ on the Bth, recommending a certain plan tions for the corps that be was to bring into Oe the 9th the advanced guard of the army forward. Upon that day he received the arroolg; Joseph Bonaparte having left Madrid, and slo, letter from Colonel Doyle, at Coruna, it appear probable that Kirshal Bessieres would Po 0 , an noption into the North of Portugal. It r j _ LEA ''sary to gain some important advantages be it: ea could have time to carry such a flas Pr which oir. c • 1 pot► (that 64. r . ry Burr d, si r re .ellennari), w t t et tug I, that in irsifil froi le least reflenlot bac object had ilk dug )cm a point, vith mas fl misled by grog reeg ps under the ctn Set ortugal was t h e om Cam . wit Arminice, aid t , fleet. Sir Ho, the Pritten a lent: to Be to ittiPll that 4 Yr' Tortuga] by th sea isian fleet, vents 024 le failed 1110% the appear in Coln" the tes ~.