Star. — London, England, 1810-10-06 00:00:00

MR. PRATT'S NEW AND FAREWELL POEM. 1 •711711ILSSED TO 50TX XOOllO 07 PAIILIAMIXT. • Ins. .smothed, royal mono. price Os. in extra beards, • lIHE LOWER WORLD. A POEM. In Font Boobs. By Mr. PRATT. Occasioned by Lord ERWIN It'S Speeds and proposed BIA for restraining and 'gabble', wanten and unnecessary Cruelty to Amiable. " Compusien is the inspiring Muse of the Author, who hat poured forth all his, soul in the muse be here advocates. He has given to the gbjeet all the weight and variety of which it was aphis ; tad, by the valuable Notes appended to his Verse, he boo added strength to the noble sentiments which he labours to Mt:l—Monthly Review for May, 1110. for Sharpe and Hailes, Piceadiny, London ; and bold trf_l2 .PORIVOUBSE P4PBRS. LISBON, SEPTEMBER S. By a dispatch fmm Marshal Beresford, dated head quarters at Moimenta da Serra, it appears that the loss of Almeida was occasioned by the unfortunate explosion of the powder magazine, and that accord. ing to the most accurate details received from the Colonels of Militia, and other officers who belonged to the garrison, the troops up to the above accident tehaveil in the best possible manner, and the militia displayed no less valour than the troops of the line ; and according to the unanimous account of offi cers and soldiers, the conduct of Governor Cox de served the highest praise. They represent him as having been indefatigable,, hardly for a moment leaving the walls, and as hay-- lag gained the love and esteem of the garrison, as well officers as soldiers, and as having inspired them:with such confidence, that had it not been for the unfortu nate explosion, the siege of Almeida would have caused to the enemy a great loss, both of time and of Utem The enemy having attempted to seduce the offi soldiers • ‘de • -by all his )y of this action so es ourabla to the allied taro White, who commande4 the greatest praise on the good conduct Portuguese company, and of Ensign veira, who commanded h. His Excellk Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell to express tion in front of the whole corps, with his thanks to the company, and to the Ensign, whom he appoints Lieutenant of the same regiment, for his good con duct on the field of battle. COPT OF AN OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION FROM LORD VIS COUNT WELLINGTON, TO HIS FICILLENCY DON MIGUEL reaftrats POWAY» " Most Excellent Sir—The enemy opened his Ire against Almeida in the night between Saturday and Sunday, the 26th of this month, and it gives use pain to be obliged to add, that the enemy got poses. lion of the place on the night of the 27th, of this pre sent month. I ought not to conceal from your Excel. lency that the said unfortunate event has proved to me very painful ; because I had no reason to expect it, considering how well the garrison was furnished with the objects necessary for its defence, the respec table state of its fortifications, and the high opinion I had reason to entertain of the high spirit and courage of the Governor, and the good disposition of the Gar rison. On all these grounds I entertained hopes that the place would hold out to the last extremity, as I had no opportunity to succour it ; or that, at all events, it would have detained the enemy till a very remote period of the season. lam not in possession , of any intelligence which can enable me to form a correct opinion of the cause of the surrender; some pri soners who were yesterday taken,state thatte powder magazine in the castle (which was, however, bomb proof) blew up on Sunday night ; that in the course of Monday the Governor desired to capitulate, on condition that the place should be surrendered to the enemy, but that the garrison and inhabitants of the place should be permitted to join this army; which pro posal having been rejected, and the fire recommenced, the Governor held out as long as he had any ammu nition, and only surrendered when his stores were completely exhausted. They add, that the enemy afterwards offered to the soldiers of the garrison either to enter the Emperor's service, :or be sent to France as prisoners of war—which last offer was accepted by the garrison. 66 This account deserves credit, as coming from an enemy, and is confirmed by the circumstance that hostilities were suspended from one o'clock in the morning till nine at night, when the fire recom menced-, but entirely ceased about pin o'clock in the evening. A strong explosion was heard at our ad vanced posts ' and I observed on Monday that the belfry of the church of Almeida was destroyed, and many houses were unroofed. i 6 I hope that the above account will prove correct in all its material parts, and it will give me the greatest satisfactinj to find that the loss of Almeida, and the acquisition of the military stores and provisions which the place contained by the enemy, has not been occa sioned by any misconduct of the Governor or gar rison. I 'had some telegraphic communication with the Governor, but unfortunately the state of the wea ther did not permit us to use that expedient on Sun day, or during part of Monday, when the weather cleared up. In the course of the latter day, the Go. vernor was perceived to have opened a communica tion with the enemy. " Considering I had advanced the army so near to the place, it is much to be regretted that I had not yet an opportunity of ascertaining its real state, after the powder magazine blew up. The enemy attacked twice this day our pickets, yet in a very feeble man ner ;he was both times repulsed. In the evening, however, they forced General Stapleton to fall back. The second corps, commanded by General S. Hill, has not made any considerable movement since my last. No operation of any importance has occurred in Estremadura, since ply last communication. In the North of Spain the enemy marched on the 20th inst. a small corps of infantry and horse to Al canizar ; but General Silveira having put himself in motion in the direction of the above place, the enemy's corps immediately retired. 66 wzmunorox." 44 Aiverca, August SO, 3810. the enemy was, we msderstand, Masseuses whole army was _ that river and Tondella. A behaved, we are told, in the Most in an action which the Marquis with the enemy near Puente del Maertre: ge Lette'rs from Spain mention, that the indefatiga ble General O'Donnell is add harassing the rear and flasks of the French under Macdonald, near Villa Franca, in Catalonia ; and in the skirmishes be has had with them, they have lost between two and 300 men. Macdonald's communication with Barcelona, and the rest of the province, is cut off. The deser tions from the French army continue likewise to a very great degree, and they suffer in all parts of the country from the activity of the Guerillas. The retrograde movement of Sebastiani towards Grenada has raised the spirits of the inhabitants of Murcia to such a degree, that they have granted most liberal supplies of all kinds to their armed country men, under General Blake. The Marquis Romana has advanced his posts as far as konquillo, within five leagues of Seville." • 1 Med troepe. Cap. the advanced guard of troops, bestows th e "midi of the Cris, and ct and valour of the concentrated between nsign Pedro de Oli. Portuguese brigade bel Excellency requests distinguished manner, express his satiafac. Romano has had wit Ag "- \nfortunate de bat- lUV cuculy ISAV 111 atvcsisrw... .... ............. ...... ...... cers and soldiers made prisoners by all means in his power, and particularly by employing the Portuguese who accompanied hhtt for this infamous object; the disgraceful proposition was honourably rejected by Warr Manoel Cobreiro, and Captain Jose de Mello, besides the English officers, Governor Cox, Major Hewitt, and Captain Foley. The letter adds, that the two first Lieutenants of the Engineers, Antonio de Bulboes and Joaquin de Sousa, with the second 7,.ieutenant, Jose Farinha, who had also refused to join the French service, had already escaped from the enemy, and were at headquarters. The Marshal begs, that these officers, on account of their firmness and patriotism, be recommended to his Royal Highness, and receive some signal mark of his appro. talon for their honourable conduct. • With regard to the execution of the capitulation, the Marshal makes the following reflections :—" The Portuguese nation has, already experienced French moderation and Awing i and the conduct of the enemy with regard to th is capitulation will chew, that their good faith is in no respect altered from what it has shewn itself out of Portugal. By the capitulation the militia were to be permitted to return to their I homes; but the enemy, and particularly the Portu- ' guese traitors who were with them, of whom the Mirquis de Alorna was the most active, not being able with all their art and intrigue to se duce a single militiaman, whether officer or private, to serve with them, had recourse to the usual argument of power, 6 that he who would not do it voluntarily must do it by force;' and contrary to the articles of capitulation, they have actually detained by force six officers and 200 men of each regiment of militia, to form a corps of pioneers." iIETRACT OF A LETTER FROM BRIGADIER-GENERAL COX. TO SiARSLIAL BERESEORD, DATED ALDEA DO EISPO, - AUGUST 30, 1810. " I have the painful duty of informing your Ex- cellency, that on the 27th instant, at ten at night, I was reduced to the necessity of surrendering the for- ' tress of Almeida, in consequence of the unfortunate explosion of th e large powder magazine in the Cita- del, and two small magazints contiguous to it; by which horrible accident I was deprived of the use of 1 my artillery, and also of the musquetry ammunition, with the exception of a small number of cartridges, which were in several depots for the immediate ser- . vice of the batteries, and thirty nine barrels of gun- i powder deposited in the laboratory- More.than half ' of the detachment of artillery, a great number of the infantry, besides many of the inhabitants, were de- stroyed by the effects of this terrible explosion ; many of the pieces of artillery were dismounted on the bat- teries, the works were remarkably demolished, and a general coniternatien spread itself amongst the troops *ad inhabitants. " In this melancholy situation, I received a letter from Marshal the Prince of Esiling, Commander in Chief of the French Army* in Portugal, proposing • at I should surrender the fortress to the Frirnch Army under his command, upon honourable condi- tions. I replied, that I wished to know the condi- tions which he meant to propose; upon which were ranimitted to me die articles of which I have • the 1 , . • to send your Excellency a copy, which, after sing all the means in my power to obtain more fa- , ourable ternis lat length accepted, with one excep- t on in favour Of the regiments of Portuguese militia. s' j hope that my conduct on this critical occasion 1 ill obtain the approbation of your Excellency, and . at I shall he justified, by eintskustancei, in the eyes . my country.' [Hex e e follow tho Artllles of Capitulation, vtltleb are the same already published in the In nab Papers.] GOUVEA, SEPTEMBER 4. Yesterday, at ten in the morning, the head-quarter ere transferred to this town, and nose of Marsha' 1 — ford to Muimenta de Serra, half a league frod , is, )3ADAJOZ, SEPTEMBER 1 . It is ascertained, that part of the French army, bich retired from Estremadura, directed itself to ordov a ; and another part, to theVenta del Chaparro. I he 4dvanced guard of the army of the Marquis de • - • ()Plana is At Santa (Hall*, Ballasteros occupies rra. enal, and the bead-quarters are.at Zafra. . 14 4-quarters at Aunty do Albeit% Aug. 27, 1510. Marshal lieresford, Commander in Chief of the . y, having received information of the brave con- . tof one company of the 4th regimeet of • eavalry, b h, together with another c.rmpany of the 13th ngt dragoons, attacked and defeated an enemy's: to s Ment abetween sixty end seventy horse ' tak- • almost the whole of t h em prisoners, feels great is oesussuicating to the Portuguese army SGT LISBON, SEPT. i. In consequence of the part acted by the Marquis ALOANA at the surrender of Almeida, in endeavour ing to seduce the Portuguese soldiers into, the service of France, and distributing among them disloyal Pro clamations, the Governor has declared the said Mar quis a traitor, deprived of all his titles, honours, and dignities. He is to be considered as banished ; any person may kill him with impunity, and a reward of 1000 moidores is offered to whoever may take him, dead or alive. PRIVATE LETTER. " Lisbon, Septembei I, jilt°. a You of course have heard of the fall of Almeida, and inclosed you have the particulars of it. '• You will also find that our head-quarters havebeen removed to Gouvea. Massena is at Celerico, and advancing fast. I expect no stand will be made by us, until Lord Wellington and Marshal Beresford arrive at Guarda and Leira, where, being within the Bd. tisk lines, the attack will be received. 00 The remainder of the British troops marched yesterday to join the grand army. The Portuguese militia marched at the same time to garrison St.Ube's, Santarem, &A 40 The Marquis Alorna, formerly a Portuguese Lieutenant-General, now in the French service, has been appointed by Massena Governor of the Province of Beira : he has issued several Proclamations in fa vour of the French Government ; and yesterday he was denounced a traitor, his papers burned by the copunon hangman before the arsenal, and one thou sand moidores reward offered for his head. He has endeavoured to do a great deal of mischief. 00 By the 10th October I expect a grand battle will be fought. The British Government should send us four regiments of light cavalry, or more : if Massena is defeated, as I hope and trust, our cavalry may rota his desnuction. 40 A ship of war arrived yesterday with two millions of dollars from Gibraltar. " The head-quarters of Lord Wellington's army were at Burzaeo, and the army were occupying a strong sition on the Sierra de AlCoba, and that of a. General Spencer bad moved with 1-0,000 men on tfealhada, to maidtain the communication' n the North. He was to be supported by the advance of General Tract's brigade on 6ardao. At this time LISBON, SEPTEMBER N. ig On the 24th instant our headquarters were re moved to Coimbra, and the enemy's in the neigh bourhood of Vizeu. The object of this retreat seems to be to prevent the enemy from getting in the rear. Within thesi two days we have had reports both of a defeat and victory, but neither of them have any foundation. 46 The French have a large body of Cavalry at Azette, and our advanced parties are about six miles in front of Coimbra. There we shall make a stand ; and, as the position is strong, I do not think a battle will ensue, as the French will not risk an attack. 4 4 The force of the French on their new ground is not known, but before S our army quitted the neighbourhood of Coa, the enemy was reckoned to be 60,000 strong. All the operations en our part have been admirably conducted. 44 Regnier has 20,000 men on the Tagus. The desertions continue, but fewer than before, as Massena has mostly Frenchmen With him." CADIZ, SEPTEMBER 13. 44 The state of affairs here has experienced very little change for some time past. We have, indeed, a pro. spect of long inactivity; ,for Victor's force is much too inconsiderable to enable the enemy to prOceed• in any military operation against us, and we are not sufficiently powerful, at present, to attack the French in their strong positions. It is rather a singular cir cumstance, that we have not yet collected any precise information of the amount of the enemy's force. We conclude, however, that it cannot exceed 17 or 18,000 , men, or that it cannot consist of less than 12,000. Certain it is, that the enemy have been r educed both by sickness and desertion ; but much more by the former than by the latter cause. 44 The fleet has sustained some inconvenience from not being able to obtain supplies of water from the! place where it was formerly procured, and where, in deed, the water is of the best quality. The boats employed on this service were constantly fired upon by the French, and some of them were struck, and, I am sorry to add, that the crews were lost. To ob viate this annoyance, and to preserve, as much as possible, the valuable lives of our sailors, the boats employed to fetch water were no longer employedl for this purpose in the day-time; and night afforded them, for a short period, some security against the enemy's fire. This change of plan was, however, discovered by the enemy; and, by the assistance of very large fires, they were still enabled to ascertain the course of the boats at night, and to keep upon them a most tremendous fire. The losses we suss tamed have at length made it necessary to get waterl from another point, and though it is not quite of such good quality as the former, yet it is by no means in salubrious. The town of Cadiz is most abundantly supplied with water, and, indeed with provisions in general. Few markets are better supplied with fruits and vegetables ; but butcher's meat is rather dear, and not of very good quality. This is mostly the case in hot climates ; for the flesh of well-fed animals would hardly resist putrefaction for an hour after being slaughtered. 4 4 I am happy to say, that if there are any disaffected in Cadiz, their number is very inconsidel-able. About tsso or three months ago a few lights. ere discovered, which were possibly intended either to communicate intelligence to the enemy, or to answer their commu nications. But the vigilance and activity of the Po lice are such, that no attempt has since been made to hold any such indirect intercourse with the French. Nor is it quite certain, that these lights were exhibited for the purpose of holding any traitorous intercourse with Victor's army. 44 By this time it is concluded that the Members of the Cortes, who have been collecting in Cadiz-front all parts, amount to about three hundred—the num ber required by the constitution to give 'validity to any deliberative acts. They are all believed to be ani mated with love of their country, and a sentiment of determined hatred to the Frencla. One of their first acts, it is conjectured, will be the removal' of the pre. sent Regency. Every thing, however. will still be conducted in the name of Ferdinand Vllth ; and from the measures of the Cortes, it is confidently ex pected that a new and more vigorous impulse will be given to the patriotic bands that are in almost every part of the Peninsula, organizing and devoting them selves to the grand object of weakening, harassing. and gradually exterminating the enemy. 44 The present Junta is divided into three Cham bers ; which, though they deliberate together, have the particular superintendbanft of the Police, the Fi nance, and the Army. The Police is so well orga nized, and so well calculated to prevent the introduc tion of any suspicious political character into the town, that no housekeeper can venture, without an intimation to the Police, to harbour any stranger his house ; and for the residence of any person of this . description the permission of the Police is indispen sably necessary. This precaution became the more expedient from the multitusie of people that at first flocked into the town. The population of Cadiz usuafly consists of about 90 or 100,000 souls t but it is supsied that, i ncludi ng the military, it now amounts to abodt 140,000. To diminish this immensity of po pulation, encouragement has been given to emigrate to South i Anterica, the Caaaries. Majorca, and Mi norca and many families have proceeded to ilsese different places. ;so them uchcoy, th ere are at e , i n d ee d, as to pre. contrary, a As to the flnetces, there is flo app arent scarcity of dollars in tit uCaladt:onz g sent a singular spectacle to a perso n who has b een long accustomed to nothing but a p a p er c i rculation, dance and the difficulty of procuring a supply of specie even to a small amount. . " The army is on an excellent footing. The Bri. tish consist of about 8000 men. The Spaniards, I mean the regular Spanish force,amount to much more. There is, besides, a corps of Spanish volunteers, amounting to 4000 men, who take a rogular rotation of military duty in the town. In addition to this force, there is a remarkably fine Portuguese regiment of about 1500 men. eiWkat new municipal forms the Government is to assure, it is impossible to foresee; but the most be neficial results are confidently expected from the new order of •things which is about to take place in Spa. Dish affairs." 'FHB EVENING STALL LONDON. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Cons. for money, and account, 66fi. Nap S per Cent. 9Ss4 —Onsnkun Sit db. En* BBis b.db. to Is. pr.—Bonds I7s. pr. MICE OF STOCKS YESTERDAY. s per Coat C=6,644161 6SI Long Ann. 5 per Cent. Ne Palit Each. Bills Is. pr. Omninm 616} x } db. Englisk ;Au Tickets &Ll 5", ladle Stock 176 177 Beak Stock for opg. India Bonds 16s. I Ss. 17s. pre. Cons. for Oct. In, 66} 651 Si The Marlborough packet having found it necessary to sink her mail while engaged with the French pri. ♦steer within sight of Falmouth, but few letters have been received by that conveyance. The papers and letters by the Princess Charlotte are of a prior date, but the loss of those by the Marlborough gives them a kind.of value which they would not otherwise have possessed. From these, and from letters brought by the Tonnant, we have given some extracts. From one of the latter it appears that Masszna had pushed onward an advanced guard of cavalry to Azete, on the Mondego, fifteen miles beyond his head-quarters at Vizeu, and only thirty from those of the British army at Coimbra. Vizeu, where the French are en. camped, is 51 miles from Oporto, or 24 miles nut* to that City than Coimbra. MAIIiENA is therefore enabled to occupy Oporto without any difficulty : but, if we may believe a let ter from a respectable quarter in the immediate neigh. bourhood, he has provided for the occupation of the city by - other means ; the corps under Juxor having, accoNing. to this account, either reached Oporto or its immediate vicinity. By the latest advices, it ap pears that General Taawr was in the territory of Lamego, and had with him the militia, principally of Tra les Montes, to the number of between 12 and 16,000 men, which must be inadequate to oppose the force under JUNOT, consisting of 20,000 strong. It is reported that the. transports at the mouth of the Tagus had been ordered round to Mondego Bay, in order that the expected re-embarkation of the array might be effected there. Coimbra is about 7.1 miles from Lisbon, with a fine military road, wrae the French superiority in cavalry would be most sensibly felt. From Mondego Bay the distance is only 20 miles, and on this account no doubt that route is to I be preferred for re-embarkation, if there should be no `objection on account of the bar at the . mouth of the harbour, which, however, presents a serious obstacle Ito the gimes of vessels. • A letter from Lisbon of the date of the 6th Sep. tember mentions, that General Cox, the late Gover- nor of Almeida, had obtained permission to return through France to England. We are happy to learn from the same source, that the report of his having lost an arm by the explosion of the magazine is un• founded. A letter, of which the following is an extract, was this morning received from an Officer on board the Possums frigate, Captain BARIUE _ _ " Cagliari Bay, August 14. We have been cruizing ever since I last wrote to you, with some success, and are now going to Malta, where we expect to be in about ten days.— .This, I imagine, will be our last trip, prior to our re• turn to England : we shall probably Wait to take a convoy f 'and, at all events. .Mall be .home before Christmas. 64 I have very little to communicate at present in -the - waj , hf news. Luc-tve BONWPA RTI and hit fa• mily have emigrated from the Roman territory, and are going to America ; our cruisers have orders not to molest them on their voyage. 44 Provisions and fruits of all kinds ark Tel Pien' tiful and cheep in this part of the globe. have SOlb. of grapes,'siz dozen eggs, and nine "paves of bread, now in my cabin, all which cost but one dollar. 44 We were informed, some time ago, that King MURAT had received such a sickening doze from the mouths of a ferr i. British Bull-lop; that he had given op his plans against Sicily. Such, however, is net the case, and he has now assembled a greater force than ever to accomplish his object. lam told that he has assembled 400 gun boats to escort his way over, which he would certainly have done long art but for the vigilance and valour of our navy; to them alone must be ascribed .the safety of Sicily 1 as the inhabitants, like the Italians in general, are careless with respect to the salvation of their country, or who rules over them, provided they can Indulge in luxury, idleness, and the other vices to which they are addicted. But I must conclude, as the boat is going away i diately to the SALcarrn frigate, which ship hat Mr. ADA/II on board from Constantinople." \ M