Star. — London, England, 1808-09-27 00:00:00

SP..IIN. MADRID, SEPTEMBER 7. STATEMENT BY lIIS EXCELLENCY DON PEDRO CEVALLOs, ON THE MODE BY WHICH THE GRAND DUKE OP BERG SURREPTITIOUSLY CAUSED TIIE JUNTA OF TIIE GO VERNMENT TO COMMAND THE DELIVERY UP OF DON MANUEL GODOI. " As soon as the Grand Duke of Berg, Lieutenant General of the armies of the Emperor, arrived in Spain, he contrived with the greatest address to dis seminate the notion that he was come for our good, and to effect some useful reforms in our Government, studiously intimating that be would protect the cause of the Prince of Asturias, and remove the Prince of the Peace, the object of the universal detestation of the nation; at the same time appearing to disapprove the great influence which the Queen possessed in State affairs. He knew very well that nothing more was necessary in order to catch the favour of all the op pressed Spaniards; and his object being such as we have since seen, it must he confessed that the calcu lation of the Emperor of the French, his master, was not ill made. " But as all the things of this world are liable to change, the ever-memorable events of Aranjuez took place, and overthrew this plan. As soon as the Grand Duke of Berg was informed of this, he changed" his scheme, and affected to take a great interest in the fate of Don Manuel Godoi, with whom he had held a close correspondence, though they were not known to each other. It did not escape his sagacity, that the King and Queen were earnestly bent on saving their favourite ; and he therefore instantly began to take the steps necessary to effect his deliverance, which were however useless as long as our beloved Monarch Ferdinand VII. remained in prison. This did not alarm the Grand Duke of Berg ; for no sooner did he know that his Majesty had arrived at Burgos, than he renewed his demands to obtain the &livery of Godoi into his hands, threatening, in case it was de nied him, to make use of the force at his disposal. " Nevertheless the Junta resisted these first at tacks, and consulted with the King on the steps to be taken under these critical circumstances. His Ma jesty r plied that he had written to the F.mperer of the F- ench, who had himself solicited of the King the release of the prisoner. The follos.ving is his Ma jesty's Letter : • The Grand Duke of Berg ar.d Ambr.ssador of your imperial and Royal Majesty, has made r:peated verbal requests, that the person of Don Manuel G,xloi, who is imprisoned in the Royal Palace of Villaviciosa, for crimes against the State, may be placed it your Majesty's hands. " Nothing woul•.l he more agreeable to me than the power of acceding to your desire ; but the consequences which might re sult front this are so serious, that I see myself obliged to state them to the prudent consideration of your Majesty. ' In pursuance of my obligation to admir•.ister justice to my people, I have ordered the highest of the tribunals of my king dom to judge, according to the laws, Don Manuel Godoi, Prince of the Peace. I have promised my people to puidish the result of a process on which depends the honour of a great number of my subjects, and the preservation of the rights of my crown.— Throughout the ' , A :tole extent of my dominions there is not a sin gle town, however small, which has not transmitted accusations against the prisoner. All my subjects manifest the moat extraor dinary demonstrations of joy at the moment whe❑ the intelli gence of his arrest reached them; and the eyes of all men are fixed on the progress and result of his trial. • Your Majesty, who is as wise a legislator as you are a great warrior, will recognise the weight of these considerations. Ent your Majesty takes an interest in the life of Don Manuel Godoi. I give you my Royal wurd, that, if after the most deliberate trial, he should be sentenced to death, I shall pardon kiln his life, from respect for the mediation of your Imperial Majesty. ' Goo preserve the life of your Imperial Mcje:dy many years! ' Vittoria, April 18. (Signed) FERNANDO: _ _ " A Royal Mandate, of the same date, informNl the Junta, that if the Grand Dake of Berg should renew his solicitations in favour of Godoi, they should reply that this affair would be settled between the two Sovereigns, and that the result would depend exclu sively on the detcratination of the King.' And his Majesty having heard that the King and Queen, his parents, doubtless from misinformation, had com plained of the treatment which the Prince of the Peace met with in prison, his, Majesty commanded me, notwithstanding my assurance of the delicacy with which the Marquis de Ctstc)ar ccnditetA him self, that I should recommend him to take the greatest care of the health of thc prisoner, which I did on the same day. " As soon as the Emperor :-.ad received the letter of the King our Sovereign, with his accustomed falsehood he wrote to the Grand Duke c Berg, tel ling him that the Prince of Asturias had placed the prisoner at his disposal, and commanding him to in sist upon Don Manuel Godoi being delivered over to him. Murat, whose character is naturally violent and daring, required nothing more to occasion him . to address the following letter to the Junta— " His Majesty the Emperor and King having in formed his Imperial and. Royal Highness, that his Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias had just writ ten to him, saying that he left the fate of the Prince of the Peace to be determined by him ; his Highness has, in consequence, commanded me to inform the Junta of the intentions of the Empetor, and to reite rate the demand of the i.eison of that Prince, and send him to France. It is possible that this determination of,his Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias has not reached the Junta. In this case, it is to be supposed that his Royal Highness await•, the reply of his Ma jesty the Emperor but the Junta will at once per ceive that to answer the Prince of Astoria:: would be to decide a different question ; and it is already knottn that his Imperial Majesty cannot recognize any one but Charles IV. _ " The Junta will therefor^ be pleased to take this note into consideration, ami have the goodness to in form me of their determination, that I may render an account of it to his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke. The Government and the Spanish nation will find in this resolutibn of his Imperial Majesty new proofs of the interest he takes in the affairs of Spain, since, in removing the Prince of Peace he seeks to de prive the malevolent of the power of suggesting that Charles IV. could ever transfer to him the power and confidence which he has lost for ever; and, on the other side the Junta will do justice to the noble senti ments of his Majesty and the Emperor, who does not choose to abandon his faithful ally. " I have the honour to offer the Junta the assu rances of my high consideration. The General in Chief of the Etat Major, " AvnusTo BI=LLIARD." " Madrid, April 20, l BOP " He added, verbally, such atrocious and unheard of threats, that the Junta, not doubting that he would carry them into execution, and thus compromise the reprse of Madrid, had the weakness to accede to the demand, and ordered the Marquis de Castelar, in the name of the King, to deliver up the prisoner that night, which, in fact, was done, not without much repugnance on the part of the Marquis, and that of the other officers who had the custody of him. Truth requires that it should be stated, that D. Francisco Gill, Secretary of State for the Marine, and therefore Member of the Junta, opposed the de livery of the prisoner, as not being authorised by the King. " It is not easy to conceive how, in the face of facts like these, the Junta of the Government could represent to the Council and the public by means of two Extraordinary Gazettes, that the Prince of the Peace had been delivered up by order of the King, or how they could attempt to cloak their weakness by publishing garbled passages from the official corres pondence, inserting, for instance, the following : " With respect to the prisoner Don Manuel Godoi, the King commands me to inform the Junta, in order that they may make a proper use of the intimation, that his Majesty values too highly the desire which the Emperor of the French has manifested, not to comply with it. At the same time, he performs an act of generosity towards a criminal who has offended his Royal person." " It is evident, on a little reflection, that this could not refer to Cie lib2iation of the prisoner, but that the King was disposed to act with generosity towards him from respect for the Emperor ; and what kind of ge nerosity was meant may be ascertained by a reference to the order given on the 18th of April, to the Mar quis de Castelar, concerning the health of the prisoner which the King issued, though he well knew the mis take under which his Royal 'parents lay, which order would have been ridiculous, if at the same time the King had ordered the Junta to set him at liberty.— BesiJes, after the Junta had transmitted to the King I an account of the reasons which induced them to re lease the prisoner, by those above stated, his Majesty ordered me to reply in the following terms : " The King is informed of the motives which in duced the Junta of the Government to deliver up the pAsonep without his order." " I have deemed it incumbent upon me to publish these facts, that all the nation may be informed of what has occasioned the release of Don Manuel Godoi, falsely attributed to an order of his Majesty, that no one may deem it possible that his Majesty can fail in his solemn word given to his people, to judge them according to the laws—and that every one may find, on this occasion, reason to feel more strongly that ardent love with which we are filled towards our beloved King Ferdinand VII. whom we implore Goo to restore to us, to fill the measure of our felicity.__ " PEDRO CEVALLOS." [Then follows a Certificate under the hands of D. Euseblo de Eardani and Azara, and de Luis d'Onis, Secretaries of the king, testifying to the authenticity of the instrument cited. Signed I\Tadrid, Sept. 3.] The same Gazette contains other articles which admit of abridgement. On the 17th ult. the Magistrates of Torquemada announced to the Council at Madrid the passage of the enemy through that town in several divisions, in the course of which they committed the most wan ton cruelties and deprelations. They burned down 137 houses, rubbing houses and churches with equal avidity. A like report from the Alcaide, Mayor of the city of Cuenca, relating the excesses committed on the re treat of Marshal Moucey through that city, on the 17th of June. A Reclamation on behalf of the King's regiment of infantry, who had lie,?n praised in the Gazette of tae 15th of July, for havin; performed the service of Guard to Joseph Bonaparte at Tolosa, and accom milled him to Vittoria, &c. It is said in this paper, that the Ist King's Battalion and the 2d African Batta:ion had stood garrison at St. Sebastian since last February, where they telt the same disgust and detestation at the conduct of the French which the whole nation felt, till the detention of the King at Bayonne made them resolve to avenge the perfidy practised upon the m. A few individuals passed over to Arragon, where the Patriot Army was then form ing ; while the greater number, in order to find the means of escaping, were reduced to the necessity of offering to compliment Joseph Bonaparte at Tolosa, where the Pretender arrived on, the 10th of July. He was received with acclamations from 20(X) French men, but not from the inhabitants, or the King's bat talion, which consisted of 120 men. The King of Naples, though he could not fail to perceive the dis position of the Officers, nevertheless affected to re-' ceive them with great favour. They accompanied the King to Vittoria, where he honoured them by wear ing their uniform ; but notwithstanding the especial favour thus displayed, and the flattering offers made by some of the Members of the Deputation to Bay onne, early on the morning of the 17th they set out from Santa Maria del Cubo ; leaving the road to Burgos, they marched to Posa, where they rested.— Earry the next morning they found themselves near Villa Diego. They were Abliged to go out of their course, in order to avoid the parties of the French in that neighbourhood, till, on the 25th of the same month, they reached the Gallician army, where they were joined by the other two battalions of the first di vision. They afterwards learned that they were par sued by 80 cavalry who could not reach them, but whom they should have received with great pleasure, MADRID, SEPT. 7. There were at Tudela 6000 of our troops, and 16,000 armed peasantry, when the Arragonese Com manders received advice from the Chief Alcade of Sorio, that 20,(X)0 French v-ere advancing, under the command of General Moncey, to enter the kingdom of Amtgon. It therefore became Necessary that our troops should retreat to Saragossa, where, according to the letters from that place, every preparation was made for sustaining a second siege. The gate of San ta Engracia was the only point which excited any apprehension, as it was in ruins ; but the utmost ex ertions were making to place both it and Monte Tor rero in a state of defence. The advanced guard of the Arragonese was within 'three leagues of Saragos,l sa ; that of the French was at Gullar, seven leagues ' from the city. We were under some apprehensions for that celebrated bulwark of heroism, when at one o'clock yesterday M. Butron, Aide-de-Camp to Ge, ncral Palafox, arrived here with intelligence that the ' French had retreated to Tudela. He further states, that the people of Saragossa entertain no alarm, should the enernyreturnwith double their former force. In consequence of the advices from Arragon, a Council of General Officers was held here ; and in order to protect that kingdom, it was determined to send off a courier extraordinary, with orders to Ge neral Blake to take an advantageous position ; but that skilful officer anticipated the necessity of the in tended movement, and before the express reached him, he had already posted his army on the spot fix ed on by the Council of War, a circumstance which has forwarded the system of operations, and given general satisfaction. CADIZ, AUGUST so. Yesterday arrived here a vessel from Monte Video, in eighty days, to procure a supply of arms to he em ployed against the Court of Brazil, the Prince of that country having summoned Monte Video, and the whole of that district, to surrender to the Portuguese arms. Not only was the bearer of the summons put under arrest, but his master was given to understand that his summons would be answered by 17,000 w..r riors. Nose by the Corunna Editor—This is one of the advantages con ferred upon us by our alliance with France. but tliii affair would instantly be at an end, upon receiving intelligence if thu w.ents which have taken place in these kingdoms. CARRION DE LOS CONDES, SEPTEMEF.R 4. The whole of the Gallician army is concentrated in this place. It marches off at four in the afternoon, and will continue its route the whole night, in order to come up with the enemy. It is imagined that this operation is taken in concert with the armies of the other provinces, and that all of them were to in motion at midnight. MANRESA, AUGUST 11. By different letters from Ampurdan, dated the 7th and Sth instant, we learn, that on the 6th, the Com mandant of that place, Don Juan Claro, took post in the plain of Cato, in consequence of information that la column of from 700 to 1000 French were to pass that way, having under their escort twenty waggons filled with wounded men, as+d proceeding from Sarin, near Gerona, to Perpignan. He attacked and de feated them with the utmost intrepidity, and pursued them, without giving them a moment's time to rally, as far as Junquera. They fled thither with all speed, expecting to Lind an asylum, but they met only with destruction ; and not more than ISO of them effected I their escape to Ilellegarde. The General's Aid.de- Camp entered a house in that place, and, frantic with j vexation at his defeat, he attempted to stab himself laivith a sword ; .and the weapon being wre-ted from him, he threw himself from a balcony, exclaiming j that he must inevitably be shot. Some of our brave Ichampions, who observed him, shot him dead. SARAGOSSA, AUGUST 27. On the morning of the '2oth, the Proclamation of our beloved Monarch, Ferninand, as King, was made with the accustomed formalities. [Then follows a description of the solemnities, naming the streets and squares where the scaffolds, &c. were erected, with other details, from which it ap pears, that this ceremony was more affecting and in ; teresting, from the contrast it afforded to the suffer ! ings from which the city had been recently delivered by the raising of the siege.] On the 25th was celebrated with the greatest pomp (the Captain-General presiding), military honours for the illustrious defenders of the city and country, who had fallen in the late siege, whose heroism was the theme of a funeral oration by Father Bogiero, preacher to his Majesty. A Council of Health has been established in this city, to provide against the effects of putrefaction, arising from the many French corpses which were left in the buildings and streets of the city. Our army remains on the frontiers of Navarre, and is prepared to combine its operations with those of the Asturian, Gallician, Castilian, and Andalusian armies. We have no doubt of a favourable result , from these combinations, aided by the English, and supported by the enthusiasm with which the whole nation multiplies its means of defending its glory and liberty. The following intelligence from Pampeluna has !• been communicated in letters worthy of credit : " On the 17th of August, there left this place for France, 97 horse, and six waggons, loaded with wounded Frenchmen ; and from that day the French ' settled here have been incessantly setting out on their way to France, taking with them all their effects, so that in a short time none will remain. In the evening ,of the same day, I saw 64 waggons, and 127 horses enter, with wounded men ; among these were the Commandant of the 70th Regiment, a Capain of Cuirassiers, an Aide-de-Camp of General Dubai, all wounded. Also there arrived 83 horses, loaded with bombs, balls, and shells, proceeding from the manu factory of Orbaiceta. Friday the 4th [A like enu meration of small bodies, both of those entering the town, and those passing the fortress to France.] " Saturday the 4 20th the city was in confusion, for, • at three in the morning, 2CO wounded set out for France, and at nine o'clock 512 wounded entered the place, together with several officers, and the Colonel of the 14th regiment, who died on the way. We cannot give an exact account of the great numbers brought into the Royal Hospital, those loUnging to four monasteries, and others recently established. We have beea shocked at the sight of so much suf fering ; for some of the wounded died in the stWets, not being brought into any house ; others appeared to languish for want of assistance, and when some broth was brought to them by the inhabitants, appeared to be restored from death to life. It is not possible to form an idea of the inhumanity with which the French treat their own countrymen, exposing them to the incle mency of the season during the night, and suffering them to remain 15 or 16 hours without food. This morning, at ten o'clock, the waggons of wounded filled seven or eight of the principal streets, and I do not think they can be accommodated in the Hospital these six or seven hours. At the same time came in, wounded, the French Generals Verdier and Lefebre. This day also set out for France, 37 waggons with wounded soldiers. " In all the streets we see exposed to sale a vast quantity of church plate, linen, clothes, watches, jewels, &c. effects which had been stolen in Navarre and Arragon—they are offered for a very low price ; but there are no buyers, except for the church plate, which is purchased with a view to restore it to the lawful owners at the price which is paid for it." PRIVATE LETTER- 0 PORTO RICO, JULY IL ~1 w Fight days ago an English sloop of war arrived here, bring, ing the manifestoes and other Papers published by the Suprca at . Junta of Seville. These were delivered to the Governor, witA assurances of the protection of the English Navy, in favour of ai l Spanish vessels going to Spain. This intelligence was not ree r i a . ed without sonic doubt and hesitation, considerirg that it was brought by the enemy of France; however, the arrival was a fortunate one, for we were thereby prepared furlhe official la& ings which soon followed. On the 24th, at three in the afternoon, a Spanish sloop of war arrived here, commanded by the Captain of a frigate, uhi s h brought Brigadier ViUaviciancla and Colonel Jaurequi from Ca diz, in 26 days. We then received the order to proclaim Fetch nand VII. King—a ceremony which wa., performed the foliw ing evening with loud and sincere acclamations of joy. “ At two o'clock, however, on the ve , y same day, a Lieute nant-Colonel in the service of France presented himself at th e house of the Captain-General, having been landed on the coast, , and delivered orders from Madrid to cause Joseph I. to be Flab. tidy proclaimed. You may imagine, that this Envoy was is. scantly sent to the Moro (the castle and state-p:lson] after helud been stripped of the mandates, addressed ht lake manner to th e public authorities of Cuba and the Havannah." TflE EVENING STAR LONDON. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27.' PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT OVE O'CLOGK. Ccnsuls, fr,r mule.: 65i —f.r acc. 661 —Omniutn 21 di , . PRICE (if :.TUCKS YESTr.RDAY. Rank Stock shut 3 per Cent. Red. shut n per C. Cons. 64.1 1 4- 4 per Cent. Aut 5 per Cent. Navy 97111 Lung Arm. shut India Bonds, par I s. Cs. I Imp. Ann. 7 11 -16 t Ex. Bills 2s. dis. 2,. rt. Omniutn, 12-' 3 dis. Cons. fur acc. Co 05i SPAIN. By a vessel which arrived yesterday from Cadiz, :tccounts have been received, stating that the plunder found in the possession of DuPeNr and his army was publicly exhibited at the Custcm House of that city, for the purpose of assuring the citizens that such plunder had been made in Spain. Among the ar ticks of plunder were a number of vases, crucifixes, and other articles of that description, stolen from the Spanish chapels ; there are also some bags of gold coin, teamed Napoleons, which were sent to DuPon, no doubt, for the purpose of corruption. Dt - roNT is confined at St. Sebastian, in conse• quence of his misconduct ; and he is allowed twenty four reals, about ss. British, per day for his subsis tance. The confinement of this officer is ascribed, among other circumstances already known, to the fol- lowing fact :—Very shortly after he had surrendered, DUPONT dispatched a confidential officer to JuNor, advising him strongly to march into Andalusia, and stating to him that victory wr , uld be certain, from various causes, which were described ; and particu. larly that should di,: main body of the Spanish army be drawn away, in consequence of the alarm of his approach, he (DUPONT) had the means of rallying the French prisoners, and aiding the object of Juxoi. The officer was intercepted, and his letter examined; and the natural consequence was the immediate im. prisonment of DUi ONT. Spanish Papers to the 16th confirm the previous reports of an attempt of the French to surprise the army under General PALAFOX. It sums to have been the intention of Marshal BESSIERES to attack the several divisions which were marching against him, separately, hoping by the execution of such a plan to annihilate them in detal, and prevent the possibility of a junction. These tactics have more than once succeeded with his master ; but fortunately on this occasion they were frustrated by the vigilance of the brave leader of the Arragonese. General PALAFOX fell back upon Saragossa ; and the enemy, in conse quence of a judicious movement of the Gallician army, did not venture to follow him up. As far as we can discover the plan of the Spanish Generals, it appears to be their intention to act with the principal part of their force on the flanks of the enemy. The papers, as well as private letters, mention that a part of BLAKE'S army, in conjunction with the Asturians, was destined to enter Biscay and Guiposcoa, while PALA FOK, with all the force he could collect, was to press the enemy on the left bank of the Ebro. As these movements must necessarily be slowly and cautiously executed, it n.ay be some weeks before we hear ofobe final result of the plan. PORTUGAL. Some accounts from Portugal state that the Pon• tuguese army have taken a very menacing position and have distinctly intimated to Sir HEW Det.RYM• Pl,e that they will resist the fulfilment of the Convene don—nay more, that they will consider any more ment of the English army, with a view to facilitate the embarkation of the French force, as an hostile act. The boldness of this intimation is attributed to the following circumstance :—General Jones, with 15,000 Spaniards, is said to have been, at the time it was made, within two days march of the Portuguese camp, which is within three leagues of Lisbon. Our Readers will remember that CANTANOS had, immedi ately after the battle of Baylen, and surrender of Du. PONT, sept a portion of his army to aid the Portu guese Patriots. This detachment is no doubt that which is understood to be so near the Portuguese, and to be under the command of a man of tried valour and acknowledged skill. The Conception has arrived at Cork from St. Übes, which she left on the 2d inst. The master of this vessel states, that intelligence of the aanistice had been received there on the 27th of August, when the people rose upon the French and put them to death. But the people would not believe in the terms of the armistice. Queries.—Has not every person in Portugal, Who has been robbed by the French army, a right to indict I i.