The National Register. — London, England, 1811-02-17 00:00:00

and at last reached the French lines, when a sharp action ensued, in which the enemy lost their guns and retreated with some loss. General ABERCROMBY, who directed all our military operations, was dili gently employed in attempting to improve this suc cess, when he unexpectedly received an offer from the Commander in Chief of the island to capitu late. The terms were, it is true, too extravagant to be deemed admissible, but others were proposed which, although rather favourable to the French, were wisely accepted, as they put us in complete possession of that important colony, and the whole of its naval force which was very con , iderable, be sides the numerous merchantmen which its ports contained, without any further waste of human blood. If the means of defence which the French General possessed have not been over-rated by the writer of the annual Expose, there is :no doubt but at his return, notwithstanding the favourable nature of the terms which he obtained, according to which neither he nor his troops are considered as prisoners o► war, his conduct v% ill be submitted to the consi deration of a summary Council of War, and the disappointment of NAPOLEON'S hopes will be visited on his head. THE NATIONAL REGIS TER. CAPTURE OF THE ISLAND OF BANDA. A less important, but more brilliant conquest, from the daring boldness of the assailants, is the taking of Banda, one of the spice islands. Seven hundred regular troops and three hundred militia have grounded their arms before ona hundred and eighty British seamen ! The details will be found in another part of this Paper, and although not official, may he considered as authentic. We are glad to find, that in this instance an ample booty has rewarded the bravery of the con querers, which has not been the case at the tak ing of the Isle of France. Banda is the chief isle of a group which comprises six or seven others. It does not exceed eight British miles in length W. to E. and the greatest breadth, at the eastern extremity is about five. The chief, and indeed the only riches of Banda consist in the nutmeg tree, the cultivation of which was restricted to that Island, as far as Dutch avarice could effect it, in the same way that the cultivation of cloves was limited to Amboyna, which is also in our possession. When the English seized that island in 1796, the annual produce was about 163,000 pounds of nutmegs, and 46,000 pounds of mace. The hurricane and earthquake of 1778, almost annihilated the nutmeg-trees in Banda, and the Dutch became the dupes of their own ava rice. From 1796 to 1798, the English East India Company imported from Banda and Amboyna, 817,31'2 lb. of cloves, 93,7321 b. of nutmegs, 107 4.6,730 lb. of mace, besides private trade, amount ing to about a third part of the above. The ground in Banda, is entirely occupied by nutmeg-planta tions ; corn, cattle, &c. are drawn from the neigh bouring islands. In 1796, the inhabitants were found to be 5763. PORTUGAL. Surmises more or less probable, and information derived from private sources, must some time sup ply the place of intelligence derived from public and authentic documents. We are now enabled to state, on authority of the highest respectability, that it was not expected, among well informed Officers • of our army in Portugal, that a battle could pos sibly take place before the middle of April. As the French army, from their present condition, and from the badness of the roads, would not be able till then, to abandon their present intrenched posi tion. By that time Lord WELLINGTON will un questionably have been joined by the reinforce ments now on their way to Lisbon, and by those which are intended speedily to follow. He will then have a sufficient force on the south bank of the Tagus to protect the Capital on that side, and to cover his retreat, should a retreat be deemed necessary. Under such circumstances, vve learn that it is his Lordship's fixed determination to give battle to the enemy, whenever he will evince A serious inclination to meet the combined forces in the field. The Speech by which the Commissioners opened Parliament on Tuesday last, cannot be considered in the same light as those which have been deli vered from the Throne, for some time past, and which were rightly considered as expressing the sentiments of Ministers themselves. That Speech, it is well known, underwent a long discussion in the Privy Council at which his Royal Highness the PRINCE RE; ENT was present ; the introductory sen tences evidently express his own sentiments, as con tained in his Answer to the Address of the House of Commons. We are led, therefore, to hope and to believe, that his Royal Highness agrees in the policy and the justice of continuing to the inhabi. tants of the Peninsula, that powerful protection, which has till now enabled them to avoid the yoke of their unprincipled invaders. We most sincerely rejoice at this perseverance in a system of politiC4 to which the Continent and England itself may ul timately owe their salvation. Important intelligence arrived yesterday morning from Dublin. The Irish Government have deemed it necessary to have recourse to the provisions of the 39th of his present Majesty, usually called the Convention Act, for the preventing of unlawful assemblies. Circulars were sent from Dublin Castle, on the 12th of February, to all the Sheriffs and Chief Magistrates of Ireland, directing them to put that law in force, to prevent in the different counties the meeting of the Roman Catholics, whose intemperate violence, and mischievous con.' duct, called for the coersion of the laws, after the lenity and forbearance of Government had been exhausted in vain.