The National Register. — London, England, 1821-11-18 00:00:00

CAPTURE OF LIMA. By the Goo I Inicat, arrived in the Downs,'letters and papers to the sth of Sept. have been receive from Buenos Ayres, communicating the important intelligence of the fall of Lima. The tbllowing are extracts from private letters received by that con veyance:— " BUENOS AIRES. SEPT. have hardly time to acquaint you with the glorious news of the capture of Lima by Gen. San Martin. "The official accounts are not yet arrived, in con sequence of a heavy 01 of snow in the Andes just after the express laid passed. " The capture of Lima by force of arms being announced, may create SWIM alarm to persons in terested in that city : it ought, however, to be ob served, that Lima is not a fortress likely to be tarn by assault; but that it is much more probable that the obstinacy of the Sj.anish authorities forced Gen. San Martin to approach Lima, when a last attempt would be made by the troops remaining under the banners of the Viceroy, to repel the Cnilion, army: this having failed, the latter would march into the city without resistance and without a previous capi tulation. It is, however, to be hoped that strict discipline was observed, as the great muss of the po pulation of Lima would receive the Chilians us friends and liberators; and as it always had been the object of the Government of Chili, and of Gen. San Martin, to preserve Lima from a violent transition to independence, and from the coinmotions attendant on a temporary suspension of law and policy in a town in which the lower classes are dreaded by the wealthy." " &limos AIRES, Sem 4.—On the 2d inst. we received the important intelligence of the cap ture of Lima by the forces of Gen. San Martin, by a letter from Santiago de Chili, dated I eith August; and although the details have nut yet arrived, still no doubt is entertained of the filet from the previous well-known distressed state they were in trout want of provisions, the divisions that existed, and from San Martin having retuned to prolong the armistice. The official details arc hourly expected; the Mar, will sail for Liverpool in the course of the week, and by that time we probably shalt have the fullest in formation.' The following extract fr.= a Buenos Ayres Gazette of the 29th of August, conveys some inter. e: sing details of the previous state of Lima, which acquire additional value, in the absence of the official account, from the increased probability they give to its actual surrender. In a question involving com mercial interests of such high importance, too much caution cannot be exercised in forming a correct judgment of the real situation of attars : " SANTIAGO DE CHILI, JULY 17.—1 n consequence of the arrival of the English frigate commanded by Capt. Spencer, at Valparaiso, we learn by an extra ordinary courier, who arrived here on the 15th, at seven at night, the following news, which is con firmed by the papers published at Lima, and by private letters, viz.—That by virtue of the armistice concluded between the Viceroy Laterna and General San Martin, prolonged fur nine days more, the for mer proposes to the latter that all the towns which are now in the power of the army of Chili shall remain under the command of General San Martin; that Lima shall continue in its present situation without any change in its government; that both parties shall name their respective deputies, who shall proceed to Spain to obtain the ratification of independence, for which purpose there shall be an amnesty for the space of I S months, reckoning from the date of its conclusion ; the fortress of Callao, of which San Martin's forces have obtained possession, remaining a pledge until the return of the said de puties: trade and communications to be in the mean time free. That San :slartiii, who did nut agree to these propositions, demanded the surrender of the capital, upon which being done, he would allow a free communication, and wait for the determination of the deputies who were to go to Spain ; that during the time of the negotiations, San Martin had permitted the necessary provisions to enter Lima ; that his troops were advancing from some points which they occupied upon tile capital with the design of besieging it more closely. " The public papers of Lima which I have seen in the house of Col. Pereira, contain a representation from the Secular Chapter to the Viceroy, describing the evils with which the capital is threatened by the destructive war carrying on. It dwells on the devastation alit,. country to the extent of 25 leagues in circuinti;rence; the division of public opinion; the discontent of the natives in consequence of the scArcity ; and the Lei essity of coming to an under standing with the besieging force, by which alone his Excellency could preserve his authority. The result of this representation is not known. There is also in these papers a letter signed by a military officer, )(tinting out to Lacerna the resources of which lie might avail himselt; and stating plans of defence. 'lnc writer culls loudly for the combat, and instigates a v:guruus resistance. What may THE NATIONAL REGISTER have been done in consequence of this energetic ex position is not yet known. " According to the letter of Guido, which I have seen, written on board the frig ate Cleopatra, in Cal- lao, where the deputies of b oth parties are assem bled, L. K. says that they would again resort to arms, but that Lima must surrender in consequence of the division among the authorities, the discontent of the natives, the forces with which it is surround ed, and its being deprived of all support. D. Q. E., who also writes from Calico to the English com mander, states that Lacerna had assured him, in the vessel which he then was, that in consequence of the divisions in Lima, and the want of aid, no other re source was left but that of making an arrangement beneficial to both the contending parties. The Cap tain of the English frigate arrived at Valparaiso fur slier adds, that the longest period which Lima can hold out is one month, or at most two, tbr the peo ple proclaim their dissatisfaction, the military chiefs arc divided, and the troops of Lima are deserting daily to the invading army." TILE LISBON INQUISITIO.V. LISBON, OCT. 24.—0 n the Bth of October the Palace of the Holy-office iv.:s opened to the people. —The number which crowded to see it during the four first days rendered it extremely difficult and even dangerous to attempt an entrance. The edifice is extensive, and has the form of an oblong square, with a garden in the middle. It is three stories high, and has several vaulted galleries, along which are situated a number of dungeons, of six, seven, eight, and nine feet square. Those on the ground fluor and in the first story, having no windows, are deprived of both air and light when the door is shut. —The dungeons of the next story have a kind of breathing hole in the form of a chimney, through which the sky may be seen. These apartments were allotted to prisoners who, it was supposed, might be set at liberty. In the vaulted wall of each dungeon there is a hole of about an inch in diameter, which communicates with a secret corridor running along by each tier of dungeons. By this means the agents of the Inquisition could at any moment ob serve the conduct of the prisoners without being seen by them; and when two persons were confined in the same dungeon could hear their conversation.— In these corridors were seats so placed, that a spy could observe what was passing in two dungeons, by merely turning his eves from right to left in order to look into either of the holes between which he might be stationed. The spies wore list shoes that they might make no noise in walking over the vaults of the dungeons. A familiar of the Inquisi tion was often shut up in the same dungeon with a prisoner from whom it was wished to draw con fessions to be used afterwards against him. Human skulls and other hones have been found in several of the dungeons. On the walls of these frightful holes are carved the names of some of the unfortu nate victims buried in them, accompanied with lines or notches, indicating the number of days of their captivity. One name has beside it the date 1809, and 500 lines, which marks a confinement of more then' twelve months, terminated probably by the execution of the prisoner. The doors of certain dungeons which had not been used for some years still remained shut, but the people soon forced them open. In nearly all of them human bones were found, and among these melancholy remains were, in one dungeon, fragments of the garments of a monk and his girdle. In some of these dungeons the chimney-shaped air-hole was walled up, which is a certain sign of the murder of the prisoner.—ln such cases the unfortunate victim was compelled to go into the air-hole, the lower extremity of which was immediately closed by masonry. Quick lime was afterwards thrown down on him, which extin guished life ant destroyed the body. In several of these dens of misery mattresses were found, some old, others almost new,--a circumstance which proves, whatever may be said to the contrary, that the Inquisition in these latter times was something more than a scarecrow. The ground on which this palace of tae Inquisition stands was covered with private houses before 1755, whence it is plain that the victims who have suffered here must all have been slerificed within less than sixty years. Besides the dungeons which the people have already visited, there are subterraneous vaults which have not yet been opened. .~ DISTURBANCE AT SARAGOSSA. A French journal gives the following intelligence in a letter from Madrid, dated Nov. I. The M.:. drid papers of the same date do not mention the affaii . . " Au extraordinaly courier was this day received by the timer' ument hum Saragossa. He brings inf, r.natiod that for some lime past the cries of ' fliego for ever' had teem heard in the public promenades and the theaties of Unit city. Songs in honour of the General had hero sting in all the public places, awl 'ell et for his removal from Ake was loudly expressed. The authorities tried lu vino, by a proclamation. and some measures of severity, to repress the niari;lestation of these sentiments these utessuteb served cosy to ittitwe. Ou the 2oth of last month the acclamations iii favour of Riego recommenced with more activity than ever. It appears that the Po!iti. cal Chief, Nloreda, took a wrong course for re-establishing tranquillity. The conduct of his agents elicited a cons• motion in which three persons were wounded, and t o arrested. Next day the militia ip.sembled in the public square with a piece of artillery. This hostile attitude had for its object to obtain reparation for an insult given on the preceding evening to our of the members of the corps, A deputation was sent to the Municipality to demand the dismissal of the Political Chief, blureda, and the arrest et several persons who, during the preceding dais, had abused their powers. The Municipality did not think tit to refuse this demand, and the Political Government was given provisionally to the Intendant queratto. Gem" al Amer at the same time assumed the nuJitary During the whole of this time the militia preserved orkr in the town, and the troops of the line took no Nit in Ouse movements. No misfurtnne has occurred. Ott ;iie came evening Gem Alava art iced to take poss.ssimi of government, Inn he set nut again next day. The cam •er who has brought this news preceded him. At the moment of his departure perfect tranquillity prevailed in St s ,. gossa." Extract of a letter from Marseilles,dated 0.2.t0br 29, 1821 :—" I have been obliged to return hithtr without setting my foot on shore at Naples. So great an alarm had gone abroad as to the Yellow fever being at Marseilles, that the Office of ile.,!th at Naples had forbidden any ship from this port to enter their harbour; and we were peremptorily ordered out of the BAy, without having any cmn munication with land or vessel. The voyage, espe cially in coming back, has been a very wretAed one: adverse winds, tempests, heavy gales, runo sea, short allowance of bad provisions, and ail kinds of frightful things, thinking sometimes we shou:d be driven upon Spain, and sometimes upon Barbary, and just now I know not which would have been the worst." A meeting took place lately at Paris between Mr. Norton, attended by G. Ferguson, and Lieut.-Cul. Hunter, of the grenadier guards, attended by Capt. Gronow, of the same regiment. The parties were to fire by signal; Mr. Norton fired without effe c t, up o n which Lieut.-Col. Hunter discharged his pi s t o l i n the air. Upon this the seconds put a stop to ail further proceedings, conceiving the result to have been perfectly satisfactory to Mr. Norton's honi-..r, and equally so to the honour of Lieut.-Col. Hunter. REDUCTION OF RENTS —Henry Howard, EN. Corby Castle, at his last rent day, returned to his tenantry of High and Low Coniseliff 25 and 20 per cent, according to the quality of their respective farms. At the late rent-day of Sir George Pocock, Bart. for the manor of Hart, the liberal return ofl2 per cent. of the rent was made to the numerous tenantry. James Bower, Esq. has liberally returned to his tenants, at Snowsgreen, &c. 20 per cent. of their rents. The trustees of the late Earl of Strath more have made the same return. John Orde, E•q. of Weetwood, and Messrs. Bewickc and Cras:cr, returned 10 per cent. to their re pective tenants, on their last rent days. On the afternoon of Sunday the 4th, during the performance of service at the parish church of A.- derton, in Suffolk, as the minister was addressing a numerous congregation from the pulpit, a proportion of the old steeple, which had been tier many year. in a ruinous condition, fell down with a tremendous crash. Happily the wind was in such a direction, that no part of it fell on the church ; otherwise the effects would have been appalling and disastrous in the extreme. The scene however which ensued, may be more easily conceived than described. The shrieks of the females, the tumultuous rush of the whole congregation to the east end of the church, the terror and alarm depicted on every countenance, and the roar of the tempert from without, produced an impression on the minds of all present, which probably will never be erased. But no actual iajut y 1 was sustained by any one. ROYAL ANECDOTE. — Mr. Andre.v Pitt, an emi nent bunker, died at Hampstead on the 16th o. April, 1736, of a gout-fit in his stomach. Oa Sunday, the 4th of that month, he had waited on the then Prince of Wales (the father of his late Ma jesty) to solicit his favour in relation to the Quakers tithe bill, when his Royal Highness answered to this effect :—" As I am a friend to liberty in gene ral, and to toleration in particular, I wish you may meet with all proper favour; but, for myself I never gave my vote in Parliament ; and to influence my friends, or direct my servants, in theirs, does not become my station. To leave them entirely to their own consciences and understanding, is a rule 1 have hitherto prescribed to myself, and purpose through life to observe." Mr. Pitt, overcome with this conduct, replied—" May it please the Prince of Wales ! I am greatly affected with thy excellent notions of liberty , and am more pleased with the answer thou bast given us, than it' thou hadst granted our request." There is a regulation in the army, that if officers do not pay their legal debts, they are liable to be cashired. The same regulation should extend to every person holding a civil office under govern ment, particularly where persons have large salaries, and refuse to pay their debts, which many tradesmen would rather lose than involve themselves to law.