The National Register. — London, England, 1808-11-27 00:00:00

NoV. 27. .re this extraordinary mpg fey clesPgdehq In Tumours which the ingenuity of sotte,•the Maleviident curiosity of others, mid the credulity of all, have greatly eitaggerated. That BLAISE's arMy, ' far . inferior in mimbers; discipline, of service, and in the requisites for carrying on elfmsive operations, should have yielded •to ie fire im- Cluous shock of Nov's arm y Would have betrayed a total Vieuorauce of the vast resources of the invader, not to anti cipate. But ourmin s we re made •up for these first reverses; aeause re, know, from an attentive observation of tbein -.Aces • character, talents, impetuosity, and Witiatio7l, n o t he would have collected all the ree.eurces he had at his disposal, in order to insure snecess•at.the coMmenternent a campaie,n he has opened himself. For bad he been dis cenititted iu the first operationS; not only would the fate of Spaiii cease' to be precarious ; but according to human cl i lculation, the French • army would not be able to main tain a footing, for six weeks, to the south of the Pyrenees: wilat2ver opinion we entertain of the . tyrant's principles and feelings; he - has given urno Caust to form a contemp tible opinion of his understanding, prudence, and fore Sight. Row is it possible then that arty man of Only 'ordinary cern irehension, should have been inconsiderate enough to sup pose, that Boivispinrs, after the prodigious success h..s has had, after the • exploits be has performed, and the con quests he has achieved, purchased, it is true, with great flames, but ilkewise, with talents of the first order, should impievident, so insensible. to the consequences, as to neglect the first •impressioti ; as not to s'eture sUcCess at least, in the onset. The men, who judge that dangerous individual in this manner, arc grossly mistaken ; and their conjectures deserve very little weight or consideration• in the scale of po;itical calculation. It is euriousto attend to reasonings on-tilis subject, if one *had *patience enough to folio's• therm up the first place our. political reasouers unanimously acknowledge that liosiArAwre is a soldier and ‘tatesillae of the first-rate abilities ;' and Oat the most prominent features in his character ace prudence and promptitude. After having estahlished these premises, they then , draw the very extravagant cosietusion, that his first operations in Spain must betray imbecillity, 'negligence, and incapacity ; for how could they otherwise be guilty of the absurdity as to imagine that with the immense accession he brought with hinvto reinforce tho armies he had already in that country, he should not:succeed - against the Patriots in the first instance. Hither BONAPARTE must be the greatest driveller, or the most consummate blockhead that. ever intrigue or mismanagement placed at the head of an army (and this concession these ilentlemen are unwilling to make),—or the Spaniards must be more than men ; and, whatever high opinion we entertain of the gallantry, patriotism, and magnanimity of that distinguished coin teinity,• we are not so bewitched iu their favour as to eon side: them in the light of Demigods.• They have done much, lkowever--the generous penple ! and more than the most enlightuicd and ardent admirers of their cause could have ventured anticipate ; and considerably more than their new advocat es , who are so easily disconcerted at the first re verse, had tbe.courage, or the sanguine disposition to' etc pent. We bevsech them, however, to tranquillise themselves; fur the *Anse .in which the Spaniards are engaged, were it ;~ THE NATIONAL REGISTER: sure. 163 1 N , _ abundone l d by this country, and betrayed by the universe, is not only able to resist any storms and hurricanes that may assail it from the side of France, but will afford one day, and that day is neither remote nor uncertain, shelter, protection, and freedom to the destitute and abandoned victims, who are tow sighing, from one extremity of Europe to the other, over the loss of those privileges they had not mag nanimity enough to defend. We blush at the pusillanimity and dopon4ency manifested by newspaper-writers, and the publiC' in t eneral, at the receipt of t hese letters frotn Corunna ; ter a moments reflection would have shown, that their .nitents were not only exagge rated, but ou g ht to be received with eantion and distrust'. We cannot deny, however disagreeable it may he to our feelings, that the Spaniards have suffered some reverses, and fallen .back cousidetably `; but these reverses are neilker of Mai cala mitous ;or decisive nature, as was imagined. We hope therefort the next intelligence will inform us that BLAKE'S army, so far from being totally routed, and dispersed, is still able'to maintain a series of obstinate, and ultimately successful conflicts, against the base and execrable invaders. The more we examine the proceedings of the Court of Inquiry, the more we arc convinced of the necessity of an investigation into the conduct of the Generals who signed the Armistice and Convention. The recrimination made • liy the Officers against one another, and the almost inde cent efforts used by each to clear himself from imputation at the expellee of the other, leave no doubt as to the merits of the transaction. We arc doubtful to what officer we should attach most blame ; for no doubt can now be entertained, that both were equally active in bringing this, stigma on the national character. Whatever we have read till flaw of the proceedings, we have not been able to dis cover a plausible justification of .the affair itself, nor an extenuation of the conduct of those who signed it. We give Sir A. WEi.t.r.six.y the justest praise for his skil ful operations previous to the battle of Vimiera, and for his gallantry tied judgment during th at eng•ii;e ment. We are even willing to believe, that had he not been su perseded in the command, he would have brought the campaign to a more auspicious issue ; hut we cannot conceive, after the Success he ()Mauled with so small a proportion of the British army, against the whole of the French, how he could possibly see the necessity of granting the enemy such favourable atipulat.ons.— Both Sir ARTIICIi. and Sir liEw still insist on the necessity and utility of the Convention : in this they are consistent, hut why then recriminate ; or attempt to throw the impu tation on one-anothers shoulders ? In this they are per fectly inconsistent ; for if the affair was a justifiable one, and suggested by necessity, as well as policy, they should spurn at evasion, and boldly acknowledge in spite of obloquy and prepossession, their participation in the mea- LIN tuns,who reduced WatTFLOCICE to an ignominious ca pitulation at Buenos Ayres, and was, in consequence of this service, made Viceroy and Provisional Captain-General of La Plata Province, published an address, on the 1 itb of August, to the inhabitants of that province, in sih eh he attempts to enforce the pretensions of llowArswris to the crottn of Spain, and recommends to the Spaniards of the new world, to acknowledge tite . new . dy nast y . It wai natural to suppose., that the Usurper should find in St groclualau, though a na t turalized Spaniard, and invest.ll r . • v 1 • ; • •". un ved ery 'ep- Cunt vcv7 tLe )C for oula ,ref, kin: the and rma furq.