The National Register. — London, England, 1808-11-21 00:00:00

MEI NOY. 21. pie's) account ! These facts be bad found it necessary for him to explain in vindication of his character, before he entered on the narrative of his proCeedibp, after he joined the army in Portugal. a few words in Si r Arthur W e llesley begged to say answer to what he had jurt heard. He regretted exceedingly, that any thing should have appeared in any of the public prints, which could be supposed to have tbe effect of serving him at the ex. pence of the conduct or character of Sir H. Dalrymple. He declared most sincerely, that no such' tatement b and ev e r been i nsert ed with his knowledge • or. appobation ; and co equally pledge himself, that none such had ever come through the kuon ledge or concurrence of any of his friends or relations. lie agreed in what be had j ust heard, that he had been present at, and taken a part under the Commander in Chief, in adjust ing the Preliminaries of the Convention. He had signed Odle' Preliminaries inconsequence of the desire of the Commander in Chief, but not in consequence of any command or compulsion exercised over him oh that occasion. He had agreed with the Commander in Chief ou the principle of these Articles, though he had differed from him in some of the details. The publication of the above statements we conceive to be no infraction of the desire of the Court of Inquiry. These state ments might, 'unquestionably, have been made by the parties concerned, extrajudicially. • They can prejudice no party, as both Sir H. Dalrymple and Sir Arthur Wellesley are perfectly agreed as to the principle of the Convention. Sir H. Dalrymple sat at the side of the Court. He was ac companied by General Sir Charles Green, and three Officers of his Staff. He looked extremely well, is a soldier-looking Man, in the prime of life, and seemed to be iu good spirits. Sir A. Wellesley sat behind the President. He was accom: puttied by Major Tucker, and another Officer of his Staff. The Duke of Cumbeliand sat within the bar. A number of Ladies were present, some of them very elegantly dressed. Among the auditory were Generals SirT. Trine, Phipps, Sir J. Craddock., the Hon. Capt. Legge, and many other Naval and Military Officers. The Court adjourned till Saturclay•morniug. THIRD DAY. SATIJRD‘S, NOV. 19. The Court took their seats in a few minutes after the opening of the doors. Sir Hew Dalrymple and .Sir Arthur Wellesley were present as on the preceding day, as were also the nukes of Cambridge, timberland, Lord Kinnaird, and several Officers. • The business commenced by Sir A. Wellesley stating his wish to deliver in a paper confirmatory of his statement on the pre ceding day. Sir Arthur read the paper, which stated to sub stance the saute as his declaration on . 11mrsday, he was not „rd?ccd, much less compelled, to sign the Armistice —that no au thority was given by him or any of relations or mends. to ally ~f the Publishers of Newspapers, to make a contrary statement. Ile also repeated that he agreed in the principles of permitting :he French to evacuate Portugal, only differing with the Coal. mauler in Chief respecting some points of detail. The Paper containing this , otatenteut was delis ered by Sir Ar thur to tile. PrLsident. r !rubor also expressed his regret that an expression in one cf Ills Liters read on Thursdas, should have Lone forth to the Public, as coaveying a reflection upon the Commissariat em ployed in the Army in Portugal. Ile never meant to state that the individuals employed in the Coututis..ariat were wanting in z?al or deficient in exertion--his only object was to shew gene :allY the expedieacy of making some alteration in the mode of conduct Mg the Commissarial De par Itent. A Paler containing this statement 51115 also delivered by Sir Arthur to the President. Inc dadge Adsocatu then real some dispatches from Sir Hew Dalr,mple 111 Lord Castlereagh, one dated the 34 of September, %chid' was published in the Gazette; others stating, that the t,•rins of the Armistice had been communicated to the Portuguese (general, hut who had not objected t , , them until after the'con elusion of the Negotiation, and the .Convention bad beer signed. A "ler in trench, from the Portuguese General, objecting to the t erms o f t h e Covention, and an amiwer f ront Sir Hew Dal rv.:iple, stating, that the gold faith of the Country was p:edged t.) carry these conditions into vitect. Sid= other letters were htso read relating to points of detail. 149 The Judge-Advocate having finished reading these official dis patches, another person commenced reading, in a very low tone of voice, a series of correspondence relating to several minor details connected with the army of Portugal. A variety of Documents were read, written by► Sir Hew Dal. rymple and General Freire, principally relating to the pleader which the French had embarked. In one of these letters Sir Hew Dalrymple eepresees his stir prize that so large a sum as 40,0001. mentioned in the protest, should have been carried all, and declares his intention of order ing restitution. Then Mowed a Proclamation, signed by General Freire, against the Convention. It states, that there could not have been a measure entered into more favourable to the French, or more hurtful to the cause of Europe; that the English army was to be considered in no other light than as auxiliary to the Portuguese; that the stipulations therein contained were such as never could be agreed to, unless it were that Portugal was a conquered coantry. It concludes with protesting *trona against the conditions of the treaty. Wednesday, about twelve o'clock, His Majesty arrived at the Queen's Palace from Windsor, where he was received' by the Dukes of York, Kent and Cumberland. At two o'clock his Majesty held a private LeNee. His Majesty held a Privy Council, at which Sir Charles Brisbane was introduced, and sworn in Governor of tbo Island of St. Vincent. . His Majestir gave audiences to the Duke of Portland, and the other Ministers present, and Mr. Ryder, who laid be fore his Majesty the proceedings of some Courts-Martial. A Messenger nrrived from the coast on Tuesday night be came to town in consequence of a communication front Boulogne, said to relate to the exchange of prisoners. la the course of the last week no less than three communica tions of a similar kind were interchanged between Dover and Boulogne. The report which so generally prevailed on Thursday, of an intention to auenible Parliameat in the beginning of December, we find, on inquiry, to be void of foun dation. No time is yet fixed, hut we have reason to believe it will be conveaed before the middle of January. A Meeting of the Freemen and inhabitants of the ity of Rochester was held en Tuesday esenice-, to iwii:./ 0 1 his Majesty to conveite Parliament, for the pp, i.ose ut inquiring into the Convention at Cintra. The _Address was almost unanimously . adopted. • Weditesv a Ciillrt or Directors was Lehi at the Cast India House, v% hen the undermentioned Captains were $N urn into the command of their respective ships, viz. Capiiiiii W. Campbell, Nottingham; and Capt. J. Carnegi Baring, for Alailriis and Bengal, Capt. J. Haliburton, taattna; and Capt. M. Riches, Thames, for China direct. Capt. Win. Hamilton, Lady Castlereagh, for St. Helena and Bengal. A Naval Action is reported to have taken , place in •the Mediterranean ; but the report at present rests on no au thentic lotitidation.—lt is mentioned in a letter from Ply mouth, which says— " A Curunna Gazette of the 9th instant states an iinpartant circumstance, if true, viz. that our squadron and the Russian squadron had met in the Straits, and after a severe action, we had two seventy-fours stink. The Rugsians bad five sail of the line taken, four frigates, four brigantines, and one cutter. The Edi tor adds at the bottom of the paragraph, This is tow:" No alteration in the price of Bread this week. Seven small pieces of cannon were lately presented by his Majesty to the Duke of Rutland, to be mounted at Belveir-Cas!le. • The King of Holland on his birth-day distributed a con siderable sum of money among his subjects. having re ' duced them to beggary, he very kindly gives them charity. • The Summer season at Brighton is expected to last till the first of April, when W inter will commence in Lon don. 'lllc broker AN ho valued twelve Emperors at the low price, of 51. must have certainly takeu his estimate from the Emperors of the ;recent race. • THE NATIONAL REGISTER. PP