The National Register. — London, England, 1809-09-10 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. - . If they are to blame upon any one point, it was perhaps in the selection of au untried liarade Genera; for a business of so much importance. We have safe and prudent Gen erals enough, and we have very religiots and cautious Ad mirals, but upon such occasions we should certainly em ploy fighting Generals. We don't like dr 71NT-room Generals, nor eating nor drinking Generals u p ,n any occasion, in common with the rest of our countrymen, we like those who have a stomach for fighting. . It is a painful subject, and we would dismiss it with inure pleasure than we dwell upon it, but the thing is im possible in the present state of men's minds. The dispatches from Lord WE'LLINGT - ON, which appeared in last ;light's Gazette, arc dated from Truaillo, the 21st ult. This place is about 25 miles to the southward of De iylosa' from whence the furnier dispatch es o f hi s L or d s hip were dated. Thu attention which his Lordship has paid to the situa tion of the sick and wounded, so abominably deserted by CUESTA, is honourable to his feelings, and must be grate ful to the objecls of his solicitude. It appears from these dispatches that the conduct of Sir R. WILSON has been spirited and masterly, and the account which Sir ROBERT has given of the behaviour of the Spaniards and Portu guese, who form part of his detachment, would give us a a more favourable opinion of the cause, if it were pos sible to forget that CUESTA, and 40,000 Spaniards kept the ground for the British army, Whilst it c o nt e nd e d a g a i ns t twice their number. Corimna Gazettes to the c 2 4t h ult. have been received. Their coutents are of no great importance or interest. The Marquis of W ELLESLEY had reached Seville in poor health, 111 but was fast recoverinyr. The news of the battle of Tala wera had been succeed:A by the information of the subse quent retreat of the Combined Armies, and the Central Junta are said to be exerting every means in their power • to retrieve the mis!ertunes and disgrace which attached to the Spanish army. If something be not immediately done to excite and (Meet the energies and enthusiasm of the Spanish Nation, for the cause of Spanish freedom, the reuiusula cannot he saved. We doubt if any thing can sate it. Procrastination has so crept in from day to day, that all our yesterdays have hitherto only light ed fools the may to death. We fear the same scenes will be performed again and again, and that a people who ell.. fighting for a Constitution that was never worth pre . ;crying, and for a King who is not only beyond the reach of their hopes, hut per:iaps insensible of their exertions, cannot be saved without so:le stimulus that shall come bonne more effectually to " their business and br,:•onis." ir, lining the absence of the Sovereign, and whilst the pecessity of the case ,justifies the strength of the measure, 4 Meeting of the ancient Cortes were called, or if deputies from every part of the kingdom were to assemble, so as to identify the people with the Government, so as to in pee a belief, that sueh men, wielding the power of govern onent,.were acting for the good of the people, as well as !or the preservation of the priviledges of particular orders, •ve should in thai case have some hopes; at present, we ;re alienated froip Ose,cause of Spain, by every considera• lion that' is de a r in ranglislinien, Employing the best blood of the nation. ravish4t . g• its treasures, fight ing almost single handed its battles, our armies are iieweft with suspicion and distrust, and next to the French 'le are 9bjeets of aversion. We are fighting, too, not for a portion of that Liberty which is the Mirth-right of Englishmen, and which (whatever Dema gogues may vainly urge) every Britou feels to be his own; ibof we are fighting to perpetuate a state o f things. or a feturn at kast to a 'flute of things, which every thinking imp must diprecate, and every liberal man must deplore. We expect every thing from the great and comprehensive wiod a and frill; the vipur and talent, of Marquis Wm,- 1 SEPT. 10 • LESLEY, but we fear the period of his arrival in Nam is too late. He may create a momentary struggle ; he mty renew the strong convulsions of an expiring cause, but we much fear, it will only accelerate its dissolution. No persons in the Empire will with greatei sincerity, ur with more alacrity, hail the dawn of a more propitious morn, but we cannot shut our eyes upon scenes in which we are such principal actors, the reluctant con viction is wrung from us, in spite of our hopes and wishes, and ivitliont attaching blame or misconduct upon those who have- conducted the war in Spain, or up on those with whom th e measures have orig inated , we can not but see that the ca use i s i n a very bad way. Lord WELtaxeTos7 should have been sent out, with sir Joust Moose's letters, in the margin of every dispatch, they should have, been repeated to him in every page he received from this country, and that advice which he sealed with his blood should have been credited and acted upon as sacred. He has told us that no dpperidenee whatever is to be placed upon the Spaniards ; if we were imahle to drive the French out of the Peninsula without their assistance, we should not have attempted it; if we were able, we should have shown our ability by sending an adequate force. What would have been the situation of Spain if Austria I a.l not afforded occupation for EtION A PARTE and his best troops ? And what must be her situation when peace with Austria releases him ? There e•aanot be two opimous upon tl,is sub ject. Send no more reinforcements to Spain than wilt unable ux to bring; home Lord WLciaNeToAr and his brave army with safety and with honour. Let us concentrate our forces and husband our rear Against the day of trial upon our own shores; or if we have a taste and a stomach too for fight... ing upon other soils, let us look to our own distant pos sessions. lndostan is not ivaccessible, as upon some fu- ture occasion we shall endeavonr to shew. In Ireland we are vulnerable, and we may at. least be attacked upuu the very spot we are now writing. Of the news from the Continent, that which iat most important is what relates to the pe;:ce now said io be concluded between the French and the Aus trians. There is no official account of this circumstance, but it becomes every day more and more probable. The terms are stated in letters fioin Unhand of the Ist inst. to be very humiliating. The Emperor ERANC: 4 14 to relinquish the territories from which he derives his title of Emperor, and is in future to be styled King of Hungary and Bohemia. Private letters from Cadiz of the 17th ult. state, that popular commotions have taken place t Seville, on account of the want of energy displayed by the Junta, and the neglect of the armies which is attributed to them. ! Government have at length received dispatches from Sir Joav STUART. They state, that he had undertaken ail expedition against the coast or Naples. Ile had taken the Islands of Ivhia and Procida, made 1300 French prisoners, and secured a large quantity of corn and ammunition. The French have been obliged to abandon Scylla, destroyinc , the works, and leaving behind them their ord nance and stores. By a Mail from Gottenburgh, we learn that disturbances have taken place in Norway.—Prince AUGUSTEN nunGn has been arrested, and his partizans have taken up arms to sup port his cause, but we arena informed of the prticulars. Letters from Flushing, dated the 2d September, we are sorry to say, confirm the .former accounts of the sickly state of the troops in Walcheren. The average f elcaths at Middleburgh alone, was three officers and from twenty to thirty men daily. It is hoped, that as - this mortality arises from the nature of the soil and climate, the medical men Will devise a regimen that may tend in sonce degree to secure the men from it. At the time when the let ters we allude to were written, every regiment had from 100 to 150 men sick, and some had so many as 3ao. The force expected to be left on the island was There is scarcely a house in Flushing that is not damag4 by the shot from the British hues iu the late OW. .552