The National Register. — London, England, 1812-07-19 00:00:00

•- , • .... •` l• . "• prrvir. ~~ 1 ‘l PIN 19• w i t h gi‘ ing this public pledge of her pacific disposition, I even .rliett she saw the mighty preparations of her enemy, she allowed hint to complete them, without falling into the snare which he had spread for her, and suffering herself to be enticed into an act of hostility, which would have enabled him to tell the world that she was a lawless invader whom he took up arms to repel, and to begin the contest with the tide of public opinion in his favour. Pacific, but undaunt ed!, Russia neither courted nor shrunk from War. Conscious of her renewed and accumulated means, she had shaken off the humiliating yoke she had borne too long, and once more ac t e d as became an independent Power. She was willing to negociate, and to satisfy NAPOLEON on the very points he wished her to concede, but she would not bow before the uplifted sword, and dentanded,as the basis of the ncociation, that a neutral territory be left between the two armies.— This demand which would have restored freedom of discus sion amongst the negotiators, every difference which might wise being no longer likely to excite a threat of instant hos tiiity, was considered hy Napoetos, wbta.e plan of intitni dAion it would counteract, as an insult. With all his re prd for peace, he would not sacrifice the advanced position Ile had etken on the Russian frontlet s to its renovati,m. And although he had listened to those terms with apparent ac quiescence when proposed to him at Paris by Pt ince he RA hceileSe his preparations were then incomplete, and he ht dissimulation still usvfel ; he had no sooner reached the Niennat with hi's army, than he suddenly found them " arrogant and extraordinary," and leaving him no alterna• tire but " dishonour or war." The latter was instautly de • chic-Li—the 'Niemen crossed at three places on the Q:;d ult. at right, and, on the 26th the date of the third Bulletin • already received, the French army occupied Kowno, likata noni, hossiena, and Skroroule. and its light cavalry the pkins within ten leagues of Wilna, the capital of Lithuania. Ar. LNDER remained in this town with his guards, and his army vas posted at Nonikontoni and Newtroski. NAPOLEON beasts in his Bulletin that the Russian General BAG A woRT, with a put of the Russian army, having been cut off from \Vilna, had been compelled to retreat towards the I)wina. ilut as A LEX AND ER'S plan is evidently to act on the defen sive, and to draw the invaders of his dominions as far as pos sible from their resources, it is probable that this movement was made purposely. The mote rapid the advance, the eater will be the wants of the French, as the country through which they proceed is wasted by the retiring army, and it is difficult their supplies should keep pace with their progress when, as in the present instance, it is unopposed. The third, Bulletin, indeed, tells us, that " an immense supply of ht.:ltaly, flour, and biscuit, is passing through Dantzick and Konigsberg for Kowno," a pretty considerable distance, "'nee will be greatly encreased for the next convoy, should the Russians persevere in the wise system which they have %!lopted. It is, therefore, evident that, even should the Drench meet with signal advantages, they will not be able to pursue them with their usual activity, as the country now yields nothicg, and the Russian magazines are placed at too Free a distance in the rear of their army to fall immediately turn the hands of a victor. There will always he time for their removal, during the slow advance of an army which tlerives its sustenance from such distant parts. It may be even dollbted whether the magazines of the French will be suffici ent to supply the wants of their army, if they do not feed on the land they occupy. But as, in contemplation of this war, p PARTE had been nearly two years collecting grain in ru3sta from every part of the Continent, thus augmenting arc tittleity which was generally felt, it is likely that his sup- Plies will not be soon exhausted. He has also introduced THE NATIONAL REGISTER. 44:3 among his troops the use of biscuit instead of bread, by which much waste is saved. Besides, it must be recollected, that the harvest will soon be ripe in the countries which he has left behind him, and as it has experienced no ravage, and will be gathered in, not for the people, but for his army, will replenish his magazines when their contents shall be ex hausted. We, therefore, conceive that he wijl su6r more in this campaign from the delays in the arrival, than from the actual want of provisions. On these delays we rely with great confidence, as they will not only leave time for the de— scent of a Swedish force, if Sweden really joins us, in the rear of BooNAPAItTr., but will protract the war until the beginning of winter, the effect of which, on Southern con stitutions, cannot fail to assist the Russians powerfully in de stroying their enemies. MI OVERTURE' FOR PEACE WITH ENGLAND. ll= We have given this week most of the documents relative to Russia and France, and will conclude them in our next ; those respecting the oilers made to this country, with the answer of our Government, be found entire in another part of oui , columns. The conditions proposed as the basis of the negociations were : that we should acknowledge the present nasty in Spain, which should be declared inde pendent: that Naples and Sicily should remain in pos;ession of their present respective masters, that Portugal should be secured to the House of Ilraganza, and that both the French and English armies should evacuate the Peninsula. The last was the only point which NAPOLEON IViShed to secure, and intended sincerely to carry into effect. The safe eva cuation of Spail, would have placed at least 9.00,000 of his best troops at his disposal to overwhelm Russia, and having subjugated that power, the rest of Continental Europe lay once more defenceless at his feet..... Lord CASTL EREA OH, to whom the application was made, saw through the thin veil of this policy; et unwilling to repel protlered peace, lie expressed the readiness of Government to opeh a nego tiation, provided, by the present dynasty of Spain, nut- DIN AND VII. and his family should be meant, as otherwise, our national honour was bound to form no arrangement with France. To this moderate and dignified reply no answer was ever sent. Indeed, it is evident, that France only wished, if successful in her application, to secure to herself by peace, that which she had not been able to obtain in a stru , ..;.g!e of four years continuance ; and, if unsuccessful, to intimidate Russia by a show of neg,ociating with us at a time when AL EX ANDra might think all hope of resistance vain without our co•operation. ADVANCE OF THE FRENCH TO WILNA AND LIEBAU. Besides the Anholt mail, the substance of which will be found in another column, accounts have been received from Berlin and Hamburg!), which state that the French entered Wilma on the Ist, without resistance, the Russians retreating to the Dwina. At Wilna the enemy found every thing a desert, the country ravaged. At I ,iebatt the same desertion, the same solitude. Before the Rus,ians left Liebau they threw iO,OOO barrels of grain, which they could not carry with them into the sea. They then retired to Riga. The Russians, it is supposed, will retire across the Dwina, and suffer the enemy to make themselves masters of all the tract of country, a frightful and desolate tract now, between the Niemen and the Dwina, without resistance. It is not sup posed that they will make a stand until they reach Russia Proper. The co4ry which they abandon, after having ravaged it, is tha whit It formed part of Poland, before the partition oe that kingdom, which IIuoNAPARrs one° more tells the Mkt be intends to restore. "PT