The National Register. — London, England, 1812-08-16 00:00:00

letter to Harwich, which reached town last Thursday. It has since received no confirmation. It is not unlikely that a deeisile action mid• have taken place at Witespk, but that the Fri•► ch have lad the advantage cannot be supposed, from the silence of their batteries in the Channel. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. RUSSIA AND FRANCE. The Russian cam:raign is everyday growing morc interest- 11 ing, and the favourable consequences of the defensive system more apparent. It is true that the shock of armies has hi therto been suspended, and that although partial engage- ments have occurred between detached corps, yet no deci sive action, up to the latest accounts, had been fought : It is true that Russia has abandoned several millions of her late subjects, who have joined the enemy, and several hundred miles of territory, which he has re-cast, with the Duchy of Warsaw, into a Kingdom it is true that he had succeeded by the impetuosity of his advance in dividing the Russian army into two potions, and rendering the intrenched camp at Drissa useless. But it is equally evident, that, limn all these apparent advantages. he has derived no real good. The partial engagements have only served to abate the con tdence of his troops, who have met not only with resistance, tut with discomfiture, The territory he has gained is de vastated, and yields him no support: the population by which he has been joined is inexperienced and unarmed, and exhausts his own supplies; whilst the Russians, contend ing wi +hitt the ancient limits of their empire, fear no rising of the people, but can rely on their zealous co-operation. The Russian army had been divided, but it is plain that the force under BAGRATION and ALEXANDER, whilst separated, was in itself too powerful to allow of its being attacked singly with any prospect of success, and has repelled, with loss, every attack by which its march had been obstructed. The intrenched camp at Duissa has been evacuated, hut the re treat of ALEXANDER from the posts he had fortified, has ena bled him to effect his junction with Pi ince BAGRATION. • The boasted manoeuvres of the French have therefore availed them nothing. At the end of a month's campaign they And themselves on the other side of a ravaged province with diminished numbers, straightened for provisions, fatigued and dispirited by a vain pursuit, and opposed Al a concentrated force, equal, if not superior to their .own, advantageously posted, abundantly supplied with food, and eager to engage and repel the invaders of their country. The course of the war is, however, changed, And instead of rolling along the coast of the Baltic towards St Petersburgh, it moves, deep inland, towards the ancient capital of Russia. This is perhaps the only object which NAPOLEON has attained; but it is not one which can ulti mately secure his success. By passing between ALEXANDER and the Baltic, he thinks he has deprived him of the expect ed co•operation of the Swedes in that quarter, and will succeed in transferring the seat of war into the south, where a milder winter will not check his progress, and the Turks may, by their advance, place his opponent between two fires. lie does not think it possible, perhaps, that a Swedish army should land in Pomerania, and light up the torch of iasur section in his rear. He relies on the fidelity of the King of Dsettsaltsc ; but the rumoured correspondence lately carried on, it is said, between that Sovereign and Mr. THORNTON, may, especially if we should offer to restore the Danish fleet, show how short-lived are the affections of his allies. He depends on the co-operation of Turkey, but as it is now offs cially known that the Porte has ratified the treaty of peace avitkitussia, he will find an increase of foes, instead of his ex pected accession of friends, and will only by penetrating more deeply into the wilds of the Russian Empire, contribute to . - --' AUG. 16. render his ruin both unavoidable and complete. The die, however, is cast. Retreat on his part would be equal to defeat, and would he the signal for Europe to rise. H e must proceed or he must fall at once. He must proceed—. and Pultowa may prove, a second time, the grave of ambi. This is not a fanciful view of the probable results of the catnraign in the North. It is founded on the contents of the Ft ench eighth and ninth, and of the Russian bulletins, which will be found in another part of our columns. The forced acknowledgments of the former, and the plain and modest statements of the latter, afiind ample cause for confi deuce and hope. It was our intention to have extended our observations on the consequences of the Russian War, beyond their present limits, but the ample confirmation of the glorious victory gained by our arms in Spain, has left us no room for the discussion of other subjects, no feeling but that of patriotic and enthusiastic exultation. One of the consequences of tl:c Peace between this Coun. try and Russia is, as was to he expected, the restoration of Peace with our Ally, Spain. The Emperor ALEXANDER, who at Tikit and Erfurth agreed to the Subjugation of Spans, and in 1808 acknowledged JOSEPH as the lawful So vereign of that Country, has now, we understand, recogni , ed FERDINAND VII. as King of Spain. This wa ,, , no doubt, one of the conditions on which we agreed to treat with Russia. ALEXANDER has also ordered the immediate de p trture of Frenchmen from his territories. In this ordt r arc included the subjects of the various members of the con federation of the Rhine. It is stated, on the authority of letters received in town from the Ba!tic, that a most calamitous and destructive oc currence toLl place at Riga, on the 25th ult. The garrison of the city, it appears, amounted to 17,000 men, and, in contemplation of a visit from the enemy, the demolition of the suburbs was resolved on as a measure of self defence. In the course of the night of the 25th an alarm was given, and intelligence communicated to the Governor of the ar rival of the enemy within a short distance from the town. The garrison was immediately under arms, and the pre-de termiated resolution of destroying the subto bs was imme diately carried into terrible execution. The parts intended to be demolished were set fire to, and the flames raged with such violence, and spread with such rapidity, that in spite of every effort to extinguish or arrest their progress, above 200 houses, not comprehended in the suburbs, were de stroyed, and, horrible to add, 2000 persons are said to have perished on the occasion ! We trust this statement is greatly exaggerated. Directions have been received at Portsmouth, to delay the sailing of Sir JoHt‘ WARREN'S squadron until farther orders. This measure is supposed to have been adopted until the arrival of dispatches from Mr. FOSTER at New York, which may daily be expected. The 'fax on Shoe Leather begins to operate in a most serious manner. The makers and venders of shoes now refuse to make a serviceable pair of shoes for le's than 16s. and they say that the price will be shortly in creased to 18s. The tanners had orders to pay the duties given by the Act after the 15th of July. REVIEW OF THE TENTH HUSSARS.—The review of this well-mounted and highly-disciplined regiment. is to take place to-morrow, on Hounslow Heath. His Royal High ness the PRINCE REGENT will be on the ground at twelve o'clock; and as her MAJESTY and the PRINCESSES will ho nour it with their presence, a guard of honour is to be fur nished by the Lifc Guards, who are appointed to keep the ground, instead of the 23d Dragoons. as originally order