The National Register. — London, England, 1811-05-05 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. event. Yesterday it was rumoured on 'Change, that Badajoz had fallen, and that Govern- ruent had received dispatches to this effect; but; we were not able-- to trace this rumour to any of those sources on which we are accustomed to rely. Although we have the full conviction upon our minds that a fate similar to that which befel Olivenca, awaits Badajoz ; still we have good reason to be lieve that no intelligence had, at a late hour last night, reached town, which would authorize the report of the fall of Badajoz. _..iiw.-.. SPAIN. Cadiz papers to the 18th ult. have been received. Their contents are of some importance ; not of a mi litary, but of a political nature. They show how deep rooted national prejudices are in the human :nind. The pride of the Spanish nation had become proverbial for ages ; but it was seldom more publicly and less wisely displayed than on a late occasion, when, although convinced by woeful ex . perience of the incapacity of most of their Com_ manders, and smarting under the disasters which it had brought upon them ; they but reluctantly ac ceded to the proposal made by Lord 'WELLINGTON, that the provinces bordering on Portugal should be placed under his command. The Regency appre hended lest this measure should create jealousies, and dissentious ; but competed to adopt it by their sense of its utility, found no little difficul ty in making it known to the public. At last it was published in the shape of an anonymous pa ragraph couched in the most guarded terms, and alluding to the fact merely as a report, which it ex plains., by assuring the nation, that although those provinces are placed under the temporary command r,f Me General in Chicf of the only army at the time u. the Peninsula, tchich may act with ',eau against the enemy, there is no proposal for removing the Spanish Qllicers and substituting English in their room " Does the blindness of the Spanish people still continue. Have they suffered themselves to be de. .ceived by the misrepresentations of the French ? They have seen us shed our blood in their cause. They have witnessed the effects of the system adopted in Portugal, where, under the guidance of British Officers, timid peasants have become discip lined and courageous warriors ; and where the foot of the invader has ceased to rest. They leave beheld the consequences of their own, which struck with sterility the bloody palms of Barrosa; and is it possible that they should still sacrifice their own safety to a vain point of honour ? By the na ture of the article it appears that they are deter mined never to place the-Spanish troops under the : . J' 261 command of British officers, and that Lord WEL.; LINGTON is cautiously invested with only a temporary authority. We trust the use he will make of it,. will eradically destroy the national prejudices of the Spaniards, and lead them to embrace the most ef. lective means of counteracting the ,plans of their crafty enemy, by forming an army on the modei of that of Portugal. The Cortes have been employed on a variety of topics of external and internal policy. The Aboli tion of the Slave Trade, of torture, and other bar barous puni:hments, has been propose.l, as ‘vel as an Act to secure the liberty of individuals, similar in some of its provisions to our Habeas Corpus Act. These papers ilso allude to a circumstance which we had heard before, the narrow escape of Matslud BERESFORD from being made prisoner. Ile vvas forced to jump out of a window. Report adds, that General COLE was also near being taken in a recon- noitring party. The prztriotis . in and kjaliy of the Relmmists c*n no longer be doubted. At their Dinner, last Fri day, not only was the health of one of their owa Members drank with greater slier:linty than that of their KING ; but among the Toasts given there vac nut one in praise of our Soldiers or Samon ; the Battle rf Busaco ; General GRAHAM ; rha Victory of Anholt ; the Lx;:ulsion of the French from Por tugal ! the Conqueror of the most conAmitnate of all BCON APA TA's Generals, Lord WELLINifil'ON— or the cause of Spain and Portugal opiust France. In speaking of the necessity of Retium, or upon the preservation of a country against tyranny , it is strange how the BuunETTurEs :always avoid any allusion to Spain. Tile fate of the rople Spaiit dues not draw one sin* sigh of regret, nor extort one expression of moral indignation iron) them. Information was received on Frid iy cf t 1 sei zure of two l'Aitish vessels in the waters of- t,';e United Sultes, under the Ton-Itttercour se Law. Friday letters were received from Holland, stat ing, that NAPoLEON had conde,cended again to issue licences for the export of provisions from that country ; to which measure he prdythiy « • 41% l e , s induced by the remon,trances i,t :112 f inte rest, than by tic defalcation of his reventie from that part of his dominions. It was reported on Friday that accounts him . Holland stated an altercation of a very rental kahie nature to have taken place ptiblicl4 in the Thuil.le rics, between the Ruler of France and the Russian AmbassaJor. The scene was similar to that in which Lord V.rnitrwoultu had to sustain apart pie vious to the rupture with this country ; but the acting of thegreat man, it is said, was tar more vio. lent on the latter occasion. It seems that BuuNA PARTY, the Empcsor, has still less command of temper than IitiosAPARTE the First Consul ! IMPERIAL S EPTENA RY.—E X aaly seven years have elapsed, this day, since France was declared an Empire! BousApARTE so declared her on the sth of I May, in the year iStA. 77 . 7 111141 110 P "" 413: ....400, p - : el