The National Register. — London, England, 1808-11-13 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. murderers among an innocent, unoffending people, is in alterable, and the tame we have unifOrmly evinced. We will now proceed to examiue the chances in favour of the Spaniards; and will do ; iLritli the same impartiality wid ens/44Si we treated the oiher 'side of the question. Paradoxical • it may appear, the ignorance, incapacity and shameful negligence of the late government afford now the principal prospect of salvation to the Spaniards. Ilad Agriculture and other branches of internal industry received the necessary encouragement, and the roads being kept in a state of repair couf-rmuble to this state of amelioration, Loaaparte nould find as little difficulty of subsisting his armies, and transporting them from one extremity of the country to the other, us he experienced in Germany, Italy and : lint, in consequence of this neglect, the effect* of hich considerably increased by the present disorders Ad confusion, he is placed under the absolute necessity of dran in t ; his subsistence from France, and keeping iuuncusc in the rear of his army. This circumstance alone produces a Mal revolution in the mode the French have been accustomed to wage war, since the beginning of the revolutioa ; and ho% ever productive they may reprn ;nt their flu:slices, deprived as they air: of the resources tkowing from eNti'rnal commerce, they will find it difficult to make them ke.:p pace with this augmentation of expen diture. flowerer, allowing thrum to be completely tide qiiate for the purpose, we still seethe impracticability of ti , s carrying on offensive operations on a very active and vigorous scale, if he .be reducei to the necessity of supply ;Lg his army in that manner. Every league they advance, considering the extreme irritation and aversion of the in habitants, the magazines must be transported after theni. l'or this service acv eXttitotilinary number of 'horses must 1- put in reipilsition: and if we are not misinformed ht oar information relative to Spain, it will be neat to au im possibility to procure them the necessary forage ; at least :be cavalry and artillery will suffer a very great diminu tion ; had - when it is known how much they, particularly the latter, contributed to their former success, it is a sub ject of considerable consolation to think he will not be able to employ a third part of what he used in the war against Austria and on the Vistula. What renders this an incontrovertible fact, is, 'besides the scarcity of forage, the circumstance of the deep and almost impassable roads, in waiter, which render it impossible, even with double the maul .number of horses, to draw a piece of artillery ten miles in an entire day. If he has formed the plan of pene trating to Madrid this winter, he must either leave his ar tillery tehind hint; or his march thither will not be very rapid. Hut supposing he has conquered all these difficulties, which appears to us insurmountable, and that he provides the necessary forage for a numerous cavalry, for tea thou land 1101it'S or more, which are indispensably necessary for transporting the quantity of artillery used by an army of 150, to 1200,000 men, and for an equal number of horses to convoy provisions, &c. is it probable he will have the temerity to penetrate to Madrid, with the Spanish Generals hovering on his rear, confining their operations to a mere defensive and harrassing warfare, the necessity of which the nature of their grunud, the character of the enemy, and their celebrated precautions imperiously suggest. With all his audacity, we arc very much, mistaken, if he has the courage to undertake it. Nobody, we believe, will deny, that auk; every circumstance, lie is reduced to the neces- NOV. 13. city of dividing his army into two, or three grand divisions l each consisting of about 40,000; supposing his entire force, when he commences his march._ to consist of 180,000 ; a t he will he `obliged to leave a very sonsiderable force to awe the provinces he leaves behind bun. This division of his strength ► and the impossibility of taking with him sufficient artillery and cavalry, afford the Spaniards and English calcutable advantages; as it enables them to chide ith the bayonet, should they find a favourable opporinnity attacking any of these corps separately. We arc willing to make another concession ; and to grant, that, under all these difficulties, he may he Wu to reach. Madrid, before next January. F.very step he a.l vances his army decreased front sickness, garrisons, gugenients, and other incidents; and we have formed very erroneous opinion of the Spanish character. if ('as taitos and the other Generals do not imitate the condnet of Dumourier, at the time of the irruption of the Prussian: into Champaigne, and plant themselves between him ae,t the Pyrenees. Their army is already equal in number, if not in discipline, to any he can employ against them ; and though a General of his acknowledged abilities may risk a great deal, and the nature of the contest enforces it, for delay is fatal, it is certainly a question worthy of some consideration to know if the most imperious necessity will urge him to so rash and decisive a step. A single disaster occurring, and he and his whole army may be placed, at such a considerable distance from the frontiers, in so pee carious a situation, that all the resources of the military art might not be able to extricate him. We have made every possible allowance for his great talents ; we have made concessions in .favoit4 of the prac licability of supplying. so numerous an army with the necessary provisions ; the requisite number of hors; s with forage, and that in a country where the natives themselves are able to keep very few; we have granted even the pos sibility of employing a large park of artillery, which we equally disbelieve ; and after all these concessions, favour able as the most ardent of his admirers could exact ; and, supposing him even to arrive at. Madrid, We do not see a justifiable pretext fur desponding of the u mate success of the Spaniards. On the contrary, could we lose sight of the atrocities, to which some of their provinces may be exposed, we would exult in the determination of Bonaparte to hazard all his fortunes in a couutry where every individual, who has an arm to move, is his sworn and implacable enemy. We exult, because this augmeatatiou of danger will call forth a flame of liberty, and corresponding energy, which all the efforts of Europe, combined .with the tyrant, will be incapable of smothering. 'firm com mences the true era of Spanish regeneration ; and it is un necessary to tell any man, who knows to estimate that chielest gift of heaven, that freedom produces effects be yond tho range of ordinary calculation. On this ground we must stand, when we attempt to defend the sacred cause of the Spanish patriots; and, convinced of the necessity the councils of that country must he placed under, of giv ing a latitude to popular principles, armies will he fOrmcd in every province, and men suddenly emerge from obscn city, to direct them, which render the issue of the contl:st not very problematical. We have expressly declined adverting to the position and interests of Austria,. and to any change that may occur in either states because we wished to take the worst ; slid 14) • examine how far Spain is able to resist the undivided • ...- no i e , N A , .N. 5.,~ ask -. .1 ---