The National Register. — London, England, 1808-09-19 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 19. ,‘ Had General Dupont kept his troops united in a body, he vould, without much difficulty, have dispersed the insurgents, :heir army haying consisted only of three divisions, scarcely forming a total of '20,000 men. _ " The bodies of insurgents scarcely deserve to be mentioned in this war. They defended themselves behind a wall or a house, but could not maintain themselves in the open fields ; and a Single squadron of cavalry, or a battalion of infantry, is sulli cicut to put many thousands of them to the rout. " All that the English Papers have published, respecting the affairs of Spain, is unfounded and false. England knows well flit. part she is acting on this occasion. She also knows well what she is to expect from all her efforts. Her only object is to involve Spain in confusion, that she may thereby make her self tni,tress of such of her possessions as best suit her purposes." REPORT OF TILE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TO HIS IMPERIAL AND ROYAL MAJESTY. " Ssnr, Paris, Sept. 1. " I hare the honour to propose to your Majesty to communi cate to the Scuttle the two Treaties which have placed the Crown of Spain in your hands, and the constitution which under your auspice•, and enlightened by your advice, the Junta assembled at Balonne, after free and mature deliberation, have a d opted for the glory of the Spanish name and the prosperity of that kingdom and its colonies. " if in the arrangements made by your Majesty the security of France has been your principal care, the interest of Spain herself has however been dear, and in uniting the two states by the most intimate alliance; the prosperity and the glory of both were equally the of proposed. The troubles which have manifested themselves have particularly excited the solicitude of your Majesty in deprecating their progress, in foreseeing their sad consequences, in hoping to present them by persuasive means, and by measures of wise and humane policy. Your Majesty interfered as a mediator in the midst of the divided Spa niards, sheaving them on one side tile anarchy which threatened them, and on the other England ready to profit by their divi sions, and to make use of them to suit her convenience, and 'miming out to them the way by which they might be saved from this doable danger, by a constitution K ise, provident, proper to provide, all of which they stood in need, and is which liberal ideas intermixed themselves with these ancient institutions which Spain n ished to be preserved. " The expectations of sots• Majesty have been deceived. In dividual interests, foreign intrigues, and the influences of foreign corruption have prevail.•cl. 't by is it so easy to lead nations to tlesir ruin ky letting loose their passions? to a former report, II have made your Atajesty acquainted with the influence which the English were acquiring in Spain, the numerous party that they had formed, the friends whom they had acquired in the commercial town=, by holding out to Iliem the prospect of a re vival of their trade : I had pointed them out to son as ant hors of the sedition which overturned the '!'grata• of ('harks 11 . mud the favourers of tin• popular disorder.: w. hie!, arose at that epoch. Tiiev had horst through that salutary restraint which keeps the people in , ithinis,ion, by operating upon their interests. The populace of Sp:1;o having shaken otr the yoke of authority as }wed at governing. English the intrigues or the agents of the Inquisition, who were afraid of losing their authority, the infue•nce of the numerous tribe of Monks in Spain, who dread: a reform, have in this critical moment occasioned the insurrec tion of several Spanish provinces, in to hid* the voice of the more prudent class has been either mistake-it or stifled, of whom nut a new have fallen victims to their courageous opposition to popular tumults, ant! a dreadful anarchy has been seen to diffuse itselt over the greatest part of spain. Will your Majesty per not England to be able to say " Spain is one of my provinces, my flag driven from the Baltic, the North Sea, the Levant, and even from the shores of Persia, rules in the ports of France ?" " No, never Sire !—To prevent so much shame and misfor tune, two millions of brave men are ready to scale the Pyrenees, and the English will be chased from the Peninsula. " If the French light for the liberty of the sen, they must, to conquer, begin by wresting Spain from the influence of the t 3 rants of the ocean. " If they combat for pence, they cannot obtain it until they have ehasel from Spain the eneu►ir: of peace. " If your Majesty, embracing the future nc well as the pre sent, aspires to the noble object of leaving after you your Em pire calm, tranquil, and surrounded by powerful friends, you Intiq begin by securing its influence. in `4patii. " Lastly, if honour is the brat teniiineut, as wril at cue tirts miNIIII THE NATIONAL REGISTER. 507 of object, of Frenchmen, your Majesty must promptly inflict vengeance fur the outrages conttni tied against the French name , , and the atrocities to which so great a number of our countrymen have fallen victims. Frenchmen established iu Spain for more than twenty years, exercising in peace their useful industry, and almost regarding Spain as their country, have been massacred. Every where French property has been seized. The- Consular Agents of your Majesty have experienced a treatment which would not have been suffered even in the most barbarous coun tries. What estimation, rhat consideration will the French name enjoy in Europe, if, in a country so near to us, Utrocities so infamous and so public remain unpunished. Reparation ought to be had for them—but a reparation consonant to French men by victory. " It is no small advantage, the probability of at length meet• ing the English, of fighting them man to man, of making them also feel, the evils of war—of a war, of the dangers of which they are ignorant, having only caused it by their gold. The English will be beaten, destroyed, dispersed, or at least they will make haste to fly, as they did at Toulon, at the Helder, at Dunkirk, in Sweden, and every where where the French armies have been able to find them ; but their expulsion from Spain will be the ruin of their cause. This last check IA ill exhaust their wean:. annihilating at the same time their last hopes, and peace will become more probable. " The wishes of all Europe will in this contest be with France. " France and Russia make common cause against England. " Denmark supports with honour a contest which she did not provoke. " Sweden, betrayed and abandoned by the ally to whom an insane Cabinet has sacrificed her, has already lost her most important provinces, mid is hastening - to that ruin which is the inevitable etfect of alliance and friendship w ith England. " Such will be the fate of the insurgents in Spain. When the contest becomes serious the English will atiantlon Spain, after making them the sad bequest of a civil war—of a war for foreign interests, and for anarchy, the most cruel or scourges. It will be for the wisdom mid beneficence of your Majestv to repair the evils of which they w ill he the cause. " The Court of Vienna has constantly testified to your Ma josty the most amicable iutentions : indignant at the policy of England, she has recalled her Minister from London ; sent back the litiglish Minister who was at Vienna; shut her ports against England; and placed herself in a state of hostility with that power. 'She has added to these measures an interdict in her ports against the admission of vessels, w hicb, under a neutral ;lag, are only the carriers of English pi - wince and merchandize. Vonr Majesty has cultivated this favourable disposition; has testified to the Court of V koala friemlship mkt eoutidenre ; and has several times intimated t.'t her, that France takes a real in terest in her prosperity. Latterly, however, this power has carried its armaments beyond ineaAtre --its military force is out of ail proportion to its population and finances. Your Mini sters, Sire, only wish to remark this in order that your Majesty may perceive the necessity of augmenting your force for the purpose of still preset - % hug the relative superiority w Iticit exists between the power and the population of the two empires. " A new revolution ha broken out at Constantinople, Sultan Mustapha has been d Tot ezl. " The Americans, a people who involve their fortune, their prosperity . , :Jl almost their evistence in commerce, have gi vett the example of a great and courageous sacrifice. They have interdicted, by a general embargo, all commerce and all navi- • station, rather than shamefully submit to that tribute which the English impose on Cie navigation of :ell nations. " Germany, Italy, Sss itzerlanit, and Holland, are peace- • able, mud wait only fur a maritime peace to exert all their in dustry. " That peace is thew ish of the world, but England oppo.cs it ; and Fagland is the enemy of the world. . " The French nation, all Europe knows the efrirts, tnade by your .Nlujesty to obtain peace ; they know th your emerprizcs are the immediate resnit of the ill success of tie atteni i its is hick you have made to obtain it. " The devotion of the French people is without hounds ; and it is more especially under circum•ta tires which are so e-Lenttally emutected with their homme and its security, tied their sei.ti ments will lie eyhwed. awl OA they w she w Cirin.elv4l worthy of reapiiig thatlarvest of glory and of honour, which you hue prepared fur them. " 1 an), ill% refprft, &c." M.iirffl.MPN rr.~i