The National Register. — London, England, 1808-07-17 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER; The Council of Seville, one of the principal provincial juris dictions in Spain, have laid hold of some statutes in their Con stitution, which authorize their rejecting the orders of the Sa reme Council of Madrid when that capital shall be in the power of foreign troops. They have therefore assumed an in ,dependent authority in the name of Ferdinand the' Seventh, whom they have proclaimed King; and after some ptevious Steps, they have formally declared war against France, and have appealed to the Spanish nation to support them ; and their supremacy has been acknowledged by the Councils of several other Provinces. In Andalusia they collected from fifteen to twenty thousand regular troops, and have put arms in the hands of upwards of sixty thousand peasants. General Castaneos is appointed Com mander in Chief : and I understand they propose out of the first levies, to Augment the establishment of the old regiments, to double their present numbers. Provincial Assemblies are also forming in most of the large towns, and different depots fixed upon for raising volunteers. They have a porportion of near four thousand cavalry, and a large quantity of artillery, as Seville is nloundery, and one of the largest depots in Spain. All accounts agree, that in every part of Spain the insurrec tion have commenced almost at' the saint , period'; manyt small detachments of the enemy. and many officers, have'been cut off. General Dupont was on his march to Seville, and had already passed the Morena mountains when the insurrection took place. Ile has pushed on to Cordova, and, by the intercepted dis patches, we learn he is strengthening himself there, and proposes to wait for reinforcement , . In the mean time; the Morena passes in his rear have been 'occupied by five thousand Spaniards, the road has been brdkeu up; and, I trust, all communication has been cut off General D'Alrid had received orders to join him at Seville, with four thousand men, who were to assemble at Alcoreutin, but our arrival off Ayamonte, and the arming of all Spain, and the alarms in Portugal; having prevented this movement, 1 trust that General Junot will not now be able to detach any troops from Portugal, though we understand a French corps has been collected at Elvas, but 1 do not think it can exceed 4990 men, though the reports of its strength are very various: At Faro the Portuguese have already risen, beet 'taken or destroyed a detachment of about two hundred men, have seized the arms and ammunition of the province, which the French ban collected in a depot, and also about forty thousand dollars in gold, which the French General had amassed. Extract of a Letter from Pico-Admiral Lord Collingwood, Com mander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels in time Me diterranean, to the Honourable W. W. Pole, dated Ocean, off Cadiz, June 14, 1808. Sta—ln my letter of the 12th instant, by the Alphea, I in formed you that application had been made for a ship to carry to England Commissioners appointed by the Supreme Council of fieville, to treat with his dlasesty's Ministers on such matters as *re important to the interest of both countries. The Admiral tkho commands in the Port of Cadiz being one of the deputed, did not choose he should depart until the surrender of the french ships, which took place this morning. The Spaniards having constructed an additional battery of .thirty heavy guns, and n u merous gun and bomb vessels having • taken their stations, thet French ships struck their colours at . ieVen o'clock this morning, and soon after the Spanish were bolited on hoard them. The French ships, I understand, are not at all injured, as the Spaniards wanted them fer their own use; nor has there been much loss of men on either side. ' The Governor some days since (and before 1 came here) re- quested of Major-General Spencer to proceed to Avamonte, to oppose a detachment of the French army, which was said to be marching from Portugal by the Coast ; and yesterday the trans ports proceeded, under the pre • Ttion of the Zealous, to that quarter, where the Wirulsor Castle had conducted a detachment the day before. JUNE Is.—The Governor of Cadiz has notified to me, that the Commi , sioners a ill be ready to embark in two days. As the Revenge has been stationed near the town, where Sir John Gore has had much intercourse with the Governor and Chiefs in command during the late operations, and witnessed the tem per and disposition of the people, 1 have ordered that ship to receive them, that he may give to his Majesty's Ministers the information they may 'desire of what has come within his ob servation as to the present state of this part of Spain. Application has been made to me this evening by the Supreme' Council of Seville and the Governor of Cadiz, to give a passport to a Spanish frigate and four dispatch vessels, to carry to the seve ral Governments and Presidencies in the West ladies, informatioa of the events which have happened in Spain, and their instrtie: tions to the Governors; and also that a sloop of war may take out officers to that country, whose presence there is important; this they urge in preference to their going in a Spanish vessel, as it will convey a proof of their connection svith Great Britain. 1 have the honotir to be, &c. (Signed) Admiralty-Office, July ‘2, 1808. Extract of c Letter from Sir Charles cotton, Bart. Admiral of the Blue,' bcc. to the Hon. William Wellesley Pole, dated on board his Majesty's ship the Hibernia, off the Tagus, the 22c1 COL /../ NGWoon° June, 1808. Slit—Enclosed I transmit, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the copy 'rif a letter received by me from Captain Creyk,e, of his Majesty's sloop Eclipse, detailing the state of affairs at Oporto. • • I have the honour to be, &c. C. COTTON. His Majesty's sloop Eclipse, off the Bar of Oporto, June 20. SlR—Since, the account I had the honour of delivenng to sou on the 10th Jdne, Oporto has undergone two revolutions, and has been succeiiively in the hands of the French and the subjecti of the Prince Regent. After the Spaniards had delivered the forts into the custody of the Portuguese, and the national colours were even a bete hoisted, the French were again able to establish their authority, in consequence of the weak and undetermined measures of the Governor, Louisll44liveirai who is now confined as a traltor, and maintained it till the lfith, the. day of Corpus Chriti, a great national festival, when it had been usual for the Portu guese regiments to attend with colours flying. The Governor, D'Oliveira, in consequence of orders fr'om Junot, attempted to establish the French flag instead of the Portuguese, at the pro cession. This violent attack on the' national custom drew forth the murmurs of the populace to so great a degree, that an at tempt to compromise on the part o f the Goversiot h ad no elect ,• aad 'on the 18th, in the evening, the day before my arrival here, they were excited to such a degree of fury, that, counte nanced •by the Priests, the people row in 'Hasse, broke open the depots, and supplied themselves with twenty-live thousand ,stand or arms, and, together with the regulars, formed a iro.i determined and enthusiastic army. From this moment all Fr - elicit authority ceased, and every man, either French, or suspected of being inclined to the French interest, was arrested. The Bishop of Oporto was elected as the new Governor, and P an army of twenty thousand men went to meet the French, who hod advanced to the amount of 900 within six leagues of Oporto. The enthusiasm has communicated from one to the other, and the Portuguese provinces of Traloi, .filontes, Minho, and the Northern patts of Beira, in imitation of the Spaniard s . hate risen in arms, determin ed to extirpate the French from their kingdom. From the most moderate accounts, besides ghat are at Oporto, 1 may estimate them at upwards of one hundred thousand men. All the regular regiments disbanded by the French, are form ing again with the greatest alacrity, and will soon j oin them. have this day had an interview w ith his Excellency the Go vernor, conducted him amidst the shouts and buzzas of the po pulace. To-morrow I send a party of men to mount the guns of a large Brazil ship, the command of which i s g iven to an Englishman, :Ind destined as a floating battery to defend the bridge, in case the French should have the temerity to approach, though soch an event is not to be apprehended. If any requisition is made for powder, 1 shall comply with it, but they have at present abundance of arms, ammunition and provisions. The detestation of the Portuguese to the French is 60 gr aeof ts that Captain Jones and myself, after having begged the life in the French Intendant of Police, had the greatest difficulty conveying him a prisoner to the boat, and the unbounded love and respect for the English, alone prevented the 'Paged popu lace from tearing him to pieces. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) C. A. CREEXE. 1(c, Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, Bart. Comm ander in Chief, f Extract of a Letter from Captain Digb, o hi s pliVest,y's ship the Cossack , addressed to the Right Honourable Lord Gam ' bier, sitinsirel of the Blue, &c. and t ransmitted by his Lea I ship to the Honourable Wellesley Pole. at . • vernal:, and he French, leagues of other, and ho, and the tiarck, ha%e from their ,elides %; hat one hundred h, are form- s join them. ncy the Go- b o f the pa- ns of a large Englishman, idge, in case though bitch hien is made ve at present is so great, d the life of difficulty in l outnledlo p :e Raged po . 4. CreErxr• 7/de.f• •C, letirst,y's 840 Lord Got- hs . MI Lord. _ . 456 JULY IT. ;~ P