The National Register. — London, England, 1811-03-24 00:00:00

menced by sending his side of the Zev..re, where a stand under the peotection of his tetes de pont. He will thus have obviated the necessity generally attendant on hurried retreats, of abandoning his can non, and in the same manner secured his magazines, leaving only with the troops what would be neces sary both for their defence and support during their march. Admitting on one side the wild. , m of these precautions, on the other it is possible that they have led him into greater difficulties. Abrantes is in tau possession, as well as the full command of the Tagus. The garrison of that town, reinforced by the divi sion lately commanded by General HILL, and which occupies . the left bank of the river, but which at the very first signal may be easily conveyed over, might without incurring great dangers, reach the banks of the Zezere before the arrival'of the French army, and accomplish the destruction of the corps left to guard the depots of artillery and magazines before it possibly could receive any assistance. Such an exploit would not only reduce MASS NA to the deepest distress, hut would compel him to give battle to our army in the most unfavourable position, " placed between two fires, his line of retreat cut off, and his artillery as well as his supplies captured. Tn such a situation his total ruin must ensue. Trusting in the skill, ze•i!, :.nd activity of the Officers who shared Lordship's dangers and dntiec- with unabated Inlet= •iuring the whole of thccampaign, we en tertain no doubt-that should such a service be at all practicable, it has not only been attempted, but car ried into execution *with the most brilliant sciccess. ACCOUCHEMENT OF THE FRENCH EMPRESS. We suppose the accouchement of the French Exr islVESs has taken place, for on Wednesday last the batteries on the French coast fired , im' x de juie; and. in the evening of the same day, the whole of Bou logne- was illuminated, and a great quantity of fire-works let off. From the great number of guns fired, it is inferred, that the Eiatursss has got a Son. FRANCE AND RUSSIA. Some letters from the North ccmtinne to mention the probability of a war between Russia and 'France. As it will be a war of BUONAPATITEN own seeking, as he will chuse his own time for beginning it, we should pause , a little, before we consider such an event as a subject of rejoicing and congratula tioti. It might open the Baltic and the Russian ports to our commerce ; it might restore the rela tions of amity between this country and Russia ; .bdt is it altely that these advantages would be of long duration ? At presenio though for a time the. - c - - %. 1••• , • •••.... . . •,* •-• Rtissia ate shut against us, yet Governments are not in their hearts hostile to us. But the first consequence of a vc ar between Russia and France would be the anni hilation of the Prussian power. It is sunk indeed ) , it is shorn of its beams, but it is still of consequence to this country that it should not be altogether de stroyed. If Russia were likely to be assisted by Austria, there might be some hope ; but Austria will be thrown decisively into the opposite scale—. She will do that against Russia, which Russia did against her. The Russian troops are excellent ; but they would be outnumbered. Regardless of the waste of life, BUONAPARTE would pour forth against them not only the French troops, but his Rhenish Confederates, his Italian, his Austrian troops, for Austria must in fact be considered as under his .command, though he has permitted his fad/Er in law to retain the nominal Sovereignty. It is to be apprehended also, that he might intrigue with the Porte, to induce her to continue the war against Russia, promising her the recapture of Wallachia and Moldavia, and perhaps some other boon.. 'Whilst the Turks pressed her on one side, he and Austria would attack her on the other, and could she be expected to succeed against such odds ? It is believed that 131.70NAPAii rE has formed the project of making himself master of the whole coast of the Baltic—that he is desirous of tqe itusiau power mere eastward—that be thinks Moscow the proper capital of the Russian Government—and that Petersburgh should belong to some other power—what that power is, we need not particularize. If such be his-designs; if there seems not merely a probability but a possibility of his executing them, ought we to hail a war with Russia as a desirable event ? It may be said, in. deed, that it will neither be retarded nor accele. rated by any thing we can do. True ; but it is still necessary to make the remarks we have made. in order to check those extravagant hopes and ex pect ations which some persons seem too much dis posed to entertain. BANK DOLLARS. On Tuesday last the Directors of the 131nk of England gave public notice that their stamped Dollars would in future be received and issued by them at five shillings and sixpence instead of five shillings. This measure was rendered necessary by the increase in the price of bullion, by which. each of those Dollar-tokens, when melted and sold in bars, afforded a profit of three-pence ; and they were in consequence rapidly disappearing. This alteration has, however, produced on the public mewl an impression which probably had not bees antici- - , • 10,0410910 , 49 TIIE . :NATIONAL REGISTER, heavy aettilery to the left ports of Prussia and i eit is probatle he will make we know that the ( • " -