The National Register. — London, England, 1812-01-19 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. JAN. 19. cribed his misconduct to the situation of his family, he burst into tc,irs. Many ladies were in the gallery, and the Court was greatly crowded. NIGHTLY WATCH, AND POLICE. Mr. RIDER'S motion, on Friday night, it now appears, was not primarily to extend beyond the appointment of " a Committee to consider the present state of the Nightly Watch in the Metropolis, and its surrounding and immedi ate neighbourhood ;" but by the Amendment proposed on the part of Mr. ABERCROMBIE, and grafted on the original motion, the Committee is also very properly directed to "en quire into the state of the Police." Without recapitul•iting the Speeches of those Members who took the most promi nent part in the discussion which preceded the nomination of this Conservative Committee, and without vainly af fecting to anticipate the recommendations which may be the result of its deliberations, we shall confine ourselves to some passing remarks, or, if we may so call them, pro visional suggestions for the protection and preservation of the inhabitants of this capital, and its vicinity. Alarum bells, lights burning by night, searching of premises before retiring to bed, fixing of small bells to the outer-doors and windows of houses, were measures which we not only seriously suggested, but earnestly recom mended. Since, however, according to Mr. Sheridan, not less than , c three months may elapse before the Committee shall come to any efficient determination,—three months, too, of comparative darkness and dread—it becomes ne cessary to keep alive the spirit of parochial vigilance, already happily roused, and to impress upon the inhabitants of this metropolis, more and more, the necessary con viction that their personal security must be acquired by their own solicitude, intrepidity, and toils. Every house holder should be on the alert, courageous, and armed. Masters must not leave their female servants to scream out murder (whilst they themselves stand aloof !) and grapple with the worst of ruffians. Women have set excellent examples in this respect. Though they may fail to kill thieves, they wound and mains them, and the wound points out the thief ! Instead of letting off fire-arms at night, as is the ridiculous practice of many individuals near town, to scare thieves, like crows, let every able-bodied inhabitant keep his gun in readiness to be discharged in cases of emergency within, and provide himself with cutting instruments, that, in the event of thieves breaking in upon him, he may slice and cut them, if not destroy. When things shall be known to be in this state, when preservation has assumed this menacing air, burglaries will become less frequent, because robbers will be fear ful of committing themselves in the way they have done. Secure in their own homes, by acting in this way, persons will have less to fear from without. 41 importance respecting the operations of the armies. The head-gnartters of the Allied Army continued still at Fre neda at the date of the dispatches, and so little apprehen sive were the Officers and troops of any molestation from the enemy, that Lord WELLINGTON and the Officers of his army daily amused themselves with the diversions of hunt-. ' ing, shooting, and other rural sports. We learn with'unmixed satisfaction, by the letters and papers brought by this Mail, that the report received by the previous arrivals, of the great improvement in the health of the sick and convalescents, is perfectly correct. The invalids were rapidly getting better ; and so many had al ready joined their respective corps, that the army was.in a state of the highest efficiency, if it should be summoned in to activity by any sudden or unexpected movement upon the part of the enemy. It does not appear that any material alteration • in the positions of the French armies had taken place since the late changes resorted to by Marshal M A HMOS T, for the pur pose of disposing his troops in mine productive quarters. — This inactivity of the armies, on both sides, is not likely soon to terminate. The accession of strength to the Allies, from the progressive recovery - of the sick troops, must render them too formidable to he precipita.ely assailed; and if MaamoNT must wait for reinforcements, several months may elapse before he can he in a cmndition to take the field with effect. In the mean time, the corps of Gen continues stationary in its old position, watching the motions of the enemy's force south of the Tagus, and keeping an advanced force of two or three regiments in the town of Albuquerche ever since his brilliant dash against GI RA RD. We are happy to . contemplate, the satisfactory nature of the noble exertions made by the guerillas in the various provinces. Whilst MINA can maintain the investment of Saragossa, and contemporaneously encounter with sucass the forces that may attempt to relieve it, the corn munications between the eastern and western .provinces must be difficult and precarious. To form some opinion of the deplorable state of the French in the interior w-e need only refer to the undaunted incursions of the gue rilla parties up to the very gates of Madrid, in one of which they had succeeded in carrying off 30 or 4.0 - of King JOSEPH'S finest mules. The intelligence from Valencia does not reach lower than the 29th of November. At that period, as appears by the accounts now received, SUCHET had not repaired the damage and destruction sustained by his works from a sortie of the garrison on the preceding 19th. Tie French accounts, it will be recollected, which we inserted on the 541 inst. were dated V..kncia, December 2d, but did not notice in any way the fact of this sortie, or the result of the action to which it led. T.iat an engage ment, and ct an obstinate and sangpinary character, took place on that occaiion, there can now be no doubt. We have an account of that fact from such a variety of quarters, and through so many channels, that no doubt can be entertained upon the subject ; and the silence of the French dispatch is satisfactory evidence of its disastrous character to their troops The latest couriers even stated that the French had been driven by the Spanish army ftom Arrabalde lboyara, and oblLed them.. to concentrate themselves in Murviedro, whilst the most sari. r PORTUGAL ;nine expectations were entertained that the Spaniards Letters and Papers to the 22d ult. were received on would strike some great and decisive blow against the Tuesday from Lisbon by the Myrtle sloop of war, which enemy. sailed from the Tagus on that day. Dispatches are aF o Provisions of every description, were abundant in Lfs. said to have arrived by the same conveyance from Lord bon, and at a moderate price. Cargoes or flow and grain VitruLiNcTort, but without supplying any information cf were daily arriving in that port from the ports of America. I