The National Register. — London, England, 1808-10-24 00:00:00

v OCT. 24. r -- - usurped title to the Crown of that country, and that King __ FERDINAN D be restored to his subjects. wit __.y, That ...-VRAT should abandon Napks to the lawful Sovereign. sdly, That the Mice Ton of Retie CASSEL, the PRINCE of ORANGE, the Delis of Bavisswict, and the Kara of -PRIDSSIA I should be put in re-possession ,of their former dominions. 4thly, That Finland should be restored to the gallant KING of SWEDEN. And, lastly, we insist on the restitution of Hanover.—We have a right, and a very justifiable one, to insist on much more; however, we are willing to renounce those preten sions, in order to give peace to the nations who arc now groaning under the scourge of a ruthless Tyrant. But is there any man in this country insane enough to believe the insolent, haughty Upstart has any other object in this farce of seuding messengers, than to deceive ALEXANDER ; or, in concert with that unfortunate Monarch, to endea vour to sanction the pretended necessity of some nefa rious project he is about to embark in ? We admire the conduct and moderation of our Government in allowing those men to land. They acted with wisdom in suppress ing their indignation, and condescending to read the con tents of the dispatches. Had they sent them back un opened, there is not an honest, or au honorable man in the country who would have blamed them. It 'is a folly to speculate on the subject. Just Heavens ! When we recol lect the missions and promises of Marshal Bysst ERES to K two ham NAND, we cannot conceive how we had the resolution to stain our columns with any serious reflections relative to the sincerity of a rtian whose whole life is one tissue of falsehood, treachery, deception, and atrocity. Peace and .reconciliation with that man !—We might as well enter into a treaty of amity with the liangry tygcr. Never will he forgive us our virtue, our commerce, our freedom. It is madness to negotiate, or to answer the dispatches. The injury that will ensue from such imprudence is incalcu hie. The Spaniards will be tortured with suspicion if another messenger is allowed to land on our shores. Why did we make a difference between a Russian and French Messenger ? If Alexander had been•sincere in his overtures he would have made them from his capital, unclogged by French influence ; but in making them from Erfurt!), he has no other object in N icw than to insult our Government, by confessing his perfect acquiescence in the projects of the Enemy. That this circurustanoe has been noticed by no other Paper is surprising.. Bonaparte vaunted, before -his departure from Paris. the friendship' subsisting between him and Alexander; and, in order to let this country know that what he advanced was perfectly true, he requests that infatuated Sovereign to send a messenger as the bearer of pacific dispiitches. The moment we heard of the arrival of the Messengers we had not a doubt relative to the object they were sent for ; which was no other than an insolent, triumphant display of the dependence of Russia ; a wish to turn aside the attention of the Continent from the disgraces be suffers in Spain, and a desire to excite some jealousy be tween that country and this. He knows very well we will lint, nor cannot, listen to his overtures*:. but he hopes, if me should have the fully to receive more of his dispatches to keep Austria in suspense, and, perhaps, compel her to submit to some ignominious conditions. The Messengers having delivered their dispatches were given into the hands of Mr. Shaw, one of the Messengers of the Foreign Department, with orders that he should take them t o his own house, and give them every accommcda- Con in his power. At an early hour on Saturday mornings • r 1, CSI ~,..... - _:...1 • . THE NATIONAL REGISTER. passports for those Officer* were seni troni the foreign Office, and at a few minutes after eight , o'clock they set off in a chaise avid four from Mr. Shaw's house, in Pimlico, for Deal. They were but a few minutes gone, when Mr. Shaw proceeded to Mr. Canning's office, and about three hours after he was seen to pass over Westminster Bridge in a chaise and four, from which it is supposed ise followed the two Foreign Mes4engeli. Respecting the Latter, var . - ous rumours pre ailed yesterday and the preceding 44ay. It Was said, that both the Messengers were 11ns:dons, and that the French Officer, who arriv ed in the flag of truce, had been sent on board a ship of war in the l.onais. We can undertake to say, that of the tvvo Courier.; who arrived on Friday night, one was a Russian, and the other a man. The former was clothed in a rich uniform and the latter, who was plainly dressed, was recognized by several persons about the Foicign Office. Intelligence was received on Friday, by the Iris frig ate from Spain. It proses the falsehood of a report. s%tiich was very provident, a few days ago, of an engagement having been fought on the Ist inst. ; in which the bpa were said to have sustained a very considerable loss. The positions of the two armies are such, however, that we may expect from one day to another, news or the !ighe.3t. portance. The following letter from a iiritish (Aker, '% accompanies the army of General Blake, and has conse quently every means of obtaining- authentic information., will be read with interest. It contains a very circumstan tial account of the positions and relative of the French and Spanish armies. The letter is as fofldws: TRIAS, SEI'T. `i7, 1808.7 " As a courier is just setting out, I take the opportunity to inform you, that every thing goes on here to - the inmost of our wishes. The army of Ca-taros is at Levitt. A few days will bring the enemy to a general action, the result of which cannot be doubtful. Great discontents prevail among the evenly ;. and ;hey also labour under a scarcity of provisions. This army gives a little disquiet to the right ; we shall close them to-mor row. I yesterday went with General Blake, close to .the ad vanced posts in order to recognuitre from a hill near Ona. We plainly saw all the line and position in Nairanda and its vicinity. Blake sees clear. " The order of the enemy seem to be thus, (to use the words of a Lieutenant Colonel, who deserted from the Frencit at VII ' toria) ; Au yid elte s'est borne en appuyant les epaules de son centre an Fort de Pampelune„i , ur proteger sees defiles dans lc eas que lnm ne puisse sc tenir stir L'Ehro.—The right ap pose on the defile of l'ancorbo, irs contre being at Miranda nth Ebro, the head-qm.rters of tho 5.,1-tii.stipt King. It tiles alt.ng the Ebro to Legrano, the heaa quarters of the centre. The left keeps up the communication ti:Tuye on the little moun tain of Lade, is hick is the head gnat ter- of Marshal .tloncey, Ilis corps he says, is destined to keep in check Loreggo, a tat to observe the Spanish corps at Callaborra and T %%100 threatens he says, to coo oft the communic:ition bet tt ern (be left and the centre of the French army. " This French Olticer adds, that there are in left of our side 10,000 men centre, 18,000 right. 15,000 : 60 pieces of field artillery—nor does be diminish. According to thi , state ment, we are three times stronger than the enemy. Caiition, indeed, is to be (Amerced in gicing credit to the statement of a Frenchman. —Timed Irlanao.s el deems i'erenles. Now let me give you the amount of the Spanish force a rll. Infant qt. Castano's Army . . . . 2, - )00 OlO Blake's ditto . . . . tiso `i:-„000 Cuesta's . . . . 1,500 ..... . 10,000 Llamas's . . . . 800 Palafox's 500 " In Asturias here are 18,000 men; besides armies of reserve are forming in all the provinces to supply the respective (wet,. — After this enumeration of our forces, can any fears be felt for the result of the first general action." According to this letter, the Spanish force, already .. . S . 1 1Si . _