The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-11-14 00:00:00

; ~ . • a SULISTINc;I3 OF TIIE. STATEMENTUF l'IlE TYRO!. DEPtiIIES. I l ls , county of Tyrol a d the seven principali ties of the Voralberg have, for a series of code. ties, consti.sited all here.litary portion of the Im.. perial House of Austria. The people inhabiting • these countries distinguished themselves in every war by such undtunted valour, that the Emper ors successively conferred upon them very canal d..rable privileges. During the seventeenth and the I.ist,centuries, when the Swedes, French, and li:sariatis made such rapid advances in the G,T. rule V.:npire, these provinces always repulsed the enemy with considerable loss. In the year 1703. particularly, when the Bavarian army had 'pene trated into the Tyrol, it was so ill received, that sear , ely a few remained •to attend their Elector batk. The attachment of the Tyrolean, and Vo. ralbergers to their Emperors was always firm ; for they governed them with signal and paternal mild ness, faithfully preserving th,:ir privileges. Thus, though tint blessed either with a ()Akio's% climate, or a fertile soil, eaese pastoral nations, trot aware of their poverty, led a very contented and happy life in their cottages, until the war of the French Ituvoluiiou broke ant. Tie 'allies were inhabit ed by thousands of persons, who, before that fdiot!, had never seen a soldier ; but thence. orward I , t hole .aiaaies trauma their orsesitryi some proceeding to she Interior of Germany, and others going to Italy. The poor inhabitants furtaished the:a gratuitously with 'provisions and all sorts of necessaries, and thereby pot them selves to g4at inconvenience. -Still, they not only refrained from murmurs, but eviseed their loyalty by the erection of a corps or Tyrol and Voral berg chaisetirs, culled it the Tyrol Ficidyagers," —all of them volunteers and natives ; who, in aciddion in their •ay, were allowed by their coun try trine creutze'rs earl man daily. It is to be 'observed, text the male population in those moon. taiva is, from.its eighth year, trained to the use of the gun, by IN dine, as well is firing at taigets. Sue' *iiperior mark7inen, as tnii ancient piactice makes of ben, inust; it may easily be supposed, proves gr•aat ad lithe' sty army. In fact, they have ref uireommouly signalized themselves in all the Austrian stars. Yet they could tort stem the current of disistor which ove.twheltned the arms of their 4riverienimt, and in 1791 the enemy ap proached their frontiers. The Emperor now surnmow...d his brave and be. loved Tyrol or Vat-sib-erg inibj..-cis, reunincliag then of their ancient fame for sharpshooting.— . But this had stiticiitated the summons by drgs. &Bing, of their am(' accord, a !cry en wart. They itasteuvd to the defence of the frontiers, end thus preserved their countries free from inva sion. In 1798, the enemy again attempted to make • inroads hien Daly, Switzerland, the Grisons, and Swabia. He only succeeded on the side of the Grisons, where the passes were but weakly guard the "sin force had been dispatched towards Swabia and Italy, where the enemy, likewise, Ives strongest. Still the 'wafters kept only roar ..mss postbesinn Atthillititschgas, when they were vigorously driven back upon the Gairosis and the Engadine, though, in their retreat, they pilla g ed anti burnt the toe es of Mak anrlGiarens. War having again broke out in 1799, their lion. tiers were also menaced. The inhabitants ionise. diataly repaired thither to guard them and he 1800, when Marshal Masses* had crossed the Rhine near Fadkirk, i4s the VoraUaerg, with a very superiorantl victorious force, he was there, as well as near the .ai:runst impregnable mountain. fortress of At. Lneiensteig, so completely defeated, alto lose several thousand in killed and prisoners, besides a great quantity of field pieces and ammu nition. They also dispossessed him of the Gri. mons, and pursued him, 141 company with (nicer troops, as far as Zurich. After a fe.v years quiet, the flames of war re-' hinuled more furiously than ever iii 1801. The inhabitants of the Tyrol ,end 'VoraLserg were at once attacked on every side, so as to be rendered dubious whither to carry relief first. Noteith standing flue enemy was valorously checked at livery point, and satfertel, especially on the banks of the Schartrits, a dreadful discatniture. Unfortunatey their individual bravery could not retrieve the general cause. By the terms of the armistice entered into after the disastrous bat tie of Ilohenlinden, the Tyrol and Voralberg, 'countries that had constantly bid defiance ,to she victorious troops of France, were surren. dercd as pledges I It was then that the real . hardships of these poor, mountaineers began.-• ,Their harrea countries, even before drained of their little pittance, were now obliged to maintain a body of French troopt, in addition to a corps of Austrians. The savage foreigners were desti. tote of every thing, and all their wants were to be supplied. This dreadful calaMity lasted three months, a calamity which the ever essuhthles! Ty- , reticle and Voralbergers imagined to have little deserved by their firm attachmeat to the Em. I peep s. Benaparta's insatiable ambition haying stirred up war once more in 1805, he• ordered the Ty rolese and Vorsibergers to be attacked in every poiut. MarshaliNey, on the banks of the Scher. ni4, repeated his attack thrice. He WO driven back with immense slaughter. The same fate shared the Bavarian Generals Deroy and Sibbein, who made a vigorous assault upon Kufstein sad the pass of Struts. These efforts, however, were unable to counter poise the dit•estrous sidiender of Ulm by General . black, and the calamitous issue of the eegagement of Austerlits ; in consequence of whisk, Bona.. parte, in the peace of Praiser& made the cession of the Tyrol and Vorsiberg an express condition. It is nut in the power of language to describe the feelings of the honest 'fyroteans and Vora!_ Bergen at thb receipt of this melancholy in gene , .. Ever since 1791, whim the Revolutionary war began, their brilliant victories had not been sullied by any defeat. They were an heroic peo ple in the literal sense of the word. let the re-I ward of their loyalty was 'fate which usually falls to the lot of the dastardly. To render their cala laity more poignant, visas indigent 4191Alirth • ... found themselves involved in the immense debt of twenty millions of florins. The emperor of Austria ei I what he could to alleviate this heavy misfortune; he stipulated, that the privileges of the TyrOlese and Voralbergers shOuld remain entire. But is there any one so credulous, pr so ueitifornied of the grand events's of the day, as to suppose, that Bonaparte could be bound by any engageMents ? Faithful only to his usual treachery, he no sooner had the invin. cible Tyrolese and Voralbergers in his grasp, than he imposed upon them contributions of every kind, without remitting a single creutzer ; and . having taken this barbarous revenge, he surren dered them to his recently.ereated King of Bavaria.' This prisiniOn his, tura, made a point of impo. eerishing saVoppressing his new_ acquisitions. Not satisfied' with raising heavy Contributions, he overthrew their ancient constitution, which they had observed for a series of ages ; abolished the represented's 'States, in tinder to obstruct the way to all popular retnoristaances, and seir;tl the , provincial, pupillary, and credit.fiinils. lie more ' over confiscated all acclesiaatical property, she ' Ilshe.l the prelacies and convent:ll l 'mA sold all pub lic buildings to replenish his empty coffers. What ' proved more painful to the inhabitants than all these oppressions, was the disposal of the ancient and' creighisi - easete irt - theCothts" irtit Tyr01.. . , Every successive month was marked with a list of new exactions and taxes, that were levied with the utmost rigour. Coin fiad become uncom monly scarce, and the Bavarian Government. en hanced the embarrassment, arising from this cir. etenstance, by depreciating the Auitrian bank. ',ills, which were still'in circulation, to one lielf of their nominal value. This operation caused to the counties in question a fresh loss, amounting to at Icast twenty millions Of florins. To crown all these oppressive measures, Bare. via had it in contemplation to change the very names of the provinces of Tyrol and Voralberg l , by calling them after the principal rivers, and in corporating them with her own dominions. 1 These excessive hardships lasted three years. Petitions and complaints were not only rejected, but by an express law absolutely 'prohibited. . When, therefore, in the befouling of the cur. I rent year, it appeared certain that a new contest between Aqstria and France was inevitable, the intelligence was gce:Aed by the poor Tyrolean. and Vorribergert, as the rising sue is hailed by the I shepherd. Scarcely had they received the news of the actual innvements of the two hostile armies, before they ruse in* mass. Their outset was bril- ' tient beyond expectation. The troops of the enemy sent against them consisted of 27,000 men, whom ' , they resointely attacked in all points. Their victory was complete, those of the enemy' who I escaped with their lives being either wquntled or taken prisoners. Among the'lattcr ware two Ge. ' literals; the sharpshooters took, besides; a quan. City of ammunition, arms, and several stand of colours. ' This numerable battles was fought on the 10th and Ilth of April last s The muskets( it beetled - solely to the valorous in ha. bitatts of the Tyrol and Voralberg; fur the regu lar Austrian army, hastening to their relief, did not join them before the 13th of April; it was re. ceived by the conquerors with drums beating and colours flying, while shouts of joy, and " long live our beloved Eviler= Francis,' rent the air. Those who know thimilduess of Bonaparte's temper will be able to conceive an idea of the ins. pressien which this news made upon him. He in. 'gently directed Marshal Lefebvre, supported by the Bavarian Generals Wreck, Deruy, anil Sib. bein at the head of '13,000 men, to march against the +yrojese by the way of Salzburg. General Ruses, with 8000 men, was ordered to advance from Italy, while. General Ferron approached from Carinthia, and General Marmont from Bs yetis and Suable, with from six to seven thousand troops more. This was certainly's formidable force, which, would have con q 'and even annihilated any other two nations elf equal numbers. Tho conflict, indeed, was obsti nate and terrible; But the enemies were de. feated, all but Lefehere, whose force was too large, and Wain° &rastations end cruelties were such as to spread terror every *here. He burnt towns and villages, and gave quartet to no one. The aged were suspeeded from trees, and thee shut. The pregnant 'ranee were even rips up and their breasts cut off, while their 'embryos were cranithed down their • throats to put an end to the shrieks apes moaning, of the wretched vic tims. If a Tyrolese or Voralberger, bearing arms, had the misforture to fall into their hands, they immediately tore opt his tongue. The chit. dreh were cut down without mercy, and most fre quently carried about, vansfixed with bayonets. A number of these innocents happening to return from school, were met with and driven by these monsters into some barns, 'and beret elite.' . ~_•• I Lefebvre and his can imagined tolitiltbii ' to intimidate the T)rolepe and Varalbergers by `such cruelties ; but they had the very opposillsid. fict. The Tyrolese sharp -shooters now ztsembted bloodthirsty lions ; they rushed upon Lefebvre, and totally defeated ;rigs • thousands of the enemy were slain ; said the General, accompanied only by .a few remitatito of his great force, sought safety in an ignominious flight,. directed towards Vienna. The result of this complete victory was, that the Tyrol and Yorafberg, being now free from their invaders, served as an asylum to those Aus. trian prisoners who had been taken by the French at Ratisbon, Aspern, and lisslingen, and who found little difficulty in awaking their-incept. About ten thousand profited by this opportunity : they were nearly naked, and the eapence of clothing and arming them atiew proved no small burden to their hospitable friends. , Another advantage of this victory displayed it. self in the superior courage with which it inspired the conquerors. They now sallied forth beyond' their frontiers to seek the enemy. In Bavaria they advanced as far as Munich, the capital city. In Suabia they took Lanipten, pushing on beyond Mentming pod Ulm. In Italy (hey proceeded to within a few miles of iNrotia ; and some eorpt - overrun Carinthia and Selaburg, then already in the power of the imerny s ,ect,iss i tio. become to: great degree masters of those enasultries. Notwithatandingthese sat-eases, tllb cowg i , were guiky of no &jetties or acts of ooKriapips. Nut a single tiousq,seas pillaged by them oi espio barn laid in ashen. No peasant was ever , itatil .prisoner or insulted. The wounded en end ,rep particularly taken care QC It was the usual . tiro to carry them on shoulders into some hod, .the Tyrolese and Voralber ger s ac t e d throughoit from an honourable ambition, to shame their creels enemies, and convince them of the superior huma. nity of poor German- mountaineers. Neither France nor any of her allies can adduce a single instance of their prisoners having been ill-treated,- either in the Tyrol or Vuralberg, thnugh the pri. goners from either country were tortured, mur dered, or ill-used by the French. All these glorious achievements, howeverecould not arrest the progress of the enemy in other quer. ters. In fine, an armistice was again concluded. The corps of Austrian troops left ill the Tyrol, and' consisting for the must part of the above. mentioned refugees, was suddenly recalled, and carried away all the ordnance and ammunition which the Tyrolese had taken. Thus the latter found themselves compelled i abandon their con. quests, and satisfy themselves with guarding tkir I own frontiers. Lefebvre, Rusca, Ferron, and other Generals, penetrated once more as far as Inspruck, the capital of the Tyrol, repeating their former de. vastatious and cruelties. But the indignation ex. cited by the re.appearance of those inhuman chief. was sorb, that the very women, whose business had hitherto been confined to conveying the pri. soners to places of safety, assembled in numbers end put to death 040 of the enemy near Landeck ; and though the whole force of the enemy amounted to about thirty thousand, they were atta c k e d by the Tyrolese and Voralbergers, who bad risen en masse, with such irresistible fury, that those who - saved themselves by flight, were pursued to a great distance, so as to bo unable, during the space of twenty.four hours, to allay their thirst Kith a draught of water. It was in vain that Bonaparte, on bearing this new disaster of his arms, detarheitMasalials Mat. donakl and Bessieres, with picked-40U the Tyrolese. They were routed trod return. - - Front the concurring accounts In the _ Germau, and iireiich papers, which are capital Wu the &lily prints of Landon, it is pl4ceil be. yowl all doubt, that the Tyrolese and .Voralber. ger, persevere in their obstinate resignce to the Fieuch and their Allies. They are indeed now free, but at thetrePence of very uncommon sacrifices. Numbers' 'Of them mourn their fathers, brothers, and sons, ant slain In battle, hut for the most part murdered in an inhuman manner. Four towns and 26 flourishing villaaes aro reduced to heaps of ashes—not to , Ilictitiou the destruction of a large number of de illehed cotter*. These calamities are. telt °more IlieWhly in 11 climate which is very far from being taw. The mountain of the Tyrol and Voral. berg have ever since the beginning of October, leen covered with snow and ice. The inhabitants, though accustomed to subsist upon the hardest lire, can, after so many devastations, pillages, conflagrations, and hardships of eveitiy kind, scarcely get wherewithal to satisfy theheravings of nature. Multitudes at this moment tie happy in being allowed some little comer is 'crowded barn, stable, or Init. ..use ' In spite of all' these sufferings, they are fully' determined never to listen to any accommodations with Bonaparte, or consent to be again governed, by the iron sceptre of Bavaria. This;deteriniisa. lion, though it appears rash, eon be satisfactorily accounted fur, from the above stated cruelties, ex. actions, and oppressions. All, to a man, trained to the most skilful use of the rifle ; inured to the itirlemencics of the seasons; defended by liege mountains accessible to none but thealseires ; sur. 'rounded in every direction be, and allied to moult. taineers that are animated' with the same lore of independence ; reared up and happy is po verty ; religions virtuous front habit; utter strangers to luxe ry ;• prefer rlittlo4r barren MQ.;II. Ulm to the most fruitful soils-- s tud, above all, re. membering thnhorrible outra.tes committed by tbn order of Bonaparte, to whom they base to oppose sale hundred and fifty thousand aharps:sooters, in a poetry where no regular armies can act, •vil whirl they and they altitre know the paths to pro. MO supplies, if they have but the means to pur. 'base them. Such a hardy, stubborn, amid Ali. letic rare of mee are very formidable enemies.— tech they have certainly proved to France. and no police which their beloved Prince may h ite hem compelled to toter into, will induce (huh to be come a party to it. They are firmly resolved either to conquer or die. Lts • SCIIOEl4l“eliElt. Londrio, Nov. 1.1. 1809. • • MULLEN, bt ;Or. A report having beeo circulated that Lord Er.. woe was likely to withdraw from the contest. for tie Chancellorship of the University of Oxford, )k We arc authorized to give it this public cuntradic. 6 and to assure the Members of Convocation Nhat it is altogether unfounded. . . . Extract of a letter, dated Lisbon, Oct._ 06, iktso9.—" Yesterday we had an official comma. siltation of a victory-Rainedover the French by. ..he Dike of PARQUE, near Salamanca, where it wins theffpaa' ish troops behaved extremely welt. To balance this, welave heard to-day, howeeet, that General VINIOAS has been totally defeated c aver Aranjues. Tu.morrow Lora WELLINGTON mete out to join the army. It is unde,rstood that statement *as presented to his Lordship, a few' clays since, of She Portuguese army ow on ear vice, exclusive of the Lisbon Militia, &c. whilst it appears amount to 80,000 men. The. sOlcuia. vino of the expence of pr9vichog than horses, pro. visions, &c. ansoun.s to fifteen millions crimm o i Itoes per annum,. Rant their pay, it i‘ prep, .will come to as mech. 'inwards this heavy is pence, it appears the revenues will only odowLitt the utmost about ten millions; the deficit UMW come from sorme:ehefe t or the army he handed." THE sTATtstviAN. , : p , v de ,hair _~ • xt~ • 11 7 :11{. ooffitl(..ii• ' 1 , 0 3111121 1 "a*t TO SUBMIT THE TOLLOWSNIP 16 ' - 'r) itifitts TO OUR READERS.) lill n.:!ri c alarit English fighting for? 2. *kat'lntie Seen the motives and objects of -who are the abettors and promo. • Irma 'O Afar ? 1 ."2.* TPO.w - fsre we account for the apparent a pa titriisg.inilirference of the great mass of the pro. pie, to the destructive, impoverishing, and truly calamitous effect •rf this long-protracted war? 4. Who are the persons that prefer war to ' peace ? What are their situations, and what do they gain by instigating, and continuing in war. fare? 5. Could not a general peace be easily and rea -1 dill - established? and would it not greatly coo. duce to encourage commerce, literature, the fin* arts, and general comforts of mankind ? 6. If it be clear, that such a peace, as can ea sily be obtaiaed, would tend to mitigate the hard ships, which the middle and lower daises of ao. ciety now labour tinder, and which must greatly increase by continuing the war, why dues tat the Executive Government make some overture', •r adopt some measures, to obtain Ms great end ? And if they still persist in the familiarly destrue. I tire system, why do mot the people petition kit Majesty to employ such Ministers, as will pay some respect •to the wants and wishes of the country ? Is it not trnly linsentsble, that so many years ishould elapse, and the same unwise, unmeaning, and undeterminate system be persisted in? If a few of the literary characters of the king.. dons, whose minds ougbt to be attuned to peace, and who should exert their influence to ostain it s would strenuously direct their peas to this sub ject, at the present crisis, it is conceived, that the, woulciefect, not only a great national bat good.—NoUinghans Review. I . • TIIZ:iIACO7V 'YELLER, A BARONET. •„•,.. • 1 I;los;atee Istacknatnihton, going out to ledl a is a digg a and Captain Ja..tee ~.thu' Wood, of , iriiiii Nt• v, Mitre had . I honour of Knight. tood conferricl 1 1 diem ; the tunuer on assuming juianation of greft:4portaisce, and the latter for his dititinguishedlaintry at thepapture of Cura. visa. At thelierrWme time the hereditary title ..i Baronet wasi‘ bestowed by the Sovereign upon Cita : ales Flower,. Lord 'Mayor and Bac in.seller f fur— w hat ? —his: distingui‘he! altatoment to the hiiitistor all the day. • This is this poor creator, t•lvvateil ingsak-ebove those gallant di:tenders of their Country, Sir C. Stuart, Sir Situ. Smith, and many other oflcyrs t itvho have passed their best days and shed their best blood in their country's s..rsice! Sir Sidney Indeed, rho only Englishman that ever stopped for au instant the career of 80. naparte, is nut an Engtfstrttrilght, he has only o Swedish title. Behold the beautiful, British ad. sgee of Ministers!—Whet, in t! 1 wane of teed eeiscy, has this flacon Contractor done, that he should be put above the thousands of gallant fel. Tows in the army and navy, who daily risk their lives in a pantry service? What, we repeat, 1145 he done—miittat single public action has be per.. formed, whlah should entitle him to such, or io. deed gill public honour.: To be sure, he was villidatowarthy the confidence of his fellow citi. trel4, ad this-alnoesmast endear hint to sack an , s i iidaihtistrhtlos as kkgidiresoot.—(Ghtsgota Gen. f . r i • • , .-. S WIND LING. ....1•1111ano... • T.he4diavainittiekhas recently been played off in ihe r femily ,elf Mr. Brown, shoe.ciabx, hi (tlael.fnars f load :—the mother of Mrs. Brown, it appears, resides at Danstable. A few days since 4 woman called on her, 4.id represendisg herself to be the imamate tricot! of her tlaueoter, said sins was come to Danstable on . h:tsines. which would of bey two or three dap, and during that tlia' she should be happy to take up her abode with her dear .1 riend'i mother ; she mentioned so many circumstances relative to Mr. B.'s family, that chead lady was deceived, gave her an invite• tibn, and thought she could not treat so intimate a friend of 'her daughter too well ; during her stay site found a pretest to borrow ..some clothes and money of the xiltl lady, and leaving Dunstable at i the cod of three days without beat of drum, in her haste forgot to return either. lattoediately on leaving Dunsta'ile, she, it appears, made the best of her way to Mrs. Brown's house in town, where she assumed a new character, and became the dear friend , uf the 'mother, 'end hick all the symptoms of grief which a dear friend might he supposed to feel on such an occasion, announced the recent death of that worthy old lady, to .yes. ji.'s fapiily, observing at the same time, Mums*/ bad some bossiness which would detain her Sib town tali u- three days, she would trespass on thane hospitality, and return with them to the funeral. Mr. B. and his family accordbigly provided thew. selves with mourning, and every thing was pea. pared fur their leaving town. About au how, however, before the coach set off, they were sae. p r ised by the appearanct of the old lady is parfeed kealth, come to tows is pursuit of heetlaughter's dearfriend. The old lady was no less surprised at the paraphenselia of woe which her son's house displayed—gq I srp/opiation, however, moon wok place, whedit was i thrgataretl, that although Mrs. B. bad Alit tolbibient the of her mother, yet 1 she lail i ti Oilier taiiehi"dt g 4 3 , her milker': dear t e lir' f' t 1 ,Laving that mortis ' borrowed her beat hr . .gap alfishassi r and t fogy pouuds in t itli al . , tepas notiye.4otrid an opportgrity e r k c f • o •• et . The 94agingi . A.ilvertisenasht has appeared i s Allis Hull fiNeri—r- .r TNICATaa Rev AL, lIIILL.—. WILItIsSom is sorry f a , base to ruilkeinre 1. 1 th e Pewit-, sh at in run.eriae of the I NEW TREATTIE (winch env essitracted to he eutuple..ed to fill. regret Nl,Atia of Nuseuilier) being to a very barb_ward •L•e, it will be liupuss:Wr to Nave it raorangia) aired i 10111 scacq ler Cie reci t iton of leis Friends, Yarn alter the I Easter Hulida•.. 1 NoseasitatiO, Ilis. . . • ve ' 4 .. 1 1 . , • I / ' " 4 r` _` to : s, *.:- ( • p ~~ 1 I .1 ~_