The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1808-12-03 00:00:00

LISBON PATERS.

mason, xor. 13.

- _
On the 13th of this month the nierchuuts of this
city, met, by appointiocut, at the Palace of Govern-
ment, when the Secretary of State, charged with
the general inspection and direction of the Royal
Treasury, delivered the &Hoeing speech, which
seemed to perfectly meet the patriotic ideas and
loyal sentiments of the gentlemen present :
" The state of the nation, with reglad to the
public revenue, is well known to all those whom I
have the pleasure to address. The perfidy and
treason with *lnch this kingdom was invaded, op.
pressed, and despotically usurped, are attested by
facts, which stid strike horror to the mind of all
good and loyal Portuguese. But let u. throw a
veil over nti•fortuuea %bid' are past, and of! er up
our thatiksg;vings be Divine Providence, who has
you, healed to liberate us, as it were, by a miracle,
from our ferocious enemies.

“ Among all t lasses of the people which have cow.
tributed to the exigencies of the state, the respect -
utrit hooey 1104 before me ha. greatly diatingui,hrJ

itself, under circumstances which threatened t•e
destruction of the army; these ctiebitistsuces do no
longer exist, a.lll the loyalty and.pounitism wh:ta
have at all times formed a distingutshnig natioiel
characteristic of the Portuguese. wit' not Le
less auspicious at the present time, when the gees.
tion is to defend the country, to preserve our reli-
gion and the throne, and to ataert our independ.
once as a nation ; and who is there who would rii,t
contribute. to, the utmost of frs means, to promote
a cause so just, so inclitopeossidri and so glorious?
Life itself must he sacrificed to the preservation
of
our country ; we cannot ,Len refuse to devote
port of oar property and fortunes to assi►t the
vessel of the state to weather the tremendous
storm with which it is still threatened. The
public Treasury is stAl in the exhausted state
in which it was left by our voracious invaders, a
nd
the remotreett of many provinces are drained by the
indite elate- they made to resist and annihilate tit
despotism by which they were oppressed; mid la
this state of the public treosnry and the conntry, an
army most be formed and maintained, fot the pee.
servutioa of the Portuguese Aloitarchy, the her*.
sary and indispensable charge of which amounts to
an enormous sum.

" The Prince Regent our Lord COllllllBllll5 oar to
have recourse to the donations which the Cu.oi
Body generously wishes to contribute fur
the preselvation of his royal throne, our religion,
and our country•. The name of a loan, and pro-
mises of interest, would he illusory exiiressious, of
which I never can make tee., -without caleulatiag
the possibility, and indeed certainty, of reii-
giously fulfilling the conduit/1i offered. lit the
present urgent circumstances, what I have the ho.
nour to propose, is the Royal name of the Prince
liegeut our Lord, is, that all shall contribute ac-
cording to the anilities of each, (since these csmoot
atsvays equal the ardent patriotism which animater
loyal and Portuguese hearts) ; that we shill, I
say, contribute donations for the defense of the
kingdom, for the formation and maintenance of an
army, at the times and in the manlier which shall
be most suitable to individual circumstances ; do-
nations, annual donations, donations by instalments,
by notes tp become due ot certain times; dona-
tions during the war, in the manner that shall be
judged convenient for the subsistence of the army,
and the assistance of an exhausted treasury ; these
donations being solely and directly destined for the
use of the army, shall be exclusively applied to
the military objects. They shall not be confounded
with, nor enter into, the Royal treasury, but shall
be received and registered in a separate chamber,
and in a book appropriated for that purpose, in
the presence of two Merchants (who *say assist is
their turns), of tlreAccountants•Gencral of the same
Treasury,and of s Secretary. who shall make up the,
accounts. All payments and receipts shall be made
in die' general treasury of the troops of the kingdom.
and deposited is a coffer, scoured by three keys, and
at the same time entered into a book expressly pro-
vided for that perpo.e. This treasury shall he re-
mused from Belem to a part of the Royal eilifiie
of the commercial axchauge, for better conveuience
and security.

" l dedare. finally. that the Prince Regent ago!
Lord has authorized me to• entme. and goleiunly
to proir.i,e, that ever/ six nonths there shall he
published aldithfal and exaet prii;ted acc.oont of
all ou:ns received and expended for the use of the
army. /by thy satisfaction of the whole nation, i 0
dl as of a!I oho way be either debtors cr (At:di:-
ors to this mtl itur account; with that Sexed
alairh form, the °illy ipritaitnent and solid 1,.u.s
of public credit, Alit' the prosperiti of nations."

THE BRITISH PRESS.

1 .ON DON,
SATCRDAY,•Dscsrasa 3.

RETREAT OF BLAKE'S ARMY TO LEON-115
PROBABLE JUNCTION HMI THE BRITISH
ARM UNDER GENERAL BAIRD.

We ye.terilay .announced, LICLUSIVELY, upon
the authority of an express from Portsmouth, the
arrival at that port, ou Thursday afternoon, i.f La
Bonne Citoyenne, with advises from Cormina of
Saturday. the Stith last, coutiiiimig intelligence
from BLAGICI army of the 24th. By this vesvl
we have received Coronas papers of the
from which it appears, that General BL•Klet artily
has effected its retreat, with its artillery, from
Reynosa to Leon, where it expected to form a
junction with the British turves under General
Rua.. It is also stated, that the artillery of the
army of Extremadura has been preserved. From
this we may presume that the army has been de-
feated. %%le did not undenitalid timid the main army
had been engaged. It was merely stated, that its
advanced corps amounting to J or 4000 men, had
been driven back from Burgos. On the tid last,
Gen. BAIRD was still at Asturga. Private letters
from dint place, of the ei.t, state that the French
had pushed their advanced posts as far as Beue-
recite. Should this be the fset, they must, if sup-
ported, have interposed ln.tivinai Gen. flairio's
forces at Astorgs. aunt thus under Gen. Mortar.
advancing by Salamanca. BAIRD hsd Dot, si
the latest arcomits. tanned a jimetimi with the ten,
mint of BLARL'S arise at POO ; dot
th•ng th.l cuaid prevrui it. Ala rref.lblti inter.