The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1822-12-16 00:00:00

the ruins of the country rather than permit any foreign
interference.

The indisputable successes of Mina in Catalonia,
those which Vetasco is expected to obtain iu Arragon,
and Torrijos in Navarre, have excited the greatest en-
thusiasm. In truth, one would say that every thing
has been done to exasperate so magnanimous and he-
roic a nation as Spain, but it may be doubted whether
the advantages that were expected will be derived
from the arms that have hitherto been employed to
deprive it of its liberty. The troubles which hav_e
been excited in Catalonia, Arragon, Navarre, and
Biscay, have only given the Spaniards an army of 60
or 80,000 men, well disciplined, who will be able to
defend their country, without reckoning the great num-
ber of citizens who have already taken arms, and
those who will do so for the same purpose. Men of
a certain party, especially military, whom we have at
Bayonne, deny this truth, and seem to despise a
nation which they boast of conquering : in 1808 we
heard some of Napoleon's soldiers talk in the same
manner, who afterwards found their graves there.
Nothing can be more ridiculous than the accounts
in certain Journals of the pretended successes of the
Royalists: the taking of Salinas, which is but a defile,
with a village containing 50 inhabitants, the blockade
of Pampeluna, the defeat of Torrijos, and many other
absurdities such as we see daily in the Echo du Midi
of Toulouse, the Debals, Quotidienne, and Drapeau.—
The situation of General O'Donnell is so critical, that,
were it not for the severity of the season, we should
already have had to announce his defeat and his return
to France : but these Journals know well that they
are all falsehoods.

We have news from Saragossa of the 30th, stating,
the arrival of an express from Mina, sent from the
camp of Belvir, three leagues from Puycerda, of the
26th November. His dispatches to General Velasco
state that he had summoned the garrison of the fort
of Urgel, but in vain ; that he found some difficulty
in laying siege to it, on account of the great quantity
of snow, which prevented the heavy artillery from
coming up ; but as the besieged had a short supply of
provisions, and could not expect succour, they must
surrender at discretion, in spite of the boasting of
Romagosa, who declared that he would bury himself
under the ruins rather than surrender. Mina has
written to Velasco, that by the Ist December the con-
stitutional flag would be hoisted in all the towns of
Catalonia ; and he desired him to reinforce his posts
on the Cinca, to stop the Catalonian fugitives, who
may seek to enter Arragon.
These accounts have caused great joy at Saragossa,
and the Patriotic Society immediately voted 1,000 pair
of shoes and 500 great coats for Mina's soldiers.
The motions of Generals Rotten and Milani, the
first with 3,000, the second with 6,000 men, are as
rapid as those of the Commander-in-Chief; Velasco is
going first to push vigorously the siege of Mequinenza,
the only remaining support of the factious in Catalonia
and Arragon. He will then scour with his whole
force the province of Calatayud, where the bands
commit the most extensive ravages; but it will be
Idifficult for him to act without reinforcements, which
have been announced.