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.