The National Register.
London, England, 1809-09-03 00:00:00

SEPT. 3.

say that the great advantage to be derived from it was the I
opportunity it afforded of retreating from the Peninsula
with greater safety. We ridiculed the account which his
Lordship gave us of the disposition of the Spaniards to af-
ford assistance, and we were almost satisfied of what we
are now perfectly convinced, that we cannot save Spain
from the Tyrant of the Continent.
The last dispatches from that country satisfy us,
that inaugre all the reinforcements that can be sent,
we must abandon the Peninsula. If the account
of the Spanish General's conduct be true, he is a
coward or a blockhead, and we risk every thing by co-
operating with him. If it be not true, there is a disunion
between the Generals, which but for the promptitude of his
Lordship would have already been fatal to our army. We
cannot here avoid noticing the accounts that have been pub-
lisaed in France of the battle of Talavera. We are sorry
that events have contributed so much to their plausibility,
and given them a resemblance to truth.
InterflUrn fucala falsitas (says Lord Coke) in multis.'est
probabilior, et stepe rationibus vincit nudain verilatem."—
And it is an observation, which if we recolleet right, is
made by Isocitalcs in one of his Orations against the
Sophists That it is much easier to maintain a wrong
cause to the satisfaction of the multitude than to establish
a 'doubtful truth." The French Journalists seem to be well
aware of tits, and act accordingly. We can account for
their conduct, but how shall we account for the invariable
success of this artifice upon minds which have been again
and again deceived.—This is a sort of fairy land in reason-
ing. is this success owing to the circumstance of men
growing doubtful of their own judgment and reason, when
they find something can be said in favour of what they
had considered indefensible? Is it that they run along with
the writers if they find a plentiful harvest of imaginary
facts and reasoning, where all seemed barren and unpromis-
ing ? There is, we know, a sort of gloss upon ingenious false_
hood, that dazzles and pleases the imagination, but which
neither belongs to, nor becomes the sober aspect of truths.
What we regret is, that the tyrant's purpose is answered
for the moment; • and this is not all, the impressions made
upon the Imagination, subsist and produce their effect even
after the understanding has been satisfied of their unsub-
stantial and delusive nature. We never wholly relinguish
the belief of what we have been pleased in believing.

Although the affairs of the continent present nothing
new to the politician, they arc pregnant with materials for
.he philosoper. They present a scene of gigantic plunder,
extending itself by degrees, till every thing is swallowed
up, equally successful in the rduou% toi:s of war, and the
intrigues of the cabinet. The indecision of Austria is
ruinous ; peace with the tyrant is impossible ; will
satisfy his revenge; his insatiable ambition ; but :tbject
prostration. And yet we find in this land of comparitive
Leedom, writers who venture to defend this man, asid al-
most to advocate his cause, In what respect does Iho .ia-
nimdation of ktoolvAPAßTE's troops upon the continent
dit.rer from that of the Goths, the Viwdals, and the !inns,
Is hen they cabled destruction before them as they. advauc-
into Gaul, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Africa.
" Vastum übique sSilentium, secreti cones, fornanaia
procul tecta ; nemo eXploratoribus obvius," is what Tad-
tus calls the " faries victoria." In what respect, we ask,
%Wes this dcscr;ption diticr from time effects which have beep

r

produced by that torrent of modern tarbarians,who, excited
by the same ambition, and encouraged by the same success,
pour out fom Life South, ravage the remotest parts of Ger-
many, and extend their devouring eyes to Persia and Indos.
tan. Is it possible, we would ask, that their can exist in this
Country a slave so passive, a bigot so blind, an enthusiast so
headlong, a politician so hardened as to stand up in defence
of a system and of a conduct calculated for a curse to man-
kind. A curse under which (though we are as Jet happily
exempt), so many of the Nations of Europe smart and
groan without thoroughly understanding the nature of
the disease, and wanting energy and courage to apply
the remedy. But the ways of Providence are inscrutable,
they baffle ingenuity, and bid defiance to conjecture ; evea
those circumstances which are most to be deplored, and
which most afflict our sensibility, are those which are
most inexplicable.
When we see a man raised upon the shoulders of the
multitude, become a tyrant in defence of liberty, a plun-
derer for the support of Government, au oppressor for the
sake of humanity, and a vindictive persecutor of his
species for the pretended and imaginary glory of his-God,
we cease to wonder that such a being is a ferocious savage
in the bosom of society; but it requires all. the aids of
reason and religion " to justify the ways of God to man."

We are infinitely more vexed than surprised at the infer.
ration contained in the Gazette of last night, from Lord
CHATHAm,that the " ulterior objects of t he Expedition" must
be abandoned. His Lordship is supported in this determina-
tion by the opinion of a Councilor War. The time which has
been afforded to theenemy by the neglect ()four commanders
in not occupying Cadsand, and the absurdity of paralyzing
our attack upon Antwerp till Flushing was actually reduced,
are now obvious. It will be seen by a reference to the co-
lumns of this paper, that we have had but one opinion, and
that our minds were very early made up on tie subject ;
and we do sincerely think, that our Command rs owe it to
the Ministers by whom they were appointed, they owe it
to the KING, i 4 above all they owe to the wounded ho.
nour of their country, to place beyond all possibility of
doubt, that the delay or neglect which .has enabled the
enemy to collect a
.force sufficient to defeat our enterprize,
was owing to circumstances over which they had uo con-
' trout, and which they could neither forsee or prevent.—
They are bound to prove, that the obstacles now opposed
are insurmountable, and that nothing on their part has
been done, or left undone, to justify the ridicule of the
whole Continent; the eyes of which had been directed to
this great armament as the Messiah, that was coming to
save them.

The anxiety of the Public has been at length relieved
by the arrival of dispatches from Lord WELLtNotoN, which
will be found in the Gazette of last night, dated Deley toga the
Bth inst,—These dispatches iulorm us, that his Lordship
proceeded on the 3d inst. from Talavera in °Merle attack
SOUL-r, leaving the Spanish army under CUeSTAI to keep
Vicroa in check, and if necessary to defend Talavera from
his attack, where the sick and wounded were left under
Cu EsTA's care.--It appears that Cuzii-rA having received
information that the army of SOULT was more considerable
than had been supposed when Lord WELLiseTes left Ta-
lavera, nodunwillia;; V.:44. his Lordship should bear the
'mimic 'moil of the righting iu.this unequal conflict,. he set
out imitit:diately to join the British army, leavin4 the
wounded behind him. When the Spanish General. had
overtaken the British army, his Lordship plainly saw that
nothing could prevent the junction or at least the co-opera-
tion of Soorr and Victors, the ,latter of whom had im-
mediately proceeded to take advantage of Cverres move.

SGB

mews and occupied Talavera. Lord IA
.!EaINGTON had no
altereative left but either to fight the united armies of
France-, or determine to act only upon the defensive till the
losses which his army had sustained in the glorious battle
ed Talavera were repaired by reinforcements, upon which
lie could place a stronger dependence that it -appears
lie was justified •in doing upon the Spanish army.—
Thus situated he lost no time in crossing the Tagus, which
be effected on the 6th at Puente de Arzobispo. The
bridge of Almarez having been destroyed. The defensive
line of the Tagus is therefore now occupied by our brave
army, and if the Spaniards are not treacherous, and trai-
tetous, as well as cowardly, we think his Lordship may
wait in perfect security the arrival of those succours which
Ministers will, no doubt, send him from every quarter.—
We hear of reinforcements proceeding from Sicily, as well
as Ireland, and the utmost promptitude and alacrity are
due not only to the situation but to the bravery of the
army under his Lordship.
Upon the dispatches which have been received, and upon
the mode in which Ministers have made it public, some ob-
vious remarks occur. Lord NuceereseeroN was certainly
right in his plan of attackieg Soeur before he could effect
a junction with VICTOR, and the disposition of CUESTA'i
Army to keep the latter in check, was certainly proper.
But what are we to think of our army having retreated in
Conscquence of the immense force collected by the ench.l
from all quarters? Ministers say this, and we must believe'
them, unless we admit a supposition that they make an ac-
keowledgment fatal to themselves, in order to conceal a
fact still more fatal ; we mean that no reliance whatever
is to be placed on the Spanish army. For if either the
numbers or the enthusiam of the Spaniards were what we
Lave been told, from what quarters are the Freech
able to reinforce their army so as to make it more
than a match for the British and Spanish forces. Do
the Spaniards themselves take up arms for the French,
or have the French more considerable forces in Spain than
we know of ? Have Ministers been ignorant of their
amouut, or have they miscalculated the disposition of
the Spaniards ? We do not say they. are to blame for any
went of eze!rgy on the part of the Spaniards, but they
Might have huown the state of the French force, and have
calculated accordingly. BesiOes, in the event of BUONA-
PAR TI: making, or having made peace, what. chance would
or could have remained for our little force, or even for
the Spanish nation.
Another consideration strikes us as material ; Does not
every fresh event sfiew.us, t het no cordiality subsists be-
tween Lord Weereserox wet Cu EST.% ? We shall not re-
peat what we have said over and over again, about the
conduct of the Spaniards at the battle of Talavera. VE-
wEeas was under no ce,lltrei;l liOili ~or WELI,INGTON,
a.id cuteera will Het moldy with his 4 6 le:vest," of keel).
ing Verrou in check. jig short, the ..:pantreis woel fight
with. the English, what is more provoking, they "oat
run the risk: of fiahting without them. However lliltiati4-
factory the informatioe conveyed by the:;e dispatches may
be to the good sense and anxious feelings or the public,
they are at least sufficient to remove all doubt as to the
conduct of the Spaniards. There is nothing like naion
among the Commanders; nor can we be npou by
the generosity of Cu eSTA, who Stlitil to hive left Ta-
lavera with the intention of supporting Lord Wetanseeroa
in eis conflict with Son Lie_ _ _

•
It appears to us that he left his situation from a fear of
being attacked by the defeated army of Vic Ton, and that
he Esci-,••=7t-4.1.-.,,,telvlrously deserted 4 or 5000 of our sick
and wounded, to whose courage and whose; blood he
was indebted for the safety ofhis whohe army.
What is to be expected from a man so treacherous, so
cowardly, or so ignorant, for one or the other or all of
these he must. be ? But. even if he were not, it is just the
same thili4 to Lord WELLINGTON and the lirtish army,
whether they are exposed, and, perhaps, destroyed by those
or by the gencrou3 ical of their allies for whom they are
fiai

SEPT 1

Dutch Papers to the 25th have been received in tom),
bring accounts from Paris so late as the 20th. At
11;i; period nothing %vas known of the actual state of the
Negetiations. alt the Armistice which expired on the 12th,
we are merely told that it Was renewed for a fortnight,
This is very probaLle as we have no certain intelligence
that notice had been given by either party of its termiaa-
tion. But the great question of peace or war remains still
undecided. Reports (but for which Ile see no authority
that is to be relied upon), state, that BuoriaraaTE liar
refused to ratify certain terms that had been agreed upon
between the French and Austrian Negociators, o: hers statq
that an interview is to take place between the two Em-
perors. These windmill conferences tOrehode no good,
the dignified simplicity of the Austrian Monarch, is up
match for the eagle-eyed policy of BUOWAPAILTE.
In addition to all these reports we are told thlt a Con,
eTe4s for the adjustment of the terms of Peace is to be
held at Vienna, and that BUONAP.4RTE has named TIMEE.
Plenipotentiaries on the part of France.—Triurnvirates
have in all ages been ciesla•ts.—The very name is fatal to
liberty.
The official account of the determination of our Govern.
meat, not to ratify the Treaty concluded by Mr. Ensaiuse4
has been received in America. The Papers of that country'
which have reached us contain some strong observations
upon this subject, they are not morellthan might have
been expected. No determination we apprehend will be
taken by the Pres:dent till the arrival of Mr. Jackson.—
Private Letters mention that a Coaacil of State is, to be
held shorlly at Washington.
All our sympathies are awakened by the situation of the
brave 'Tyrolese. The tyrant is not content with having
them as completely in his power as the weakness (we had
almost used a stronger expression) of the Austrian Em-
peror could throw them, but he is mean enough to abuse
and villify them into the name of cowards. If it be so, why
tell us of the great force he is employing to reduce them!
why pompously detail the names at the Regiments, acid the
Commanders—these things do not dove-tail at ail together,
they do not fit. One or the other must be false. The fact
is, the Tyrolese arc not only brave but loyal, and they
will resist the Tyrant if their Government will let them.—
What might not have been effected if the weak and short-
sighted policy of the Emperor of Austria had not truckled
and huckstered with his destroyer ?
All the valuable gold service of plate, formerly belongina-
to• the GREAT FREDERICK Of PRUSSIA, as nell as all thegola
chandeliers, and every other article of plate, both gold and
silver, have been incited into bullion, and sent to France, to
liquidate the contributions imposed by NAPOLEON.
Among other points which are to serve as 11:e basis of
peace, and which are now negociating, one is, that the Ein.!
peror Fitaweis shall cede the kingdom of Bohemia to his
eldest brother, the Duke of WIIRTZDURGII. It is under-
stood that the Armistice has been prolonged for 28 days.
A letter from Trieste, dated August 3, says—" this
morning an English fleet, of ten ships of war, appear-
ed before our harbour. There is among them a three-
decker, of 120 guns, on board of which is Admiral
COI.LINGIiOOO. The infentious of the English, with
respect to Trieste, arc not Net known. Our sea bat-
teries are, however, in a very reYaeclable condition. The
day befor.! yesterday, an English frigate and a cutter took,
in sight of this port. after an action of an hour, thirty-two
ships and harks bound for Trieste, among which were six
small armed vessels, who convoyed the others. Many were
killed and wounded on both sides, as the battle was very
obstinate.

Tun; Barrisn NAVY.—There arc at present in commis-
sion 801 silps of war, of which )61 ace of the line,
from 50 to 44 guns, 16S frigates, 172 sloops of war, nine
homhi and fire• ships, 95 armed brigs, 14 cutters, 154 armed
schooners and tuggers; besides which there are repairin4,.
building, and in ordinary ships, which tu.Ake the total aura"
ber including 265 of the hue.

SEPT. 3.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

SlR,—The advatinges of a free press are acknowledged ; but,
in 011111 ton with every human institution, even of the most
perfect kiwi, it is, by no means, free from inconvenience. It is
a mixed benefit, in which the good, perhaps, outweighs the
evil. I have been led to this train of reflex ion, by a perusal,
for the last three weeks, of the vague, undigested, unauthorised,
and contradictory statements, which appeared in all the papers,
not excepting yours, relative to the Armistice concluded be-.
tween France and Austria. Had this event been communicated
to the public without comment, and without gloss, it was not
calculated to excite any of those overwhelming, desponding
sensations, it has almost generally produced. Commentators
are those nasty, troublesome insects, which buz about, and
pollute, the works of art and science; and the Commenting
Editors of diurnal and weekly publications, leave, upon almost
every public occurrence, some remnant of their corrosive and
disfiguring prejudices. Had not the subject been too serious,
and the consequences so alarming, a man, who systematically
laughs at the opinions and actions of those two-legged unfea-
thered animals, which, in unphilosophical language, are called
men, would have had a fine scope for giggling and ridicule. But
I would defy Democritus himself, had be been transplanted into
our moon-struck age, to distend a single risible muscle, in reading
the loathsome hotchepotch ofsolemnity,and trifling,reasoning,and
rash assertion, second-sighted enthusiasm, and mole-eyed scepti-
cism, which was served up, and teasingly pressed upon the public,
since this important occurrence. The abderite philosopher would
have looked as grave as Heraclitus himself, in contemplating the
dangerous folly. Its effects were too comprehensive for ridicule .
too momentous to be trilled 'with. The public opinion was gross-
ly deceived, and the public feeling wantonly olurined ; whilst
hope, that encouraging beacon in tempestuous and calamitous
seasons, which shone so bright after the glorious battle of As-
pen], wa3.extinguished by the rude blast of malice and of ig-

porance.

An
.Arni4tice, Sir, proposes more or less reciprocal admit.
takes to the contracting parties; and in opposition to, and in
the very teeth of, the public opinion as far as it has been de-
clared, maintain, and will endeavour to prove, that the stipu-
lations it contained, were rather favourable, than injurious to
Austria. The Times, the Chronicle, the Courier, ai.d the Morn-
ing Post, with a tedious etc. ; of weekly sand Monthly publi-
cations, set op a doleful clamorous howl about the base aban-
clonnvnt of the Tyrolese ; the surrender of Gratz ; the relin-
quishment of Presburgh ; the disastrous effects of a military
Cabal ; and the timid, wavering character of the limpert;r
Fax NCIS. As these were the grievances most severely corn-
plaioed of, most freqeently adverted to, and deplored with
irksome monotonous touches of the pathetic, 1 will coutine
myself to the task of chorusing their howl with a horse laugh,
und oppbsitr, a shrug and a broad stare. to their ranting declama-
tioa ! But these, Sir, were not the only subjects of complaint
and alarm. Whatever wild dismembered forms folly can lump
toNrther, or pale recoiling terror see, whatever passion or pre-
ju:lice, credulity or scepticism, opposition or Juyalty, can
bate ar , were daubed upon one huge piece of canvas,' in which
the mos.: prominent figures were, the Genius of Austria, bleed-
ing, prostrate, betrayed, abandoned; whilst her patriots, states-
men, warriors, were seen in the back ground, flying in every
direction, or holding up their supplicant hands, imploring mercy
on the upp site side, stood conspcuaus and towering, the gris'y

b 69

Gallic Chief trampling on the prostrate Geniu,, holding in the
one hand a dagger, and in the other, the glass of her fate

As I am, Sir; " a plain unlettered man," have very little inta.
gination, and less invention, as lam neither nervous; nor subject
to panic, I have seen the armistice in a different light and form to
what has been seen and represented in this country. The effect
of habit are known ; its contagion is unavoidable; and I have
strayed myself into the bewildering rant, I have been condemn.
in; and laughing at. I will therefore come, without further de=
lay, to the immediate subject of this letter.

After the undisputed advantage which the enemy had oh-
tained in the Battle of Wagram, it was natural they should
gist upon some stipulations favourable to themselves, if they
agreed to a temporary cessation of arms. The vast superiority
of their army, upon that occasion ; the cries of humanity ;
.the
privations and harrassed retreat of the Austrian troops; the se-
paration and absence of several corps ; the mysterious, vacillat-
ing conduct of Russia, prevailed upon the Archduke Charles to
convent to some painful concessions. But the sacrifice was vastly
outweighed by the advantages he foresaw would accrue from
it. The Tyrol was previously abandoned. The brave and en•
terprisingChastellar, after he had roused and organised these in.
trepid mountaineers, hastened, with the troops under his cool
mand, which were no longer necessary in the Tyrol,--where
the natives were more than sufficient to moiatain their own lade.
pendence,—in order to cover Hungary, or assist the operations
of Count Guilay. That lam perfectly Tight in this opinion,
the silence of the. French on the success of their operations,
against that country, affords presumptive evidence. They, sire
said to have detached a corps of 30,000 meg, iu order tg intimi-
date, or subjugate the natives; and their Bulletins do not advert
to the seizure, or pacification of a single district. - The confla-
gration was too diffused, toe ardent, to be extinguished by
assurances, 'or checked by. rumours. A numerous popu-
lation, worked up to the height of patriotism, confidence, and
rcsi:itance, do not credit the assurances of a Government they ah.
hor, and which they had defied and beaten. The stipulation
which canceraed them, was rejected and disbelieved; and the
protestations of the Bavarian Commissaries could not appease,
or convince men, who had successfully renounced their allegiance
to the Bavarian Government. This circumstance was foreseen,
Tool anticipated, by the A ustrian,qoverument ; and the sacrifite
%vas tantamount to nothing on their side; whilst the execution
of it must considerably weaken the main army of the Frenchw
They had ai)parently submitted before to the Duke of Dantzics
and the moment he turned his back, they spread devastation and
terror to the gates of Munich, Augsbarg, and Venice. These
mountaineers are invincible;, their attachment to Austria is pror
verbial ; and they will adhere to hergavernment, with a stronger
scrip than any other province in the Empire. The surrender of
Gratz, in a military, or civil point of view, was not of mut h
consevence ; and the marauding desultary warfare of t::e • na-
tives, in the rear of the French army, will force the enemy to
maintain there a considerable force, in order to keep epee their
commanicatious with Italy; whilst the Austrian force st hicii
was kept there, can he more usefully employed in Hungary, .or
in Bohemia. The possession of the Left Bank of the Dautibr
rentlere4 the French masters of Presburg ; whebever they
thought fit to occupy it. The oaly sacrifice, therefore, which
the Austrians made, was that of Brunt) in Moravia. But what
advantages have they acquired in return 2 Their armies are
united; their objects of, deLuce beroine less complicated; the
number of their troops has considerably increased ; their vigour.
4 xhaustcd by iucessaat fatigue, is restored; their courage and