The National Register.
London, England, 1811-11-17 00:00:00

CADIZ MAIL.

SPANISH CORTES.
The following are the proceedings respecting the Libel of the
Ex-Regent Lardizabal and Uribe.
OCT. 14.—Sr. Arguelles, after a short ex rdium, desired that
the publication should be read.
The Inquisitor Perez, having observed, that the present being
a day of festival, was an improper one for business, was answered
by the Count of Toreno, that no day could be improper on which
to do justice.
In the sequel the publication was read, when it appeared to be
a compost of iniquity, a collection of pernicions remarks, and of
ideas the most opposed to order, and to the fit subordination to
the legitimate authorities. The paper having been concluded,
Sr. Arguelles, with great energy, exposed the danger of the
country, and urged the adoption of strong measures to bear down
the tide of war, which, since the 24th of September, of the last
year, had risen against the Cortes, by the agency of those weak
individuals who, in Bayonne, would have sacrificed their corm-
try.—,/ Plaudits front the people.)
Sr. Toren° Mecia spoke against the incendiary publication,
and called down upon the author exemplary punishment.
Sr. Garcia Herreros insisted that the author ought to be WI.
Inc diately beheaded.
A turbulent debate ensued, in which the spectators took a
most lively interest, commending, in loud exclamations, those
who contended for the punishment of Lardizabal and Ms ac.
complices. The sitting concluded at five o'clock in the evening,
when the following propositions were agreed upon :
" That an order be given to the Council of Regency for
the arrest and conveyance to Cadiz of the author of the libel;
that every copy of it, if possible, be sei2ed ; that all pre-
sent at the time of the arrest of the author be engaged as
witnesses. The Minister charged with the execution of this
order, is to fulfil it punctually on his own personal responsi-
L

CADIZ, OCT. 21.—We are assured that a Decree by Napoleon
has been published in Madrid, ordering all Frenchmen not be-
longing to the army immediately to leave Spain, and return to
their native country, under very severe penalties.
It is said that General Ballasteros has made a reconnoitring
in person, in which he was exposed to great danger, and in
which one of his Adjutants was taken prisoner. It is also said
that the French disarmed, on their march to Madrid, all the
juramentados who had left Seville for that city. The desertion
of the Spaniards under the French banners, in the invading
army of Valencia, is prodigious. We are assured that the
number of Spaniards forced by Suchet to augment his army,
exceeds 5,000.—( Redactor General, Oct. 21.)
OCT. 25.—The day before yesterday anchored in this port the
Spanish frigate N. Senora del Coro, from Vera Cruz and the
Havannah, after a passage of 87 days, with fruit and 95,000 dol-
lars ; the brigantine St. Miguel, from Honduras and the Havan-
na'', in 50 days, with goods and 57,000 dollars ; and the goletta
Inditstria, from Monte Video, in 74 days, with merchandise,
and i';,0o0 dollars. Yesterday likewise anchored in this port
the brig of war Alert; from Vera Cruz and the Havannah, in
5:1 days, with 20 bags of indigo, as a gift to his Majesty, and
16,000 dollars.
TARIFFA, Oc-r. 22.—Yesterday the enemy retired from San
Roque by the road of Ximena ; Generals Sarra7in and Selaml
have done the same, and appear to threaten this place. , We ex-
pect shortly to resume the offensive. In Xeres an event hap-
pened, which clearly shows the repugnance with which the
French soldiers terve in the Peninsula. A convoy of waggons
was prepared fur Ronda; at the time of starting out, a dragoon
plated himself before it, and firmly said, 46 nobody should go."
Remonstrances wt re fruitless ; an officer arrived, and asked him
the motive for his daring conduct; the dragoon holdly replied.
" that he would not go to Serrania, and that the dragoons should
not go, because it was only for the purpose of being sacrificed in
a country in which they would be useless." This officer laid his
hand upon his sword, the dragoon did the same, but the other
troops interfering, the latter was pacified.
OcTosest 23.—We know that Gen. Ballasteros has advanced
to Ximena, where he overtook the rear guard of the enemy, and
defeated it. It appears that the French are again uniting the
whole of their tronps in the Rondo ; although we do not know
where this storm burst, it is to be presumed another at-

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tempt will be made against Gen. Ballasteros, the first having
been frustrated.
VALENCIA D'ALCANTARA. OCT.I3.—At this moment (nine
at night) we learn that our cavalry, which was at Caceres, has
fallen back to Brozas, at the appearance of 3000 of the enemy's
infantry, with 1000 horse and three pieces of cannon advancing
towards these head-quarters.
VALENCIA D'ALCANTARA, OCT.. 10.--Jose Pedrazuela, a
native of Brunete, and late a resident at Madrid, was yesterday
executed, for having arrogated the office of Royal Commis-
sioner, and condemned thirteen persons to barbrous deaths,
without authority or trial. His wife, a native of Madrid, also
suffered the punishment of strangulation, as an accomplice in the
horrible crimes of her husband. The trial of these criminals,
which took place on the 7th, excited a great deal of interest in
the inhabitants of this city. At nine in the morning a Court-
martial, appointed by the General in Chief of the fifth army,
was held in the Town-hall, which was also attended by a con-
course of the principal people of this kingdom. The crimes
proved against Pedrazuela were, thirteen assassinations, perpe-
trated by him under the assumed title of Royal Commissioner
from our Government. Scarcely had he announced himself in
that character, in the town of Ladroon, when he was blindly
obeyed by the guerilla parties of the district, and by its inhabi-
tants. He began his functions by condemning the first three
prisoners that were brought before him, without a hearing, with-
out examination, or cognizance of their crimes. These had their
throats cut with a razor; and the'rest except one who was shot,
were knocked on the head with the but-end of a musket. These
barbarous scenes were perpetrated at night; and though the exe-
cutioners alone were witnesses, yet they excited more general
terror than any legitimate punishments. It was commonly re-
ported, that Pedrazuela had sacrificed more than sixty victims
in this way, during a period of three months : and the inhabit-
ants endangered their lives by breathing even a whisper against
the despotic will of the Royal Commissary. This man figured
like a little Sovereign; and under the mask of patriotism, con-
cealed designs which the sword of Justice has cut short in their
origin. His wife participated in all his brutal atrocities; and
some of the witnesses represented her as even more hateful than
her husband. The sentence of the Court was, that Pedrazuela
should be hanged, dm:int, and quartered; and that his wiji:
should be strangled.

of the system of supplies' the order of march, cantonments,
and every thing connected with active service.
" 2d. The Cadets shall daily attend the military academy, in
order to be instructed as speedily as possible in the rudiments of
the theory of war.
" 3d. That every day the corps of troops shall be drilled and
manoeuvred; and their arms, accoutrements, and uniforms in.
spected.
" 4th. That military discipline, the only means of the pre-
servation of an army, be observed with the greatest severity.
61 sth. Thatthe Military Commission take care that the most
speedy dispatch be given to trials by Court-martial, and the sen-
tences be carried into effect without the least delay.
" 6th. As, in order to triumph in this formidable contest, it
is necessary that every one should be devoted to war, and that
even boys should acquire a taste for arms, an abstract of the
military regulations shall be printed and distributed in the
schools, that the boys may be familiarised with them, and that
invalid serjeants be employed,in teaching then.% the manual ex-
ercise. For this purpose they are to be assembled every Thurs-
day in a certain spot, in order that the idea may be deeply en.
graved on their tender minds, that they are the hopes of their
country; and that to serve it, to defend its rights, and to ame-
liorate the fate of their posterity, their constant motto must he
—Honour and Discipline.
(Signed) *6 JUAN JOSE PASSO, Secretary.
Buenos Ayres, Sept. 6, 1811.-