The National Register.
London, England, 1811-02-03 00:00:00

74

-self obliged to retreat, will attempt to cross the
Tagus, and retire through Alentejo.
" You have before been informed that lines were
forming on the other side, from Moita to the river,
It pieces of cannon were sent over some time ago,
and that position is daily made more formidable.
" All the Galegos here are now become subject
to be impressed for the army of this country, and
every man capable of beating arms (if natives) is
laid hold- cif for the. same service; so that in the
country we see nothing but military. The marines
from the men of war now garrison this City. We
have no other troops here-except the Corpo de Corn-
Lven the Ca;adores (Sharprshooters) !
• composed of very respectable inhabitants, have
been marched off to the army • long .since, and have
behaved very well in several skirmishes. In short,
the greater part of the country, is in arms, and from
all we see and hear, it is not too much to say that
the issue of the present struggle will lie fortunate
and glorious to the brave rortugese troops, and
aid fresh laurels to the brows of our countrymen
serving in this just and meritorious cause." •
A letter of the 15th states, that General Beres-
ford was posted at Chamusca, on the south side of
• the Tagus, with 30,000 men. He was engaged in
watching and obstructing the operations 0: Mas-
sena, who, at Santarem, was constructing boats
and rafts in immense numbers, with the obvious
design of crossing the river. These works were
• much interrupted by the gallantry and activity of
the British flotilla. All the military in Lisbon,
without exception, had received orders to join the
army with dispatch. Much alarm had prevailed
at St. Übe's, 2'3 miles S. E. of Lisbon, lest the
French shonid enter that port ; and a general order
had been issued, directing the inhabitants to make
the necessary preparations, by carrying away their
moveable property, provisions, &c.

SPAIN.

The c-)rtune of the Spanish war has once more
changed, and whilst the enemy obtains the most
important advantages in various parts of the Penin-
sula, the patriotic spirit seems to sink abashed before
the swords of the conquerors. Stronger by art
than either Saragossa or Gerona, and defended by
a large garrison,. composed chiefly of regulars,
Tortosa had long. withstood the attacks of .a whole
French army. • Blockaded during several months,
it resolutely endured the hardest privations, and. at
last exhausted the patience of the enemy, who, to
bring "the siege to an issue, opened their trenches
the 18tIa. ult. and on the first day of the present year
the place surrendered, leaving nine thousand
five hundred prisoners .. of war in the hands
of the . French Marshal.
The possession of this fortress has given the enemy
the whole command of the Ebro, and when he shall
have reduced Tarragona, which on the surrender
of Tortosa he immediately invested, no place of
strength will remain in the hands of the patriots
throeghont all Catalonia. An attempt was
made on the 13th December, according to the
Monitesar, by * corps of eleven hundred English,
'ho lauded from two ships of the line, a frigate,
and two other vessels, on the small but strong fort

--"

of Palamos, to the eastward of Barcelona. It was
defeated by':ii3perior numbers, and our diviSion
re.imbarked, but with the loss of SOO killed, and
one hundred and fifly taken prisoners and marched
for France.
In Asturias the fortune of the enemy has also
prevailed. The battle, however, although lost by
the patriots, seems to have been hotly contested, as
it is acknowledged in the French report, that at one
time the success of the day remained undecided.—.
The North of Spain is once more placed under the
command of Marshal BEssiEttEs.
A serious attack on Cadiz has probably ere now
been made,_ as the besieging army had,. at the be-
ginning of the last month, collected all their
naval resources in the Canal of Trocadero, and
transported their gun-boats overland into the bay,
in order to avoid the destructive fire of the Puntal

fort and our boats.
The consent of the Commons to the amendments
made by the Lords in the Regency Bill, was corn.
mnnicated to the Lords on Friday, and the Earl Of
[AI; carom. immediately laid before the House the
form of the Commission under the Great. Seal for
giving the Royal Assent to the Bill. This course
the .Noble Lord took, because there was no prece-
dent to guide the House upon the Journals of either
House of Parliament. Our "readers will recollect
that the Regency Bill of 1809 never reached so
advanced a stage.
Lord LIVERPOOL moved last right, that the
blank in the Commission be filled up with the
words .‘ The fifth of February," and that a message
be sent to the House of Commons, requiring a
conference on that subject. On that day, there-
fore, the Royal Assent will probably be given.
' The Regent will then take the oaths before the
Privy Council on Wednesday, and go down to the
House on Thurday.
. A short conversation took place in the Commons
on Friday night, relative to Warrants signed lby
his MAJESTY, and purporting to be dated between
the 25th and 30th Oct. The CHANCELLOR of the
ENCHEQUER stated that Warrants of the nature
alluded to were always signed in blanks by his
MAJESTY, and afterwards sent to the Treasury to
be filled up, which was generally done upon the
.day upon which they were sent to the Exchequer.
There was also- a Warrant under the Privy Seal,
• dated the 27th October. But Sir Hi6lttx I-I/at-ono
had given it as his opinion, that the KING was com-
petent to transact business down to the might of the
`27th of October. • •
A Cartel is arrived at Dover from Dunkirk with
the twenty-two persons who were providentially
rescued from the fury of the waves, when the Eliza-
beth East Indiaman was wrecked on the French
coast. Capt. EASTWICK and the rest of the sur-
viving Officers have already reached London.
• Only six Englishmen and sixteen Lascars..were
saved. The account they give of the .treat-
ment which they erperienc ed at Dunkirk is
highly satisfactory. They received during their
captivity every mark of hospitable kindness and
attention. The merchants and inhabitants of the
place set a subscription on foot to supply them with
clothes* and provided them with abundant food.

~~

MISCELLANIES.

A small island of the Danube, called Engel, near Pinchment,
Las exhibited the phenomenon of a Floating Islaud. In the me-
mory of the dtdest persons it had remained stationary until May
lat, when the rapidity and pressure of the stream are supposed
to have detached its bottom : its inclination is uniformly to the
right bank of the river, but its motion is not perceptible. Since
May it has made a progress of about eight miles ; and what is
not the least singular, has, from the eager and unabated curi-
osity of the Germans, made the fortunes of three persons who
obtained a temporary proprietorship of it.
A dreadful tempest was experienced at Caen, Normandy, on
the 10th of November, which lasted 36 hours. Thirteen ve,sels
were wrecked in the harbour, many lives lost, and the sea co-
vered for some days after with masts, spars, and dead bodies.
A late French paper announces, that M. Thomas, of Valperga,
has been successful In his experiments to extract sugar from
raisins, and has transmitted to the Minister of the Interior some
samples obtained in different stages of his experiments.
During the representation of a new Tragedy, at the Theatre
de l'lmperatrice, in Paris, last month, one of the principal cha-
racters, who had to draw his sword, and threaten to plunge it
in the bosom of another, from the latter neglecting to draw
back, or fall upon his knees, and before the former could com-
mand his weapon, the point inflicted a deadly wound, and the
unfortunate man expired before he could he removed from the
stage. The accident made so deep an imptession on the sur-
vivor, that after an illness of four days, during which he inces-
santly bewailed the deed, he died, bequeathing the greater part
of his propertytothe family of hint he had unintentionally slain.
A detachment of Danish sailors reached Hambugh on the Bth
L.E. on their way to Antwerp.

American Papers to the f.)Bth ult. contain intelligence from
Mexico that a most sanguinary battle took place in November,
to which the insurgents w: re completely defeated, and the au-
thority of Ferdinand Vii. was restored.—The loss of the insur-
lentsis estimated at between 6000 and 7000 killed and taken.
From some American papers received this week by a vessel
which brought dispatches to Mr. Pinckney, we learn that the
merchants of America appear to have taken alarm at the proba-
bility of a rupture with Great Britain. Several Petitions have
been press rated by them to the Congress, stating the great loss
and incinvenience they would suffer from the effect of the pro-
Mbitory law, which is to take place on the ‘2d of February.
An American ship is arrived, which spoke one of our ships,
and informed her that a brig of ours ran ashore near Belleisle on
Cliiistmas night the Commander, in his indignation, imme-
diately shot the Master and Pilot, and then blew his own
brains out.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop and Bishops of the United
States of America, have signed a Protest against the treatment
received by the Pope, and the aggressions committed upon
the Holy See ; and, at the same time, ordered a Form of Prayer
to be offered up, for the deliverance of his Holiness from the
power of his enemies.

A Gentleman from Germany says,that nothing can exceed the
general gloom that pervades the Contnient, io consequence cf
the interdict which Buonaparte has, by his oppressive Decrets,
laid upon the human mind. It is impossible at Hamburgh,
Altona, Luber., or Bremen, to speak freely on political subjects.
The number of spies in pay is immense, and they thrust them-
selves into every society. Hamburgh, once so busy, so opulent,
is a gloomy waste. Its merchants, heart-broken, pace the streets
in melancholy silence, and the tyrant has rivetted its chains by
forcibly annexing it to his doiniiiions. The Coffee-houses are
quite deserted.
A correspcndent of a respectable periodical work has corn-
municated an experiment, made by him at a time when bread
was very dear, with a view to find some cheaper substr.ute for
wheat flour. He directed several turnips to be washed, pared,
and boiled ; when soft enoagh to be mashed, the greatest part
of the water was pressed out of them, an:; ti' ey were mixed with
an equal weight of coarse wheat meal. The dough was thee;
Marie in the usual manner, with yeast, salt, and water. It rose
w:ts made up into loaves, and.baked in the usual manner.
When drawn from the oven, a loaf was cut and found to be
sweeter than common bread, full as light and white, with a
slight, but not disagreeable, taste of the turnip. Twelve hours
afterwards this taste was scarcely perceptible, and in 24 hours
WAS entirely gone.
43RItISH NAvv.—There are at present in commission
792 ships of war, of which 156 are of the line, 21 from 50 to 44
guns, 163 frigates 153 sloops of war, five fire-ships, 179 armed
brigs, 40 cutter's, 76 schooners and Tuggers ; besides these there
are-building and repairing a number of vessels, which make the,
total amount ;062 ships of war, of which 25Z are of the line.

J~