The Sun.
London, England, 1808-12-13 00:00:00

e:r.tijiP2-116"..V Irv, SPA.

• Th-e sal reverses Which SPanish Patriots hale-
and the affil i Linb prospect which those re;',
open to our view, must naturally fill every
Engosh heart with mingled sensatioos of sorrow and
.diSappointment. " The noble spirit of independence
With which they were animated, and the high tone
ofindignation in which they protested againsfthe per-
t fidious usurpation, and determined to resist the gi-;
gantic power of BLIONApARTE, produced in this
Country those correspondent feelings, which our love
of lierty, our detestatiOn of oppres--,,r., and our ab-
horrence at the Condud of that mereties" TJsUrper,
• could not fail to inspire. The display of Such a
lir3and the operation of.such feelings, heightened,
strcn2.-thened, and confirmed, by the glorious'suc
tesses with which ,the early effOrts of the Patriot
arms were crowned, bad the etre& of leading the
• .People of England to form expeEtations of the pro-
gress and result of the contest, more conformable to
•
the ardour of their own generous sympathy, than to
the ,
, "'a`u're of the Cause and ate real circumstances of
. tne contending parties. •
ryas thought that the spirit which appeared
to per4ade:allilasses.Of propl-e, would
to the' field 'half the male population of
country;the and that 'a
-nation su circumstanced, if
: -suppofied.by the resourcesand the ants of England,
N,9441 presentettan• in:surmountable. barsler to
til.elorrent, ,of• the. enerny:s. power. Perhaps there
Were few so sanguine as iii expect that the Patriots
of Spain would be uniformly 511CM:31111 against,' toe
disciplined legions of France; but we believe that
- the bulk of the people in this country felt apersua-
Bion,..that though in the course of the war the Pa-
triots might sustain, frequent checks and partial re-
Verses, yet that they would' never be totally routed,
much less dispersed.
With this favourable view of the campaign in
BPain,, and entertaining such high expedations, the,
1:16 /ointment which is now felt is proportionably
great ; and people naturally ask, whether the mit-
fOrtunes which have befallen the brave Spaniards,
have arisen from any error, or want of co-operation
4241 the part of our Government, and whether the
resources and the arms of England have been
promptly afforded and jndiciously applied. We 1)46.1
to be able to answer th6e questions to the satisfac-
tion of every rational and impartial man:
It will be recolleetect that in the King's Speech, at_
the close of the last Session of Parliament, the prin.
ciple u)on Whith it was thought advisable to give oar
tiPport to the Spanish cause, was frankly and dis-
tll'Oty stated. His Majesty aeclated; " that he
hasresolved to Make every exertion in support
:if the independence of Spain, and to be guided
both in the choice, and in the direaion or the -
eans ,
by the WISHES OT THOSE IN WHOSE BEHALF
THEY WERE TO BE EMPLOYED." This wise and ge-
nerous Principle was appplauded by the Party in
oPpo_sition to his Majesty's Ministers, and was re-
tehlect throughout the Country with unanimous ap-
PrGbati°ll. if, therefore,- it can be shewn, by un-
(le u•
ItOtai and unquestionable evidence, that the Go-
vernment has never, in any one instance whatever,
tieparted'froth this principle, in the choice and direc-
or
= of that assistance and co-operation which has
been extended to Spain, it will be utterly impossible
for any just mind to attach blame to his Majesty's
respeding the disastrous events which
have taken place, however deeply' those events must
be deplored.
'lt appears by the official returns transmitted to the
RD MAYOR, that the most ample supplies of arms,
i!lunition, stores, clothing, and every equipment,
were
actually landed in Spain, early in the autumn,
t'd that since that time, additional supplie
of every
tieseriPtion have been prepared and transmitted, and
ore still
Preparing with a degree of expedition, which
certainly
no Government in this Country has ever
I.ll.PaSSetl. It is no less certain the Patriots have
been supplied
-with money to an amount correspond-
ent to their exertions, and with a promptitude and
;:a_,criry filch called forth their warmest acknow-
ugnlents; and that the British Forces have been
`ent to Spain at the period of time DES/RIM by those
472 whose behalf they ere employed.
We do not mean to deny that his Majesty'sMini-
vters considered it sound and prudent policy to wrest
Portugal from the hands of the enemy, whilst the
fat
of Spain -was yet undecided; but we can ven-
ture. to assert, that independently of any British con-
tlderations or motives of alliance and friendship with
Court of Brazils, which migh
*eight in t have bad greatthe Councils of this Country„ when they
thisdetermined to send a British Army to Portugal—
c'tredion of' the British forces was precisely that
which the choice and wishes of Spain herself pointed
out to us h
as t e :Lost essential to her interestsand views
in the contest. Porto Th m
e expulsion of the French fro_
6'll', Was itself an object of acknowledged • rm-
rtance
,„bra_e , and with the view of enabling us to em-
Pr on c every favourable occasion of offering, d
i.pily f
4 ording *le Spaniards the aid of our Is*