The Sun.
London, England, 1807-12-22 00:00:00

OND ON 'GAZETTE EXTR4ORDMIRY.

TUESDAY, DECEMBEI4. 23.

Foreign-Office, Dec. 39

A Digpatcll, of which-the'following is a copy, has
been this day received from Lord
,Strangford,,his
Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary_at the Court of
Lisbon, by the Right Hon. George Canning, his
Majesty's, Principal Secretary of State for •Foreign
Affairs. , ,

• His Majesty's Ship Hiternia the Tagus,
Sin, Nov.' 29,- 1807.
I have the honour: of announcing to you, that the
Prinee. Regent of Portugal has eo6led the vise and;
magnanirnoils pyrpose of retiring. from a kingdom
which he could no longer retain, except as,the Vas-
sal of Fonce ; and that his Royal liighnesS and, fa-,
t
0 wily, accompanied by most of his ships of war, and
by a multitude:of his faithful subjcaband'adherents,
hare this day departed ffOrn Lisbon, and are now on
their way to the Brazils, under the escort of a:Bri-
tish Fleet. •
• This:grand and memorable' event is not to be at-
tributed Only to the sudden alarm.excited by the ap-,
pearance of a French Army within the frontiers of.
Portugal. It has been the genuine result of the
sylitein Of perseveriit confidence and moderation*
.adoptid by his Majoiq towards that Country ; tor.
the ,ultimate. success' of which j had in a manner.
rendered' Myself responsible; and wbich;. in obedi-
ence to,yourlmtruaions,'l had'unitbrinly-continued.
to support;'eveir under appearances of the most
couraging naturc,, -
• , I had frequently•and distinctly'stated.. to' the Ca-
binet of 'Lisbon, that •in agreeing not. •to :resent.
the exntrkion, of Britisb Commerce from the poi;ts
of Portugal, his. Majesty, had,..cxha Asted, the moans,
0 forbearance; that inindkitts, that 'ancesisiiift:te
the peculiar'Circninstanees,of
sit:talon, his Majeay had. done all, that 'friendship
and the rernthubranc4.,-ot: ancient 'alliance could.

ju.s►ily regain:ls: but that a single step beyond the,
lioe of modified hostility., thui woir relocrapq,
consented to, must necessarily lead to the extremity'
tictual war. . ;..:
The Prince
.4,egent, howeirer,.stiffered liittsself fdr,
momenrio' forget that, in the present' state of
Europe, no 'country could be permitted to be an"
enemy, to England with impunity, an that how-
: fver Much his Majesty Might be disposed to 'make
allow,ance for the deficiency tsf the means posses,cd
by Portugal of resistance to the power of. France,

neither his own dignity, nor the interests of 'his
people., would permit his Majesty to ticcept..that
e4cwe tor a (compliance' with. the full , extent of
,demands. On the Bth instant,
leis Royal 'Highness' tkas induced to sign., an Order
for the detention of the few,British Subjects, and of
the inconsiderable, portion of 4ritish property Which
yet remained,, at Lisbon. On the publication of this
Order, I caused the Arms of England to he renioved
froM the gates of my residence; demanded my Pass-
iwrt 4, presented. a final Remonstrance 'against the
recent condua sof the court of Lisbon,: and proceed-,
.ed to the Squadron commanded by sir Sidney Smith,
witieh arrived eff,the Coast.- of Portugal tome -days
0,4 I h:al received my Passports, and 'which I.
juit:ed ott the I; th • r
t immediately soggestal to - Sit-Sidney Smith the
pediency olestablishing die most ilgoronS blockade
of the Mouth cif,; the Tagus ; and 1
,had the high
satisfaaion 'of
,atler‘vards finding„ that• L had tints
';inticipate4 the intentions Of his Majesty. ; your Dis-.-
p.itches (which I receitied by the-Messenger Sylvester,
on the u3d) directing me_to authorize that measure,
ia). case the- Portuguese Qpveristnent should pass
the, 1-44tilid* which Iti3 Majesty. bad thought tit to
set to'his forbearance,: and attempt to take many far-
pier step iujurious to:the honour or interests of Great
. • .

;;'chose Dispatches were drawn up under the idea
that I was still resident at Lisbon-, and theugh I.
"did not receiVe therri. Until I had aEtually taken My
+Tartu' e 'from that Court, still, upon'', a care-
consideratten of the tonal of your Instruc-
tions, I thought that it. :would be right' to as as if
hat e',140 had not' occurred:' restAed, therefore,
to proceed _forthwith ascertain the etlik,t pro-
duced by the blockade Of tislatm, aryl to Propose
to the Portuguese GOvernrpent, as. the only con
dition upen which that Blockade,copld cease, the
alternative, (stated by you) either of surrendering the
to his Majesty, or of immediately 'employing
it to remove the Prince Regent and his 'family: to,
the lirazils-. I took upon thyself (his responsibility
jt,renewing.l\egotlapotts after my public funaioris
11,,(1 aCtually ceased, convinced that, although it
„
W;t.? the fined tieterminatiott,or,„ nis majesty not to
-inffel- the fleet of Porthgalli; fall into' the 'posses-
. pion of his Enemies, , still _his Majesty's first object
,
continued Sto, be the tifplicittion of that Fleet to the,
of if OurAe, Oirhithe 1(oyal I;',•laiily of Bra.:
zo, from the tyranny..of,,Frahce.,
gccigdingly Tep3oskit of the

Pfinti Regent, together with due assurances of
protection and ,security ; and upon receiving. his
Royal. Highness's answer, I proceeded to Lisbon
on the 27 th, in his Majesty's ship Confiance,' be,ir7
Ing a- flag of - truce. I had immediately:. most
interesting communications with Cohn 'O't. Lis-.
bon, the Particulars of which shall be fully detailed
in a future dispatCh. -It suffices- to mention M this
place, that the Prince Regent wisely: directed all
his 4piehensions to a French..army, and all his
. hopes to an English fleet ; that he teethed the
most explicit assurances from me that his Majesty,'
would generously overlook' those as .of
and momentary hostility to which His Royal High
°4 ness's consent had been; extorted ; and that'l pro-
.,
CMised ,to .his Royal .H.igliness,
.on the fiiith of My
Sovereign, that. the 'British Squadron before thy
Tagus should be employed to prote& his retreat
from Lisbon,*and his voyage, to the Brazils.

A decree was published yesterday, in. which
.the
Prince Rt.gent annuimced his intention. of retiring
to the City of Rio de Janeiro-until the conclusion of
a general Peace, and of appointing a Regency, to
trana& the Administration of Government at
during. his Royal Highness's absen‘cti
1
Europe.

This morning the Portuguese Fleet left the
Tagus. I had the, honour to accompany the Pri4ce
in hiSpaSkige oVer the 'Bar. -l'he .Fleet' consisted
or: eight Sail of the Line, four large (Frigates, se.
venal :Armed Brigs, Sloops, and Corvettes,. and a
number of Brazil Ships, amounting, I believe, to
about thirty-six Sail, in all. They„ passed passed • through
the British -Squadron, and his Majesty's Ships tired
a salute. of 2 1 guns, which was returned with .an
eq.ual number. A.more interesting speaacle than that
0000 by the junction of the two Fleets has been
• -
rarely beheld.
On quitting the Prince Regent's Ship, I repaired
on board the Hibernia, but' returned, immediately,
accompanied by Sir Sidney Srnith,whoril I presented
to:the.Prince„ and .who was leceived- by his Royal
Highness 'Oh. the, most in Aked and gracionsieon,
deicerisiOn. • •,

• have the honour to: inelose Lists*of the Ships
of War which were known to have left Lisbon' this
Inornitig, < and which were in sight a few hours ago.
There rebrain at Liibun four Ships of the Line; and
the same number or Frigates, -but ,onlY 'one of ca.;ll
sort is serviceable.

I have thought it expedient, to‘josc no time in
communicating, to. his Majesty's Government• the
important intelligence. contained in this Dispatch;
therefore_ tp apolo&ise for dip hasty and im-
perfeii manner in which it is writteri.,
have the hondur io be, &c.
STA ANC FOAM.

itchnirttity-Office, Dec. 21, 1807:
Divatches, of which the following are Extrias
and Copies, were received at this Office on Saturday
last, by Captain Yea, of his Majesty's Ship the Con►
fiance.; from Rear Admiral Sir Wm. Sidney Smith,
addressed to the Hon. Wm. 'Wellesley Pole.

His Majesty's Ship ffiternia, 22 leaves
Sin, West of the lagus, Dec.).

• In a former Dispatch, dated the 22d of No.verrn
bet, with ';Postscript of the 26th,. I Conveyed to
yon, for the information. of my Lords Cenunissioners
of the AinirallY, the proofs contained in various dd
currents, . or the 'Portuktiese Government being so
much influenced by terror of the French Arms,, as to
have acquieseed -to certain demands of France ope
rating Against Great Britain. The distribution of the,
Por11.1;flose :Force W 33 made on • the roast,
while the land side was ' left totally Unguarded'
British sUbjeds of all destriptions were detained;
and" it therefore became necessary to inform the
Portuguese Gaverninent, that the case had arisen
which required, in obedience to-My triitruetionS,
that I should declare the. TagUs a statf) of
Blockade ; and Lord Strangford agreeing with tnc
that hostility should be' met th 9,.
Blockade 1.44 instituted, and the Instructions wu had
received wdre acted upon to their full extent ;
however, bearing in recollettion the first objet
adopted by his Majesty's Government, of opening a
refuge for the
,head of the PortugneSe Government,
menaced as •it was by the powerful arm and bane-
ful influence of, the l':nemy, I, then-gilt, it, my
duty, to adwt ;he focans.opea to us, of entleavotiring
to induce the Prince Regent' of Toftugal,to recon-
sider his decision " to finite himself with the Con-
talent of Lerope,'.' ,and t reco'lle4 that he had pos-
,sessiens on that of America, affording:an 'ample
balanoe for any sacrifice he might' make here, and
front which lie would be, Cut otf, by the nature, Of
nvirititrie Warfare, the , termination of which could
not be dictated by the eornhinal.iott of the cOnti
tlental ,Powers of Europe.

In this view, Lord Stfactgforcl having vet:taw('
an acquiescence to the proposition which 'lad been'
made by hs, for his Loi-dshlp to land and cont'er
with the Prince' Ilegent under -the Gharantee of a

Ecc ReAT-Atim%ral Sjr Side y f.uftlei

nig of Trace, I furnished his Lord4hip with that
.conveyance and security, in order that he might give
to the:Prince. that confidence which. his' word. Of
honoUr: a.s the 'King's Minister Plenipotentiary,
united' .with that of a- &itish Admiral, could, not
tail to inspire •towards inducing. his 'Royal fligh-.
ness to "throw' hiMself and his Fleet into the:am:s
of Great- Britain; in perfeEt:reliance on the King's
overlooking a forced'ad olapparent hostility against
his Flag and Subje&s, and establishing his Royal
Highness's' Government in his. Ultra-Marine Pos-
•
Sessions, .is originally promised.- I !me now the
hem•tfelt satistisaion of annouving to you, that our
•hopes !vat expectations have been , realised to the
utmost. extent. • On the morning of the. 29th the
Portuguese Fleet (as per List anexed) came. out of
the Tagus;. vvith his. 'loyal Highnes's the Prince of
Brazil and the
,whole of the Royal. Family of Bra-
ganza on board, together with many of his faithful
ConnsellorS and Adherents, as well as other perspiis
attached to his. present fortunes.
This Fleet of eight Sail at the Line, four Frigates,
two ]Brigs, and one Schooner, with a crowd of large
Armed Merchant Ships, .arranged itself under the
proteaion of that of-his Majesty, while the firing of.
a reciprocal salute of twenty-one guns announced
the, friendly meeting of those who but the 'day be-
fore were on terms of hostility; the scene impress:
Mg every beholder (except the French Army on the
hills) with the most lively emotions of gratitude to
'Providence, that there yet existed a Power in the
world able, as well as willing, to prote4t the'op7.
'pressed.

I have the honour to be. &c.
W. SIDNEY SMITH.

List of the f'ortugueseltlect that cone out of the Tagus on
the zyth ot Novtinnor, sBo7.

ItIX.N OF WAR.

Names. Guns. Names. ' Guns,
-Prins ipe Reale - Alltibir d'Albuquerquc 64,
ltiunna de Portugal - 74 D. I oao de Cull() .¢4
Comte 1-lenrique 74 i'r'»icipc de Braid - - 74
-ivIeLItIZA • - 74 Martino de Ytestal - P 4
ratc•Atr.s. <itilinerva • " •
. .
.. 44' Urania . - 32
Goltinho • ' 3t) One other, NAme not known.