The Sun.
London, England, 1812-11-24 00:00:00

in which be ¶four yearn ago entered, to the corn-
- snand of an army and the provinces of Andalusia,
it woied appcal..that his heart ought to have been
tjlled with satisfaction, at seeing his bravery so
1-oo.zally rewarded ; and that the maid)) and Go-
vernment had a ri!riat to expect the most unequivocal
proofs of his gratitude ,tnd devotion to the court-
.try. But.Generalßallesteros, placed in the Com-
mand v 1 the 401 army, and of those provinces, was
loosening-the bonds which, unite it to the rest of
the nation ; and, as if the forces which bad been
entrustedtohim, and the resources which Were
within his reach, had no 'Connection with the rest
of Spain, -he acted 'according ,to his own ideas,
without consideretion of orders transmitted him
from superior Aith iritl,avhicn in vain endeavonred
combine ti:c operations of all. Under pretence•
of attending to the subsistenee.of his army, notwith7
standing having been assisted greatly by the Go-
vernment, he conducted himself With almost en-
tire independence, both in civil and military
affairs. 1-1-14 en in the month of March,- this year,
the main attention of the enemy was directed to
wards LStrennidura and Grenada, by the move-
ments and important operations of our allies,.
and the lines of the- besiegers .before Cadiz
became weak; the. Government endeavoured
to improve the 'opportunity, and free this city
from its troublesome siege, and dies. Obtain an,
advantage of the greatest consideration, both hi
a „political "v.nd y point of view. General
Ballesteros had positi, oriers to attack the rear
of the enemy, and a respectable corps was ready
to do the some at other points.;. but Ballesteros-
did not carry his orders into .execution, under
specifies. pretexts ; the opvortunity waslost, and
Cadiz remained besieged. The consequence of this
Want of obedience we have thoroughly experienced;
and :hanks to him who lu„s made them cease.— '.
Government had then this reason, andt afterwards
many, others, to proceed agains this,General; but
conceiving that the evils which his want of con-
currence in the general operations had caused,
would diminish if they succeeded in bringing Lim
to a sense of. his true:obligations—and desirous,
on the other baud, that the' country might benefit
from his valotir and activity, they continued hint.
in his command.

Bat posterior events have clearly dera.onstrated
kow useless it was, to expect he xvoold vary his
.conduct. The enemy abandoned the 'Andalusias
Gen. Bailasteros Marched to Grenada, mid having
there collected the rreater part of the disposable
forces of his arniy, openly opposed the repeated
orders which were transmitted him to march in a
convenient direction, atn.l occupy an important po-
sition. As if in a state of somnolency, from his en-
try into that city, not only has he disobeyed these
crders, bat lie has neglected to pursue or annoy
tin- enemy in any manner; and if at 'any time he
awoke fern the letlorgy inavirich he appeared sunk,
it was only moreandmoretocontravene the inten-
.of Government, by collecting there the dis-
persed, •vlso ought io have proceeded to another
destination, as had., been determined ; and frus:-
-trating, by all po;,.sible means, the best combined
oper
Whomathen, will this General obey ?. To what
nation do the troops he commands belong,' if the
Spanish covernment caanot, depend on them I---
''The soldiers of the fourth army are soldiers of the
coautry 1; they are not Ballesttoos'a soldiers. •
Bat what has eaceedeti all expectation, is the
last step he has just -taken, of which neither the
nation nor GOyerninent• can foe a moment feign
themselves ignorant.
The situation in whel-i the Peninsula is at•pre-
sent demands, 'that in Order to reap the
'fruits of the late victories, ensure and extinct
their 'effects; and protect. us• against fresh irrup-
tions frOan the troops of 'the Continental Tyrant,
a powerful and un;lorm impulse should be given
to our troops, •and those of the allies who de-
fend', us ; that; they should be concentrated, and
the 'direction of the war placed in one hand-.
—The General Cortes, .convinced of thiS neces-
sity, and satisfied, on the other hand, with 'the
generous and glorious exploits which the immortal
Duke of", Ciudad Rodri,,;o has performed in our fa-
vouc, to whom we are equally bound bylove and
gratitude, 'determined he shohid have the cOm-
rolml of our troops. General-Ballesteros openly
refused to obey this sovereign-deeree; in an o; cial
dispatch 'addressed to the Minister atWar. This
seditious, denial was. printed anddispersed•in dif-
ferent Places.
Under the specious veil of patriotism and ho-
MAW, he provokes to rebellion, exciting by false
reasoning the strongest passions of the Spaniards,
And excites .'to. political -convulsions, •at the mo-
ment -when the utmost union is required to save
the nation. lie says, he wishes to take the opi-
nion Of the. nation; he then 'does not acknowledge
its representitiveS—and, in addition to disobeying
the Government and Congress, he denies -the latter
to be the national re?resentation.
ougiA not to conecil from this General,
that in our history we have repeatedly had foreign
Generals at the head of our armies, without, on
this 'aceouat, havii srr had' the libe-ty and, inde-
t
pendence of .the cOantry. compromi. „t ; such; for
ex,onolc, were the Siiinolas, Farnesios, Pescaras,
Veadomes, &c. Neither should we hide the ge-
herosity ‘vith which Grea'. Britain aids us, nor
the necessity we stand in •of 'these aids ; nor
the interest that poWer takes in the liberty and
iudependenee of .Spain---to. palliate, under false
principles of honour and ridiculous fears, so scan-
dalous a proceeding.
Whets we scarcely begin to breathe, at rising
from the painful. situation in which ,we were ;
wheri the prOvinces begin to see the so ninth desired
day of their liberty dawn, and to taste the s:weets
of a paternal Government, and 'of lawsTertned for
their prosperity and happiness ; ;viten now that
notitiog but the union and combination of our
foiT,e, to drive flue French from our soil, is want:.
inn—now it is that a Spanitud, the most flaitered,
and the most rewarded in the :nation, will not
acknowledge the rational 'authority, -and sets the
scandalous example in our revolution of a General
at the head of his army-refusing obedience. Yes,
for the ddvantages he has obtained in some -ac-
tions of trifling consiaieration; he thinks he has a
right to place himself above the laws. What
rnic;ht riot the Ceropteror of Baylensay ? What the
bernie tlefeaders of Saragossa,- Gerona, mid other
places who have covered Spain with glory ? And