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

heroic-Spaniards who- have spilt and are Villiup;
their blood in defence• Of their beloved country. I=
No,soldier can demand, as the reward of his va-
lour, the slavery of. his fellow7cifizens. Tbe na=
tion muse not admit a bold soldier, under pre-
tence of his honour, to transgress the sanctuary of
the laws.

REPLY OF DON FRANCISCO BA.T.LEST EROS TO TnE

THE DISPATCH EV WHICH liE RECEIVED HIS

DISMISSAL FROM HIS COMMAND.

Most Excellent Sir—This morning, while en- -
I ,gaged in the ordinary' dispatch of Insiness, I re-
ceived your EXcellency'S dispatch, discharging; me
froth the command of the ;Captainship. General-of
the four Kingdoms of Andalusia, and of the 4th
Army,lnfOrming the at the same time that nty,
troops had formed, and were marching in the di-
rection of Alcala ; I -immediately. mounted .my
horse to learn from what source proceeded a Mea-
sure so contrary, to the spirit of the RoyaltOrdi-
bances, and the discipline with which. I have al-
ways endeavoured to impros,e the army, and of
which I have given so many proofs. On going
out of the village I met apiniset of trite first bat -
talion of Royal Guards, with advanced senti-
nels, and arths ready to give fire, and a number of
peasants in front. I was surprized at this novel-
ty, and asked the Officer what 'it. meant Be an-
SWC.ed, as did the sentinels when they eathe'np,
th:',t he had orders notsto let me pass. A Coldnel
tlien came, to whom I stat.nl my displeasure at
being treated in this manner, which I considered
as disgraceful.. The peasants tow broke out into
strong expessions calculated to made an impres-
sion on the soldiers, for whom they knew I had
made *o, many sacrifices. I, however, silenced
them, ordering them to retire. ' I then proceeded
to my himse, sensibly feeling
.a treatment
I believe was never experienced in the Spanish
armies by the most criminal subaltern officer. In
a short time, the same battalion appeared in front
of my house, and A gaard was placed at the door
of it. The people, indignant at an' act iof this
kind, made loud lamentations, fearing something
might be intended against my person - The -sen-
timents 'Of affection expressed by,these.good Spa-
niards made a greater impression on me than this
military apparatus, which •-f did not conceive to
correspond to the dignity of my .station,,,ltor,.--is,it
possible to believe that it wai by your T.3l.;cellen-
cy's orders.

Prom this moment, I had ,sentinels placed upon'
me, and received orders from B;igadier Virues, to
set out early in the morning for my destination,
Ceuta, which I shall comply with, leaving the
Chief of the Stall' to deliver up the army,than which,
I think, there is not a better, in Europe, that has
been organised, regulated, equipped, instructed,
and disciplined, in only one fortnight. But I
cannot but represent to yourilighness, that if my
,serrices have merited any attention, I could wish
that the destination of Ceuta might be changed to
the I.)!:Ovince of Estremadura, and, it possible, to
Fregenal or its Vicinity, as I find any health much
broken ; and in that ,country; note ithStanding my
misfortunes, I could. maintaiu myself with re-
spect,. and my existence would not be hartben-
some to my country. This is the manner in which
1 have been treated with respect to my person,
but have felt still wore sensibly the attack made
on my reputation in the annexed paper*, which.
Virues has published.. Ile supposes in, it, that I
have distressed the people of Grenada by levying
contributions, which I never thOught of, but
which, on the contrary, I always opposed ; though
I asked money of the Intendant, which, however,
he rot'used, eNcept as a loan, which I was to re-
pay from the first funds I obtained. •
I shall'proceed -towards my destination ; but if
my indisposition increases, I shall halt at Coin,
where your Excellency may address to Inc your
answer. •

,God preserve your Excellency many years.
CISCO BALLESTEROS.

Greda4p., Oct. 10.

What we.arc:—Ballesteros ! the celebrated Bal-
lesteros, has fallen ! At length have his rivals
triumnhed.—What grief ! I n vain Were all your
exertions—in vain your intrigues and machina-
tions against ,this General, till he himself gave the
victory into your bands. You cannot glory in his
fall; nor can he charge you with it. He has
precipitated himself ; and, perhaps, he alone could
haVe overthrown himself with -a single blow.—
General .I3allesteros; blinded doubtless by military
fanaticism, and fighting as 'in a phrenzy against a'
phantom, has plunged his dagger into the bosom
of his country. Great, extremely great, is, in our
_conception, the evil he hias been the cause of. In
liis miSfortune,he may boast that his extrayagance
does mot present him in the light of an odious
linquent, but of an illustrious fanatic, deserving,of
compassion. 0 fanaticism, fanaticism, who can
limit. thy fury ! How many illustrious victims
have.been sacrificed on thy altars ! Ballesteros
resounded in the acclamations of the troops,the
name of Ilallesteriis was heard with picaure in the
towns occupied by the eneMy—the 'tame of Bahl
lesteros Was beard and.feared by the French le-
gions----to be a soldier under Bdllesteros was a re-
commendation throughout the Peninsula ; . and
Mina himself, that ' celebrated partisan, saw
with predilection the soldiers of•Ballesteros.---'
Cadiz-, that town Which is not easily, dazzled, saw
Ballesteros NVithin its walls ; and gave such proofs
of estimation, as, compared with the indifference
it manifested with respect to the famous Blake,
gave a 'new impulse to the bhinted attacks of his.
enemies. We then feared his ruin ; but the‘Go-
vernment conferred upon him new honours and
employments. In the mean time Balfesteres con-
tinued actively to labour, which is what is parti-
cularly required in th is kind of warfare ; and whe-
ther his achievements were what he stated or not,
.it is certain his reputation continually increased,
and nothing is.of more importance than ci;nfidenee
in a General. .In these circumstances, only envy
or the want of political judgment could have as-

4 The following is tht lirinted paper•referred, to :
" Notice to the Public.—The Regency of the Kingdom
has been pleased to disc:large Sc:nor pon Francisco Balks-
tefOs from the command of .kieneral in Chief of the Fourth
Army, and the Captaincy General cf the foie Kingdoms of
Andalusia, and to nominate in his .stead-, ad interim, IkonJoaquin 'Slimes, Brigadier of the royal armies. In eonse-
quence,--the contribution ordered- by him is suspended till
corresponding orders are received from • Government, , Tbe
public, therehire, are 'not requircl to make the several pay-
nwntg assigned Co. them. • " VIRUES."