Star.
London, England, 1808-09-05 00:00:00

GOTTENBIIRGH MAILS.

Two Mails arrived from Gottenburgh last night.—
The letters received by them repeat the report that Sir
SAMUEL HOOD had fallen in with the Russian fleet. In
other respects the Mails bring but little intelligence,
if we except a statement repeated in several letters,
that the French troops on the Elbe, who had been
put in motion to proceed to Spain, had shewn the
most marked detestation of the service in which they
were to be engaged.. It was currently reported and
credited on the 'Change at Gottenburgh, before the
Mails came away, that a body of French soldiers, in
number 2200, in crossing the Elbe for Hamburgh, on
bearing that they were to march for Spain, declared
to a man that they would not march to Spain to be
murdered, and that they threw all their muskets into
the River/

In our last, in addition to the Official details of the
victories obtained by our brave countrymeU in Portu-
gal on the 17th and 21st ult. we stated the accounts
that had been received from Oporto of the final cap-
ture ofJurror and his army on the 24th. As one of
the letters from Oporto, received on Saturday by a
Merchant in the City, and dated Sunday sennight,
did not reach us till a small part of our impression
was worked off, we again insert its inclosure, reported
to have been posted at the Exchange of Oporto

" Lotsou, with five thousand men, killed.—Justor and LA.
WORDS prisoners on their way to Coimbra and Oporto, as the Bri-
tish General would not concede to them any honours.—Thirty-
three wagons loaded with the plunder taken.—The Russians, as
soon as the french left the capital, hoisted Portuguese colours.—
There has been a naval engagement, in which the English de-
stroyed a French Squadron, which was conveying to Portugal
Prince Ettotit a (our Kiss ) with several thousand men to re-
inforce Juno:."

That such accounts had reached Oporto is not to be
doubted, from the respectable quarter whence the let-
ters came ; but the intelligence is not generally- cre-
dited, because it is thought it would have probably
come direct from the Tagus, if correct, as. we have
plenty of cruizers off that part of the coast. Some of
the letters from Oporto also state, that Sir C. COTToN
had intimated to the Russian Admiral, that the Por-
tugtese Government having been superseded in the
Tagus by. the French, and the Russians having put
themselves under the protection of their allies the
French, he must demand their surrender to his Bri-
tannic Majesty.

_ .
Government have not yet received accounts of the
turrender of Jr ;Nor, but they do not discredit the
above intelligence, though not yet received officially.,
—To this we have to add, that our letters from Ply.
mouth Dock, received this morning, announce the
arrival of the SCORPION, " with intelligence of the surren•
der of Jusor, and that our troop: are in tottettion of Lit-
kn." We may, therefore, hope, that a few hours
will confirm the intelligence of the complete triumph
of the British troops, and the capture oldie Russian
feet

The proposals of capitulation brought to Sir Haw
DALRYMPLE by the French General KELLERMAN,
were totally inadmissible. They were, in substance,
that General Jurror would evacuate the Portuguese
territory, upon condition that he was suffered to de-
part unmolested in the Russian fleet, which, having
originally taken shelter in the port of a friendly power,
meld not be treated as an enemy. This was, of
course, refused, and the right of our army, which had
not been engaged on the 21st, was dispatched on the
23 in pursuit of the enemy. By the arrival of Sir
HARRY BURRARD our army amounts to near 30,000
men, and it has now 2000 cavalry. JUNOT, with all
his obstinate bravery, would hardly venture another
battle with such an enemy.
We this day lay before our readers various articles
from an immense mass of Spanish and Portuguese
papers. These papers present so many repetitions
of important events with which our readers have been
made acquainted, and addresses and proclamations
so, much in the style of those before given, that we
are obliged to be select in our extracts.
It appears from the Portuguese papers that numer-
ous desertions have taken place from the Portuguese
corps which AMOY had formed in Lisbon. A consider-
able part of the cavalry of the Lisbon Police Guards
made their escape about the beginning of August, and
an interesting account of this transaction will be
found in a preceding column of our Paper. It is
not a little remarkable, that their officers, in the first
instance, discouraged the plan of desertion which the
privates had formed, but at last some of them joined
in it. The confidence which appears to have been
placed in these Portuguese troops by the French is
very unaccountable. After the desertion of the first
corps of the Guards, NIVON, their Commander, sent
directions to the French Commandant at Santorem,
to intercept them, and it is singular, that his dispatch
was forwarded, not by a French Officer, but by a
Portuguese Serjeant. This messenger, however, and

the troops be 6d with him, fell is w ith the deserters,
and joined them.
Letters from Madrid congrna the report we have
already given of the retreat of JOSEPH BONAPARTI
jom Vittoria. The French army, however, accord-
ing to the last accounts, was posted in the neighbour-
hood of that thy, and occupied n space of two leagues.
It is said that they are forming-an entrenched camp,
and throwing up strong works on the banks of the
Ebro.

We are sorry to learn that the French occupied
Bilboa so late as the 21st. General PONTE had, how-
ever, by that time made arrangements fur attacking
them with every prospect of success.
A.battalion of Poles, to the number of 700 men,
has deserted from the French division of moNczy to
the Arragon army under PALA/PDX, and arrived at
Catalynd with their accoutrements.

The French troops at Barcelona are reduced to great
ernbartassment by the want of provisions : it is stated
that, for some time previous to the date of tile last
accounts, beans were delivered out instead of brad.
A body of 44)00 men, which was advancing to their
succour,nncler the command of General SABRAN, has
been totally defeated near Arbes—General SABRAN
was killed, and the whole of the division either
cut to pieces or made prisoners.—Great num-
bers of persons have escaped from Barcelona, by
scaling the walls of the town. General EspurrA
had compelled all the Spanish troops in the
place to join the garrison in the citadel, and had shot
several who refused to do so. The heads of most of
the principal families were likewise held in custody
as hostages for the devotion of the inhabitants to the
French interest. The Neapolitan and Swiss troops
take every opportunity to desert. The Patriots of
Manresa, Vick, Lerida, Gerona, Berga, Back, and
Montserrat, were, at the date of the last accounts, as-
sembled at Tarrosa, for the purpose of advancing
against the enemy at Barcelona.