Star.
London, England, 1808-09-27 00:00:00

SP..IIN.

MADRID, SEPTEMBER 7.
STATEMENT BY lIIS EXCELLENCY DON PEDRO CEVALLOs,
ON THE MODE BY WHICH THE GRAND DUKE OP BERG
SURREPTITIOUSLY CAUSED TIIE JUNTA OF TIIE GO-
VERNMENT TO COMMAND THE DELIVERY UP OF DON
MANUEL GODOI.

" As soon as the Grand Duke of Berg, Lieutenant
General of the armies of the Emperor, arrived in
Spain, he contrived with the greatest address to dis-
seminate the notion that he was come for our good,
and to effect some useful reforms in our Government,
studiously intimating that be would protect the cause
of the Prince of Asturias, and remove the Prince of
the Peace, the object of the universal detestation of
the nation; at the same time appearing to disapprove
the great influence which the Queen possessed in State
affairs. He knew very well that nothing more was
necessary in order to catch the favour of all the op-
pressed Spaniards; and his object being such as we
have since seen, it must he confessed that the calcu-
lation of the Emperor of the French, his master, was
not ill made.

" But as all the things of this world are liable to
change, the ever-memorable events of Aranjuez took
place, and overthrew this plan. As soon as the Grand
Duke of Berg was informed of this, he changed" his
scheme, and affected to take a great interest in the
fate of Don Manuel Godoi, with whom he had held
a close correspondence, though they were not known
to each other. It did not escape his sagacity, that the
King and Queen were earnestly bent on saving their
favourite ; and he therefore instantly began to take
the steps necessary to effect his deliverance, which
were however useless as long as our beloved Monarch
Ferdinand VII. remained in prison. This did not
alarm the Grand Duke of Berg ; for no sooner did
he know that his Majesty had arrived at Burgos, than
he renewed his demands to obtain the &livery of
Godoi into his hands, threatening, in case it was de-
nied him, to make use of the force at his disposal.
" Nevertheless the Junta resisted these first at-
tacks, and consulted with the King on the steps to
be taken under these critical circumstances. His Ma-
jesty r plied that he had written to the F.mperer of
the F- ench, who had himself solicited of the King
the release of the prisoner. The follos.ving is his Ma-
jesty's Letter :

• The Grand Duke of Berg ar.d Ambr.ssador of your imperial
and Royal Majesty, has made r:peated verbal requests, that the
person of Don Manuel G,xloi, who is imprisoned in the Royal
Palace of Villaviciosa, for crimes against the State, may be placed
it your Majesty's hands.
" Nothing woul•.l he more agreeable to me than the power of
acceding to your desire ; but the consequences which might re-
sult front this are so serious, that I see myself obliged to state
them to the prudent consideration of your Majesty.
' In pursuance of my obligation to admir•.ister justice to my
people, I have ordered the highest of the tribunals of my king-
dom to judge, according to the laws, Don Manuel Godoi, Prince
of the Peace. I have promised my people to puidish the result
of a process on which depends the honour of a great number of
my subjects, and the preservation of the rights of my crown.—
Throughout the ',A :tole extent of my dominions there is not a sin-
gle town, however small, which has not transmitted accusations
against the prisoner. All my subjects manifest the moat extraor-
dinary demonstrations of joy at the moment whe❑ the intelli-
gence of his arrest reached them; and the eyes of all men are
fixed on the progress and result of his trial.
• Your Majesty, who is as wise a legislator as you are a great
warrior, will recognise the weight of these considerations. Ent
your Majesty takes an interest in the life of Don Manuel Godoi.
I give you my Royal wurd, that, if after the most deliberate
trial, he should be sentenced to death, I shall pardon kiln his
life, from respect for the mediation of your Imperial Majesty.
' Goo preserve the life of your Imperial Mcje:dy many years!
' Vittoria, April 18. (Signed) FERNANDO:
_ _

" A Royal Mandate, of the same date, informNl
the Junta, that if the Grand Dake of Berg should
renew his solicitations in favour of Godoi, they should
reply that this affair would be settled between the two
Sovereigns, and that the result would depend exclu-
sively on the detcratination of the King.' And his
Majesty having heard that the King and Queen, his
parents, doubtless from misinformation, had com-
plained of the treatment which the Prince of the
Peace met with in prison, his, Majesty commanded
me, notwithstanding my assurance of the delicacy
with which the Marquis de Ctstc)ar ccnditetA him-
self, that I should recommend him to take the greatest
care of the health of thc prisoner, which I did on the
same day.
" As soon as the Emperor :-.ad received the letter
of the King our Sovereign, with his accustomed
falsehood he wrote to the Grand Duke c Berg, tel-
ling him that the Prince of Asturias had placed the
prisoner at his disposal, and commanding him to in-
sist upon Don Manuel Godoi being delivered over to
him. Murat, whose character is naturally violent
and daring, required nothing more to occasion him.
to address the following letter to the Junta—
" His Majesty the Emperor and King having in-
formed his Imperial and. Royal Highness, that his
Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias had just writ-
ten to him, saying that he left the fate of the Prince
of the Peace to be determined by him ; his Highness
has, in consequence, commanded me to inform the
Junta of the intentions of the Empetor, and to reite-
rate the demand of the i.eison of that Prince, and send
him to France. It is possible that this determination
of,his Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias has not
reached the Junta. In this case, it is to be supposed
that his Royal Highness await•, the reply of his Ma-
jesty the Emperor but the Junta will at once per-
ceive that to answer the Prince of Astoria:: would be
to decide a different question ; and it is already knottn
that his Imperial Majesty cannot recognize any one
but Charles IV.
_

" The Junta will therefor^ be pleased to take this
note into consideration, ami have the goodness to in-
form me of their determination, that I may render an
account of it to his Imperial Highness the Grand
Duke. The Government and the Spanish nation will
find in this resolutibn of his Imperial Majesty new
proofs of the interest he takes in the affairs of Spain,
since, in removing the Prince of Peace he seeks to de-
prive the malevolent of the power of suggesting that
Charles IV. could ever transfer to him the power and
confidence which he has lost for ever; and, on the
other side the Junta will do justice to the noble senti-
ments of his Majesty and the Emperor, who does not
choose to abandon his faithful ally.
" I have the honour to offer the Junta the assu-
rances of my high consideration.
The General in Chief of the Etat Major,
" AvnusTo BI=LLIARD."

" Madrid, April 20, l BOP
" He added, verbally, such atrocious and unheard-

of threats, that the Junta, not doubting that he would
carry them into execution, and thus compromise the
reprse of Madrid, had the weakness to accede to the
demand, and ordered the Marquis de Castelar, in the
name of the King, to deliver up the prisoner that
night, which, in fact, was done, not without much
repugnance on the part of the Marquis, and that of
the other officers who had the custody of him.
Truth requires that it should be stated, that D.
Francisco Gill, Secretary of State for the Marine,
and therefore Member of the Junta, opposed the de-
livery of the prisoner, as not being authorised by the
King.
" It is not easy to conceive how, in the face of
facts like these, the Junta of the Government could
represent to the Council and the public by means of
two Extraordinary Gazettes, that the Prince of the
Peace had been delivered up by order of the King, or
how they could attempt to cloak their weakness by
publishing garbled passages from the official corres-
pondence, inserting, for instance, the following :
" With respect to the prisoner Don Manuel Godoi,
the King commands me to inform the Junta, in order
that they may make a proper use of the intimation,
that his Majesty values too highly the desire which
the Emperor of the French has manifested, not to
comply with it. At the same time, he performs an
act of generosity towards a criminal who has offended
his Royal person."
" It is evident, on a little reflection, that this could
not refer to Cie lib2iation of the prisoner, but that the
King was disposed to act with generosity towards him
from respect for the Emperor ; and what kind of ge-
nerosity was meant may be ascertained by a reference
to the order given on the 18th of April, to the Mar-
quis de Castelar, concerning the health of the prisoner
which the King issued, though he well knew the mis-
take under which his Royal 'parents lay, which order
would have been ridiculous, if at the same time the
King had ordered the Junta to set him at liberty.—
BesiJes, after the Junta had transmitted to the King I
an account of the reasons which induced them to re-
lease the prisoner, by those above stated, his Majesty
ordered me to reply in the following terms :
" The King is informed of the motives which in-
duced the Junta of the Government to deliver up the
pAsonep without his order."
" I have deemed it incumbent upon me to publish
these facts, that all the nation may be informed of
what has occasioned the release of Don Manuel
Godoi, falsely attributed to an order of his Majesty,
that no one may deem it possible that his Majesty can
fail in his solemn word given to his people, to judge
them according to the laws—and that every one may
find, on this occasion, reason to feel more strongly
that ardent love with which we are filled towards our
beloved King Ferdinand VII. whom we implore Goo
to restore to us, to fill the measure of our felicity.__

" PEDRO CEVALLOS."
[Then follows a Certificate under the hands of D. Euseblo de
Eardani and Azara, and de Luis d'Onis, Secretaries of the king,
testifying to the authenticity of the instrument cited. Signed
I\Tadrid, Sept. 3.]
The same Gazette contains other articles which
admit of abridgement.
On the 17th ult. the Magistrates of Torquemada
announced to the Council at Madrid the passage of
the enemy through that town in several divisions,
in the course of which they committed the most wan-
ton cruelties and deprelations. They burned down
137 houses, rubbing houses and churches with equal
avidity.
A like report from the Alcaide, Mayor of the city
of Cuenca, relating the excesses committed on the re-
treat of Marshal Moucey through that city, on the
17th of June.

A Reclamation on behalf of the King's regiment
of infantry, who had lie,?n praised in the Gazette of
tae 15th of July, for havin; performed the service of
Guard to Joseph Bonaparte at Tolosa, and accom-
milled him to Vittoria, &c. It is said in this paper,
that the Ist King's Battalion and the 2d African
Batta:ion had stood garrison at St. Sebastian since
last February, where they telt the same disgust and
detestation at the conduct of the French which the
whole nation felt, till the detention of the King at
Bayonne made them resolve to avenge the perfidy
practised upon the m. A few individuals passed over
to Arragon, where the Patriot Army was then form-
ing ; while the greater number, in order to find the
means of escaping, were reduced to the necessity of
offering to compliment Joseph Bonaparte at Tolosa,
where the Pretender arrived on, the 10th of July. He
was received with acclamations from 20(X) French-
men, but not from the inhabitants, or the King's bat-
talion, which consisted of 120 men. The King of
Naples, though he could not fail to perceive the dis-
position of the Officers, nevertheless affected to re-'
ceive them with great favour. They accompanied the
King to Vittoria, where he honoured them by wear-
ing
their uniform ; but notwithstanding the especial
favour thus displayed, and the flattering offers made
by some of the Members of the Deputation to Bay-
onne, early on the morning of the 17th they set out
from Santa Maria del Cubo ; leaving the road to
Burgos, they marched to Posa, where they rested.—
Earry the next morning they found themselves near
Villa Diego. They were Abliged to go out of their
course, in order to avoid the parties of the French in
that neighbourhood, till, on the 25th of the same
month, they reached the Gallician army, where they
were joined by the other two battalions of the first di-
vision. They afterwards learned that they were par-
sued by 80 cavalry who could not reach them, but
whom they should have received with great pleasure,