Star.
London, England, 1809-01-07 00:00:00

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tempt with all Europe. Its members, to the number
of 86, have bestowed upon themselves titles and rib-
bons of every sort, and an annual allowance of 60,000,
tyres. Florida Blanca was a real man of straws j
is now ashaMed of the dishonour he has brought upon
his old age. As usually happens in such assemblies'
two or three persons domineer over all the rest, and
these two or three persons were in the pay of Eng-
land. The opinion held by the City of Madrid re-
specting the Junta is notorious : they are as much the
object of the mockery and derision, as they are of the
detestation of the inhabitants of the Capital.

46 Never was there so fine a December. , It is like
the beginning of Spring. The Emperor avails him-
self of the fine weather to remain in the country one
league from Madrid."

PROCLAMATION BY BONAPARTE.
eg Spaniards !—You have been misled by perfidi-
ous men. They have engaged you in a senseless
struggle, and you have had recourse to arms. Is there
one amongst you, who, after a moment's reflection
upon all that has passed, would not be convinced,
that you have been the sport of the eternal enemies
of the Continent, who take delight in witnessing **l
effusion of Spanish and French blood ? What pow
sible result would attend even the success of some
campaigns ? An endless war upon your soil, and a
tedious uncertainty respecting the fate of your proper-
ties and lives.- Within the space of a few months,
you have been delivered up to all the afflictions of
popular factions. The defeat of your armies has been
the work of some marches. I have entered Madrid;
the rights of war would justify me in making a signal
example, by washing away in blood the outrages of-
fered to me and to my nation ; but I have listened
to the dictates of clemency only. Some men, the
authors of all your calamities, shall alone be punished.
I shall speedily drive from the Peninsula that English
army which has been sent to Spain, not for the pur-
pose of assistance to you, but to inspire you with a
false confidence and to mislead you.
ig I had declared to you, in my Proclamation of
the 2d of June, that I wished to_ be your regenerator.
To the rights which had been ceded to me by the
Princes of the last dynasty, you wished that I should
add the right of conquest. That shall not make any
alteration in my intentions. I am even disposed to
praise all that may be generous in your efforts ; I am
willing to admit, that your real interests have been

concealed from you, that the real state of things has
been disguised from you. Spaniards, your destiny is
in your own hands. Reject the poisons which the
English have spread amongst your : let your King
be assured of your affection and your confidence, and
you will be more powerful and more happy than ever
you have been. All that obstructed your prosperity
and your grandeur, I have destroyed ; the chains
which have borne down the people, I have broken ;
a free Constitution gives you a limited and constitu-
tional, instead of an absolute Monarchy. It depends
upon yobrselves whether this Constitution shall still
continue in your land.
" But, should all my efforts pr.ove fruitless, and
should yen not merit my confidence, nothing will re-
main for me but to treat you as conquered provinces,
and to place my brother upon another throne. I
shall then place the Crown of Spain upon my own
heal, and cause it to be respected by the wicked ; for
Gon has given me power and inclination to surmount
all obstacles.
" Given at our Imperial Camp at Madrid, Dec.
7, 1808. (Signed)
By the Emperor. " NAPOLEON.
Minister Secretary of State. "H. B. MARE T.

MUNICIPAL SITTING.
Madrid, December 9, 1808.

This day, at eleven o'clock in the morning, the hour
appointed for the opening of the Sitting, the follow.
ing persons assembled together :

The Corregidor, the Regidors, the Alcades, the Deputies of
the Third Estate, the Heeds of the Assembly of the Mesta', the
Procurators, the Alguazil-Majors, the Suffragan Bishops, the
Vicars, the Body of the Curates and beneficed Clergy, the Heads
of the different Commonalties, the Body of the Nobility, the De-
puties of the Five principal Corporations, and all the Deputations
representing the 64 divisions of the city of Mabrid.

The Corregidor rose to address the meeting, and
informed them, that he had hid the honour of being
admitted to present the homage of his respect to his
Imperial and Royal Majesty, and to lay at the foot of
his throne the tribute of the gratitude of the, inhabi-
tants of Madrid for the kindness and clemency which
his Majesty had shewn towards that city.
The Corregidor expressed to his Imperial and Royal
Majesty the happiness which his presence shed over
the city, and the desire with which all the inhabitants
were animated to deserve and to justify such a pecu-
liar mark of favour.
The Corregidor observed, that his Imperial and
Royal Majesty had condescended to converse with
him in the most benevolent manner, and added, that
the object of this meeting was to acquaint the Depu-
ties of the City of Madrid with the beneficent inten-
tions of his Majesty. Accordingly he had to repeat
to them in the same terms he had heard them, the
sentiments of his Majesty, and the favourable dispo-
sitions he entertained towards the whole. of Spain
adding, that the fate of Madrid would depend upon
its own conduct. That that wou be a happy a •
prosperous one, if the inhabitants adhered faithfulljr
to the Constitution, and acknowledged with sincerity,
• The Council of the Mesta le composed of the great tropic.
•---iu emir.

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~_4.

for their legitimate King, Don Joseph Napoleon 1.,
but that, on the other hand, Spain should be reduced
to a province of France.
Here, the Corregidor drew a faithful picture of t;.t.
good nature of King Joseph, who had employed h;..
best offices and entreaties for the conservation of that

capital, as well as of the neighbouring cities, and who
treated them with the tenderness of a generous father.
The Corregidor impressed upon the minds of au
the Deputies, that the presence of the King in his ca.
pital should be considered as the greatest advantage
that could be wished for it.
Accordingly, the Deputies deeply penetrated with
the same sentiments, and anxious to contribute their
best endeavours for the happiness of the inhabitants
of Madrid, determined humbly to implore his Impe,
rial and Royal Majesty to indulge the capital with
the presence of the King, that city, and even all
Spain, being convinced of the signal advantages which
must be.derived from the wisdom of his Governnaent.
The Deputies insisted, that a fresh tribute of thanks
should be presented to his Imperial and Royal Ma.
jesty, for the kindness with which he had treated that
City, whichlis triumphant arms had conquered, and
for the generous pardon of what had happened during
the absence.of King Joseph. , ,
iris Impeiial and Royal Majestyt is also to be
prored to extend Pardon to those whom fear had in.
duced to desert the City, as well as to all the peasants
who had taken up arms.
His Imperial and Royal Majesty is also finally to
be implored, that he will be pleased to order his
troops to respect property, the holy temples, the re-
ligious institutions ; in a word, the property of every
class.
This humble supplication is to be laid before his

Imperial and Royal Majesty, and is to be presented
to him by a Deputation taken from azuOag the Re-
presentatives of the city of Madrid.
It was resolved, in the same Sitting, that a tribute
of the most lively gratitude should be presented to
the King Joseph Napoleon, whose happy intercession
with his August Brother, the Emperor of the French,
saved the city of Madrid.

His Royal Majesty shall be humbly supplicated
to grant the favour of his presence to the city of Ma.
drid, that under his just and beneficent government,
good order, justice, and tranquillity, may be restored
within its walls.

His Royal Majesty shall be implored to employ

. . .
his Royal good offices with hi Imperial Brother, that
pardon may be obtained to the absent, and to those
inhabitants who had taken up arms.
The present process-verbal shall be presented to his
Imperial and Royal Majesty.

(Here follows several thoivand signatures.)
On the 11th a similar meeting was held, for the
Deputies of the Inhabitants of the parishes, and who
acceded to a similar measure, which was likewise ac.
companied with a vast number of signatures.