The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-11-19 00:00:00

LLTTEIt VitOM GEN %RAI. CIUN r WIT/ a\

LIEUTENA NT-GEN 1.11:, I, couN.& n.L.41111,1..
461 have the honour to coagratii;:,..,, uur
lotiev on the taking of the ton n of Poktsk, fore&
happy viult of which lam mac', iiiii,htcd to tk? „.
operation of your corps. I
ho:w till(
we shall t co_
marrow see each otlwr in that town, an i coosult tfi.
gel her on n hateyer is necessary conccmicg our futt,
• operations. „

64 I humbly request your Ifightir-c will
give orders to Lleutenan!-Colonel to •,,
sue the enemy as much further ps pre.ditle, as 'r
czkalry can not get so qttickly screws tict 1;
bridges being spoiled. lam at this
artillery on the walls round the ;tr:;•:.••. .
away the enemy, who as on the
no great numbers."

• it is ce7.,,Ptr''ectike:
posture of oer sf-s•
present
ntth eP w i rTn tehsepePe tr Peninsular war,
difficult for the sincere • the
l.enest Patriot to .• rya
his mind freely, without ince •• incurring the
an insensibility or indifference to the f aLe of his rout..
try, and, perhaps, to. the more creel calumny (,f
serving the cause of the enemy. Oi the
other hand,
if a man reflects on the system which has but (00 los,
been adopted in the Government of England,
uglautl, shich
evidently tends to make war an uncea.'
pun,vit of
its governors, it is impossible he earl • . de silent on the
certain, though slow ruin which awaits
us. It may
be said, and reasonably said, that it •IS COW to;
late to regret and deplore the hostility '
in ahid
we have been involved alMost years past with a 'Ply
small, scarcely more than a m • omen,ary• intermissicsi
and it may also be added, that the consideration
how honourably to withdraw from
which no one denies is an arduous one. Boast'
would say on such an occasion : hie 1 bcs , • h
cinil
Hetein we will as candidly lay open our epiaiou a•
we lave on other topics, by which we }lave secured
the confidence of our most sensible and experienced
Leaders, as we have incurred the censure of
We arc among those persons then,
who,
• (sat;
they be few or numerous, alike leave our own no.
tionson the question equally stabile: we are anti
those who never formed the expectation of
fine
success in the Spanish war, from the moment
the Cantes were unwilling, or unable to utter and ea.
force those national sentiments and decrees, which
would infallibly have inspired every subject of their
country with a disposition to defend it, from a seas
or conviction in his mind that he had a personal it
terest in so doing ; in short, that it was public pn
perty he was hazardina :.is Ile for, of which he was.
large a sharer (private wealth out of the question)
the proudest Spaniard alive. it was the infusion of tl
general impulse into the breasts of Frenchmen, till the
but petits maitres, which converted them into warriors.
Let those of our Readers who are riot yet convincer
of our sincere love for our country, atei, above a!
let our Ministers think of this. Let all those whr
have not yet discovered our motive for tile freedom
our pen, red ect on the mighty cause which transformed
a vain and giddy nation into a Belligerent one.
is too extended a subject to go into farther at 0:
moment than may be necessary to justify what wear
indispensably cornpeltted to say on the preseut disat
trous state of our affairs on the Contieent. It i.
not our intention to create and spread an appra
heitsion that all is lost in Spain. Our Readers
would not believe us, knowing as thry must, that
there is scarely an evil occur., which is unaccom.
palliest with soma consolation. PANDORA'S bur
had Hope at its bottom: our Commander, althougi
compelled to retreat to the left back of chi
Douro, at the same time retires in a great measur
upon resources and reiaforcoments, a battalion, i
excellent order, joined the main army the
day on its march. The national hope and .exp.a.:.
tion had, however, been raised to an I:neva
moo height after the victory at Salamanca, and it.
too confidently predicted fall of Burgos ; the did
appointment, therefore, ciperienced at this sad,
den change cannot but be poignantly felt. it
success &orally justifies means, so does naw.ft
riage never fail to create accuaers. In this in.
stance, strange as it may seem, we are going to heal
defenders of Ministry I It is from the E 'intes we have
drawn the necessity of saying u hat may in effect
be
a justification of the conduct of Ministers with re.
Bard to the imputation cast upon them (we ply tia
justly, in this almost solitary instance). 'f he main
of that Journal may ba n'iore particularly lool:a;
to, and may be supposed to he most felt h)
Ministers, from its haring been made the organ
to soned Vetus's praise; of the taleats of tla
:brother of our Commander of the farces in Seam,
and of the benefits the makes world derire, yea
that Nehlernari placed at the head of its Govern'
merit !—The blame then is cast upon those who,
however incempctrnt tp mannee tile :teaks of
•
eY
great Miigdom, in this instance sit ,j,lsily
• -
empt from it. We wish we could say as tench for
them as to the alarming decadency of the whole Sisa
of Great Britain. We are tuns become invoiontm
for those whom .e cannot esteem, and rna,
pleaders
haft)
less admire. The Editor of the rates (P"
recent
Veaus in another dress) imputes our
diswers in Spain to the- " inadequacy of net7.,-.,
and this charge is founded on Lord Wratieavo!!
•
expression in the dispatches, concerning his linetat
•
means," with regard to the sacritices ire had livcr
under the necessity of making by the relitiquiss,n..;ti
of Burgos, and thereby the Spanish capital. •
from sireeing with this writer, that reinforW