The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-09-23 00:00:00

GENERAL ELECTION.

No wonder that our Nlin:,tors were not .able to
procure a Cabinet Council fo: several days ! White
the Pulse': REet:Nt took his short excursion, they
were all employed in cunva4ing. They have had
the start, because they knew their intention of die.
solving a month ago. The Lord Prtsideet ofte
Council crossed the country from Statlorishire to
Tiverton ; the Lord Privy Seal stole away from
Apothorpe to Lyme Regis ; Lord Sidtuouth paid
visit to his friends at Devizes, &c.
The whole country is on the qui rive; for it is un.
derstoodihat the day of disiolutio.' is fixed, and that
Ministers do not mean to wait either for barvr t or
quarter-sessions, so that there is hut lit.le time for
treating and cornqgion before the te,,tl: sf 6: writs.
There must be allowed at least between s') and t
days before the meeting, on account of the Irish
Elections—so that Parliament will not sit till the
end of November.
Cornwall is iu a state of commotion, and there
will he some unaccountable changes tltort.. The new
Lard Warden has not been idle. And we find that
the Sidmoeth party are setting up men in opposition
to the friends of the late Mr. Pettey'''.

In Ireland the Elections will go universally against
the enemies of ci►il and religious freedom ; and in
the great cities and populous boroughs of England,
a sense of moral rectitude has been so happily and
seasonably spread by the influence of preaching and
teaching, that Candidates will be returned of a cha.
racter very different from that of political trader,.
We have beard of se►eral places where they have
come to the wise resolution of returning men mere
distinguished by their upright lives, than by their
personal fortune--who not being addicted to courses
that distract their attention from their serious duties,
' are likely to be invariably at their posts ; and whoa
chief object in going to Parliament will be to pro.
mote the deliverance of the human mind from all ob.
stacles to religious worship according to the dictates
of a man's own conscience.

There is one matter which has made a deep ins.
pression on the bearts of all constitutional men
throughout the kingdom ; and that is, the rumour
that as soon as a new Parliament shall be chosen, a
Bill is to be brought in to make a second dissolution
1 unnecessary on the event of the King's demise, the
tfhoer wx•hcitc.h llEnvaerpype people was
principles must
by
e
present being virtually the new reign, in the sense
otfhes otodp
animate
aware that a more daring attack on the representative
system could not be devised, than such a measure
would be if attempted ; and we are sure it will boat.
tempted, if the people shall not be every where put
on their guard. We are in general inimical to tests.
We cannot see the wisdom of extracting au engage.
meta from an honest and enlightened man, that ho
shall vote on any particular subject in a certain pre.
determined way, whatever reasons may be presented to
his mind for the contrary. It istn arrogant assumption
of prescience that is beyond the finite province of
man ; bat if there be any one point upon which a
sound and final judgment can be formed, it is this,
that the wholesome law so deliberately enacted, re.
quiring a new Parliament within six months after the
accession of a new King, shall not be departed front
under any pretext or subtarfugoarhatever ; and /pith.
ant putting it to Candidates as a test, we hope that
no body of Electors will take up the cause of &Man,
in whom, by his known constitutional princtples,
they cannot have confidence for his strenuous oppo.
sition to such an attempt. The next Parliament,
from every thing that we can see at headquarters, as
well as from the internal state of the kingdom-y-the
condition indeed of the world—and the eternal in•
terests of the human race, is likely to be the most
critical that has occurred since the period of the Re.
volution : and there is a heavy responsibility, there.
fore, imposed on the elective body, as to the choice
of men that they shall make on the Important tics
casion.
The contests in all the Home Districts are likely
to be violent.
In London there will assuredly he a poll against
the Ministerial Baronets, as it is said that five new
Candidates are to start; and in Middlesex the Friends
of Liberty have a Candidate to start against Mr.
Mellish.
In Westminster there is a report of a Candidate,
but we cannot speak with certainty of the fact. We
can only State the report, which is, that an intimate
friend of the Prince Regent, the Earl of Barrymore,
means to stand.
In Kent, Sir William Geary offers himself again.
In Slimy, Mr. Thornton will be put in nomina.
tion,, though he had declined; and Sir Thomas Sut.
ton has pledged himself to stand the pall.
In Essex we have great pleasure in seeing that
Mr. Western has started. Mr. Montague Burgoyne
has also pledged himself to stand the•poll.
. In Hertfordshire the Salisbury family, though with.
out hopes of success, mean to bring forward Lord
, Crawford.
In Berkshire the rival Candidates have already
taken the field.
In Sussex Sir Godfrey Webster opposes the sitting
Members; and Hampshire will also be contested.
In the more distant Counties there will be equal
contention. Yorkshire is to have the Hon. 11. Las-
celles for a Candidate.
Staffordshire n ill be contested by more than ono_
Candidate; and Mr. Portman has again presented
himself in Dorsetshire. d
In the great towns there will be, as ask havesdl ,
many changes. , ofd Mr.
Liverpool will return Mr. Broogha*
Creevey.
Coventry wilt elect Mr. Butterworth, et
a
bookseller aloft
bookseller in Fleet-street. -, ..1 .
Worcester has invited an independent Mit •te
stand on the principles of freedom.
credit by
And Bristol, we knew. will do itself
the election of Sir Samuel Romilly.
1 Mr. Sheridan is to be returned for itafford.
Mr, C. Smith has offered himself for St..l/41bari_'&4
In Truro, Mr. Davies Giddy, as agent for Lo
'd
De Dunstanville, has' begun a canvass for
Gell and llr. Hobart, the son Of Lord Ku d'
inp
bamshire. •
i )%I•l.!.'—'z,
Mr. Barnett starts for:. Rochester, and
only waits for an independent Candidate.
a ra:: .
As to parties, it seems to have been...,
with Ministers to strike of Mr. Canning's :.-- -

LONDON:
REDNESDA bLPTENBER 23, 1811.

A Cadiz Kiil arrived this morning, twinging Pa.
pars to the 31th elt. from which wa have taken the
following extracts :—.

REGENCY G‘ZETTE EXTRAORDINARY. A0n.20.,
OFFICIAL DISPATCH maws YIELD-UARSHAL JOHN DE
LA CRUZ T 43 TUE curer Of TIIE GENERAL STAPP,
DATED SEVILLE, 11 O'CLOCK, A. N. TllE27l'lll AU-
DUsT.

" Fact:l4l.Eu? Stee -The Allied troops of the
division under my cowman,' this morning forced the
enemy to abandon this precious city, in which we
have entere 1. To describe to y our Excellency the
rejoicings of tho people at the sight of the National
and Allied troops is iropqs.ible. I cannot give your
Excellency the details of th • action for want of time ;
I cannot omit saying -that we hove in our power
quantity of wounded and prisoners ; on our part we
hero suffered some loss, of which I will give your
ExcAleucy an account in my next dispatch."

[FROM THE 'AMC PAPER.]
The following dispatch has been received from ten.
Bar.LairrEaus, dared Prato del Rey, Aug. 26 :..-
" In the night of yeas...thy, the enemy evacuated
all the line from Gnat!elite, Ronda, and the points of
Zahors and Tina; blew gyp the fortifications, spiked
the cannon, anti destroyed the ammunition. I pnr-
eued,and my troops occupy the Rende and Villanactin.
am prepared, in Ibe event of the enemy having left
forces besieging Cadiz, to mart* upon them ; and
I: they hive entirely evacuated the lines, to pursue
Them in their retreat."

[rLom TR! SAM PAPER.)
The Chief II f the General Staff 0 the Royal Isle de I
'Loos, under this day's date. enclosed a copy(
tllipatch received frost the Governor of Medina S.
dank, likewise dated the Stith instant :
" That at nine at night, on the 231 h, the enemy
esmenated the city and castle of Areas, spiting the
artillery ; and that, according to the most positive
Atelligence that could be obtained, they left large
quantities of warlike stores, four thousand bushels
of wheat, and a portion of bacon and biscuit 3 !
that, in continuance, they eructated Bourns,
at which time his Excellency the Chief of the
Army was in Prodos del Rey, and was, accord.
ing to the latest intelligence from the Governor of
Moth, to ester liornos ; that some peasants having
&tried at that city, the enemy embargoed their I
horses, with which they arrived the day before yes-
terday
with the last French corps at Las Cabizas ;
that, according to all appearances, they would cond. ,
nue their retreat by the royal road, taking with them
all the horses they met, the owners of which, having •
no hopes of their being liberated, and worn out with
the ill treatment they received, determined to aban-
don them, which they did by stealth.
(Sipa) " v. DE EGUIA."
CADIZ. Arm :I.

According to the most faithful accounts respecting
the entrance of Sen. Cava, in Seville, it appears that
the enemy, in number 3000 infantry and 400 horxe,l
attempted to make a stand upon thehill of Castelliga,
in order to prevent our expeditionary troops from ea..]
tering that city ; but they were dislodged from post
to post to the briJge of Tritium', which, in great part I
they destroyed : the time which it took. our troops to
repair it, enabled the enemy to escape without suf-
fering all that toss they would have experiencid with.
sot this detention. Nevertheless they made some re.
estance in the arsenal, at Magid(' of Diana, at the
Cruz del Campo,and in the streets of the city—in all
those encounters they lost more than 600 men. Ourl
loss consists of from b 0 to 60. Brigadier Downts,i
Colonel of the &tomes Legion was badly wound.
IC The enemy are retiring towards Alcsle de'
Gasdiaaa...—(Gotscise, deg. 30.)
ALICANT. Almost IS.
Tads; the ezpedition of General MAITLAND, to
which WU joined General Roca's division, and the
korai of the id and 3d army, with its General, who
eonesseada a wing, proceeded from this place in the
direction of Valeattle. The French, it appears,
have resolved to fortify theasselvea in the points of
Ibt and Castella ; but ARISPZ has disappeared from
these points with the velocity al lightning. To-day
there is to he sloop or judo ot the Aleedse from
the "Joining villages, to settle a plan for the con-
veyance of the bogey, &c. The object of the ex.
pedition seems to be to enclose all the French who
occupy the kingdom of Valencia, to Tortoni, coo.
doing them to the left of the Ebro. We shortly
expect to hear of our ofmairiag
Avert 274