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"His Majesty views, with the liveliest interest, the loyal and determined spirit manifested by the Spanish nation, in resisting the violence and perfidy with which their dearest rights have been assailed.

"The Spanish nation, thus nobly struggling against the tyranny and usurpation of France, can no longer be considered as the enemy of Great Britain; but is recognized by his Majesty as a natural friend and ally. "We are commanded to inform you, that his Majesty has received communications from several of the provinces of Spain, soliciting the aid of his Majesty. The answer of his Majesty to these communications has been received in Spain with every demonstration of those sentiments of confidence and affection which are congenial to the feelings and true interests of both nations: And his Majesty commands us to assure you, that he will continue to make every exertion in his power for the support of the Spanish cause; guided in the choice, and in the direction of his exertions, by the wishes of those in whose behalf they are employed.

"In contributing to the success of this great and glorious cause, his Majesty has no other object than that of preserving, unimpaired, the power and independence of the Spanish Monarchy.-But he trusts that the same efforts which are directed to that great object may, under the blessing of Divine Providence, lead, in their effect, and by their example, to the restoration of the liberties and peace of Europe."

Parliament was then prorogued to the 20th of August.

SCOTS APPEALS.

The following are the appeals determined by the House of Lords last session of Parliament, with their determinations, generally :

1. Wilkie v. Johnston, &c. respecting a mercantile concern-Affirmed with Sol. casts.

2. Crauford, factor loco tutoris for Shedden, an infant, v. Patrick-Affirmed.

3. The Earl of Wemyss v. Rev. Dan. M'Queen of Prestonkirk. This was the important cause between the clergy and landholders of Scotland, which has

created so much interest-Whether the clergy, after having their stipends once augmented, could receive further aug.

mentations out of the tiends? The Court of Session found that they could, by a majority of 10 against 3-Affirmed. 4. Duke of Hamilton v. Rev. Mr Scott, respecting tiends; similar to the preceding cause-Affirmed.

5. Rev. Mr Scott v. Duke of Hamil. ton (cross appeal,) complaining that the Court of Session had not granted a sufficient augmentation-Affirmed.

6. The Earl of Wemyss v. Carre-Affirmed.

7. Mr Forbes of Callender v. Lord Armadale, and the other trustees of the

late Earl of Galloway, respecting titles to an estate, which the Countess of Galloway refused to sign-Affirmed with sol. costs.

8. Smith, &c. v. Allan and others.An insurance question, whether the respondent had given the necessary infor mation he was possessed of when he ensured a ship from Charlestown. The Court of Session found that he hadAffirmed with sol. costs.

9. Richan v. Trail-Remitted to the Court of Session.

10. ROXBURGH CAUSE.-This was one

of the most important causes that ever

came before the House of Lords. Counsel were heard at great length for up. wards of forty days, for the different claimants, both with regard to the estates and the peerage. It was found impossible to go through the cause this session. It was therefore delayed till the first Tuesday in the next session of Parliament.

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Not a single appeal has been reversed this session.

During the last twenty-five sessions of Parliament, two hundred and seventy-nine appeals from the Court of Session have been heard before the House of Lords, only thirty-seven of which have been totally reversed. This does great honour to the Court of Session, as many of them were cases of great intricacy, doubt, and difficulty.

Historical Affairs.

PORTUGAL.

"HE campaign of the British army

in

termination, and in a manner, when we consider the brilliant victory obtained over the French on the 21st of August,, very different from what was to be expreted. A Convention has been concluded, by which the French are to evacuate Portugal on certain conditions. The particulars of this transaction are given in the following dispatches from Lieut.-Gen. Sir Hew Dalrymple, Commander in Chief, and Adm. Sir Ches. Cot ton, which were published in a London Gazette Extraordinary on the 16th Sept. Head-quarters, Cintra, Sept. 3.

MY LORD,

I have the honour to inform your Lordship, that I landed in Portugal, and took the command of the army on Monday the 22d of August, the next day after the battle of Vimiera, and where the enemy sustained a signal defeat, where the valour and discipline of British troops, and the talents of British officers, were eminently displayed.

A few hours after my arrival, Gen. Kellermann came in with a flag of truce from the French general in chief, in order to propose an agreement for a cessation of hostilities, for the purpose of concluding a convention for the evacuation of Portugal by the French troops. The enclosed contains the several articles at first agreed upon and signed by Sir Arthur Wellesley and Gen. Keller

mann; but as this was done with a reterence to the British admiral, who, when the agreement was communicated to him, objected to the 7th article, which had for its object the disposal of the Russian fleet in the Tagus, it was finally concluded that Lieut.-Colonel Murray, quartermaster-general to the British army, and Gen. Kellermann, should pro. ceed to the discussion of the remaining articles, and finally to conclude a convention for the evacuation of Portugal, subject to the ratification of the French general in chief, and the British commanders by sea and land.

Oct. 1808.

After considerable discussion and repeated reierence to me, which rendered the limited period latterly prescribed for the suspension of hostilities, in order to move the army forwards, and to place the several columns upon the routes by which they were to advance, the convention was signed, and the ratification exchanged on the 30th of last month.

That no time might be lost in obtaining anchorage for the transports and other shipping, which had for some days been exposed to great peril on this dangerous coast, and to ensure the communication between the army and the victuallers, which was cut off by the badness of the weather and the surf upon the shore, I sent orders to the Buffs and 42d regiment, which were on board of transports with Sir Charles Cotton's fleet, to land and take possession of the forts in the Tagus, whenever the Admiral thought it proper to do so. This was accordingly carried into execution yesterday morning, when the forts of Cascaes, St Julien's, and Bugio, were evacuated by the French troops, and taken possession of by ours.

As I landed in Portugal entirely unacquainted with the actual state of the French army, and many circumstances of a local and incidental nature, which doubtless had great weight in deciding the question; my own opinion in favour of the expediency of expelling the French army from Portugal by means of the convention the late defeat had induced the French General in Chief to solicit, instead of doing so by a continuation of hostilities, was principally founded on the great importance of time, which the season of the year rendered peculiarly valuable, and which the enemy could easily have consumed in the protracted defence of the strong places they occupied, had terms of convention been refused them.

When the suspension of arms was a greed upon, the army under the command of Sir John Moore had not arri ved, and doubts were even entertained

whe

whether so large a body of men could be landed on an open and a dangerous beach, and that being effected, whether the supply of so large an army with provisions from the ships could be provided for, under all the disadvantages to which the shipping were exposed. During the negotiation, the former difficulty was overcome by the activity, zeal, and intelligence of Captain Malcolm of the Donegal, and the officers and men under his orders; but the possibility of the latter seems to have been at an end, nearly at the moment when it was no longer necessary.

Captain Dalrymple, of the 18th Dragoons, my military secretary, will have the honour of delivering to your Lord. ship this dispatch. He is fully inform ed of whatever has been done under my orders, relative to the service on which I have been employed, and can give any explanation thereupon that may be required. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed)

HEW DALRYMPLE, Lieut. Gen. To the Right Hon. Viscount Castlereagh, &c.

[Here follows, in French, the agreement for the suspension of arms between Sir Arthur Wellesley and Gen. Kellermann, consisting of nine articles, only one of which, the seventh, above referred to, is deserving of particular notice, as it went to guarantee the safety of the Russian fleet at Lisbon, considered as a neutral port, and its departure under the usual delays allowed by the maritime laws.]

DEFINITIVE CONVENTION.

The following is the definitive convention for the evacuation of Portugal by the French army, concluded by Lieut. Col. Murray and General Kellermann, subject to the ratification of the commanders: -

All the places and forts in the kingdom occupied by the French to be delivered up the British army in their present state.

2. & 3.-The French troops shall evacuate Portugal, with their arms and bag. gage; they shall not be considered as prisoners of war, and, on their arrival in France, they shall be at liberty to serve; and the English Government shall find the means of conveying them to any of the ports between Rochefort and L'Orient inclusively.

4. The French army shall carry with it all its artillery of French calibre, with the horses belonging to it, and the tumbrils supplied with 60 rounds per gun. All other artillery, arms, and aminunition, as also the military and naval arsenals, to be given up to the British army and navy.

5-The French army shall carry with it all its equipments, and all that is com prehended under the name of property of the army; that is to say, its military chest, and carriages attached to the field commissariot and field hospitals, or shal be allowed to dispose of such part of the same on its account as the Commander in Chief may judge it unnecessary to embark. In like manner, all individuals of the army shall be at liberty to dispose of their private property of every description, with full security hereafter for the purchasers.

6.--The cavalry are to embark their horses, as also those of the Generals and officers of all ranks. It is however fully understood, that the means of conveyance of horses at the disposal of the British Commanders are very limited; some additional conveyance may be procured in the port of Lisbon; the number ci horses to be embarked by the troops shall not exceed 6cc, and the number embarked by the Staff shall not exceed 200. At all events, every facility will be given to the French army to dispose of the horses belonging to it which cannot be embarked.

7.& 8.--Relate to the mode of embarkation.

9. All the sick and wounded who cannot be embarked with the troops are intrusted to the British army. They are to be taken care of whilst they remain in this country at the expense of the British Government, under the condition of the same being reimbursed by France when the final evacuation is ef fected. The English Government will provide for their return to France, which shall take place by detachments of about 150 or 200 men at a time. A sufficient number of French medical officers shall be left behind to attend them.

10. As soon as the vessels employ ed to carry the army to France shall have disembarked in the harbours spe cified, or in any other of the ports of France to which stress of weather may force them, every facility shall be given

them

them to return to England without delay, and security against capture until their arrival in a friendly port.

11.-The French army shall be concentrated in Lisbon, and within a distance of about two leagues from it. The English army will approach within three leagues of the capital, and be so placed, as to leave about one league between the two armies.

12.--The forts of St Julien, the Bugio, and Cascaes, shall be occupied by the British troops on the ratification of the convention. Lisbon and its citadel, together with the forts and batteries as far as the Lazaretto or Trafuria on one side, and Fort St Joseph on the other, inclusively, shall be given up on the embarkation of the second division, as shall`also the harbour and all armed vessels in it of every description, with their rigging, sails, stores, and ammunition. The fortresses of Elvas, Almeida, Peniche, and Palmela, shall be given up as soon as the British troops can arrive to occupy them. In the mean time, the General in Chief of the British army will give notice of the present convention to the garrisons of those places, as also to the troops before them, in order to put a stop to all further hostilities.

13. & 14.-Commissioners to be named for accelerating the execution of the arrangements. Any doubts arising as to the meaning of any article, to be explained favourably to the French ar

my.

15. From the dates of the ratification of the present convention, all arrears of contributions, requisitions, or claims whatever, of the French Government against subjects of Portugal, or any other individuals residing in this country, founded on the occupation of Portugal by the French troops in the month of December 1907, which may not have been paid up, are cancelled, and all sequestrations laid upon their property, moveable or immoveable, are removed, and the free disposal of the same is restored to the proper owners.

16. All subjects of France, or of powers in friendship or alliance with France, domiciliated in Portugal, or accidentally in this country, shall be protected. Their property of every kind, moveable or immoveable, shall be respected, and they shall be at liberty either to accompany the French army, or

to remain in Portugal. In either case, their property is guaranteed to them, with the liberty of retaining or of disposing of it, and passing the produce of the sale thereof into France, or any other country where they may fix their residence, the space of one year being allowed them for that purpose. It is ful ly understood that shipping is excepted from this arrangement; only, however, in so far as regards leaving the port, and that none of the stipulations above mentioned can be made the pretext of any commercial speculations.

17. No native of Portugal shall be rendered accountable for his political conduct during the period of the occupation of this country by the French army; and all those who have continued in the exercise of their employments, or who have accepted situations under the French Government, are placed under the protection of the British commanders; they shall sustain no injury in their persons or property, it not having been at their option to be obedient to the Freach Government; they are also at liberty to avail themselves of the stipulations of the 16th article.

18.-The Spanish troops detained on board ship in the port of Lisbon shall be given up to the Commander in Chief of the British army, who engages to obtain of the Spaniards to restore such French subjects, either military or civil, as may have been detained in Spain without being taken in battle, or in consequence of military operations, but on occasion of the occurrences of the 26th of last May, and the days immediately following.

19.-There shall be an immediate exchange established for all ranks of prisoners made in Portugal since the commencement of the present hostilities.

20.--Hostages of the rank of fieldofficers shall be mutually furnished on the part of the British army and navy, and on that of the French army, for the reciprocal guarantee of the present convention. The officer of the British army shall be restored on the completion of the articles which concern the army; and the officer of the navy, on the disembarkation of the French troops in their own country.The hike is to take place on the part of the French army.

21.-It shall be allowed to the General in Chief of the French army to send

an

an officer to France with intelligence of the present convention. A vessel will be furnished by the British Admiral to convey him to Bourdeaux or Rochefort. 22.-The British Admiral will be invited to accommodate his Excellency the Commander in Chief, and the other principal oicers of the French army, on board ships of war.

Additional Articles.-The individuals in the civil employment of the army made prisoners, either by the English or Portugueze, shall be restored with out exchange. The French army shall be subsisted from its own magazines up to the day of embarkation; the garri sons up to the day of the evacuation of the fortresses. The remainder of the magazines shall be delivered over in the usual form to the British Government, which charges itself with the subsistence of the men and horses of the army from the above mentioned period till their arrival in France, under the condition of their being reimbursed by the French Government for the excess of the expense beyond the estimation to be made by both parties of the value of the magazines delivered up to the British army. The provisions on board the ships of war, in possession of the French army, will be taken on account by the British Government, in like manner with the magazines in the fortresses. The British General will take the necessary measures for re-establishing the free circulation of the means of subsis tence between the country and the capital.

Then follow, in the Gazette, the dispatches of Admiral Cotton, dated Hibernia, off the Tagus, Sept. 3. & 4. in substance as follows:

The Admiral encloses a copy of the above convention, ratified by himself and Sir Hew Dalrymple. He refers to Captain Halstead for an explanation of the motives that induced him to ratify it. He states that the 3d and 42d regiments were landed on the 2d, to occu py the forts of Cascaes, St Antonio, St Julien, and the Bugio, and that no time would be lost in embarking the French troops, agreeably to the convention. His second dispatch encloses a copy of the convention concluded with the Russian Admiral Siniavin, which is as follows:"The ships of war of the Emperor of Russia, now in the Tagus, shall be deli

vered up to Admiral Cotton immediately, with all their stores as they now are, to be sent to England, and there held as a deposit by his Britannic Majesty, to be restored to his Imperial Majesty within six months after the conclusion of a peace between his Britannic Majesty and his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias. Vice-Admi. ral Siniavin, with the officers, sailors, and marines, under his command, to return to Russia, without any condition or stipulation respecting their future services; to be conveyed there in men of war, or proper vesseis, at the expense of his Britannic Majesty."

He adds, that Rear Admiral Tyler had been directed to superintend the first division of the Russian fleet, which he proposed ordering under his protection immediately to Spithead. The Russian fleet consists of one ship of So guns, six of 74, one of 66, one of 60, and one of 26--The total number of men is 6385.

Such are the details of a transaction, than which no other in our recollection has excited a stronger spirit of public discontent. For several weeks after the receipt of the intelligence, every newspaper in Britain teemed with the most virulent invective and intemperate abuse of several of the principal Officers of our army in Portugal, but more pointedly against Sir Hew Dalrymple and Sir Arthur Wellesley. With the slight information we possess of the real circumstances of the case, and understanding, that in justice both to the feelings of the public and to the character of the offcers implicated, an official inquiry is to be instituted on the subject, we must decline for the present entering into the merits of, or prejudging a question which is to come under a regular investigation.

We do not, in any of the Portugueze papers or letters, meet with any thing expressive of discontent with the terms of the convention; on the contrary, although it is admtted that the terms are favourable to the French, yet the utmost satisfaction is expressed that by this convention their country is freed from the yoke of the oppressor, and their capital saved from the destruction which would inevitably have attended a siege. The Portugueze General protested against the convention on the 4th, yet he pays a warm compliment to the English in a letter two days after his

protest,

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