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very name of war was too hateful to be endured.

pressment may take place in our ports and harbours; and, there, if confined to our own seamen, America does not object to But, in answer to all this, it is said, it. It is upon the high seas that she objects by Lord Castlereagh, that "the naval impressment; because there the matter" strength of the empire mainly depends"

to

must be left to the discretion of the British upon the continuation of this practice of officer. It is there a matter of power. There impressment. That is to say, if we take is no one to appeal to; there is no umpire; the whole of the facts into view, our naval there is no judge to look into proofs, and strength mainly depends upon a practice to decide. The searching officer may, which exposes so many of the American under his discretion, take out as many men citizens to misery and ruin. The plain as he pleases; he may leave the ship des- meaning of our perseverance in the practice titute of the hands necessary to conduct her is this: that, if we do not continue it, our a league; and, he may take out American seamen will desert to the American ships citizens as well as English subjects. That in such numbers as to leave us without the this may be done is quite certain, because possibility of obtaining a sufficiency of men it has been done in countless instances. to man and fight our feet. Supposing this Thousands of native Americans, thus im- to be the fact, it really forms no justificapressed, have been released by our Admi- tion of the practice; for, we can have no alty on the official application of the right to put America to any inconvenience American agents; and, who can doubt whatever merely for our own benefit, or to that many thousands remain unreleased? save ourselves from loss or danger. The General Lyman, late American Consul in President, however, in order to show, London, once stated, in a report to his go- that he does not wish us to receive any vernment, that there were about fourteen injury in this way, and in order, if pos thousand native Americans then on board sible, to put an end to the war, has made our fleet, who had been impressed from a voluntary offer of a law to be passed in on board American ships on the high seas America to prevent our seamen from being He might possibly exaggerate; but it is admitted into American ships, upon connot to be doubted that the number was, dition, that we will first abandon our prac and has constantly been, very considerable. tice of impressment, and give up, that is, And, I beg your Royal Highness to take a restore to their liberty, those native Ame serious view of the great hardships expe- ricans whom we have already impressed. rienced by Americans thus impressed. Mr. Russell, in his letter to Lord CastleTaken from their lawful and peaceable reagh, says :-"While, however, it repursuits; dragged into a service and forced "gards this course as the only one which under a discipline so little congenial with remained for it to pursue with a hope of their habits and their prejudices; wafted" preserving any portion of that kind of away to sickly climates, exposed to all the "character, which constitutes the vital dangers of battle, taken, perhaps for ever," strength of every nation, yet it is still from the sight and the knowledge of their willing to give another proof of the spihomes and friends; and, if, by chance "rit which has uniformly distinguished its for it can be nothing more), restored at proceedings, by seeking to arrest, on last, restored (as has often been the case) terms consistent with justice and honour, with the loss of health or of limbs, and," the calamities of war. It has therefore at the very least, with the loss of time, "authorized me to stipulate, with His Briand that, too, in the prime of their lives; "tannic Majesty's Government, an armiand carrying about them, for the remainderstice to commence at or before the exof their days, feelings towards England❝piration of sixty days after the signature which I need not attempt to describe. "of the instrument providing for it, on Your Royal Highness's heart will tell "condition that the Orders in Council be you, I hope, much better than I can, not "repealed, and no illegal blockades to be what is, but what must be, the effect of" substituted to them, and that orders be such a practice, carried on against a" immediately given to discontinue the impeople, who are not only the children of" pressment of persons from American ves Englishmen, but of those Englishmen who "sels, and to restore the citizens of the preferred freedom in a wilderness across "United States already impressed; it bethe ocean to slavery in their native land." ing moreover well understood that the This it is, Sir, that has, at last, kindled" British Government will assent to enter the flame of war in a country where the" into definitive arrangements as soon as

And, what a

' may be, on these and every other dif-knowledged, that we had Americans un"ference, by a Treaty to be concluded willingly serving on board. "either at London or Washington, as on lamentable contrast do we find in the same"an impartial consideration of existing letter, with regard to some English sea"" circumstances shall be deemed most ex- men said to have been on board the Con"pedient. As an inducement to Great stitution; to which I beg leave to add, for "Britain to discontinue the practice of im- your most serious moment, the fact (if a 66 pressment from American vessels, I am fact it be) that part of the crews of the vic"authorized to give assurance that a law torious American ships, the Wasp and the "shall be passed (to be reciprocal) to pro- United States, were English. Nay, it is "hibit the employment of British seamen in stated in the Courier news-paper, upon "the public or commercial service of the what is asserted to be good authority, that "United States." two thirds of the crews of the American If this ships of war are English seamen. be true, it is another, and a most cogent reason, for acceding to the terms of Ame rica, and putting an end to the war; for, the longer the war continues the longer will continue a connexion from which such fearful consequences may ensué.

Really, Sir, it is not possible, it appears to me, to suggest any thing more reasonable than this. I can form an idea of nothing more strongly expressive of a desire to put an end to the war. What shall it be said that England wages a war, when she might terminate it by such means? I trust not, and that we shall not have to weep over a much longer continuation of

this unfortunate contest.

1

I know, that there are persons who treat the idea of a law, passed by the Congress, with contempt. But, if this is to be the course pursued, the war will not soon have an end. We must treat America with respect. We must do it; and the sooner we begin the better. Some of the impudent hireling writers in London, affect to say, that no credit is to be given to any act of the American government; that our officers ought not to believe the passports and certificates produced by the American seamen. If this is to be the tone, and if we are to act accordingly, there is no possibility of making peace with America. Peace implies trealy and confidence; but, what confidence are we to have in a nation such as our hirelings describe America to be? This arrogant, this insolent tone must be dropped, or peace is impossible.

The fact of our impressing of native Americans is affected to be denied, and Lord Castlereagh does not notice the proposition to restore those whom we have already impressed. But, Sir, if the fact were not perfectly notorious, that thousands have been released by us, the letter of CAPTAIN DACRES, of the Guerriere, removes all doubt upon the subject; for, in that letter, intended to account for his defeat by the Constitution, he says, that PART OF HIS CREW WERE NATIVE AMERICANS, and, they not choosing to fight against their country, he suffered them to be inactive spectators. Now, here we have the fact clearly ac

At any rate, it appears to me, that our own safety, if the war is to be continued, will dictate the discharging of all the impressed Americans whom we may have on board of our ships. Fight against their country they will not, unless they be forced, and who is to foresee and provide against the contagion of such an example? Against this evil, however, and against numerous others, which I forbear to mention, the measure proposed by the President would completely guard us; and,, the respect, which it is my duty to entertain towards your Royal Highness, bids me hope that that proposition will finally be accepted.

I am, &c. &c.

WM. COBBETT.

Bolley, 29th Dec. 1812.

SUMMARY OF POLITICS.

The

NORTHERN WAR. -And, he is not dead! He is not dead! And all the Lloyd's men are baffled! Napoleon, after having conducted his army out of danger, has himself returned to Paris, where, it appears he has been received with as much joy as if he had met, in his absence, with no reverse at all.29th Bulletin does him more honour than any one he has ever published. It is a candid exposition of his own disappointment and of the sufferings of his army. It contains internal evidence of its truth, and leaves, in my mind, no doubt at all, not only of his design, but of his full ability, to recommence his attack on Russia in the spring.I will, on some future occa

before.

sion, review the accounts of "his defeat," which have been published in London; for, such a string of falsehoods, such impudent, and at the same time such stupid attempts at deception, were never, surely, heard of These accounts would make a most curious and not a small volume. It is a volume of which he will not lose sight, I dare say -What mischiefs have not this vile press done in the world! Now where is the Bourbon project? Now where are all the hopes of "marching to "peace over his corpse?".

-The dream

is already over, and we awaken to the reality of endless war.- -The "three "armies in his front and two armies in his "rear" could not, it seems, arrest his progress. In short, either almost the whole of what we heard of his perils was false, or he has now gained a thousand times more glory than he ever before was entitled to. -For my part, I am quite struck dumb at the credulity of those who believe him to be a fallen man. It fills one with despair to see any portion of the public so besotted. Far be it from me to blame any Englishman for wishing to see Napoleon down; but, to believe that he is so, when they see him return to his capital amidst the acclamations of the French people, is, one would suppose, too much for any people in their senses.- In a few weeks, however, we shall see reflection Kutosow's adventures have been a sort of honey-moon to us. When that is quite passed, we shall become as mopish as gib-cats. We shall look back with shame to our ecstasies and deliriums; and, about that time too will come the landlord with his reckoning; that is to say, the minister with his Budget, and the war with its extended demands.

return.

WM. COBBETT.

Botley, 30th Dec. 1812.

hour through the British Envoy here, that the hostile edicts against our commercial rights and our maritime independence would not be revoked; nay, that they could not be revoked, without violating the obligations of Great Britain to other Powers as well as to her own interests. To have shrunk under such circumstances, from, manly resistance, would have been a degradation blasting our best and proudest hopes. It would have struck us from the high rank where the virtuous struggles of our fathers had placed us, and have betrayed the magnificent legacy which we hold intrust for future generations. It would have acknowledged, that on the element which forms three-fourths of the globe we inhabit,and where all independent nations have equal and common rights, the American people were not an independent people, but colonists and vassals. It was at this moment, and with such an alternative, that war wes chosen. The nation felt the necessity of it, and called for it. The appeal was accordingly made in a just cause, to the just and powerful Being who holds in his hands the chain of events and the destiny of nations. It remains only, that faithful to ourselves, entangled with no connexions with the views of other Powers, and ever ready to accept peace from the hand of justice, we prosecute that war with united council, and with the ample faculties of the nation, until peace be so obtained, and as the only means under the divine blessing of speedily obtaining it.

Νον. 4, 1812,

JAMES MADISON,

ARMIES OF SPAIN.

OFFICE OF THE MINISTER AT WAR.

Paris, Dec. 11.

OFFICIAL PAPERS.

AMERICAN PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. (Continued from page 830, vol. 22.) maintenance of our own; that it was preceded by a patience without example, under wrongs accumulating without end; and that it was finally not declared, until every hope of averting it was extinguished by the transfer of the British Sceptres into new hands, clinging to former Councils, and until declarations were reiterated in the last

Copy of a Letter written to the Minister at War by Marshal Jourdan, Chief of his Catholic Majesty's Staff.

Salamanca, Nov. 21.

I have the honour to address to your Excellency the account of the prisoners of war. and deserters which have entered Salamanca from the 16th up to this evening.I am ignorant whether the Duke of Dalmatia, whose head-quarters ought to be at Salvatierra, has any still with him. When I shall be informed on that head, I shall have the honour to render you an account thereof.

Account of the Prisoners of War and De-Gen. Bonnemain pursued him for a

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General Bigarre, Aid-de-camp to his Catholic Majesty, has just arrived at Vittoria, bearing dispatches for the Emperor. He announces that 2,600 prisoners, among whom is General Paget, will arrive on the 6th at Vittoria, under the escort of 3,000 of the army of Portugal, The English have retreated into Portugal, and it appears that our affairs in that quarter are going on as well as possible.- -The General in Chief, Count Reille, set out to-day to proceed on his route to Burgos.

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The King departed from Cuenza on the 26th, and fixed his head-quarters at Horcajada; the head of the Army of the Centre arrived on the same day at Tarancon.On the 27th his Majesty arrived at Tarancon; reconnoissances were pushed on FuenteDuena, which was still occupied by the English troops; the bridge of boats had been withdrawn upon the right bank of the Tagus.-The Duke of Dalmatia arrived on the 25th at Santa Cruz de la Sarza; on the same day, the reserve of cavalry of the army of the South, commanded by General Tilly, was at Villa Tobas. The Duke of Dalmatia ordered him to push a very strong reconnoissance on Ocana; Gen. Bonnemain had the command of it. He found at Ocana 37 English and Portuguese squadrons, commanded by General Long, who would not fight, and who fell back upon Aranjuez.

league on the other side of Ocana; he overtook his rear-guard, sabred 30 men, and made 20 prisoners; he also carried away about thirty horses. The Duke of Dalmatia fixed his head-quarters on the 26th at Ocana, whence he sent a reconnoissance upon Aranjuez. The enemy had evacuated this town, blown up the bridge of la Reyna, and burnt the one near the palace; several corps of infantry and cavalry were seen in the park on the right bank. The Duke of Dalmatia began his operations for rebuilding the bridges. The tide of the Tagus was very high; the fords were impracticable. On the 28th, his Majesty marched with his reserve to Santa Cruz de la Parza. On the same day the troops of the Army of the Centre, who marched upon the Tagus to reconnoitre the force and position of the enemy, discovered that he had evacuated Fuente Duena. The boats of the bridge were on the right bank, however, without having received any damage; the posts and cables had been cut, and the beams carried away. An officer of sappers swam across the river; his example was followed by several soldiers; the boats were replaced, and the rebuilding of the bridge was immediately set about. On the 29th, the King moved his head-quarters to Ocana. On the same day the enemy's troops, who had remained in the park of Aranjuez, on the right bank of the Tagus, retired behind the Jarama, The Duke of Dalmatia advanced to Aranjuez.--On the 30th, the bridges were entirely re-established at Aranjuez and Fuente Duena. It was reported that the enemy intended to concentrate his forces upon the right bank of the Jarama, and that he appeared inclined to defend that position, which is extremely strong. Marshal the Duke of Dalmatia made a reconnoissance this day; he found the enemy intrenched upon the bridge of the Jarama, called Puente Largo; after several vollies of cannon, the enemy withdrew his artillery, and exploded two mines, which blew up one arch of the bridge. The Duke of Dalmatia then ordered the firing of the musketry to cease, as it was now without object. Our loss in this battle was about 25 wounded, among whom was an officer of Voltigeurs: the enemy's loss was much more considerable: he had several men killed on the bridge.--The Duke of Dalmatia still supposed the enemy intended to give battle in the position which overlooks the Jarama, and as this position is truly inassailable in front, it was necessary.

to manœuvre to force the enemy to abandon Guadarama. The cavalry of the army of it.On the 31st, the Duke of Dalmatia the South occupied St. Antonio de las. Naras Learnt, and announced to his Majesty, that and Villa Castin. One part of the infantry the enemy had abandoned Puente Largo. was at L'Espinar, the other part remained This bridge was re-established, and on the at Guadarama and Guadalapagar.-In same day the advanced guard of the Army the night between the 4th and 5th, the of the South advanced to Valdemoro, and Duke of Dalmatia reported to the King that took about 500 prisoners. The divisions of General Hill was continuing his retreat, and this army began to march on the night of that he appeared to direct his march upon the 31st, from the different points which Arrevalo, where, it was said, he was to they occupied, and passed the Tagus at form his junction with Lord Wellington. Aranjuez; they defiled during the whole of The King had no certain intelligence of the the day and night of the 1st of November. army of Portugal, but all that could be The army had not entirely passed the Tagus learned indicated that army to have answeron the 2d of November, at six o'clock in ed on the right of the Douro, all the bridges the morning.The King proceeded on of which the enemy had destroyed, and the 31st to Aranjuez, and ordered the that Lord Wellington announced the intenCount D'Erlon to march upon this point, tion of leaving on the left bank a portion of in order to follow the movement of the army his army to observe that of Portugal, and of the South. On the 1st of November, to join the rest of General Hill's at Arrevathe advanced posts of the army of the South lo, in order to combat the army of the South arrived near Madrid; that city was evacu separately. His Majesty, that nothing ated, and the enemy made his retreat by might be compromised, thought it right to the Puerto de Guadarama.--On the 2d, call to his aid the army of the Centre, the army of the South was concentrated in which remained at Madrid. He, therefore, the environs of Madrid; the advanced on the 5th, ordered the Count of Erlon to guard proceeded to the Escurial, and conti- leave Madrid immediately, and to advance nued to make prisoners. On the same day as rapidly as possible on Villa Castin, the division of Gen. Villatte arrived in whence he would have to follow the direc Madrid, and his Majesty also arrived with tion taken by the army.On the 5th, his guards; the army of the Centre defiled the King moved his head-quarters to Villa upon the bridge of Aranjuez.This day, Castin. The same day, our cavalry havthe 5th, the troops of the army of the South ing arrived on the Boltaya, perceived that marched in the direction of the Escurial and of the enemy on the right bank of the river, Guadarama; the advanced guard must now covering the march of their infantry. The be on the other side of the mountains.—— Duke of Dalmatia hastened the march of The army of the Centre is arrived in the his infantry, and united some divisions at neighbourhood of Madrid; General D'Ar- Labajos; the cavalry followed the movemagnac's division has succeeded, in Ma- ments of the enemy, who took the direction drid, that of Gen. Villatte, which has fol- of Penaranda, and met that of Arrevalo. lowed the movement of the army of the Our cavalry took a position at Villa Nueva South. The infantry of the royal guard de Gomez, Blasco-Sancho, and Sanchidrion. has just departed, to sleep at Las-Rosas;On the 6th, the King advanced his it will arrive to-morrow at Guadarama, and head-quarters to Arrevalo, and all the army the King will rejoin it with his cavalry. moved in that direction.On the 7th, His Majesty's intention is to pursue the the King remained at Arrevalo. Reconenemy with the army of the South, and to noitring parties were sent out, which complace himself in communication with the municated with the army of Portugal, army of Portugal. The army of the Centre which had arrived at Medina del Campo. will continue united in Madrid and its The divisions of the army of the South neighbourhood, and will be in readiness to which were still in the rear, join the King, if Lord Wellington should their march upon Arrevalo y of Portuconcentrate his forces to give battle. Souham, commanding, that Lord Welgal, repas directing his march on Salahanca with four divisions of his army, and

(Signed) JOURDAN.

Salamanca, Nov. 10, 18% A: I had the honour of tug to you A. I had the honour of King left Madrid in my etter of the 50, the on the 4t with his guard. The same day his Majesty established his head-quarters at

a Spanish army commanded by Castanos.

On the 8th, the King still continued at Arrevalo. The troops of the army of the South, which were yet behind, prose

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