riously demand it, and at what time, gracious God, can it adopt this measure better than at present? When an obstinate war has exhausted all the ordinary means; when the egotism of some, and the ambition of others, debilitate and paralyse the efforts of the government, by their opposition or indifference; when they seek to eradicate the essential principle of the monarchy, which is union; when the hydra of federalism, so happily silenced the preceding year by the creation of the central power, dares again to raise its poisonous head, and endeavours to precipitate us into the dissolution of anarchy; when the subtilty of our enemies is watching the moment when our divisions disunite us, to destroy the state, and to erect their throne on the ruin which our distractions afford them. This is the time-this, to collect in one point the national dignity and honour, and when the Spanish people may will and decree the extraordinary surplus which a powerful nation ever has within it for its salvation. It alone can encounter and put them in motion; it alone can encourage the timidity of some and restrain the ambition of others; it alone will suppress importunate vanity, puerile pretensions, and enfuriated passions, which, unless prevented, go to tear in pieces the government. It will, in fine, give to Europe a fresh example of its religion, its circumspection, and its discretion, in the just and moderate use which it is about to make of the glorious liberty in which it is constituted. Thus is it that the Supreme Junta which immediately recognized this national representation as a right, and proclaimed it as a reward, now invokes and implores it as the most necessary and efficacious remedy; and has therefore resolved that the general Cortes of the monarchy, announced in the decree of the 22nd May, shall be convoked on the 1st day of January in the next year, in order to enter on their august functions the 1st day of March following. When that happy day has arrived the junta shall say to the representatives of the nation :- Ye are met together, O fathers of your country; and re-established in all the plenitude of your rights, after a lapse of three centuries, when despotism and arbitrary power dissolved you, in order to subject this nation to all the evils of servitude. The aggression which we have suffered, and the war which we maintain, are the fruits of the most shameful oppression, and the most unjust tyranny. The provincial juntas, who were able to resist and repulse the enemy in the first impetus of his invasion, invested the supreme junta with the sovereign authority which they exercised for a time, to give unity to the state and concentrate its power. Called to the exercise of this authority, not by ambition or intrigue, but by the unanimous voice of the provinces of the kingdom, the individuals of the supreme junta showed themselves worthy of the high confidence reposed in them, by employing all their vigilance and exertions for the preservation and posterity of the state. The magnitude of our efforts will be apparent from the consideration of the enormity of the evil which preceded. When the power was placed in our hands, our armies, half formed, were unprovided unprovided and destitute of every thing, our treasury was empty, and our resources uncertain and distant. The despot of France, availing himself of the tranquillity in which the North then was, poured upon the peninsula the military power under his command, the most formidable that has been known in the most warlike legions, better provided, and above all more numerous than others, rushed on every side, though much to their cost, against our armies, destitute of the same expertness and confidence. A new inundation of barbarians, who carried desolation through all the provinces of which they took possession, was the consequence of these reverses, and the ill-closed wounds of our unfortunate country began painfully to open and pour with blood in torrents. The state thus lost half its strength; and when the junta, bound to save the honour, the independence, and the unity of the nation from the impetuous invasion of the tyrant, took refuge in Andalusia, a division of 30,000 men repaired to the walls of Saragosa, to bury themselves in its ruins. The army of the center being thus deprived of a great part of its strength, did not give to its operations that activity and energy which must have had very different results from those of the battle of Aeles. The avenues of the Sierra Morena and the banks of the Tagus were only defended by ill armed handfuls of men, to whom could scarcely be given the name of armies. The junta, however, by means of activity and sacrifices rendered them such, so routed and dispersed in the two battles of Ciudad Real and Metellin, instead of despairing of the country, they redoubled their efforts, and in a few days collected and opposed to the enemy 70,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry. These forces have since fought it is true, with ill success, but always with gallantry and glory. The creation, the reparation, and the subsistence of these armies have more than absorbed the considerable supplies which have been sent us by our brethren in America. We have maintained in the free provinces, unity, order and justice, and in those occupied by the enemy, we have exerted our endeavours to preserve, though secretly, the fire of patriotism and the bounds of loyalty. We have vindicated the national honour and independence in the most complicated and difficult diplomatic negotiations; and we have made head against adversity, without suffering ourselves to despair, ever trusting that we should overcome it by our constancy. We have, without doubt, committed errors, and we would willingly, were it possible, redeem it with our blood; but in the confusion of events, among the mountains of difficulties which surrounded us, who could be certain of always being in the right? Could we be responsible because one body of troops wanted valour, and another confidence; because one general has less prudence, and another less good fortune? Much, Spaniards, is to be attributed to our inexperience, much to circumstances, but nothing to our intention. That ever has been to deliver our unfortunate king from slavery, and preserve to him a throne for which the Spanish people have made such sacrifices, and to maintain it free, independent and happy. We have, from the time of our institution, promised him a country; we we have decreed the abolition of arbitrary power, from the time we announced the re-establishment of our Cortes. Such is, Spaniards, the use we have made of the unlimited power and authority confided to us; and when your wisdom shall have established the basis and form of government most proper for the independence and good of the state, we will resign the authority into the hands you shall point out, contented with the glory of having given to the Spaniards the dignity of a nation legitimately constituted. May this solemn and magnificent assembly be productive of efficacious means, energy, and fortune; may it be an immense inextinguishable volcano, from which may flow torrents of patriotism to revivify every part of this vast monarchy, to inflame all minds with that sublime enthusiasm which produces the safety and glory of nations, and the despair of tyrants; and yourselves, noble fathers of the country, to the elevation of your high duties, and Spainexalted with you to an equally brilliant destiny, shall see returned into her bosom for her happiness, Ferdinand 7th and his unfortunate family; shall see her sons enter on the path of prosperity and glory which they ought henceforth to pursue, and receive the crown of the sublime and almost divine efforts which they are making. Marquis of ASTORGA, president. Official Proclamation. "Considering the necessity of multiplying the resources of the army of his Imperial majesty, and of depriving the rebels aud traitors of the means of procuring animals to accomplish their atrocious designs, it is hereby declared, that all the horses and mares belonging to the provinces in Upper Spain, viz. in the districts of Salamanca, Zamoras, Toro, Leon, Placentia, Burgos, Guipuscoa, and Alva, of the height of four feet four inches, or five feet half an inch of the measure of Spain, and from thence upward, are in requisition for the armies of France, and are to be conducted to the capital of the respective governments, where they are to be received and maintained by the governors, until the returns made to me shall enable me to give directions for the disposal of them. "All the horses of less than four feet four inches, or five feet half an inch high, Spanish measure, also mares pregnant for more than three months, and horses and mares that are not 30 months old, and less than theheight mentioned, are to have the left eye put out, and are to be rendered by other proper means unfit for military service by the proprietors themselves. Those who presume to disobey this command, are to be mulcted in four times the value of the animals. "The execution of this order is to be committed to the governors, commandants of arms, and to the commandants of detachments and flying columns. (Signed) "KELLERMAN, Gen. of division, and governorgeneral of Upper Spain. "28th Oct. 1809." Speech Speech of the Emperor Napoleon at the opening of the meeting of the Legislative Body. Dec. 3, 1809. Gentlemen deputies of departments to the legislative body. Since your last session I have reduced Arragon and Castile to submission, and driven from Madrid the fallacious government formed by England. I was marching upon Cadiz and Lisbon, when I was under the necessity of treading back my steps, and of planting my eagles on the ramparts of Vienna. Three months have seen the rise and termination of this fourth Punic war. Accustomed to the devotedness and courage of my armies, I must nevertheless, under these circumstances, acknowledge the particular proofs of affection which my soldiers of Germany have given me. The genius of France conducted the English army-it has terminated its projects in the pestilential marshes of Walcheren.. In that important period I remained 400 leagues distant, certain of the new glory which my people would acquire, and of the grand character they would display. My hopes have not been deceived. I owe particular thanks to the citizens of the departments of the Pas de Calais and the North. Frenchmen! every one that shall oppose you shall be conquered and reduced to submission. Your grandeur shall be increased by the hatred of your enemies. You have before you long years of glory and prosperity You have the force and energy of the Hercules of the ancients. I have united Tuscany to the empire. The Tuscans were worthy of it by the mildness of their character, by the attachment their ancestors have always shown us, and by the services they have rendered to European civilization. History pointed out to me the conduct I ought to pursue towards Rome; the popes become sovereigns of part of Italy, have constantly shown themselves enemies of every preponderating power in the peninsula-they have employed their spiritual power to injure it. It was then demonstrated to me that the spiritual influence exercised in my states by a foreign sovereign, was contrary to the independence of France, to the dignity and safety of my throne. However, as I acknowledge the necessity of the spiritual influence of the descendants of the first of the pastors, I could not conciliate these grand interests but by annulling the donative of the French emperors my predecessors, and by uniting the Roman states to France. By the treaty of Vienna, all the kings and sovereigns of my allies, who have given me so many proofs of the constancy of their friendship, have acquired and shall acquire a fresh increase of territory. The Illyrian provinces stretch the frontiers of my great empire to the Saave. Contiguous to the empire of Constantinople, I shall find myself in a situation to watch over the first interests of my commerce in the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and the Levant. I will protect the Porte, if the Porte withdraws herself from the fatal influence of England; I shall know how to punish her, if she suffer herself to be governed by cunning and perfidious counsels. I have wished to give to the Swiss nation a new proof of my esteem, by annexing to my titles that of Sweden has lost, by her alliance with England, after a disastrous war, the finest and most important of her provinces. Happy would it have been for that nation, ifthe wise prince that governs her now had ascended the throne some years sooner! This example proves anew to kings that the alliance of England is the surest presage of ruin. My ally and friend, the emperor of Russia, has united to his vast empire, Finland, Moldavia, Wallachia, and a district of Gallicia. I am not jealous of any thing that can produce good to that empire. My sentiments for its illustrious sovereign are in unison with my policy. When I shall show myselfbeyond the Pyrenees, the frightened leopard will fly to the ocean to avoid shame, defeat, and death. The triumph of my arms will be the triumph of the genius of good over that of evil; of moderation, order, and morality, over civil war, anarchy, and the bad passions. My friendship and protection will, I hope, restore tranquillity and happiness to the people of the Spains. Gentlemen, deputies of departments to the legislative body-I have directed my minister of the interior to lay before you the history of the legislation, of the administration, and of the finances of the year just expired; you will see that all the ideas I had conceived for the amelioration of my people, have been followed with the greatest activity-that in Paris, as in the most distant parts of my empire, the war has not produced any delay in the public works. The members of my council of State will submit to you different projects of law, and especially the law upon the finances; you will see in it their prosperous condition. I demand of my people no new sacrifice, though circumstances have obliged me to double my military means. Sentence against General Monnet. From the Moniteur, Dec. 9. The council of inquiry appointed by his majesty the emperor and king, convened by his excellency count de Huneburg, minister at war, in obedience to his majesty's orders, dated Schoenbrunn, Sept. 7, 1809, and assembled at the general military depot, closed on the 25th of last month its deliberations, and pronounced the following sentence: That general Monnet, contrary to his duty, did not fulfil the orders of his Imperial majesty, in case of his being pressed hard by the enemy, to cut the dykes rather than surrender. That be surrendered the fortress at a time when it had only sustained a bombardment of thirty-six hours, when the garrison was still composed of more than 4,000 men, when no breach was made in the rampat, and the enemy was yet more |