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been supplied plentifully to the French squadron. The court of Portugal defies the court of France to produce any fact in contradiction to this assertion, which is founded in the most exact and impartial truth.France received from Portugal, from 1804 to 1807, all the colonial commodities and raw materials for her manufactures. The alliance of England and Portugal was useful to France; and in the depression suffered by the arts and industry, in consequence of a perpetual war by land, and a disastrous war by sea, in which he only met with defeats, it was certainly a great advantage to France, that the commerce of Portugal should suffer no interruption; undoubtedly it was equally useful to both countries. By ravaging Por tugal, by subjecting her to excessive contri

"consents to acknowledge the neutrality of Portugal during the present war, and not to oppose any measures that may be taken "with respect to the belligerent nations, agreeably to the principles and general "laws of neutrality."-The French go. vernment from that time received all the advantages of such a treaty; it never had occasion to make the smallest complaint against the Portuguese government; yet was it during the same war, and after such a stipula tion, that it required of the court of Portugal, not only the infraction of the neutrality, but the declaration of war, in violation of all the treaties that had existed between the two countries, and in which, in the case of war acknowledged possible, it was determined how the subjects of the two nations should be treated, and all this without Por-butions, in an unheard-of manner, without tugal having any cause of complaint against the British government, which had even given it every kind of satisfaction, when the commanders of its ships of war had failed in that respect which was due to a neutral flag.-The Emperor of the French, in the meantime, caused one of his squadrons, on board of which was his brother, to put to sea. It anchored in the bay of All-Saints, where it was received with every kind of respect, and was supplied with all sort of refreshment. Yet, what is worthy of attention is, that at the very time the French government received, on the part of that of Portugal, so many marks of friendship and consideration, the squadron burned some Portuguese vessels, to conceal its route, with a promise of indemnity to the proprietors, which promise was never performed. Europe may hence conclude the fate which awaits it, should the French government acquire an ascendency by sea equal to that it has obtained by land, and may properly es timate the foundation of the complaints it so loudly utters against the British government. England, never made any remonstrances against the succours granted to the French squadron, for they were within the acknowledged limits of the law of nations. But the minister of foreign relations of France has dared to assert, in the face of Europe, that Portugal gave assistance to the English for the conquest of Monte Video and Buenos Ayres; while it is a fact, known by all the world, that that expedition, which sailed from the Cape of Good Hope, received from Portugal neither vessels, money, nor men; nor, in fine, any merchandise considered as contraband in time of war; and that the English squadrons, during this war, obtained nothing at Rio de Janeiro, or the other ports of the Brazils, except what is not rond to any nation, and which had

war, or any resistance having been made on ber part, France has not obtained that advantage, which a commerce, useful to both countries, would have procured to her.-The court of Portugal might then justly, and with every kind of foundation, flatter itself that that of the Thuilleries would respect á neutrality which it had acknowledged by a solemn treaty, and from which it derived such decided advantages, when it was awaked from its security, in the month of August, 1806, by a formal declaration of the minister of state for foreign relations, M. Talleyrand to Lord Yarmouth, by which the former notified to the latter, that if England did not make a maritime peace, the French government would declare war against Portugal, and order that country to be occupied by 30,000 men. It was not with 30.000 men that the invasion of Portngal could be effected; but the Emperor of the French, who knew the security in which Portugal found herself, in consequence of the treaty of neutrality, thought he could take her by surprise, and this was sufficient to justify his proceedings. The court of England was alarmed by the above declaration, and proposed and offered to that of Portugal all kind of succour; but France, which at that period had arranged every thing to crush the Prussian court, which then alone bid defiance to the superior power of the Emperor of the French, while a twelvemonth before it would not attack, and perhaps compel him to receive the law, and save Europe, jointly with Russia and Austria, found means to pacify the court of Portugal, which he then chose to spare, and could not conceive that a similar perfidy could be the attribute of a power, whose greatness should keep pace with tha, integrity and those dignified sentiments, which suit so well an exalted rank. The war

which was afterwards continued with Russia, and which might yet perhaps have saved Europe, if the union of the governments which divide it had been as close as it should have been, still retarded the execu tion of the views of the Emperor of the French with regard to the court of Portu gal; and it was only by concluding the peace of Tilsit that the court of the Thuilleries, in a dictatorial tone, such as might have become Charlemagne, addressing the princes whose sovereign lord he was, caused the strange demands to be made to the court of Portugal, through the medium of the French chargé d'affaires, and by the Spanish ambassadors.-1st, To shut up the ports of Portugal against England. 2d, To detain all Englishmen who resided in Portugal; and, 3d, To confiscate all English property; or, in case of refusal, to expose itself to an immediate war with France and Spain, because the French chargé d'affaires, and the ambassador of Spain, had orders to depart on the 1st Sept. about three weeks after the said proposal was made, in case the court of Portugal should not comply with all the pretensions of the two courts. The good faith of the French government is no less remarkable, with regard to the celerity with which, after having made that declaration, and without waiting for the answer of the court of Portugal, it ordered all Portuguese merchant ships to be detained, which were in the ports of France, and by that measure actually began hostilities, without any previous declaration of war, and thus carried a far greater length all the proceedings which formed its continued topic of reproach against England; which, after such a conduct, will be justly valued.-The court of Portugal might then well have adopted the known maxim of the Romans, and been convinced, that disgraceful conditions frequently saved those who refuse them, and brought destruction upon those by whom they were proposed; but on the one side it could not believe that the court of the Thuilleries made, in earnest, proposals which committed both its honours and its dignity; 'and, on the other side, it hoped to ward off the storm, desirous of sparing the blood of its people; and placing implicit confidence in the friendship of his Britannic majesty, its old and faithful ally, it endeavoured to render the pretensions of the French government more moderate, by acceding to the shutting up of the ports, and refusing the two other articles, as contrary to the principles of the public law, and to the treaties which subsisted between the two nations; and his royal highness the Prince Regent of Portugal had no hesitation to declare, that those

articles wounded equally his religion and the principles of morality, from which he never deviates; and which are, perhaps, the true cause of the unshaken fidelity which he has experienced on the part of his subjects. -The court of Portugal then began to adopt measures for securing its retreat to that part of the Portuguese dominions which is not exposed to any invasion, the consequences of which might create alarm. For this purpose, it ordered all such ships of war as were fit to keep the sea, to be fitted out and also directed all the English to leave it dominions, and sell their property, with a intention to shut their ports against England, in order thus to avoid an effusion of the blood of its subjects, which would probably have proved useless; and to endeavour t comply with the views of the emperor o the French, in case he should not allow himself to be softened down by that justic with which the court of Portugal asseste the rights of its independence, along with those which resulted from the treaty of neu trality concluded in 1804. The court of th Thuilleries, unwilling to agree to any con ciliatory measures, and having demanded ne only the shutting up of the ports, but als the imprisonment of all British subject the contiscation of their property, and ib dereliction of the project to retreat America, his R. H. the Prince Regent < Portugal, who knew on the one side, thi his Britannic Majesty, his true and old ally informed of all the transactions which wer going on, would consent to the shutting of the ports, in order to save Portugal fro the invasion of the French, and who wa convinced, on the other side, that there wa no longer any Englishman in Portugal, wh was not naturalised in that country, and the all English property had been sold, and eve its amount exported, adopted the resolution to shut up the ports against England, an even to comply with the rest of the demand and pretensions of France, declaring, however, at the same time, that, should the French troops enter Portugal, his royal highness was firmly resolved to remove the seat of government to Brazil, which formed the most important and best defended part of his dominions. His R. H. then ordered the whole of his army to move to the coast and seaports; supposing that as France had essentially obtained all she demanded, she had nothing more to ask; confiding in that good faith, which ought to be considered as the fundamental principle in every govern ment, which has ceased to be revolutionary and feeling conscious that having done every thing in his power to secure the tranquillity of his people and avoid an useless effusion of

blood, he had fulfilled all the duties of a virtuous prince, adored by his subjects, and who, to the Supreme Being alone, has to account for his actions.-The French government there observed a line of conduct towards his R. H. and his dominions, which would be unprecedented in history, were not the invasion of Switzerland by France, in the time of the executive directory, of a similar description. Gen. Junot, without any prevous declaration, without the consent of the Prince Regent of Portugal, entered the kingdom with the vanguard of his army, assuring the people of the country through which he marched, that he was going to succour his R. H. against an invasion of the English, and that he entered Portugal as the general of a friendly and allied power. He received on his journey convincing proofs of the good faith of the Portuguese government; for he witnessed the perfect uneasiness which prevailed with regard to France; and that all the Portuguese troops were near the coast. His R. H. the Prince of Portugal, surprised in such an extraordinary manner, might have rallied around him the body of troops, which were at a small distance from him, caused the English fleet to enter the port of Lisbon, and thus cut to pieces the small and miserable corps with which gen. Junot was advancing, with a degree of temerity which would have been ridiculous, had not gen. Junot, whose conduct at Venice and Lisbon has but made him too well known, relied on the feelings of a virtuous prince, who would never expose his people to the most dreadful of calamities by a sure first success, which only could have served to chastise the audacity of a man, who, like many others, abused the power with which he was entrusted, or who acted in pursuance of orders which cannot be justified.-His royal highness the Prince Regent then adopted the only measure which could suit his situa tion, according to the principle which he had constantly followed, to save the blood of his people, and in order to prevent the sriminal plan of the French government from being carried into execution, which had nothing less in view than to secure his royal person and the whole royal family, in order to divide, at its own will and pleasure, the spoils of the crown of Portugal and the Portuguese dominions. Providence seconded the efforts of a just prince, and the magnimous resolution which his royal highness adop ed, to retire, with his august royal fmiy, to Brazil, disconcerted at once the efforts of the French government, and exposed, in the clearest light, in the face of Europe, the criminal and treacherous views of a

government which aims at the universal

domination of all Europe and of the whole world, if the great European powers, roused from the lethargic stupor into which they are sunk, do not make common cause vigorously to oppose an ambition so immoderate and excessive.-Since his R. H.'s safe arrival in his dominions, in Brazil, he has learned with horror, not only the usurpation of Portugal, and the pillage and plunder, practised in that country, but also the shameful proceeding of the Emperor of the French, who, as the true dictator of Europe, dares to represent it as a crime of his R. H.'s that he has removed his seat of gvernment to Brazil; and in his faithful subjects who followed him, to have accompanied a prince, whom all his people revere, still more on account of his virtues, than of the rights of his august royal family, which he has inherited, and by virtue of which he reigns over them. His R: H. has witnessed with horror the hardihood with which an attempt has been made, in an official paper; to proscribe the rights of his august royal family to the crown of Portugal, with which he will never part; and he is entitled to demand of the emperor of the French, from what code of the law of nations he has drawn similar principles, and received such an authority, claiming to this subject the most serious consideration of all European powers, who cannot see with indifference what has here been stated, and the introduction of a new government in Portugal, without his consent: as well as the raising of an exorbitant contribution, demanded from a country which opposed no kind of resistance to the entry of the French troops, and which, on this very ground, could not consider itself as being at wat with France.-The most remote posterity, as well as impartial Europe, will see with grief similar transactions, the forerunners of ages of barbarism and misery, such as those which followed the downfall of the Roman empire, and which cannot be avoided, unless exertions be made to restore the equipoise of Europe, by an unanimous effort, and with a total oblivion of all ideas of rivalship, which have hitherto been the true causes of the elevation of that monstrous power which threatens to swallow up all.After this correct and true statement, made by his R. H. the Prince Regent of Portugal, to Europe and to his subjects, of every thing which has taken place between the Portuguese and French government; and as the emperor of the French has not only invaded Portugal, and laid that count; under the most dreadful and almost incre tributious, under the cloak of f but has also long ago withdrawn h`.

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Spaniards, you must not be intimidated by nienaces, nor seduced by promises.-Some months' experience must have convinced you of the effect of French friendship; it is now to British faith and assistance, aided by yout own energy and efforts, that you will, I trust, be indebted to the restoration of your princa and the independence of your country.(Signed) C. COTTON.

from his Roval Highness's court, and evenly determination of the people of Portugal caused Portuguese merchant ships to be to establish the government of their lawful seized, which were in his ports, without prince, and emancipate their country from any previous declaration of war, and con- French oppression send, agreeable to trary to an express article of the treaty of your requests, ships, troops, arms, and amneutrality, from which he derived the munition, and have directed the standard of greatest advantages; and, lastly, declared his royal highness the Prince Regent of Por war against him, according to the report of gal to be reared, round which every loyal the minister for foreign affairs; his Royal Portuguese is hereby invited immediately to Highness, after having resigned his cause rally, and to take up arms in so just and so into the hands of the Almighty, whom he glorious. a cause.-To be successful, Portuhas every right to invoke in so just a cause, guese, you must be unanimous; and, join thinks it due to his rank, and to the dignityed by your brave neighbours and friends the of his crown, to make the following declaration His Royal Highness breaks off all communication with France, recalls all the members of his embassy, if any should yet remain, and authorises his subjects to wage war, by sea and land, against the subjects of the emperor of the French.-His R. H declares null and void all the treaties which the emperor of the French has compelled him to conclude, and in particular those of Badajoz and Madrid, in 1801, and that of neutramy in 1804; because he has violated and never respected them.-His R. H. shall not lay down his arms, unless in concert with his Britannic Majesty, his old and faithful ally, and will never agree to a cession of Portugal, which forms the most ancient part of the inheritance and of the rights of his august royal family.-When the emperor of the French shall have satisfied. in every point, the just claim of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent of fortugal, and shall have relinquished the dictatorial and imperious tone in which he lords it over oppressed Europe, and when he shall have restored to the crown of Portugal all he has invaded, in the midst of peace, and without the least provocation, his royal highness will avail himself of the earliest opportunity to renew the connexion which has always subsisted between the two countries, and which ought to exist between nations, which will never be divided but by the principles of an inordinate ambition, which, according to the experience of ages, have also proved destructive to the welfare and tranquillity of all nations by which they were adopted.

PORTUGAL.-Proclamation by Sir Charles
Cotton, Bart. Admiral of the Blue, c.
Commander in Chief, dated Hibernia, of
the Tagus, July 4, 1809.

Inhabitants of lortugal.-Deputation having reached me from all parts of the kingdom, soliciting succour, aid, and assistance, and stating to me the loyal, brave, and man

ITALY. In pursuance of the circular ad dress from the government to all the prelates of Tuscany, the archbishop of Florence transmitted to all the clergy within his diocese a pastoral Letter, of which the following is a passage :-As some of those who are subject to our authority, forgetful of the most sacred duties of a Christian, have dared to take the liberty of censuring the government, we admonish you, both in public and private, to hold the sovereign in respect and honour, and by your example and instructions to encourage the faithful to obedience.

Remember that the holy Apostle Paul calls kings the servants of God; and the kings, of whom the Apostle speaki, were no other than heathens and adversaries to the cause of Christ. The true Christian is the enemy of no man, much less of the Emperor, for he is aware that his majesty holds his appointment from God, and that he must love and honour him, and offer up his prayers for his preservasion,

COBBETT'S

Parliamentary Debates.

The Tenth Volume of the above Work,

comprising the period from the Opening of the Session on the 21st of January to the 8th of April, is ready for delivery. The Eleventh Volume, which will close the Debates of the Session, is in considerable forwardness. The Appendix will contain the Annual Financial Accounts, together with other valuable Documents connected with the Proceedings in Parliament during the Session.

Printed by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street; published by R. Bagshaw, Brydges Street, Covent Garden, where former Numbers may be had: sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre, Pall-Mall.

V.L. XIV. No. 87 LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1808.

[PRICE 10n.

"Damns with faint praise...... .” -POPE.

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SUMMARY OF POLITICS. DCKS OF YORK.Of all the subjects, a, for some time past, have engaged attention of the public, no one has exd an interest so general and, to all apauce, so deep, as the talked-of appointost of the Duke of York to take comnd of the army destined to act in Spain and Portugal. Not to the inns, the coffeeLouses, the marts, the malls, and the settied gossiping shops has the conversation upon this subject been confined. It has entered into all private circles; it has been a standing dish at the dinner and tea-table; men stop each other in the streets to talk about the Duke of York's going to Spain; the eager Londoner stops, even in his way to the 'Change, to ask whether it be really tree, that the Duke of York is going to Spain; nay, in the very church-porches of the country, among the smock-frocked poAticians, whose conversations, as to public matters, seldom went beyond the assessed taxes, you see half a score faces thrust almost to the point of contact, in order to know "for zartin if the Duke of Yark be

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a gooen to be zent to Spain." I have often wondered how this last-mentioned description of persons came to hear of the Duke of York; that is to say, how they came to know, that there was such a person ia the world. Not one out of a thousand of them knows that there is such a man as Mr. Canning or Mr. Perceval. They all are familiarly acquainted with the name of Lord Nelson. This I can account for; but, I really cannot account for the perfect knowedge which they appear to have of "the "Duke of Yark," as they call him. The fact is, however, that, in spite of whatever forts some persons may have made to keep the deeds of the Duke hidden from the world, to put, as it were, his light under a bushel, be is, at this moment, not a bit less famous than Lord Nelson himself, and has, or the fault shall not be mine, as fair a chance of immortality. Such being the case, the discussion relative to the talked-of appointment ought not to be slovened over. We ought, before we quit it, to come to omething like a conclusion, so that we may carry with us a settled opinion, which may

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be of great use to be applied hereafter in the way of precedent. In my last sheet, I quoted an article of the Morning Chronicle, and made some remarks thereon. I shall now quote another, which is in the form of a letter to the editor, affecting to defend the Duke of York and to praise him; but, it is but too evidently such praise, and made use of for such a purpose, as are described in the words of my motto. The letter is long and very dull, but I wish to have it upon record, that, if the subject should ever be started again, we may refer to the sort of statement and reasoning made use of at this time.— The reader will perceive, that the letter purports to be a commentary upon a printed address to the Cabinet ministers, which address those ministers are, it seems, censured for not sending the Duke of York to Spain in defiance of what it acknowledges to be the public opinion, but which it calls "popular prejudice."-" I have not seen "the printed Address to the Cabinet Mi"nisters mentioned in your paper of this day, and I sincerely hope and trust it has "not fallen under the view of his Royal Highness the Duke of York. It must give "the gallant mind extreme pain to find, that some despicable parasite has endeavoured

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own minds, still less from the minds of · "soldiers in general, who are to act in "subordination to their commander, and "whose personal safety is to depend on his judgment. It is therefore wise, so to "choose our generals if possible, as that no prejudice, whether in respect to the "influence of luck, or of talents, or of any other ingredient in their characters,

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