BRITAIN. 



They were pursued for many days ; and all the places 

 which they left behind them surrendered as the cnc- 



my came up. 



It appears, however, that, in spite of this defeat, 

 the patriots were not without hopes of rallying even 

 under Cuesta, and that reinforcements were expected 

 to join the fugitives from Medina. The battle of 

 that place was certainly not regarded as a sufficient 

 counterbalance to the surrender of Dupont at Bay- 

 leu, and the symptoms of a resisting spirit which 

 were still displayed. When the news of the battle 

 of Baylen had reached Madrid, the French imme- 

 diately had begun to fortify the Reteiro. On the 

 evening of the 2,9th of July, they began to evacuate 

 Madrid. King Joseph, with the last companies of 

 the troops, left the Spanish capital on the 29th, 

 from whence he proceeded to Burgos, after plunder- 

 ing the public treasury of the plate and the crown 

 jewels of his unfortunate predecessors. It was ob- 

 served by the Spaniards, " that Joseph had put the 

 crown into his pocket, which he durst not near upon 

 his head." 



While the French government could not extin- 

 guish the flame of insurrection in Spain, they were 

 still less able to prevent its explosion being heard all 

 over Europe. Bonaparte had in vain attempted to 

 impress the Spanish regiments, in that army which 

 he kept watching over his late conquests in Germa- 

 ny, with an idea, that the most respectable part of 

 their countrymen had sanctioned his proceedings. 

 He published, indeed, an account in the Moniteur, 

 of those regiments having voluntarily come forward 

 to devote themselves to his cause, and, having form- 

 ed a detachment, to beg the honour of being the 

 body-guard of Joseph. If any such offer was made, 

 it ill accorded with the subsequent spirit of the same 

 troops, who, when they heard of the true state of 

 their country, planted their colours in the centre of 

 a circle, around which they formed, and, having 

 sworn an oath of patriotism on their knees, marched 

 out through the hostile battalions which surrounded 

 them, but who did not choose to put their courage 

 and despair to the proof. Ten thousand Spaniards, 



stationed under the Marquis Romana on the island 

 of Langland, Zealand, and Jutland, who had thus 

 emancipated themselves from the French yoke, wera 

 brought off by our fleet in the Baltic under /Ydmiral 

 Keats, and were conveyed, with their stores, arms, 

 and artillery, to Corunna, on the 30th of Septem- 

 ber, f 



The whole aspect of Spanish affairs, had inspired 

 hopes in the beginning of summer, that the co-opera- 

 tion of a linti'-h army would nut be thrown .' 

 the Peninsula ; and for tin . a force ol 



10,000 men set sail from Cork on the I2th ot July, 

 and arrived at < ;i the 20th. Sir Arthur 



Wc-llesley, who commanded them, < assist- 



ance of his forces to the; Junta of Gallicia ; they re- 

 plied, that they wanted not men, but arms, ammuni- 

 tion, and money, but recommended a diversion by 

 the British in Lisbon. The army then sailed for 

 Oporto, but was left inactive there, while Sir Arthur 

 proceeded in person to have a conference with the 

 British admiral, Sir Charles Cotton, off Lisbon. On 

 board of that admiral's ahip, he received information 

 from General Spencer, that the Junta of Seville did 

 not require theco-opcration of his little army ; he there- 

 fore gave orders to General Spencer to join him, in his 

 proposed operations on Portugal. Before he landed 

 his troops, he received advice from home, that 5000 

 men, under General Aiistruther, were proceeding to 

 join him, and that 10,000 men, under Sir John Moore, 

 would speedily be detached for the same purpose. 



This last commander had been sent, in the month 

 of May, to assist our forlorn ally, the King of 

 Sweden, against a combined attack from Russia, 

 France, and Denmark. His army reached Got- 

 tenburg on the 17th of May, but was not permit 

 ted to land. Sir John Moore repaired to Stock- 

 holm, to communicate his orders, and to concert 

 measures for the security of Sweden. He there 

 found, to his surprize, that though the Swedish ar- 

 my was quite insufficient for defensive purposes, his 

 Majesty's thoughts were intent on conquest. It was 

 first proposed that the British should remain in their 

 ships, till some Swedish regiments should be collect- 

 ed at Gottenburg, and that the combined forces 

 should land and conquer Zealand. Upon an exami- 

 nation of the plan, it was found that the island of 

 Zealand, besides its fortresses, contained a regular 

 force superior to any that could he brought to bear 

 against it, and that the adjacent islands were full of 

 French troops, which could not be prevented from 

 crossing over to it in small parties. It was next pro- 

 posed, that the British alone should land in Finland, 

 storm a fortress, and take possession of the province. 

 But General Moore justly represented, that 10,000 

 British troops were insufficient to encounter the prin- 

 cipal force of the Russian Empire, which could 

 quickly be brought from Petersburg!!. The Swe- 



Criiiin. 



A Br. 

 army ar- 

 rivci in 

 1'otiugal. 



General 



Moore'-* 

 mission la 

 Sweden. 



J- Tlie common account which is given of the first communication of the state of his country to the Marquis of Rom 

 that a Swedish clergyman, in the disguise of a low and travelling tradesman, arrived at the head quarters of the Marquis, and 

 address, d him in llic streets, at first under the pretence of offering him some smuggled coflVe for sale, Imt a!'t< rwards limnd 

 means to intimate the object of his errand, by speaking in Latin. The writer ol" this article does not presume to contradict 

 the whole story of the Swedish clergyman, hut can nffirm, from his own knowledge, that a person, who '-dish, but 



a Scotch Roman Catholic clergyman, (his mime is Kobcrtspn,) received L. 1000 from the British government for cor.-.mr. 

 ting the message of our cabinet to the Marqui-. of Komana at his head quarters in Germany. Mr Robertson had been hired 

 to do i; and proceeded to the continent, at the risque of his life, availing himself of a German education, which made him 

 easily pass for .1 native merchant. He found much less difficulty than the Swedish agi.'iit is rcpre-cntcd to liavi met with. 

 lie I ,r.nd Romana, not surrounded by spies and watches, but accessible in his own hotel, where Robertson, took up liis lod- 

 gings, and had a conversation with him the day after his arrival. Romana was, ind eel, at first very cautious and would 

 not believe that the other was an empowered agent, till Robertson proved, that he must ha\ rineil by a Br.tish mi- 



nister lately resident in Spain, of circumstances known only to the marquis and the minister. Robertson asked Romana, if 

 he remembered having dined v. ith Mr in Spain on a certain day, and their haun;.: IOIIM m books and pic- 



tures after dinner, lie reminded him also of exrtahi remarks that had been made; Which Ro'.na'u rei-.ii: cted. 1 he . Mar- 

 quis then had no doubt of Mr Robertson's having b 'en sent by the British government ; hut committed hhnsdl no further in 

 conversation, than by saying, that he should consult the other officers of the Spanish troop* uiwn the sulijci t. The wriUr i i 

 this article received the above statement from the Scottish clergyman's o\vn mouth, and knows that he received the reword 

 already mentioned. 



