LON 
■ferty to proceed in their opefations according to the in- 
ftruftions with which they were for that cafe provided. 
The army accordingly landed without oppofiticn, at 
the village of Vedbeck, on the morning of the 16th of 
Auguft; and, after fome ineffectual attempts of the Danes 
to annoy its left wing by the fire of their gun-boats, and 
to impede its progrefs by Tallies which were always re- 
pulfed with lofs, it clofely inverted the town on the land- 
fide. The fleet, removing to an advanced anchorage, 
formed an impenetrable blockade by fea; at the fame time, 
a proclamation was iflued by the commanders, notifying 
to the inhabitants of Zealand the motives of their under¬ 
taking; theconduft that would be obferved towards them ; 
and an a durance; that, at any time when the demand of 
bis Britannic mnjefty fliould be acceded to, Jioftilities 
fhould ceafe. 
On the evening of the ad of September, the land-bat¬ 
teries, and the bomb and mortar veflels, opened a tre¬ 
mendous fire upon the town, and with fuch effect:, that, 
in the courfe of a very Ihort time, a general conflagration 
appeared to have taken place. The fire was returned but 
feebly from the ramparts of the town, and from the cita¬ 
del and crown-batteries. On the night of the 3d, the 
Britifli fire was conliderably flackened. This has been va- 
rioufiy accounted for 5 fome fuppofing that it was owing 
to the great expenditure of ammunition on the preceding 
Slight, and the apprehenfion that enough would not re¬ 
main for the profecution of the fiege; others, that the 
Britifli general expefted that the impreflion already made 
■would produce propofals for capitulation. It was proba¬ 
bly becaufe the enemy adopted the firft of thefe fuppofi- 
tions, that the fecond was not realifed : they on the con¬ 
trary conceived fome hope, and were encouraged in their 
•treflltance, by the relaxation of our fire, which was, how¬ 
ever, refumed with fo much vigour and effect on the 
Slight of the 4th, that the next morning a trumpeter ap¬ 
peared at the Britifli out-pofts with a letter from the com¬ 
mandant of the tow n, containing the propofal of a truce 
for twenty-four hours, to give time to negotiate a capi¬ 
tulation, which he was willing to conclude on the bafis of 
$10 Britifli troops being admitted within the city of Co¬ 
penhagen. It fliould ieem, however, either that that ba¬ 
ils was not at fivll confidered as admiflible, or that it was 
accompanied by fome other objectionable condition: for 
we find, that the capitulation was not figned until three 
days afterwards, viz. the 8th of September, when the 
Britifli army took pofleflion of the citadel, dock-yards, 
and batteries dependent upon them. The Britifli admi¬ 
ral immediately began rigging and fitting-out the fliips 
that filled the fpacious batons where they were laid up in 
ordinary ; and, at the expiration of the term limited in the 
capitulation, they were all, together with the itores, tim¬ 
ber, and every article of naval equipment found in the 
arfenal .and ltore-houfes, conveyed to England, where, 
with the exception of one line-of-battle fliip, that grounded 
on the ifle of Huen, and was deftroyed, they all arrived 
fafely in the laft days of the month of Oftober. 
The following inflance of domeflic affliftion took place 
.•during our attack upon Copenhagen : A citizen, who 
refided with his family, a fon and three daughters, near 
the walls of the city, law his houfe fo much expofed to 
the fire of the Britifli artillery during the fiege, that he 
refolved to draw his children from the dangers of their 
lituation, and conduct them if poflibie to a place of fecu- 
rity. While he was in the aft of removing them from 
bis battered abode, a fhell burft near them, killed one on 
the inltant, and fo dreadfully wounded the other two, 
that they expired in the courle of the night. The father, 
frantic with rage and defpair, flew to the city-walls, and 
in vain fought the fate of his unhappy children. He was, 
however, relerved for more accumulated miferies ; and 
the fame night his fon was flrot dead by his fide. The 
wretched parent now funk under his misfortunes, and 
was carried from the ramparts in a rtate of apparent death. 
The next day a detachment'of the Britifli troops marched 
■vol,. jan, No. 297- '. 
D O N. 1 O 9 
into the city to take pofleflion of the citadel ; the bodies 
of the unfortunate iufferers were lying in the open ftreets; 
the agonized and heart-broken old man pointed to the 
fcene of ruin, fell on the lifelefs bodies of his children,, 
and expired. 
In the capitulation, no notice whatever had beers 
taken of the large quantity of fliipping and naval llores 
that were in the merchants’ docks; the confequence of 
which negleft was, that we had fcarcely left the waters of 
Copenhagen, before a coniiderable number of armed vef- 
fels was prepared to aft againfl: us; and we have been in¬ 
formed, that they aftunlly drew up in line of battle, in 
front of the port of Copenhagen, when admiral Gambler’s 
fiag-lhip was ftill in light of the town. The lofies fuf- 
fered by our commerce, from this newly-created f'pecies 
of Danilh naval force, were very confiderable; and they 
were the more fenfibly felt, becaufe, under the apprehen¬ 
fion of the turn which might be given, during the enfu- 
ing winter, to the politics of Rulfla, large purchafes of 
hemp, timber, and other naval ftores, had been made ; 
thefe 'were fent home in Angle fliips, in the confident ex¬ 
pectation of having no danger to fear till they cleared the 
Categat, or that they would obtain ample protection be¬ 
fore they reached the Sound ; inltead of which, they were 
for the moll: part captured by fmall privateers from the 
ifle ol Bornholm ; and thofe which efcaped in that quar¬ 
ter fell into the hands of the Danes off Draco Point, 
where no adequate force had been Rationed for their pro¬ 
tection. r 
As foon as the effeft of the operation of our forces 
was known in England, a declaration was publifned by 
his majefty’s government, fetting forth the grounds on 
which the expedition was undertaken, and the fentimente 
which were (till entertained towards Denmark by his 
majerty. This declaration was afterwards laid before 
parliament, and became the ground-work of the defence 
let up by minifters when attacked, as they were molt vi- 
goroully, on the policy of the whole undertaking. We 
mult refer our readers to the debates upon this fubject, 
which will be found in the daily newfpapers, where the 
fentiments and feelings of the different parties are fuffi- 
ciently developed. As for ourfelves, we conceive that 
the intention of Bonaparte, being in unifon with his in- 
terefl, pointed immediately to the junftion of the Danilh 
forces to his own, in holtility to thefe kingdoms ; and 
that of the execution of this intention there could b© 
no other doubt than that which might attend its practi¬ 
cability. But, if there could remain, in the mind of any 
politician, the fmalleft difficulty in acquiefcing in this 
propolition, it furely mult be removed by the overtures 
that were made to the prince-regent of Portugal, and 
which he had the fairnefs to communicatte to the Britilk 
government. In thefe, the adhefion of Denmark to the 
French fyftem, was announced both as the'means, and as 
a motive, for obtaining that of Portugal ; and to both 
countries it was notified, that meafures mult be immedi¬ 
ately taken to exclude the Britifli flag and manufactures 
from their refpeCtive ports.- Thefe overtures were, with 
equal good faith and propriety, made known by the Por- 
tuguele government to that of England, as loon as they 
were received ; and, as. there is ftrong reaion to believe 
that they were fimultaneoufiy made to the court of Den¬ 
mark, the concealment of them, by that court, furnifhes 
of itfelf no flight ground for fufpefting that h •< difpofi- 
tion towards England partook of much of the holtility 
in which they originated.—Thefe reflection's naturally 
bring us to notice the lalt political occurrence of this' 
eventful year; namely, the emigration of the court of 
Portugal to South America. 
The treaty of Tilfit was hardly concluded, when Bo¬ 
naparte turned his eyes towards the weft of Europe, and 
refolved on the fubjugation of Portugal and Spain. Or. 
perhaps, it was at firlt his deligp, not'direftly or formally 
to fubvert the thrones of thefe kingdoms, but, under the 
veil of alliance and union, to reduce them to tire fames 
^ x total! 
