72 
State of Public Affairs in July, 
[Aug. r, 
progress up fo the l?th, and as from Trux- 
illo they might have bee.n at Merida on the 
13th, and in communication with the array 
©1- the South, I determined to raise the biock- 
ade of Badaj^iz, and that all the allied troops 
should cross the Guadiana on the 17th. This 
was accordingly effected without any dilhculty 
©r loss of any description ; and General Blake 
likewise crossed with his corps at Juranienha, 
©a the 17th. 
Since that period the allied British and 
Porcug uese array have been encamped in the 
woods upon the Caya, about Torre de Monro, 
having their right upon the Ponte de Caya j 
the 3d and 7th divisicras, and Brigadief-Gene- 
ral Madden’s cavalry being in Campo Mayor. 
And the troops which had been under the 
command of Lieutenant-General Sir Brent 
Spencer on the frontiers of Castile, have 
crossed the Tagus at Villa Velha in propor¬ 
tion as the enemy have crossed the river at 
Almaraz. The whole are now upon the 
Caya, between this place and Arronches. 
The enemy’s advance have appeared in the 
rcighbourhocd of Badajoz this day, and 1 
conceive that their whole army will be col¬ 
lected to-morrow. 
The eneray have .collected upon this occa- 
s'on all their force frum Castile, their whole 
force from Madrid, and what is called their 
centre armv, and all their force from Anda¬ 
lusia, excepting w'hat is absolutely necessary 
to maintain their position before Cadiz, and 
that heio by Sebastiani in the eastern king¬ 
doms of Andalusia. 
The enemy have abandoned Old and New 
Castile, with the exception of a small gar¬ 
rison in Madrid, and have risked every thing 
In all parts of Spain, in order to collect this 
large army in tstrcmadura. 
Wk L L IK G T 0 N. 
FitANCE, 
Extract from the Annual Expose of 
ih.e Frencli Government. 
In one year the greater part of the strong 
places in Spam have been taken, atter 
sieges which do honour to the genius of the 
artillery of the French array. Mere than 
SCO colours, 80,000 prisoners, and hundreds 
of pieces of cannon have been taken from 
ihe Spaniards in a number of pitched bat- 
,tles. This war was verging to its close, 
when England, departing from her usual 
policy, came tc* present herself in the front 
line. It is easy to foresee the result or this 
struggle, and to comprehend all its effects 
Vipon the destiny of the world. 
The population of England not being 
able to suffice tor the occupatio.n the 
two Indies, of America, and ot a variety of 
establislinients in the Mediterranean j for 
the defence of Ireland, and of her own 
jicasts ; for garrisons, and ttie manning of 
her immense fleets ; for the consumption of 
men in an obstinate war, supported against 
France on the Spanish Peninsula; the 
chances are greatly on our siac; and England 
has placed herself between the ruin of her 
population, if she persist in supporting this 
war, or disgrace if she abandon it, after 
having put herself forw'ard so strongly. 
France has 800,000 men under arras; 
and while new forces, new armies, march 
into Spain toTombat there our eternal ene¬ 
mies, 400,OoO men, and 50,000 horses, 
remain oh our frontier, or on our coasts, ready 
to march in defence of our rights wherever 
they shall be menaced. 
The Continental system, which is follow¬ 
ed up with the greatest constancy, saps the 
basis of the finances of England. Already 
her exchange loses 33 per cent, her colo¬ 
nies are destitute of outlets for their pro¬ 
duce; the greater part of her manufactories 
are shut; and the Continental system has 
only just arisen ! Followed up for 10 years, 
it alone will be sufficient to destroy the re¬ 
sources of England. 
Her revenues are not founded on the pro* 
duce of her soil, but on the produce of the 
commerce of the world; even already her 
counting-houses are half-closed. The En¬ 
glish hope, in vain, that from the advan¬ 
tages of time, and of events which their 
passions lig,ht up, some markets will be 
opened to their commerce. 
With regard to France, the Continental 
system has produced no change in her po¬ 
sition; we have been for ten years past 
without maritime commerce, and we shall 
still be without maritime commerce. The 
prohibition of English merchandise upon 
rhe Continent has produced an outlet for 
our manufactures ; but should that be want¬ 
ing, the consumption of the empire pre¬ 
sents a reasonable market; it is for our ma¬ 
nufactures to be regulated by the want of 
more than 60 millions of consumers. 
The prosperity of the Imperial Treasury 
is not founded on the commerce of the uni¬ 
verse. More than 900 millions, which are 
necessary to meet the expences of the em¬ 
pire, are the result of home-taxes, direct 
or indirect. England must have two mil¬ 
liards,'in order to pay her expences; and 
her proper revenue could not furnish more 
than a third of it. We shall believe that 
England wiil be able to support this strug¬ 
gle as long as we can, when she shall have 
j)assed several years without loans, without 
the funding of Exchequer bills, and vs'hen 
her payments shall be in money, or at 
least in paper convertible at pleasure. 
Every reasonable man must-bs-^onvinced 
that France may remain ten years in her 
jiresent state without experiencing other 
embarrassments than those she has felt for 
the. last ten years, without augmenting her 
debt, and, in short, meeting all her ex¬ 
pences. 
England must every year of war bor¬ 
row 800 millib.ns, which, in ten years. 
Will amount to 8 milliards. How is it to 
be conceived that she can contrive to sup- 
forC 
