. - Laws of Nations. 
76 
Progress of the French Army in Spain: . 
[Feb. 1, 
A butcher’s boy of Estremadura, who com- - injustice and-bad faith always recoil upon the 
manded one of the gates, had the audacity to 
require that the: Duke of Istria should go 
himself into the town with ‘his eyes. blind- 
folded. General Montbrun rejected this pre- 
sumptive demand with indignation.. He was 
immediately surrounded, and. effected his 
escape only by drawing his sword. He nar- 
rowly escaped falling a victim tothe impru- 
dence with which he had forgot that he had 
not to make war with civilized enemies. 
At five o’clock General Morla, one ofthe 
Members of the Military Junta, and Don 
Bernardo Yriarte, sent from the town, re: 
pairedto the tent of the Major General. They 
imfermed him that the most intelligent per- 
sons were of opinion, that the town was des- 
titute of resources, and that the continuation 
of the defence would be the height of mad- 
ness, but that the lower orders of the inhabi- 
tants, and the foreigners at Madrid, were de- 
termined to persevere in the defence. Be- 
lieving that they could not do it with eftect, 
they requested a pause of a few hours to inform 
the people of the real state of affairs. The 
Major-General presented the Deputies to the 
Emperorand King,who addressedthem thus:— 
** You make use of the name of the peo- 
ple to no purpose; if you cannot restore 
tranquillity and appease their minds, it is be- 
cause you have excited them to revolt: you 
have seduced them by propagating falsehoods. 
Assemble the clergy, the heads of the con- 
vents, the alcaides, the men of property and 
influence, and let the town capitulate by six 
o’clock inthe morning, or it shall be destroy- 
ed. Iwill not, nor ought I to withdraw my 
troops. You have massacred the unfortunate 
French prisoners who had fallen into your 
hands; only a few days ago, you suffered 
two persons in the suite of the Russian Am- 
bassador to be dragged along and murdered in 
the public-streets, because they were French- 
men born, The incapacity and baseness of 2 
general, had put into your power troops who 
surrendered on the field of battle; and the ca- 
pitulation has been violated. You, Mr. 
Morla, what sort of an epistle did you write 
to that general?—-It well became you, Sir, 
to talk of pillage, you who, on entering 
Roussillon, carried off all the women, and 
distributed them as.booty among~your sol- 
diers !—~What right had you to hold such 
language elsewhere?—LThe expectation‘ought 
to have induced you to pursue a different line 
of conduct. See what has been the coriduct 
of the English, who are far from piquing 
themselves on being rigid observers of the 
They have complained of 
the Convention of Portugal, but they have 
carried it into effect. To violate mili- 
tary treaties, is to renounce all civiliza- 
tion: it is placing ourselves on a footing 
with a banditti of the desart. How dare 
you, then, presume to solicit a capitulation, 
you who violated that of Baylen? See how 
guilty, and operate to their prejudice. 
I had 
a fleet at Cadiz; it was under-the protection 
of Spain, yet you directed against it the mor- 
tars of the tawn where youcommanded. Jd 
had a Spanish army in, my ranks; 1 would 
rather have viewed themembark on board the 
English ships, and be. obliged to. precipitate 
it from the recks of Espinosa, thanto disarm . 
‘it; I would rather preter having 7000 more 
enemies to fight, than be deficient in honour 
and good faith. Return te Madrid—I give 
you till six o’clock to morrow morning—re- 
turn at that hour—you have only to inform 
me of the submission of the people—if not, 
you and your troops shall be putto the sword.” 
This speech of the Emperor, repeated in 
the midst of the respectable people, the cer- 
tainty that he commanded in person, the 
losses sustained. during the preceding day, 
had carried terror and repentance into all 
minds. During the night the most mutinous 
withdrew themselves frum the danger by flight, 
and a part of the troops retired toa distance, 
At ten o’clock Gen. Beiliard took the com- 
mand of Madrid; all the posts were put into 
the hands of the French, and a general par- 
con was proclaimed. 
From this moment, men, women, and 
children, spread themselves about the streets 
in perfect security. The shops were open till — 
eleven o’clock. «All the citizens set tnem- 
selves to destroy the barricades and repave the 
streets, the Monks returned into their Con- 
vents, and in a few hours Madrid presented 
the most extraordinary contrast, a Contrast ins 
explicable to those unaccustomed tothe mane 
ners of greattowns. Somany men, who can- 
not conceal from themselves what they would 
have done in similar circumstances, express 
their astonishment at the generosity of the 
French. Fifty thousand stand af arms have 
been given up, and 100 pieces of cannon have 
been collected at the Retiro. The anguish in 
which the inhabitants of this wretched city 
have lived for these four months cannot be de- 
scribed. The junta was without influence ; 
the mostignorant and maddest of men had all 
the power in their hands, and the people at 
every instant massacred, or threatened with 
the gallows, their Magistrates and their Ge- 
nerals. Ae 
The General of Brigade Maison has been 
wounded. General Bruyere, who advanced 
imprudently the moment the firing ceased; 
has been killed. Twelve soldiers have been 
killed, and fifty wounded.» This loss, so tri- 
fling for an event of so much importance, is 
owing tothesmallness of the number of troops 
suffered toengage: it is owing besides, we must 
say, to the extreme cowardic¢ of all those who 
had arms in their hands against us,’ 
The artillery, according to its usual cus- 
tom, has done great services: ‘Ten thousand 
fugitives who had escaped from Burgos and Sas 
Mosierra, andthe secoid division of the Army 
as ; ot 
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