A rencontre of a curious nature is about to take place between Richmond the black and a bear: The former is to be armed with a quarterstaff, and the latter, who has been for some time in training, to make him as savage as possible, is to meet his antagonist unmuzzled, and quite ad libitum. Three keepers are to be at hand, in case Bruin should hug too closely. The match is for 500 guineas; and considerable bets are already laid. The brown brute is the favourite of the two! 10th. RECAPTURE OF MADRID BY BUONAPARTE.-The important intelligence of the unexpected surrender of Madrid is received. On the 3d of Dec. last, it will be recollected Buonaparte had reached Bayonne, on his way from Paris to his army in Spain: on the 3d Nov., and on the 8th, he put himself at the head of his army in Vittoria. On the evening of the 2d Dec., as appears by the French bulletins, Buonaparte arrived on the heights which command the city, having been preceded by a force consisting of dragoons and imperial guards. In consequence of the treachery of Morla, to which the weakness of the councils of the Supreme Junta gave too much scope, the city, in spite of the noble enthusiasm of its inhabitants, was surrendered into the hands of the enemy, after a short and ineffectual resistance. The surrender took place on the 4th of Dec.; and at ten o'clock in the morning of the 5th, General Belliard entered Madrid, and took the command. The terms of capitulation, and the circumstances which follow ed, are detailed in the last chapter (23d) of the Historical department of the REGISTER 1808. We think it proper, however, to insert two imperial decrees which were now made public, because they tend to display Buonaparte's characteristic policy. IMPERIAL DECREES. Dated from the Imperial Camp at Burgos, Nov. 12, 1808. "NAPOLEON, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, "Considering that the troubles in Spain have been principally the effect of plots carried on by several individuals, and that the greater part of those who joined in them have been either misled or deceived; wishing to pardon these, and to grant an amnesty for the crimes which they have committed against us, our nation, and the king our brother; wishing also to mark those who, after having sworn fidelity to the king, have violated that oath who, after having accepted places, have only used the authority which was confided in them to betray their sovereign-and who, instead of employing their influence to enlighten the citizens, have only used it to mislead them; and wishing, lastly, that the punishment of great offenders may serve as an example in future times to all those who, placed at the head of nations, instead of directing the people with wisdom and prudence, mislead them, and lead them into disorders and popular agitations, and precipitate them into misfortunes and war, "We have decreed as follows: fend. Our countrymen of this northern part of the island are certainly not inferior in courage or in conduct; but their courage is unconnected with such a cause. And we mention it to the honour of Scotland, that neither of these practices exists, or could be tolerated within its bounds. "1st. The Dukes of Infantado, of Higar, of Medina Coeli, and of Ossuna, the Marquis of Santa Cruz, the Counts of Fernan, Nunez, and of Altamira, the Prince of Castel Franco, the Sieur Pierre Cevallos, exminister of state, and the Bishop of Santander, are declared traitors to France and Spain, and traitors to the two crowns. As such, their persons shall be seized, and brought before a military commission, and shot. Their property, moveable and immoveable, shall be confiscated in Spain, in France, in the kingdom of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples, in the Papal States, in the kingdom of Holland, and in all the countries occupied by the French arms, to defray the expences of the war." The 2d article renders null and void all sales, or other dispositions, of their property. The 31st grants, in the name of Joseph Buonaparte, "a pardon to all Spaniards who, within one month after the arrival of Buonaparte at Madrid, shall lay down their arms, and renounce all adhesion to and connection with England. "Neither the members of the juntas, nor general officers who have carried arms, are excepted from this pardon, provided they surrender as before mentioned." In our Imperial Camp of Madrid, "NAPOLEON, Emperor of the French, &c.-Considering that the religious of the different monastic orders in Spain are too multiplied; and that if a certain number be useful to assist the ministers of the altar in the administration of the sacraments, the existence of too considerable a number is injurious to the prosperity of the state, "We decree as follows: "Art. 1. The number of convents at present existing in Spain shall be reduced to a third. This reduction shall be produced by uniting the religious of several convents in one single house. 2. Dating from the publication of the present decree, no admission to the noviciate, no religious profession shall be permitted, until the number of the religious of each sex shall have been reduced to the third of the number of the said religious now existing. In consequence, and in the space of a fortnight, all the novices shall quit the convents into which they have been admitted. "3. All the regular ecclesiastics who wish to renounce their usual living, and to live as secular ecclesiastics, shall be free to quit their houses. "4. The religious who shall so renounce, conformably to the preceding article, shall be admitted to the enjoyment of a pension, whose amount shall be regulated by their age, but which shall not be less than 3000 reals, nor exceed the maximum of 4000. "5. Upon the amount of the property of the convents which shall be suppressed, in execution of the first article of the present decree, shall be raised the sum necessary to increase the proportion of the cures, so that the minimum of the salary of the curates shall be raised to 2400 reals. "6. The property of the suppressed convents, which shall be disposable after the raising of the sum ordered by the foregoing article, shall be united to the domain of Spain, and be employed as follows: "1. The half of the said property to guarantee the vales and other parts of the public debt. "2. The other half to reimburse the provinces and cities the expences oc casioned by supplying the French armies and the insurrectional armies, and to indemnify the cities and country for the damage, losses of houses, and other losses occasioned by the war. (Signed) NAPOLEON." The Spanish accounts of the surrender of Madrid are very confused. 11th. We received this morning Barbadoes accounts of the 12th of November. Martinique and Guadaloupe are so strictly blockaded, that they are in the greatest distress. A few days ago, the body of a man was discovered floating on the ice in the Tyne at Newburn. In consequence of this account reaching Haydon Bridge, (where a young man had been missing for some weeks past, but who was supposed to have gone to America,) a person came to Newcastle on Friday evening, to examine the body, and on Saturday it was taken from the grave at the Ballast Hills, where it had been interred, for his inspection. On seeing the body, he recognized it to be that of his nephew, Mr John Cook, and son of a respectable person at Haydon Bridge. He said that the deceased should have upwards of 501. on him; and on cutting up his waistcoat, which had not been removed, on account of the emaciated state of the body, a pocket-book was found, containing notes to the full amount expected. Last Friday, the body of a man was found within the sea-mark on the shore betwixt Leith and Portobello. Great marks of violence appeared, his head being much cut, and very bloody. Nothing was found in his pockets but a shirt. The corpse was brought to Leith, and decently interred. On Wednesday week, the sitting magistrate at Glasgow, upon com plaint of the procurator-fiscal, fined William Nisbet, driver of the Edinburgh mail, in three guineas, and William Barton, driver of the Greenock mail, in two guineas, for running a race with their respective coaches through the principal street of that town, on Saturday se'nnight. And they were farther obliged to give security, under a smart penalty, for their good behaviour and quiet driving for twelve months to come. One of them paid the money down, and the other went to jail, but has since paid the fine, and found caution. Providentially no person was hurt on occasion of the above outrage, though the street was full of passengers. A robber, of the name of George Ainslie, accused of a robbery at Edinburgh, and who fled from that city, and was traced and apprehended at London a few days ago, and had been in custody at the Brown Bear, Bow street, waiting the arrival of witnesses from Scotland, to identify him, made his escape, under the foĺlowing circumstances :-On Friday morning, he said he wanted to go into the yard, when a man, the servant of Mr Hazard, the landlord, attended him as usual. When he was about to return into the house again, he suddenly knocked his attendant down, and, in consequence of some paling which separated that yard from the butcher's, the house adjoining, there was a free and uninterrupted access to a large piece of waste ground at the back of Russell-street, which leads into a narrow court, through which he made his escape. The hue and cry of " stop thief" was raised, and several men ran in all directions, but in vain. Just after his escape, an officer arrived from Edinburgh, for the purpose of iden tifying his person, and conveying him thither. The above-mentioned George Ainslie is supposed to be the smith who, it was alleged, had made the false keys with which the shops, &c., at Edinburgh, were lately opened and robbed. He was admitted to bail, but forfeited his bail. bond, and went to London, where he assumed the name of George Anderson, and was working at his trade of a blacksmith, with Messrs Moser and Co., when he was apprehended, in consequence of a description of him sent from Edinburgh. in his praises, and he particularly noticed Captain Howard and Captain Newport, who behaved most gallantly. We had not one man touched. A very gallant and severe action was fought on Friday se'ennight, 30th ult., by the Sandwich lugger. She fell in with a large French lugger, soon after four o'clock in the afternoon, off the Isle of Bas, which she engaged nearly two hours; and so close was the contest, that the enemy's main-sail caught fire two or three times, from the fire of the Sandwich. It was evidently the intention of the enemy to board, being full of men, (it is supposed nearly 100,) and for that purpose she ran her bowsprit between the Sandwich's fore and main masts; but the brisk fire of round and canister kept up by the brave crew of the Sandwich prevented her accomplishing this design. At length she disengaged herself, and sheered off. The Sandwich had one man killed, and seven wounded, two of them dangerously. Lieutenant Atkins, commander of the Sandwich, received a ball in the upper part of his right arm, near the shoulder: the ball has been since extracted, and it is hoped he will do well. 12th.-Lately, in passing Mayorga with the cavalry, Lord Paget heard that a party of the enemy was in the town. On reconnoitring, he discovered two squadrons without, and a small party in the town. Lord Paget ordered up two squadrons of the 10th. He advanced with one through the town. At the gate they fired, but did no harm. The enemy retreated to high ground. His lordship ordered the squadron to attack, and supported with the second. When within 200 yards, the first squadron slackened its pace. Lord Paget thinking they were hesitating, rode through them, and ordered the charge: the French stood us very firmly, and fired their carbines, by which we lost two horses killed, one wounded. The charge was beautiful, and in the greatest order, and the result was several men killed, 21 desperately wounded, one officer, and about 100 men prisoners, and 50 horses taken. What Lord Paget had considered as hesitation, was the effect of the most perfect ALGIERS, Nov. 21st.-For some coolness. Colonels Leigh and Quin- days past, the greatest tranquillity ton, who were both in front of the has prevailed in this country. The first squadron, finding the horses a return of the troops that had marchlittle blown, checked, in order to re-ed to Constantine by no means procover their wind. All distinguished duced the disturbances which were themselves. Lord Paget was loud expected. But this was only a de Mr Phillips, the master, is dangerously wounded: a musket-ball entered his right breast, and passed out at his back. The first mate was wounded by a ball passing through his leg. The Sandwich mounts 14 guns, and had 50 men on board. She arrived at Guernsey on Saturday se'ennight, to refit. ceitful calm, which was to be followed by a dreadful tempest. The troops above alluded to assembled about ten o'clock in the morning on the 7th inst., in their barracks, and, after a short consultation, sent a deputation to the palace of government, with orders to put to death the Dey Achmed Pacha. On their arrival there, they compelled the guard and all the domestics to depart, on pain of participating in his fate. All of them instantly obeyed. The Dey fled to the roof of his palace, from which, getting upon the end of a neighbouring building, he was followed by his assassins from the top of one house to that of another, until he was caught on a Jew's house, and shot, his head cut off, and his body, after being dreadfully mangled, was thrown into the street. Immediately after, one Ali, surnamed Kodja, who had been many years attendant on a mosque, was proclaimed Dey by the soldiers; and no person sustained any further inju. ry, except the father, the wife, and the first biscary of the deceased Dey, who were committed to prison. In about a couple of hours this unexpected revolution was completed; and at one o'clock in the afternoon the consuls of foreign powers repaired to the palace, to pay their respects to the new Dey. All the old ministers, with the exception of the minister of marine, were banished to Bleda, 25 leagues from Algiers; and the new Dey chose their successors from among the lower classes; men totally ignorant, without any personal respecta bility, and who were soon accused, by public report, of having shared among them the effects of the dismissed ministers, which, according to usage, ought to have been brought into the public treasury. These reflections occasioned a second insurrection on the 11th inst.; the soldiers demanding, with loud outcries, the dismission of the new ministers, and evincing a disposition to begin plundering the city. All the shops were shut, and the doors barricadoed. The divan having assembled in the palace, entered into an arrangement with the insurgents; in consequence of which, the new ministers were dismissed and exiled, and their places conferred on persons of greater respectability. On the 16th of November, there was another tumult. It was generally reported, that the soldiers were resolved to plunder the city, in consequence of their not having received the pecuniary gratuity usual on the accession of a new Dey. The divan, however, succeeded in averting this storm. HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND. This day the anniversary general meeting of this society, agreeable to the charter, was held in their hall, High Street, Edinburgh, at which there was a very respectable and full attendance of the members, to the number of upwards of one hundred, and, among others, the Right Hon. Lord Viscount Cathcart, Lord Viscount Duncan, Lord Robert Kerr, Lord Seaforth, Lord Macdonald, Sir John Sinclair, and Sir Alexander Macdonald Lockhart, Barts., with many of the most considerable landed proprietors in the country, gentlemen of rank in the army, and of the law, and commercial interests. The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Cathcart, Vice-President, in the chair. After the ballot for new members, the Society took under consideration |