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put to death, and every house, from which the enemy had been fired upon, was burnt. "Beja has revolted," said Kellerman, in a proclamation to the people of Alem-Tejo,

was painful to think of as enemies, and whom, the instant they rose against the oppressor, we regarded as friends and brethren. The Portuguese were in insurrection; England was mistress of the seas; her flag" Beja no longer exists; its guilty was always in sight from Lisbon; inhabitants have been cut off with and it was not to be doubted, but the edge of the sword, and its that on the first favourable moment, houses delivered up to pillage and she would send an army to the as- to the flames. Take ye all warning sistance of her oldest and most by this terrible example, and learn faithful ally. However the usurping from it, that it was not in vain the duke of Abrantes might vaunt, he commander in chief told ye the felt that his dukedom was held by clouds of the rebels would be scatan insecure tenure, and, looking tered before us like the sands of the forward to a retreat, gave orders that desert, before the impetuous breath the church plate should, with all of the winds of the south." Junot speed, be melted down into bars, called other means to his assistance. for more convenient removal, that Three infamous dignitaries of the he might not leave the country with patriarchal church issued a pastoral out his booty. letter, under his orders, denouncing excommunication against all persons who directly, or indirectly, assisted the patriots. This was dispersed over the provinces, accompanied by a letter from the French intendant general, in which he asked the Portuguese why they subjected themselves to the weight of the French power, at a moment when the Almighty Authority* thought only of laying aside the rights of conquest, and of governing with mildness. "Is it," said he, "before a few handfuls of Portuguese that the star of the great Napoleon is to be darkened, or the arm deadened, of one of the most valliant and skil ful captains?" It is but too well known, how deeply the baneful superstition of the Romish church has rooted itself in Portugal; but in this instance, the threat of excommunication was regarded with contempt; the people knew that their most sacred duty was to deliver their country, that no devotion could be so holy, as the sacrifice of their own lives, in such a cause; no offering so righteous, as the blood of an invader.

We have two lessons to learn from the French: the art of provisioning an army, and that constant activity which never suffers it to remain unemployed, but attacks the enemy whenever and wherever they are weakest. In these points, and in these only, they are our superiours; in the field, we have never failed to show them, that, in the words of the celebrated war song,

We are the sons of the men
Who conquered on Cressy's plain;
And what our fathers did,
Their sons can do again.,

Junot's measures were taken with a promptness equal to the occasion. He hoped to crush the insurgents, before any English could arrive to their assistance; and wherever they ventured to oppose a regular body of French troops, the event was what he had expected and foreseen. Two hundred patriots were killed in the streets of Villa Viçosa, and twelve who were taken prisoners, shot as rebels, by orders of general Avril. Twelve hundred, according to the French account, fell before Beja; every man taken in arms was

Basely as the Spaniards have been

* This phrase is literally translated from the original blasphemy of the proclamation.

calumniated here, the fate of the Portuguese has been still harder. The writers who have been most successful in slandering the Spaniards, and deadening that generous ardour in their cause, which was at one time as universal in Great Britain, as it was honourable to the British character, are persons, who, having professed the most opposite opinions, as they happened to suit their own immediate purposes, have proved themselves to have no other principle whatever, than that of selfinterest. But the Portuguese have been hastily condemned by men of a far different stamp. Even so truly profound and philosophical a writer as Ardnt, speaks of them with contemptuous injustice, in the work for which Palm was murdered. "The Spaniards," he says, "will again become what they once were, one of the most admired and powerful nations in Europe; but Portugal will remain in a state of servitude, as it deserves; for, separated from Spain, it is a wen on a sound body." The German philosopher truly prophesyed the regeneration of the Spaniards; and had he known the chaPacter of the Portuguese equally well, his opinion of them would have been more favourable and less erroneous. The people are uncorrupted, and their courage and patriotism were abundantly proved by the manner in which they rose against the French, at a time, when, to use the words of lord Wellington, their troops had been completely dispersed; their officers had gone off to Brazil; and their arsenals had been pillaged; or were in the power of the enemy. "Their revolt," says that competent judge, "under the circumstances in which it has taken place, is still more extraordinary than that of the Spanish nation." While Kellerman and Avril were ravaging Alem-Tejo, Margaron attacked Leiria, where a handful of students from Coimbra had proclaimed the prince regent. Six hunVOL. V.

dred patriots, according to the French bulletin, were left upon the field of battle. According to the Portuguese, the French, while they were opposed to an undisciplined and half armed peasantry, divided their force, which consisted of nearly 5000 men, entered the city on every side, and put to the sword all whom they found in the streets, without distinction of age or sex. It was stated in the bulletin that the banners of the insurgents were taken and presented to his excellency the duke of Abrantes. The real history of these banners is a curious proof of the manner in which the French bulletins are fabricated. The soldiers, on their march, fell in with a party of devotees going to the Cirio da Ameixoeira, mounted upon mules and asses, with musick playing, and flags flying, such as are to be seen at an English puppet show. The sight of the French put the whole procession to the rout, and the flags which they threw away in their flight were picked up, to form an article in the next bulletin.

Loison, mean time, was laying waste the north of Portugal. Alfedrinha was burnt by him, and above 3000 patriots killed in battle. His own loss was said to be only twenty killed, and from thirty to forty wounded. This bulletin, however, is said, by the Portuguese author, to be notoriously false. That which followed will only provoke a smile in England. "On the 10th of July, forty English landed at the foot of the village of Costa, to obtain provisions. That post was defended by only five of the 31st regiment of light infantry. Notwithstanding the disproportion of numbers, these five men, in sight of all the inhabitants, attacked the forty English, forced them to leave upon the beach all that they had purchased, and pursued them to the sea. Three conscript lads of the 66th regiment saw a boat from the English squadron making towards the land, near Cascaes. They hid

themselves till it reached the shore, then rose up from their ambush, fired upon it, killed the pilot, who was the master of admiral Cotton's ship, and obliged two English officers, and six sailors, or marines, who were in the boat, to lay down their arms and surrender as prisoners of war, an instance of presence of mind and courage, which does great honour to these three lads." When the French admiral Latouche, during the blockade of Toulon, boasted, in an official letter, that the whole British fleet had fled before him, Nelson said, if his character for not being apt to run away, were not established by that time, it was not worth his while to put the world right Nevertheless, he swore that if he took the Frenchman, he would make him eat his letter. General Thiebault, who signed the bulletin, fell at Vimieria; had he been made prisoner, it certainly ought to have been administered to him in a sandwich.

If the victories of the French over the Portuguese, be not more truly related than these exploits against our sailors, the patriots sustained little loss. It was not, how ever, possible that they could withstand such a force of regular troops, and the French soldiers made full use of the license which their rascally commanders allow them in the field. They returned to Lisbon with cart loads of plunder, and every man with his knapsack full. The pillage which Loison and Margaron brought back, amounted to more than half a million of cruzados. This, however, was the least mischief which they committed. Junot talked of houses delivered over to desolation and death; of flourishing cities transformed into heaps of ashes and wide sepulchres. He did not enumerate, among the triumphs of his troops, the outrages committed upon the women. Their vengeance fell next upon Evora. Loison, with Margaron and Solignac under his com

mand, and a powerful detachment marched for that city. The patriots had collected a few regular troops, with the militia of the country, and some Spaniards came to their assistance; they posted themselves advantageously about a mile from the town, and sustained an attack of some hours, before the position was forced. Junot asserted that 1000 were left dead in the field, 4000 wounded, and 3000 made prisoners; the Portuguese, with equal exaggeration, affirmed, the victory cost the French 3000 slain. The city was given up to be pillaged; nine hundred persons, of different sexes and ages, were put to the sword in the streets and churches; eight and thirty clergymen were murdered; among them the bishop of Maranham. The nunneries were broke open, and women were equally the victims of their cruelty and their lust. Loison himself shook his sabre over the head of the archbishop, a venerable man, nearly ninety years of age, of distinguished learning, and still more eminent for his virtues. He promised him, however, that his property should not be touched; yet, after this promise, Loison himself, with some of his favourite officers, entered by night the archbishop's library, which was one of the finest in Portugal; threw down every book, in hopes of discovering valuables behind them; broke off the gold and silver clasps from the magnificent bindings of the rarest part of the collection; and in their rage that they found so little plunder, tore in pieces a whole file of manuscripts. They took every gold and silver coin from his cabinet of medals, and every jewel and bit of the precious metals, in which the relicks were set, or which decorated any thing in his oratory. And when the archbishop was taking his afternoon sleep, and had laid his episcopal ring upon the table, as usual at such times, Loison's prowling eye fixed upon the jewel as he passed through

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nishment in Europe, because they are now looked upon as regular parts of his political system. Even in this country, there are men, who, when they are reminded of his guilt, think it a sufficient reply, to tell us of his greatness; and would have us fall down and worship the golden image, at the very time when the Spaniards are walking through the burning, fiery furnace. These men serve the tyrant whom they flatter, and are more truly and efficiently his agents, than the miserable wretches in his pay. They are never weary of exaggerating the wisdom and the power of Buonaparte. According to them, it is still the English who disturb the quiet of the continent. He is the regenerator and benefactor of Spain and Portugal, who reforms their laws, purifies their religion, and puts an end to the abuses of their governments. The Spanish chiefs "have only a little hour to strut and fret," and we ought to congratulate ourselves upon their fall. Callous and cowardly sophists! it is thus, that while they belie the feelings, they labour to deaden the courage, and sacrifice the honour of England.

FROM THE QUARTERLY REVIEW.

Voyage de Découvertes, aux Terres Australes, exécuté par ordre de sa Majesté L'Empereur et Roi, sur les Corvettes Le Géographe, Le Naturaliste, et la Goëlette Le Casuarina, pendant les Années 1800, 1801, 1802, 183, et 1804, publié par Décret Impérial, et Rédigé, par M. F. Péron, Naturaliste, &c. &c. 4to. Tome premier avec Atlas. A Paris. 1807.

A FEW months after the retirement of Mr. Pitt, and the succession of Mr. Addington, that is, in June, 1800, M. Otto, the resident commissary for French prisoners of war, addressed an application to the lords of the admiralty, to obtain the necessary passports, for two armed vessels, Le Géographe and Le Natu

raliste, which the French government had appointed for a voyage of discovery round the world, 66 pour mettre le capitaine Baudin á l'abri de toute attaque hostile, et lui procurer une reception favorable dans les établissemens Britanniques où il pourra être obligé de relâcher momentanément." In consequence of

this application, the good natured minister, without farther inquiry into the tenour of captain Baudin's instructions, or the particular object of his mission, obtained his majesty's commands, that the French vessels "should be permitted to put into any of his majesty's ports, in case of stress of weather, or to procure assistance, if necessary, to enable them to prosecute their voyage.'

The perusal of M. Péron's book, has convinced us that M. Otto's application was grounded on false pretences, and that the passport was fraudulently obtained; that there never was any intention to send these vessels on a voyage of discovery round the world, as stated by M. Otto, but that the sole object of it was, to ascertain the real state of New Holland; to discover what our colonists were doing, and what was left for the French to do, on this great continent, in the event of a peace; to find some port in the neigh bourhood of our settlements, which should be to them what Pondicherry was to Hindoostan; to rear the standard of Buonaparte, then first consul, on the first convenient spot; and, finally, that the only circumnavigation intended in this voyage d'espionage, was that of Australia.

If any doubt could be entertained, that such was the sole intention of the French government, the heads of captain Baudin's instructions, as stated by M. Péron, and, indeed, the whole proceedings of the voyage, are amply sufficient to set this point at rest. By these instructions, they were directed to touch, in the first instance, at the Isle of France; thence to proceed to the southern extremity of Van Dieman's land; visit Dentrecasteaux's channel; examine the eastern coast; enter the strait of Bass, through that of Banks; complete the discovery of Hunter's islands; examine the southwest coast of New Holland; penetrate behind the islands of St. Peter and St. Francis; and visit that part of the conti

nent concealed by those islands, where a strait was supposed to exist, by which a communication was opened with the great gulph of Carpentaria. This being accomplished, they were to direct their course to cape Leuwen; examine the unknown parts of the coast, to the northward; visit the coasts of the land of Edels and Endracht; make a particular survey of the island of Rottenest and Shark's bay; terminating their first campaign at the N. W. cape of New Holland.

From Timor, or Amboyna (at one of which places they were to winter) they were directed to proceed through Endeavour Strait, to the eastern point of the great gulph of Carpentaria; to examine the whole circuit of its coast, to the land of Arnheim, terminating the second campaign at the same northwest cape at which their first was completed. From hence they were to cross the Indian ocean to the Isle of France, and make the best of their way to Europe.

So much for the voyage of discovery round the world, of which M. Peron has been employed to write the history. The perusal of his book has certainly afforded us considerable pleasure, although, in the course of our examination of it, we shall feel ourselves called upon to reprobate, in the strongest manner, the mean and illiberal conduct inte which he must have been betrayed, by superiour influence. Of M. Péron, as a man of general science, we are disposed to think highly; but, we repeat, that in the publication of the work before us, we do not, and cannot, consider him as a free agent. It is brought forward, in the first place, under the immediate sanction of Buonaparte, in conse quence of a report of the imperial institute, which states:

"That more than one hundred thousmall, compose the zoological collection, sand specimens of animals, great and and that the number of new species, as

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