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twenty thousand men ; he met the enemy unexpectedly near Cuenca; his army retreated without scarcely firing a gun; they dispersed in the end, and left their arms and baggage to fall into the hands of the French. Castanos was accused of treachery, he was sent to be tried at Seville, and the people were crying out that he should be punished. I cannot learn that his conduct is likely to be examined into, for he is a prisoner at large at Seville, and walks where he pleases, attended by a guard of honour.

A friend of mine lately came from thence, while the French army were at Truxillo, about one hundred and thirty miles off; he says, he never could have imagined that the inhabitants would have been so indifferent to their impending fate; and that if the enemy had appeared before the place, their carelessness was such, that they would rather have yielded to him than have made any resistance; and that at this very time a French Chargé d'Affairs was permitted to reside there, and received attention from persons connected with the government. It seems, that when treachery is sounded in the army, it has its first rise from the fountain-head; there is no doubt now of Morla having given up Madrid, of his wishing to sacrifice every Spanish army; and by some unaccount-able means the Junta and he have conStrived to blind Mr. Frere, our ambassador, so far as to make him, according to report, recal the British army when on its retreat from the capital, at a moment when the place had actually been taken by the French. But I am telling you what you will be better informed of already; for I dare say, that the facts are known in England, while we judge only from contradictory intelligence circuVated here.

In the mean time, there is at length some shew made towards protecting this 'place; the fortifications are putting into a state of defence; the cannon are to be mounted on the ramparts, and additional forts constructed. A number of foreigners have been arrested; those who belong to any country in alliance with France, have had their property embargoed, their shops locked up, and their persons arrested; no distinction was made between such as have resided here all their lives, and the more recent inhabitants. Many of them, aware of the event, with drew to Tangiers, and some are gone to Gibraltar. This measure of the governor's has proved to be a humane one; for the rage of the populace was at one

time so great, that they had assembled in the streets, calling out for vengeance on every Frenchman they could find. This was on a Sunday; the governor went to the theatre and informed the audience that things were going on well: he was believed, their fury was allayed; and at midnight a file of soldiers entered the houses of the foreigners, explained the reason of their visit, and in this manner they arrested upwards of two hun dred persons.

The countenances of the inhabitants betray their fears of what will happen every man suspects his neighbour to be an enemy; the first question in the morning is, for the news of the day; and the last at night, what report shall wo have to-morrow? The streets are crowded with groupes of men, conceal ing their desponding looks with the cloak, and shrugging their shoulders in terror; scarcely a smiling face is to be seen. The theatre, it is expected, will be shut; and the governor has issued an address to the people, recommending the utmost decorum to be observed there, even in dress and behaviour; as well as the practice of religion and morality, on all occasions. Card-parties are in many families suspended, and have given place to the making of cartridge-cases, and picking lint for the use of the army.

Certain it is, that the Andalusians have great reason to dread the presence of the enemy. The short time that Dupont's army was in command of the province, until its defeat last July, at the battle of Baylen, has sufficiently shewn them what is to be expected from their conquerors. The system of plunder that they exercised, almost surpasses belief. The most costly and elegant articles of gold and silver, and the most trivial trinkets, were taken from the people; whatever had the appearance of being valuable did not escape thein; even plated buckles and buttons, and paltry ornaments of dress, in abundance. The plunder was publicly exposed for sale at the custom-house, and the room appeared as if it contained the rummage of a score of pawn-broker's shops in St. Giles's. Among other articles were a number of pewter-plates, which the owner it seemed had preserved in a bright polished state, to deceive the eye, and looked like silver, and some large wedges of gold and silver mixed together, by melting of articles which were probably too cumbrous for the knapsack.

I have not heard of any singularly atrocious

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atrocious acts committed by the French soldiery on this occasion in Spain; but I have been well assured, that the commissioners in Portugal who examined the plunder of Junot's army, found in the knapsacks fingers with rings on them. A friend of mine, who was at Lisbon just at that time, tells me, that, while the French were in the city, it was customary for the officers to receive invitations to dinner, and to card-parties, among the inhabitants; and that, on one of these occasions, the lady of the house had ventured, contrary to the advice of her friends, to decorate herself with trinkets, &c.; in the course of the even. ing, the French general, who was present, was observed to notice them, and it was concluded that the lady would soon be obliged to part with them. On the following morning a polite note was received from the general, requiring their delivery to the bearer; which, of necessity, the fair owner was compelled to comply with.

Until the last summer, you may recollect, this place had been garrisoned a considerable time by the French, as well as many other parts of Spain, under the pretence of attacking Gibraltar. Whatever the grand motive might have been, the government was so weak as not to be able to resist it; and the Prince of Peace so base as to promote it. I do not know that I can better describe to you the yielding disposition of the Spanish cabinet to the will of the French emperor, and the burdens and losses which it has sustained in consequence of it, than by quoting to you the words of Don Antonio de Campany, secretary to the Academy of History, from an excel Jent little pamphlet which he has lately published, and dedicated to Lord Holland, entitled, the "Centinel."

"To assist an intimate friend and ally, (Napoleon) or rather to obey him, we have had our navy destroyed in less than six years, by the loss of eight threedeckers, twenty-six of the line, and as many frigates; our arsenals plundered to the amount of many millions, and the loss of twenty thousand sailors. Napoleon forced from us the maintenance of troops in money, to the amount of twelve millions of dollars a-year; and he exacted them with the authority of a sovereign; and, on the least delay of pay. ment, threatened us with conquest. His sovereignty increased with his power, our timidity with our weakness; and in the three first months of the war with England, the nation lost in ships, car.

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goes, and money, upwards of forty millions of dollars." Campany pleasantly says, "that it is time the people should be undeceived, and be told of the depraved intentions of the atrocious Corsican, who, under the title of an ally, had left them without a shirt; and with that of protector, would take away their skin, which was all that remained belonging to them."

We may here say with Addison:

With what a dreadful course he rushes on, From war to war. In vain has nature

formed

Mountains and oceans to oppose his passage i He bounds o'er all; victorious in his march, The Alps and Pyreneans sink before him; Thro' winds, and waves, and storms, he works his way,

Impatient for the battle."

During this period, the French having the principal command of the country, the people were treated as those of a conquered nation, and not as allies, whose blood and treasure were appropriated to them. The custom-houses and public offices were filled by their appointments, and the courts of justice were directed by their will. An instance occurred which shews the authority of the French influence; wherein the consul, Monsieur Roxant, the resident here, seized, and procured to be condemned, à Dutch merchantman, with its cargo, because a mahogany table was on board of English manufacture; pretending, for this reason, that the cargo was, and must be, for British account.

The printers used to publish in praise of the French, they dared not do otherwise; and the battle of Trafalgar they were forbidden to relate, with all its circumstances, although it occurred within their sight and hearing; the shopkeepers bent to the times, and for awhile every thing was made French. A watchmaker, with more policy than prudence perhaps, altered his sign, and signified that he had learnt his profession at "Paris;" but he has since changed this notice, and has actually written that he is a watch-maker from “Madrid."

The people have now changed their tone; a Frenchman scarcely exists in Cadiz, (the few that are permitted to remain dare not stir abroad, and they have the national lock and seals affixed to their doors). It is dangerous, and partaking of treason, to speak the French language, especially in the streets, or unguardedly among those by whom one is not known.

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native language; they became greatly distressed, and his friends have handsomely contributed to their relief; but it was with much caution that they ventured to assist the husband. The affair has now nearly dwindled away, but it is not generally known what is become of the man. That such a trivial affair should have agitated the city for day's may appear strange; and it will the more astonish you when I relate that this young singer is only a beggar boy, and the most deformed and ugly wretch that can be seen, The mother mingled pa rental affection with her vengeance, and exclaimed, at the head of the mob, that "her child should not be disgraced by a blow from a Frenchman without her avenging it!"

shot in the street by a volunteer, because be refused to surrender himself, and defied any one to come near him, by menacing them with his knife; on being told that if he did not yield he must take the consequences, he composedly folded his arms in derision, and ordered the inan to fire: he levelled his piece, and the poor fellow instantly fell dead. Another was stabbed while drinking at a wineshop, because he refused to join in a "Viva!" to Ferdinand. But the most remarkable individual punishment that a Frenchman has undergone, is in the case of one who was generally noticed and respected by several genteel families; but who, unluckily for him, conceiving he was insulted by a boy who seemed to sing a Spanish national air purposely to deride him, was so imprudent as to strike this boy in the street; the consequence was, that he was obliged to fly; a hue and cry was immediately raised against him; a mob assembled, they sought him, and heard that he had gone to a friend's for protection; this friend was threatened with the forfeiture of his life if he did not discover him; the Frenchman was taken, the governor in terfered, and the man was sent to prison, and ignominiously flogged several times; he was not allowed to see his family, and was nearly starved. The mob in a body could not forget the outrage; they wanted his life; and it was with difficulty that the prison could be guarded against them. This man had a wife and children, dependant on his success in teaching his The whole nation of Spanish The spirit at these degrees has burst the tube, and will not valour and heroism

Caricatures, placards, &c. are now exhibited in every direction, in ridicule of the French: the Spanish lion is made destroying the French eagle. Joseph Bonaparte is represented on his throne in the character of a drunkard, (which, by the bye, is the worst of any in the eyes of a Spaniard, as intoxication is avoided and despised from the highest to the lowest) and in his flight from Madrid he is on a restive horse, in the act of throwing him, while his crown falls from his head, and he exclaims, "Oh, Spain has forsaken me because of my cursed misdeeds!"

Among an innumerable quantity of squibs, is one which whimsically describes a military and political barometer and thermometer as follows:

graduate at any point.

Wickedness, fraud, and deceit, of the pre-One hundred degrees above 0.”
Sumptuous Emperor of the French

The fortune of Bonaparte

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This had rapidly risen to the highest degree, and begins to fall equally rapidly, and it is expected to disappear withost fixing at any degree.

SCARCE TRACTS, WITH EXTRACTS AND ANALYSES OF SCARCE BOOKS.

It is proposed in future to devote a few Pages of the Monthly Magazine to the Insertion of such Searce Tracts as are of an interesting Nature, with the Use of which we may be favoured by our Correspondents; and under the same Head to introduce also the Analyses of Scarce and Curious Books..

WILLIAM PENN, and the TRIAL by JURY. THE great, singular, and intrepid, Englishman, whom it is here proposed to exhibit in a new point of view, was born in London in the year 1644. His father, who was an admiral of some note, not only assisted in the capture of

Jamaica, during the protectorate of Cromwell, but also served with applause under the Duke of York. Having dis tinguished himself in a sea-fight with the Dutch, he was knighted, and admitted into favour, notwithstanding his zeal during the usurpation.

Youn

Young Penn completed his education at Christ Church, and, as he then gave an early presage of his future talents, a fond father, doubtless, formed high expectations of the fortunes of so accomplished a son. But those hopes were apparently blasted by a most extraordinary event, for our Oxonian suddenly became a convert to the doctrines of the quakers, a new and an obscure sect; suspected by the royalists, and odious to the reigning monarch. So recently had their peculiar doctrines sprung up, that George Fox, the founder, was still alive; and William Loe, one of his most zealous disciples, who had inlisted the subject of this memoir under his banners, an initation of his master, was about to travel into foreign countries, for the sole purpose of propagating the faith abroad.

The enraged parent remonstrated in ain; his threats to discard, and even to disinherit, his only son, were of no avail; for filial obedience was not proof against neall of the spirit, and the sacrifice of a father's love, and a father's wealth, appeared, in the heyday of life, and amidst the fervour of enthusiasm, to be only a step towards that martyrdom of which he then seemed to be ambitious. The admiral, however, never forsook thim entirely; and it was through his in- i tercession that the young man was relieved from prison at Cork, after having been committed for preaching there.

Notwithstanding this incident, which might have aliated the fervours of one less replete with zeal, we find our young quaker on his return to London, employed in writing and publishing a book, for the express purpose of shewing the benefits to be derived from suffering; cand this very book, intitled "No Cross, sno Crown," was the cause of his suffering anew, as it occasioned his committal to the Tower.

On his release, he persisted in his former course of life, and preached frequently in public; but, notwithstanding this, the admiral at length became reconciled to, and bequeathed him, his whole property, which was pretty considerable. That very year in which the "latter died, was rendered memorable by the bold, manly, and patriotic, conduct of a son, who, notwithstanding the singularity and seeming quaintness of his religious opinions, would have conferred honour on the noblest family in the kingdom. Persisting in his original in*tentions, and neither swayed by worldly interests on one hand, nor alarmed by the fear of a very jealous, capricious,

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and arbitrary, government, on the other, Mr. Penn pursued that career which he considered to be pointed out by a sense of duty. Notwithstanding a body of soldiers had taken possession of the meeting-house in "Gracious-street," August 15, 1670, he preached in the immediate vicinity as before. On this, he was apprehended, committed by the lord-mayor, and tried for the same, along with William Mead, at the Old Bailey, on the first, third, fourth, and fifth, of September following. On this occasion, the bench consisted of

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of the jury should be also recorded, not
It is important here, that the names
only as a mark of respect to them, but
also as an example to their fellow-sub-
jects, viz.

1. Thomas Veer.
2. Edward Bushel.
3. John Hammond.
4. Charles Milson.
5. Gregory Walklet.
6. John Brightman.
7. William Plumsted.
8. Henry Henley.
9. James Damask.
10. Henry Michel.

11. William Lever.
12. John Baily.

liam Penn, and William Mead, the latThe indictment purported, that Wilter late of London, linen-draper, with divers persons to the jurors unknown, to the number of three hundred, did unlawfully assemble, and congregate themselves with force of arms, &c. to the king: and that William Pem, by agreedisturbance of the peace of our lord the .ment between him and William Mead, did take upon himself to preach and speak, in contempt of the said lord the

Gracechurch street.

On enquiry it has been discovered that Mr. Mead had been originally a tradesman in London; but, during the civil wars, he, like many others, obtained a commission in the army, and was known by the appellation of he took the same side as William Penn's Captain Mead. It is not at all improbable, that father; and, indeed, his conduct on this ocçasion displays somewhat of the republican intrepidity of these days.

king,

king, and of his law, to the great disturbapee of his peace, &c."

Having pleaded "Not guilty," the court adjourned until the afternoon, and the prisoners, being again brought to the bar, were there detained during five hours, while house-breakers, murderers, &c. were tried. On the 3d of September, the same ceremony took place as, before, with only this difference, that on one of the officers pulling off the hats of the two prisoners, the lord mayor ex claimed: "Sirrah, who bid you put off. their hats? put on their hats again!" Recorder to the prisoners."Do you know where you are? Do you know it is the King's court ???

Penn."I know it to be a court, and I suppose it to be the King's court."

Recorder. "Do you not know there is respect due to the court? And why do you not pull off your hat?", Penn.

Because I do not believe

that to be any respect.”

Recorder. Well, the court sets forty marks a-piece upon your heads, as a fine for your contempt of the court." Penn. I desire it may be observed, that we came into the, court with our hats off (that is, taken off); and if they have been put on since, it was by. order of the bench; and therefore not we, but the bench should be fined.".

After this, the jury were again sworn, on which, Sir J. Robinson, lieutenant of the Tower, objected against Edward Bashel, as he had not kissed the book, and therefore would have him sworn again, though indeed, it was on pur pose to have made use of his tenderness of conscience in avoiding reiterated oaths to have put him by his being a juryman, apprehending him to be a per son not fit to answer their arbitrary ends."s

James Cook, the first witness, being called, swore that he saw Mr. Penn speaking to the people in Gracechurch! street, but could not hear what he said, on account of the noise. Richard Read deposed exactly in the same mauner: and to the same effect; but added, that

* See a scarce and valuable tract, printed for William Butler, 1682, and entitled, "The People's antient and just Liberties asserted, in the Trial of William Penn and William Mead, at the Sessions held at the Old Bailey, &c. against the most arbitrary procedure of that court."Woe unto them that decree unrighteout decrees, and write grievousness, which they had prescribed to turn away the needy from-judgement, and take away,' &c. Isai, x,

1. .

he "saw Captain Mead speaking to
Lieutenant Cook, yet what he said he
could not tell." The third witness was
equally incompetent to prove any thing
against Mr. Penn; and as "for Captain
Mead," said he, "I did not see hims
there."
"What say

Mr. Recorder Howel.'
you, Mr. Mead, were you there?"

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William Mead. "It is a maxim of your own law: nemo tenetur 'accusare seipsum; which, if it be not true Latin, I am sure it is true English, that no man is bound to accuse himself? and why dost thou offer to ensnare me with such a question? Doth not this show thy malice? Is this like anto a Jutige, that ought to be counsel for the prisoner at the bar?"

Recorder. "Sir, hold your tongue; I did not go about to ensnare you."

Penn. "We confess ourselves to be so far from recanting, or declining to vindicate the assembling of ourselves to preach, pray, or worship, the eternal, holy, just, God; that we declare to all the world, that we do believe it to be our indispensable duty to meet inces santly upon so good an account; nor shall all the powers upon earth be able to divert us from reverencing and adora ing our God who made us.”

Alderman Brown. "You are not here for worshipping God, but for break ing the law; you do yourselves' great wrong in going on in that discourse."

Penn. "I affirm I have broken no law, nor am I guilty of the indictment that is laid to my charge; and to theend the bench, the jury, and myself, with these that hear us, may have a more direct understanding, I desire you would let me know by what law it is you prosecute me, and upon what law you ground my indictment?"

law."

law?"

Recorder. "Upon the common Penn. "Where is that common Recorder. "You must not think that I am able to run up so many years, and ever so many adjudged cases, which we osity." call common law, to answer your curi

Penn. "This answer, I am sure, is very short of my question; for, if it be common, it should not be so bard to pro duce,"

Recorder.・ “Sir, will you pleadTM to your indictment?" {

Penn. "Shall I plead to an indic ment that hath no foundation in law? If it contain that law you say 'I have broken,

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