PUBLIC PAPERS. PROCLAMATION OF HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR TO THE MEMBERS OF THE HUNGARIAN NOBILITY. Presburgh, Jan. 8. AITHFUL imitators of the FAI examples of your ancestors, guided by your attachment and obedience to your sovereign, and animated with the most ardent zeal for the country, you replied with equal zeal and energy to the appeal which I made to you, in defence of the throne and the country. I acknowledge your bravery, I have been a witness of your courageous efforts, in order to fulfil your glorious destination. I have seen the happy effects of them; and after the multiplied proofs of courage which a great number among you have often given me, I always reckoned with an entire confidence that the united corps would rival my army in keeping the enemy from my monarchy, and save the state by a decisive blow. Peace has terminated your glorious works -your sovereign takes leave of you with gratitude for all you have done, and all that you were disposed to have done. Enjoy in the bosoms of your families the satisfaction of having fulfilled your duty to your sovereign and to your country. Preserve the heroic sen My Lords and Gentlemen,-His majesty commands us to express to you his deep regret that the exer tions of the emperor of Austria against the ambition and violence of France have proved unavailing, and that his imperial majesty has been compelled to abandon the contest, and to conclude a disadvantageous peace. Although the war was undertaken by that monarch without encouragement on the part of his majesty, every effort was made for the assistance of Austria which his majesty deemed consistent with the due support of his allies, and with the welfare and interest of his own dominions.-An attack upon the naval armaments and establishments in the Scheldt, afforded at once the prospect of destroying a growing force, which was daily becoming more formidable to the security of this country, and of diverting the exertions of France from the important objects of reinforcing her armies on the Danube, and of controlling the spirit of resistance in the north of Germany. These considerations determined his majesty to employ his forces in an expedition to the Scheldt.-Although the principal ends of this expedition have not been attained, his majesty confidently hopes that advantages, materially, affecting the security of his majesty's dominions in the further prosecution of the war, will be found to result from the demolition of the docks and arsenals at Flushing. This important object his majesty was enabled to accomplish, in consequence of the reduction of the island of Walcheren, by the valour of his fleets and armies. His majesty has given directions that such documents and papers should be laid before you as he trusts will afford satisfactory information upon the subject of this expedition.-We have it in command to state to you that his majesty had uniformly notified to Sweden his majesty's decided wish, that in determining upon the question of peace or war with France, and other continental powers, she should be guided by considerations resulting from her own situation and interests. While his majesty therefore laments that Sweden should have found it necessary to purchase peace by considerable sacrifices, his majesty cannot complain that she has concluded it without his majesty's par ticipation. It is his majesty's earnest wish that no event may occur to occasion the interruption of those relations of amity which it is the desire of his majesty, and the interest of both countries to preserve.We have it further in command to communicate to you, that the efforts of his majesty for the protection of Portugal have been powerfully aided by the confidence which the prince-regent has reposed in his majesty, and by the co-ope ration of the local government, and of the people of that country. The expulsion of the French from Portugal, by his majesty's forces under lieutenant-general lord viscount Wellington, and the glorious victory obtained by him at Talavera, contributed to check the progress of the French arms in the peninsula during the late campaign.-His majesty directs us to state that the Spanish government, in the name and by the authority of king Ferdinand the Seventh, has determined to assemble the general and extraordinary cortes of the nation: his majesty trusts that this measure will give fresh animation and vigour to the councils and the arms of Spain, and successfully direct the energies and spirit of the Spanish people to the maintenance of their legitimate monarchy, and to the ultimate deliverance of their country.-The most important considerations of policy and good faith require, that as long as this great cause can be maintained with a prospect of success, it should be supported, according to the nature and circumstances of the contest, by the strenuous and continued assistance of the power and resources of his majesty's dominions; and his majesty relies on the aid of his parliament in his anxious endeavours to frustrate the attempts of France against the independence of Spain and Portugal, and against the happiness and freedom of those loyal and resolute nations.-His majesty commands us to acquaint you, that the intercourse between his majesty's minister in America and the government of the United States has been suddenly and un. expectedly interrupted. His majesty sincerely regrets this event : he has however received the strongest assurances from the American minister resident at this court, that the United States are desirous of maintaining friendly relation between the two countries. This desire will be met by a corresponding disposition on the part of his majesty. Gentlemen of the House of Commons,-His majesty has directed us to inform you, that he has ordered the estimates for the current year to be laid before you: his majesty has directed them to be forined with all the attention to œconomy which the support of his allies and the security of his dominions will permit. And, his majesty relies upon your zeal and loyalty to afford him such supplies as may be necessary for those essential objects.He commands us to express how deeply he regrets the pressure upon his subjects, which the protracted continuance of the war renders inevitable. My Lords and Gentlemen, We are commanded by his majesty to express his hopes that you will resume the consideration of the state of the inferior clergy, and adopt such further measures upon this interesting subject as may appear to you to be proper. We have it further in command to state to you that the accounts which will be laid before you of the trade and revenue of the country will be found highly satisfactory. Whatever temporary and partial inconvenience may have resulted from the measures which were directed by France against those great sources of our prosperity and strength, those measures have wholly failed of producing any permanent or general effect.The inveterate hostility of our enemy continues to be directed against this country with unabated animosity and violence. To guard the security of his majesty's dominions, and to defeat the designs which are meditated against us and our allies, will require the utmost efforts of vigilance, fortitude, and perseverance. In every difficulty and danger, his majesty confidently trusts that he shall derive the most effectual support, under the continued blessing of Divine Providence, from the wisdom of his parliament, the valour of his forces, and the spirit and determination of his people. PROTEST. The following Protest has been entered on the journals of the house of lords, against the vote of thanks to lieutenant-general lord Wellington: DISSENTIENT, 1. Because, in the battle of Talavera, though eminently distinguished by those splendid proofs of discipline and valour which his majesty's troops have never failed to display; we cannot recognise those unequivocal characteristics of victory, which can alone form an adequate title to the thanks of this house: on the contrary, the British army appears to have been improvidently led into a situation, in which the repulse of the enemy, effected with a great loss, produced neither security from a subsequent attack, nor relief from the distress under under which our brave troops were suffering; and was immediately followed by the necessity of a precipitate retreat, whereby our wounded were left to fall into the hands of the enemy. 2. Because, by voting the thanks of this house on such an occasion, we diminish the value of the most honourable reward we have it in our power to confer; whilst we indirectly sanction the propriety of that elevation to the honours of the peerage, with which his majesty, without inquiry, was advised to mark his approbation of the commander of his army in Spain, at a time when his ministers were informed of the unfortunate consequences which might be expected to follow, and in fact did follow, that dear-bought success. GREY, LAUDERDALE. FRENCH BASTILLES. A decree was recently issued at Paris relating to state prisoners, which contains the following preamble: "There is a certain number of persons in the state prisons, whom it is not convenient either to bring to trial or to set at liberty that though they would be condemned by the tribunals to capital punishments, superior considerations oppose their being brought to trial-that several are men accustomed to crimes, but who cannot be condemned by our courts, though they have the certainty of their culpability-that some belong to different countries, which have been united to France, but that they cannot be tried, because their offences are either political or anterior to the union of these states." 1810. ABSTRACT OF THE SARL OF CHATHAM'S STATEMENT OF HIS PRO CEEDINGS: DATED OCTOBER 15, 1809. Presented to the king, Fe bruary 14, 1810. In submitting to your majesty a statement of my proceedings in the execution of the service your ma jesty was graciously pleased to confide to me, and of the events which occurred in the course of it, it is not my intention to trouble your majesty with any further details of the earlier parts of our operations, but to bring under your majesty's view the consideration of the two following points, as most immediately applying to the conduct and final result of the expedition to the Scheldt. 1st. The ground upon which, after the army was at length assembled near Batz, a landing in prosecution of the ulterior objects of the expedition was not deemed advisable: 2dly. Why that army was not sooner there as sembled, in readiness to commence further operations.-With respect to the former position, I am inclined to think that it is so clear and evident, that no further operations could at that time, and in the then sickly state of the army, have been undertaken with any prospect of success; that it would be unnecessarily trespassing on your majesty to enter into much more detail on this point than has been already brought before your ma jesty, in my dispatch of the 29th of August; and the chief object of this paper will be directed to show to your majesty, that the second point, namely, Why the army was not brought up sooner to the destination from whence its ulterior objects were to commence, is purely a naval consideration, and that the delay did in no shape rest with me, (K) or or depend upon any arrangements in which the army was concerned; every facility, on the contrary, having been afforded by their movements to the speedy progress of the armament. In the first place, it is to be remarked, that the occupation of Walcheren, which by some persons it had been thought possible to leave behind us, and the reduction of Flushing, which it had once been proposed only to mask, were deemed indispensable to the security of the fleet, in case of disaster; and accordingly a considerable separate force was allotted to this service; and, in this view, it was besides distinctly agreed upon, that a vigorous attack by the navy upon the sea front should be made at the same time that the troops, after effecting their landing, advanced to invest Flushing; it being hoped that by a powerful cooperation from the sea, at the moment the troops presented themselves before the place, the labour and delay of a regular siege might have been avoided, and a considerable proportion of the force allotted to this service set at liberty to follow the army up the Scheldt. How far this expectation was fulfilled, or whether the assurance given that the whole of the armament (the part to be landed at Walcheren excepted) should be at once transported up the Scheldt, in prosecution of the ultimate objects of the expedition, was carried into effect, or was wholly disappointed, the information already before your majesty will have in a great measure shown, and which it will be my duty to bring more particularly to your majesty's view, when I detail the subsequent course of our proceedings. From what cause this failure ensued, whether it arose from insufficient arrange ments on the part of the admiral, or was the unavoidable result of difficulties inherent in the nature of the expedition itself, it is not for me, considering it entirely as a naval question, to presume to offer any opinion upon to your majesty. Before, however, I pursue fur ther the details of the proceedings of the army, governed as they necessarily were (until a footing should be gained on the continent) by the movements of the navy, I must for a moment refer to two separate operations; the one under lieutenant-general lord Huntley and commodore Owen, and the other under lieutenant-general sir John Hope and rear-admiral sir Richard Keats; but both directed to assist and ensure a rapid progress up the Scheldt, had the ad miral found it practicable in other respects. With respect to the former, which was destined to destroy the Cadsand batteries, and particularly that of Breskens, had it been carried at once into effect, and that the admiral could have availed himself of it, to take the ships up the West Scheldt by the Weeling passage, it would have been of the utmost advantage: but it was certainly rather fortunate it did not take place at a later period, as after all the transports, storeships, &c. were ordered into the Veere Gat, and the plan of running at once up the West Scheldt by the Weeling channel seemed abandoned, the object of destroying the Cadsand batteries ceased, and a landing there would only have been an unnecessary risk, and a very inconvenient separation of our force, and, of course, occasion great delay in collecting it for ulterior ope rations. It must not, however, be forgotten, that the difficulties here turned out to be much greater than had |