at the request of lord Chatham, had remained on shore with his lordship's permission to employ them as the service might require, he the next morning began to cannonade Camvere, which had been summoned, but held out. The fire of the gunboats was exceedingly well directed, and did much damage to the town. The officers and crews engaged in that service had a great claim to my admiration for their conduct. Three of our gun-boats were sunk. In the afternoon it blew fresh; and as the strength of the tide prevented the bombs from acting, I directed the flotilla to fall back, preserve ing a menacing position. At night, captain Richardson, of the Caesar, who was on the Dyke, on shore, threw some rockets at the nearest battery of Camvere, and soon after the commanding officer of the town sent out an offer to surrender. A copy of the terms acceded to by lieutenant-general Fraser, and cap; tain Richardson, the senior naval officer on the spot, accompanies this letter.. The army under sir J. Hope landed at South Beveland on the 1st of this month; and by a letter from sir R, Keats, of yesterday's date, I find the whole of the island is in our possession, the enemy's ships are all above Lillo, and those most advanced, as high up as Antwerp. We are getting our flotilla through the slough into the Westert Scheldt, to prevent succours being thrown into Flushing by the canal of Ghent, [The letter concludes with acknowledging the particular services of rear-admiral Otway, sir R. Keats, lord Beauclerc, and capt. Cockburn, and generally of all the officers and seamen of his majesty's ships.] R. J. STRACHAN. Sabrina, off South Beveland, August 1, 1809. Sir-I have the satisfaction to in form you, that sir John Hope and 7000 of his division of the army were landed at South Beveland this afternoon, since which I have been informed by message from him, that he was met on his approach into which place he is at liberty to towards Goes by the magistrates, into which place he is at liberty to of the enemy's ships of the line, and enter whenever he pleases. Three six brigs, are at anchor off the east end of South Beveland; the others I conclude, have moved higher up the Scheldt. make observations, and from which I am this moment returned. R. G. KEATS. Sir R. J. Strachan, bart. &c. authority among us. No department has felt more the miserable effects of these political vices than the commercial. All the best principles of the mercantile interest have been abandoned, and the dis Present condition of South Ame- orders which must necessarily at rica. The critical situation of the parent states renders it of great importance to us to ascertain the actual situation of the dependencies of Portugal and Spain in the Western world. From Buenos Ayres we have received the subsequent letter, inclosing the first public act of government of the new viceroy, a copy of which we have also subjoined. By this document and the accompanying intelligence, it will be seen that the ancient system of Spain with regard to her colonies will be adopted by the Junta, and it will be a question for this, commercial nation of no inconsiderable magnitude to examine how far it be consistent with its policy to promote that close and intimate union between the mother country and her American territories, under which all direct intercourse will be prevented, and every bale of merchandize must be subject to the duties the Supreme government, whatever may be its character, shall think fit to impose. With such remarks we shall not be liable to be misunderstood in making these communications, Buenos Ayres, 3d August. The wise government of the Supreme Central Junta already appears to dawn in this vast and powerful empire-a country which has hitherto been corrupted by intrigues, and by the evil designs of those who have been invested with tend such a state of things have been occasioned. In this deplorable condition were affairs in these rich provinces until the 30th of June last, when at the most seasonable period, to restore us to our meridian splendor, arrived D. Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, Viceroy of these Provinces, in the frigate Proserpine. This worthy and honourable Chief, who has conferred so much benefit on the nation during his government of Carthagena, has come among us to be the depository of the confidence of the Supreme Central Junta, to convert irregularity into method, and essentially and principally to direct his views, and to employ his power for the protection and augmentation of our commerce. the few days he has resided here he has attended to this primary object of his mission, by giving directions that all foreign ships, whether be longing to England or elsewhere, should withdraw from our ports; and he has begun to put in activity the laws by which the Indies have been hitherto governed. By such means the merchants will be restored to their privileges, and will be enabled to pursue with advantage their occupations, under those early maxims of policy by which the prosperity of these countries Las been secured. In Charles the Third, Viceroy of the Provinces of Rio de la Plata, and its Dependencies, &c. to the Loyal Inhabitants of Buenos Ayres. Faithful and generous Neighbours and Inhabitants of Buenos Ayres. The abundant and sincere expressions of joy that you have manifested from the moment of my arrival in the august capital of the Viceroy, afford me the most decisive proof of your invincible loyalty, and of the sentiments of honour by which you are animated. In these I discover the homage which you offer to the Sovereign Majesty which I represent, and the liveliest feelings of your tender regard for our Monarch. It shews me, that if you possess this reverence for me, who am only his shadow, it is on account of your profound respect for the substance from which that shadow is projected, which veneration has always been in perfect consistency with your character and conduct. Finally, it gives me an authentic proof of the noble enthusiasm that reigns in your bosoms, of your firm adherence to the great cause in which the parent state is engaged, and of all the social virtues which adorn you in your respective sta tions. Such is the source, and such are the effects of these extraordinary demonstrations of joy which have exceeded all my expectations. I should be deficient in my duty, if under these circumstances I did not acknowledge the grateful sensibility and warm satisfaction which these affecting indications of your disposition have produced in my self. Nothing can ever efface from my memory the delight I expe rienced on the night of the 30th of June. What a magnificent spectacle to every man capable of appreciating the sentiments of the heart, to see a numerous people, composing all classes of society, impelled only by their fidelity, hastening to tender their voluntary services in terms the most affecting, and accompanied by every mark of loyalty, in the presence of the representative of their beloved Sovereign! The tyrant, who oppresses us, can never enjoy such a scene of delight, with all his pomp and circumstances of splendour, his public entries and triumphs; because, by force and violence he can extort only cold and feeble applause, while yours is the natural result of the impassioned attachment, and ardent loyalty which you bestow on the memory of your august Prince. Do not doubt it, this act of yours, simple as it appears under all its character of energy, has nothing to do with ostentation and vanity, but as being the ingenuous manifestation of your loyal sentiments, it is the impenetrable wall to be opposed to the assaults of the enemy. In vain will he endeavour to seduce you by his artifices, or to debilitate your strength by spreading the seeds of discord among you. The impotence of his authority, and the inefficiency of his malicious expedients will shew to the world, that Buenos Ayres is not the country where perfidy can hold her residence. I assure you, with all the frankness which belongs to my character, that I have the most perfect confidence in your loyalty, and that I am firmly persuaded that I have nothing to apprehend from those vile agents which the enemy of our liberty distributes every where, where, for the malignant purpose of imposing upon the unsuspecting integrity of mankind. If his audacity should pretend to violate your happy soil with his offensive vermin, you will yourselves be vigilant to discover and to destroy it. To this gratifying reflection, which you so justly deserve, I may add another equally desirable. I am not less persuaded that the concord and unity of your senti-ments will be the stable support of my government, than that your subordination to legitimate authority will give new vigour and new energy to the expedients of security, circumstances require; and that all ranks among this generous people, animated with the same spirit, and full of the same enthusiasm, will swear with me to defend, to the last moment of their existence, the sacred rights of our beloved Monarch, Ferdinand the VIIth. Live then tranquil and happy, and rely always upon my most sincere and cordial endeavours, by all the means in my power, to augment your felicity. (Signed) occupied in the construction of the batteries, and in carrying on the several works before the place, but which have been necessarily interrupted by the very heavy rains which have fallen here. The enemy is active and enterprising, and the garrison has certainly received considerable reinforcement from the opposite coast; nor has it been in the power of the flotilla hitherto to prevent it. Under these circum→ stances it has been found necessary to land lieut.-gen. Grosvenor's division; and the two light battalions of the king's German legion have been also for the present brought on shore. Immediately on the fall of Ramakins, I determined, as soon as the necessary arrangements were made, to pass the infantry of lieut.general the earl of Rosslyn's corps, together with the marquis of Huntley's division, and the light brigades of artillery, into South Beveland, to form a junction with the reserve under lieutenant-gen. sir J. Hope; and that the cavalry and ordnance ships, together with the transports for lieut.-gen. Grosvenor's division, the moment their services could be spared from before Flushing, should be brought through the Slow Passage, and proceed up the West Scheldt; but of course this latter operation cannot take place until a sufficient naval force shall have been enabled to enter the river, and to proceed in advance; but the very severe blowing weather we have constanly experienced, added to the great difficulty of the navigation, has hitherto baffled all their efforts. By letters from lieut.-gen. sir J. Hope, I find that the enemy had on the 5th inst. come down with about 28 gun-vessels before Bathz, on which place, they kept up up a smart cannonade for some hours, but were forced to retire by the guns from the fort; and every thing has since remained quiet in that quarter. CHATAM. Middleburgh, Aug. 8. My lord, Since closing my dispatch of yesterday's date, the enemy, towards five o'clock in the evening, in considerable force, made a vigorous sortie upon the right of our line occupied by major-general Graham's division. The attack was principally directed upon our advanced piquets, which were supported by the 3d battalion of the royals, the 5th and 35th regiments under col. Hay. These corps, together with detachments of the royal artillery, the 95th, and light battalions of the king's German legion, received the enemy with their accustomed intrepidity: and, after a sharp contest of some duration, forced him to retire with very considerable loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. In this affair the enemy has had another opportunity of witnessing the superior gallantry of British troops; in no instance has he succeeded in making the least impression throughout our line; and on this occasion, so far from profiting by his attempts, he has been obliged to relinquish some very advantageous ground where our advanced posts are now established. I cannot too strongly express my sense of the unremitting vigilance and ability manifested by maj.-gen. Graham, in securing and maintaining his post against the repeated attempts of the enemy to dislodge him; and I have great satisfaction in acquainting your lordship, that the major-general mentions, in terms of the warmest approbation, the distinguished con duct and gallantry of the officers and troops engaged on this occasion. CHATHAM. [Here follows an abstract return of ordnance, ammunition, and stores, taken from the enemy.] From the London Gazette, September 2.-A Dispatch, of which the following is a copy, was, on the 30th ult., received at the office of Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, from Lieutenant-General Lord Viscount Wellington, dated Deleytosa, 8th August, 1809. Deleytosa, Aug. 8, 1809. My lord, I apprized your lordship, on the 1st instant, of the advance of a French corps towards the Puerto de Banos, and of the probable embarrassments to the operations of the army, which its arrival at Placencia would occasion; and these embarrassments having since existed to a degree so considerable as to oblige us to fall back and to take up a defensive position on the Tagus, I am induced to trouble you more at length with an account of what has passed upon this subject. When I entered Spain, I had a communication with General Cuesta, through Sir Robert Wilson and Colonel Roche, respecting the occupation of the Puerto de Banos, and the Puerto de Perales, the former of which, it was at last settled, should be held by a corps to be formed under the Marquis de la Reyna, to consist of two battalions from General Cuesta's army, and two from Bejar; and that the Puerto de Perales was to be taken care of by the Duque del Parque, by |