cannon, and upwards of three thousand men, in killed, wounded and prisoners. Marshal Beresford, who was investing Badajoz, which the Spanish governor had pusillanimously surrendered to the enemy, defeated the French under marshal Soult, in the battle of Albuera, in which the enemy lost about eight thousand men in killed and wounded.

In the east of Spain, the French arms were triumphant. Tarragona, reduced after an obstinate defence, suffered every cruelty which could be inflicted by the conquerors.

The Dutch island of Batavia, in the East Indies, surrendered to an English force under sir Samuel Auchmuty.

The affairs of Great Britain were now approaching to a crisis. The contest in Spain was still doubtful; a dispute existed with America, in regard to the orders in council, and threatened an open rupture with that country; and France was preparing, for the subjugation of Russia, which refused to comply with the treaty of Tilsit, by excluding the British from all commerce with 1812. the continent, a mightier armament than had ever been collected in Europe. At home, the decline of trade produced severe distress among the people; and a spirit of discontent and insubordination manifested itself in several of the manufacturing districts.

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The parliament passed two bills, by one of which the crime of frame-breaking was made a capital offence; and by the other, additional powers were given to magistrates for a limited time, for the purpose of preserving the public peace in the disturbed counties.

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1812.

On the 11th of May, as Mr. Perceval was entering the lobby of the house of commons, he was shot by a person of the name of Bellingham, and died almost immediately. This man professed to have sustained injuries from the Russian government, which the British ministers being unable to redress, he determined to put one of them to death, that his case might be brought before a court of justice. The murderer made no attempt to palliate his crime, which he expiated with his life. Ample provision was made by parliament for the widow and children of Mr. Perceval; and men of all parties lamented his untimely fate, and bore testimony to his upright and amiable character.

After much delay, a new administration was formed, in which lord Liverpool was appointed first lord of the treasury, lord Sidmouth (formerly Mr. Addington) secretary of state for the home department, and Mr. Vansittart chancellor of the exchequer.

One of the first acts of the present government was a revocation of the orders in council, as far as regarded American property; but before intelligence of this repeal could be received in America, the United States had declared war against Great Britain. The republicans commenced hostilities by an irruption into Upper Canada, but were defeated, and obliged to surrender to the British. For their disgraces by land, however, the Americans received some compensation by their successes at sea.

reverses.

In the peninsular war, the French arms were triumphant in the east of Spain; but, in the west, they suffered great Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz fell into the hands of the allies; and so important did the captureof the former place appear to the Spaniards, that the Cortes conferred on lord Wellington_the rank of a grandee, with the title of duke of Ciudad Rodrigo.

Marshal Marmont, who had assumed the command of the French army, was completely defeated by lord Wellington at Salamanca. This was the greatest victory that the English general had yet achieved, and sufficiently showed that the military talents of his lordship were superior to those of his adversary, who was one of the most distinguished of the French marshals. The effects A. D. of this victory were felt in different parts of Spain. 1812. Astorga capitulated, the blockade of Cadiz was raised, Bilboa evacuated, and Seville recovered. Lord Wellington advanced, and laid siege to Burgos; but failing in his attempt to take it, and the French army, which had been reinforced, threatening the allies, his lordship retreated, and established his head-quarters at Freynada, on the Portuguese frontier. In admiration of his talents and achievements, the cortes invested him with the authority of commander-in-chief of the Spanish armies.

Napoleon's enterprise against Russia, which, in the boldness of its object, as well as the magnificent scale on which it was conducted, surpassed every expedition undertaken by any European power, threatened the con

quest of that mighty empire. The French force employed in this undertaking, has been estimated at four A. D. hundred thousand effective men. On the 24th of 1812. June, Napoleon with his formidable army, passed the Niemen, and entered the Russian territory. The plan of his adversaries was, to resist the progress of the invader without risking a general engagement, to lay waste the country through which he should aim to penetrate, and to harass him as he advanced, and cut off his supplies. Bonaparte attacked the main Russian army at Smolensko, which the Russians despairing of retaining, they retreated; but the invaders, on their entrance, found the city burning and in ruins. The conquerer now hastened towards Moscow, of which, after the sanguinary battle of Borodino, he obtained possession.

On the entrance of the French emperor into that devoted place, which the invaders had fondly hoped would have afforded some repose for their toils, the city was found on fire; and a violent wind arising soon after, the conflagration became general, and the whole extent of that ancient capital, for many miles, appeared like a sea of flame. Two thirds of the city were destroyed.

Napoleon was now in the greatest difficulty. His stores were exhausted, and his supplies intercepted by the Russian armies; and his soldiers, dispirited and discontented, were enfeebled by the fatigue and distress to which they had been exposed. A retreat was now inevitable. The horrors of this retreat, or rather flight, exceed the powers of description. The route of the army might be traced, in many places, by the dead bodies of those who perished from cold, hunger, or fatigue; and of the numerous hosts that composed the invading army, not more than fifty thousand men recrossed the Russian boundary.

The new parliament of Great Britain and Ireland assembled under happier auspices than the most sanguine politician could have ventured to anticipate. The session was opened by the prince regent, who expressed his firm reliance on the determination of parliament to continue every aid in support of a contest, which had first given to the continent of Europe the example of persevering and successful resistance to the power of France. A grant of one hundred thousand pounds was voted to lord Wellington, and another of two hundred thousand pounds for the

relief of the sufferers in Russia. A bill was passed, by which the East India Company was to continue in possession of all its former territories in India, with the later acquisitions, continental and insular, to the north of the equator, for the further term of twenty years from the 20th of April, 1814. The exclusive right of a commercial intercourse with China, and of the trade in tea, was preserved to the company; but his majesty's subjects in general were permitted to trade to and from all ports within the limits of the company's charter, under certain provisions.

One of the first effects of the late Russian campaign, was to rouse the other powers of Europe from their state of subjection to the dominion of France. Prussia A. D. united her arms to those of Russia; and Austria ,1813. did not long delay to follow the example. Sweden, subsidised by Great Britain, joined the allies. The battle of Leipsic was completely decisive against the French; and the Dutch, availing themselves of this opportunity of throwing off the galling yoke of France, recalled from his long exile the prince of Orange, who entered the Hague amidst the acclamations of the people. The influence of Bonaparte in Germany, was now nearly annihilated; and the complete deliverance of Europe from the yoke of France seemed no longer doubtful.

The disasters of their countrymen in Germany paralyzed the efforts of the French in Spain. The skill and activity of lord Wellington prevented them from securing the line of the Douro; and, at Vittoria, he completely defeated the French, commanded by Joseph Bonaparte, under whom marshal Jourdan acted as major-general. After suffering this defeat, the French retired by Pampeluna, and pursued their retreat over the Pyrennees into France. Joseph Bonaparte fled in confusion, and thus terminated his possession of the Spanish monarchy.

In the east of Spain, the success of the allies was less flattering; and sir John Murray, who had landed an army of fifteen thousand men from Sicily, attempted the siege of Tarragona; but, though the town had been partly dismantled, and was feebly garrisoned, the British general, on the report of Suchet's approach from Valencia, hastily abandoned the siege, and left his cannon in the batteries. Early in January, the allied armies in Germany passed the

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Rhine, and entered France at different points. time, Napoleon appeared irresolute; but when the invaders had reached Champagne, he became convinced of the necessity of acting with vigour. At Brienne, 1814. he attacked marshal Blucher, whom he compelled to retreat; but at La Rothiere, he was obliged to retire in his turn. The allies now advanced to Troyes, which was entered by the prince of Wurtemburg; Chalons on the Marne was evacuated by Macdonald; and Chalons on the Saone was taken by the Austrians. Bonaparte, on the verge of ruin, made the most surprising and energetic efforts for his recovery. Unable to oppose an adequate resistance to the allied armies in every quarter, he determined to concentrate his forces, and, by bearing vigorously on particular points, to aim at destroying their communication with each other. In pursuance of this plan, he attacked the Prussian army under Blucher, and compelled him to retreat to Chalons on the Marne. He next directed his attention to prince Schwartzenberg, who had been advancing on Paris, by way of the Seine, and forced him to retire.

During these transactions, negotiations for peace were carried on at Chatillon. The British envoys were the earl of Aberdeen and lord Cathcart, under the direction of lord Castlereagh; Caulaincourt was the representative of Napoleon; and plenipotentiaries were also appointed by the Russian, Austrian, and Prussian courts. The ultimatum of Bonaparte, however, to maintain the integrity of the French empire, were deemed inconsistent with the balance of power in Europe, and on that account the conferences terminated.

In the mean time, the marquis of Wellington, after crossing the Bidassoa, gradually proceeded in the south of France. His army forced the passage of the Gave de Pau at Orthes, and next day crossed the Adour. A division under marshal Beresford entered Bordeaux, which declared for the Bourbons, and the chief inhabitants welcomed the British troops as deliverers. Soult was defeated by the marquis of Wellington at Tarbes, and afterwards at Toulouse.

The allied armies in the north of France continued to advance, and, notwithstanding the extraordinary exertions and abilities displayed by Napoleon, they succeeded, by a