position and power of the emperor Napoleon, and by showing their readiness to conform thereto, they will give their prince and the two infantas the greatest testimony of their loyalty, as their royal highnesses give them of their fatherly Jove and affection, by giving up all their rights, and forgetting their own interests to make them happy, which is the sole object of their wishes.

I, THE PRINCE, CARLOS,

ANTONIO.

Bourdeaux, 12th May, 1808.

THE DECREE.

Napoleon, emperor of the French, king of Italy, protector of the confederacy of the Rhine, &c. The king and the princes of the house of Spain having ceded their rights to the crown, as is known by their treaties of the 5th and 10th of May, and by their proclamations published by the junta and the council of Castile, we have decreed, and do decree, ordered, and do order, as follows:

Art. I. The assembly of the notables, which has already been convened by the lieutenant-general of the kingdom, shall he held on the 15th of June at Bayonne. The deputies shall be charged with the sentiments, desires, and complaints of those they represent; and also with full power to fix the basis of the new government for the king dom.

II. Our cousin the grand duke of Berg shall continue to fulfil the functions of lieutenant-general of the kingdom.

III. The ministers, the council of state, the council of Castile, and and all civil, ecclesiastical, and military authorities are, as far as is

PROCLAMATION.

To the Spaniards.

Spaniards! After a long, lingering disease, your nation sunk into decay. I have seen your sufferings; I will relieve them. Your greatness makes a part of mine. Your princes have ceded to me all their rights to the Spanish crown. I will not reign over your provinces, but I will acquire an eternal right to the love and gratitude of your posterity. Your monarchy is old; it must be renovated, that you may enjoy the blessings of a renovation which shall not be purchased by civil war or desolation.

Spaniards! I have convened a general assembly of the deputies of your provinces and towns, that I may know your desires and wants. I shall lay down my rights, and place your illustrious crown upon the head of one who resembles me; securing you a constitution which will unite the salutary power of the sovereign with the liberties and rights of the Spanish nation.—It is my will that my memory shall be blessed by your latest posterity, and that they shall say he was the restorer of our country.

Bayonne, May 25.

NAPOLEON.

PRECAUTIONS

PRECAUTIONS

Which it will be proper to observe throughout the different provinces of Spain, in the necessity to which they have been driven by the French, of resisting the unjust and violent possession which their armies are endeavouring to take of the kingdom.

We cannot doubt a moment of the exertions which the united provinces of Spain would make to obstruct and defeat the malicious designs of the French, and that they will sacrifice even their lives on this occasion, the most important, and even unparalleled in the history of the nation, both in the thing itself, and in the horrible means of ingratitude and perfidy by which the French have undertaken, pursued, and are still endeavouring to effect our slavery:—

1. Let the first object be to avoid all general actions, and to convince ourselves of the very great hazards, without any advantage, or even the hope of it, to which they would expose us. The reasons of this resolution are many, and such as any one will discover who has the use of his understanding.

2. A war of partizans is the system which suits us; the embarrassing and wasting the enemy's armies by want of provisions, destroying bridges, throwing up entrenchments in proper situations, and other similar means. The situation of Spain, its many mountains, and the passes which they present, its rivers and torrents, and even the collocation of its provinces, invite us to carry on this species of warfare successfully.

3. It is indispensable that each proving should have is general, of known talents, and of such ex

perience as our situation permits, that his heroic loyalty should inspire the utmost confidence, and that every general should have under his command officers of merit, particularly of artillery and engineers

4. As a combined union of plans is the soul of every well-concerted enterprize, and that which alone can promise and faciliate a successful issue, it appears indispensable that there should be three generalissimos, who should act in concert with each other-one who should command in the four kingdoms of Andalusia, in Murcia, and lower Estremadura-another in Valencia, Arragon, and Catalonia; a person of the greatest credit being appointed to Navarre, the Biscayan provinces, Montanus, Austrias, Rioja, and the north of Old Castile, for the purpose which will be mentioned hereafter.

5. Each of these generals and generalissimos will form an army of veterans, troops and peasantry united, and put himself in a situation to undertake enterprizes, and to succour the most exposed points, keeping up always a frequent communication with the other generalissimos, in order that all may act by common accord, and assist one another.

6. Madrid and la Mancha require an especial general, to concert and execute the enterprizes which their particular local situation demand.— His only object must be to embarrass the enemy's armies, to take away or cut off their provisions, to attack them in flank and rear, and not to leave them a moment of repose. The courage of these inhabitants is well-known, and they will eagerly embrace such enterprizes if they are led as they should be. In the succession war

the

the enemy entered twice into the interior of the kingdom, and even as far as its capital, and this was the cause of their defeat, their entire ruin, and their utter failure of

success.

7. The generalissimos of the north and east will block up the entrances to the provinces under their command, and come to the assistance of any one that may be attacked by the enemy, to prevent as much as possible all pillage, and preserve its inhabitants from the desolation of war; the many mountains and defiles which are on the confines of these provinces being favourable to such projects.

8. The destination of the general of Navarre, Biscay, and the rest of this department, is the most important of all, in which he will be assisted by the generals of the north and east, with the troops and other succours which he stands in need of. His whole business must be to shut the entrance of Spain against fresh French troops, and to harass and destroy those that return from Spain to France by this point. The very rugged local situation of these provinces will be of singular advantage in such a design, and these enterprizes, if well concerted, and carried into execution, will no doubt be successful; and the same may be understood of the different points by which the French troops which are in Portugal may come into Spain, or by which French troops may enter through Rousillon into Catalonia, for there is not much to be apprehended for Arragon. And even from Portugal it is not thought that they will escape, on account of the proclamations which have been circulated in that kingdom, and the hatred that they be fore bore to the French being increased without measure by the in

numerable evils which they have been made to suffer, and the cruel oppression in which they are held by them.

9. At the same time it would be very proper that the generalissimos should publish and circulate frequent proclamations amongst the people, and rouse their courage and loyalty, shewing them that they have every thing to fear from the horrible perfidy with which the French have dealt with Spain, and even with their king Ferdinand VII.; and that if they rule over us all is lost, kings, monarchy, property, liberty, independence, and religion; and that therefore it is necessary to sacrifice our lives and property in defence of the king and of the country, and though our lot (which we hope will never come to pass) should destine us to become slaves, let us become so fighting and dying like gallant men, not giving up ourselves basely to the yoke like sheep, as the late infa mous government would have done, and fixing upon Spain and her,slavery, eternal ignominy, and disgrace. France has never domineered over us, nor set her foot in our territory. We have many times mastered her, not by deceit, but by force of arms; we have made her kings prisoners, and we have made the nation tremble-we are the same Spaniards, and France, and Europe, and the world shall see, that we are not less gallant, nor less brave than the most glorious of our ancestors.

10. All persons of education in the provinces should be stimulated to frame, print, and publish fre quent, short discourses, in order to preserve the public opinion, and the ardour of the nation, confuting at the same time the infamous diaries of Madrid, which the baseness of the late government has permitted

and

will die, and you shall die with us to wipe off the stain which will otherwise indelibly disgrace your nation. The Spaniards tender you the just reward for such an action; with open arms will they receive you, and fight by your side; and when the war shall be terminated

with that success which they have every reason to expect, land shall be given you, which you may cultivate unmolested, and pass your remaining days amidst a nation which loves and respects you, and where impartial justice shall incorruptibly protect all your fair enjoyments.

Italians, Germans of all the provinces of that great nation, Polanders, Swiss, and ye all who compose the armies called French, will you fight for him, who oppress ed and despoiled you of what you held most sacred; for him, who has dragged you from your families and hopes, robbed you of your property, your wives, your children, your native country, which he has enslaved? And will you fight against a nation, generous like the Spanish, from whom you experienced the kindest reception, which loves you with the tenderest attachment, and which at the zeinth of its glory and dominion respected your rights, because it looks upon all men as brethren? Will you fight against a nation, which it is intended to subdue and enslave, not by dint of arms, as brave men would do, but under the cloak of alliance and friendship, by fraudulent treachery, detestable and horrid beyond any precedent in history, even among barbarous nations? We hope you will not. Come to us, and you shall meet with valour, generosity, and true honour. We tender the came rewards to you as to the

French; and we trust, you and your posterity will enjoy them in happiness and peace.

Don J. B. ESTELLER, 1st Sec. Don J. R. De PEDRO, 2d Sec. Seville, May 29.

PROCLAMATION

Of peace with England, and Sweden her ally.

Ferdinand VII. king of Spain, and in his royal name:

The supreme junta of this prinwith England, and at the same cipality declares a general peace

time the closest alliance with that nation, which has with the greatest generosity offered all the suc

cours and assistance that have been asked of her. They also declare peace with Sweden, and order that all our ports should be open to the vessels of both nations, and that this royal resolution be communicated to all the justices of the principality.

PROCLAMATION

Of the Supreme Junta at Seville.

Seville could not resist the impulse of her heroic loyalty, of which she has set the example in all ages. The king, to whom we all swore allegiance with emotions of joy, unprecedented in history, has been decoyed from us. The fundamental laws of our monarchy are trampled under foot; our property, our customs, our wivesall which the nation holds most dear, is threatened with imminent danger. Our holy religion, our only hope, is doomed to perdition, or will be reduced to mere external appearances, without support and without protection. And all this is done by a foreign power, not by