MENDIZABAL has published a scheme for the sale of Spanish
national property and the reduction of debt. It seems to have given much satisfaction, and restored his popularity, which had lately been rather on the wane. The property is to be disposed of by auction; and one-fifth of the purchase-money will be received, if required, in Government stock : the other four fifths are to be paid at dif- ferent periods within seventeen years. The whole is to be divided into small lots; and it is expected that the security of the Government will be much increased by the new interest which the purchasers will have in maintaining the validity of its acts. The accounts from the insurgent provinces am contradictory, but their general complexion is unfavourable. The conduct of Coanova, the Commandet,,in-Chief, continues to excite great dis- satisfaction : he has been accused of treachery, but really seems to be incapable. His jealousy of the British auxiliary troops and their General is evident, and productive of the worst conse- quences. Our countrymen have suffered severely ; ito attention has been paid by the Spanish authorities to their comfort or health, even when in quarters ; and their arrears of pay are not only great, but increasing. Yet they seem to be indomitable fellows. A correspondent of the Courier, who writes from Vittoria, says— When the Lieutenant-General announced to the commander of this bat- talion (the '7th Irish) a four-days' march, he informed him that there was not one man in his regiment fit for it, from the want of shoes. The Lieutenant- General desired to speak to the soldiers about it. The Colonel communicated to his men the intended four-days' march, and ordered all who, from want of shoes or otherwise, considered themselves unfit for it, to fall out ; and, strange to say, not a single soldier left the ranks: all declared they were willing to march as they were, with shoes or without shoes; and I saw them on the last day's march with faces as laughing and rosy as the heels that irradiated the back of their shoes. One curious fact is, that the Irish regiments have suf- ferred little or nothing in comparison with the Scotch and English, excepting the 8th Highlanders of Colonel Shaw's Brigade, commanded by Colonel God- frey, an officer who served with him in Portugal. In regard to the Irish, it is said that they are accustomed to low living, and perhaps were never so well fed as they are now ; and this I believe correct."
Here we see the advantage of being accustomed to starvation ! Notwithstanding this gloomy view of the present state of affairs, no doubt seems to be entertained of the insurrection being sup- pressed in the course of the summer. The forces of Don CARLOS are not augmented, and he is too weak to attempt any thing For- midable. MINA seems to have destroyed the rebels in Catalonia ; and when the mild season returns,—for at present the moun- tainous roads are blocked up with snow,—something decisive will be performed. In the mean while, a large body of the new levies are in the course of being disciplined : they are represented as being generally young men, low in stature, and slightly made, but robust, and capable of enduring extreme fatigue.
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