Meantime, in consequence of this inactivity, in dereliction of all duty, on Ballasteros’s part, and of the inefficiency of the Anglo-Sicilian army, Marshal Soult and Suchet were enabled, without any impediment, to concert their operations with the Intruder, and carry them ♦GEN. MAITLAND GIVES UP THE COMMAND OF THE ANGLO-SICILIAN ARMY.♦ into effect. General Maitland’s health gave way under the anxieties of his situation, so that it became necessary for him to return to Sicily. Major-General William Clinton was sent from thence to take the command in his stead, and till his arrival, it devolved upon Major-General John Mackenzie. That general made an attempt to seize the castle of Denia by a _coup-de-main_: from its strength and its position on commanding ground close to the sea it might have easily been maintained against the enemy, and would have afforded great opportunity for annoying ♦UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT UPON DENIA.♦ him. Major-General Donkin, Quarter-Master-General of this army, was intrusted with the enterprise; it failed, but the men and guns which had been landed were re-embarked with ♦THE FRENCH PREPARE TO MARCH FROM THE SOUTH AGAINST LORD WELLINGTON.♦ little loss. Knowing that nothing was to be apprehended from this army in its present state, Marshals Jourdan, Soult, and Suchet, held a counsel in presence of the Intruder, at Fuente la Higuera. They had feared at one time that it might have been necessary to abandon Valencia: that apprehension was removed, and they now believed that, as the long and brave resistance which had been made by the garrison at Burgos had given the army of Portugal time to recover strength and to unite with the troops in the north, nothing more was required for restoring their affairs, than that the armies of the south and the centre should co-operate with it, for the double purpose of beating Lord Wellington, and re-establishing the Intrusive government at Madrid. It was not deemed necessary to take any part of Suchet’s forces for this service; the state of Aragon and Catalonia on the one hand, and the presence of the Anglo-Sicilian expedition on the other, made it dangerous to weaken him.