CHAPTER X.

INSURRECTION IN PORTUGAL.

♦1808. MAY.♦

While these events were passing in Spain, Portugal also was convulsed

by this political ♦AN AGENT SENT FROM BADAJOZ TO THE SPANIARDS AT

LISBON.♦ earthquake. The first insurrection in Madrid had been no

sooner known at Badajoz, than an anonymous proclamation from that

city was circulated on the Portugueze border; and a lieutenant of the

Walloon Guards, by name Moretti, was sent to consult at Lisbon with

General Carraffa upon the means of withdrawing the Spanish troops.

Carraffa thought it too hazardous to declare ♦NEVES, T. III. 7.♦

himself at that time; but though in other respect acting altogether

in subservience to Junot, he did not make him acquainted with the

transaction, and Moretti returned in safety.

♦DIFFICULTIES OF JUNOT’S SITUATION.♦

Junot was now disturbed from his dreams of royalty; yet his head lay as

uneasily as if it had worn a crown. Like the other French commanders,

when the insurrectionary movement became general throughout Spain,

he thought it impossible that any continued or formidable resistance

could be opposed to the power of France: but his own situation was

exposed to peculiar danger; he was farther removed from assistance than

any of the other commanders in the Peninsula; there was an English

squadron in sight, watching the course of events, and in defiance

of all his vigilance, well informed of whatever was going on; and

it was not to be doubted, that if a favourable opportunity offered,

Great Britain would make an effort for the deliverance of Portugal.

Pursuant to his instructions from Madrid, he had sent into Galicia the

remains of Taranco’s division, so that Carraffa’s was now the only one

which remained; some 4000 of these were at Porto, the rest were in

detachments at Lisbon, Mafra, Santarem, and on the other side the Tagus

at Setubal, Cezimbra, and ♦NEVES, III. 66.♦ other places. In the hope

of exciting a national feeling against them, and thereby counteracting

that sympathy which their common language, manners, and religion, and

now a sense of their common interest, were producing between them

and the Portugueze, rumours were spread, that by an arrangement made

with Buonaparte, Portugal was to be governed by Spain till its fate

should be determined at a general peace. But this artifice failed.

The Spaniards were not to be deceived; from the time when they knew

that Ferdinand had been inveigled to Bayonne, there was an end of all

good understanding between them and the French; and they were so ready

to engage in personal quarrels, from the national indignation which

possessed them, that it was found necessary to confine them to their

quarters at an early hour in the evening. Care was taken to divide them

into small detachments, and station every where with them a superior

number of French. Many deserted, especially of those who were quartered

beyond the Tagus. Some made their way to the Spanish frontiers in

strong parties. The regiment of Murcia marched for Spain in a body,

in defiance of its colonel; a detachment of 600 French was sent from

Lisbon to intercept them; they met at ♦NEVES, III. 67.♦ Os Pegoens;

this was a case in which individual ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 287.♦

strength and determination were of more avail than military discipline;

the Spaniards were victorious, and proceeded on their way, receiving

the utmost kindness from the people, and nearly two hundred wounded

French were landed at Lisbon.

♦KELLERMANN TAKES THE COMMAND IN ALEM-TEJO.♦

Badajoz was the point to which the Spaniards repaired from Alem-Tejo

and the south of Portugal, and the numbers who were collected there

made such an addition to the strength of the garrison, that General

Kellermann, who was then at Elvas, felt himself ill at ease in the

neighbourhood. That general had taken the command in Alem-Tejo

upon Solano’s departure, and so different was the spirit of his

administration, that one of his first measures was by his own authority

to impose an extraordinary contribution upon the exhausted province.

Evora was to pay 10,000 _cruzados novos_, Elvas and Portalegre 8000

each, Villa-Viçosa 6000, and other places in proportion. The sum was

exacted within six hours after the demand: but it was restored without

♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, P. 277.♦ delay, in consequence of peremptory

orders from Junot, when complaint was made to him of this unauthorized

exaction. He was displeased with Kellermann for presuming to levy

money at his own pleasure, and this was no time for exasperating the

people by farther acts of oppression. Already they were in so perturbed

a state, that it ♦MAY 22.♦ was deemed expedient to order all absent

bishops and beneficed priests to return to their dioceses and cures,

and there exert themselves in preserving order, and exhorting the

people to submission. Buonaparte had reckoned upon the good services

of the clergy; experience, he said, had shown him that countries where

there were many friars were easily conquered; ... he was undeceived of

both errors in the Peninsula.

♦HE ATTEMPTS TO CONCILIATE THE SPANIARDS AT BADAJOZ.♦

In the hope of reviving old animosities, and exciting the Portugueze

to act against the Spaniards, Kellermann called out the _Ordenanças_,

and required the people of Elvas to take arms for the defence of

their city, which, he said, the Spaniards, eternal enemies to the

name and independence of Portugal, were preparing to attack ♦JUNE

1.♦ from Badajoz. At the same time he sent a letter to the Spaniards

of that place, exhorting them to return to their duty, and promising

intercession, and pardon and protection. No answer was returned; he

then put forth an argumentative address to the Commandant and the

Representatives of Extremadura, asking them what end they could propose

to themselves from the revolt in which they had blindly engaged? The

House of Bourbon had renounced all its rights to Spain; Ferdinand was

in France, and the right of appointing a king for the Spaniards had

been transferred ♦1808. JUNE.♦ to the Emperor. Did they wish to draw

upon themselves the evils by which France had been ravaged during so

many years? If that country had come with glory out of a struggle

which would for ever be celebrated, it was owing to her internal

strength, her valour, and above all the talents of that extraordinary

man whom Heaven had sent to reign over her, for her happiness, and

for the happiness of the Spaniards also, if they chose it. Could they

expect a like issue? Would valour alone suffice to effect it? What was

their position? Half Spain had declared for the new order of things.

Their own countrymen would take the field against them. The French

armies were in the midst of the land, under the greatest generals,

without enemies, and abundantly supplied with all the means of war.

On their part they had only some soldiers who had murdered their

chiefs; a populace vain of their own strength, because they had met

with no resistance; and a few miserable English, the eternal artists

of discord, active in stirring up enemies to the French, and always

ready, like cowards, to abandon the victims of their infernal policy.

Nor was there any thing in the change which had taken place to provoke

their opposition. At the commencement of the preceding century Spain

had called Philip V. to the throne, for the purpose of establishing

an invariable union ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 288.♦ with France. The

establishment upon that throne of a prince of the new French dynasty

was nothing more than a consequence of the system which Spain had then

adopted, and which was now confirmed. There was yet time to choose. The

sword was not yet drawn, the door was still open for reconciliation,

... and he requested that they would not close the gate of their city

against his communications. To this also no answer was vouchsafed. He

made a third effort, telling them that he would suspend hostilities

till they should be better informed, and desiring the Junta to meet him

at the Caya, the little stream which there divides the kingdoms. No

persons were there to meet him; and he then began to store the forts of

Elvas, and to devise plans for attacking Badajoz, expecting, no doubt,

that some of the troops in Spain would be ordered upon that service.

Believing too that fêtes and rejoicings would have as much effect in

Portugal as in France, he appointed a day of public thanksgiving for

the benefits which Napoleon had promised to confer upon the Portugueze.

They were not a people to be thus deceived. Their hearts were with the

Spaniards, and so many repaired to Badajoz, where D. Joseph Galluzo,

with great activity, was forming a camp, that they were incorporated

in a legion of foreign volunteers, the command of which was given to

Moretti. Many artillerymen escaped thither from Elvas; some hundred

of the Portugueze troops whom the French had ordered away for foreign

consumption, had been collected there; ♦NEVES, III. 75.♦ promotion

was offered to all officers of that nation who should join them, and

Kellermann’s vigilance could not prevent the emigration which took

place in consequence.

♦DISTRIBUTION OF THE FRENCH TROOPS IN PORTUGAL.♦

A considerable garrison was required in Elvas, as being the strongest

fortress in the kingdom, and now of more importance because of the

hostile attitude which the Spaniards at Badajoz had assumed. Strong

garrisons were placed at Peniche and Setubal, for fear of the English.

Almeida also had been occupied by the French. ♦NEVES, III. 77.♦ Except

the troops in that place there were no other French in the whole north

of Portugal than the small parties stationed upon the military road,

a weak detachment at Figueira, and some fifty men at Coimbra. The

great body of the French was collected at Lisbon, and in the adjacent

country, where, in case of sudden danger, they might be brought to

act promptly and with ♦THE SPANIARDS AT PORTO DECLARE AGAINST THE

INTRUDER, AND MARCH INTO SPAIN.♦ effect. Porto was in possession of

the Spaniards, who had occupied it by virtue of the secret treaty

of Fontainebleau. General Bellesta, however, upon whom the command

had devolved, had been placed under the orders of the French General

Quesnel, when the abortive kingdom of Northern Lusitania was no longer

held out as a lure to the court of Spain. Quesnel had with him about

seventy dragoons, and a few other French, holding military or civil

situations. When news arrived of the movements in Gallicia, Bellesta,

obeying without hesitation the voice of his country, ♦JUNE 6.♦ arrested

the French and their general, and convoking the military, judicial,

and civil authorities, explained to them briefly the situation of

affairs, expressed a hope that Junot would by that time have been

seized in Lisbon, as Quesnel was in Porto, and asked of them what

course they would pursue, ... whether they would restore the national

government, choose a Spanish one, or remain in submission to the

French? The _Vereador_, Thomas da Silva Ferras, replied, that he, and

the chamber, and the city, desired nothing more than to be under the

government of their lawful sovereign, and required that the royal

arms might immediately be re-established. A _Desembargador_ ventured

to observe, that they had no authority to determine such things, not

being representatives of the people; that they were without arms, ...

that they had no means of resisting so terrible an enemy as the French;

and that it was better to wait till they knew what had happened at

Lisbon. Reasonable as the fear was which this speaker expressed, a more

generous feeling prevailed, and by Bellesta’s orders the _Sargento

Mor_, Raymundo José Pinheiro, went from the meeting to take the command

of ♦NEVES, III. C. 6.♦ the fortress of S. Joam da Foz, at the mouth of

the Douro.

♦THE LAWFUL GOVERNMENT RESTORED AT PORTO.♦

It was late at night when the meeting broke up. Raymundo called

together his officers; they bound themselves by a formal deed and

solemn oath to act for the service of their lawful Prince against the

French, and invoking the aid of Our Lady of the Rosary, to whom that

castle was dedicated, vowed in the Prince’s name to solemnize the

anniversary of that day by a festival to her honour. At daybreak the

Quinas were once more seen flying upon the fortress, a royal salute

was fired, and returned from the castles of Queijo and Matozinhos,

the bells were rung, rockets were discharged, and the people gave

themselves up to joy. The Spaniards without delay marched for Coruña,

taking with them their prisoners. An English brig of war, which was

cruising off the river, hearing an unusual stir in the city, drew near

in hopes of ascertaining the cause; Raymundo went on board, he was

received with due honours, and an officer returned to shore ♦NEVES,

III. 85–91.♦ with him, and was sent to Luiz de Oliveira da Costa, who

commanded at Porto during the absence of General Bernardim Freire de

Andrada.

♦THE GOVERNOR ADHERES TO THE FRENCH, AND SUPPRESSES THE INSURRECTION.♦

Luiz de Oliveira had been present at the meeting which Bellesta

convened, and assented to the resolution which had there been taken.

Whether his heart was with his voice on that occasion, or whether he

had submitted to the prevailing opinion only while it was dangerous

to oppose it, the fear of the French returned upon him, now that the

Spaniards had left Porto to its own means of defence; and instead of

receiving the English officer with open arms, he wrote to Raymundo,

calling him to account for having opened a communication with the

English brig, and saying that he knew nothing of the business. Raymundo

replied with great spirit, that if the governor had forgotten what

passed when the government of the Prince Regent was re-established, he

had not; he and his officers had proclaimed their beloved Sovereign, he

had invited the English commander, in the Prince’s name, to assist him;

and if any person disputed the propriety of what he had done, he would

make that person know what the power of the royal name was, and that

that port was open for the English. Raymundo’s means, however, were not

commensurate with his will; the people of Porto were disheartened by

the departure of the Spaniards, and the city remained to all appearance

in perfect submission to the French government, while the Portugueze

flag was flying at S. Joam da Foz. A lieutenant-colonel, by name Manoel

Ribeiro de Araujo, now presented himself in that fortress with an order

from Oliveira to take the command. Raymundo told him, that if it were

taken for the service of the Prince, he was ready to resign it into

his hands; but if it were his intention to follow the French part, he

might return to the place from whence he came, for within those walls

no other name should be acknowledged than that of the lawful sovereign,

and not a shot should be fired from them against the English. Araujo

returned in the evening with fair words, and invited Raymundo to the

governor’s house, there to confer with him upon the best mode of

proceeding in the present critical circumstances. The treacherous

invitation was accepted, and he had no sooner set foot within

Oliveira’s apartment than he was arrested as a disturber of the people.

The next step would have been to deliver him up to the French, and to

certain death; but though he had with strange want of circumspection

walked into the snare, neither his courage nor his presence of mind

forsook him. Oliveira, with Araujo and another officer, went out into

the varanda to give directions ♦NEVES, III. 91–97.♦ concerning him;

Raymundo, who was left alone in the apartment, quietly locked the

varanda door, and lost no time in gaining a place of concealment.

♦JUNOT DISARMS AND SEIZES THE SPANIARDS AT LISBON.♦

Bellesta had left a letter for Junot, which the Chamber of Porto, as

soon as his departure left them to the sense of their own weakness,

dispatched to Lisbon, with assurance of their continued submission

to the French. The news reached him at the close of an entertainment

given by the French officers at the theatre, where, though the Russian

admiral and his officers were present, the portrait of Buonaparte was

displayed, with the Russian flag lying among other trophies ♦OBSERVADOR

PORTUGUEZ, 292.♦ at his feet. A sense of insecurity was manifested amid

their festivities; the avenues to the theatre were occupied by armed

troops, fire engines were made ready, and all the watermen were ordered

to be at hand with their barrels full. The entertainment continued

till four in the morning, and immediately afterward movements were

observed which indicated that some important intelligence had arrived;

couriers were sent off, troops crossed the Tagus, and detachments

marched to Mafra, Santarem, and other places. A body of Spaniards who

were stationed in the Campo de Ourique were ordered to the Convent

of S. Francisco da Cidade, an unfinished pile of enormous magnitude,

which the French occupied as barracks, and where a thousand men were

waiting to disarm them as soon as they should enter. The Spaniards,

when they drew nigh, suspected ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 295.♦ some ill

design, and fixing their bayonets, declared they would not be quartered

there. They were allowed to return without interruption; and in the

evening they and their countrymen at Val de Pereiro, being in all

1200, were ordered to assemble at two in the morning, in the Terreiro

do Paço, there to embark and cross the river on their way to Spain.

Thither they repaired joyfully, and found 3000 troops awaiting them,

with cannon placed under the arcades of that great square, and at the

mouths of the streets which open into it; and they were summoned to

lay down their arms and baggage, and surrender. In the course of that

and the succeeding day, the Spaniards from Mafra and other parts were

brought in as prisoners, in a condition which excited the compassion

of the people, their women exhausted with the fatigue of marching in

the burning heat of summer, some carrying children at the breast, and

some, who were unable to walk, tied upon the baggage carts, lest they

should be thrown off. The whole number of Spaniards thus arrested was

somewhat above 4500; they were confined in hulks upon the Tagus. The

officers were left at liberty upon their parole; but after a few days,

when several had broken an engagement, which, considering the manner

in which they had been seized, they did not think themselves bound in

honour to observe, they were placed under the same confinement as the

men. Junot then informed his army, in public orders, that the infamous

conduct of the Spanish General Bellesta, the revolt of two regiments,

the arrest of some of his officers at Badajoz and at Ciudad Rodrigo,

and the inability of the Spanish commanders to control their men, had

compelled him to this severe measure. Happily it had been executed

without shedding blood. These Spaniards were not enemies; they should

receive pay and provisions as heretofore, and their actual situation

in no degree altered his good disposition toward them. ♦NEVES, III.

99-109. OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 300.♦ He expressed his satisfaction

at the conduct of his soldiers; and said, that if the English thought

proper to make an attack, they were now fully at leisure to receive

them.

♦JUNOT’S PROCLAMATION TO THE PORTUGUEZE.♦

He addressed a proclamation also to the Portugueze, wherein with

incautious effrontery he avowed the double treachery which had been

♦JUNE 11.♦ practised upon them and upon the Spaniards. After six months

of tranquillity, he said, the peace of the kingdom had been in danger

of being disturbed by the Spanish troops, who entered the country

apparently as allies, but in reality with the intention of dismembering

it. No sooner had he in the Emperor’s name taken possession of the

whole government, than they had begun to show their dissent: and at

length their conduct at Porto, and in other places, had compelled him

to disarm all who were within his reach. “Portugueze,” he continued,

“I have hitherto been satisfied with your good disposition. You have

known how to appreciate the advantages which must result to you from

the protection of Napoleon the Great. You have had confidence in me.

Continue it, and I will guarantee your country from all invasion, from

all dismemberment. If the English, who know not how to do any thing

except fomenting discord, choose to seek us, they will find us ready to

defend you. Some of your militia and your remaining troops shall make

part of my army to cover your frontiers; they will be instructed in the

art of war, and if I may be fortunate enough to put in practice the

lessons which I learnt from Napoleon, ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 297.♦ I

will teach you how to conquer.” Junot seems at this time to have aimed

at conciliating the Portugueze soldiers, and making them act with his

army. For this purpose he announced certain new regulations by which

they were placed upon the same footing with the French ♦JUNE 14.♦ as to

their pay and provisions. Hitherto four-fifths of their pay had been

in paper money, which was at a great discount; the proportion was now

reduced to two-thirds. A promise was made that the first item in the

monthly military expenses should be for the allowance of the Portugueze

prisoners in Algiers. The manner in which it was notified that the

troops were to be under French command, was not in the imperious tone

which the Duke of Abrantes, as he styled himself, heretofore had used;

they were to form part of the divisions, it was said, within whose

districts they were stationed; consequently the French commanders were

to include them in their reports, and inspect and review them, to see

that they received what was their due, and to perfect and accelerate

their instruction. The ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 303.♦ artillery, cavalry,

engineers, and marine, were to be immediately under the orders of the

respective French generals, who by this means would know their force,

watch over their instruction, and see to their welfare: the intention

of his majesty being, that the Portugueze troops should be treated in

the same manner as his own in all respects.

♦FESTIVAL OF THE CORPO DE DEOS AT LISBON.♦

But it was too late for conciliation and flattery, after so many

acts of insolent oppression: and an accident at this time occurred

to manifest ♦JUNE 16.♦ with what suspicious apprehensions the French

and the inhabitants of Lisbon mutually regarded each other. The day

arrived for the annual procession of the Corpo de Deos. In the days

of Joam V. this had been the most splendid display which the Catholic

religion exhibited in Europe; and though in latter years the management

had been less perfect, and there had been some diminution of its

splendour, it was still a spectacle of unrivalled magnificence and

riches. The streets of the capital on that occasion, and that only,

were cleaned and strewn with fine gravel; the houses were hung with

damask; the troops in their new uniforms, the various companies

and brotherhoods, civil and religious, each with their banners, the

knights of the military orders, and all the monks and friars of Lisbon,

moved in the procession; which was closed by the dignitaries of the

patriarchal church, the Prince in person, and the chief persons of

his court, following the great object of Catholic adoration, which on

that day, and that day only, was actually carried abroad. The most

remarkable object in this pompous display used to be an image of St.

George in complete armour, upon a beautiful horse, led by a squire and

supported by pages on each side, and accompanied by the finest horses

from the royal stables, with rich housings, and escutcheons thrown

across their saddles. These horses and the saint had formed part of the

procession from the year 1387, with one interruption only, early in the

seventeenth century, when, at the instigation of a certain Mordomo, the

Archbishop of Lisbon excluded the horses, as thinking it irreverent

that the Real Presence should be preceded by unreasonable creatures.

St. George’s charger alone was excepted from the prohibition; but in

the midst of the procession that charger suddenly stopped, and could

neither be induced nor compelled to proceed; it was not doubted that

the rider had chosen this means to manifest his displeasure at the

privation of his accustomed train; the Archbishop revoked his order

upon the spot, and when the horses were introduced as usual, St. George

consented to move forward, and the ceremony of the day was concluded

with more than wonted satisfaction. The profane Mordomo, however, was

not forgiven; on the following Sunday, when he was saying mass at the

saint’s altar, St. George let ♦MAPPA DE PORTUGAL, T. II. 257.♦ his

spear drop from his hand upon the offender’s head.

The image which performed this miracle, after appearing annually in the

procession during more than 350 years, was destroyed by fire at the

time of the great earthquake. A new one, however, had been substituted,

which succeeded to all the honours and miraculous properties of its

predecessor. One of the finest horses which could be found in Portugal

was selected to bear the saint in the great procession, and reserved

for that single purpose, as if any other would have desecrated it.

Junot, however, had taken St. George’s horse for himself, and rode it

every Sunday when he reviewed his troops. And this year, for the first

time, St. George was not to bear a part in the pageant: the reason

which the French assigned for excluding him was, that he could not

appear with his usual splendour, because the jewels of the Cadaval

family, which he always wore in his hat on that day, had been taken to

Brazil when the court emigrated. Other motives were imagined by the

Portugueze: when the saint returned, after the fatigues of the day, a

royal present had always been allotted him; it was thought that the

French wished to spare themselves this expense. They were carrying on

works within the circuit of the castle which were designed to command

the city, and render the place defensible against the English and the

Portugueze themselves; these works were carried on secretly, but it was

part of the ceremony that St. George should enter the castle, and in

that case his retinue would have observed what ♦NEVES, III. 257.♦ was

going on. Lastly, the people said that the French did not choose to let

St. George go into public because he was an English saint.

♦THE PROCESSION INTERRUPTED BY A PANIC FEAR.♦

In all other things Junot wished the Lisboners to see that the

spectacle had lost nothing of its wonted splendour. The procession had

performed half its course when a sudden alarm arose, occasioned, it is

said, by a thief, who being detected in some petty larceny, cried out,

in the hope of exciting confusion and effecting his escape, that the

English were crossing the bar. A general tumult ensued; some of the

French formed as if expecting immediately to be attacked, ... others

hurried to their posts with a celerity which was absurdly attributed

to fear instead of promptitude; a crowd rushed into the church of S.

Domingos for sanctuary, from whence the chapter of the patriarchal

church were just about to proceed with the pix, in which the Romish

mystery of impanation, the object of that day’s superstition, was

contained. Some of the insignia which were to form a part of the show

were thrown down and broken in the rush, and the clergy hastened to

secure themselves each where he could. Not the mob alone, but the

persons who were to form the procession, priests, monks, ministers,

and knights, in the habiliments of their orders, took to flight;

communities and brotherhoods forsook their banners and their crosses;

here and there only an aged friar or sacristan was seen in whom the

sense of devotion was stronger than fear, and who remained in his

place, thinking that if he were now to die, it were best to perish at

his station and in his duty. Wherever a door was open, the terrified

people ran in, as if flying from an actual massacre; the great streets

and the Rocio were presently deserted, and the pavement was strewn

with hats, cloaks, and shoes, lost in the confusion. Fewer accidents

occurred than might have been expected in such a scene; the alarm

abated when it was ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 306. NEVES, III. 256–262.

THIEBAULT, 122–124.♦ ascertained that the British fleet was not

entering; and when the cause of the [13]disturbance was discovered,

the broken parts of the procession were brought together as soon as

possible, and Junot with his generals closed it, in place of the Prince

Regent and his court.

♦JUNOT FORTIFIES THE CASTLE.♦

Though the tidings of the insurrection at Porto had soon been followed

by news that submission had been restored in that city, intelligence

of insurrectionary movements or designs was now arriving every day,

and Junot thought it necessary to take farther precautions for holding

Lisbon in subjection. The water-carriers were employed to fill the

cisterns in the Castle, which was now strongly fortified; stores and

fodder were laid in there, it was garrisoned with 800 men, and all the

swords and small arms from the arsenal ♦JUNE 24. EDICT FOR DISARMING

THE PEOPLE.♦ were removed thither. An edict was issued commanding all

persons to deliver up their fire-arms, swords, and hunting-spears,

those Portugueze alone whose legal privilege it was to wear a sword

being allowed still to retain one. If within forty-eight hours after

the publication of that edict arms should be found in the possession

of a Portugueze, he was to be imprisoned, and fined according to his

means from 100 franks to 1000 cruzados; if the offender were a native

of Great Britain, and delayed obedience half the time, his fine was to

be from 100 cruzados to 10,000, and greater punishment inflicted if

the case required it: for other foreigners the same time was appointed

as for the natives, and the extent of ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 314.♦

their fine was to be 2000 cruzados, but, like the English, they were

liable to any farther punishment which the French might think proper

to inflict. It was the custom in Portugal, as formerly in England, to

celebrate the eve of certain festivals, and especially those of St.

John the Baptist, and St. Peter, with bonfires: the custom of kindling

festal fires at that season of the year is as old as the worship of

the Kelts, even perhaps before their entrance into Europe; and it is

one of the many pagan rites which Romish Christianity adopted. The use

of gunpowder made it a dangerous custom even among a people so little

addicted to mischief as the Portugueze: and at the pretended desire of

certain pious persons, who deemed such rejoicings incompatible with

that calm and collected state of mind which the church required at

such times, all these demonstrations of festivity were prohibited. Any

person letting off fire-works or fire-arms, as had been usual, making

any use of gunpowder, or kindling a bonfire, was to be imprisoned

eight days, and pay a fine proportioned to his means: parents were

made answerable for their children, schoolmasters for their boys,

masters for their servants, tradesmen for those in their employ; the

public walk was not to be open in the evening, and any concourse of

people in the streets was forbidden. Orders were given to clear the

♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 311.♦ Campo de Ourique immediately, though the

crops were not ripe, that troops might be encamped there, from whence,

and from the Castle, the city would be completely under their command.

Detachments were sent north and south to keep down a people, who were

now everywhere beginning to manifest their long suppressed ♦OBSERVADOR

PORTUGUEZ, 317.♦ indignation. The men marched out of Lisbon with

provisions and kettles upon their backs, and each with a loaf fixed

upon his bayonet.

♦MOVEMENTS AT BRAGA.♦

The news of the first insurrection at Porto produced considerable

effect in the north of Portugal before it was known that that city,

through the treachery or timidity of the persons in power, had again

submitted to the intrusive government. At Braga the Archbishop gave

orders for taking the cover from the royal arms upon his palace, and

reciting in the service the collect for the Prince Regent and Royal

Family. The restoration of the legitimate government was proclaimed

by the better part of the people; but the public performance of that

duty was prevented by some of those persons who are to be found in

all countries, whose sole object is to advance themselves, they care

not by what means. They, putting their trust in Buonaparte and his

♦NEVES, III. 124–6.♦ fortune, drew up formal charges against the

primate, and dispatched them to Junot. Had the French remained masters

of Portugal, this process would have terminated in his deposition,

perhaps in his death; ... but the fire was now spreading on all sides,

and breaking out, as in ♦INSURRECTION AT MELGAÇO.♦ Spain, every where,

simultaneously. A Galician gentleman, by name Mosqueira de Lira,

having concerted measures at the house of his brother-in-law, who was

an inhabitant of Melgaço, with the Corregedor of that place, and with

a retired magistrate, entered the town with some other Galicians of

the border and their armed followers, on a day when the people from

the adjacent country were assembled there at a fair. Encouraged by

their appearance, the Portugueze broke out into execrations against

Napoleon and his instruments, and proclaimed their lawful Prince.

The Quinas, which, during the usurpation, had been covered upon all

public buildings and monuments where they had not been destroyed,

were presently exposed again to the eyes of a people whose belief

it was that Christ himself had in person commanded the founder of

their monarchy to bear upon his shield those ♦JUNE 9.♦ symbols of his

passion. The next day the acclamation was performed with the same

formalities as at the commencement of a new reign, the magistrates and

persons in office taking the lead; and the joyful inhabitants sallied

out to indulge their overflowing loyalty by repeating the scene in

the neighbouring villages. Their hilarity was interrupted by a sudden

report that a French army had landed on the coast of Galicia, and

that a corps of that army had already arrived at Caniza, meaning to

cross the Minho, and attack Melgaço. That town had been founded by

the first King of Portugal, and refortified by King Diniz: his works

had long since fallen to decay, and the place was open to an enemy.

The bells rang the alarm, and the people, resolving rather to meet

the danger than to wait for it, set off with two pieces of cannon,

tumultuously, and in that state of heated spirits and insubordination

which such calamitous times produce. The falsehood of the report was

soon ascertained; a fellow then boldly proposed that they should

nevertheless march forward and collect forces, and because the _Capitam

Mor_ ordered the countrymen to return peaceably to their homes, this

man attempted to pistol him; the mischief was prevented by a resolute

and right-minded peasant, who seized the ruffian and threw him to the

ground. Other indications of the disposition in the populace to abuse

their power as soon as they feel it, soon appeared. A rumour went about

that the _Juiz de fora_ had struck the red flag which had been planted

in the town; a tumultuous sentence of death was passed upon him, and

a party set out to execute it. But when they approached the town they

saw the flag still flying: it was however true that the Juiz had been

advised to strike it, because, if the French arrived, the sight of the

bloody flag might provoke them to put all to the sword. The advice was

given by an officer, and with no ill intention, for no man exerted

himself more actively: but his military prudence on this occasion had

well nigh cost him his life, and he only escaped by the swiftness of

his horse. Warned by these indications how dangerous any act would be

which the people could interpret into an intention of intimidating

them or checking their ardour, the Juiz, when he received Junot’s

proclamation, communicated it to none but those on whom he could rely;

he prepared for action as well as the means of the place would afford,

and applied to the Junta of Orense for assistance in men, arms, and

ammunition. Some troops accordingly were sent by them to Milmanda

and Cellanova, whence they might enter ♦NEVES, III. 126–135.♦

Portugal to assist Melgaço, whenever their assistance was required.

♦THE PRINCE REGENT PROCLAIMED AT BRAGANZA.♦

While the national feeling was thus displayed in one of the remotest

corners of the kingdom, similar scenes occurred in places of more

importance, and more exposed to the vengeance of the enemy. The

post-office in the city of Braganza was at the house of the Abbot of

Carrazedo. ♦JUNE 11.♦ A letter brought him news of the insurrection

at Porto; he read it aloud to the persons who happened to be present;

their letters confirmed the welcome tidings, and added the flattering

expectation that by that time Junot would have been made prisoner

at Lisbon. Readily believing what they wished, they set up a shout

of rejoicing; the news spread; the multitude joined in exulting

acclamations, and the parties from the post-office hastened to a

church, where the governor of the province, General Manoel Jorge Gomes

de Sepulveda, was attending a service in honour of St. Antonio. This

general, though oppressed with age and infirmities, hesitated not as

to the course which he should pursue. He left the church to issue such

orders as were expedient without delay. The bells of the cathedral were

ordered to strike up, and those of all the churches joined presently

in expressing and heightening the public joy. There were, however, men

in authority who had no generous hopes or feelings to mislead their

judgement on this occasion; and they, like others of the same stamp

at Braga, thinking to obtain favour with the intrusive government,

hastened to the general, and asked him what was the meaning of all this

stir. Sepulveda took them to the window, and showed them the streets

swarming with people, who were crying out, The Prince and the Royal

House of Braganza for ever! the General for ever! Down with the French!

“There,” said he, “you hear what is the meaning; ... and you may quiet

that multitude if you dare.” He illuminated his house, which was the

signal for a general illumination: he ordered such arms as were in the

city to be made ready for service, sent to Chaves for more, offered

pardon to deserters upon their repairing to Braganza, called upon

all reduced officers to come forward, and issued orders to all the

governors and _Capitaens mores_ within his jurisdiction to proclaim

their lawful Prince, and enrol the peasantry for the service of their

♦NEVES, III. 136–141.♦ country. A solemn mass was celebrated the next

day in the cathedral as a thanksgiving service, a sermon was preached

upon the occasion, and all who were present mounted the national

cockade, the clergy wearing it upon the breast.

♦THE BRAGANZANS INTIMIDATED BY THE NEWS FROM PORTO.♦

These festive days were of short duration. The next post, which was

expected to confirm the promises of the last, and bring news of Junot’s

overthrow and capture, arrived with intelligence that all was tranquil

at Lisbon, and that Porto had returned to subjection. It brought also

circular letters from the French government, requiring the Portugueze

to continue in obedience, and threatening severe vengeance to all who

should disturb the public tranquillity. The danger was now deemed as

imminent as the triumph had before seemed certain. Loison would hasten

from Almeida to punish Braganza for its revolt; and Marshal Bessieres

also, they thought, was about to descend upon them from Castille. The

time-servers now obtained an ascendancy, and were about to draw up a

formal accusation against Sepulveda, and the persons who had taken the

lead in this precipitate insurrection. They proposed to him, however,

that he should join with them in a representation soliciting pardon for

the city, saying that all which had been done, had been submitted to by

him because it was not possible at that moment to oppose the populace,

and that the illuminations and other demonstrations of joy were only in

honour of St. Antonio. Letters were accordingly written to this effect.

Sepulveda’s object was to gain time by dissimulation, while he took

measures for securing a retreat into Spain, unless affairs in Portugal

should take a fortunate turn; and while he let the promoters of this

submission ♦NEVES, III. 141–146.♦ send his letter with their own to the

post-office, he secretly instructed the post-master not to forward it.

♦SECOND INSURRECTION AT PORTO.♦

As the first declaration of the people at Porto had occasioned these

movements in the north of Portugal, so these secondary movements,

reported and exaggerated in like manner, re-acted upon the public

spirit in that city. Oliveira, who had acted under fear of the French,

was now in fear of his own countrymen, and soon found himself in such

a situation, that he was in danger of being regarded as an enemy by

both. On the day of the Corpo de Deos he wished the soldiers to carry

the French eagles in the procession instead of the national banner,

and this they resolutely refused to do; the end was, that only a few

companies, without any colours, appeared in the train. The temper of

the people was shown at this time by the groups which collected in the

streets, and the agitation which every countenance expressed. Raymundo,

consulting at once his own safety, and the furtherance of his country’s

cause, had conveyed letters to the city, dated from Vianna and from

Valença, saying that he was on his way to Spain, there to solicit

succours, with which he should presently return: and the ignorant

people, ready to believe any thing, were fully persuaded that he would

soon appear at the head of a Spanish ♦NEVES, III. 97.♦ army. A report,

with more appearance but as little reality of truth, accelerated the

success of his stratagem, though it was intended to intimidate the

people. The _Juiz de fora_ at Oliveira de Azemeis received orders

to provide rations for a French detachment on the way from Coimbra

to Porto. It was part of Junot’s policy to alarm the people by such

reports, for the purpose of keeping them in submission. The means of

that place were not equal to the sudden demand; the Juiz represented

this to the governor of Porto, and bread was ordered from that city,

in obedience to the requisition. A few Frenchmen, who had concealed

themselves during the first insurrection, and re-appeared when Oliveira

restored the usurped authority, imprudently assisted in loading the

carts with loaves for this purpose; a crowd collected at the sight,

burning with indignation; a native Portugueze artilleryman remarked,

that bread enough could be found for the French, though not for the

Portugueze; one of the Frenchmen returned an answer which ♦NEVES, III.

163–168.♦ provoked a blow; the mob immediately took part, seized the

French, and delivered them to a guard of soldiers, who took charge of

them, without knowing for what end, or inquiring by whose authority.

♦FORMATION OF A JUNTA IN THAT CITY.♦

This second insurrection had been prepared, though the occasion upon

which it broke out was accidental. The Portugueze flag was displayed,

Joam Manoel de Mariz brought out from the barracks at Santo Ovidio

four field-pieces ready for service, with thirty artillerymen to serve

them; the arsenal was opened, and arms and cartridges distributed to

all who applied for them. And Raymundo, who had concealed himself

in a country-house only two miles from Porto, made his appearance

by the convent of S. Domingos, with nineteen Spaniards, armed with

blunderbusses like himself, and covered with dust, and with their

cloaks upon their backs, like men arriving from a long march. They

declared that a Spanish army was on the way, and the people, in full

expectation of this support, prepared to defend the city against the

French. Some guns were placed upon the bridge, others on the heights

of Villa-nova. There was some difficulty in conveying them to the

latter position; a Dominican, who had sallied from his convent sword in

hand, and with his sleeves tucked up, laid hold of the ropes; friars,

priests, and women, followed his example, and the work was presently

accomplished. While they were thus exerting themselves to provide

for the defence of the city, the rabble exercised their authority in

the usual way, discharging fire-arms in the streets, beating drums,

blowing trumpets, ordering the bells to be rung in all the churches and

convents, breaking open houses to search for Frenchmen and suspected

persons. They threw Oliveira and many others into prison, but happily

no murders were committed. The mob were restrained in their ferocity by

the expectation that traitors would be brought to condign punishment

as soon as the lawful authority was re-established, which it soon

would be. Till that time it was resolved that a local and provisional

government should be formed after the manner of the Spaniards. The

authors of the movement had concerted this, and fixed upon persons to

constitute the Junta; but while they were engaged in the ceremony of

nominating and appointing them, a report arrived that the French were

actually at Grijo, within twelve miles of Porto. The question then was,

should they wait upon the defensive on the heights of Villa-nova, or

hasten to attack them, in the hope of surprising them by night, and

finding them exhausted by a long march? The bolder opinion prevailed;

and a volunteer party set off for Grijo, and hurried there so fast,

that they would have been in worse condition, as well as worse order,

than the enemy, if any enemy had been there. But instead of the French

they found a few travellers on the way from Coimbra, who assured them

that there was no rumour of the advance of any troops along the road.

Even a victory would hardly have elevated their spirits more. This

was about daybreak; they hastened back to the city. The ♦JUNE 19.♦

soldiers in the Campo de S. Ovidio swore upon their swords to defend

the independence of Portugal, their religion, and their King. A public

meeting was convoked, the bells of the chamber rung, the soldiers led

the way in military order, with two field-pieces; the people followed

to the episcopal palace; the Bishop came forth into the varanda, and

gave the assembled multitude his blessing; then he descended among

them, kissed their banner, and led the way to the cathedral, there to

implore the divine assistance in their meritorious undertaking. This

done, they returned to the palace, and proceeded to appoint what they

called the Provisional Junta of Supreme Government; the list which

had been prepared was shortened, as being inconveniently numerous;

eight members were appointed, in equal numbers, from the clergy, the

magistracy, the military, and the citizens, and ♦NEVES, III. 169–176.♦

the Bishop was placed at their head with the title of President

Governor.

♦MEASURES OF THE JUNTA.♦

The Bishop, D. Antonio de S. José e Castro, immediately published

a manifesto, in the name of the Prince Regent, declaring that the

French Government was abolished and exterminated in that country,

and the royal authority restored and to be exercised plenarily and

independently by the Provisional Junta of Porto, till the government

instituted by his Royal Highness should be re-established. The Junta

therefore gave orders, that in all places the Prince should be

proclaimed, and the royal arms uncovered and respected as heretofore

they always had been, and now again hereafter were to be; and they

called upon all constituted authorities to act accordingly. His next

business was to dispatch a messenger to General Sepulveda at Braganza,

requesting succours, especially in cavalry, and an officer capable of

taking the command, whether for attack or defence. The Visconde de

Balsamam was sent to the British brig, which was still hovering off

the bar, and a communication was thus opened with England. Voluntary

contributions were liberally made, the pay of the soldiers was raised,

and as a measure not less popular, a _Tribunal de Inconfidencia_

was instituted, to take cognizance of causes in which treason was

suspected. The prevalence of suspicion is indeed one of the many

dreadful evils in such calamitous times. An example of this occurred

before the close of ♦ARREST OF CARDOSO.♦ the day. Colonel José Cardoso

de Menezes Soutomaior had been that day appointed to the chief

command, as being the senior officer. Happening to send a messenger

that evening with letters upon public business to the _Juizes de fora_

at Oliveira de Azemeis and Recardaens, he forgot to provide him with

the passport which was now necessary for crossing the bridge. The

messenger was therefore stopped by the guards, and either from the

confusion occasioned by fear, or from a confidence of protection,

refused to declare whither he was going, or by whom he was sent. Upon

this the guards searched him, and found the two letters. These would

have explained the matter and cleared him; but perceiving that a third

letter which he carried more secretly about his person was in danger

of being found, he drew it out, tore it in pieces with his teeth, and

threw it over the bridge. A few fragments were saved, but not enough

to give any indication of its contents. The messenger was immediately

arrested as a traitor, and carried before José Cardoso, who thought at

first to end the business by desiring that the man might be left with

him, and saying that he would answer for him. The people (for a crowd

had collected on the way) transferred at this their suspicions upon

Cardoso himself; and to satisfy them, he found it necessary to open the

two letters, and thus acquaint the mob with arrangements which it had

not been intended that they should know. But he could give no account

of the paper which had been torn; and therefore the mob, having thrown

his messenger into prison, returned to arrest him and carry him before

the Bishop. Protestations of innocence were vain, and it was evident

that his life would be in danger on the way; some of his friends,

however, bethought themselves of a happy stratagem; they rung the

alarm bells, and raised a cry that the enemy was approaching. Evening

was now closing; the populace left their intended victim to go in

quest of the invaders, and passed the night in hurrying here and there

upon the false report. Cardoso meantime got in safety to the Bishop’s

palace, and related all that had passed. As far as he was concerned

his justification was clear, but of the third letter he could give no

account. The messenger, however, gave a plain and credible one; he had

not long since been at Lisbon, where a Frenchman had given him this

letter for one of his countrymen in Porto; on his arrival in that city

he found that the person to whom it was addressed had been carried away

prisoner by the Spaniards; and his intention was, when he returned to

Lisbon, to deliver it again to the writer. He had torn it in a moment

of fear, lest he should be considered a partizan and agent of ♦NEVES,

III, 186–192.♦ the French, if it were found upon him. The Bishop was

satisfied; but he advised Cardoso not to appear in public till this

unlucky accident should be forgotten.

About noon, on the ensuing day, the alarm bells were rung again,

drums beat, trumpets sounded, and preparations were again made for an

immediate engagement with the enemy. They were at Os Carvalhos, it

was said, eight miles off. There was some foundation for this report.

The Juiz at Oliveira de Azemeis was in expectation and fear of the

French, and not having received the bread from Porto which he had been

ordered to have in readiness for them, had sent to this town and to

the adjacent villages, to embargo all that could be found. Troops and

volunteers now hurried forward with the utmost alacrity, and in the

utmost disorder. This was a critical moment for Cardoso: if he went

abroad, to put himself at the head of the forces, as his duty required,

there was the risk of being again accused and endangered as a traitor:

if, on the other hand, he forbore to appear, the very forbearance would

be interpreted as a proof of disaffection to his country. After some

hours of indecision, he could not bear to remain inactive, and incur

the reproach to which it must needs subject him at such a time, and

forth he went. He had not gone far before a poor fellow, whom a party

of _Ordenanças_ upon some suspicion had seized, met him, and implored

his protection. Cardoso inquired into the case, and finding the man

innocent, gave orders to release him. His authority was disputed, and

presently he himself was reproached and seized as a traitor. Some were

for putting him to death upon the spot; and though others insisted

upon carrying him before the Bishop, it appeared very doubtful whether

he would reach the palace alive. When they met a priest upon the way,

the mob called upon him to confess this traitor, who was about to

die, and Cardoso himself cried out for absolution, seeing nothing but

death before his eyes. The Bishop was convinced of his innocence, but

could neither persuade the populace, nor command them; nor could he

save Cardoso’s life by any other expedient than that of allowing him

to be thrown into one of the worst dungeons of a Portugueze prison. In

that miserable confinement ♦NEVES, III. 192–196.♦ he remained till the

heat of these tumults had abated; he was then released, and honourably

distinguished himself afterwards.

♦DISTURBED STATE OF THE PEOPLE.♦

Meantime Porto was in a frightful state of insubordination. The people

readily enrolled themselves, but, as if intoxicated with joy, they

celebrated their deliverance instead of labouring to secure it: and

men who ought to have been practising the drill, or erecting batteries

and throwing up trenches, were beating drums, ringing the bells,

and wasting powder in empty demonstrations of bravery. The city was

illuminated during three successive nights, and they seemed so little

aware of the tremendous conflict in which they were engaged, that they

were about to march to war as to a festival. From this delusion the

Bishop roused them by an appeal well adapted to those for whom it was

intended. “Portugueze,” he said, “in the name of Heaven and of Jesus

Christ, listen to a government which loves you, which desires your

happiness, and is labouring for it! Their turbulence, he told them,

their insubordination, their waste of powder, only exposed them to the

enemy, who would come upon them by surprise, and surely destroy them,

if they would not listen to their rulers and obey orders. Strength

without order was like the bull, who, strong as he is, is brought to

the ground by a weak hand, with the aid of dexterity and a cloak. Their

endeavour should be to be unseen and unheard, that they might the more

fatally be felt; ... to conceal their movements, that they might strike

when the blow was not expected. The government conjured them, by every

thing which was most sacred in heaven and earth, to subject themselves

to discipline, and obey their officers. Where they were posted there

they were adjured to remain till the time for action arrived: they who

were first in the field would diminish the number of the enemy when

they engaged them; the second body, when they arrived, would weaken

the French still farther; the third would complete their destruction.

But if all hurried on tumultuously, all would be lost.” The populace

by this time had fired away so much powder, and spent so much of

their animal spirits in rioting, and hurrying here and there upon so

many false alarms, that they were disposed to listen to this advice.

Tranquillity was produced by exhaustion; and to preserve it, order

was given that the alarm bells should not be rung till the cathedral

♦NEVES, III. 196–198.♦ began, and that whenever that was necessary, a

flag should be hoisted on the tower by day, and a torch by night, to

distinguish it from the fire-bell.

♦THE JUNTA CONCLUDE AN ALLIANCE WITH THE JUNTA OF GALICIA.♦

Subordination being now in some degree restored, the Junta entered with

alacrity upon their arduous duties. They raised a loan, and imposed

new taxes, as the exigencies of the time required; among others a

duty of four _mil reis_ upon every pipe of wine which was exported.

Two deputies were sent to England; and an alliance was concluded with

the Supreme Junta of Galicia, the nearest of the newly constituted

authorities in Spain; Galicia engaging first to assist in liberating

Portugal, and Portugal promising, ♦NEVES, III. 199.♦ after her own

deliverance should be accomplished, to co-operate in expelling the

French from every part of the Peninsula. Wild as this promise appeared

to the French, and to those shallow statesmen by whom the French

were regarded as invincible, and the power of Buonaparte not to be

resisted, it was faithfully performed by the Portugueze, and fulfilled

to the letter of the bond. The Junta of Porto had another object to

accomplish, more difficult, and at that time not less important, than

an alliance with Spain. Other Juntas were now springing up in the

north of Portugal at the first hope of deliverance, and unless these

were induced to acknowledge that at Porto as supreme, all plans of

defence would be frustrated by the jealousy of contending authorities.

One had been formed ♦ITS AUTHORITY IS ACKNOWLEDGED THROUGHOUT THE

NORTH OF PORTUGAL.♦ at Viana on the same day; others at Torre de

Moncorvo, Miranda, and other places of less note; all these submitted

readily to the superiority which was claimed. Braganza was not so

willing to resign its pretensions. The intrusive government had not

been re-established in that city, notwithstanding the efforts of its

adherents, and the apparent assent of General Sepulveda. Their penitent

letters to the French ministry were stopped at Villa Real, where the

people proclaimed their lawful Prince; and when the Braganzans, upon

tidings of the second insurrection at Porto, formed a Junta, and

required obedience to its edicts, its authority was disowned there.

Sepulveda was so offended at this, that he sent Brigadier Manoel Pinto

Bacellar to arrest Francisco da Silveira Pinto da Fonseca, then a

lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, who had taken the lead at Villa Real.

Bacellar acted with more prudence than the general who sent him, and

endeavoured by amicable means to bring about a good understanding; and

Silveira, disregarding the orders of one who had so far been found

wanting, that he had at least professed submission to the French

after having once thrown off their yoke, crossed the Douro, to spread

the revolution in the province of Beira. Sepulveda found as little

obedience in Torre de Moncorvo and some other Juntas in that district,

when he issued a circular order requiring that every town which was

entitled to a voice in the Cortes should send a deputy to assist

at the provincial Junta of Tras os Montes, the title which that of

Braganza had assumed. Opposed in their pretensions on that side, after

contesting the authority of the Porto Junta, concluding a treaty with

it, and then again disputing with it, and arraigning its measures, the

Junta of Braganza ended at length in ♦NEVES, III. 151–162. 180–185.♦

obeying the advice of the Bishop of Porto, which was repeated in strong

terms by Sepulveda, and dissolving itself.

♦THE INSURRECTION EXTENDS TOWARDS COIMBRA.♦

The whole of Tras os Montes and of the province between the rivers had

now declared against the intrusive government, and acknowledged the

Junta of Porto. The same spirit was spreading in Beira. Aveiro declared

itself, and a plan was formed for surprising the French in Coimbra, an

undertaking of more importance than danger. The details are curious,

as showing the disposition of the people, the insignificance of their

means, and the disorderly manner of their proceedings. A patrole of

armed peasants had been sent out from Porto upon the Coimbra road, to

obtain intelligence of the enemy, concerning whom nothing certain was

known. Dr. José Bernardo de Azevedo, of the order of Avis, hearing upon

what service these persons had been sent, represented to the Junta how

little likely it was that such a set of men should act with discretion;

upon the first news of the enemy they would hurry back without

ascertaining their numbers, position, and probable movements; or if

they ventured to approach them, would most probably fall into their

hands. He ♦JUNE 22.♦ offered to obtain the desired information himself,

knowing the country well, and accordingly laying aside his habit, set

off with one servant on horseback. When he arrived at Oliveira de

Azemeis, he met the greater part of the patrole on their return in

triumph; they had failed to arrest the Juiz as they intended, but they

had caught a lawyer, and were dragging him to Porto as a suspected

person. They had however sent four of their party forward on the

Coimbra road, in pursuance of their original object, and José Bernardo

proceeding on his journey, overtook them at Mealhada, a village about

twelve miles from Coimbra. Exulting that they had advanced so far

without meeting the French, and encouraged by what they heard from

the people of Mealhada, that the enemy had only a handful of men in

Coimbra, and most of them invalided, they resolved to fall upon them,

by surprise if possible, that very day. A reformed colonel of militia

at Ois undertook to bring thirty armed ♦NEVES, III. 200–205.♦ men; the

people of Mealhada volunteered their services, and the two parties were

to meet at Carquejo, half way on their march.

♦SCHEME FOR SURPRISING THE ENEMY IN COIMBRA.♦

When the men of Mealhada began to prepare for their expedition, there

were some whose hearts failed them, and the contagion spread. José

Bernardo, however, by reproaching and threatening some, encouraging

and praising others, with the seasonable administration of fruit and

wine, and the zealous help of a serjeant of the _Ordenança_, mustered

some thirty peasants, with about twenty muskets, the rest were armed

with pikes and sickles and other such instruments; and when they set

off many of the others followed, ashamed to be left behind. The party

from Ois not having arrived when they reached Carquejo, José Bernardo

ordered his people to halt for them there, and suffer no person to pass

toward Coimbra, while he and two others went on to reconnoitre and

form the plan of attack. He found no difficulty in entering the city

and obtaining all the information he desired. The French soldiers in

Coimbra did not amount to an hundred men, and of these not more than

forty were capable of service. There was a rumour that 1200 Spaniards

were on the way against them. This the inhabitants were more likely to

believe than the French, who, relying upon their Emperor’s fortune, the

terror of the French name, and the submission of the Portugueze, were

living to all appearance in full confidence of security. Satisfied with

this intelligence, and without venturing to concert any co-operation in

the city, José Bernardo returned as far as the Bridge of Agua de Maias,

and sent to hasten the march of his motley volunteers.

♦THE FRENCH IN THAT CITY ARE MADE PRISONERS.♦

When they were not far from this bridge, they were seen by a patrole

of four horsemen, two French and two Portugueze, who clapped spurs to

their horses, in order to cross the bridge before them and give the

alarm. The insurgents, however, equally on the alert, got between them

and the bridge, and addressed them with the _quem vive_? Napoleon,

was the answer, and two pistols were fired upon them without effect.

A general discharge was returned, which killed two of the patrole

and mortally wounded another. The fourth, who escaped unhurt, was

a Portugueze; he threw himself off his horse, cried out, _Viva o

Principe de Portugal!_ and joined his countrymen. The wounded man was

a Frenchman: the insurgents, with a humanity not to have been expected

at such a moment, left one of their number to assist him, and he was

afterwards removed into the city, and there humanely and carefully

attended; but to his latest breath he reviled the Portugueze, and the

last hope which he expressed was, that ample vengeance would be taken

for his blood. The French guard at the gate of S. Sophia hearing the

guns, and seeing a number of men approach, fired among them, and fled

to their quarters in the College of S. Thomas. The Portugueze followed

close: they were fired upon from the windows without effect, for the

French were too sensible of their own weakness to make any regular

defence; the doors were forced, and they quietly laid down their arms,

and suffered themselves to be bound, ♦NEVES, III. 207–212.♦ happy to

receive no worse treatment from such an assemblage, ... for by this

time the whole rabble of Coimbra had collected.

♦THE JUIZ DO POVO TAKES THE COMMAND.♦

Having thus easily succeeded, the first thought of José Bernardo and

his comrades was to obtain the sanction and assistance of some legal

authority for their future proceedings. The courage, and perhaps the

disposition, of the magistrates was doubted; but the _Juiz do Povo_

was an officer whom tumultuous times had heretofore forced into

importance, and the _Juiz do Povo_ was now called for. José Pedro de

Jesus, a cooper by trade, who held the office, happened to possess a

rare union of upright character, activity, and good sense. He came

forward, assumed a power which was willingly recognized, and exercised

it in a manner which at once gratified the populace and satisfied the

wishes of cooler minds. First he lodged the French safely in prison,

then distributed among the people the arms of those cavalry regiments

belonging to the northern provinces, which Junot had disbanded. In

the depôt with these weapons a flag was found with the royal arms. It

was carried in triumph through the streets, while the exulting people

hastened to uncover the shield of Portugal upon the public buildings.

The bells from all the colleges and convents and churches of that

populous city pealed in with the acclamations of the people, and

heightened the excitement and agitation of their spirits. Bonfires were

kindled, as in old times, in defiance of Junot’s prohibition: the night

of St. John’s had always been a festival in Coimbra, but never before

had it been celebrated with such uproar and overflowing joy. Some

barks on the river, laden with provisions for the French in Figueira,

were seized during the night; and in the morning it was deemed prudent

to march off the prisoners to Porto, under a strong escort, lest the

magistracy, in their fear, ♦NEVES, III. 214–217.♦ should release them,

and again reduce the city to submission.

♦ORDER RESTORED IN COIMBRA.♦

This apprehension, however, was ill founded. The _Juiz de fora_ came

forward to act in the national cause; the students and lecturers

formed themselves into an academical corps; and the Vice-Rector of

the university, Manoel Paes de Aragam Trigoso, took upon himself the

civil authority, in compliance with the wish of the inhabitants. They

would have vested the military command in General Bernardim Freire

de Andrade, whom the Prince, before his departure for Brazil, had

appointed to the command at Porto. Not choosing to exercise it under

the intrusive government, he was living privately at Coimbra; but being

now summoned by the Bishop and Junta of Porto to his proper station,

he declined for that reason the present nomination. The people next

thought of D. Miguel Pereira Forjas, but he chose rather to follow

Bernardim as his quarter-master general. They then chose Bernardim’s

brother, Nuno Freire de Andrade, making him, however, subordinate to

Trigoso. The men who thus accepted offices of authority discharged

a most perilous duty to their country. They were not, like their

countrymen in Tras os Montes and between the rivers, secured in some

degree by distance from the French, and within reach of assistance

from Spain, or, if need were, of an asylum in that kingdom. Nor would

Coimbra be like some of the smaller towns, overlooked as unworthy of

vengeance. Next to the capital itself there was no place in Portugal

where a terrible example would so deeply impress and intimidate the

nation: it was within easy reach of the enemy, from Almeida as well

as from Lisbon, and all military means of defence were ♦NEVES, III.

219–223.♦ wanting: a few pounds of powder were all that could be found

in the city, and not one piece of cannon.

♦PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE.♦

On the other hand, more talents and enterprise, such as the times

required, might reasonably be expected in Coimbra than in any other of

the Portugueze towns. It was a populous and flourishing university, the

only one in the kingdom: here therefore the flower of the Portugueze

youth would be found, just at that age when they would be most willing

and fit for service; and of that rank, and in that place, where

national and generous feelings would have their strongest influence.

If any where heads to plan and hands to execute might be found, it

would be here. Accordingly no exertions were wanting. Chemists made

gunpowder, geometricians directed works of defence, old soldiers were

employed, some in making cartridges, others in training volunteers;

mechanics were ♦NEVES, III. 223–225.♦ set to work in whatever manner

they might be most useful; bridges were broken down, roads broken up,

means made ready for defending the streets, if the enemy should enter

the city, and a strict police established.

♦SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION AGAINST FIGUEIRA.♦

When one day had been passed in these arrangements and preparations

an expedition was planned against Figueira da Foz, a small town and

fort at the mouth of the Mondego, on the right bank, seven leagues

from Coimbra. The French had a garrison of an hundred men there. Forty

volunteers, who were almost all students, under the command of Bernardo

Antonio Zagalo, ♦JUNE 25.♦ a student also, set out at evening, in hope

of capturing this important point: they relied upon increasing their

numbers on the way, and they took with them authority from the governor

to raise the country as they went. Zagalo, with four horsemen, took

the right bank, the rest of the party the left: they met at Montemor o

Velho, and marching all night, appeared with the reinforcements which

they had gathered, now some 3000 in number, before Figueira, at seven

in the morning. The enemy were taken by surprise; they were dispersed

about the town, when they saw this multitude approach; but immediately

retiring into the fort, they prepared for defence. The place might

have been easily defended against a crowd of peasants, more of whom

were armed with pikes and reaping-hooks than with fowling-pieces, and

who were likely, upon the slightest loss or disgust, to abandon their

enterprise as precipitately as they had engaged in it. But the French,

relying too confidently upon the submission of the Portugueze, had

neglected to store the fort with provisions; and Zagalo summoned them,

saying he knew they had not food for more than four-and-twenty hours,

and that if they did not surrender they should all be put to the sword.

Contrary to his usual policy, Junot had given the command of this

fort to a Portugueze lieutenant of engineers; this person demurred

at surrendering, because his family were at Peniche, in the power

of the French. But, wanting either the will or the ability to exert

himself in the enemy’s service, he remained inactive and confounded,

till the following day, when Zagalo received positive orders from

Coimbra to return immediately with all his people. This enabled the

commander to obtain terms which might be pleaded to save his credit;

and he capitulated on condition that the garrison should be allowed to

cross the river with their arms and knapsacks, but without powder and

ball; and to march unmolested to Peniche, the nearest strong place in

possession of the French. Upon these terms the fort was given up; but

the peasantry searched the men when they were embarking, and finding

that some of them had concealed a few cartridges, declared that the

conditions were broken: they themselves were desirous of breaking them,

and therefore gladly found this pretext; and the ♦NEVES, III. 226–233.♦

French would have been massacred if the students had not exerted

themselves to protect them, and lodged them safely as prisoners at

Coimbra.

♦LOISON ORDERED TO MARCH FROM ALMEIDA TO PORTO.♦

A report of Loison’s sudden approach had occasioned the order for

recalling Zagalo. General Count Loison had been sent in the latter end

of May, with 4000 troops, to Almeida, in pursuance of positive and

repeated instructions from Murat when exercising the command in Madrid.

He was to concert his movements with Bessieres, and, if necessary, to

join him; he was to observe Salamanca, and secure Ciudad Rodrigo, if

that were practicable. But the Spaniards were too much awakened to be

again deceived or surprised by the French; and Loison having remained

at Almeida from the 5th of June till the 16th, received orders from

Junot to march upon Porto, take the command in that city, and keep the

northern provinces in subjection. He had previously got possession of

Fort Conceiçam. Each party seems at this time to have been strangely

ignorant of the movements and means of the other: Loison apprehended

that an enemy’s force might render it impossible for the French to

maintain this fort; he therefore directed General Charlot, whom he

left with the command at Almeida, to remove thither the guns from

Conceiçam, keep it as long as he could, and destroy the works if he

should be forced to evacuate ♦JUNE 17.♦ it. He then began his march

with two regiments of light infantry, fifty dragoons, and six pieces of

♦THIEBAULT, 148–150.♦ artillery. A battalion of light infantry was to

set out from Torres Vedras, and reach Porto at the same time.

On the fourth day he reached Lamego without the slightest resistance,

and on the following morning crossed the Douro by the ferry at Regoa,

and reached Mezam-frio, meaning to sleep there. ♦HE TURNS BACK FROM

MEZAM-FRIO.♦ His advanced guard was on the way to Amarante, which

is only forty miles from Porto, when news was brought him while he

was at dinner that the mountaineers were defending the pass at Os

Padroens da Teixeira; and presently a second ill messenger arrived with

intelligence that his baggage was attacked at Regoa. These operations

had been ably planned by Silveira, and were well executed. In so strong

a country he deemed it better to turn back than to proceed at the

risk of being surrounded by an armed population. An ambuscade among

the vineyards at Santinho annoyed him greatly on his way toward the

Douro, and he himself was slightly hurt. The Portugueze, when they were

dislodged, retreated to the heights; the French took up a position

for the night, and in the morning sacked the villages of Pezo and

Regoa, where neither age, nor infirmity, nor sex, nor childhood, were

spared by them; for Loison was one of those men after Buonaparte’s own

heart, who, being equally devoid of honour and humanity, carried on

war in the worst spirit of the worst ages, plundering and massacring

without shame and without remorse. He now understood that Porto,

which he had expected to find discontented indeed, but passive and in

subjection, had thrown off the yoke; that a Portugueze officer, with

whom he maintained a secret correspondence, had been fain to abscond

from that city; that the disbanded soldiers had reassembled; and that

the insurgent peasantry, in such numbers as to be truly formidable,

were moving ♦THE PEASANTRY HARASS HIS RETREAT.♦ against him from all

parts of the two northern provinces. The news of his retreat was

presently known throughout the whole country between the Tua and the

Cavado; expresses and telegraphs could not have communicated it more

rapidly than it was spread by the voluntary bearers of good tidings.

One column came from Villa Real, one from Amarante, a third from

Guimaraens; a motlier assemblage had never taken the field; ... the

commonest weapons were pikes and long poles armed with reaping-hooks at

the end; and there were as many abbots, monks, friars, and parochial

clergy in command, as officers. The three columns united at Regoa,

too late to impede or molest the French in their passage of the

river. The enemy halted for part of the night at Lamego, and resumed

their retreat at two in the morning. The Portugueze came up with

them that day at Juvantes, and harassed them during three days. The

total want of discipline, order, and authority, rendered their great

superiority of numbers unavailing; and after they had reached Castro

d’Airo, dispersing as irregularly as they had collected, they gave

up the pursuit, less in consequence of the loss which they sustained

in a few brisk encounters, ♦NEVES, III. 235–248. THIEBAULT, 150–1.♦

than because they were too numerous to find sustenance, and every man

was eager to report the retreat of the enemy and the share he had

borne in the success. F. José Joaquim de Assumpçam, a friar of orders

gray, distinguished himself in this expedition, by his activity, his

strength, and his unerring aim.

♦HE GOES TO VISEU.♦

The loss on either side, in this pursuit, appears not to have been

great; the pursuers were too disorderly and too ill armed to make any

serious impression upon the enemy, and the French were not strong

enough to act upon the offensive with effect. They lost two pieces of

artillery, and some of their ammunition and baggage; and a few rich

uniforms which fell into the hands of the Portugueze were suspended as

trophies in the churches of N. Senhora da Oliveira at Guimaraens, and

of S. Gonçalo de Amarante, in the town which was under his peculiar

patronage. Being freed from his pursuers, Loison, sending part of his

force by the road of Moimenta da Beira, which was the shorter but

rougher line to Almeida, took himself the way of Viseu. This ♦ALARM

AT COIMBRA IN CONSEQUENCE OF HIS MOVEMENTS.♦ was the movement which

alarmed the people at Coimbra, and induced them to recall Zagalo from

Figueira. It was not improbable that his intention was to march upon

that important city, and there place himself in communication with

Lisbon: his own judgement would dispose him ♦THIEBAULT, 152.♦ to this,

and indeed no fewer than five-and-twenty dispatches, instructing him

so to do, had been sent, not one of which had reached him. But he had

received an exaggerated report of the proceedings in Coimbra, brought

by some partizans of the French, who had fled to save their lives,

on the night of the insurrection, when their houses were broken open,

during the suspension of all order and authority. Their testimony

concerning the temper and unanimity of the inhabitants could not be

doubted; it was ♦NEVES, III. 217.♦ added, that they were busy in

constructing formidable works of defence, and that an auxiliary force

of 12,000 Spaniards was expected there. Such strange events were now

every day occurring, that nothing seemed too extraordinary to be

believed; and Loison, it is thought, in consequence of these rumours,

judged it best ♦HE RETURNS TO ALMEIDA.♦ to change his purpose, and

return to Almeida. The Portugueze general who commanded in Beira

resided at Viseu; upon the approach of the French he summoned the

magistrates and members of the _Camara_, and they determined not to

oppose a premature and unavailing resistance. Loison, though notorious

for rapacity, in the most rapacious army that ever disgraced its

profession and its country, was at this time sensible how desirable it

was, if possible, to obtain a character for moderation and equity. He

encamped his troops for the night without the city, in the open space

where the fairs were held, took up his own lodging in the general’s

house, and on his departure the next day, paid for every thing with

which the men had been supplied. He also released three or four

prisoners, who, in the late skirmishes, had fallen into his hands. At

Celorico, where an insurrectionary movement had commenced, it was

suspended by the prudence of the magistrates and the just fears of the

people, till the enemy had passed by. The peasantry of the adjacent

country were less cautious; they appeared in arms upon the heights, and

Loison therefore sent two companies to burn the village of Souropires.

Being now within easy reach of Almeida, and knowing that the country

about Trancoso and Guarda was in a state of insurrection, his intention

was to employ ♦THIEBAULT, 152.♦ himself in reducing it to submission;

but here the only one of the numerous dispatches from Lisbon which

reached its destination found him, and, in pursuance of its orders to

draw nearer the capital, he hastened to Almeida, to make the ♦NEVES,

III. 249–253.♦ necessary arrangements for his march. On the way he

began to sack the city of Pinhel, which the inhabitants had deserted

at his coming; but upon the tidings that a corps from Tras os Montes

had arrived at Trancoso, and that Viseu was now in arms, he hastened

forward, and on the 1st of July re-entered Almeida.

♦Insurrection at Olham.♦

When Loison, upon the first apprehension of danger, was sent to

occupy Porto, General Avril was instructed, at the same time, to take

possession of Estremoz and Evora, for the purpose of holding Alem-Tejo

in subjection, and to give orders for securing Algarve. General Maurin

commanded for the French in this kingdom, as it is designated, the

smallest but richest province in Portugal: owing to his illness the

command had devolved upon Col. Maransin, who received instructions to

occupy Mertola as well as Alcoutim, for guarding the Guadiana against

the Spaniards; and to protect the coast from Faro, the greatest port in

that province, to Villa Real, the frontier town, at the mouth of the

river. Maransin, however, was not left at leisure to do this. Junot’s

proclamation, announcing the seizure of the Spanish troops, expressing

his satisfaction with the Portugueze for their peaceable deportment,

and promising to instruct them in the art of war, had been fixed upon

the church door at Olham, a small fishing village about four miles

from the city of Faro. The governor of Villa Real, Col. José Lopes

de Sousa, happening to be in that village on the day of the Corpo de

Deos, as he was going into the church stopped to see what the people

were reading. The language of that proclamation proved how little Junot

understood the character of the nation to which it was addressed; it

wounded that high sense of national honour for which the Portugueze

are remarkable, and Lopes, giving way to an honourable feeling of

indignation, tore the paper down, and trampled upon it; then turning to

the bystanders, exclaimed, “Ah, Portugueze, we no longer deserve that

name ... we are nothing now!” But they answered, that they were still

Portugueze, and swore that they were ready to lay down their lives for

their religion, their Prince, and their country. Though the impulse

had thus been given, and the determination of the parties formed, they

did not neglect the religious duties of the day, but entered the

church peaceably, and attended mass. That done, they proclaimed the

Queen and Prince Regent in the porch, and called upon Lopes to be their

general. He without delay prepared an address to the people, and sent

for two pieces of artillery and some powder from an island at the bar

of Armona, and from Fort Lorenzo on the bar of Faro. These were secured

before the French in Faro could hear of the projected insurrection.

Two agents also went off to the English squadron; the means which were

at the commandant’s disposal had probably been all disposed of to the

Spaniards; they proceeded therefore to Ayamonte, and performed their

errand with such good speed, that on the following night they returned

to ♦NEVES, III. 270–275.♦ Olham with 130 muskets from the Junta of that

city.

♦SUCCESS OF THE INSURGENTS.♦

The greater part of Maransin’s force was stationed at Mertola, the

rest was at Tavira and Villa Real, except 200 men at Faro. But before

the news reached Faro a larger body of fishermen and peasantry had

collected than 200 men could with any prudence have attacked. The

French therefore sent for reinforcements from Villa Real and Tavira.

From the latter place fourscore men embarked for Faro in three caics.

The fishermen of Olham, confident in their skill upon the water, set

out to intercept them under Captain Sebastiam Martins Mestre, one of

those persons who had opened a communication with the English fleet

and with Ayamonte. So little were the French prepared for such an

encounter, that they surrendered without resistance, and thus the

insurgents obtained a seasonable supply of arms. They were not long

allowed to enjoy their victory; about 200 French arrived from Villa

Real to assist their countrymen at Faro, and they marched against

Olham. The Portugueze met them half way, and disposed an ambuscade

to receive them: their own eagerness prevented its success; but they

behaved so well in a skirmish which ensued, that the enemy thought it

not prudent to advance. This was the third day of the insurrection, and

the people of Faro had as yet made no manifestation in its ♦THE CHAMBER

OF FARO ISSUE AN EDICT AGAINST THEM.♦ favour. The chamber of that city

had, on the contrary, issued an edict against the insurgents, for what

it denominated a riotous and scandalous attempt against the security

of the nation, saying that their conduct would brand the Portugueze

with the infamous stain of ingratitude, and warning them against the

severe punishment which awaited them if they persisted in their frantic

and desperate attempt. This edict was posted up in Olham; and it so

evidently affected the people, in whom great excitement and fatigue

had now produced proportionate exhaustion, that ♦NEVES, III. 275–281.

OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 332, 333.♦ Lopes and Mestre, who had been hurt

in the skirmish, thought it prudent to carry their prisoners to Spain,

and go themselves to solicit aid from the Juntas at Ayamonte and at

Seville.

♦INSURRECTION AT FARO.♦

Maransin, not aware of their departure, and anxious to lose no time

in suppressing a spirit the consequences of which he had so much

reason to dread, sent out three pieces of cannon to his detachment, and

for want of French troops, a party of fifty Portugueze artillerymen,

under Lieutenant Belchior Drago, an officer much more inclined to

act against the enemies of his country than with them. Meantime the

commander of the French, having learnt that the people of Olham were

wavering, succeeded in obtaining a conference with some of them, and

proposed terms. He promised them a free pardon, if they would return to

their obedience; said that they should be protected in their fishery,

and that even Lopes himself should be no otherwise punished than by

forbidding him to appear in that place. The persons to whom these

conditions were propounded listened to them willingly, and expressed

an opinion that the people would probably assent, if the Portugueze

authorities in Faro gave their sanction to the proposals. Some of the

magistrates accordingly went to conclude this agreement with the Prior

of Olham, a zealous Portugueze, to whom, in the absence of Lopes and

Mestre, the insurgents looked as their proper counsellor and ruler. But

at this moment, when the French by mere authority had nearly quelled

the insurrection, the spell was broken, and they were made sensible

that they had relied too confidently upon the terror of their name.

A few Faro-men met in the shop of one Bento Alvares da Silva Canedo,

and determined, while the French troops were absent, to raise the

city against them. They hired a fellow for a few moidores to give the

signal, by chiming the bells of the Carmo church at a certain hour, in

the manner usual in that country when prayers are solicited for a woman

in labour. They who had concerted the scheme sallied into the streets,

and proclaimed their native Prince; the populace gathered together at

that welcome acclamation; a colonel of artillery joined them, and sent

advice to Belchior Drago, who immediately returned to the city with

his detachment; two of his brothers, both in the Portugueze service,

appeared in the same cause, and the rest of the native troops without

hesitation ♦THE FRENCH EXCLUDED FROM THAT CITY.♦ did the same. The

French, when they would have re-entered the city to restore order,

found cannon planted against them by men who knew how to use them;

and, being repulsed in two attempts, retreated towards Tavira. Their

magazines, their military chest, and all their papers, were taken[14],

General Maurin, sick in bed, was necessarily left to his fate; and the

populace would have killed him in their first use and abuse of power,

if some humaner spirits had not interfered to preserve him. The Bishop

also exerted ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 333–335.♦ himself to prevent this

inhumanity, and had him ♦NEVES, III. 282–289.♦ transferred to the

episcopal palace for security.

♦A JUNTA FORMED AT FARO.♦

On the following morning an assembly of the people was held in the Alto

da Esperança. The magistrates, the Bishop and his chapter, the clergy,

the monks and friars, (who had all taken arms), the troops and the

nobles, met and solemnly proclaimed their lawful Prince; the _Quinas_

were hoisted, and an oath was taken that they would each to the last

drop of his blood defend the rights of the house of Braganza. Circular

letters were dispatched to all the towns and villages in Algarve.

The next day some instances of insubordination, and the reasonable

apprehension of an attack, induced one of the canons to propose, and

the people to consent, to the appointment of a Junta. The Chamber

nominated seven electors for the nobles, and as many for the people,

the chapter seven for the clergy, and the army seven for themselves.

By these electors eight members were chosen, two for each of the four

orders, and the Conde de Castro-Marim was appointed president. This

nobleman had been governor and captain-general of Algarve at the

time of the invasion; under the intrusive government he resided as a

private individual at Tavira, and the popular desire of re-establishing

the order of things to which they had been accustomed, was shown

in nominating him to the presidency, as it was indeed in all the

circumstances of the insurrection throughout ♦THE INSURRECTION SPREADS

THROUGH ALGARVE.♦ Portugal. Emissaries were now sent to the east and

west: in the west there were no enemies, and within eight-and-forty

hours the acclamation was effected in Loule, Sylves, Lagos, at the

fort of Sagres, and in the little towns to the north of Cape St.

Vincent. From the east there was reason to apprehend an attack; the

enemy, who had been compelled to retire from Faro, had retreated to

Tavira, and had been joined there by a detachment from Mertola. But the

English squadron was in sight; and the French commander, knowing how

inadequate his whole force was to the dangers which menaced it, knew

also that Algarve might, with little inconvenience, be left to itself,

and that his business was to place himself in communication with the

♦THE FRENCH RETREAT TO MERTOLA.♦ troops in Alem-Tejo. He therefore

withdrew to Mertola, and the people of Tavira, rising as soon as the

enemy retired, harassed them on the way. Juntas, subordinate to that

of Faro, were now formed in Tavira, and in other smaller places; a

red riband upon the right arm was assumed as the badge of patriotism,

and they who ventured to appear without it were in no small danger

from the people; but though many persons were insulted and menaced,

and some imprisoned as partizans of the French, the better orders

exerted their influence with such effect, that no blood was shed.

Preparations were made for defending the passes of the mountains which

divide Algarve from Alem-Tejo; and accredited agents were sent to

Ayamonte, Seville, and Gibraltar. Arms were without delay supplied

from all these places, and from Gibraltar a considerable quantity of

ammunition. A circumstance, however, occurred, which seemed likely

at first to occasion a misunderstanding with the Spaniards; for the

Portugueze, upon the retreat of the French, having thrown up some works

at Castro-Marim, the Spaniards crossed the river and destroyed them.

This measure, so rash, and in appearance so hostile, was occasioned

by an apprehension that the French might return there, which they had

made a demonstration of doing before they ♦THE PEOPLE OF ALGARVE FORM

A TREATY WITH SEVILLE.♦ abandoned Tavira. It was soon explained, when

each people had so strong an interest in being upon the best terms with

each other, and a formal ♦NEVES, III. 290–303.♦ treaty was concluded

with the Junta of Seville.

Before the insurrection in Algarve had succeeded, and even before

it was known beyond the mountains, the same national feeling had

♦INSURRECTION AT VILLA-VIÇOSA.♦ manifested itself in Alem-Tejo at

Villa-Viçosa, the place of all others where the national and loyal

feelings of a Portugueze would be most elevated by local associations,

having been the residence of the Braganzan family during the Spanish

usurpation. Early in the month the inhabitants had been exasperated by

the passage of a French escort through the town, with the contributions

that had been levied in that _Comarca_ and the plate of the churches.

They were farther irritated by an order for the militia to repair

to Elvas at a time when Kellermann hoped to employ them against the

Spaniards at Badajoz. But Elvas, where the main body of the French in

Alem-Tejo were stationed, was only four leagues distant; there was a

strong detachment still nearer, at Estremoz, and a French company was

quartered among them, in the castle: they knew not that any movement

for the recovery of their country’s independence had been made; nor,

owing to their peculiar situation, were there any people in Portugal by

whom it could be made with so little hope or possibility of success.

Thus they had borne oppression, and might have continued to bear it,

if their oppressors, in the wantonness of power, had not added insult

to wrong. There was an image of N. Senhora dos Remedios, which, after

having by a supernatural declaration of its own pleasure, changed its

name, ♦SANTUARIO MARIANO, T. VII. 571, 579.♦ made sundry voyages to

and from India, and travelled from one place to another in Portugal

during more than fourscore years, had at length obtained a settlement

at Villa-Viçosa, in a chapel of its own, where, being in high odour

for its miraculous powers, it was visited with peculiar devotion on

its own holyday, the 19th of June, by the people of that town, and the

adjacent country. The history of this idol might excite a mournful

smile for human weakness, not without indignation at the systematic

frauds which have been practised upon a religious people. The French

were too irreligious to see any thing in it but matter of mockery; and

some of the soldiers, placing themselves in a gateway near the chapel,

amused themselves with deriding the Portugueze, who were going there

to worship, in ignorance indeed, and in delusion, but in simplicity

and sincerity of heart. Some of the peasants resented this insult

by manual force; more Frenchmen came to help their comrades, more

Portugueze to support their countrymen; the scuffle became serious, for

life or death, ... the bell of the _Camara_ was rung, the ♦NEVES, III.

305–309.♦ French retired into the Castle, and succeeded in closing the

gate, which had been so well secured with iron in old times, that the

people were neither able to break it open, nor to hew it in pieces.

This was towards evening, and the riot continued all night.

♦THE FRENCH ENTER THE TOWN.♦

The town was now in open insurrection. Messengers set off to solicit

succour from Badajoz, and General Francisco de Paula Leite, who had

lately governed the province, was called upon to take the command,

which he absolutely refused, knowing that this tumult must inevitably

end in the destruction of those who engaged in it. Antonio Lobo Infante

de Lacerda, an old officer, and then Sargento-Mor of the militia,

regarding consequences less, set his life fairly upon the die; he

took the lead, and stationed marksmen upon the top of the Conceiçam

church, and in other points which commanded the Castle. Owing to these

dispositions several of the French fell. Meantime the news reached

Estremoz, where Kellermann and Avril both happened to be: fifty

dragoons, with half a battalion of infantry, and two pieces of cannon,

were immediately dispatched to rescue their fellows. A poor countryman,

by name Ignacio da Silva, was in Estremoz at the time; seeing their

movements, he easily divined their intention; good will gave him good

speed, and running the ten miles, he brought intelligence of their

march to Villa-Viçosa in time for Antonio Lobo to make preparations for

receiving them. He stationed some forty men, all for whom fire-arms

could be found, upon the walls, and towers, and houses, at the entrance

from the Borba road; the enemy, informed of, or divining this design,

took another entrance. The way was soon cleared by their field-pieces.

General Avril and Colonel Lacroix entered the town in pursuit of

the routed multitude, the bayonet was used, with little mercy or

discrimination, 200 persons were killed in the ♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ,

335.♦ streets, many more in the country, twelve prisoners ♦NEVES, III.

309–315.♦ were put to death as ringleaders in what the French called

rebellion, and the place was given up to pillage for one hour.