Soon after mid-day an alarm was given that the enemy were advancing to

renew the attack; the position was taken as on the preceding morning.

It proved to be a body of cavalry with a flag of truce; and General

Kellermann alighting at head-quarters, proposed an armistice, for

the purpose of concluding a treaty for the evacuation of Portugal by

the French. Sir Hew immediately called for his two predecessors. He

himself had no means of knowing, but from them, what the consequences

of yesterday’s battle really had been; the responsibility was his,

but for the information upon which the agreement was to be founded,

he trusted to them, and more especially to Sir Arthur. That General’s

plans had been completely defeated by the refusal to follow up the

victory, and by the change which Sir Harry Burrard, before he landed,

had made in the intended destination of Sir John Moore’s corps.

Considering, therefore, that in consequence of these errors the enemy

had been allowed leisure to resume a formidable position between the

British army and Lisbon, and could not now by any increase of the

British numbers be prevented from crossing the Tagus, and occupying in

strength the strong place of Elvas, with its stronger fort La Lippe,

and Almeida; that the Tagus would not for some time longer be open to

the fleet, the army meantime depending upon the ships for supplies,

and that its communication with them by the coast must at that season

be most precarious: considering also how important it was that the

troops should not be delayed by regular sieges in Portugal, but march

as soon as possible into Spain, he thought it expedient that the French

should be allowed to evacuate Portugal with their arms and baggage,

and that every facility for this purpose should be afforded them.

They occupied at that time, in a military point of view, he thought,

the whole of Portugal, having every strong hold in their hands; their

present situation enabled them still to avail themselves of those

possessions, and to strengthen them as they might think proper; and he

was of opinion that an army which had its retreat open, and possessed

such advantages, had a fair claim to be allowed such terms. He wished,

however, to limit the suspension of arms to eight-and-forty hours. Sir

Hew preferred that it should be unlimited, as it had been proposed; in

this he had a view to the disembarkation of Sir John Moore’s corps,

which was not forbidden by the agreement.

♦TERMS OF THE ARMISTICE.♦

An armistice accordingly for the purpose of negotiating a definitive

convention was concluded upon[30] these terms: That the river

Sisandre should be the line of demarcation between the two armies,

and that neither of them should occupy Torres Vedras; that the English

general should bind himself to comprehend the armed Portugueze in the

truce, and that their line of demarcation should be from Leiria to

Thomar: that it was agreed that the French army should in no case be

considered as prisoners of war; that all the individuals of it should

be transported to France with their arms and baggage and private

property, and that they should be deprived of no part of it whatsoever:

that no individual, whether Portugueze, Frenchman, or of a nation

allied to France, should be molested for his political conduct, but

be protected, both in person and property, and have liberty to retire

from Portugal within a limited time, with all his effects: that the

neutrality of the port of Lisbon should be acknowledged for the Russian

fleet; that is to say, that, when the English army and fleet should be

in possession of the city and port, the Russian fleet should neither be

disturbed during its stay, nor stopped when it might choose to depart,

nor pursued when it had sailed, till after the time fixed, in such

cases, by maritime law: that all the French artillery, and all their

cavalry horses, should be transported to France.

A demur was, with good reason, made concerning the baggage and private

property which the French were to carry off with them; and Kellermann

explained, that the words were only to bear their strict grammatical

meaning. The article regarding the Russians underwent more discussion.

Sir Hew insisted, that this was a point referable to the Admiral,

and that if he did not agree to it, it must be struck out; with this

understanding on the part of the French negotiator that article was

framed.

♦JUNOT RETURNS TO LISBON.♦

While Kellermann was thus employed in the British camp, Junot occupied

the positions of the Cabeça de Montechique and Mafra, and hastened

himself to Lisbon. On the 20th official intelligence had been

published in that city that Laborde had sustained an action with the

English army, and though he had only 2000 men, had kept his ground

against it; in the night he had taken a position conformably to his

orders, for the purpose of joining the Commander-in-chief; their

junction had been formed, the enemy were in a strait, and would be

attacked on the morrow, when they would be made to see what the French

could do: two English regiments had been destroyed in the action.

The people, however, understood by reports more worthy of belief

than any official statements of the enemy, that the English had been

successful at Roliça. The news of the battle of Vimeiro also reached

them at nightfall of the 22d; it was asserted, not only that Junot

had been defeated, but that he was taken prisoner; the people openly

congratulated each other in the streets, and the exultation and stir

at the Ave Maria hour were such as to indicate an insurrection. None

of the French deemed it prudent to appear, except General Travot, who

relied, and not in vain, upon that personal good-will which he had

obtained by a conduct always humane and honourable. At daybreak of

the 23d, a letter from Junot was published, dated from the field of

battle, at four in the afternoon. It stated that the English had been

attacked at nine o’clock that morning, in the fortified position which

they occupied, and that in an instant they had been dislodged from all

their advanced points. The left of the French army had obtained from

the first complete success; their right having to take a circuitous

course, could not arrive in time to decide the action entirely; it

had continued till two o’clock, and they should probably finish it on

the morrow. At two they had taken a position, and were three leagues

nearer the enemy than on the preceding day. The loss of the English had

been great. “On our part,” said Junot, “there have been 150 killed,

and from 300 to 400 wounded. We are stronger now, fresh troops having

reached me ... to-morrow, therefore ...” there the sentence was broken

off, and General Travot concluded the bulletin by saying, that many

of the enemy’s superior officers had been killed or wounded, that the

Commander-in-chief was well, and in a few days would be in Lisbon. He

arrived, in fact, that afternoon, with the reserve, and such of the

wounded as could be removed. A royal salute was fired from the Castle,

as if he had returned victorious; but the countenances of the French,

even the generals themselves, belied this manifestation of success.

♦NEVES, V. 151–154. OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 413, 417.♦ It was soon

rumoured that a capitulation had been proposed, and no doubt could be

entertained concerning this when it was known that an English officer

arrived that night in company with Kellermann, and that a boat had been

sent off to the English fleet.

♦GENERAL FREIRE DISSATISFIED WITH THE ARMISTICE.♦

The British army marched on the morning after the armistice was signed,

and took a position near the village of Ramalhal, this movement

being made merely for convenience. The Portugueze General, Bernardim

Freire, visited the Commander-in-chief there; and received a copy of

the armistice: he was dissatisfied with it, and promised to send a

confidential officer to communicate with him thereupon. Accordingly

Major Ayres Pintode Sousa soon arrived at Sir Hew’s head-quarters.

His strongest objections related to that article which stipulated

that no persons should be molested for their political conduct; that

being a question, he said, which it was for the Portugueze government

to decide. It appeared evident to Sir Hew, that General Freire was

offended because there was no mention of the Junta of Porto in the

armistice. His answer was, that the government of Portugal, to

which the decision of this point would belong, nowhere existed; and

moreover the measure was wholly military, and admitted of no delay; he

desired, however, that General Freire would state in writing whatever

observations he had to make, and promised that they should be most

favourably considered in the progress of the negotiation.

♦DIFFICULTY CONCERNING THE RUSSIAN SQUADRON.♦

There arose a difficulty now respecting the Russian fleet.

Notwithstanding the preparations of defence which had been made on

board their ships, the feelings of the Russians and of their Admiral

were not with the French, and all Junot’s endeavours to make their

presence available for the increase of his own means were in vain. Sir

Arthur Wellesley had learnt, when he visited the British squadron off

the Tagus, that it was Admiral Siniavin’s intention to take no part in

the contest between the two contending powers, but claim the protection

of a neutral port. It was his opinion, that if they conducted

themselves upon this principle, they ought not to be molested, and that

it mattered not what became of their ships, so they were not allowed

to return to the Baltic. In Sir Hew’s judgement the Admiral was the

best, if not the only judge of the question, and to him accordingly the

stipulation in the armistice concerning them had been referred. Sir C.

Cotton refused to ratify it; and upon this Sir Arthur recommended the

Commander to put an end to the armistice, and lose no farther time in

advancing, leaving it for Junot to renew the negotiation if he thought

proper. The Commander was of a different opinion; good faith, he

thought, required that the Admiral’s sentiments should be communicated

to General Junot; but he notified to him, at the same time, that the

armistice must be at an end in forty-eight hours, and Colonel Murray,

who was the bearer of this notice, was authorized to negotiate a

convention.

♦CONVENTION OF CINTRA.♦

The question concerning the Russians was adjusted between the two

Admirals. It was agreed that the ships should be held as a deposit by

Great Britain, to be restored within six months after the conclusion

of peace between Russia and that power; and that the men should

be conveyed to their own country at the expense of the British

Government, without any condition or stipulation respecting their

future services. The definitive convention also was soon concluded. The

terms were, that the French army should evacuate Portugal with their

arms and baggage, not be considered prisoners of war, be furnished

with means of conveyance by the English government, and disembarked

in any of the ports between Rochefort and l’Orient, and be at liberty

to serve on their arrival. They were to take with them all their

artillery of French calibre, with the horses belonging to it, and the

tumbrils supplied with sixty rounds per gun, all their equipments,

and all that is comprehended under the name of property of the army;

and all individuals of the army were to be at liberty to dispose of

their private property of every description, with full security for

the purchasers. The horses of the cavalry and of the officers were

to be embarked, those of the former not exceeding 600, those of the

latter not exceeding 200; and as the means of conveyance for horses

were very limited, facility should be given them for disposing of

those which could not be embarked. The garrisons of Elvas, Peniche,

and Palmella, were to be embarked at Lisbon, that of Almeida at Porto,

or the nearest harbour, and British commissaries were to provide for

their subsistence and accommodation on the march. The sick and wounded

who were not in a state to be removed were entrusted to the British

army, their expenses while they remained to be discharged by the

British Government, and reimbursed by France. Should doubts arise as

to the meaning of any article, it was to be interpreted favourably

to the French. From the date of the ratification of this convention,

all arrears of contributions, requisitions, or claims whatever of

the French Government against the subjects of Portugal, or any other

individuals residing in that country, founded on the occupation of

Portugal by the French troops, should be cancelled, all sequestrations

upon their property removed, and the free disposal of the same restored

to the proper owners. All subjects of France, or of powers in alliance

with France, domiciliated in Portugal, or accidentally there, should

be protected, their property respected, and themselves at liberty

either to remain in the country, or to accompany the French army. No

Portugueze was to be held accountable for his political conduct; and

all who had continued in office, or accepted it, under the French

Government, were placed under the protection of the British commanders,

and were to sustain no injury either in their persons or property, for

it had not been at their choice to obey the French or not: if they

chose to sell their property and remove, the term of one year should be

allowed them for that purpose. The Spanish troops detained at Lisbon

were to be given up to the British Commander, and he engaged to obtain

from the Spaniards the release of such French subjects, as, not having

been taken in battle, nor in consequence of military operations, were

now detained in Spain.

♦1808. SEPTEMBER.♦

That this convention, considered in a military point of view, was

advantageous to Great Britain, was the opinion of all the British

Generals. By effecting the immediate deliverance of Portugal, it

left the British army at liberty to advance into Spain, and reach

the main scene of action in time for the great struggle which was

expected there. The details of the treaty were thought of inferior

consideration. Kellermann had declared that the French would not submit

to severer terms, but that if such were insisted on, they would retire

to the strong fortresses in their possession, defend themselves there

till the last extremity, and destroy Lisbon before they abandoned it.

There was no reason to think that any compunction would withhold them

from doing this; and though it might possibly have been prevented

by bringing on an action, that action must have been fought in the

immediate vicinity of Lisbon, perhaps in the city itself. Motives of

humanity therefore had their weight with the Commander-in-chief in

making such large concessions to an enemy, who, if they had met with

sterner treatment, better suited to their deserts, would presently have

lowered their tone, and been glad to accept of any terms which should

secure them a safe embarkation.

The military advantages of the convention were not over-rated; it

will indeed appear hereafter that they proved greater than had been

foreseen. But some political errors were committed in framing it;

and the British Generals did not assume that moral tone which the

occasion justified, and which the soundest policy required. Buonaparte

was designated in the armistice as his imperial and royal majesty,

although Great Britain had never acknowledged him either as Emperor of

the French or King of Italy. Junot was allowed to sign the convention

as Duke of Abrantes, a title to which he had no better right than to

the property which he had amassed in Portugal by rapine. Sir Arthur

Wellesley had recommended, pending the negotiation, that some mode

should be devised “for making the French Generals disgorge the church

plate which they had stolen.” An article had been framed accordingly,

specifying in direct terms that the property of churches, monasteries,

and palaces should not be carried away. But this article was withdrawn,

on the repeated representations of Kellermann that its introduction

into a public monument would be reproachful to the French army. The

Commander-in-chief, he said, was particularly desirous it should be

omitted; and he was willing, on that condition, to pledge his word

of honour that no property of this kind should be removed. Except in

the case of some carriages which the court had left behind, and some

beasts taken for the service of the army, he disclaimed all knowledge

of any such appropriation of Portugueze property by the French as was

imputed to them; and if there were any officers who had thus acted, he

expressed a hope that they might reap no benefit from their misconduct.

With regard to the churches, a contribution had been regularly levied

on them for the public service, and its produce expended; this of

course the English could not mean to redemand. The confidence with

which these representations were urged, imposed for a time upon

honourable men, and the obnoxious article was withdrawn upon the very

ground for which it ought to have been retained.

♦REMONSTRANCES OF THE PORTUGUEZE COMMANDER.♦

The convention was concluded on the 30th of August, and ratified by

the British Commander, not at Cintra, from which place it has been

denominated, but at Torres Vedras. It was communicated immediately to

General Bernardim Freire. The reply from that General was, that he was

in some measure responsible to the Provisional Government for obtaining

for the Portugueze whatever could be useful and honourable to the

state; but there was not in the whole treaty a single article relating

to the Portugueze army. It became therefore his duty to inquire how

far the engagement contracted with the French for the restoration of

their civil officers who were in the hands of the Portugueze extended?

if the Provisional Government, taking advantage of his conduct in

having taken no part in these arrangements, should order him to act in

co-operation with the Spanish army in Alem-Tejo against the French,

would the British army oppose any such intention? and if the honour

and dignity of the Portugueze nation, and the authority of the Prince,

should seem to have been compromised by these arrangements, would the

British Generals take upon themselves to answer for it? Ayres Pinto,

when he delivered this reply, declared that he did justice to the

friendship and loyalty of the British nation, and individually felt

himself highly honoured by the manner in which Sir Hew had received

him; “nevertheless,” said he, “your Excellency must well know that the

public will judge of us not by our private conduct, but by that which

bears an authentic character; and there is no other means of avoiding

the ill will of the public than by obtaining from your Excellency a

reply which may convince the Portugueze people that the General to whom

the direction of their forces is confided, has yielded only to urgent

circumstances, and to the absolute necessity of not compromising the

army under his command.”

If the Portugueze General had not separated from the British army,

contrary to the advice and request of Sir Arthur Wellesley, he would of

course have been a party to the negotiation. Sir Hew, upon occasion of

the armistice, had desired him to state his sentiments fully while the

negotiations were in progress; not having received one word of comment

during that time, he expressed his surprise at this late expostulation

on terms to which the honour of the British Commanders was pledged, as

far as their influence or power could be supposed to extend by the

common and known laws of war. But to this it was replied, that Ayres

Pinto had personally communicated the General’s objections to the

conditions of the armistice, representing that the Portugueze army and

the Government were treated too cavalierly in this transaction; that

some notice should be taken of them, were it only to prevent factious

persons from raising injurious reports; that the French were not strong

enough to deserve so much consideration; and that the Portugueze were

now in a condition to demand account from them of the robberies,

rapines, depredations, murders, and sacrileges of every kind which

they had committed in that kingdom, and which called for exemplary

vengeance. The Portugueze Commander now poured in his representations

and complaints. It was his duty to declare, he said, that not having

been consulted on, or privy to this negotiation, in which he supposed

his country was concerned, he considered himself exempt from all

responsibility for it. He complained that no notice had been taken in

the armistice of the troops under the Monteiro Mor in Alem-Tejo, nor of

the Spanish army of Extremadura which had entered that province. The

British army, he affirmed, could not, and ought not to be considered

in any other light than an auxiliary army; as such it had been applied

for by the Provisional Government, and as such it was still to be

regarded, let its strength be what it might. Under these circumstances

any treaty with the French ought to have been made in conjunction with

the Portugueze Government, and with its full approbation. He protested

finally against the treaty in the whole and in its separate parts,

... in the whole, because it contained no consideration of the Prince

Regent or the Government which represented him; in its parts, because

no declaration was made that what places, stores, and ships were to be

taken possession of should be restored to the Portugueze Government;

because it stipulated for the impunity of individuals who had betrayed

their country; and because it made no provision for the security of the

people of Lisbon and its neighbourhood while the French continued there.

♦REPLY OF SIR HEW DALRYMPLE.♦

These representations were in some respects well founded; they were

mingled with futile matter, and there was also a covert purport in

them, which Sir Hew Dalrymple perfectly understood, of exciting a

popular feeling in favour of the Junta of Porto, that body being

desirous of prolonging and extending its authority, after the

circumstances which alone rendered it legitimate had ceased. Leaving

this question untouched, Sir Hew replied, with a courtesy and frankness

that disarm resentment. It was not possible, he said, to engage the

existing Government of Portugal in a negotiation purely military in its

nature, and in which no reference was had either to the Governments

of England or of France. With regard to the indemnity for political

offences, it was natural that the French should demand it; and to him

it appeared that the treaty afforded a fair occasion for remitting

punishments which, by keeping political animosity alive, would not have

tended to the tranquillity and happiness of the country. There was

little reason to suppose that persons who had thus rendered themselves

obnoxious would venture to remain long after the French; if they did,

they would of course be vigilantly observed, and their future treatment

would depend upon their future conduct. It was not from any want of

personal respect to General Freire that he did not enter into the

discussion of points which it was only incumbent on him to explain to

the Government of the country. But being aware of the calumnies which

had been disseminated by the enemy in other countries, as now in this,

he assured his Excellency, and would use the necessary means for giving

publicity to the pledge, that he served in Portugal as the Commander

of a force acting in alliance with the Sovereign of that country;

and therefore considered himself bound by duty and honour to pay as

strict a regard to the interests of the Prince Regent, the dignity and

security of his Government, and the welfare of the nation of which he

was the lawful ruler, as even his Excellency himself. But as touching

the cessions, he did not see in what terms they could have been

better framed. “The nominal Duke of Abrantes,” said Sir Hew, “is not

the guardian of the Prince Regent’s interests; and if any pledge is

necessary of the pure and disinterested views of the Sovereign I have

the honour to serve, I do not think it was through the stipulations of

a treaty with that General that it could most properly be conveyed.”

The manifest good faith and the temper of this reply produced their

proper effect, and General Freire expressed his satisfaction in it as

promising the most happy, prompt, and secure accomplishment of the

object at which they aimed.

♦THE BRITISH FLAG HOISTED IN THE FORTS.♦

Before the British troops entered Lisbon the Russian Admiral wrote

to Sir Hew to inquire what flag was to be displayed when the forts

on the Tagus were delivered up, and whether, if the Portugueze flag

were hoisted, the port would be considered neuter, and his squadron

entitled to the benefit of that neutrality. Sir Hew replied, that if he

felt authorized to interfere in a business which had been exclusively

referred to Sir C. Cotton, he could easily anticipate the answer which

that Commander would make. Contrary, however, to his expectation,

when two regiments were landed from the fleet, and took possession of

the ports on the river, the British flag was hoisted. The Portugueze

were naturally hurt at this; but before their General could offer any

representation on the subject, Sir Hew had ordered the Portugueze

colours to be displayed in its stead. The negotiation concerning the

Russian squadron had not been concluded when the question was proposed

to the British General, and it was to settle in a summary way Admiral

Siniavin’s claim to the protection of a neutral port that the English

flag had been planted by Sir C. Cotton.

♦ANARCHY IN LISBON.♦

During the negotiation Lisbon was in a dreadful state. Those wretches

who, to the reproach of Christian states and civilized society, are

bred in the corruption of all great cities, took advantage of the

temporary dissolution of government as they would have done of a

conflagration or an earthquake. The soldiers of the police, being

Portugueze, had almost all gone to join their countrymen in arms;

and the French while they went the rounds, suffered robberies to be

committed in their hearing and in their sight, either not understanding

the cries for help, or not choosing to interfere, now that their

reign was at an end. They indeed themselves were in such danger, that

they soon gave over patrolling the streets, and fired upon those

who approached their quarters in the night. In this manner several

♦OBSERVADOR PORTUGUEZ, 420, 501–3. NEVES, V. 202.♦ Portugueze were

shot; the French venturing upon this, not so much in the confidence of

their own strength, as in full reliance upon the interference of the

English to protect them.

There had been a great error of judgement in not following up

the victory at Vimeiro; and in the subsequent negotiations the

British Generals had taken a lower tone than the enemy expected, or

circumstances required. But they were more censurable for having

failed to manifest that moral sense of the enemy’s conduct which

individually they felt, and yet collectively seemed for a time to have

suppressed for the sake of professional considerations and courtesy,

never more unworthily bestowed. The soldiers of Buonaparte in Portugal

had forfeited all claim to those courtesies which honourable men will

always delight in rendering to honourable enemies. They had disgraced

their profession and their country, and it behoved the British, for

the sake of theirs, to have testified their sense of this in the most

decided manner. But instead of shunning any farther intercourse than

was necessary for the execution of the treaty, they entered into social

intercourse with the French, entertainments were mutually given, and

British Generals sate at Junot’s table in company with the men who

were responsible for the horrors committed at Evora and Leiria. They

were not fully informed of those crimes, and certainly did not believe

Junot and his people to be so thoroughly destitute of honour as they

soon found them. But proof enough of their wickedness had been given in

public and official acts; and in thus appearing for a time to forget

the real character of the cause in which Great Britain was engaged, a

moral fault, as well as a political error, was committed.

♦THE FRENCH CONTINUE TO PLUNDER.♦

Elated no doubt by this, as well as by their success in negotiation,

the French continued that system of public and private robbery for

which they seemed to think the convention had granted them entire

impunity. General Freire complained to Sir Hew Dalrymple that they

were plundering the treasury, the museum, public libraries, arsenals,

churches, and the houses and stores of individuals. The British

commissioners for carrying the convention into effect, Major-General

Beresford and Lord Proby, informed him, that except the military and

naval stores there was no kind of public property which the French

intended to relinquish; that they meant to carry off the valuables

of the Prince, the plunder of the churches, and much of the property

of individuals; that they had packed up the royal library, and most

of the articles of the museum; that during the negotiation they had

taken a sum of about £22,000 from the _Deposito Publico_, which was in

fact a robbery of individuals, that money being deposited there till

litigations concerning it should be decided; and that even after the

terms were signed they had actually demanded the money arising from the

revenues of the country. The merchants of Lisbon addressed a memorial

to the British Commander, stating that Junot had exacted from them a

forced loan of two million _cruzados_, promising that payment should

be made out of the enormous war-contribution which he had imposed;

they had not been paid, and it was now his intention to depart without

paying them; they therefore prayed for redress, and likewise that some

steps should be taken for recovering their ships and property which had

been unlawfully sequestered in France.

♦QUESTION CONCERNING BAGGAGE.♦

There was something absolutely comic in the impudent persuasion of

the French that they might continue to pillage, and carry off what

they pleased, under protection of the British army. They proposed to

take away the Vasco da Gama and some Portugueze frigates; the Gama, it

may be remembered, was the ship wherein they had embarked great part

of the treasure which they had collected. The reply was, that these

vessels did not belong to them, and they were only to carry away their

individual baggage. Junot actually demanded five ships to remove his

own personal effects. Such a demand was of course pronounced to be

inadmissible. Sir Hew declared he would not listen to any proposal

which compromised his own honour and that of the British nation.

He perceived, that owing to the shameless and open manner in which

the French were preparing to carry off public and private property,

popular indignation was strongly excited, and that because of the

interpretation which they by their conduct affected to give the

convention, this feeling was little less directed against the English

than the French. He instructed the commissioners therefore to require

the restoration of these plundered goods; “by this means,” said he,

“affording a proof to the Portugueze nation that we at least act with

good faith, and are therefore entitled to use the necessary measures,

however vigorous, for the protection of those obnoxious persons for

whose safety that faith is pledged.”

The commissioners exercised their charge with becoming firmness.

The money taken from the public deposit they compelled the French

to promise to replace, ... a concession which was not obtained till

after a very long discussion. The spoils of the museum and royal

library were also ♦THE FRENCH ENDEAVOUR TO CARRY OFF ARTICLES FROM THE

MUSEUM.♦ reclaimed. They had been selected, General Kellermann said,

by M. Guiffroi, a member of the National Institute: the objection,

indeed, on the part of the English, he admitted to be well founded;

nevertheless, he observed that these articles, consisting chiefly of

specimens in natural history, and interesting manuscripts, were, in

general, duplicates, ... that they were precious acquisitions for the

sciences; ... the sciences were of all countries, and far from making

war upon them, we ought to promote their communication. They wished,

therefore, to select articles of natural history at their pleasure, and

to leave for them such compensations as the English might think proper.

Of course, the British commander returned a most decided negative,

saying he could not sell articles which were not his, and would not

allow them to be removed: and the French general was compelled to issue

a general order, commanding all individuals of the French army, or

administration, to make restitution of whatever they had taken from any

public or private establishment, within four-and-twenty hours.

♦THEY EMBARK HORSES, CARRIAGES, AND PICTURES, WHICH ARE RECOVERED.♦

It was something to have wrung from them such a confession of robbery;

yet within a few hours after this very order had been issued, Junot’s

first aide-de-camp, Colonel de Cambis, carried off the Prince Regent’s

horses from the royal stables, to embark them as General Junot’s

property. Having been compelled to restore them, this same officer

the next day endeavoured in like manner to carry off two carriages

belonging to the Duke of Sussex, and it was necessary to threaten him

with being carried prisoner to England, if he persisted in this sort

of conduct. It was ascertained that Junot had embarked a collection

of pictures from the house of the Marques de Angeja; restitution was

demanded, and he said they had been given to him. This was found to be

false; and Junot then laid the affair upon a relation of his who was

embarked with him, but who immediately endeavoured to conceal himself

in one of the transports. A threat of detaining the General brought

this person back; he was ordered on shore, to give an account of the

transaction, and as he refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the

commissioners, or to land, was compelled to do both, and to produce the

pictures.

♦THEY CARRY OFF LARGE SUMS IN MONEY.♦

But in other cases the commissioners were bound by the letter of a

treaty, in which it now appeared that one party could not have presumed

too little upon the honour of the other, nor one too much. All the

money which these plunderers had collected they were allowed to carry

off. Sir Hew observed, that this description of property could never

come under the provisions of the treaty, and that it was impossible

to identify it, or prove exactly from whom it was obtained. But Ayres

Pinto had pointed out a simple and satisfactory mode of proof: the

French had brought no Portugueze money with them, consequently,

whatever they possessed in it must have been the fruits of rapine. Yet

the French carried off three months’ pay for the whole army, in the

general military chest, and, besides this, distributed large sums to

the different regiments, to be carried off in their regimental chests.

One regiment alone was said to have taken 100,000 crowns with it.

♦QUESTION CONCERNING THE SILVER IN BARS.♦

The French had also a great quantity of silver in bars, into which they

had reduced the pillage of the churches and palaces, for the sake of

easier conveyance. Kellermann strenuously insisted that the convention

guaranteed to them whatever was in their possession previous to the

first day of the truce, and declared, most positively, that they

never would concede this point. The commissioners, on the contrary,

insisted upon the article which restricted them from carrying off

other than military and personal baggage; and they declared that the

Commander-in-chief would never consent to any other construction. At

length they compromised the dispute: the French, though they would

not acknowledge that, by the treaty, they were under any obligation,

proposed to pay the debts of the army with this silver, for which

purpose, they said, it had ever been expressly intended, and agreed,

that if any remained after these debts were discharged, it should be

delivered up. The commissioners acknowledged, that, by the convention,

they could scarcely require more; and Sir Hew pronounced that the

offer was fair, and might be acceded to.

♦FURTHER INSTANCES OF DISHONOUR IN THE FRENCH.♦

The commissioners, however, were soon convinced that concession was not

the likeliest expedient for avoiding new pretensions. The ingenuity of

man, they said, could not provide against French cavil, and ingenuity

in misconstruction; and in consequence of the perpetual subterfuges and

false promises of Kellermann, they insisted upon the establishment of a

committee, to inquire into all the claims presented by the Portugueze,

and to be invested with full authority to summon persons, and to order

restitution. Property to a very great amount, both private and public,

was recovered by these means. Information was obtained that fifty-three

boxes of indigo were embarked as part of Junot’s baggage: the indigo

was found and seized: the French general, of course, disclaimed

any knowledge of the transaction; and the commissioners, without

hesitation, assured him that every officer in the British army would

acquit him personally on this head, because it was impossible for him

to inspect or know what was done in his name! A bold and well-supported

attempt was made to avoid the repayment of the money taken from the

Deposito Publico, and a compensation for articles taken from the public

magazines since the convention, amounting in the whole to £40,000. The

justice of this demand had been acknowledged, and immediate payment

promised. Nevertheless, it had not been made when Junot embarked, and

when he was called upon to fulfil his agreement, Kellermann pleaded

that the money remaining in the _Caisse Militaire_ did not amount to

the £60,000, which, by the explanation of the convention, was admitted

to be a fair military chest, and therefore he considered the agreement

to repay these sums as cancelled. The first division of the French had

already sailed, but the commissioners applied to Sir Charles Cotton

to detain the second, and the Commander-in-chief, till that point

should be satisfactorily settled. Even after this instance of vigour,

much litigation and discussion was permitted; and when, at length,

Kellermann yielded to necessity, attempts were still made to put off

the payment, till no means of enforcing it should be left. During

the three last days that Junot remained in the river, orders were

repeatedly given to the _payeur-general_ to pay this money, and they

were always evaded, under some frivolous pretext; till at last the

commissioners ordered him and his baggage on shore to the arsenal, and

then the Frenchman reluctantly refunded this part of the plunder.

♦PROTESTS OF THE MONTEIRO MOR AND OF THE JUIZ DO POVO.♦

While the commissioners were thus recovering from the French a part

of that wealth which they had collected by every means of oppression

and violence, the strong interference of the British alone preserved

these plunderers from the vengeance of the people. The popular feeling

was partaken by all ranks. The Monteiro Mor, who had now advanced

to Azeitam, addressed a protest to the British Admiral against the

treaty, because the Prince and his Government had not been consulted;

and because no attention had been paid to himself, who, without any

foreign aid, had found means to expel the enemy from the kingdom of

Algarve, and pursuing them, passing on to Alem-Tejo, and compelling

them to evacuate all their posts, had taken a position with his army

on the south bank of the Tagus. Such fanfaronade could only detract

from his own deserts, and discredit the exertions and the sufferings

of a brave and loyal nation. He accompanied this protest by a request,

that, on account of the robberies and atrocities which the French had

committed, the vessels employed to carry them home might be embargoed

till the King of England and the Prince of Brazil should have resolved

on what was best for the honour and interest of the two nations; and he

required that their baggage should be rigorously searched by Portugueze

and English commissioners, lest they should carry away with them the

booty which they had so infamously obtained. The Juiz do Povo also

presented a protest; though the convention had not been published, the

people, he said, knew there was no mention made in it of the three

states of the kingdom, and that it left them without satisfaction for

the crimes both against divine and human laws, and without vengeance

for the murders, robberies, and atrocities of every kind, which the

usurpers had committed. “Our churches stript,” said he, “the royal

palaces damaged, the royal treasury plundered, the people reduced to

poverty and misery, so that the streets and squares of the capital

are rendered impassable by crowds of beggars, ... nothing of this is

taken into consideration: ... yet the safety of kingdoms depends on

not letting their rights be invaded without punishing the offenders,

and the consequence of permitting such crimes with impunity will

occasion incalculable misfortunes. The people and the officers of

this tribunal declare their gratitude to the generous allies who have

liberated Portugal, but they pray for the suspension of a convention

so favourable to the French as this is said to be. It must be invalid

after the abuses and hostilities which they have continued to commit in

Almeida, and the contribution which they have since extorted; and this

tribunal cannot consent to the return of the enemy to France, as they

already threaten that they will come back to destroy what they have

left.”

♦DANGER OF TUMULTS IN LISBON.♦

Such language from a magistrate whose name was never heard but in

turbulent times, increased the popular ferment; and General Hope, who

now commanded in Lisbon, found it necessary to issue a proclamation,

prohibiting the Portugueze from entering the city with arms, or wearing

them in the streets; and enacting that all places where wine was sold

should be shut at six in the evening, and not opened before sunrise. To

enforce these regulations, and maintain order, strong guards, picquets,

and patroles, were appointed to arrest every person who should break

the peace. Nothing but this prompt vigilance prevented the people from

gratifying their thirst for vengeance. It is said that all the houses

in Belem in which the enemy were lodged were marked in the course of

one night, and that lists of those Frenchmen and their adherents who

were deemed most worthy of death were posted up. The English were

loudly reproached for having protected men who deserved the most

exemplary punishment; and there were not wanting persons unreflecting

enough to assert, that sure as they were of the Spaniards, they could

have exacted that punishment without any necessity for English aid.

This feeling, however, was far from general. The English character was

too well known in Lisbon, for the English name ever to be unpopular

among a people not less retentive of kind and friendly feelings than

of injuries. When the English soldiers went to occupy the arsenals

and forts, refreshments were brought out for them along the way, and

British officers were followed in the streets by applauding crowds;

while the hatred which was manifested towards the French was so deep

and general, that no people could possibly have incurred it unless

they had deserved it to the utmost. Not only did the Portugueze refuse

to purchase from them those things which they wished to convert into

money, they refused to sell them any thing, even provisions for their

hospital. If a Frenchman ventured to appear alone, trusting to escape

discovery, he betook himself, upon the first suspicious eye which

was directed toward him, to an Englishman for protection. Kellermann

came on shore one day after his embarkation to dine with a British

officer, and being recognized on his return to the water-side, was

attacked by the mob. Our sailors defended and saved him, but not before

he had received some severe contusions. Loison, who was a more marked

object of execration, was considered in so much personal danger, that

four battalions were bivouacked near his quarters, and four pieces of

cannon planted there for his protection. But toward those officers who

had demeaned themselves humanely and honourably, the people testified

nothing but respect and good-will.

♦TEMPER OF THE FRENCH.♦

The French were not sufficiently humbled to bear this meekly. The

success which they had obtained in negotiation, in their minds more

than counterbalanced the humiliation of their defeat, and of their

present state. They denied that they had been defeated; they affirmed

that they had dictated the terms; and Junot continued to occupy the

royal box at the opera till his departure. The English generals

respected, in this instance, the custom of the country, and after the

Frenchman had resigned it, left it unoccupied, with the curtain down.

But however much the enemy might console themselves with the confident

hope of again becoming masters of the kingdom, their pride was bitterly

wounded by the display of national feeling which met them every where,

and which they considered presumptuous in a people who were soon to be

brought again under their iron yoke. They called it audacity in the

Portugueze to wear the national cockade, which they still chose to

denominate a badge of insurrection; and they complained that even in

their sight lamps were prepared for illuminating the city upon their

departure, ♦THIEBAULT, 219–222.♦ and demanded in greater numbers than

could be supplied.

♦EMBARKATION OF THE FRENCH.♦

The first division of the French embarked under protection of the

second, the second and third were protected by the British troops from

the fury of the Portugueze. Wholly to restrain it was impossible,

but no serious injury was done. They embarked amid the curses of the

people. Nine days and nights the rejoicings continued, not by any order

from the magistracy, but by the voluntary act of the inhabitants,

whose joy was in proportion to the misery from which they had been

delivered. It was a joy which thousands whose fortunes had been ruined

in the general calamity, partook; and which brought the last earthly

consolation to many a broken heart. The enemy, while they lay in the

river, were within sight of the illuminations and fire-works, and could

hear the bells with which that great city rang from side to side.

However brave in arms, however skilful in negotiation, they departed

under circumstances more reproachful than had ever before attached to

any army, or body of military men. As a last act of baseness, one of

their general officers called at the commissioners’ office, while they

were absent, just before he embarked, and carried off all the papers he

could collect, in the hope of making it impossible for them to produce

an account of their proceedings. But he was driven back to Lisbon by

contrary winds, and compelled ♦FINAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS.♦ to

restore them. The commissioners concluded the final report of their

transactions by stating, that the conduct of the French had been

marked by the most shameful disregard of honour and probity, publicly

evincing their intention of carrying off their plundered booty, and

leaving acknowledged debts unpaid. “Finally, said they, they have

only paid what they were obliged to disgorge, and were not permitted

to carry off. The British commissioners had represented to General

Kellermann, that whatsoever the words, it could never be the spirit of

any convention, that an army should, as a military chest, or otherwise,

carry off public money, leaving public debts unpaid: they had called

upon him, for the honour of the French army and nation, to act justly;

and yet, unmindful of any tie of honour or of justice, the French army

had taken away a considerable sum in the military chest, leaving its

debts unpaid, to a very large amount.”

Thus the courtesy which had been shown toward the French Generals in

the course of the negotiation, had the effect of fixing upon them a

deeper stigma; by bringing into full view a low chicanery, a total want

of honour, and utter disregard of truth, which could not have been

suspected, if it had not been thus officially proved, and placed upon

public record. Had such charges been advanced by the enemy against the

general officers of a British army, the strictest inquiry would have

been instituted, and no rank, no influence, no professional merits,

could have screened the offenders. They would have been dismissed

with ignominy from the service which they had disgraced, and for

ever excluded from all honourable society. There was a time when the

highest eulogium which the French bestowed upon a soldier was to say,

that he was without fear and without reproach; but under the system of

Buonaparte nothing was considered reproachful in his soldiers, provided

they feared nothing in this world or in the next.

♦ADDRESSES OF THANKS TO THE BRITISH COMMANDER.♦

The good faith of the British, and their real regard for the

interest and feelings of the Portugueze nation, were now apparent.

The national flag was every where displayed, and the people were

informed by a proclamation that no time would be lost in establishing

their government upon the basis on which the Prince had left it, and

substituting the civil for that military power which was continued

only from necessity and for a few days. The magistrates and the clergy

meantime, and all persons who possessed authority or influence, were

called upon to co-operate in preserving order. Addresses of thanks came

from the provinces; and the Juiz do Povo, who had protested in the name

of the people of Lisbon so strongly against the convention, now for

those same people expressed their gratitude to the British Commander,

the British Sovereign, and the British nation, requesting that their

sincere thanks for this great deliverance might be made known to the

smallest village as well as to the throne. Such was the proud situation

of the British army at Lisbon. Some formalities had been forgotten

in the negotiation, some minor interests had been overlooked, and

the courtesies of war had been too liberally accorded to an enemy

who should have been made to feel their moral degradation. But the

unstained honour, the unsuspecting integrity, the open manliness, the

plain dignity of the British character, had been manifested throughout

the whole of these transactions; and this was felt and acknowledged by

the Portugueze.

♦GALLUZO BESIEGES ELVAS.♦

Difficulties which could not have been foreseen arose concerning the

delivery of Elvas. Galluzo, who commanded the army of Extremadura, and

who had hitherto afforded no very efficient aid to the Portugueze,

thought proper at this time, when he had been required by every civil

and military authority to begin his march towards Castille, in contempt

of those orders to enter Alem-Tejo, and besiege Elvas, as if no treaty

for its surrender had been made. The French Commandant, Girod de

Novillars, upon this required from the inhabitants an immediate loan of

money, to the amount of 30,000 francs, and wine and provisions to the

value of 20,000 more. Drained as they had been by repeated exactions,

the people of Elvas were in no condition to obey this demand; the

Bishop and the magistrates therefore easily obtained permission to go

to the Spanish camp, and entreat Galluzo to suspend hostilities. That

General, however, declared, that if the French did not surrender within

six hours, he would open his fire against Fort La Lippe, and put the

whole garrison to the sword. He had no time to lose, he said, but must

hasten to assist his fellow-soldiers in expelling the enemy from the

Peninsula; and the inhabitants must either abandon the city, or take

arms against the French. From this dilemma they were delivered by the

French themselves, who, during the night, withdrew into the forts,

leaving about an hundred men in the hospital. An agreement was then

made, with Galluzo’s consent, that the city should remain neutral;

and the Spaniards began an absurd fire against Fort La Lippe, which

is the strongest fortress in Portugal. Things were in this state when

Lieutenant-Colonel Ross arrived with letters from the French Commander,

instructing M. Girod to give up the place to him in pursuance of the

convention. A demur was made by the Commandant, till he could send

an officer to Lisbon, and satisfy himself that the dispatches were

authentic; and difficulties less reasonable in their kind were started

both by the Spaniards and Portugueze. Galluzo argued that no agreement

between the British and French Generals could be binding upon him. The

Spaniards, he affirmed, had a right as besiegers to take possession of

Elvas, and the Spanish arms were not to be defrauded of the splendour

which this would give them. He threatened Girod that if any injury

were offered to the city the prisoners should be put to death, and

the garrison receive no mercy; and he insisted that they should march

out and lay down their arms, and that the place should be entered

and occupied by the Spaniards only. In his communications with Sir

Hew Dalrymple he held rather a lower tone, saying that certainly he

should not have besieged and cannonaded Elvas if he had known of the

convention; but it had not been thought proper to announce it to him.

He required only a joint surrender to the British and Spanish arms,

leaving the place and the prisoners to his Excellency; but he had

heard the garrison were not to be considered prisoners; that article,

though the opinion was that it would not be executed, occasioned some

uneasiness, and therefore he would make them lay down their arms, and

swear not to bear them again against Spain or her allies.

♦DIFFICULTIES CONCERNING THE SURRENDER OF ELVAS.♦

Galluzo was at this time upon ill terms with the Portugueze. They

complained that throughout the struggle in Alem-Tejo he had promised

much and performed little; that the Spaniards had acted as masters

in those fortresses which they had entered as friends, countermanded

the orders of the Portugueze General, encouraged insubordination,

appropriated to their own use money which had been raised for the

national cause, and pillaged the country as they passed through it. On

the other hand, Galluzo reproached the Portugueze with want of activity

and energy, and with giving his people nothing but water when they went

to assist them. His pretensions to Elvas, therefore, which under any

circumstances might have given offence, were now peculiarly offensive;

and it happened that the Junta of Porto, who were at this time not

without hope of getting the government of the kingdom into their own

hands, had ordered General Leite to march into Elvas and occupy it as

soon as it should be evacuated. The General communicated their orders

to Sir Hew, declaring that he felt it his duty to obey, and laying

before him his complaints against the Spaniards. These difficulties

were surmounted by a proper mixture of conciliation and firmness on

the part of the British Commander. The first great object was, that

British faith should be kept, and complete protection afforded to the

French garrison. For this purpose those troops whom it was intended to

canton in Alem-Tejo were immediately ordered thither, and stationed as

near Elvas as possible. Colonel Graham was sent to Galluzo to bring him

to reason; and if this were found impracticable, then to proceed to

Madrid, and call for the interference of higher authorities. Colonel

Ross was instructed to bear in mind, that as the French surrendered

to no nation except the English, neither Spanish nor Portugueze

troops were to appear when they marched out: that with respect to

the Portugueze, the feelings of the nation were to be gratified, and

their flag every where displayed under a salute; but he was to hold

the substantial power, even if he saw cause for allowing a Portugueze

General to march in with a detachment of his men. Colonel Graham

performed his difficult mission with great ability. Galluzo ceased

from all farther interference, and was so gratified by the temper in

which this affair had been carried on by the British Commander, and the

services which had been rendered to the soldiers of Extremadura who had

been released at Lisbon, that he ordered the black English cockade to

be blended with the red Spanish one in his army, to mark his gratitude,

as he informed Sir Hew, and denote the intimate alliance between the

two countries.

♦ELVAS AND ALMEIDA GIVEN UP.♦

All difficulties being at length removed, the forts were delivered up,

General Leite entered the city, and the French garrison, between 1400

and 1500 in number, were marched to Aldea Gallega. No insults were

offered them on the way; and they were joined by their comrades, who,

having been wounded at Evora, had been left in that city, and treated

with careful humanity by the inhabitants. The garrison of Almeida were

not removed so easily. The Portugueze had kept up an irregular blockade

of that fortress after Loison’s departure; they borrowed fire-arms from

the Spaniards of Ciudad Rodrigo, and were so little scrupulous in their

mode of warfare, that a friar poisoned the water of a tank at which

the cattle belonging to the garrison used to drink. Almeida might long

have defied any efforts which the Portugueze or the Spaniards in that

quarter could have made against it; it was, however, gladly delivered

up, in conformity to the convention, and the garrison were marched

to Porto, under a British escort, there to be embarked. ♦TUMULTS AT

PORTO.♦ On the day of their arrival, they employed themselves in

converting as much of their plunder as possible into money: purchasers

were not wanting, and their market continued the whole day and

night, horses being the ostensible articles. Such a traffic excited

the indignation of all but those who were profiting by it; and that

indignation was excited to the highest pitch, when, on the following

morning, as the baggage of the French was examined at the Castle

of St. Joam da Foz, in presence of the governor and of Sir Robert

Wilson, several rich church vestments were found in one of the boxes.

The horror which the Portugueze feel at sacrilege is perhaps hardly

conceivable by those who are not acquainted with them. The governor

himself, on this occasion, joined the populace in their outcry, and

immediately gave orders that no vessel should be permitted to pass the

castle. The news soon reached Porto, exaggerated as it passed from

mouth to mouth; a mob collected, bent upon putting the French to death;

and some insults were offered the English for protecting them. The

Bishop, Sir Robert Wilson, and many officers, Portugueze and English,

used their utmost exertions to quiet the tumult. They succeeded in

restoring peace at St. Joam da Foz: but the crowd still continued on

both sides the river; and at an early hour of the morning some thousand

persons had assembled, with a determination to attack the French on

board the transports: they placed artillery on both shores, and mounted

guns on board the ships. Fortunately for the French, they were provided

with sixty rounds each man, and one of the transports in which they

were embarked was armed with six-pounders. The Bishop and Sir Robert

Wilson again came down to mediate, and the latter was employed, without

intermission, from nine in the morning till five in the afternoon in

negotiating between the French General and the populace. It was in

vain for the Frenchman to tell Sir Robert that he was bound to see the

articles of capitulation executed to the very letter, ... that was

impossible: he had secured their lives, and this was the utmost he

could do. The mob insisted that the French should be disembarked, their

baggage examined on shore, and that they should leave their arms: there

was no alternative, and they were compelled to submit. No sooner had

they left the transports, than the rabble boarded them, and began to

plunder in their turn: every thing was ransacked; the very provisions

and wearing apparel of the ship-owners disappeared. Here, however,

the tumult ended: the more riotous of the populace retired with their

booty; the better classes were ashamed of the disgrace which had thus

been brought upon them; and every possible reparation was made, to the

entire satisfaction of the British officers.

♦THE SPANISH TROOPS AT LISBON EMBARKED FOR CATALONIA.♦

During the negotiation the French, who were not ashamed to propose

any thing, proposed that an equal number of French prisoners should

be set at liberty, in exchange for the Spaniards whom they had seized

at Lisbon. This Sir Hew declared to be inadmissible; the Spaniards,

he said, must be immediately set free, and not the interests alone,

but the feelings of the Spanish nation were to be considered. He

consented, however, to obtain for them, if possible, the release of

such Frenchmen as had been arrested in Spain during the troubles, not

having been taken in battle, or in consequence of military operations.

Humanity induced him to this; and in communicating it to the Spanish

authorities, he relied upon Spanish generosity for complying with

his request for their deliverance. The scene at Lisbon, when arms,

horses, and artillery were restored to the Spaniards who had been so

long detained prisoners, was one of those spectacles at which the

heart rejoices. They were about 3800 in number, some 2000 having

effected their escape. The ceremony was made as public and impressive

as possible, and the Spanish Commander distributed alms upon the

occasion among the poor of Lisbon, which caused a general festivity.

Applications for these troops were made from various parts of Spain.

The Junta of Galicia required them; and some of the Spanish Generals

at Madrid wished them to be embarked for Santander, there to join

Blake’s army. Castaños, to whose judgement at this time that deference

was paid which his great services had well deserved, was of opinion

that they would be more serviceable in Catalonia than in any other

part. For Catalonia therefore they were embarked in British transports,

and Sir Hew advanced a loan of 90,000 dollars to purchase horses for

them.

♦INTRIGUES OF THE JUNTA OF PORTO.♦

It was sufficient for the British Commander in these transactions to

follow the plain dictates of a humane and honourable mind. In settling

a civil government, and thereby putting an end to the fearful anarchy

which every where prevailed, he had a more delicate task. The Junta

of Porto were intriguing to obtain a continuance of their power;

and under a pretext that Lisbon would for some time be in a state

of great confusion, they made their wishes known to Sir Hew, that

the seat of the temporary government might remain at Porto, and that

deputies from the other provinces, as they then did from the northern

ones, should repair thither to transact business for those parts

which they represented. The Bishop also observed, that an authority

had been forced upon him, which he had accepted only in the hope of

re-establishing the government of his lawful Prince; and that if it

were thought expedient for him to retain it till the pleasure of the

Prince was known, it must be under the condition of remaining at Porto,

from whence the inhabitants would not permit him to depart, unless by

a direct order of their Sovereign. Such an arrangement would be most

beneficial to the kingdom in its present state; and that opposition

to it which might otherwise be expected, would be obviated if Sir

Hew Dalrymple would take upon himself to recommend it. This sort of

finesse was little likely to attain its end with a British Commander.

Sir Hew, who was better acquainted with the state of affairs in Spain

than any other person at that time, had no such advantage in Portugal.

But in politics, as in morals, there is a principle of rectitude which

always leads us right, and that principle he followed. He neither

lent himself to this intrigue, nor allowed the displeasure which it

naturally excited to preponderate against the real services which the

Bishop of Porto had rendered to his country, and the popularity which

in consequence he then possessed. He replied therefore to the Bishop,

that had there been no objection, the Council of Regency which the

Prince had appointed at his departure, would now have resumed their

authority of course; but seeing that some of its members were strongly

suspected of being in the French interest, he felt himself authorized

to state, that however desirous the King his Sovereign might be to

interfere as little as possible in the internal affairs of Portugal,

it was impossible for his Majesty, under the peculiar circumstances of

the case, to acquiesce in the return of those persons to power. On

the other hand, those members who had kept aloof from the interests

of the enemy, and retaining their loyalty had retained the confidence

of the nation, had an unquestionable claim to be reinstated in their

situations. Declaring therefore that his instructions were to take

measures for forming a Regency as soon as possible, composed of such

persons of rank, character, and talents, as might be found ready to

undertake, and qualified to discharge, the important trust, but with as

few changes (particularly in the subordinate departments) as might be

compatible with the public interests, in the fulfilment of this duty he

naturally addressed himself to his Excellency and the Provisional Board

of Government at Porto. “You,” Sir Hew continued, “have already turned

your thoughts to the great question now at issue, and are doubtless

prepared to propose measures for completing the Council of Regency so

as to merit the confidence of the nation, and to prevent any just cause

of discontent in any other provisional government, or other respectable

description of the people. For my own part, I have only been able, from

the information I have received since my arrival in Portugal, to form

one decided opinion on this subject; which is, the infinite importance

to the public welfare that your Excellency should yourself hold a

distinguished place in the proposed Regency.”

♦THE COUNCIL OF REGENCY RE-ESTABLISHED.♦

The Bishop’s reply was, that he should readily acquiesce in whatever

might be determined upon, except his own nomination to the Council;

for he, better than any other person, knew what was necessary for the

good of the public cause, and of the northern provinces, and therefore

would not remove from the place where he had been stationed by God

and by his Prince. It was soon, however, ascertained, that if this

Prelate could not remain at the head of the government at Porto, he

would not persist in refusing to accept a share in it at Lisbon. Sir

Hew therefore, upon mature deliberation, and with the best advice which

could be obtained, issued a proclamation, saying, that through the

success with which Providence had blessed the British arms, the time

was come when the re-establishment of the Portugueze government ♦SEPT.

18.♦ could be effected. He gave the people due praise for the exertions

which they had made against the French; and saying that no views of

interest or of national aggrandizement could be imputed to the liberal

policy of Great Britain, declared, that the best manner in which he

could fulfil the intentions of his Sovereign, and promote the welfare

of Portugal, was by restoring that Council to which their Prince had

delegated his authority when he preserved his royal dignity from the

insults of an implacable enemy, and secured his American dominions. One

of that Council had been unhappily sent away from his country; others

had incurred imputations which rendered their restoration impossible at

this time. The three, however, who had contracted no such disability,

the Monteiro Mor, D. Francisco Xavier de Noronha, and Francisco da

Cunha e Menezes, he called upon to resume the administration, and with

them the Desembargador Joam Antonio ♦SEPT. 20.♦ Salter de Mendonça, and

Brigadier D. Miguel Pereira Forjas Coutinho, whom the Prince had named

to succeed in case of vacancies. These persons assembled accordingly,

and to fill up the number which the act of regency appointed, elected

the Marquez daz Minas and the Bishop of Porto. The Junta of Porto then

dissolved itself, declaring, however, that if the Regency should again

be overthrown by any new invasion of the enemy, (which they prayed

God to avert,) or any other calamity, they should by that event enter

again upon the full exercise of the authority which they now laid

aside. The other Juntas were in like manner dissolved: the Regency

was acknowledged throughout Portugal, and things resumed, as far as

possible, their former course.

♦OUTCRY IN ENGLAND AGAINST THE CONVENTION.♦

While Sir Hew Dalrymple was employed in carrying the terms of the

convention into effect, putting an end to the anarchy which prevailed,

and preparing with all possible speed to advance into Spain, an

outcry which he little expected had arisen against him at home. The

official account of the battle reached England a fortnight before the

news of the armistice and convention: tidings came with it that the

French had proposed to evacuate Portugal, and the news of Junot’s

unconditional surrender was looked for as what must necessarily ensue.

When the terms of the convention were received the Park and Tower

guns were fired; but the public feeling was not in accord with this

demonstration of joy, and never was any public feeling so unanimously

and instantaneously manifested. The hopes of the nation had been raised

to the highest pitch; their disappointment was in proportion, and it

was expressed with a violence only to be explained by the deep and

general abhorrence which the conduct of the French in Portugal had

provoked. The capitulations of the Helder and of Buenos Ayres were

remembered as less mortifying than the convention of Cintra. Nothing

else could be talked of, nothing else could be thought of: men greeted

each other in the streets with execrations upon those who had signed

this detested convention; it kept them waking at night, or disturbed

their sleep, like a misdeed or a misfortune of their own. The London

newspapers joined in one cry of wonder and abhorrence; on no former

occasion had they been so unanimous. The provincial papers proved

that, from one end of the island to the other, the resentment of this

grievous disappointment was the same; some refused to disgrace their

pages by inserting the treaty; others surrounded it with broad black

lines, putting their journal in mourning for the dismal intelligence it

contained; some headed the page with a representation of three gibbets,

and a general suspended from each, cut in wood for the occasion.

What could be done? There were not wanting writers who called upon

government to annul the convention. The Romans, they said, would have

done so, and have delivered up the generals who signed it, bound and

haltered, to the enemy’s discretion. Would it be argued, that to break

the treaty would be to break our faith towards the enemy? Why, it was

so framed that it could not be fulfilled without breaking our faith

towards each and all of our allies! We were the allies of Portugal;

and it was a breach of faith towards Portugal, to transport this army

of thieves, ravishers, and murderers out of the country in which they

had perpetrated their crimes, and from which they had no other possible

means of escape. We were the allies of Spain; and it was a breach of

faith towards Spain, if four-and-twenty thousand French troops, cut off

from all succour and all retreat, should be conveyed, under the British

flag, into their own country, with arms and baggage, that they might

join the forces with which Buonaparte was preparing to march against

the Spaniards. We were the allies of Sweden; and it was a breach of

faith towards Sweden to carry Russian sailors through the Swedish fleet

for the purpose of manning Russian ships against the Swedes. Were we

then to annul this treaty with our enemies, or to betray our friends?

for to this alternative our triumvirate of generals had reduced us!

No law of nations could justify them in making such stipulations; no

law of nations therefore could justify us in performing them. But

the French, it was urged, had already fulfilled their part of the

convention; they had evacuated the fortified towns, and admitted us

into Lisbon. Thus we had already reaped the advantages, and were, in

honour, bound to carry into effect the remainder of the treaty, which

was advantageous to them. In whatever way we acted, some loss of honour

was inevitable; but it was less disgraceful to break the terms than

to fulfil them; better that the French should reproach us, than that

they should compliment us upon a fidelity which enabled them to injure

our allies. The blow, it was affirmed, might have gone far towards

deciding the fate of Europe. France had lost one army in Andalusia,

and how deeply Buonaparte felt the loss was shown by the anxiety with

which he concealed it from the French people. What might not have been

the effect of the destruction of a second and larger army, following

so close upon that of the former! How would it have encouraged the

Portugueze, given new animation to the Spaniards, and raised the hope

and the courage of those various states who were suffering under the

tyrant’s yoke!

The conditions which had been granted to the Russian Admiral were

condemned with the same vehement feeling of disappointment. The

intimate connexion which had so lately subsisted between the Courts

of London and Petersburgh, and the personal regard which the British

Admiral entertained for Admiral Siniavin, had been adduced as reasons

why an agreement acceptable to both nations should be concluded.

Certainly it became us to manifest every mark of personal respect

toward the Russian officers, because, though the false policy of their

government had engaged the two countries in war, there existed no

angry feelings nor jarring interests between them; and the wishes of

both were for a renewal of that long established intercourse which was

beneficial to both. It also behoved us especially to show ourselves

grateful for the protection which the Russians had afforded to the

English and Portugueze refugees, and the facilities which they had

given them of effecting their escape. These were personal favours, for

which the obvious personal return should have been to have immediately

sent home men and officers under an engagement not to serve against

us or our allies, and to have shown towards them every courtesy and

kindness by which the evils of hostility can be mitigated. But that

personal regard should influence the terms of capitulation, was a thing

as unheard of as the terms themselves. “Hold in deposit!” The phrase

had never before been known in the British navy. They knew what it was

to fight their enemies; they knew what it was to beat, capture, sink,

burn, and destroy them, according to the spirit and letter of their

instructions. This was said by the navy, and by the nation; and the

bitter reflection arose, how would Nelson have received such a proposal!

Such language as this arose from a right feeling; but the

disappointment of well-founded and high-raised hopes had heated the

public mind, and disqualified it for regarding the whole transaction

dispassionately. The manner in which the Portugueze had been overlooked

in the negotiation was aggravated in England by persons who supported

the pretensions of the Junta of Porto; and undue stress was laid upon

the neglect of formalities which could not have been overlooked if

the Portugueze General had been acting with the British army as he

ought. There had been one serious omission affecting the Portugueze,

which was, in not insisting upon a stipulation that the troops of that

nation who had been sent to serve in Buonaparte’s armies should be

restored to their own country; such a stipulation ought to have been

required, though it would undoubtedly have been broken. The other

oversights which were objected were merely frivolous, and the manner

in which, through all the subsequent details, the feelings as well as

interests of the Portugueze had been consulted, had already contented

them, and made them grateful for the conduct of their allies. There was

another cause which exasperated the English people: they compared the

treatment of Junot’s army with that of Dupont’s, and were mortified

by a comparison which ought rather to have elated them; for looking

to what seemed advantageous, and not to what was just, they did not

perceive that in deferring to a popular cry the Junta of Seville had

broken a solemn engagement. The strong disapprobation with which Sir

Hew Dalrymple regarded that breach of faith, acted upon him, perhaps

unconsciously, when he allowed the French the utmost which could be

claimed upon the most liberal construction of the letter of the treaty

in their favour.

♦BOARD OF INQUIRY APPOINTED.♦

Meetings were convened in most parts of England to express the

indignation of the people at the convention, and call for the

punishment of those by whom it had been negotiated. The Common Council

presented an address to the same purport, and were told in reply that

it was inconsistent with the principles of British justice to pronounce

judgement without previous investigation, and that their interposition

was not necessary for inducing the King to institute a due inquiry

into a transaction which had disappointed the hopes and expectations

of the nation. Accordingly the three Generals were recalled, and a

Board of Inquiry was appointed, composed of the Earl of Moira, General

Craig, Lord Heathfield, the Earl of Pembroke, Sir George Nugent, and

Lieutenant-General Nicolls, with Sir David Dundas for president.

Their decision, after a long and full investigation, was, that they

could not pronounce, with confidence, whether the victory of Vimeiro

ought to have been pursued or not; but, considering the extraordinary

circumstances under which two new commanders arrived from the ocean,

and joined the army, (the one during, and the other immediately after

the battle, and these successively superseding each other, and both

the original commander, within the space of twenty-four hours,) it

was not surprising that the army was not carried forward until the

second day after the action, from the necessity of the generals’ being

acquainted with the actual state of things, and proceeding accordingly.

On a consideration of all circumstances, they were of opinion, that

no farther proceeding was necessary; and, however some of them might

differ respecting the fitness of the convention, it was their unanimous

declaration, that unquestionable zeal and firmness had been exhibited

by all the three generals.

As this was, in fact, delivering no opinion at all, the board was

called upon, by the Duke of York, as commander-in-chief, to resume its

consideration of the armistice and convention, and pronounce decidedly

whether they thought them adviseable. The armistice was disapproved

by Earl Moira; the convention by the same nobleman, by the Earl of

Pembroke, and General Nicolls: thus, six of the seven members approved

the armistice, and four approved the convention. The dissentient

members delivered in their reasons for the opinion which they gave.

General Nicolls and Earl Pembroke confined themselves to a military

point of view. Earl Moira took a wider scope, and argued ably against

the moral and political effects of the treaty. The proceedings ♦JAN.

18, 1809.♦ were concluded by a declaration from the King, adopting

the unanimous opinion of the board, that no farther proceeding was

necessary; but expressing his disapprobation of those articles of

the convention in which stipulations were made, directly affecting

the interests or feelings of the Spanish and Portugueze nations. That

disapprobation his Majesty had signified to Sir Hew Dalrymple when

the treaty was first laid before him, and he repeated it, deeming it

necessary that his sentiments should be clearly understood, as to the

impropriety and danger of the unauthorised admission, into military

conventions, of articles of such a description. Nor could he forbear

observing, that Sir Hew’s delaying to transmit the armistice concluded

on the 22d of August, till the 4th of September, when the ratified

convention was transmitted at the same time, was calculated to produce

great public inconvenience, and that such inconvenience had, in fact,

resulted therefrom. The King abstained from any observations upon other

parts of the convention.

Thus the whole censure fell upon Sir Hew Dalrymple. But it was seen

by the people that the great error of judgement had been committed

at home, in not providing that the General by whom the campaign was

planned should carry it to the end. And how often may it be observed

in history, as in private life, that the course of events is better

directed to the end desired, than if the persons most interested in the

success could themselves have ordered it! So it was in this campaign,

which at the time so severely disappointed the nation. A more splendid

triumph might have been obtained in the field, a higher tone might

have been taken in the negotiation; but in either of these cases

Almeida and Elvas would have been left in possession of the enemy; and

whatever efforts might have been made for reducing them, they could

easily have held out till the dispersion of the Spanish armies. It

would then have been a great object with the French to relieve the

garrisons, and this would have brought them to Lisbon at a time when

there were neither preparations nor means for resistance there.