Chapter XI (3)

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!