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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.